Every year since 2006, the national association representing car dealers, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, has awarded three CADA Laureate Awards to dealers in three distinct categories: ambassadorship, retail operations and innovation.

By my simple math that means there are just over 50 CADA Laureates remaining, (56 have been awarded, including two ambassador Laureates) and a few have since sadly passed on.

Out of the approx. 3,400 dealers across Canada, that’s a pretty small and exclusive group. You could fit them all inside a private box to watch an NHL game.

Collectively, they represent the brightest stars, most generous dealers, sharpest business operators and most innovative dealers in Canada — and likely North America. I have interviewed, and personally met just about every one of them.

Okay, I never met the 2016 Honourary Ambassador Laureate R.S. Sam McLaughlin who passed away in 1972, because believe it or not I wasn’t editing Canadian auto dealer back then!

So when I say that this group of men and women are truly the cream of the crop from Canada’s automotive retail industry, I am speaking from direct personal experience. Several have become friends over the years.

Each year, after the CADA Chairman calls them to inform them they won the award, and that they are sworn to secrecy, I’m the next person they are allowed to talk to about this award. It’s always a fun interview. They are, perhaps not surprisingly, usually humble and deflect the attention away from themselves to their broader team.

That spirit of humility and team was again on display when I attended the plaque ceremony for the latest dealer to join the ranks of the CADA Laureates in Kitchener, Ont., Andrew Ojamae from the AutoIQ Group, who won in the business innovation category.

In his interview, and in chatting before the ceremony, you could see Andrew went to great lengths to ensure that each of the 16 dealerships in his group was recognized for contributing to the award. Many of the dealer principals from those stores, or their General Managers visited Kitchener on a snowy November afternoon for the ceremony.

Even during his remarks, Andrew stressed this was a team win, and that although it might be an individual honour, the credit belonged to the group. Andrew, like his mentor and business partner Mike Stollery who won the award two years earlier, is a class act.

Andrew was right in sharing credit with his team. Innovation is a tough nut to crack. As he rightfully acknowledged during our interview, ideas are a dime a dozen, and getting them implemented is what takes work, charisma, leadership and a team willing to do it.

Andrew has all of that in spades, and his quiet and humble determination, with a steady hand of accountability and transparency in assessing the results, is what enabled the group to embark on a host of innovative initiatives that caught the eye of the judges from the Ivy School of Business at Western University that ultimately picked the winners.

Another secret to Andrew’s success is his connection to the Automotive Business School of Canada, where he himself graduated, and where he met his future business partner Stollery. Andrew once shared with me that he had his own “depth charts” of the ABSC graduating class, with insights about where they lived, where they wanted to end up in their careers, and then he actively recruited those that were a good fit.

Canada’s CADA Laureates are truly a national treasure for our industry, and the drive to become a Laureate is something that makes every dealer just that much better — and that ultimately is what the program is all about. Somewhere, CADA Laureate program founder Rick Gauthier is smiling.

The post Nice guys can finish first appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

Ok, I’ll say it right up front: I would not call Lake Louise, Alberta, a city. It is, however, a great spot for a dealer conference.

A significant chunk of the dealer community clearly agrees, based on the record attendance at the recently-held Western Canadian Dealer Summit. This year’s conference set an attendance record, and the energy and engagement of the dealers, vendors and association staff were clearly evident.

Provincial Association executives Blair Qualey, Larry Heggs, and Gerald Wood put on a great show. I was very pleased to take part.

The content mix was interesting. Many familiar faces (CADA’s team was out in force, as an example) and there were many new ones.

A week later I was at the opposite end of the country, in Moncton, speaking at Darcy LeBlanc’s event as part of the New Brunswick Dealers Association’s President’s Dinner. It was my great pleasure to share the speaking responsibilities with Steve Greenfield from Automotive Ventures. You may recall I invited Steve to join the CADEX event in Halifax last spring, where he was a very popular speaker. It’s great to see him return to the Maritimes at another energized and very well attended event.

At a time of rapid industry change, getting in front of speakers with all kinds of expertise is critical, for the team at Canadian auto dealer as publishers, and of course for you as dealers.

So which topics made an impression on me?

Not surprisingly, the drop in the growth rate of consumer EV adoption is top of mind at both ends of the country. The current wisdom (which I agree with) is that we’ve sold EVs to the early adopters in the market. Further EV sales are going to be sold to early majority consumers who bring a very different set of questions, needs and expectations with them. Early majority consumers will make a lot more demands of your sales teams, and need a lot more information.

Not surprisingly, this drop in the growth rate of EV sales is fueling plenty of discussion around how fast EV adoption will grow, even to the point of a few “I told you so” comments from those still not convinced the transition will happen.

I believe it will, but it will take time. It will be messy. And there will be the same kinds of inventory challenges for dealers that the ICE age held: too many of some vehicles hanging around your lots, while others remain unobtainable.

Perhaps what’s most interesting is the spotlight now appearing to shine on the plug-in hybrid, which for much of the past was seen as neither here nor there, an unnecessary step on the path.

That view is quickly changing, and I expect it will continue to change. As someone who owned one for years, I can say first-hand that it solves most of the challenges a full BEV presents for many consumers, while dramatically reducing carbon emissions. It may be a step on the path, but I think it will become a very important step for many. I expect dealers will find that PHEVs move quickly off their lots.

The next topic that received significant attention was automation. As generative AI tools like ChatGPT and others become woven into the DNA of more
and more software solutions available to you, you’ll find your business gaining time and other efficiencies that you couldn’t have imagined a few years ago.

A Swedish company called Phyron is an example. They demonstrated an AI video platform that creates videos of your inventory for placement across digital marketing channels, at scale, without human intervention. Set the parameters, and the magic happens. In minutes.

As someone with a long career in content creation, I found it pretty compelling.

Thank you again to the provincial dealer associations for putting their energy and creativity into making these events happen. It was time well spent for me and the many others who took the time to attend.

For now, I’m about to board a plane to speak at Cliff Bank’s Autovate event in Scottsdale, and see what other things I can learn. And we’re just a few months from the CADA Summit and CADEX. I hope to see you there!

The post A tale of two cities, sort of… appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

As of press time, it was full steam ahead for the return of Canada Night at NADA.

This event, initially sparked a few years ago by Alan Bird and his colleagues over at SCI Marketview, now taq Automotive Intelligence, was a good idea then — and it’s a good idea now.

While everyone likes a good party with great music, it’s about more than that. It solves a fundamental challenge with Canadians who attend this super-sized dealer conference as it rotates to various large U.S. cities each year.

Lots of Canadians descend upon NADA each year, dealers and their teams, suppliers and their teams, media, and industry association leaders.

Some set up pre-meetings and conduct business while there, but many others wander through the trade show floor and conference sessions, and take in some of the sponsored events and parties at night.

The challenge is, the event is huge and spread out over many days, so the odds of you accidentally meeting lots of other Canadians is pretty remote.

What’s been great to see, is the level of support, both financial and in time, that the Canadian suppliers are putting behind this event.

By gathering all the Canadians together on the eve of the start of the event, the Canadian contingents get a chance to meet, chat, network, catch up, and plan future meetings. In effect, they can do business.

This is particularly important for the Canadian suppliers who are sent down by their companies to meet and drum up business for their companies.

Canadian auto dealer is one of the media partners working to promote the event, and I have attended some of the committee meetings and planning sessions.

What’s been great to see, is the level of support, both financial and in time, that the Canadian suppliers are putting behind this event. While Alan Bird and his event team, led by Lara Appleton are still doing the lion’s share of the heavy lifting to get this event going again, the other suppliers are digging in too.

In the real world outside this event, some of these sponsors are also competitors (including us competing for advertising dollars with Automotive News) but for the greater good, people are working together and cooperating.

That cooperative spirit is part of the event’s DNA and something insisted upon by Alan Bird. All sponsors also pay the same and get equal billing in event promotion, so there’s no one company that can elbow their way to the front of the line for added exposure.

Above all though, the event is always a heck of great party, with great food, drinks and amazing Canadian musical acts. The first event in 2016 featured an intimate night of music with Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy. The event paused the next year to allow CADA to celebrate its 75th anniversary with a roaring party in New Orleans featuring Tom Cochrane.

In 2018, the event was back in Vegas with Alan Doyle, Great Big Sea’s frontman, and in the last event before COVID in 2019 the Barenaked Ladies blew away the huge crowd in San Francisco.

I won’t spill the beans on this year’s musical act, but suffice it to say if you are a Canadian dealer, you will want to act quickly to book your ticket for one of the hottest nights in Vegas in February. See you there!

The post Canada Night Eh’ is back! appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

I’ve saved myself some typing this month. My publisher’s note is a multimedia experience this issue.

I was invited to join U.S auto industry analyst Cliff Banks as his guest on his video podcast. Cliff has been at the heart of the industry for a long time, so the chance to connect again and talk about the state of the industry was a welcome invitation.

Please click the link below and give it a listen. From labour challenges to alternate business models and a bit more, we cover a number of topics that are making their way into the headlines. I hope you’ll find it interesting.

I’ll also be onstage with Cliff and many others at his Autovate event December 6-8 in Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information on that event, go to https://autovate.org/

Enjoy!

The post A chat with U.S. Analyst Cliff Banks appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

As soon as the 2023 CADA Summit finished, the planning committee (which consists of CADA’s senior leaders and the publishing team on Canadian auto dealer) dove into the attendee feedback to understand where we needed to make refinements, which topic areas really resonated, and which ones were seen as less important by the audience. The committee then spends months debating the topics and considers what is most on the minds of dealers.

In many cases, we look outside our industry, outside our country, and outside the next month’s sales cycle to try to present dealers with thought provoking and challenging perspectives on the forces that pose risk or opportunity. In so doing we run across people with experiences Canadian car dealers might not have had — yet.

Some recent examples include hearing from speakers like James Voortman, head of Australia’s dealer association discuss their run-ins with the agency model, and Norwegian car dealer Sverre Helno, who gave dealers a glimpse of what their future might look like selling and servicing almost entirely electric vehicles.

Being able to look abroad to see markets that are further along the same evolutionary path as the Canadian market is fascinating. A bit like looking into a crystal ball. The popularity with dealers of both of these speakers proves that we would all like a chance to peer into the future. No surprise there.

As we plan the 2024 Summit (February 14th in Toronto, mark your calendars) I can honestly say that we’re thrilled to be back in the rhythm of planning an in-person event.

While full credit needs to be given to CADA, TD Auto Finance (as the exclusive sponsor that makes the Summit possible) and the dealers for pivoting to an online event during the depths of the pandemic, it was simply not the same as gathering the senior leadership of our entire industry in one room and feeling the shared energy and focus that creates.

This is as good a networking opportunity as the Canadian automotive calendar has to offer. If you haven’t been, I encourage you to come. For those loyalists that I’ve seen there for years and years (this will be our 11th Summit) I look forward to seeing you there again.

Save the date. Share any ideas you have that you’d like to see reflected in the Summit’s agenda (you can email me at nhiscox@universusmedia.com). And figure out how you’ll integrate your Valentine’s Day 2024 with the Summit.

I hope to see you there.

The post Bringing the best ideas to bear appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

I encourage you to read the column on artificial intelligence on page 34 by Dee Murphy-Brown in this issue.

As I was editing her column, I was struck by the line:

“Over the next half-decade, early adopters will likely start reaping the benefits of AI tools. Another five years down the line, we might find it challenging to find a dealership where AI isn’t an integral part of the F&I process.”

The reason the quote stood out to me, particularly the line “we might find it challenging to find a dealership where AI isn’t an integral part of the F&I process” is how matter of fact it is about the arrival, adoption and acceptance of AI.

She writes as though it’s a foregone conclusion that AI is not only coming to dealerships, it’s here, chugging along, and before we know it will be “old news” and just the way things are done.

I think she’s entirely right.

And it won’t just be in the business office, where the sheer power of machine learning and number crunching consumer behaviours will lead to more accurate credit approval decisions.

AI and machine learning in particular will be used in applications through all aspects of a dealership’s operations from how they respond to digital and phone leads, predict customer demand for new and used vehicles, manage their service operations and actual service work, run their physical facilities, and a host of ways we can’t even yet imagine.

There’s a famous observation called Amara’s law that suggests we tend to “overestimate the impact of technology in the short-term and underestimate the effect in the long run.”

This phenomenon helps explain why there is often such hype for new technologies, and why people tend to downplay or resist the hype when the next great thing comes along.

Consider, for example, how much hype there was about autonomous vehicles only a few years ago, and how aggressive the timelines were for the adoption of this technology that is still many years away from being even close to mainstream and in wide usage.

So, I get the skepticism.

But as a July 2023 study from CDK Global, “What Automotive Dealers Think About Artificial Intelligence” discovered, dealers are already buying into the promise of AI. 76 per cent of dealers surveyed say they are already seeing the benefits of AI and 60 per cent of dealers who plan on using AI are expecting positive outcomes.

Some of the most productive areas for AI among dealers surveyed included: improving sales and marketing efforts, helping with pricing decisions, targeting customers through propensity to buy, making product recommendations, forecasting inventory and predicting service failures.

Interestingly, only 10 per cent of dealers in the survey say they are “not at all familiar” with AI.

I’m hoping that if you find yourself in that 10 per cent, you’ll read Dee’s column, track down the CDK Global study and start mapping out ways AI can help your dealership.

If you don’t, and I know this sounds alarmist, there’s no doubt the dealerships you compete with are already hard at work trying to figure it out.

The post Demystifying AI appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

To state the really obvious, ready or not,
EVs are coming.

Maybe not at the pace some expect, and some brands will be much faster to produce vehicles than others, but make no mistake — they are set to transform the way we move around.

I took a partial step towards electric vehicle ownership, when I recently purchased a plug-in hybrid.

Until then, the idea of EVs as an alternative propulsion system was an interesting story on many levels, and one I covered regularly in the magazine, but I really wasn’t personally affected one way or the other.

But since I now own one of these, I have had to learn more about how to integrate it into my daily life.

I’ve had to download several apps that show me where chargers might be located. This, incidentally, is almost nowhere near where I live and shop, and I’m about an hour northeast of Toronto — Canada’s most populated city. The nearest charger I can find on the apps is about a 25 minute drive from my home.

I’m also on the hunt for an electrician who can help me navigate adding a home charger to my century home that was built in 1860 and has upgraded electrical systems, but I’m not sure what it will entail to get home charging sorted out. Thankfully, the Universus offices have two chargers installed, so when I’m at work I’m charging up. On most days, there’s at least one more vehicle charging there too.

But the reality with a plug-in hybrid, is that I’m using the gasoline engine 90 per cent of the time. So, I’m not really dealing with the full EV experience. It’s more of a fun experiment to top up that battery and lower my gasoline usage and costs.

If I were in a battery-electric vehicle, well, I’d feel like the world isn’t really quite ready for me, or I’m not quite ready for it.

Which brings me back to the question in the headline: Are you ready for EVs?

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association recently brought to our attention a new white paper from WEIS, a consulting firm specializing in retail innovation, about things dealerships need to consider — for their facilities — as we move to an EV future.

The 14-page white paper, (which you can download for free at www.WEIS.ca) “Seven Key Dealership Facility Impacts of Electric Vehicles” presented dealers with some things they really need to start thinking about, including:

• Obtaining sufficient power;
• Managing electrical consumption;
• Managing the customer experience;
• Managing infrastructure for EVs;
• Managing risk;
• Adaption to business changes;
• Managing the unknown.

The report is really worth reading, as it also discusses the fact that some of these areas are likely to become part of new dealer standards imposed by OEMs, and dealers should really be anticipating many of these changes, ideally so they too have some input.

“With this monumental transition there is little open discussion around what a transition to EVs actually means for the retailer of today, or more importantly, how existing facilities transition into an EV-ready retail space of tomorrow. Dealership facility designs will need to evolve to accommodate necessary infrastructure, from electric charging stations to EV service bays,” write the report’s authors.

While dealers are waiting on the availability of EV products, and sorting out the training of their teams about EVs, they would be wise to spend some time considering the impact on their facilities and the consumer experience.

Selling an EV might be fairly easy, but dealers will be expected to the new gold standard for providing a great customer experience to an owner, and having an EV-friendly facility will be expected.

The post Are you really ready for EVs? appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

A few weeks back I delivered a presentation to the Automobile Dealers Association of Newfoundland and Labrador. I was part of the agenda for their annual meeting, and it was a pleasure to be back on the Rock speaking to Marian Templeton and the Dealer and Associate members of the ADANL.

For the presentation I was asked to share what I believed the industry would be facing five years from now. Frankly, that’s a fun assignment.

So that’s what I did. I shared what I believe are key things that will disproportionately impact where we’ll be in five years. I thought I’d share them with you as well.

So in no particular order, here we go:

1. AI is being integrated into everything we do

You won’t be put out of a job by AI. You will be put out of a job by a competitor who uses it better than you. Do not underestimate the importance of this.

Anecdotally, I’m amazed at how many people I meet in this business who don’t have AI on their radar, how many haven’t tried tools like ChatGPT or Mid-Journey to get a taste for themselves just what all the fuss is about. Try them. Read a lot, listen and learn. This is a big deal.

Some automotive impacts of AI?

• Measuring sentiment;
• Using predictive analytics: Power your marketing and link to inventory;
• More accurate information;
• More consumer relevance as a pathway to building trust; and
• Consumer expectations will rise across all sectors.

That doesn’t even scratch the surface.

2. De-globalization continues

The reversal of the globalization trend that dominated the past many decades is just picking up steam. This will be in full bore five years from now.

Here are just a few implications:

• Supply chain impacts: Nearshoring takes time and lots of capital;
• Reduced innovation: Consuming capital that could have been driving innovation;
• Inflation: globalization made things cheaper. Reversing it risks making things more expensive for a sustained period;
• Lower economic growth: Reduced access to foreign markets;
• Geopolitical risk: Warren Buffet and Taiwan, as an example;
• New winners and losers: Is Canada really prepared to compete? Consider the current Windsor spat over support for the Stellantis battery plant, and how publicly messy that was. I can only imagine what it was like behind the curtain.

3. Canada’s population continues to grow. Quickly.

Canada has the fastest growing population of any G7 nation, and one of the fastest growing of any country in the world. Our immigration targets are high and intended to combat an ageing population that isn’t replacing itself.

This is a valid and important strategic choice, and one I fully support. But if we’re going to add more than half a million people a year, who will not be spread evenly across the country, we better be ready for the consequences.

This will create tremendous pressures on housing costs and availability, transportation and infrastructure, and service levels across the economy. Not to mention creating suitable employment and expedited pathways to getting peoples’ skills to work in their chosen fields.

4. Our population continues to age

Notwithstanding the immigration piece mentioned above, by 2030 (the year when the youngest baby boomers turn 65 years), the proportion of the total population aged 65 will be over 20 per cent, and may be approaching a quarter of the Canadian population.

Here are just some of the potential impacts:

• Young, computer-literate workers will continue to be in very high demand, and will be demanding;
• Figuring out ways to engage (or re-engage) older workers will be key;
• Connecting your businesses to pools of new immigrants will bring competitive advantage.

5. We’re headed for an affordability crunch

Housing is having a very hard time catching up with demand fueled by population growth and foreign ownership, which means the correction that we might expect given how overheated Canada’s house prices are may not happen in the way we would expect. And there are plenty of Canadians who will be facing a significant increase in their monthly mortgage payments over the next three years and living with those increases far beyond that.

Vehicles are expensive, and OEMs will be hard pressed to address affordability given their investments in new technology and the cost of running both ICE and EV businesses concurrently as we transition.

Giving consumers tools to help them navigate these affordability challenges will be central to business success.

6. Software and data integration

We work in an industry that works with an incredibly complex and fragmented data environment. Consider a single customer record. You likely have more than one in your own business, with some customer data living in your DMS, some other info living in some of the other tools you use. Your vendors may be creating and updating customer records in their environments that are not reading and writing back to your system, so now your customer exists in more than one place.

And your OEMs have their own data and sources that are not fully integrated into yours.

This is a monumental task to fix, and I can assure you that you’ll still be wrestling with it five years from now. Truly fixing this is complex, expensive and time consuming.

The payoff: truly knowing your customers, creating a customer experience that can rival what consumers get from Amazon and others, and building a platform for OTA revenue.

One last thing I’d love to share. It’s hard to stay on top of change, and to put it all into perspective.

I recommend you listen to this:

And read this:

See you next time.

The post Today, 5 years from now appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

If you’ll allow me to alter and repurpose that well known and oft-quoted Vegas slogan, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas.

I know that because I’ll be reporting on it.

I’ll be heading down there for Thomson Reuter’s Automotive Retail 2023 event. I’ll be onstage moderating a panel that will stare down some of the financial concerns faced by both customers and the industry and see if we can provide some useful ideas. I’m sure we can.

After three years of low inventory and high demand that has led to record profitability, the industry faces an almighty correction. Stronger availability of inventory will impact and soften pricing for both new and used. There are concerns demand will lose steam in the upcoming months as interest rates soar and consumer demand changes.

And as a number of dealers have spoken to me about in recent months, there is a real awareness that their sales teams have a tough adjustment to make. In some cases, sales people will need to get back to prospecting and selling, not simply taking orders (and yes, I know it’s never that simple but I think the point is still valid). In others, sales people who have been in their roles for less than a few years will be dealing with a set of market conditions that they’ve never had to navigate before.

As one dealer told me, it’s a tough managerial task to tell your team that they need to work harder than they have in years, and will need to do so for less income.

Happily, there are a number of tools and experts available to help. Hence the trip to Vegas.

The event brings together a great mix of dealers, OEMs and retail-focused vendors, so it’s one of the most relevant events in the calendar. Here’s the link for more information: https://events.reutersevents.com/ automotive/retail-usa

If you can make it, I’d love to see you there. It’s always fun to connect with other Canadians from the industry, especially South of the border. If you can’t make it, look to our pages in future issues as we bring you some highlights.

Changing gears, I would like to acknowledge Gerry Malloy’s retirement. Todd has spoken at length about Gerry in his column, so I won’t repeat what he said though I share all his sentiments.

I would like to share one anecdote.

I first met Gerry when the company I worked for bought a bunch of car magazines. I was suddenly the group publisher and needed to dive in and get my head around the titles, the team, and the automotive industry. Testfest gave me the perfect opportunity to start as all our automotive journalists would be in one place, so I dove in.

After three years of low inventory and high demand that has led to record profitability, the industry faces an almighty correction. Stronger availability of inventory will impact and soften pricing for both new and used.

Gerry was the most senior and recognized of the group, and as our most important contributor he was the one I most needed some time with. I managed to corral him and introduce myself just as he was about to take a BMW Z4 for a test drive. He suggested I jump in and talk while he drove, so I did.

After chatting a bit, I asked the question that was most on my mind. As the most respected automotive journalist in the country, Gerry could write for anyone. I wanted to know why he wrote for us. I needed to know what my risk of losing him was, as can often happen in an ownership change.

So I asked the question in as straightforward a manner as possible, and I got an equally straightforward answer: “I’ve written for Lynn Helpard (the magazines’ previous owner and founder) because he pays on time.”

That simple statement formed the foundation of my connection with Gerry for the next two and half decades. What that sentence really told me was that as long as I lived up to my end of the bargain, he would deliver on his. And Gerry, you have. In spades.

And throughout that time, we’ve done it all on a handshake.

You’re a rare bird, Gerry. Thank you for teaching me so much about the automotive world, and for showing an automotive rookie just how special this industry is. Thanks for your wisdom, your words and your whole-hearted commitment.

I’m very grateful that I’ve had the chance to do it with you. I can’t imagine it any other way.

The post What happens in Vegas… appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

This issue marks an important milestone — but one that I’d just as soon not write about.

It will be the last column penned by our Tech Talk columnist Gerry Malloy. He’s hanging up his pen.

Gerry has been an automotive journalist for more than 25 years, and has been among a handful of people at the top of that game. He’s a three-time winner of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada’s (AJAC) Automotive Journalist of the Year Award, and the recipient of multiple other awards for his automotive writing.

Some of you might also have seen Gerry’s work as a long-time columnist and feature writer for the Wheels section of the Toronto Star.

He’s the founding editor of Canadian auto dealer, and is easily one of the best writers I’ve worked with over my 25+ year career as a journalist and editor.

For starters, Gerry is one of few automotive journalists who really, really understand automotive technology. He holds Bachelor’s and Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering and spent more than 20 years as an automotive test-and-development engineer — before starting his journalism career.

So, clearly, he knows what he’s talking about. But it’s more than that. Perhaps better than anyone I’ve worked with, Gerry has the ability to write clearly, and plainly, and can make the most technical subject in the world — accessible.

For someone with an engineering background, that’s no mean feat. For someone not “classically-trained” as a journalist, it’s all the more remarkable. Writers who have access to the most complex language available, but choose instead to simplify and clarify are at the top of my list of great writers. In effect, he’s the Ernest Hemmingway of automotive journalism in Canada.

Now, Gerry will hate everything about this editor’s note. Especially that last line. When he decided to step aside, he booked a meeting with myself and Publisher Niel Hiscox (who he’s known and worked with even longer) and told us about his decision. A class act in itself.

When we told him we’d like to write about his retirement in the magazine, in true Gerry fashion, he said he didn’t want any of that, and just wanted to quietly ride off into the sunset. That’s just Gerry. A shrug of the shoulders and a sly smile, giving you the sense that he’s got something else to say, but chooses not to.

So what else can I say about Gerry?

I’ll never forget the time he took me for a rip around the Test Fest track in Niagara in an Audi R8. I was both terrified and exhilarated as he whipped us around the track at breakneck speeds, and it’s when I discovered he was as skilled a driver as a writer.

He’s been a columnist for the better part of a decade and is always the first or among the first to submit it on time. A true professional.

I’ve learned something new from every column he submitted.

He’s as humble a guy as you’ll ever meet, gracious and generous with his time and ideas to others, and practices the kind of loyalty you just don’t see these days.

Simply put, they don’t make the Gerry Malloy model anymore.

While that’s really sad for me, and for the rest of you, all I can say is: Gerry, thanks for all you’ve done. You’ve made our industry better, and informed so many consumers and people in the auto industry along the way. Enjoy retirement — you’ve earned it.

The post A big thanks, to a great man appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

We write a lot about the future of the automotive retail experience, and at times it seems like it’s a lot of theoretical discussions that don’t necessarily make it to the sales floor and service bays of our dealerships.

Being an admittedly impatient person myself, once a good new idea presents itself to me, I’m drawn to it pretty quickly and I am apt to discard the old idea or approach pretty readily.

It’s not always so easy on a company or dealership-wide level. Your employees will be more likely to stick to anything that has been a tried and true proven method for their own success. Most of that is dictated by the behaviours and actions they get rewarded for or that they see others rewarded for.

So, for example, if hitting your monthly sales targets is driving all your sales conversations, and the sales leaderboard is the visible display of that success, then you can’t be surprised or disappointed if they fall short on other key measures, like providing a great customer experience.

If your F&I and business office teams are only praised or rewarded for stellar sales months and exceeding targets, they can hardly be blamed for squeezing your customers a little harder and creating what we all recognize as one of the worst customer experiences in dealerships.

OEMs and analysts have been working at a 30,000 foot level re-imagining the entire customer journey, considering every customer touchpoint in our digital and physical omnichannel world. That’s all great. But the experiences your customers are going to feel are going to be dictated by the things you focus on, measure and reward on a daily basis.

That’s why it was such an interesting experience visiting the Genesis Retail Experience Centre in London, Ont. for a special ceremony earlier this month. They were the first auto retailer on the planet to be formally recognized as being “In Partnership with Forbes Travel Guide.” That means they met a set of rigorous standards that measured whether they were delivering an exceptional experience throughout all aspects of their dealership, or distributorship as they call it.

Darren Slind, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Clarify Group, a Markham, Ont.-based research and consultancy firm that worked with Genesis to launch the program, was on hand for the special ceremony. “We looked at all of the touch points in the guest journey,” said Slind. “What’s impressive is the consistency with which the Genesis London team delivers that elevated experience to their guests.”

During the tour of their facility, and in an interview at the event, General Managing Partner Hass Hijazi, explained the differences in approaches that make the Genesis experience so different for their guests.

The use of the term “guest” is very much on point at Genesis London. From the layout of the facility, the design, flow, amenities and personal touches, it very much caters to a guest experience in the luxury space. Even the washrooms are well appointed with personal touches you might expect at a resort or spa, like mouthwash. The coffee is served in China not paper cups, the guest waiting area looks like a stylish café.

When guests pull up to the Genesis branded service bay, the doors automatically open and they are greeted by an enthusiastic and well-trained ownership experience manager. Their vehicle is checked in, their needs are discussed, and they never set foot anywhere near an actual service bay. The vehicle is shuttled off to the service center adjacent to the building.

Regardless of their role, these are highly-trained people who are comparing the guest experience they are delivering against those at luxury hotels, restaurants and resorts.

It might seem to be an oversimplification, but they are treating their valued guests like, well, valued guests.

The post Treating guests like, well, guests appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.

In a world of social media, where anyone can publish to the world and any given story can take off and reach an audience of thousands, companies need to be particularly careful about how their actions might be seen.

It is through this lens of brand risk that I find myself looking at something that happened this week. And it left me flabbergasted that this occurrence happened because it’s the company’s policy.

Here’s the good news: we’re not picking on an automotive company. In fact, it’s not automotive at all. It’s an airline. For the sake of this article, let’s call them Flairline.

And why is this story worth sharing with you? Simply because it’s a powerful reminder of how ridiculous some policies, practices and simple habits can look when seen through a customer lens.

The story is simple enough (and in full disclosure, I recognize that this is a first world problem):

My significant other logs a lot of air miles for work, and always flies business class as a perk of the role. So she is, simply put, among the most important and most profitable customers Flairline has.

So imagine her surprise when she got downgraded to the back of the plane due to “an inoperative seat.” Imagine her further surprise when she learned that is a term that actually means a customer paying full fare has been bumped to give the seat to a Flairline employee!

I guess it would be unacceptable to Flairline employees to have to fly the way the vast majority of their customers fly.

This has social media risk written all over it. Seen from a customer perspective, it’s nuts. And yet, it is company policy. Further investigation with the staff at the airport revealed that they are in full agreement it’s a terrible policy, one that causes repeated grief as the decision on who to bump is made at head office. The gate staff are simply the messengers.

So again, why share this with you?

Simple. It’s a very memorable example, for me anyway. I will remember it every time I get on a plane and see an airline employee sitting in an “inoperable seat” and wonder who got bumped and sent the message that they really aren’t valued much at all. I’ll also wonder how many people they will share it with.

And I want it to be memorable for you too, as a reminder to always try and see the things we do through a customer lens.

The service advisor who tells a customer with a wave of their hand that their vehicle is ready and they can go find it somewhere out on the lot… The dealership employee who grabs a prime parking spot right beside the store, leaving customers to find a less desirable spot… etc.

There are lots of examples. Many of them are quite hard to see unless we really look.

The risk in these things is that they seem so minor, so simple, that they continue to happen without us always realizing how much brand risk they carry. They can whittle away at our equity with our customers. Sometimes they burn a bunch of that equity all at once.

They carry real risk. As such, we should always be looking for them. Remember that next time you buy a business class or premium economy ticket, and wonder if you’re going to be bumped to the back of the plane.

The post A story of brand risk appeared first on Canadian Auto Dealer.