Author | Wind
Source | Auto Service World (ID: asworld168)
As you can see, I am an automotive aftermarket practitioner.
The first half of 2024 has ended, and the author has done a lot of things around store owners, dealers, and car owners.
Because its own store currently adopts the business model of partner store manager and technical manager as shareholder, it has a certain amount of time every month to do some auto service business outside the store operation.
After the Spring Festival, almost every month in Zhengzhou to Henan city and county counterparts on the way to carry out business, before and after, almost all regions of Henan, although not accurately recorded, but face-to-face communication and mutual learning peers, 100 probably have.
Focusing on the current market situation in Henan, the current business status of stores, and the consumption trend of customers, we exchanged and discussed, and I also summarized the core 5 insights.
Although there is no complete data support, these five insights are all from the first-tier end market, and we hope to bring thinking and inspiration to peer store owners.
First, there are indeed some problems in the market
Some people say that the logic of making money in the aftermarket has changed, some people say that the aftermarket has been disrupted by those spoilers, and some people say that the automobile aftermarket has now become a sunset industry and is not far from decline.
Indeed, there are indeed some problems in the current automotive aftermarket, which are commonalities, not individuality.
Therefore, as practitioners, we should not be too anxious, since we are all the same, why bother.
Everyone is the owner of the auto service store, and this year has done the same market actions and business behaviors as last year, but the business and output value of the store have not grown, most of them are declining, and it is already very good to keep the base.
The reason for this: either the store business is not good, or the peers are very strong, as for those stores that feel that the impact is not great, either they never settle accounts, or they are used to the hungry and full auto service trading scene.
For the dealers upstream of the store, it has also suffered a lot of impact this year.
The first is that the number of store customers in the region is constantly being eroded.
Located in the Nanyang auto parts market of a lubricating oil peer angrily said that the current employees are not familiar with the staff, the reason is that after the New Year, their four old salesmen collectively resigned, and formed their own agency for a small brand of lubricating oil began to be sold in the region.
The first thing is to take the old customers of the same industry first, and in desperation, the peer recruited two layman salesmen with high salaries to join the customer war, and the layman to the insider, the result can be imagined.
It is understood that the peer spends tens of thousands of dollars every year to learn the company's operation and management, and as a result, 4 salesmen have become competitors, these phenomena and behaviors are indeed thought-provoking.
The person in charge of a well-known dealer in Zhengzhou Auto Parts Industrial Park shook his head helplessly when it came to the viscosity of the current store:
Originally, their business covered the whole of Henan Province, with nearly 5,000 cooperative stores, but the sales data for the second quarter of this year showed that there were less than 2,000 stores that could conduct normal business transactions, and the rest of the stores either closed down and disappeared, or there was no business and still digesting inventory, and most of them were pried away by other brands.
"I am also aware of the limitations of the current business, which can only provide products to stores without bringing other value, and more and more stores are asking for operational guidance (such as training, assistance, planning activities, etc.) other than products. This must be the experience faced by dealers who traditionally rely on product price difference or the uniqueness of channel resources, and it is imperative for dealers to transform into service providers. The person in charge said frankly.
The more difficult the market, the more important it is to think about business strategies.
From the perspective of the outside world, the market environment is difficult, and you can't change it; But from your own level, it is difficult because of your past series of business actions and behaviors that have produced the current negative results.
If we want to change the current difficult results, we must rethink the next series of business actions.
Second, the old business model is retreating, and the new business mode brings new opportunities
Why don't you be too anxious about the current situation of the aftermarket?
In addition to the fact that anxiety is useless, it is also because the market environment we are facing now has completely changed.
The result of the new change is that the old model will be phased out, and the new way will bring new opportunities.
Many stores and dealers have gained wealth and resources by making money and growing their business in the previous market conditions and environment.
In the same way, when the new market environment and market situation appear, it will inevitably eliminate some groups and achieve a group of practitioners.
First of all, the consumption pain points of the car owner are constantly being solved and optimized, and the consumer demand and psychology are constantly guided and upgraded.
It turns out that the pain points of car owners to maintain vehicles are long distance, high price, and long time, but now they basically don't exist; It turns out that the owner of the maintenance vehicle is either bound by the 4S store, or needs to look for a store on the street or even rely on a relationship to find a friend, and it depends on luck to find a reliable service store.
Nowadays, B2C, B2B2, community stores, chain stores, individual stores, where there are cars, there are auto service stores that provide services, I remember that the person in charge of a brand chain once said that in China, where there are cars, there are our chain stores, no false, the remote Kashgar of Xinjiang, and Lhasa, Tibet, have appeared in the chain.
The involution has brought about a decline in the price of various businesses, an increase in efficiency, and an upgrade in service.
In most cases, car owners no longer have to go all over the street to find a store to maintain their vehicles, but can choose a store without leaving home, and do not need to ask others to ask acquaintances to find favors, look at the evaluation and word of mouth, you can decide how the level and quality of the business is.
It turns out that a car may be a valuable wealth and status symbol of the family, many private old car owners of the first car for 10 years and 200,000 kilometers are very well maintained, from the new car decoration to maintenance, it is better to save money for a month without drinking to maintain the car, and the accessories and products used must be good or expensive.
Now many families have two, three or even more cars, the vehicle has become a means of transportation for the family, it is human nature to like the new and hate the old, and slowly, the status of the vehicle in a family is slowly reduced.
Especially after the epidemic, many people's lives have fallen into poverty, and there is no more money to use for vehicle maintenance, and the awareness of car owners is getting higher and higher, and the pursuit of cost performance is the first choice of car owners.
Therefore, the original car owner was passive consumption, but the current car owner is an active choice. Today's car owners are happy and picky.
Understand this, you know how to serve the current car owners, don't believe us to see how those super individuals and super organizations serve car owners.
Secondly, the business ideas and requirements of the store side have also undergone subversive changes.
In the past two years, emotional value and experiential scene consumption have become the mainstream of people's consumption.
Auto service stores are the same, in response to the changes in the pain points and needs of car owners, stores must also make corresponding business changes in order not to fall behind and not be abandoned by car owners.
In the past, we were the owner of the car asked us to do what we do, headache doctor, foot pain doctor, can not be replaced, the name of saving money for the car owner, this concept is not wrong, but also one of the main reasons for the car owner to trust the store at that time.
But let's think about how the 4S store did it at that time, and we even condemned people with indignation.
However, in recent years, with the development of the industry and the transparency of competition, as well as the improvement of the income level and cognition of car owners, the main thing is not to save money, but to feel at ease and value.
Therefore, who can provide "expert" advice to car owners, whether it is maintenance and repair, early prevention and cost performance, as long as it can show the value to car owners through various channels, such store business is generally not bad.
Finally, there has been a change on the supply side.
From the sinking market of manufacturers, dealer upgrade service providers can be seen.
In the past, the era of relying on channels and resources to do product price difference trade has passed, whether it is a big brand or a small manufacturer, whoever can occupy the terminal can increase sales, who has stickiness with customers, and who can have the right to speak in the competition.
In the early years, making a store sign for the store, supporting tooling and shelves, and even distributing goods could make the store a long-term partner.
In the past two years, the word "empowerment" has been infinitely amplified and applied, with franchise operation guidance in the past, in-store operation assistance in the back, and now there are hand-in-hand escort stores to operate. Demands are changing, and services need to be upgraded.
Therefore, with the old map, you can never find the new continent, you can never drink the new wine with the old bottle, and under the new aftermarket format, the old thinking and model are destined to make less and less money, and the new business philosophy and way will undertake more car owners' needs.
For these practitioners, it is necessary to discover changes in a timely manner, evaluate and analyze to make choices and judgments, especially dealers and stores cannot do everything they want to do, they need to think deeply and position clearly, what kind of value can we provide to customers.
Third, the mentality of practitioners under involution has undergone different changes
In the learning and communication with peers, I found that those store owners and operators who can empathize, be tolerant, honest, share and be positive and optimistic are not bad in business.
On the contrary, most of the peers who are self-centered, reluctant, wishful thinking, impatient, procrastinating at work, and even drilling horns to lift the bar for others are suffering from internal friction and survival.
The former either opens up the thinking and pattern, or realizes the trend.
They understand a truth, that is, in the past, personal struggle relied on poor resources and information, and diligence and courage could reap dividends; However, if you want to live well in excessive competition, you must have ideas and methods, which is to accept the changes in the industry, optimize your own shortcomings, focus on your own advantages, create your own business differentiation and value, and realize the transformation of auto service practitioners in the new retail era.
In their eyes, they can take the initiative to find and discover opportunities, pay attention to changes in the outside world at any time, compare their current situation, what the times need, what kind of auto service business they do, although there is pressure and anxiety, fatigue and helplessness and even resistance.
In them, they are able to embrace change, apply what they have learned and take the lead in practice or even long-term persistence. Such peers have reaped the results and tasted the sweetness. Therefore, they are active in the moment, and they are also moving forward.
The latter, to put it bluntly, are not on the same level as cognition and behavior, including ability and former, and even the former do not see them as competitors.
Because of limited resources, when everyone is grabbing customers, these people lie flat directly when they have no competitive advantage, and some people have also worked hard, learned, and even benefited, but the long-term involution makes them feel tired and helpless, and even pessimistic, so they simply don't toss, and they can do this business for as long as they can.
The economy is not as expected, the desire to consume is declining, and some peers are directly rotten, satisfied with the status quo and complaining to the outside world, although they are unwilling but unable to do anything.
A friend of the former peers is now reluctant to do business for him, and whenever he encounters a problem, he either complains about the customer, or blames the supplier, or complains about the bad environment or rejects the non-self behavior of his peers.
The owner of the car who went to his store to consume also came to the author's store, and the car owner mentioned the friend, "Did he never know that there are many homes besides his home that can repair my car", and the supplier who once cooperated with him said bluntly, "His thinking is too stubborn, he does not accept new things, always thinks about maximizing his profits, and always wants to take advantage of suppliers".
In the author's opinion, the friend has never considered facing and solving problems from his own subjective level, so his circle has become smaller and smaller in recent years.
Whether it is the former or the latter, we must always understand a truth, that is: what stores do we choose for the current business owners, we can buy and sell as you like, the operation needs to be standardized and perfected, value for value, resources for resources, without the former want the latter is becoming more and more impossible.
Fourth, it is easy to learn, it is difficult to land, it is easy to cooperate, and it is difficult to win-win
Up to now, I believe that there are few store owners who are unwilling to learn, because we often say that this line of work has to be done until the end of the day.
But what you learn and what you do after learning is very different from the perspective of everyone's business results.
If the owner of the auto service store wants to do a good job, he must learn from the craftsman to become an operator or a businessman, learn the store positioning, staff and customer management, learn the service process and standard building, learn the formulation of marketing plans and the optimization of drainage methods, etc., so that his store has more choice in front of customers.
These learning contents and ways are now very convenient, some people follow the trend and pretend to be very diligent, but after learning, they still go their own way, everything is as usual, and there is no result for no learning.
Some people have also learned, but they have learned too much, they have understood too much, and they are confused in the end, and they also want to do it, and they can do it.
Like, many store owners can lie under the car for hours, and they can't eat all day long, but they are unwilling to sit down and calm down and think about what they want to do now, what they can do, and they can do it.
What about suppliers or distributors?
In the past, it was more and more useless to sell products, send tooling, and deliver racks to earn the difference in the price of products.
Stores can cooperate, and sales represent value for suppliers, but not necessarily for stores.
First of all, there are cheaper than your price, there are those that maximize profits, there are those who send more materials than you, and there are even those who do not need money for the distribution of goods.
There is no shortage of products in this industry now, and there are many stores to choose from.
Therefore, many dealers have been working for many years, constantly losing old customers, constantly developing new customers, customers can not get value from you, even if they cooperate, they can not achieve a win-win situation.
On the other hand, when everyone can't bring more value to each other, even if the contract is signed, it can't be performed, and everyone actually understands this situation.
The first step in the transformation of a trade-based supplier is to become a service provider, shaping products and bringing added value.
From the delivery rack to the delivery of tooling to the delivery of solutions, send ideas; Transform from expected sales to send planning and goals. This is called the integration of supply and service.
The direction is clear now and beyond: empower stores, increase stickiness, provide value, or resources.
Fifth, make yourself competitive and valuable
With the exception of a few national chains, more than 90% of the store business is based in the local city. Based on the size of the team, service radius, business channels, etc., it is difficult to jump out of the circle of 3-5 kilometers around the store. There is no way to change the geographical environment in which it is located.
Therefore, store positioning and services must be distinctive in order to stand out, and compulsory value in order to make money. In a word, make your store competitive.
When I was recruiting a store manager, I deliberately added a requirement: I must have the ability to diagnose the pain points of store operation and implement the basic business requirements.
For example, our store owners can repair cars and work, but they also need to be able to find and find the pain points in the process of operating their stores, which are all requirements for store operators and internal strength.
For example, the environment is dirty and messy, work and life cannot be balanced, there is no idea and direction for self-management, there is no financial strength, there is no customer management, there is no service embodiment, etc.
Some store owners have active thinking and are prosperous externally, but internally they have no rules and requirements, and even compromise employees and bear silently alone.
There are also bosses who have strong learning ability and a very high level of paper talk, but they are often greatly discounted due to various factors when they are implemented, and the effect is very small. If the internal strength of the store operation is not firm, it will suffer from long-term and continuous internal friction.
Since the beginning of this year, many auto service stores have bypassed local dealers and chose to cooperate with manufacturers and upstream brands. I want to use a higher and bigger platform to lead myself out of the sea of suffering, and completely hope for my business on others.
The result? It's good to meet reliable manufacturers and brands, everyone comes up with ideas and ways together, and you can do it if you can't add value, you can do it, after all, business improvement is not achieved overnight.
However, there are still some stores that are already in danger, and some irresponsible personnel of the partner have made various inducements, and the store owner cooperates with others under the condition of taking it for granted.
People also want to make money, what money to make, you don't need to earn your franchise fees and brand usage fees, you don't need to earn your management training fees, but you want to sell goods, people want to make money in the supply chain, and there is nothing wrong with it.
But the store itself has no hematopoietic ability, just wait for the cooperation and you can make a profit, the time is short, but after a long time, all kinds of discordant situations will come out.
Because the store can't complete the task, the help is reduced, and because the store can't complete the task because the help is reduced, the task will be even more uncomplete. The two sides blamed each other, and the so-called cooperation was either shelved or not resolved.
There are also some stores that have found the direction, found the right resources, and their own transformation is not bad, using the support of manufacturers and brands, changing store decoration and upgrading, increasing projects to focus, learning and training teams, doing activities and marketing, looking at data for analysis, etc.
In the off-season, when everyone has no fighting spirit, they can still keep the base and do increments, which is a typical value-for-value.
The person in charge of a manufacturer said frankly in the exchange: our cooperative stores who place orders to help whom, who sells well to support whom, a store owner even said that he has been doing business for so many years by earning car owners money is a part, and a greater part is to earn rebates supported by operators and manufacturers.
Obviously, everyone is very realistic now, sending charcoal in the snow is a thing of the past, and the icing on the cake can achieve win-win cooperation.
In the automobile circle, if you want to make money, whether it is upstream or in the store, first make yourself valuable, and think about what value you can bring to the other party.
Write at the end
The development of the automotive aftermarket in the past ten years, for example, in Zhengzhou, has grown all the way because of the demographic economic dividend, store expansion dividend, product demand dividend, and vehicle condition demand dividend, and you can make money with technology, equipment, and venues.
But now, with the continuous development of new retail formats, diversification, decentralization, more and more, more and more volumes, the original value of auto service people is constantly being diluted or even replaced.
Price wars, online shocks, vendor sinking, and business diversion have become more and more common.
As the information gap gets smaller and smaller, the competition for the stock of demand will make our profits less and less.
If you don't believe us, we calculate our own accounts, and in our daily operations, if we don't pay attention to it, we won't make money, and then we will do fake business.
The second half of the year began: survive and surpass peers; Go out and open the survival radius.
When we are confused about the present, we are often less likely to find the answer when we look inward, but will fall into more involution; Looking outward, looking at the excellent thinking and practice outside may bring you different inspiration and thinking, and even change your present.
Deeply understand the words of the founder of a brand before leaving: We defeated all our opponents, but we lost to this era, and when the trend abandons you, we won't even say goodbye.