The WiseGuy
I was having a beer with a WiseGuy (not Geoff) who has expertise in business management and marketing. The topic of the discussion was “how do you solve the collision repair industry dilemma?” After we kicked it around and decided what the dilemma was, he said he would get back to me.
So a few days later this is what The WiseGuy emailed me:
1. I would establish a hybrid marketing company to sign up 500 panel shops around the country and they each pay instalments of $1,000 per month for 24 months to purchase 24 shares in the company. This makes the programme affordable for all, and puts everyone on the same status as shareholders.
2. In the first three months the company would enter into agreements to licence a branded trading name to all its shareholders for a particular territory. Additionally it would also licence towing operators, a range of mechanical workshops, various specialty repairers such as reconditioners and radiator shops, dismantlers and parts delivery guys to use the trade name in a territory.
3. A web-based specialist logistics solution is developed. Essentially it is in the format of a club that provides a range of benefits to its members.
4. A partners’ programme is established with some cornerstone organisations that pay dividends back to the company based on the level of support given by the members. This partner group would comprise of a bank, a finance company, a petroleum company, a vehicle tracking company, a leasing company, and a captive insurance company.
5. When the brand has a kitty of $1m it kicks off a massive promotional launch with a guerrilla marketing campaign aiming for a minimum of 250,000 vehicles registered within three months.
This from a mix of private and commercial owners, with a target of 1-million vehicles registered in the first 12 months of operation, each paying the equivalent of $5 per month per vehicle as a membership fee.
6. The Club operates as a virtual community run by a CEO with the support of a CFO, BDM (Business Development Manager), and a marketing manager reporting to a board of directors to provide high level oversight. At its centre is a cluster of businesses that salvages and repairs or services vehicles, and runs a central billing and payments system managed by the bank. It has a strong focus on recycling waste products.
It has its own disputes functionality, and operates a repair quality workmanship guarantee programme just like the master builders. It has a motor vehicle trader licence which it uses for the benefits of its members, who can trade, buy or sell utilising a specialised web-based marketing solution for new and used.
Finance is available to all members on very competitive rates; however any considered risky must pay the additional cost of having a tracking system installed so that it can be shut down until outstanding credit issues can be resolved. If they can't resolve it the vehicle is recovered and sold as it cannot be hidden by the owner.
7. Initially it operates as a private marketing company with a diverse range of shareholder members who have no voting rights, but after three years trading it does an IPO and launches on the NZ Stock Exchange.
8. The panel shops that were the initial shareholders and investors could choose to sell their shares at this point, but few would choose this option as they would be operating very profitably on referral business generated from the membership base and the quarterly dividends from the diverse group trading operations. This would be substantially more than just the margin on parts and small profit of labour charges from their own turnover as at present.
On receiving this comprehensive and what looks like a very cunning plan, I asked the obvious question... what becomes of those left outside the club?
He smiled and said: "Finally there would be a powerhouse alternative to the status quo with an estimated collective trading turnover of around $1.5 billion and a solid membership base that would benefit from a reduction in the costs of owning and operating vehicles. The smart ones would jump at the opportunity to become involved any way they could as early as possible. The rest would continue to think they are the centre of the universe until one day they noticed the winds of change!"
Clearly this would be an ambitious project that could quite possibly resolve the dilemmas faced by many as business conditions prove to become more challenging by the year. So what do you think? Is this WiseGuy a mad foolish dreamer or is he onto something?
Email me with your comments: peter179@me.com