After greater than 90 years serving clients in small-town Nova Scotia, a dealership group that’s desirous to develop has enlisted assist from outdoors the auto business to engineer its aggressive growth plans.
Bruce Automotive Group has developed a progress technique with a purpose of increasing to 30 dealerships from the present eight inside 10 years. The plan was crafted by Bruce executives working with Georges Haddad, a Montreal-based facilitator of the Entrepreneurial Working System (EOS).
The mannequin focuses on enterprise efficiency and makes no declare of experience in automotive retailing, stated Jen-Philippe “JP” Martel, govt vice-president at Bruce Automotive Group. “We needed to have somebody who is aware of extra about operating a enterprise quite than operating a dealership,” stated Martel, who got here to Bruce from the hospitality business. “We wish to develop extensively within the subsequent few years, and we needed somebody from the skin” to form the plan. “We additionally didn’t wish to lose that household really feel, that tradition we’ve labored so arduous to construct up.”
Bruce Automotive’s roots return to 1995, when Les Barker purchased a Pontiac dealership in Middleton, N.S., within the scenic and rural Annapolis Valley, 150 kilometres west of Halifax.
When Basic Motors eradicated Pontiac, Barker rebranded the outlet to Bruce Chevrolet-Buick-GMC, fashioned a dealership group and over a number of years added three shops. Then Les’s son Justin Barker — the group’s president — acquired 4 extra shops between 2017 and 2020. The group now sells Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Hyundai autos.
GET BIG, ACT SMALL
The senior group noticed the potential for the corporate “to show right into a a lot bigger factor,” stated Martel. A building firm that had used EOS advisable it to Barker, and the planning work started early in 2020.
Preliminary conferences have been between EOS facilitator Haddad and Justin Barker in addition to Bruce Automotive Group’s three vice-presidents.
The group went by way of a “soul-searching expertise” to establish its 4 core values — moral behaviour, innovation, synergy and audacity — after which articulate a transparent mission assertion. The Bruce group beforehand had a way of mission, Martel stated, “however it wasn’t actually identified by workers.”
Then the dealership group started documenting core processes, comparable to gross sales, service, advertising and marketing and accounting. Having these processes documented offers reference materials that can be utilized to coach new staff in these areas. EOS additionally helped decide methods to get the “proper folks in the fitting seats” because the group grows.
After further conferences with the workers on the eight dealerships, the group settled on the 30-dealership growth purpose.
“It’s to not say that we are going to cease after 30 shops,” stated Martel, however that a lot growth would imply the group must look past Nova Scotia for acquisition targets.
Bigger dealership teams have a number of benefits, he stated.
“With each retailer we purchase, we study new finest practices and acquire nice expertise that helps us get higher at what we do, which interprets into higher customer support.” Having extra shops in additional markets additionally offers higher market information, he stated, which may gasoline further enterprise potentialities.
‘BUILD TRUE STORIES’
Like many companies, Bruce Automotive Group has had blended outcomes with earlier planning initiatives, Martel stated.
To persuade staff that the EOS planning was not simply one other “flavour of the month,” executives had dealership basic managers hammer dwelling key messages at each workers assembly.
Posters of the corporate’s core values have been put in high-profile places comparable to lunchrooms, and real-life examples of success have been retold.
“That’s the factor,” stated Martel. “In case you can construct true tales, then they’ll have actual influence.”
With EOS, Haddad checks in with the group quarterly to make sure it stays centered on its targets. Particular person managers additionally set “rocks” — primarily particular person targets for every quarter. Martel’s present rock is to create an omnichannel course of for Bruce’s used-vehicle stock.
Trying outdoors of 1’s personal business is a “sensible transfer,” stated Robert Karwel, senior supervisor of J.D. Energy’s automotive apply in Canada.
“You at all times wish to take a look at finest practices and benchmarking in any business.” Trying outdoors auto retailing “makes certain we’re not too insular,” he stated.
“That’s to not say the findings might be any completely different — though they may very well be completely different — however it’s a test.”
The true worth in having a third-party facilitator is the power to view the enterprise from the “30,000-foot stage,” Martel stated. “It helps the underside line by including construction, self-discipline and readability to what you do each day,” he stated. “That’s what we have been missing.”