June 27, 2011
Coping with change: It seems fast isn't fast enough anymore
'Turbulent' is now the new 'calm' for tire dealers
By: Wayne Williams
I’ve always admired how a cartoonist can say so much with a few images and a couple of captions. I remember years ago reading the comic strip Garfield — you know him, he’s the chubby, orange cat that is always questioning why things don’t seem to work out well in his world. In this particular comic strip, Garfield sat with this puzzled look on his face, and it read, “Just when I finally figure out where it’s at, somebody moves it.”
Garfield hit the nail on the head; things are moving. It’s not easy to figure out where it’s going, and keeping up with change is ever more challenging.
It’s indisputable, change is accelerating. As I wrote in an article last year, even the speed of change is changing, not only faster and faster, but wider and wider. The magnitude of change and the consequences of change are significant. Wrong decisions have more severe consequences than ever.
Today, many decisions feel more urgent, more complicated, and require immediate attention.
Going digital or giving up?
Please don’t think I’m trying to create some hysteria.
Last week I visited an independent tire dealer in Southern California at the dealer’s request. He was seeking advice. He’s contemplating what he considers significant changes in his marketing direction. He is, by default, being forced to make some changes (usually not a good position).
He knows the basic direction he needs to pursue; he has to go digital. He has no Web site. He has no relevant digital presence. He openly admits he has not acted, and that decision alone has adversely affected his business. He pointed to competitors in the area that are gaining on him. He is losing business.
In days gone by, in the “Yellow Pages days,” he could get away with not changing his ad for a few years as long as the phone number and address were correct. Today, he can’t wait. He has to act now. He’s got the best-looking ad where returns are diminishing and is completely invisible where the opportunities lay.
This is an oversimplification, but it’s not like the Internet was turned on last week. The consequences of not acting prudently or quickly are lasting. He may never recover the lost business.
The hardest reality beyond the speed and pace of change is the unrelenting, unending march. There is no rest. Right behind turbulent change, more change rages. Change is unyielding, moving violently and with intensity. This can be either wearying or energizing, or both wearying and energizing.
If we are waiting for change to slow or yield, we are kidding ourselves. The changes over the last few decades have produced a hardened, battle-ready group of product and service providers; they are known as “independent tire dealers.”
The changes we face work in favor of the independent tire dealer when change is addressed prudently, aggressively, strategically and with purpose.
I have two pieces of advice this month: Go more digital, and become more professional.
Number one: Go BIG digital. Abandon old, large, Yellow Pages ads. Abandon old advertising that only returns marginal results. Invest in the future, and the future is digital.
Number two: Become more professional. Not just a little more professional. Think quantum leap. If customers in your area want faster service, give them faster service — fast. If they want WiFi, give ’em WiFi. Get rid of the old coffee pot and step it up. Look around, shop the competition, step up your game!
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