1.What trends are shaping the coming times in the business world?
First of all, the enormous importance of anticipation: essentially new capabilities in the form of anticipating factors that impact the functioning of our market, and that lead us to be more attentive to what is happening around our business, so that we can act increasingly in a proactive and less reactive practice, avoiding losing opportunities (to the competition, for example) that would be crucial to maintain or grow the future of the company.
Secondly, the power of technology that allows us to accelerate what we do well, from a competitiveness perspective, but it also has the flip side, in making many businesses obsolete more quickly.
2. Being technology today an indispensable tool for marketing, what concrete benefits does it bring to companies?
Technology is an accelerator of innovation and process improvement, making business operations more efficient, something that if not done internally, most likely those competing with our company will do.
At the same level of transformation, technology is today an instrument of value creation in what distinguishes our business in the market. Combining technology – taking digitalization as an example – with many ongoing practices will allow us to identify improvements and create new solutions that enhance what we are offering to our customers, whether in service development, commercial relationships, or collaboration with all our partners and suppliers.
People have come to have a central role in the organization, where increasing efforts are made to humanize the management process as well as the organizations themselves.
3.Considering that most companies in the aftermarket are small and without a permanent marketing function, what marketing strategies can be implemented in this context?
These companies must focus very strictly on their market, no matter how small it may be, and look not only at communication and advertising – marketing is much more than this aspect – but at what my business offers in terms of differentiation:
Those who do this exercise with a vision aligned with their business are thinking strategically and are in a position to consider the next steps in the operation and future developments.
The size of the company is not the main obstacle in this dynamic, but the will, ambition, and mindset of professionals, managers, or directors in wanting to make a difference and achieve something more through their businesses, fostering a thought oriented to the whole reality.
4. Looking at the diversity of technologies today at the service of marketing, it is equally important to know how to use the tools in the best way?
The most relevant thing is to understand where we are in our business and, with that, realize what our technological needs are. This is the rationale, because only by evaluating the weak points and determining from this baseline where we can improve or increase our offer, will it make sense to go to the market to select this or that tool to "connect" to our business.
5. Which marketink best practices can be adopted by automotive aftersales companies?
First of all (and reinforcing an earlier point), know who our customers are. Segmentation is key.
Understand also who our competitors are. If we are not continuously thinking about a differentiating proposal and continue to provide exactly the same service as the “company across the street,” probably in the very short term, either this company or ours will be redundant, because the market will always prefer the most convenient service, translated into an attribute that stands out from other offers.
6. At the level of knowledge production, to what extent does thereportingis also a factor of importance in business information?
Thereportingin marketing it is a crucial photograph to assess "where we are and where we are going". This photograph allows us to do what we mentioned at the beginning: anticipate strategies and concrete actions about our business, taking into account what is happening in our market and its surroundings. Today it is possible to create knowledge at a more recurring cadence and on a very granular and detailed level about different aspects of the company.
7.Why should companies invest in marketing and what return exists in its allocation to business dynamics?
Because this area is perhaps, within the business environment, the one that channels the most technology into companies, this instrument has become fundamental for evaluating and understanding the market within the strategic purpose we mentioned. And therefore, all of this represents and feeds a permanent mindset of innovation and value creation, which must exist in companies that want to anticipate trends and position themselves in the best possible way in the face of future opportunities.
In turn, the marketing effort is measured through its contribution to the business, introducing new ideas for creating products and services (locally or in other geographies); new practices for attracting and acquiring customers; more effective means of distribution and commercial relations, making a difference in sales cycles and in determining their profitability.
8.Should marketing be transversal to all people in the organization?
Yes, because if it is focused, from a strategic point of view, only on one person, there is a greater effort in the transfer of knowledge and marketing ideas that can enhance new business opportunities.
Having an integration and alignment of this vision, and above all this mindset, we will have the whole company "looking in the same direction" in a collaborative effort to think and do marketing, even in more central or traditional functions, in the relationship with suppliers, etc.
The traditional practice of "isolating" marketing in one person or "departmentalizing" its function, nowadays results in a considerable loss of resources and joint dynamics, precisely because of the capabilities and competencies that this area has gained in its evolution.
IN SUMMARY
It was clear that, regardless of the size of the company, the importance of a marketing strategy and its application, finding formats that are the most appropriate – in the company's positioning and its differentiation – will allow the business to gain value, bringing not only the expected results but also reaching new opportunities through the anticipation of trends and future practices.
