Technology within the automotive industry – from the manufacturer to the repairer, from the workshop to the showroom – continues to develop at lightning, even frightening, speed.

Sometimes, it is worth looking back, even just a few years, to see how far things have come.

If we focus just on the interaction between the consumer and the service provider, for example, the change that technology has brought about has been astounding.

Back in 2002 – only 17 years ago – there was no LinkedIn (launched in 2003), no Facebook (2004), no YouTube (2005), no Twitter (2006), and no Instagram (2010). Go back a further 12 years to 1990 and there wasn’t even a World Wide Web – that didn’t debut until 1991.

In just 28 years then, the online environment has grown to such a degree that it has seen a quite staggering change in the way we lead our lives, our interactions with each other and, of course, in the way business is done. The landscape for engagement between business and consumer has been altered so completely that today, to not have a website or a presence on social media is to cripple your business prospects and make life a great deal harder than it should be.

Of course, technology is constantly evolving, and new and inventive ideas, as well as developments of proven concepts, come along all the time, challenging the status quo and promising even more ways for businesses to attract customers and increase profits.

Keeping across all of these developments is vitally important and today, one of those developments that is increasingly prominent is the third-party booking platform.

The following article, written by, and the opinion of, Craig Baills of Highfields Mechanical near Toowoomba, takes a look at third-party booking platforms from the perspective of a veteran industry professional.

Industry Awareness: Third-Party Booking Platforms
By Craig Baills

‘Our industry is awesome, and changing at a rapid pace, quicker than we have ever seen. If you are like me, you will share a strong passion for our trade, the cars, the customers and the satisfaction that our set of unique skills can achieve.

Keeping up with this change and being aware of the future is something we dare not fall asleep on.

Let’s talk third-party booking platforms. Love them or hate them, agree or disagree, these platforms exist.

What are they? Similar to the hotel, airline and insurance industry online booking websites, we are seeing similar platforms take aim at our industry. As the name suggests ,and with reference to our industry, a third-party booking platform is an agency that signs workshops up to supply you with customers that book online through the agency. This process gives the consumer the option of booking the vehicles online, at their convenience and the ability to select the workshop and advertised price of service that suits their requirements and finances.

Sounds pretty easy if you are the customer and seems reasonably attractive if you are the workshop – extra work, no effort on your part.

Through this article I want to explain the pros and cons of these sites and how it may affect your business and our industry.

Pros – these booking portals will do the following:

1. Sign your business up and allow you access to their website and marketing programs
2. Reach a large volume of customers in your area and hopefully bring work through your door
3. Allow you to individually quote customer enquiries
4. Allow the client to leave a review on your business on the booking platforms site

Cons:

1. Set your pricing and advertise it to the consumer along with the advertised price of other local workshops in your area that are part of the platform, essentially driving prices down
2. Charge monthly subscriptions and commission fees that are a percentage of the sale and eat into your already depleted profit margins
3. Collect and keep your client’s data
4. Take over any google ranking that you may have established on various Search engines
5. Educate your customer to shop for the cheapest price

These are the basic pros and cons of these platforms, and it is up to the individual workshops to become more aware of how they may or may not benefit your business and our industry.

I am a massive advocate for the future of our industry, 10 years and beyond, to keep it profitable, productive, educated and sustainable. As part of this column, I want you to consider the same.

1. Are these platforms going to help our industry in the next 10 years and if so how?\
2. Will they monopolise how our customers find a workshop and dictate the price at which they purchase from you?
3. Will they overcome your online presence taking your business out of play on google searches?
4. Will these platforms improve our hourly charge out rate or will they drive it down?\
5. Will they help us in attracting new blood to our industry or will the wage rate remain so low that they continue to go elsewhere.
6. What happens with yours and your customers’ data and information once signed up to the platform?
7. What will the customers’ expectations on pricing become?

There are many opinions floating around on all the above. One thing is certain though, we all need to become very well educated on what these platforms may or may not bring to the industry. Do they have the industry at heart or their own back pockets? Do they care about your business or do they care about making money from your business? Have you fully read and understood all their terms and conditions?

Before committing to any of these booking platforms, ask yourself the questions above and think about the future. When you google search your business, do you want to see your business on the front page of google where you have already spent your hard-earned cash on SEO or do you want to see the booking agency take over your position?

Once booking agencies gain traction and become the “go to” for online enquiries, have you then lost your edge, the uniqueness that you have worked so hard to develop and quite possibly entered a race to the bottom that is endless?

With any new changes that are coming our way, big or small consider how it effects Your Future, Your Business and Our Industry. Look for long-term solutions that enhance your business profits, position and sustainability. Ask questions, seek advice and don’t fall victim to short term propaganda’

Here’s to a great future.’

MTA Queensland is focusing on helping industry adapt to disruption

There is no doubt that the automotive industry is in the midst of profound change. Things will look very different in just a few short years, and much of that change will be the result not only of technological development but of consumer demand. An example – manufacturers are investing billions in developing electric vehicles and autonomous technology not just because they believe them to be environmentally responsible or a way to make travelling safer, but because they know there is a market for them. The consumer is king.

As a consequence, all the downstream industry sectors – including mechanical workshops, auto-electricians, dealerships, panel beaters and tyre retailers – will have to learn, engage, evolve and adapt to the new and challenging landscape.

MTA Queensland has been alert to these challenges for some time – the development of the MTAiQ Innovation Hub and events such as the Carmageddon forums are testament to that – and helping industry adapt to the disruption is at the core of the Association’s mission.

The challenge to the status quo presented by third-party booking platforms are a part of that mission, though it must be noted that many users of these platforms, including auto industry platforms, are positive about their experience with them and the benefits they can provide.

“There is one certainty for all of us and that is the scale and rate of change facing us will be exponential,” said Dr Brett Dale, CEO of MTA Queensland.

“Our challenge as the industry body is to contemplate those changes and understand the pros and cons of the technology and pending change.

“At times, our industry has been considered anti-competitive and recognised as challenging new approaches on the basis of their threat to business.

“To some degree, that is our job as an industrial organisation for employers. But we are at a time where much of the change coming is driven by consumer behaviour. We know that technology is the ‘how’ of disruption, but we must remember that consumers are the ‘why’ of disruption and, most importantly, that they drive demand.

“On that basis alone, we cannot turn our backs on consumer expectation and technological change.

“Certainly, third-party platforms are a big part of that change. They operate in most other industries and consumers have become accustomed to investigating, purchasing and rating businesses through consumer-facing third-party platforms.

“I have personally received feedback noting both positive and negative experiences from businesses using third-party platforms.

“My challenge is to learn and stay close to the development of the technology and keep industry abreast of the opportunities and threats.

“The positive aspects of change are very easy to promote and attract awareness, whereas the negative impacts require considered and strategic solutions that respect and balance consumer choice with business viability.

“The establishment of the MTAiQ Innovation Hub was for that very purpose – we want to be able to lead innovation and provide industry solutions that respect the business trading environment whilst recognising the changing needs of consumers.

“We are committed to working with industry to ensure they remain informed and that when they are challenged, we can collaborate to develop solutions that will help navigate the disruption most effectively.

“The technology is here. Our challenge is to make it work for industry. Does that mean competition for the third-party platform providers, competing for consumer choice on things other than price? I’m not sure at the moment, but I am convinced that these challenges will drive creativity that will lead to innovative solutions and with time and resources the existing threat will diminish, and business will prosper from evolving approaches and competitive technology.”

Source: Motor Trader E-Magazine (Mar 2019 Edition)

9 Mar 2019