2011: Product Channel Differentiation (Phase 1)
PRODUCT CHANNEL DIFFERENTIATION – Phase 1: Heavy Duty Professional Service Equipment
Executive on Demand Position:
President, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President Sales and Marketing, General Manager, Vice President Market Research
Project Outline:
The automotive service repair market presents a unique challenge when distributing products. Due to the high proliferation of National organizations and local mom and pop repair outlets, it is a known fact that competing service repair locations will not purchase the same products or equipment from the same suppliers unless there is some way to differentiate the product and/or service. The project outline focused on developing as many variations of a drive-ability service program in order to capture as many distributors and service repair facilities into using the company’s program within a market while ensuring that each had a differentiating feature to avoid direct comparison by their customers.
The project development strategy is to capitalize on as many market segments as possible. For this reason the strategy is divided into three distinct phases in order to optimize service equipment and related product sales to each of the following segments:
- Phase 1: Provincial and National based automotive service repair outlets and new vehicle dealerships
- Phase 2: Independent single location mom and pop service repair locations
- Phase 3: Do-it-Yourself/Shade Tree Mechanic
Phase 1 – Project Outcome:
The more options created the better the opportunity of selling to all of the service locations. The client had a product that was designed to remove carbon deposits that build up inside an engine. The product was packaged two different ways. The first was packaged in a pour bottle and the second format was dispensed using an aerosol can with a regular spray actuator. Both product were designed to be administered to an engine through the carburetor. Unfortunately, carburetors became a fuel management system of the past and was no longer available as a standard production feature after the mid 70′s.
For the next 20 years a simple vacuum draw tool was developed and used to administer the carbon deposit remover. Due to its simplicity the tool and the service was commoditized thus preventing once again to deliver a service tool and service cleaning chemical that could be sold to all locations. A thorough review of the evolving fuel management systems provided an opportunity to reverse this trend. Fuel management systems migrated from the simple carburetor, to the simple throttle body fuel injection system (TBI), to the electronic ported fuel injection (EFI) and most recently to a technology referred to as direct injection (DI). The sophistication of the systems enhanced the fuel delivery to an engine, reduced emission released and improved fuel economy however for a variety of technological reasons each are plagues with carbon and intake system deposit build-up that is different for each of the systems. Discovering this created the opportunity to develop a variety of service maintenance chemicals to clean the varying deposits created using several different equipment option – alas, creating differentiation once again and an opportunity to sell equipment and products to all distributors and service locations in all markets at the same time. The service maintenance program developed is offered in the following formats to ensure that distributors could sell to all service repair locations (cross-corner) and avoid pricing comparisons.
- Professional engine service kit in a box (No Service Equipment Needed) designed specifically for sale at automotive service repair facilities. The box includes the specialized tool to administer the carbon deposit cleaning product as well as an aerosol can of air intake cleaner and a bottle of fuel system cleaner
- Professional engine service kit in a box (Service Equipment Required) designed specifically for sale at automotive service repair facilities. The box kit includes a bottle (fitted to attach directly to service equipment)
of carbon deposit cleaner, an aerosol can of air intake cleaner and a bottle of fuel system cleaner - Quick-Lube engine service kit in a box (No Service Equipment Needed) designed specifically to meet the time constraints for delivering quick service. The box includes the specialized tool to administer the carbon deposit cleaner as well as a bottle of fuel system cleaner and a bottle of engine sludge dis-solver/remover.
- Quick-Lube engine service kit in a box (Service Equipment Required) designed specifically to meet the time constraints for delivering quick service. The box includes a bottle (fitted to attach directly to the service equipment) of carbon deposit cleaner as well as a bottle of fuel system cleaner and a bottle of sludge dis-solver/remover.
- Updated the carbon deposit service equipment to provide an improved cleaning service based on the different types of fuel management systems installed on modern day vehicles. A pressure canister to spray the carbon deposit cleaner into an engine was added as an updated service tool
- Added a new pressurized air intake cleaning tool added to the service equipment offering to deliver a new service offering in the service repair market – added a new drive-ability service kit (combines carbon deposit removal and air intake cleaning services in one service tool)
For a sample catalogue sheet click “Channel Differentiation”