On Tuesday 16 July, we held our inaugural Motify Partner Conference at the Bryanston Country Club in Johannesburg. The theme, ‘Revolutionise Your Dealership’ resonated with many of our valued partners as they travelled far and wide to connect, learn and grow the automotive industry.
The conference was a testament to Motify’s dedication to transform service delivery in this fast-growing customer-driven sector. We are proud of our team’s tremendous effort to organise an event that unfurled into a platform for us to come together, share knowledge, and strengthen our community.
Adaptability and resilience were conference keywords and we were honoured to have author and master storyteller, Joey Evans share his journey of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds in his quest to finish the 2017 Dakar Rally. In his keynote speech Joey reminded us how important it is to take risks guided by a clear vision and bolstered by teamwork and positive self-talk.
If you missed this year’s conference, read on for some of our incredible speakers’ insights to revolutionise your dealership:
Julie Caldicott | Motify
The Future of the Dealership
Apple CEO Steve Jobs once commented: ‘You’ve got to start with the customer experience and move backwards to the technology.’
In her opening talk our own visionary MD, Julie Caldicott, reminded us that in our industry, the most successful automotive dealerships live out Jobs’ words by putting customers first. They do this by integrating omnichannel strategies that blend physical and digital interactions where customers are treated to a personalised experience across all touchpoints and are firmly in control.
This digital approach offers customers much greater flexibility than they had before, as they switch between online research, virtual consultations, and in-person visits. The results speak for themselves: with more engaged and satisfied customers, dealerships are also more efficient and competitive.
Renè McGregor | Insight Consulting
How Critical Data is Today
Renè McGregor from Insight Consulting provided us with useful insights to embrace BI and highlighted the critical role of data. Central to this is maintaining “one version of the truth”, where a single source of data eliminates silos and instead creates seamless integration across all operations.
For managers to make informed decisions and ensure that the right data is placed in the hands of the right people, data must be of the highest quality, achieved through meticulous cleaning processes.
Renè also emphasised the 80/20 rule – spending 80% of efforts on analysis and only 20% on collation and collection – maximising efficiency and insights derived from data.
Steve Meadows | Pinewood Technologies
Pinewood DMS
It’s always exciting to see an upgraded software solution demo, and our expert line-up didn’t disappoint. During our conference, Steve Meadows gave attendees an exclusive sneak peek into the Next Generation Platform for Pinewood DMS, emphasising the importance of Pinewood’s users, acknowledging their crucial role in shaping and enhancing the system.
Steve also shared a brief review of Pinewood’s recent developments, highlighting significant changes in business structure and strategy over the past six months which has allowed Pinewood to redirect its focus from generating profits for car dealerships to investing in future innovations, products, and people.
In addition, Steve highlighted the importance of cybersecurity, citing recent significant events in the DMS industry, including a major data breach that affected numerous motor dealers. He underscored Pinewood’s rigorous security measures, including penetration testing and certifications, to protect client data and ensure system reliability.
Watch this space for further announcements.
Shateeaum Sewpaul | Excelerate Consulting
Digital Transformation
Have you heard of VUCA? Shateeaum Sewpaul from Excelerate Consulting introduced us to the acronym short for ‘volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity’. With emerging technologies constantly shaping business operations, Shateeaum brought the moving parts into focus to give managers some much-needed perspective on how to shift into top gear.
Shateeaum emphasised that digital transformation isn’t merely about technology – it’s also about people and processes. And transformation should be included as the most important strategy, with customers at its core. Change management is no simple task, requiring managers to deeply understand the business’s value chains to implement a successful strategy.
Once again, customer centricity played a key role in this presentation, with innovation, data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement the driving forces.
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We’re so grateful for the participation and engagement of all attendees. Let’s revolutionise the automotive industry together!
