Time Well Spent at Gaydon

The fourth annual CAAR Members Trade Show was once again held at the Gaydon Heritage Centre on June 16^th/17^th. Recent further mega polarisation in the motor industry, such as Unipart/Partco and Ford/Kwik-Fit, only serves to accentuate the need for independents to operate as a group of some sort.

But it also highlights the advantage that linked groups of independents offer component and accessory manufacturer/branders. They provide a focussed but still largely independent balance to their o.e. and national distributor customers They provide an on-going opportunity for promoting products under the manufacturer’s brand rather than becoming a product sub-contractor to a house brand. And they enable the building of personnel relationship with influential owners smaller businesses, motivated to buy their product competitively by the buying group operators.

Time Well Spent

Prior to the Gaydon event, approved suppliers and the CAAR Head Office team informed members about the trade show offers available – beating the bushes to get companies out in the open. But although the offers appeared to be working well as a motivator of business from those members attending – the number of visiting retailers was marginally down on the previous year.

In fact it looked less than it was, because the spread of visitors was more even during the two-day show, which was open for longer hours. Most suppliers view the cost of attending the show as justified by meeting new customers. Too many visitors in the aisles can result in lost opportunities for those manning stands so a lower turn out was not necessarily seen as a negative, because it allowed stand staff to spend more time with those retailers visiting their stands. A drip feed of stand visitors is certainly more manageable. Those attending were invited CAAR members and in the main committed to spend and find new lines, so suppliers felt face-to-face stand contact was time well spent, and less time will be spent chasing up ‘loose’ leads not fully cemented at Gaydon.

Several reasons were thought to be behind the marginally lower overall attendance. Leaner businesses staff-wise, hot weather, CAAR being more established with improved regular communication between suppliers and members now extremely comprehensive. Information dispersal is very efficient on a regular basis so anyone looking for self-justification not to attend a trade show need not look to hard.

But the main reason was thought to be the current spate of doom and gloom pervading the trade. It creates apathy. Business owners felt they could not justify leaving their premises. They felt it far more profitable, and possibly more acceptable to other staff who might see Gaydon as a jolly, to remain at the helm – even if they were gazing at an empty store.

Keeping up with Trends, Gossip and Issues

Peaks and troughs have always been a part of our industry. And those attending Gaydon took the apposing view. A slack time is the ideal time to visit shows. Looking for new opportunities to change things. Getting the views of other people. And Gaydon is an easy show for a visitor to walk because the 60 exhibitors are in a small area. If you can’t afford a full day then just a couple of hours will see you in contact with your target stands. Nick Maher of Race Dynamics in Andover puts visiting shows at the top of his priority list. It enables him to keep up with trends and place orders early enough to be the first in town with stock. Buying on show deals is another useful addition to his bottom line.

Amongst the new item on show at Gaydon was a shortly to be introduced CAAR range of personalise POS items and full coloured posters promoting specific products. Although posters have been available from CAAR for some time, the full colour option and the POS are both new - with short runs of POS available including individual member corporate identity. It’s something members have asked for – as is the new and very professional, full colour, performance catalogue called Performance Driver. This comprises of much more than performance items within its 80 pages and Martin Penny reports a big take-up after the show. Elaine Beckton is the lady behind these developments.

Visiting shows also helps you keep up with staff changes at suppliers as they re-structure after acquisitions. Even CAAR is seeing changes and is currently looking for a Business Development Officer to help grow the business and profits of individual members as well as the value of CAAR to its suppliers.

Keeping up with industry gossip and topics is another reason for visiting shows. One topic this time was the ending of leaded petrol. If petrol companies finally decide on a name for it, they will most likely put a lead replacement petrol pump on many forecourts. But the volume pumped will be low per fill, per pump and in total, so it will probably carry a premium price. If so, leaded petrol plus an additive might be cheaper (Honda is already recommending it as an option) and more convenient for owners of older cars, and anyway most likely not all forecourts will have a pump.

Except for owners of classics, price is an issue so there could still be a real opportunity to market additives. After the introduction of lead replacement fuel in Sweden, valve burn increased 500%, so even those using the stuff could need the extra support of mother’s little helper in the can or bottle. However, the different compounds and chemicals used to make the different brands need explaining. Some cannot be mixed, so counter staff knowledge and communications skills are paramount.

An interesting item on display and available for road testing at Gaydon was the motorised scooter called Mo-Board distributed by Polco. It could be the new skate-board craze. It certainly has applications in big factories, racetrack pit transport or large buildings like airports. I can already visualise the AP&A Mo-Board World Championships at Brands Hatch.

Visiting Shows not a Peripheral Activity

As far as we could tell all members visiting the show thought it was great. Certainly, the quality of the trade stands has improved over the years. Asking suppliers how was it for you produced the usual range of comments from OK to superb. For example Phil Goldstone of Tomic made contact with some potentially big distributors and Barry Bell of Federal Mogul Aftermarket (in this case that’s Champion to you and me) was very pleased with his two-day’s work. Again the feed back after the show indicates many stands taking more orders than in previous years.

Attending trade shows should not be seen as a peripheral activity. Yes the social events around the CAAR show reflect Martin and Penny Denny’s creed that it must be fun as well. What’s wrong with that? But that does not mean you judge it as a ‘jolly’.

Remember that retail customers visit retail motor outlets for information as well as product. Increasingly its information first as cars become more complex. Going to trade shows is about gaining that information as well as buying. (8/99)