Assessment Implementation Marketing

Dealership Assessments are conducted by a team of at least two assessors from Green Dealer Support (GDS) and require about 8 hours in the dealership. The team generally begins and ends with a management team meetings.

Prior to the agreed upon Dealership Assessment date the General Manager will be asked to complete a brief on-line questionnaire that will be used by the GDS assessor to prepare for the assessment.

The Dealership Assessment consists of the GDS assessment team touring the dealership and meeting with department managers. Together they will be identifying activities or systems within that department that are either:

1. Current “Green”
2. Not “Green”

In addition during this time spent with managers discussion will begin that include potential opportunities to become “green” and how the manager envisions that happening.

Also during that tour photos will be taken to identify green activities or conversely non green items or activities.

During the Dealership Assessment conclusion meeting the following will be presented:

1. A list of those items, areas or activities that are currently “green”
2. The entire list of “opportunities” that were identified
3. A shorter list of “opportunities” that may become the first priorities for the dealership
4. Details of the Intent, Value Proposition and Implementation requirements for each of the short list items
5. Implementation next steps and an overview of what will happen during Implementation. This will include the role of the Implementer and the Dealership Green Team members

The meeting at the conclusion of the Assessment leads into the next logical step of Implementation for that particular dealership.

Implementation generally last six or more months. It consists of a combination of dealership contacts that include visits to the dealership, phone and email contacts and an occasional GoToMeeting contacts. The Implementation contacts will be conducted by one or more members of the GDS Team.

Typically the Implementation calendar looks like this:

• The GDS Implementers and Dealership Green Team Champion working together to manage the development and orientation of the Dealership Green Team
• The GDS Implementers provide additional breakdown of the priority short list with additional specific on those opportunities that that are:
  • Easy to do and low investment
  • Higher to do and higher investment
  • Hard to do and higher investments and may be longer term
• The GDS Implementers also develops a dealership specific opportunity map of
  • ROI
  • Marketing
  • Employee Satisfaction
  • Community Environmental Issues
• As the Implementation moves forward the GDS Implementers will be managing the opportunity selection, providing research, templates, resources, etc.
• As the dealership reaches the tipping point where communications or marketing opportunities would be well timed the GDS team will provide a suggested approach for appropriate activity to occur or work with the dealership on determining good resources for these activities.

Eventually each of the opportunity areas will be installed, planned for or determined not feasible for this location. The GDS portion of Implementation will be completed. Dealers will continue to have access to the GDS provided web applications, communications, etc.

Marketing of your "green" success should only begin after the dealership has reached a level of being "green" that  employees, customers and the community would not feel that you were green washing.