President’s Message
Rodger Van Ness
MBCA Wants Your Input
During my career one of the most productive exercises during field member staff meetings was brainstorming to work on challenges.
The challenge(s) would be presented to the group and the brainstorming would begin. The only rule was there are no bad ideas – no one and no idea could be criticized. Those in the field – close to the problem or challenge – brought invaluable input to the process because they understood best how to devise realistic solutions. I think this approach would be useful for us because our club is faced with two significant challenges –expansion and retention – that I feel could benefit from such a collaborative exercise.
Expansion:
In 2010 Mercedes-Benz sold over 200,000 units – which is a testiment to the brand and its competitive advantage, even in a soft economy. There are 350 dealerships in the United States, but only 86 MBCA Sections. The point is there are many dealerships in our country that do not have our Club represented. For example, there are six established dealerships within a 300-mile radius of St. Louis with no local section. Now for your much-needed input – how do we establish a section in cities where we have no presence? I would appreciate your input by e-mailing your ideas directly to me at rvann40398@ aol.com. Thank you!
Retention:
An earlier President’s Message shared that for the past three years we had 10,000 new members join our Club – an outstanding accomplishment considering the challenges organizations like ours face, especially in a soft economy. The disappointment was we lost 10,000 members during the same time period. In many organizations retention is a greater priority than recruitment – it’s less expensive to retain than recruit. As pointed out earlier in my message, those closest to the problem are the most effective in solving it. This why I am asking for your input on why we loose members and what can we do to increase retention. Again, please e-mail your ideas directly to me at rvann40398 @aol.com. Thank you!
With 19,000 members, I’m confident we’ll garner outstanding input on how to solve two of the Club’s most challenging issues. Once I have your input, I’ll compile the ideas and put together a team to devise a plan of action. I will provide a progress update in my message in the next issue of The Star. Thank you in advance for your valuable input and have fun with your ideas. Remember, no idea is a bad one!
Kind regards,
Rodger Van Ness
Announcement:
On April 2, the Board of Directors voted to elect Lance Taylor-Warren of the new Sierra Nevada Section to complete the remaining term of the Western Regional Director. The term expires in November. Three other candidates ran for the position, and we would like to acknowledge them as well: Anthony Loo of the San Francisco Bay Area, Allen Wrenn of Sacramento, and Chuck Landenberger of Hawaii.
Rodger Van Ness
MBCA Wants Your Input
During my career one of the most productive exercises during field member staff meetings was brainstorming to work on challenges.
The challenge(s) would be presented to the group and the brainstorming would begin. The only rule was there are no bad ideas – no one and no idea could be criticized. Those in the field – close to the problem or challenge – brought invaluable input to the process because they understood best how to devise realistic solutions. I think this approach would be useful for us because our club is faced with two significant challenges –expansion and retention – that I feel could benefit from such a collaborative exercise.
Expansion:
In 2010 Mercedes-Benz sold over 200,000 units – which is a testiment to the brand and its competitive advantage, even in a soft economy. There are 350 dealerships in the United States, but only 86 MBCA Sections. The point is there are many dealerships in our country that do not have our Club represented. For example, there are six established dealerships within a 300-mile radius of St. Louis with no local section. Now for your much-needed input – how do we establish a section in cities where we have no presence? I would appreciate your input by e-mailing your ideas directly to me at rvann40398@ aol.com. Thank you!
Retention:
An earlier President’s Message shared that for the past three years we had 10,000 new members join our Club – an outstanding accomplishment considering the challenges organizations like ours face, especially in a soft economy. The disappointment was we lost 10,000 members during the same time period. In many organizations retention is a greater priority than recruitment – it’s less expensive to retain than recruit. As pointed out earlier in my message, those closest to the problem are the most effective in solving it. This why I am asking for your input on why we loose members and what can we do to increase retention. Again, please e-mail your ideas directly to me at rvann40398 @aol.com. Thank you!
With 19,000 members, I’m confident we’ll garner outstanding input on how to solve two of the Club’s most challenging issues. Once I have your input, I’ll compile the ideas and put together a team to devise a plan of action. I will provide a progress update in my message in the next issue of The Star. Thank you in advance for your valuable input and have fun with your ideas. Remember, no idea is a bad one!
Kind regards,
Rodger Van Ness
Announcement:
On April 2, the Board of Directors voted to elect Lance Taylor-Warren of the new Sierra Nevada Section to complete the remaining term of the Western Regional Director. The term expires in November. Three other candidates ran for the position, and we would like to acknowledge them as well: Anthony Loo of the San Francisco Bay Area, Allen Wrenn of Sacramento, and Chuck Landenberger of Hawaii.