Establishing a new store management method

As the main selling stage moved from home visits to negotiations in showrooms in the 1990s, the importance of dealers increased further, as they offered customers opportunities to see and experience a wide variety of products and obtain information.

In 2002, the Japan Sales & Marketing Group worked on establishing a new store management method by building a new database. The traditional database did not integrate information on the number of vehicles sold and test drives taken, making it difficult to grasp the process necessary for making operational improvements.

Based on the results of a survey conducted in 2002 targeting dealer locations across Japan, TMC strove to make various types of data more visible to help dealers quickly and reliably carry out the planning-execution-evaluation cycle for improving their activities. At the same time, TMC also introduced a trade area analysis support system that displayed sales channel shares in each area on a map to help rebuild sales strategies. These initiatives were put to good use during the subsequent merger between the Netz and Vista channels, as well as for planning dealer locations during the introduction of Lexus.

Within the rapidly changing management and market environments, the roles and responsibilities required of those involved in dealer management kept expanding. To facilitate the training provided by the Dealer Human Resources Development Division at the time, TMC reduced the training offered to non-management personnel and focused its training on dealer management personnel (presidents, senior executives, and store managers), strengthening the creation of a culture oriented toward human resources development and supporting independent dealership management.

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