Why Christmas won’t be quiet and holidays need managing says Mark Fennelly

The challenge for Christmas in automotive retail this year is that the market is determining the pace – if you have cars, you will sell them, says ASE’s head of global consulting Mark Fennelly.

“We won’t get the pause in early December as people will do a lot of online shopping,” he says. “I think there will be lots of activity in dealers in November and the social side will be reduced – the office party get-togethers are a way away. The natural milestones that would normally slow things down aren’t there.”

Because of this, he says, there will be a need to manage the sales team’s expectations and ensure that employees are prepared for a period that is busier than usual and will need more hands-on deck than previous years.

“There is a degree of resource management required as, because of Covid and the lockdown, people were able to carry holiday unused and they might do the maths and see they have some of this year’s and last year’s and they can take the whole of December off,” says Mark. “It is managing that expectation without affecting morale. It is having the conversation as a team. We are open to the end of the year and people have holiday, we need to make sure everyone gets the benefit, albeit in a way they might not have expected.”