Executive Interview with Bill Thompson, President and CEO of IMR Inc. - aftermarketNews

Executive Interview with Bill Thompson, President and CEO of IMR Inc.

Bill Thompson is the president and CEO of IMR Inc. He joined the company in 2003 and immediately recognized the extraordinary potential in both the amount of research the company does, and the volume of data it collects. In this exclusive Executive Interview, Thompson talks about the recovery of the automotive industry and the future of the aftermarket.

Bill Thompson is the president and CEO of IMR Inc. He joined the company in 2003 and immediately recognized the extraordinary potential in both the amount of research the company does, and the volume of data it collects. As a result, he has led the way into innovative new research venues, and developed new ways of using the data for a variety of automotive customers. Among the places IMR data can be seen is the weekly research article “The Pulse,” published every Friday on aftermarketNews. Under his leadership, the company continues to grow its portfolio of aftermarket research products and services. Bill is currently a member of the AASA, AAIA and SEMA and currently sits on the AAIA market research committee. In this exclusive Executive Interview, Thompson talks about the recovery of the automotive industry and the future of the aftermarket.

IMR has been conducting research on the automotive industry for more than 30 years. As a company that has such a historical vantage point, what are your thoughts on the state of the industry today? Will the auto industry emerge from all these bankruptcies and restructurings as a stronger business?

I think a lot of changes have taken place that will prove to be good in the long-term for the auto industry. We’ve weathered some remarkable times over the past year and half and I believe the industry will come out stronger. In particular, there are tremendous opportunities coming ahead for the aftermarket in many areas. The value proposition for the aftermarket is going to ring true for many consumers for quite a while. At some point, we’re going to see vehicle sales recover to higher levels, but I’m not convinced we’re going to see a proportional increase in the number of new car dealers. Given how the vehicle population is projected to age, I also don’t think that dealerships service departments as a whole are going to recover their market share in the near future. The ‘lean and mean’ notion is going to be around for a while as a result of the bankruptcies and restructurings. That implies that the competition is going to be fierce. This, in my opinion, is a good thing as it requires all of us to be more in tune with our customers.

In your opinion, what is the automotive aftermarket’s strongest characteristic today? And, what is its weakest?

I think the aftermarket’s strongest characteristic today is the quality/price/value proposition it offers consumers. We’re going to have price/value sensitivity amongst consumers for a while. At a minimum, it will be as long as it takes the economy and unemployment rate to recover or until consumers forget what’s happened in the past year. Related to that is customer service, which I feel is an issue that aftermarket service providers are continually working on and will be a differentiator during this time. By no means am I implying that is a weakness of the aftermarket, but there has always been that perception amongst consumers between taking a vehicle to a new car dealer versus an aftermarket outlet. There has been a perceived quality issue, which can be addressed through spectacular customer service. I think the time is now ripe for the aftermarket service outlets to raise that bar and dispel the myth.

What do you feel will be the most exciting prospect for the future of the aftermarket industry?

I always think technology innovation is very exciting within any industry, but the adoption rate of the technology always seems to pull back the reins on instantaneous benefits. There will always be adoption leaders and laggards. With that being said, telematics is an industry changing technology whose adoption rate by consumers needs to be watched closely by the aftermarket. It has the potential of completely changing service dynamics.

Customer service is something we hear a lot about today, particularly as a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. How can research and customer demographics help strengthen a company’s customer service strategy?

I’m a big proponent of knowing your customer whether it’s a consumer or a repair shop. Right now, getting closer to your customer in terms of knowing what motivates them not only to buy a product, but who they are beyond the buying process, is really powerful information that can be used to gain new customers and retain existing customers. Sometimes we tend to treat our customer base homogenously when in reality there are a few gradations of the types of customers we have. We may inherently know these gradations, but until we research them, we may not know how to properly incent or treat them in a manner that truly resonates with them. The implication here is some upfront research can help us use our market dollars more effectively for a better ROI.

Category management is an issue distributors, retailers and manufacturers constantly grapple with. It’s also an area that IMR has spent a lot of time on. Can you share a few key highlights of what you’ve learned while looking into this area of study?

The biggest takeaway that I’ve learned is that consumer/repair shop behavior tells the foundational story about any category, but putting time into the research that tells us why they exhibit a particular behavior and how to motivate or change a behavior is really the data that puts the meat into the category plans. If we don’t know those bits of information, we may be missing a key point in how we market and sell to them.

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