SEMA News—August 2020

NEW PRODUCTS

By Mike Imlay

Authentic Looks, Modern Performance

The Latest Restoration Products to Rejuvenate Cherished Vehicles

Resurrecting and restoring older vehicles to mint condition is a time-honored enthusiast tradition. No matter its age, a rejuvenated classic still has the power to turn heads—on the road, at a car show and wherever else it may materialize. In recent years, however, a new trend has taken hold in the restoration scene: returning a car to “better-than-new” condition through the addition of modern technologies. While exuding a spirit befitting their heritage, these “restomods” also exhibit the drivability, safety and conveniences of their present-day counterparts. This in turn has attracted new consumers into the restoration marketplace. For classic purists and restomodders alike, there were plenty of quality aftermarket products to fuel the hobby at the 2019 SEMA Show. The following pages offer a taste of the category’s latest offerings as seen in the Show’s New Products Showcase.

SEMA News—August 2020

NEW PRODUCTS

By Mike Imlay

Authentic Looks, Modern Performance

The Latest Restoration Products to Rejuvenate Cherished Vehicles

Resurrecting and restoring older vehicles to mint condition is a time-honored enthusiast tradition. No matter its age, a rejuvenated classic still has the power to turn heads—on the road, at a car show and wherever else it may materialize. In recent years, however, a new trend has taken hold in the restoration scene: returning a car to “better-than-new” condition through the addition of modern technologies. While exuding a spirit befitting their heritage, these “restomods” also exhibit the drivability, safety and conveniences of their present-day counterparts. This in turn has attracted new consumers into the restoration marketplace. For classic purists and restomodders alike, there were plenty of quality aftermarket products to fuel the hobby at the 2019 SEMA Show. The following pages offer a taste of the category’s latest offerings as seen in the Show’s New Products Showcase.

SEMA News—August 2020

FROM THE HILL

2020 Countdown to Election Day

A Race for the White House Like No Other

By Eric Snyder

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be determined based on how the candidates fare in a handful of states, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Courtesy: Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock.com

With the 2020 presidential campaign in full swing, the race is shaping up to be unlike any other in recent memory. Gone are the historical norms that we have seen in past elections, especially when it comes to the way in which candidates connect with voters.

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, political pundits of all stripes tried to make sense of why their predictions were so wrong. While presidential polling numbers keep fluctuating on a daily basis, the “X” factor that will determine who controls the White House for the next four years comes down to which campaign does a better job of turning out its supporters to vote. Before jumping into the general election dynamics, it is worthwhile to take a quick look back at how we got here.

President Donald Trump never faced any real opposition during the 2020 Republican primary, as he easily defeated former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last held elected office more than 20 years ago, and radio-host-turned-one-term Congressman Joe Walsh. Rep. Walsh exited the race after receiving less than 1% of the vote during the Iowa caucuses, while Governor Weld dropped out of the race in March after President Trump secured enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination.

Former Vice President Joe Biden faced a much more complicated path to the Democrat nomination, as he bested 28 rivals who ran for president in what was the largest field of candidates ever to compete for a party’s presidential nomination.

After winning five of six states on March 10, Biden’s pathway to the nomination was all but secured, as Sen. Sanders posed little threat during his final few weeks in the race. Courtesy: Crush Rush/Shutterstock.com

While Vice President Biden led national primary polls throughout 2019 by sizeable margins, his campaign’s narrative changed when the early primary and caucus results came in. Biden finished a distant fourth in the Iowa caucuses on February 3 before dropping to fifth in the New Hampshire primary, which took place only eight days later.

Pundits had all but written the former vice president’s political obituary after U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won the Nevada caucus on February 22, beating the former vice president by a margin of more than two to one. However, Biden turned his campaign around with a commanding victory over Sanders in South Carolina, which also led to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dropping out of the race.

Biden went on to win 10 out of 14 states on Super Tuesday, resulting in U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg exiting the race. After then winning five of six states on March 10, Biden’s pathway to the nomination was all but secured, as Sen. Sanders posed little threat during his final few weeks in the race.

The unofficial start to the showdown between President Trump and Vice President Biden was sidelined before it ever got off the ground when the nation’s attention quickly changed to the COVID-19 crisis, which shuttered much of the country by mid-March. In addition to impacting nearly every facet of our personal and professional lives, the pandemic completely upended the presidential race, including everything from the issues that matter most to voters to the way in which the respective candidates try to connect with the American people.

President Donald Trump never faced any real opposition during the 2020 Republican primary, as he easily defeated former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last held elected office more than 20 years ago, and radio-host-turned-one-term Congressman Joe Walsh. Courtesy: Michael Candelori/Shutterstock.com

At press time, neither President Trump nor Vice President Biden had been able to campaign, since rallies and other traditional events were not an option due to restrictions on large public gatherings, and even the format used to officially nominate the candidates through the Republican and Democratic national conventions was in question.

While President Trump held official White House events and briefings on nearly a daily basis to highlight his administration’s work to address the COVID-19 crisis, Vice President Biden was largely relegated to communicating with his supporters and doing interviews from a studio in his house. However, as states continue to reopen, both candidates are likely to increase the amount of time they spend on the campaign trail, albeit in a modified way.

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be determined based on how the candidates fare in a handful of states, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The residents of those states will be targeted through the mail, online, and when they turn on their televisions, and the candidates and outside groups will spend considerable resources to shape the outcome of the election in those battlegrounds. Additionally, President Trump and Vice President Biden may spend a majority of their time on the campaign trail in those six states.

The race for the presidency will consume the national media’s attention, although the results of the election will also have a considerable impact on who controls both houses of Congress for the next two years. Presidential elections typically bring out a higher turnout of voters, which includes many people who are more focused on what takes place at the top of the ticket and are less likely to pay attention to the candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Accordingly, the fate of many Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress depends on how well Trump and Biden fare in their state or congressional district.

While Republicans control the Senate by a margin of 53 to 47, they are forced to defend 21 of the 33 seats up for reelection, since Republicans fared so well six years before in 2014. Based on current projections, Republicans face an uphill battle in defending Senate seats in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Maine, in addition to the challenge of holding on to hotly contested races in Iowa and Georgia. Democrats will have their hands full keeping the Senate seat they hold in Alabama, and Michigan could also be a closely contested race. Meanwhile, Democrats face the challenge of protecting their 233 to 198 majority in the House, with Republicans needing to take back 18 seats to regain power.

Given the importance of the upcoming election, it is critically important that the men and women that make up the automotive specialty aftermarket make their voices heard by voting in November. The voter-information tool at www.semasan.com/semavotes provides information on each state’s voting dates and deadlines.

Election day will fall on the first day of the 2020 SEMA Show, so don’t forget to make plans to vote absentee or vote early. You can also have an impact on the electoral process by becoming SEMA PAC-approved for free at www.semapac.com. There is never any obligation to contribute to SEMA’s political action committee, although it is a valuable tool for the industry to support the car men and women in Congress who have the industry’s back.

SEMA News—August 2020

FROM THE HILL

2020 Countdown to Election Day

A Race for the White House Like No Other

By Eric Snyder

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be determined based on how the candidates fare in a handful of states, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Courtesy: Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock.com

With the 2020 presidential campaign in full swing, the race is shaping up to be unlike any other in recent memory. Gone are the historical norms that we have seen in past elections, especially when it comes to the way in which candidates connect with voters.

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, political pundits of all stripes tried to make sense of why their predictions were so wrong. While presidential polling numbers keep fluctuating on a daily basis, the “X” factor that will determine who controls the White House for the next four years comes down to which campaign does a better job of turning out its supporters to vote. Before jumping into the general election dynamics, it is worthwhile to take a quick look back at how we got here.

President Donald Trump never faced any real opposition during the 2020 Republican primary, as he easily defeated former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last held elected office more than 20 years ago, and radio-host-turned-one-term Congressman Joe Walsh. Rep. Walsh exited the race after receiving less than 1% of the vote during the Iowa caucuses, while Governor Weld dropped out of the race in March after President Trump secured enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination.

Former Vice President Joe Biden faced a much more complicated path to the Democrat nomination, as he bested 28 rivals who ran for president in what was the largest field of candidates ever to compete for a party’s presidential nomination.

After winning five of six states on March 10, Biden’s pathway to the nomination was all but secured, as Sen. Sanders posed little threat during his final few weeks in the race. Courtesy: Crush Rush/Shutterstock.com

While Vice President Biden led national primary polls throughout 2019 by sizeable margins, his campaign’s narrative changed when the early primary and caucus results came in. Biden finished a distant fourth in the Iowa caucuses on February 3 before dropping to fifth in the New Hampshire primary, which took place only eight days later.

Pundits had all but written the former vice president’s political obituary after U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won the Nevada caucus on February 22, beating the former vice president by a margin of more than two to one. However, Biden turned his campaign around with a commanding victory over Sanders in South Carolina, which also led to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dropping out of the race.

Biden went on to win 10 out of 14 states on Super Tuesday, resulting in U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg exiting the race. After then winning five of six states on March 10, Biden’s pathway to the nomination was all but secured, as Sen. Sanders posed little threat during his final few weeks in the race.

The unofficial start to the showdown between President Trump and Vice President Biden was sidelined before it ever got off the ground when the nation’s attention quickly changed to the COVID-19 crisis, which shuttered much of the country by mid-March. In addition to impacting nearly every facet of our personal and professional lives, the pandemic completely upended the presidential race, including everything from the issues that matter most to voters to the way in which the respective candidates try to connect with the American people.

President Donald Trump never faced any real opposition during the 2020 Republican primary, as he easily defeated former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last held elected office more than 20 years ago, and radio-host-turned-one-term Congressman Joe Walsh. Courtesy: Michael Candelori/Shutterstock.com

At press time, neither President Trump nor Vice President Biden had been able to campaign, since rallies and other traditional events were not an option due to restrictions on large public gatherings, and even the format used to officially nominate the candidates through the Republican and Democratic national conventions was in question.

While President Trump held official White House events and briefings on nearly a daily basis to highlight his administration’s work to address the COVID-19 crisis, Vice President Biden was largely relegated to communicating with his supporters and doing interviews from a studio in his house. However, as states continue to reopen, both candidates are likely to increase the amount of time they spend on the campaign trail, albeit in a modified way.

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be determined based on how the candidates fare in a handful of states, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The residents of those states will be targeted through the mail, online, and when they turn on their televisions, and the candidates and outside groups will spend considerable resources to shape the outcome of the election in those battlegrounds. Additionally, President Trump and Vice President Biden may spend a majority of their time on the campaign trail in those six states.

The race for the presidency will consume the national media’s attention, although the results of the election will also have a considerable impact on who controls both houses of Congress for the next two years. Presidential elections typically bring out a higher turnout of voters, which includes many people who are more focused on what takes place at the top of the ticket and are less likely to pay attention to the candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Accordingly, the fate of many Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress depends on how well Trump and Biden fare in their state or congressional district.

While Republicans control the Senate by a margin of 53 to 47, they are forced to defend 21 of the 33 seats up for reelection, since Republicans fared so well six years before in 2014. Based on current projections, Republicans face an uphill battle in defending Senate seats in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Maine, in addition to the challenge of holding on to hotly contested races in Iowa and Georgia. Democrats will have their hands full keeping the Senate seat they hold in Alabama, and Michigan could also be a closely contested race. Meanwhile, Democrats face the challenge of protecting their 233 to 198 majority in the House, with Republicans needing to take back 18 seats to regain power.

Given the importance of the upcoming election, it is critically important that the men and women that make up the automotive specialty aftermarket make their voices heard by voting in November. The voter-information tool at www.semasan.com/semavotes provides information on each state’s voting dates and deadlines.

Election day will fall on the first day of the 2020 SEMA Show, so don’t forget to make plans to vote absentee or vote early. You can also have an impact on the electoral process by becoming SEMA PAC-approved for free at www.semapac.com. There is never any obligation to contribute to SEMA’s political action committee, although it is a valuable tool for the industry to support the car men and women in Congress who have the industry’s back.

SEMA News—August 2020

FROM THE HILL

2020 Countdown to Election Day

A Race for the White House Like No Other

By Eric Snyder

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be determined based on how the candidates fare in a handful of states, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Courtesy: Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock.com

With the 2020 presidential campaign in full swing, the race is shaping up to be unlike any other in recent memory. Gone are the historical norms that we have seen in past elections, especially when it comes to the way in which candidates connect with voters.

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, political pundits of all stripes tried to make sense of why their predictions were so wrong. While presidential polling numbers keep fluctuating on a daily basis, the “X” factor that will determine who controls the White House for the next four years comes down to which campaign does a better job of turning out its supporters to vote. Before jumping into the general election dynamics, it is worthwhile to take a quick look back at how we got here.

President Donald Trump never faced any real opposition during the 2020 Republican primary, as he easily defeated former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last held elected office more than 20 years ago, and radio-host-turned-one-term Congressman Joe Walsh. Rep. Walsh exited the race after receiving less than 1% of the vote during the Iowa caucuses, while Governor Weld dropped out of the race in March after President Trump secured enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination.

Former Vice President Joe Biden faced a much more complicated path to the Democrat nomination, as he bested 28 rivals who ran for president in what was the largest field of candidates ever to compete for a party’s presidential nomination.

After winning five of six states on March 10, Biden’s pathway to the nomination was all but secured, as Sen. Sanders posed little threat during his final few weeks in the race. Courtesy: Crush Rush/Shutterstock.com

While Vice President Biden led national primary polls throughout 2019 by sizeable margins, his campaign’s narrative changed when the early primary and caucus results came in. Biden finished a distant fourth in the Iowa caucuses on February 3 before dropping to fifth in the New Hampshire primary, which took place only eight days later.

Pundits had all but written the former vice president’s political obituary after U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) won the Nevada caucus on February 22, beating the former vice president by a margin of more than two to one. However, Biden turned his campaign around with a commanding victory over Sanders in South Carolina, which also led to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dropping out of the race.

Biden went on to win 10 out of 14 states on Super Tuesday, resulting in U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg exiting the race. After then winning five of six states on March 10, Biden’s pathway to the nomination was all but secured, as Sen. Sanders posed little threat during his final few weeks in the race.

The unofficial start to the showdown between President Trump and Vice President Biden was sidelined before it ever got off the ground when the nation’s attention quickly changed to the COVID-19 crisis, which shuttered much of the country by mid-March. In addition to impacting nearly every facet of our personal and professional lives, the pandemic completely upended the presidential race, including everything from the issues that matter most to voters to the way in which the respective candidates try to connect with the American people.

President Donald Trump never faced any real opposition during the 2020 Republican primary, as he easily defeated former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, who last held elected office more than 20 years ago, and radio-host-turned-one-term Congressman Joe Walsh. Courtesy: Michael Candelori/Shutterstock.com

At press time, neither President Trump nor Vice President Biden had been able to campaign, since rallies and other traditional events were not an option due to restrictions on large public gatherings, and even the format used to officially nominate the candidates through the Republican and Democratic national conventions was in question.

While President Trump held official White House events and briefings on nearly a daily basis to highlight his administration’s work to address the COVID-19 crisis, Vice President Biden was largely relegated to communicating with his supporters and doing interviews from a studio in his house. However, as states continue to reopen, both candidates are likely to increase the amount of time they spend on the campaign trail, albeit in a modified way.

The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be determined based on how the candidates fare in a handful of states, including Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. The residents of those states will be targeted through the mail, online, and when they turn on their televisions, and the candidates and outside groups will spend considerable resources to shape the outcome of the election in those battlegrounds. Additionally, President Trump and Vice President Biden may spend a majority of their time on the campaign trail in those six states.

The race for the presidency will consume the national media’s attention, although the results of the election will also have a considerable impact on who controls both houses of Congress for the next two years. Presidential elections typically bring out a higher turnout of voters, which includes many people who are more focused on what takes place at the top of the ticket and are less likely to pay attention to the candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Accordingly, the fate of many Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress depends on how well Trump and Biden fare in their state or congressional district.

While Republicans control the Senate by a margin of 53 to 47, they are forced to defend 21 of the 33 seats up for reelection, since Republicans fared so well six years before in 2014. Based on current projections, Republicans face an uphill battle in defending Senate seats in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Maine, in addition to the challenge of holding on to hotly contested races in Iowa and Georgia. Democrats will have their hands full keeping the Senate seat they hold in Alabama, and Michigan could also be a closely contested race. Meanwhile, Democrats face the challenge of protecting their 233 to 198 majority in the House, with Republicans needing to take back 18 seats to regain power.

Given the importance of the upcoming election, it is critically important that the men and women that make up the automotive specialty aftermarket make their voices heard by voting in November. The voter-information tool at www.semasan.com/semavotes provides information on each state’s voting dates and deadlines.

Election day will fall on the first day of the 2020 SEMA Show, so don’t forget to make plans to vote absentee or vote early. You can also have an impact on the electoral process by becoming SEMA PAC-approved for free at www.semapac.com. There is never any obligation to contribute to SEMA’s political action committee, although it is a valuable tool for the industry to support the car men and women in Congress who have the industry’s back.

SEMA News—August 2020

RETAIL BEST PRACTICES

Getting Back to Business

How to Recreate Your Brand Around New Realities

By Mike Imlay

Unlike other business-disruption events, the coronavirus has changed everything about the retail experience. There may be no going back to the way things were before, but there are ways to make your business better than ever. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock.com

As of May 20, 2020, all states with stay-at-home orders began lifting their restrictions, including those pertaining to commerce. But while America’s retail sector has been getting back to business, it hasn’t been business as usual—and things likely will be different for some time to come.

The constraints on business reopenings continue to vary by state and county. Overall, they are driven by the three-phase reopening plan set forth several months ago by the White House, based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other leading COVID-19 health experts.

Each phase of the plan assumes a different set of responsibilities for business operations based upon numerous factors, including the risk of coronavirus spread in a given locality. For example, the first phase calls for employers to monitor employee temperatures as they return to work while placing strict limits on occupancies of workplaces and public venues. Personal protective equipment (PPE) for employees and customers also features prominently. While many constraints gradually relax as reopening approaches the third phase, social-distancing requirements in one form or another remain in force throughout.

Amid the relaxing of regulations, aftermarket retailers may be eager to reestablish their brands and get back to the way things were before. But according to branding strategist Mike Brown of Brainzooming, that would be a big mistake. That’s because there’s a new normal in play, and it revolves around changed customer expectations.

As the presenter of a six-part SEMA Education webinar series entitled “Jumpstart Business Operations,” Brown emphasized the uniqueness of the current business climate.

“Different from 9/11 and different from, really, almost anything else probably in our lifetimes where a certain group of people experienced something directly and everyone else may have seen it, may have felt like they experienced it, or may have seen ripples of it in their life and how they do business, everybody has had a direct impact with this COVID-19 pandemic,” he explained.

That impact has significantly altered customer shopping and purchasing habits, including everything from when and how (or even whether) they choose to physically interact in a retail space, to the lens through which they now view marketing messages. From Brown’s perspective, the key to successfully reestablishing your brand will be understanding those expectations and making specific physical and brand adjustments to meet and exceed those expectations. In short, success requires thinking in terms of business improvement, not business recovery.

First Things First

The first area to address is the safety of your physical retail space, along with the health of your employees. In fact, making them your priority will also lay a strong foundation for the overall well-being of the customers who step into your business.

In addition to regularly cleaning and sanitizing your entire operation per CDC and government guidelines as well as issuing the appropriate PPE and enacting social-distancing measures, there are a host of other best practices to consider for mitigating COVID-19. They include erecting other physical barriers or safeguards; human resources and employee training; hours, benefits and other return-to-work issues; and even supply-chain and inventory-control measures.

The list is too extensive to cover here, but the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has produced several excellent, comprehensive guides—complete with planning checklists covering all the above points—that can be found at www.rila.org/coronavirus-resources-for-retailers. Federal reopening guidelines can also be found at the CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 webpage at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/reopen-guidance.html. The page includes links to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cleaning and disinfection guidelines as well as a cleaning and disinfection decision tool for determining what in your environment may be affected.

Next Step: Evaluation

Brown advised taking three steps to reinvigorate your retail brand in addition to the physical logistics of reopening. The first is to seriously evaluate the changed landscape. Look at your brand promise as it existed and assess the new constraints being forced on that brand experience.

“Maybe you’re coming back online and you’re expecting less demand and you’re only going to have half of your team, so you’re not going to be able to serve as many people,” he said. “Or maybe you could have had 100 people in your store before but now you can only have 50 in your store at a time. Those are constraints that are being brought into the business.

“Maybe you’re [also] having to take a greater role in wellness and safety. Are you going to have to do temperature checks for employees before they report? What’s that going to be like? Are they agreeable to that, or does it seem weird? Depending upon the size of the store and how you staff, that may add 10–15 min. before they’re on the clock. So are you paying them for that time?”

Customers are also going to be in a different frame of mind, Brown said. Accordingly, you’ll want to assess not only their current product needs but also their needs for a convenient shopping experience. What makes shopping uncomfortable, difficult or inconvenient for them now? How have their buying habits changed? Do they now rely more on online purchasing, curbside pickup, delivery, or touchless payment options? Are they inconvenienced by the new traffic patterns inside your store? By having to wait in a line outside? Those are just some of the things to look at.

Map a New Experience

Now comes the innovation—engaging in an exercise Brown calls “experience mapping.” Essentially this is how you will recreate your brand around the new realities and come up with novel ways to deliver on your retail promise.

“It’s where you’re actually looking at that process of interaction between your employees and customers and seeing what it was like before the pandemic hit and the ways that they interacted,” Brown noted. “Which of those things are still valuable and apply? Which ones can’t we do anymore? And how do we fill in the middle? It’s coming into your retail environment and seeing the things your customers are noticing and asking what that experience is like and if it is all supporting what you want their experience to be with your brand. How are you working with that? How can you innovate around everything else? And that becomes the new brand experience.”

Because your employees are on the front line of customer interactions, they can contribute greatly to developing any new strategies.

“Even if you’ve got only three people, get together,” Brown urged. “There’s no reason managers need to think up all this stuff on their own. Their employees have been having experiences. Their employees have been to other retail environments. Their employees have been to other places. Talk about what they are seeing working in those other environments.”

Brown also encourages owners and managers to take advantage of other retail opportunities and experiences and go to school on them.

“What can we learn?” he asked. “What would we want to avoid? How can we take something from a completely different business and make that work for us to make our experience better. You can always go to school on somebody else.”

Most of all, don’t hesitate to think outside the box. Brown pointed to a ritzy Seattle restaurant that changed its entire business model in a matter of 10 days.

“They blew up their dining room from a fine-dining concept to a three-star restaurant because they realized fine dining is out right now,” he explained. “But they can do a hamburger place, they can do a bagel place in the morning, and they can do pickup dinners.”

First things first: Complying with the reopening guidelines set by federal, state and local authorities is paramount. Fortunately, there are resources to help you develop a checklist applicable to your specific business. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock.com

Realign Your Messaging

The final component in getting back to business is absolutely crucial: realigning your marketing, advertising and social-media messaging.

“You need to move your messaging to talk very personally to people,” Brown said. “You can’t just have a blanket message. Obviously, you’re not going to customize an ad or email for every person, but you have to at least convey that you understand that everybody has been impacted and that, while you may not know exactly how they’ve been impacted, you’re cognizant of that and are approaching them in a way that is sensitive and respectful and open to how their needs and their expectations may differ based on how they’ve been touched.”

Brown noted that branded messaging around health and safety has continually resonated with consumers throughout the COVID-19 crisis, as opposed to messaging conveying a business-as-usual tone.

“It’s one of those cues that you feel either directly or indirectly—that if I’m getting an email from somebody and it’s clear that they’re not really thinking about what the retail experience is, well, maybe they’re not accounting for employees in masks. Maybe they’re not accounting for social distancing, because their communication isn’t reflecting that they’re thinking about any of those things,” he explained, adding that it’s far better to focus on customer expectations as the economy reopens.

“It’s another great opportunity for retailers to give customers education and information up front about what the new experience will be like when they come to your store,” he suggested. “What’s going to happen? Because it will not only potentially get them over that hurdle of [whether it’s] just going to be a pain in the rear or what the service experience is going to be like. It helps them understand what you’re doing about that. And it also helps them be a lot more efficient when they’re in the store, because it’s different.”

For instance, you may have one-way aisles now and different traffic patterns. Or perhaps you used to do demos but you’re not going to have them anymore.

“People are going to be confused,” Brown said. “It’s a lot for them to learn when they’re in your retail environment, and it’s going to slow things down. If you can have only a limited number of people coming through, you want them to take the full time needed to buy the cart level that you want them to, but you don’t want them to take an extra 30 min. to buy the same amount of goods and basically push out other opportunities for you. As a retailer, you’ve got a vested interest in pre-educating customers and making sure they’re familiar and comfortable with the experience so that they can be more efficient when they’re in the retail environment.”

Better Than Before

No one can predict exactly how a post-pandemic climate will look in months or even a year from now, and the current retail environment seems to be changing minute to minute. For many small businesses, this is a period of challenge, but it’s also an opportunity to adopt the latest best practices (and maybe some that you should’ve been implementing all along).

“Everybody’s got to change,” Brown said. “Right now, almost every retailer is having their experience changed as they open back up. It has been forced on them. The retailers who can think about the experience they delivered before and how they can innovate and change to still deliver that same type of experience while recognizing safety and health, and recognizing the constraints, are going to win over those retailers who can’t deliver that.”

SEMA News—August 2020

BUSINESS

SEMA Survey

As Government Restrictions Begin to Lift, Which of the Following Steps Does Your Company Plan to Take Over the Next Few Months?

By Kyle Cheng

From May 20-29, SEMA conducted a survey of more than 1,800 professionals within the specialty-equipment industry to check in on how they were doing. Overall, our industry continues to maintain a positive outlook and is beginning to move past the disruption.

SEMA also created a Coronavirus Updates and Resources page (www.sema.org/coronavirus) and collected links to key information from federal and state government agencies that may impact businesses in the specialty-equipment market.

Visit SEMA eNews (www.sema.org/sema-enews) for daily updates.

The number of companies that are “mostly business as usual” jumped from 17% in early April to 28% at the end of May. Overall, almost 90% of companies said they are “mostly business as usual” or “impacted short term, but will get through it.” As restrictions start to lift, businesses are beginning to return to more normalcy.

In the coming months, businesses that experienced setbacks will undertake a variety of plans to return to full operations. Approximately 42% plan on taking measures to increase customer and employee safety, and 30% are allowing employees to work remotely. Few businesses chose to close facilities or lay off staff during the pandemic, and most plan to completely re-open or re-hire some staff in the coming months.

Despite the disruption over the past few months, industry businesses remain optimistic about their ability to push through. Three-fourths of those surveyed said they are confident in their company’s plan moving forward.

By the end of 2020, 69% of companies anticipate having the same or more staff as they had before the virus outbreak started.

About half of all companies surveyed applied for financial assistance over the last few months, particularly the Payment Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration. More than 70% of companies applying for aid report that they have received at least some of the funding.

Companies primarily turned to banks to apply for financial assistance, with nearly half using small local banks or credit unions.

SEMA News—August 2020

BUSINESS

SEMA Survey

As Government Restrictions Begin to Lift, Which of the Following Steps Does Your Company Plan to Take Over the Next Few Months?

By Kyle Cheng

From May 20-29, SEMA conducted a survey of more than 1,800 professionals within the specialty-equipment industry to check in on how they were doing. Overall, our industry continues to maintain a positive outlook and is beginning to move past the disruption.

SEMA also created a Coronavirus Updates and Resources page (www.sema.org/coronavirus) and collected links to key information from federal and state government agencies that may impact businesses in the specialty-equipment market.

Visit SEMA eNews (www.sema.org/sema-enews) for daily updates.

The number of companies that are “mostly business as usual” jumped from 17% in early April to 28% at the end of May. Overall, almost 90% of companies said they are “mostly business as usual” or “impacted short term, but will get through it.” As restrictions start to lift, businesses are beginning to return to more normalcy.

In the coming months, businesses that experienced setbacks will undertake a variety of plans to return to full operations. Approximately 42% plan on taking measures to increase customer and employee safety, and 30% are allowing employees to work remotely. Few businesses chose to close facilities or lay off staff during the pandemic, and most plan to completely re-open or re-hire some staff in the coming months.

Despite the disruption over the past few months, industry businesses remain optimistic about their ability to push through. Three-fourths of those surveyed said they are confident in their company’s plan moving forward.

By the end of 2020, 69% of companies anticipate having the same or more staff as they had before the virus outbreak started.

About half of all companies surveyed applied for financial assistance over the last few months, particularly the Payment Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) from the Small Business Administration. More than 70% of companies applying for aid report that they have received at least some of the funding.

Companies primarily turned to banks to apply for financial assistance, with nearly half using small local banks or credit unions.

SEMA News—August 2020

HERITAGE

Run Against the Clock

By Drew Hardin

Photography Courtesy Eric Rickman, Petersen Publishing Company Archive

The ’49 Ford convertible ready to leave is typical of the mildly modified cars taking part—in this case, with a lowered suspension, shaved door handles and other body trim, and spinner hubcaps. Most of the cars were just a few years old. We spotted just two ’32 Ford coupes among the ’50s Chevys, Buicks, Fords, Oldsmobiles and even a pickup or two at the run.

Note the number written in poster paint on the Ford’s rear side window. Each entry got a number, and it was prominently displayed because the 10 checkpoints along this 150-mile Reliability Run were kept secret from the participants. Spotters at those hidden checks would record the car number and the time it passed, but the drivers and their navigators could only guess at how well they were doing until the end of the day, when the judging sheets were tallied. Making it even more challenging was the fact that the Road Knights didn’t set an average speed for the run.

“The speeds were left to the discretion of the state; highway road signs setting the pace,” wrote Rickman. “Starting the drive with 100 points each, individuals were docked points for each infraction of the highway code and for failing to be punctual at checkpoints. This interesting variation by the Road Knights called for an even more alert driver familiar with all speed zones and local restrictions.”

In addition to individual members earning points, clubs were also able to increase their scores by being chosen as the Best Appearing Club (one point per member) or Best Cooperating Club (10 points to the club), or by finishing among the top 10.

More than club bragging rights were on the line here. Several area merchants—gas stations, auto parts stores, repair shops, even a men’s store—donated prizes in the form of gift certificates for services and merchandise. The club with the highest score would take home an Olds V8 engine donated by a local wrecking yard, A Auto Salvage.

Of course, run participants proudly wore their club jackets. Rickman lined up a handful, backs to the camera, so readers could see the club names: Jacks, Lifters, Road Kings, Throttle Merchants, Syndicate, Chancellors, Stockers, and the host Road Knights.

The Stockers came away with both the Best Appearing and Best Cooperating club awards, “but they had no men in the first 10,” Rickman noted. Instead, the Jacks club scored enough points to win the Olds engine.

In December 1956, Hot Rod’s Eric Rickman joined more than 100 members of 15 Southern California car clubs as they took part in a Reliability Run put on by the Road Knights car club. This photo, which ran with Rickman’s story in the March 1957 issue, shows Road Knights vice president Jack Hendricks (in the white shirt and pants at lower right) checking the time as he prepares to send off a participant in the rally.

SEMA News—August 2020

LEGISLATIVE AND TECHNICAL AFFAIRS

By Stuart Gosswein

FEDERAL UPDATE

RPM Act: The Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports (RPM) Act clarifies that the Clean Air Act allows motor vehicles to be converted into dedicated race cars and that it is legal to produce, sell and install race parts for those vehicles. As Congress prepares to come back into session in September, the RPM Act enters a critical period. The legislation has strong bipartisan support, including 60 co-sponsors for the House bill (H.R. 5434) and 29 co-sponsors for the Senate bill (S. 2602), but lawmakers in Congress need to hear from SEMA members about why the bill is important to motorsports parts businesses in order to enact the bill into law in 2020. To contact your lawmakers and request their support, visit www.sema.org/rpm. Photo courtesy: Divin Serhiy/Shutterstock.com

Tariffs: SEMA continues to call for tariff relief during COVID-19 as part of the Americans for Free Trade (AFT) coalition. The AFT first requested a temporary suspension of tariff collections so that companies could preserve cash and pay other bills. When the administration rejected the request, the coalition then sought an extended deferral of collections on all tariffs. To date, no decision has been made on the second request. In related news, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) continues to process requests by companies to be excluded from the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. The requests are based on economic hardship and lack of product availability from other supply sources. The USTR has denied many requests, but exclusions that are granted are not company-specific. Rather, the exclusion applies to all imports under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule listing number, although the benefit may be narrowly applied to products with similar technical specifications and uses.

STATE UPDATE

Oklahoma—License Plates: The Oklahoma House of Representatives failed to pass SEMA-opposed legislation that would have required front and rear license plates on all vehicles prior to a required legislative deadline. Vehicles are currently required to display only a single, rear-mounted license plate.

Pennsylvania—Motorsports: The Pennsylvania House Committee on State Government passed SEMA-supported legislation that would allow outdoor recreational activities, including motorsports, to resume immediately under certain conditions. The bill now awaits consideration by the entire House of Representatives. Pennsylvania’s emergency business closure order currently does not allow any recreational activity businesses, such as spectator sports, to operate.

COVID-19 Updates

SEMA Website Provides Guidance on Business Reopenings

SEMA is reviewing daily the resources available to members for addressing COVID-19 to ensure that they are up to date, accurate, and address current business challenges. The focus and goal of the Coronavirus Updates & Resources webpage (www.sema.org/coronavirus) has shifted toward reopening and making plans to move forward. The resources include the latest information on which businesses can reopen state by state, guidance and best practices for businesses to safely reopen, and keeping members informed on the latest federal relief programs.

One of the first features the website provided was a guide to how each state defined “essential” businesses that would be allowed to remain open as the pandemic began and most other “nonessential” businesses were told to close their doors. Beginning in late April, governors began to release their plans for how and when their states would allow businesses to reopen.

Maintenance Backlog on Federal Land: The U.S. Senate has announced plans to hold a vote on S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), a bill that is critically important to revitalizing America’s outdoor recreation industry. The GAOA would dedicate $9.5 billion over five years to address the maintenance backlog on federally owned lands by creating a national parks and public land legacy restoration fund. The bill would also appropriate $900 million annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and allocate 70% of the funds to the National Park Service, 10% to the Forest Service, 10% to the Fish and Wildlife Service, 5% to the Bureau of Land Management, and 5% to the Bureau of Indian Education. Full funding of the LWCF will help to address the infrastructure needs facing public lands and waters, such as improving trails, roads, docks, campgrounds and more. Addressing deferred maintenance on public lands will create jobs, revitalize communities, and provide Americans with access to open spaces. SEMA and 30 other national associations that comprise the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) are calling on the U.S. Congress to pass the bill. ORR is also working with the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service and state agencies to underscore the importance of reopening lands for recreation while making reasonable modifications to protect public health, such as opening trails while keeping visitor centers closed.

The SEMA state-by-state resource was updated to reflect this shift, and it now provides each state’s “Roadmap to Reopening” plan set forth by the governor as well as a specific list of the current businesses allowed to reopen in each state. While many SEMA-member companies were considered essential and allowed to remain in operation, the updated resource also provided state-specific links and information such as mask-wearing requirements for open businesses.

SEMA staff members have been closely monitoring government and industry guidance for reopening safely. SEMA created a section on the website with links to those documents. The published guidelines and best practices compiled for the website include the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and Original Equipment Suppliers Association “Health and Safety Resources,” Lear Corp.’s “Safe Work Playbook,” the White House “Guidelines for Opening America,” the Center for Health Security’s “Guidance for Governors: Principles for a Phased Reopening,” and the EPA and CDC “Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Workplaces.”

SEMA continues to track the federal government’s response to the pandemic and provide the most current information on loan programs such as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and emergency loan initiative. SEMA has provided free webinars that can be downloaded at any time to explain the programs. SEMA also provided a webinar on understanding federal regulations governing sick and family leave, unemployment benefits and other key
labor laws.

SEMA has conducted regular surveys that provide the association with valuable information on how each company is being affected by COVID-19. This input has been invaluable in helping SEMA identify ways to help its members.

The last few months have brought new challenges to many in the business community, and SEMA members are no exception. However, as the world adapts to the new normal, businesses reopen, and people go back to work, SEMA will continue to provide updated and current resources to help our members navigate these unprecedented times. Please do not hesitate to contact the SEMA team if you have specific questions or if there is anything we can do to help.