With the spring selling season gaining momentum, now is the time to be thinking about how to get your share of sales in the months ahead. Economic forecasts look promising in many areas, meaning we could be looking at some strong signs of normalcy coming to the marketplace after a seven-year drought! With that positive swing, however, will come more aggressive competition than ever. Businesses that have struggled to keep inventory available will be filling the shelves, and competitors will regain market position and confidence as their business kicks in.

So how do you stake your claim early and keep that competitive edge? It’s back to the basics, with strong inventory availability, great customer service, multifaceted marketing and a competitive position on price.

Vulnerability Awaiting Plunder

“With data collection, ‘the sooner the better’ is always the best answer.”—Marissa Mayer

It’s a simple truth in today’s business environment: Data is driving business like never before, whether it’s data about customers, products, competitors or any number of other factors that determine how well informed we are. For those of us in the automotive specialty-equipment trade, “data” is typically talked about in terms of product data—all of the properly presented words, numbers and pictures that illustrate the full rich value, function and desirability of a particular product.

How Robust Data Has Improved Business

The SEMA Data Co-op (SDC), the industry-owned data repository, moved from Beta phase into full operation just last summer. Since then there’s been a lot of talk about “clean data” and the need for manufacturers within the specialty-equipment industry to “take control” of it. ACES, PIES, long descriptions and even product photos and videos are now critical to sales in today’s digital age.

Current studies suggest that up to 90% of shopping now begins with an Internet search, whether the product is ultimately purchased online or through a brick-and-mortar retail store. And mobile is overhauling other search devices, with tablets alone projected to account for 65% of all sales made on mobile devices. That’s a rapid change from only a short time ago.

“It’s like dog years, where one year is actually seven years worth of change,” said Bob Moore, partner in the automotive aftermarket consulting company J&B Service in Kansas City, Missouri. “For example, I was looking at a presentation we did in 2010...

SEMA Data Co-op at the Show:

No matter your skill level, beginner to expert, there will never be a better time to get a healthy dose of “data savvy” than at the 2013 SEMA Show.

The SEMA Data Co-op (SDC) will be giving presentations and demos all day Tuesday, November 5, through Friday, November 8, in booth #20579, and is also offering a full slate of educational sessions on Monday, November 4. All sessions are free, run one hour each and are repeated morning and afternoon to best accommodate busy Show schedules.

Top Five Reasons to Get Started Now!

Business is changing. And for those of us who have been in the industry for 20, 25, 30 years or more, it just feels different than it used to. I was talking to an old friend the other day who runs a specialty performance company, and he said, “You know, it just seems like nobody talks to each other on the phone anymore.” Yep, e-mail has changed the way we do business. The same sentiment can be heard in brick-and-mortar stores across the country in the form of, “You know, people don’t come into the store like they used to.”

Yep, the Internet has changed the way we do business as well. So what’s the common thread that is replacing the long-standing virtues of face-to-face business, customer relationships and loyalty? If you ask me, it’s technology.

You’re probably thinking, yeah, I know…a thousand words, right? Well, that certainly still holds true, but a picture is also worth hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of sales in today’s marketplace.

In case you haven’t noticed, today’s consumers are now demanding what could almost be called a sensory overload of visual information as they make decisions about where to spend their money. It’s all about quick, informative features and benefits, easy-to-consume product details, and pictures, pictures, pictures. And don’t forget videos! Videos showing installation, product features and function, performance and more are rapidly becoming the norm and are very influential in consumer decision-making. Add to this list things such as PDFs of installation instructions, schematics, warranty information and more to round out this new standard of excellence in presenting your products. No longer do you need to have just an image library; it’s all about managing all this stuff we now call “digital assets.”

Owning Your Data Is Owning Your Future

British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web in 1989 when he implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol client and a server via the Internet. He had this to say about data ownership: “Customers need to be given control of their own data—not being tied into a certain manufacturer so that when there are problems they are always obliged to go back to them.”

With that in mind, I selected the words in the title of this article very carefully. “Owning Your Data Is Owning Your Future.” Seems simple enough, and certainly makes sense. But think about the reciprocal meaning of that statement. If someone else owns your data, someone else owns your future. Yep, that’s a scary thought.