FUTURE SALES

A TRANSFORMATION TO STAY

Challenges

WHOLESALE, DIRECT, AGENT

Competition for automotive customers increasingly focuses on digitalization, connectivity, electrification, and experience. These change drivers deeply impact consumer behavior and have forced automotive sales and marketing teams to embark on a rapid journey toward permanent change.

Change is the new normal – for carmakers, distributors and retailers, as well as for all service providers in the downstream area. Companies must make high-risk system decisions, such as switching from the wholesale-dealer model to direct sales.

These are decisions that can cost billions of euros and are often followed by complex, years-long transformation programs that require intensive orchestration as large global sales and marketing value chains are turned virtually upside-down.

Berylls perspective

Coinciding trends create a pressure to change unseen so far in our industry 

NEW OWNERSHIP MODELS

Customers are looking for flexible, usage-based alternatives to owning a car, and they expect their car to be a part of their digital world.

LOYALTY EROSION AND NEW COMPETITION

In many segments, emotional attachment to the car and auto brand loyalty are decreasing. And there is more choice: some new BEV entrants are leapfrogging technology generations, and are finding new ways to engage with customers.

ELECTRIFICATION

Electrification is changing the industry profoundly. It amplifies cost pressure through lower margins on EVs and diminished aftersales profits. Electric charging has become a new challenge, with customers expecting solutions from their car brands and dealers.

DIGITALIZATION & DATA

Customer expectations on digitalization have intensified. Traditional differentiators and established USPs lose a lot of their relevance in an electrified, digitized and shared vehicle world, while digital USPs have proved hard to create and maintain. Brands have to build costly integrated omnichannel systems – and use all their newly gained data to drive decisions.

END OF DEMAND GROWTH

After unprecedented decade-long growth, global demand is now at or beyond its peak. From now on any brand will have to grow at the expense of competitors.

AUTONOMOUS DRIVING, NOT SO MUCH

Autonomous driving will not be widely enough available before 2030 to have a real impact on the light vehicle industry beyond commercial vehicles.

Track record

A trusted advisor and helper

The future of sales has been at the core of our firm from the start in 2011. We act as critical friends, provocateurs, or as catalysts to our clients. But Different.

Over the last decade we have supported numerous brands on their Future Sales transformations: we have shaped BEV go-to-market approaches for volume brands as well as innovative digital experiences for top end luxury brands. We have helped large premium automakers to make their HQ organisations both future-proof and efficient. We have supported distributors and retailers in expanding core service offerings and new mobility services. We have helped to update and restructure retail networks and we have built digital processes and functional tools along the sales funnel.

Future Sales is inevitably highly digital. Beyond consulting we therefore provide deep digital marketing expertise and operational support through Berylls Mad Media,  while Berylls Digital Ventures  supports clients and partners with digital tools and business building.

Approach

FUTURE SALES 3.0 GOES BEYOND DISTRIBUTION

Automakers must understand customer needs in both B2C and B2B target segments, design a differentiated offering to meet those needs, and then transform the sales and marketing organization to deliver this offering.

Future Sales 3.0 includes all channels, no matter whether physical or digital. It requires thinking along the complete life cycles of a vehicle and a customer. It demands a wide and multi-dimensional portfolio of offerings, from vehicles, ownership and usage schemes to digital and vehicle-related services and the packaging and pricing of these offerings.

The sales organizations of car brands must change: they must find new ways of thinking, steering, deciding, collaborating, going to market and allocating their investments. All companies must identify their value proposition in this integrated setup, either by collaborating or by exploiting others’ shortcomings.

We build on our deep industry experience but we do not offer pre-defined solutions. We always tailor our approach to the exact client problem.

Service offering

Future Sales 3.0 requires comprehensive strategizing followed by a profound transformation, usually over several years.

Fundamental sales strategy & transformation

We know only one thing for certain: there is no golden solution that fits every brand and solves all the problems that come with the traditional wholesale-dealer model. Many of the purported advantages of direct sales via agents can also be replicated in a well-conceived and well-managed dealer system. Switching systems brings inherent risks and investments. And no matter what, system executional excellence is needed to reap the benefits from any system. Instead of simply following the trend toward agent models we strongly suggest that clients find their own way: what we do is make sure they do it right.    

With experience from ‘both sides of the table’ and a commercial mindset that goes far beyond slides and spreadsheets we are uniquely qualified to help clients navigate the strategic rapids of this decisive decade. 

As strategy, organizational, and operational consultants we design the ideal strategic approach and the best target operating model for the client’s specific brands and objectives. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Sales model optimization including determining the extent of forward integration, from traditional wholesale to direct-to-consumer models.  
  • Future-proofing of retail formats and network setups.  
  • Determining the ideal degree of centralization of processes between HQs, regions, and markets – with subsidiarity as a guiding principle. 
  • Implementing fit-for-purpose governance and steering tools across the complete value chain. 

Delivering approaches to upskill and transform sales and marketing teams. 

360° Readiness check

The Future Sales systems will never be ‘completed’, but will have to evolve and develop continuously and indefinitely. To meet this challenge we offer regular progress validation through our 360° Future Sales Mission Readiness Check. With a modular structure it provides a neutral and regular assessment of the direction and progress of transformation – and helps to keep it on track. It can be sized and tailored to a client’s specific needs, but it will always give an objective view on progress and direction. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • 360° Mission Readiness Check. 
Retail network design

Physical outlets are heavily impacted by the ongoing auto industry transformation but will remain an essential cornerstone of the future customer and brand experience. Yet many existing formats need to be redesigned to fit their evolving purposes.  

Our innovative, Big Data based Retail Network Development approach to network design can quickly create a future-proof retail target picture. This will ensure retail networks remain attractive for both customers and investors. 

Our innovative and customer-centric approach to network planning encompasses three main steps: 

  1. Format portfolio definition, where we lay out the format landscape that will be relevant for the future network, derived from customer preferences. We have developed a proven and standardized approach that accelerates this process. 
  2. Blueprint design, where we deploy an ideal format network in a greenfield approach. We have developed an intelligent tool that calculates this blueprint. 
  3. Feasible transition, where we plan the transformation toward the identified blueprint. We have developed a proven and standardized approach to identify the optimal financial setup taking into account avoidance of operational disruption. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Making your retail networks future-proof for the client’s brand, customers, and investors. 

 

Omni-channel management

Successful Future Sales models require multiple sales channels – online and offline – and require integration in an efficient, seamless way for the customer. Today, only a fraction of sales are fully online. We expect this to gradually change in the coming years, driven by the ambitious online sales targets of OEMs. 

Providers need to build and integrate digital channels – both jointly with their retail network but also as direct-to-consumer models. In the online domain building customer traffic becomes challenging and can lead to very high customer acquisition costs. With online customers increasingly turning toward comparison platforms and existing marketplaces, new co-operations with incumbent digital businesses become more urgent. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Omni-channel concept development and integration planning including building digital channels. 
  • Operating model design for own direct-to-consumer channels (such as vehicle logistics and routing, and home delivery). 
  • Partner model definition with established digital marketplaces and platforms (such as used car classifieds). 
  • Online-driven Sales-as-a-Service models via our “Digital Agent” offering. 
Customer journey execution framework

As customer expectations for personalization and seamless cross-channel experiences continue to rise, there remains huge potential to improve customer interaction in the automotive industry.  

Many CX improvements are planned and prototyped, but too often fail to make it to delivery. For most companies, detailed customer insights are already to hand. Yet the mindset, capabilities, and infrastructure to use the data effectively for real-time decision-making are lacking. Corporate IT landscapes remain fragmented between business units and regions, inhibiting the optimization of customer journeys. Equally fragmented budget planning slows down innovation and incentivizes silo-thinking. Inconsistency between online and real-world touchpoints confuses customers and complicates customer journey development. 

Berylls Mad Media helps clients transform into truly customer-centric organizations that focus on personalized customer experiences. We are a team of CX specialists who have successfully guided clients across industries with this challenging endeavor. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Integrated customer journey design and MarCom planning to activate the digital journey. 
  • Omni-channel user experience.  
  • Customer interaction and transaction blueprint. 
  • Omni-channel portfolio and backlog steering. 
  • Journey-based data and architecture blueprint.  
Intelligent funnel management

Data availability and utilization in decision-making are the prerequisites to intelligently managing the customer journey and its sales funnel. Only when continuously measuring and benchmarking customer engagement and conversion at each touchpoint of the journey can customer experience and marketing performance optimization be realized. Interconnected data sources and automated data orchestration in the backend are as important as analysis, visualization and data literacy in the frontend. Customer experience and intelligent funnel management go hand in hand.  

Our Intelligent Sales Funnel Optimization approach and tool measures and improves the cost efficiency of brands' digital sales and marketing systems along the customer journey. This results in higher conversion rates and lower marketing cost per sale.

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Marketing and sales funnel planning and steering. 
  • Customer journey orchestration. 
  • Increased marketing budget efficiency. 
Ecommerce strategy & channel management

Automotive e-commerce has been around in various forms for more than 20 years. From the online-first used car sector to Tesla’s “5-Click” online purchase journey for new EVs, the range of digital sales models is already extensive. Yet for traditional OEMs the level of engagement with digital channels remains marginal. The full potential of digital sales is yet to be unleashed.  

Customers expect an omnichannel journey and competitors are keen to deliver a definitive digital journey with selected physical touchpoints. 

However, there are multi-layered digital pitfalls that OEMs need to confront. Berylls Mad Media has a well-proven toolbox to design, steer and realize an integrated e-commerce portfolio. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Sales digitalization strategy across business units (such as new cars, accessories, and financial services). 
  • Sales digitalization implementation for operating and delivery models (including agile coaching). 
  • Agile portfolio management across all digital touchpoints (from configurator to check-out). 
  • Feature refinement and concepting 
Loyalty ecosystem

For Berylls, the sales model does not end with the handover of a vehicle to the customer. Subsequent customer care and loyalty-building measures are important, as it is usually more cost-efficient to retain customers than to acquire new ones. With shortening ownership cycles and new Vehicle-as-a-Service (VaaS) business models, this becomes increasingly critical. Instead of focusing on new car sales alone, all post-sale activities should be viewed as repurchase activities, leveraging the current vehicle as a connection tool and data source.  

Berylls Mad Media has a dedicated team of highly specialized individuals able to create a customer-centric loyalty ecosystem – from idea to reality.  

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Loyalty ecosystem strategy and archetypes (such as competitive positioning and value proposition). 
  • Community engagement concepts (from fans and prospects to loyal customers). 
  • Brand, product and service experience strategy. 
  • Customer loyalty business case modelling (including cross-selling, up-selling and on-selling). 
Service portfolio

A future-proof offering needs to include multiple ownership options (including cash and credit financing) as well as usage-based VaaS offerings ranging from traditional multi-year leases to flexible subscription and rental services for new and used cars. 

The service product portfolio is determined by the brand’s position and its target segments. VaaS models are particularly effective as conversion measures, especially for BEVs, and can be leveraged for customer loyalization. Moreover, VaaS offerings can support new market entries since they provide customers with a risk-free option to try out new brands. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Market and customer demand assessment (including addressable market size, customer segmentation and personas). 
  • Product and service strategy development (including service product design, customer journeys, revenue model and business case calculation). 
  • Capability assessment and operating model design (including make/buy/partner decisions and partner/vendor selection). 
Multi-cycle sales model & vehicle lifetime value

Historically selling new cars was the key focus for OEMs. This traditional sales model is increasingly coming under pressure in a VaaS world. The vehicle use cycles have become too short to break: in the future, successful companies will keep vehicles in their fleets for a longer period of time and continue to monetize them with other customers in further use cycles (such as used car leasing or subscription). 

This multi-cycle sales model will make vehicle condition critical as it will be essential to maintain a certain standard to keep the car suitable for as many offerings as possible. Efficient refurbishment operations to optimize vehicle condition will therefore become a strategic enabler.  

By matching the right car to the right customer via the right VaaS or ownership product, providers can increase profitability and increase customer loyalty at the same time. But this requires a radical rethinking of governance and KPIs, from pure new car sales volumes to managing fleet utilization and return on assets. 

Ultimately, OEMs must implement 4R strategies (Refurbish, Remanufacture, Reuse, and Recycle) to create a longer lifecycle for both vehicles and key components, such as EV batteries.   

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Developing a vehicle lifetime value quantification tool, deriving optimization levers and adapting sales steering and KPI logic from unit sales to return on assets. 
  • Designing multi-cycle revenue and yield concepts (including dynamic pricing, tactical allocation and residual value management across new and used cycles). 
  • Designing vehicle allocation intelligence to match customer demand and optimize vehicle fleet utilization. 
  • Definition of 4R concept and operational model design including partner selection. 
Profit pools in vehicle & digital services

Traditional profit pools such as aftersales will remain cash cows but with shrinking volumes due to electrification. Full-service VaaS models with guaranteed uptime will accelerate the trend and fuel the transformation of aftersales from a profit to a cost center.  

Beyond the vehicle and parts business, providers need to find further profit pools in value-added services. One option is to increase the penetration rates of existing services (such as insurance) through all use cycles. Another option is to identify new services areas, such as home charging or digital services.  

Providers will need to master customer and vehicle data to cross-sell and up-sell personalized offers. 

Berylls is the right partner for: 

  • Profit-focused optimization of existing after-sales business for ICE vehicles and designing fit-for-purpose concepts for electric vehicles.   
  • Service ideation and innovation processes to optimize existing and identify new value-add services (such as charging, energy and insurance). 
  • Build, scale and run new service-centric departments or organizations. 

Team

OUR FUTURE SALES TEAM

Partner & MD (UK)

Arthur Kipferler

With over 25 years in the auto industry, half as a consultant, half in OEM roles, Berylls Strategy Advisors is THE firm where I can bring all of my experience to the table and still learn something new every day – in the great company of like-minde…

Partner

Christopher Ley

Berylls to me means successfully navigating our partners and customers from the automotive & mobility industry through the greatest transformation in history - but different. Jointly with a team that is outstanding on a professional & personal level.…

Partner

Paul Kummer

„But different“ in the sense of car-passion meets focus. Here, we shape the future of the automotive industry with professional excellence and a human touch. A win-win-win situation for our clients, the team and myself. That’s Berylls.

Associate Partner

Philipp Braun

I strive for projects which both challenge and inspire – Berylls allows for the optimal combination. The passion for automobility is in Berylls' DNA and teams have petrol and electricity running in their blood, which makes working here unique.

Associate Partner

Philipp Enderle

BSA gives me the opportunity to further develop my own approaches in dialog with experts in order to bring about sustainable change for our customers. The trust our customers place in us and the successes in implementation drive me.

Associate Partner

Florian Tauschek

110% focus on automotive – nothing else! In doing so we at Berylls bring the expertise and necessary experience to navigate our clients sustainably successful through the biggest transformation of the car industry`s history. 

Associate Partner

Henning Ludes

But different is the enormous degree of trust to take on responsibility for one’s personal path and the co-creation of Berylls’ future. The passion, ingenuity, and spirit of each Beryll unite these colorful paths to one inspirational plattform.

Principal

Henry Lundt

Leveraging potentials in automobility is both super exciting and great fun when working together with berylls colleagues - so many different characters with unique expertise make a great team!

Project Manager

Michael Dümig

At Berylls we are shaping the mobility of the future. At this, I have the opportunity to develop innovative business models together with our clients and a strong team of automotive enthusiasts to leave footprints within the whole industry.

Project Manager

Tobias Detzler

Mobility is a basic need. It will remain so in the future - but different! With BSA, I would like to help shape the future of this different mobility through customer-oriented project work and thus keep the world moving.

Senior Associate

Vadim Welter

Finding and implementing strategic concepts by creating customer-oriented, data-driven and holistic solutions are tasks that drive me. Together with Berylls, I want to share my experience and knowledge to create solutions that move the automotive ind…

Senior Consultant

Björn Simon

To me, Berylls means being able to integrate my passion for the automotive industry into my everyday work and together with other automotive enthusiasts actively help to shape exciting future topics of the industry.

Senior Consultant

Philipp Neubauer

The automotive industry is facing unprecedented challenges. With its clear automotive focus, Berylls is the ideal consulting partner here, because Berylls combines the necessary know-how with an enormous, infectious passion for cars.

Senior Consultant

Paul-Alexander Bures

Be it the rumble of an engine during a cold start or the silence of cruising along in an EV - cars simply are fascinating. I’m honored to support our automotive clients in the pursuit of creating that feeling, especially during this disruptive era.

Lead Venture Builder

Antonella Giese

I was always fascinated by how mobility has an impact on everyone’s life and how the way people are moving is constantly changing. Exploring, conceptualizing and implementing ideas in that field – that’s what brought me to Berylls Digital Ven…

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