For Team Boston Dealers, it’s a countdown to the millennium powered by the planets and programs of Galaxy.

 As we head into the 21st century, we continue to face some of our biggest challenges – and our greatest opportunities. Now more than ever, we must focus our energies on staying competitive and profitable by responding directly and aggressively to the demands of the changing consumer marketplace.

The 1999 Galaxy Plan has been built around a single-minded dedication to profitability. Dealers must become more profitable. Motiva must become more profitable. This can only be accomplished through everyone’s active commitment to some key strategic imperatives:

• We must plan well to keep on 

 
 

top of existing business and to take advantage of new  markets and opportunities.
 

We must better invest our resources, especially our human and Capex resources.

• We must operate our facilities according to extraordinary operational and service standards.

The tactics of the 1999 Galaxy Plan are designed to directly and efficiently target these strategic imperatives, with new and enhanced planets that should drive you – the Texaco and Shell branded dealers – successfully into the next century.

The goal of the Galaxy Scorecard is to help ensure efficient and profitable dealer operations. The Scorecard is a careful, systematic process for the well-balanced planning and deployment of a dealer’s financial resources, internal business processes, external marketing efforts, and continued learning and growth. In 1999, you will develop and maintain your own individual Scorecards, in conjunction with Motiva.

Knowing and understanding the consumer of the 21st century – his wants and needs – is vital to our long-term success. Through this program, a special task force will be created to keep abreast of consumer behavior and demand, as well as market and product trends, in order that Motiva dealers are always informed and ready to pursue leading edge product and service ideas.

Staying on the cutting edge technologically is also key to our success in the marketplace of the future. This program will establish a task force whose responsibility will be to research and evaluate technological opportunities for Motiva dealers and present their suggestions and recommendations by late summer 1999.

This program calls for establishing a unified approach to community involvement for Motiva dealers. The Service Mission task force will evaluate the various “causes” and community involvement activities in the marketplace and carefully and methodically assess the goodwill “return on investment” that can be generated by aligning all dealers in one charitable endeavor under the banner of The Service Mission.

Finding exploiting new revenue stream opportunities will help Motiva dealers begin to move away from a “fuel driven” operation to one that is more focussed on what the consumer needs and wants. Through this program “creative channels” of opportunity will be aggressively identifies, analyzed, and pursued for the benefit of all Motiva dealers.

This program will bring dealer’s together with Motiva through in-depth, mutually beneficial meetings called Power2 Planning Sessions. At these sessions (beginning in April 1999), a dealer’s Galaxy Scorecard will be developed, reviewed, and maintained to ensure that daily business operations are 
supporting the dealer goals established in the Scorecard. Additionally, available Capex funds will be reviewed and discussed relative to the Scorecard and dealer performance. 

Aggressive local store marketing is key to generating new consumer trial and frequency of visits. “Streetfighting” workshops and on going consulting from the Slutsky group will help Team Boston dealers achieve this. An anthology of neighborhood marketing tactics will be offered to dealers throughout 1999 as you continue to pursue trading area tie-ins, cross promotions, property-line marketing, and in-store activities and events to drive traffic and increase sales.

Inter-Com is the planned, on-going calendar of communications that will keep the dealer network in touch with Motiva regularly and often throughout the year. It currently includes The Sun, The Asteroid, The Comet, and Genesis communications vehicles. New for 1999 will be The Constellation Web site and Meteorite e-mail.

Galactica is an on-going series of learning and knowledge seminars, presentations, and workshops for Motiva dealers. Specific topics for 1999 will include: several major QSR franchisor presentations and operations workshops; LJT Profit For Service Bays and web site development/utilization.

Your customer service and employee motivation and development needs are going to be directly and powerfully spotlighted with this unique and exciting new planet. The Celebrity Service System will help you make service your point of competitive differentiation by developing facility employees into dedicated motivated, “service ambassadors” who have the attitude, the will and the skill to consistently treat every single customer like a celebrity. It will also provide unique and exciting tactics that can drive traffic, increase sales, and build customer loyalty. Additionally, a half-day service culture presentation by Disney for dealer and facility-level personnel will be offered as a part of the Celebrity Service System activities in 1999.
 

Twice a year, celebratory events for all dealers will be held. At these Galaxy Galas, superior dealer performance will be recognized and saluted, special presentations will be made, and upcoming activities will be previewed.

Happy New Year, everyone!

My name is Katy Hart and I am the Sales Consultant in the southwestern Team Boston area. I am a 1993 graduate of the University of Notre Dame (National Champs in '99!). After graduation I worked in Client Services for a marketing research company based in Chicago, Information Resources, Inc.  From there I returned to Notre Dame to work in the Development office in the University Relations Department.

In February of 1997, I was hired by Shell and began my 

training in the Chicago North Retail District. September of that year I was assigned to the former New England District.

In the relatively brief time I've been in this area, there have been a lot of organizational changes. Over the years, there have also been many changes in what customers want and expect from a gas station. I truly believe that we are now headed in the right direction, with a definite focus.  It is my job to help you, the retailers, determine the focus for each of your individual locations, and how to best reach your goals.

As we have learned from the various "planets," there are many ingredients that go into improving your business. One often-overlooked aspect is community involvement.

Through the years, many dealers have chosen to get involved in their communities. Donna Todisco, of Medway Shell, is one such dealer. Last fall, Donna held a special event at her location, aimed at drawing awareness to the Medway Volunteer Fire Department's fire safety program for school children.  Donna worked with her vendors to obtain free or discounted products and offered face painting for area children.

The volunteer firemen brought several emergency vehicles for kids to climb in and see how each one worked. The firemen 
 

Donna has held similar events to raise money for the local D.A.R.E. chapter and other organizations. She always has a change jar on the counter to collect charitable donations. It is for her involvement in these and other community programs that the residents of Medway have named her station the "Best of Medway" complete with an official award.

Donna finds community involvement fun, as do her employees, who work hard to make the events successful. It also makes good business sense, a fact that is evident by the strong contingency of loyal customers at Medway Shell.
 

Tip #2  - Food Shop owners – Make up some flyers about your specials in foodservice (hot dogs, nachos, pizza, chicken) and take them to all businesses within one mile of your station. Introduce yourself and ask if the owner would mind putting the flyer on the employee bulletin board (give them a 

discount). All business have a bulletin board and there are usually three menus on them already. You might as well have yours up there too. Remember, people eat out 4 times a week and there usually is no more brown bags, employees BUY their lunch or dinner. Why not with you?