We have entered a new era in which social responsibility, a sense of enterprise, and commitment to the community are key ingredients for a company’s long-term success and reputation.
The way each company addresses these issues is important for entrepreneurs, managers, employees, and customers alike. With a consistent commitment to innovation, Quintegia and Findomestic Banca have launched “RESET” on the path to the next edition of Automotive Dealer Day. This initiative aims to discover, highlight, disseminate, and encourage the initiatives undertaken by official network dealerships in this direction.
In the United States, dealerships have always emphasized their activities in this regard, and those who have attended the NADA Convention, recently renamed the NADA Show, have always been able to grasp its significance. We believe that this vibrant communication emphasis among Americans is driven by two main factors. The first is a legitimate desire to highlight the positive contribution of dealerships to society, within a narrative that underscores elements such as employment and positive impact, in order to counteract certain images that exist, albeit in part, in the collective imagination and associate dealers with shrewd and sometimes unethical car salesmen, anchored in the past. The second factor, which we find even more relevant, concerns the opportunity to serve as a catalyst for inspiration and cross-fertilization among colleagues in the profession. In other words, we believe that the stimulus that comes from peers toward these initiatives can have significant consequences. This applies both in terms of visibility (i.e., transparently narrating, overcoming understandable embarrassment and modesty) and in terms of enhancing initiatives in a kind of “friendly competition”. In this competition, what is at stake is the deep-seated feeling that every human being feels more authentically alive and part of a community when engaged in something that has purposes that go beyond oneself or the immediate circle of people.
We are convinced, and we have had direct evidence for some time, that auto dealerships are very active on these fronts in Italy as well, often discreetly and reservedly, not far from our culture. However, we believe that we can break some positive patterns and trigger a cycle of visibility and mutual encouragement. If this made sense a long time ago, it makes even more sense today in the critical context generated by the spread of Covid-19, which has seen an increasing number of companies in all sectors commit to supporting emergency-related needs. There may not have been a better time than this to launch such an initiative.
We therefore ask you to report initiatives involving auto dealerships, both self-reports and indications from third parties, in order to together create a map of the importance of responsibility, a sense of enterprise, and community commitment of dealerships. These initiatives should not be limited to monetary contributions, as important as they are, and they should not necessarily be directly related to the current emergency, as important as it is. Instead, they aim to encompass all initiatives in a broad sense that emphasize these themes and are therefore related to society, citizens, employees, and the environment. This is an important front for a profession that has always represented a reference point and is mobilizing its energies to continue to do so in the years to come.
For submissions or more information, please write to reset@quintegia.it, preferably indicating the contact person for any further inquiries.
