In the case of Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Selling the Dream, the area manager for the Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Dean Pittman is faced with a marketing decisions to be made. After interviewing a potential employee, it was discovered that the Enterprise image is lacking and most graduating college students do not have a positive view of their business.When speaking with the CEO Andy Taylor, Dean suggested that a new marketing analysis be done to improve on their recruiting. Since recruiting the right people for training is such a central issue to the future success of the company, marketing the company better to the public is the key to improving the company’s image.
To begin, an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company will show a brief look at how the organization is functioning. Following will be some key problems and recommended solutions.Enterprise has many strengths that has given them recent success. Being ranked by Fortune magazine as the 37th best company out of 50 can be attributed to their central interest in the employees. Enterprise has a strong training system that allows employees to move up quickly with the opportunity to advance their salary very quickly.
Since each store is ran as it’s own small business, the managers are encouraged to take on the responsibility of a demanding job, but are rewarded accordingly with a percentage of the profit margin. This not only encourages increased revenue but also supports the branch managers with an employee-oriented motivation within the company.Another valuable strength is the fact that there are very few corporate personnel. This creates an environment of fewer layers of management to weed through in order to get an idea completed. It also stimulates a situation where the branch managers can feel free to run their business without so much supervision and corporate demands that they cannot be creative. Finally, a key strength is that Enterprise keeps lower prices than the competition by locating themselves in neighborhoods rather than at airports.
This is key in market segmentation because they have targeted a new market, the home-city or leisure/vacation segment. This is a segment that the competition has not really been able to penetrate very well.Some of the weaknesses that Enterprise faces include issues like low brand awareness and image problems. After an interview with a future employee, it was recognized that that she did not know much about the company before her initial interview. Although, once she learned more, there was an increased interest in the organization. This could be a potential problem area when it comes time to recruit new talent. Also, after running a national ad campaign studies showed only 20 percent of those polled picked them as a familiar rent-a-car company. This is problematic when customers are not aware of the services that Enterprise has to offer as well.
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Although customer awareness is a weakness, it has picked up since 1989.A few opportunities that could help generate more revenue for Enterprise are increasing advertising to their target market and recruiting more from colleges before students graduate. By increasing advertising to the leisure/travel segment and the already strong replacement car rental market, they could further differentiate themselves in their already successful market segment. Just by increasing the public’s awareness they could potentially boost revenue at individual branches. Also, since there is so much emphasis on hiring hard-working graduates from college, an extensive recruiting campaign could increase student’s awareness of the company and educate them of the potential benefits of working for Enterprise before they have the opportunity to learn about other companies.
Once they learn of the salary increases they would be more likely to work for Enterprise and work harder to generate revenue since it directly benefits them.Some of the outside threats to Enterprise are their competitors at the airports. It will not be long before they realize the benefits of opening doors inside communities versus the high rates they pay to be in the airports. Also, a potential threat to the recruiting phase is a risk of employee burnout.
With the problem of low awareness to customers and potential employees it has become increasingly difficult to hire someone. On top of that, the prospect of cleaning cars and working over 50 hours a week may not be appealing to future employees. Once interviewees learn of the hard hours involved, they may be turned off before they hear more about the benefits. Another problem that they could potentially face would be a leveling out in their profits if they cannot recruit new people into the organization.
They’ve experience continued growth since opening in 1962 and may encounter flat sales if they don’t continue to push the bar on their already demanded employees.After reviewing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, a few problems with Enterprise can be identified. One problem and the most crucial is the lack of recruiting done by the organization. Another problem is the low awareness of the company brand image and low awareness of their services to the customers.
A third problem is threat of their competition entering the market segment that Enterprise has prided itself in differentiation. Another problem Enterprise faces is not diversifying their operations to other market segments.In order to conquer these problems, a few alternatives and solutions may be helpful. First, the most crucial problem of recruiting could be remedied by a very likely creative and interactive presentation that will attract the attention of college grads at career fairs highlighting the benefits of high pay. Also, holding a special recruiting seminar at a nice hotel would be ideal for a longer, more formal presentation for those interested in the company. Here, more could be learned about the organization and it’s management-training procedures.
For the second problem of low awareness, there are many likely alternatives that would not cost too much to produce. The next problem of their competition potentially entering the replacement market cannot be avoided, but the company should adjust accordingly to the threat.Although this problem is not likely at this phase, it will become more relevant in the future. For example, a quick solution if they do enter the market segment, Enterprise should let customers know that their services was first and supreme to the competition through friendly customer service representatives.
Finally, to combat the non-critical problem of diversification, Enterprise should consider entering into other markets where their competition already exists. By researching how they are managing business, Enterprise can capitalize on superior customer service and the company’s care for customers will speak for itself and slowly take over the competition’s slice of that market segment.In order to best serve the immediate needs of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the most important issue of recruiting must be addressed. With a fresh, new recruiting campaign, the company’s recruiters should be well prepared with interactive materials. Besides targeting just college graduates, recruiters should make a point to speak to senior students as well. Many students consider a career path before they graduate and would prefer to have interviews set up before they have a degree in hand as assurance that they have a chance in the workforce.A power point presentation and many brochures explaining the history of the company would be beneficial.
Also, setting up seminars at a location other than a career fair could offer potential employees the advantage of individualized attention away from the bustle of competitors at a busy career fair. Contacting all people interested is also key. There may be someone that was slightly interested, but if someone contacts them personally, it shows that Enterprise wants to see what they have to offer and can be flattering to a college students getting ready to graduate.The next issue of low awareness is a problem that is very likely to be addressed next. A very likely solution for awareness would be to focus their efforts with one of their best assets, their database. With the use of a detailed database, they could send out mass mailers to previous customers and potential customers in their selected target markets highlighting all of the services they have to offer.
Another less likely source of increased awareness would be an Internet site. Many consumers shop online to educate themselves about their choices before committing to a service. This would be a great way to let customers know how to locate an Enterprise near them.In conclusion, Enterprise has built itself on customer service and being a convenient source of transportation located in neighborhoods near the consumer for over 30 years. Their increase in revenue could be in jeopardy if they don’t recruit hard-working individuals that are not afraid of getting a little dirty once in a while or going out of their way for a customer.
To help refresh their business, a new recruiting campaign should be created with many interactive materials and should be launched nationwide.To help increase awareness without spending a fortune, Enterprise can best utilize their database by sending out a brief mailer to current customers notifying them of some other benefits and services that they have to offer. Enterprise is a solid company with a positive reputation, but the public just is not aware of it. They should market themselves as the friendly, low cost, neighbor that is there for service.
