The Research & Development of a New Sales & Marketing Strategy in Order to

Improve Sales Turnover in Bosch’s FSA-Engine System Analyser Range

Simon Reeves 07813270

BA(Hons) Business Studies with Marketing

24.10.2011

I declare that this report is my own original work and that no part of it has been submitted to any other institute of learning in support of an application for another award. The opinions expressed in the report are put forward in a personal capacity and do not represent those of the University of Brighton Business School or any organisation with which the author may be associated.

Signature………………….. Date…………………….

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Executive Summary

This market research based report aims to establish a new fresh and innovative sales and marketing strategy in order to improve the sales performance of the FSA engine system analyser range from Bosch. This range is part of the garage equipment offering and is made up of highly technical diagnostic oscilloscope systems.

Sales volumes of the range have been drastically low in the last three to five years and this is the reason this project has been undertaken, to research and formulate a new successful strategy that will increase sales volume of the FSA range.

The key findings from the literature review were that there is considerable uncertainty towards buyer behaviour in high-technology markets. Established suppliers in high-technology markets are likely to be most successful. Business-to-Business selling and purchasing can be exceedingly complex as well as risky. Adopting closer more trustworthy working relationships with customers in business-to-business markets can have positive impacts on performance. And finally customer characteristics and buying behaviour are the main determinants of thriving target market segmentation but market segmentation strategies can be exceedingly hard to implement effectively.

The methods of primary research used for the fieldwork was a combination of a questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire was answered by forty respondents, all of who are mechanics or trainee mechanics that were undertaking garage equipment training courses at Bosch. Two interviews were carried out with two separate Bosch employees, one from the training department, and one from the sales department, both of whom are extremely experienced in the garage equipment industry.

The most important conclusions and recommendations drawn as a result of the fieldwork and literature review is that there is a lack of training on Oscilloscope equipment throughout the industry that is contributing to the low sales of the FSA range. There should be plenty of sales promotions on the range to give possible buyers more of an incentive to purchase. A particular market segment needs to be targeted. If possible the price should be reduced and much more advertising material needs to be distributed to the market.

Preface

This topic was proposed by the marketing manager for garage equipment at Bosch, Toni Scheschko for whom I was working for during the course of the placement. Special thanks and appreciation go to him for this.

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LIST OF SECTIONS

SECTIONS CONTENT PAGE

1.0 INTRODUCTION 7

1.1 RESEARCH QUESTION 8

2.0 AIMS & OBJECTIVES 8

2.1 AIM 8

2.2 OBJECTIVES 8

3.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 9

3.1 BUYER BEHAVIOUR 9

3.2 BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS MARKETING 10

3.3 RELATIONSHIP MARKETING 11

3.4 MARKET SEGMENTATION 12

4.0 RESEACH METHODS 13

4.1 PRIMARY RESEARCH 13

5.0 DATA ANALYSIS & EVALUATION 15

5.1 ANALYSIS & EVALUATION OF 15 QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

5.2 ANALYSIS & EVALUATION OF 29 INTERVIEW RESULTS

6.0 CONCLUSIONS 31

6.1 TRAINING 31

6.2 PRICE 31

6.3 LITERATURE, ADVERTISING & 31 PROMOTION

7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 32

7.1 SALES PROMOTIONS 32

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7.2 TRAINING 33

7.3 TARGET MARKET 33

7.4 PRICE 34

7.5 TECHNICAL SALES EXECUTIVES 34

7.6 DISTRIBUTORS 34

7.7 LITERATURE & GENERAL 34ADVERTISING

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LIST OF TABLE & FIGURES

TABLE/FIGURE TITLE PAGE

5.1 (a) Question 6 15

5.1 (b) Question 8 16

5.1 (c) Question 7 16

5.1 (d) Question 9 17

5.1 (e) Question 15 17

5.1 (f) Question 16 18

5.1 (g) Question 10 19

5.1 (h) Question 11 19

5.1 (i) Question 13 20

5.1 (j) Question 14 21

5.1 (k) Question 19 21

5.1 (l) Question 20 22

5.1 (m) Question 17 23

5.1 (n) Question 18 23

5.1 (o) Question 1 24

5.1 (p) Question 2 24

5.1 (q) Question 3 25

5.1 (r) Question 4 25

5.1 (s) Question 5 26

5.1 (t) Question 24 27

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LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Questionnaire – Oscilloscope Equipment 37

B Interview – Oscilloscope Equipment 42

Abbreviations Used

FSA – Engine System Analyser

ECU – Electronic Control Unit

TSE – Technical Sales Executive

BCS – Bosch Car Service

B2B – Business-to-Business

GBC – Genetic Binary Choice

RM – Relationship Management

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1.0 Introduction

Bosch is one of the largest private limited companies in the world. They have a strong foothold in markets across all continents and in the majority of countries worldwide. The Bosch brand was voted the 10th strongest business-to-business brand in the world (Ranking the brands, 2011) only behind the likes of Apple and Microsoft. To the average consumer Bosch are known as a firm that provide household appliances such as fridge-freezers and washing machines but products such as these only generate a very small amount of total global turnover. Automotive original equipment and the automotive aftermarket is where the majority of this £40 Billion-plus global turnover is generated. Their product portfolio also includes professional and DIY power tools as well as garden and lawn tools. Security systems are a small but growing division of the product portfolio. It is the automotive aftermarket that will be concentrated on for this project and in particular garage equipment. In recent years this industry has been flooded with new technology due to the high-tech nature of new automobiles produced. Gone are the days where mechanics could diagnose and fix problems using just their own know-how and tools such as spanners and screwdrivers. All electronic systems in automobiles are now run by electronic control unit’s (ECU’s) that present fault codes when there is a problem with that certain system in the automobile. This is displayed as the engine management warning light in the dashboard. Consequently, diagnostic testers produced to read these fault codes are now widely available and garages across the UK have had to invest in such equipment to remain competitive in the market. This means a lot of new training and education will be required for garage workers to be able to use this equipment effectively. This project has been proposed as a result of the low sales volume of the FSA (engine system analyser) range over the last three years. The FSA range is comprised of high-end diagnostic engine system analysers. Top of the range models includes the FSA 760, FSA 740 and FSA 720 designed to provide a garage with a complete diagnostic system. The new FSA 050 was developed to test hybrid and electric vehicles and the FSA 500 & 450 use oscilloscopes to test and analyse voltage signal patterns from any component in a vehicle that has a voltage e.g. an alternator. On the whole the FSA range’s primary use and objective is to ascertain the exact fault in the system so the exact solution needed to fix the vehicle can be established and implemented. They go further and can perform deeper analysis than standard diagnostic testers found in most garages that will just read an ECU fault code. For instance a common fault code given by many cars is that the lambda sensor is faulty, entry-level diagnostic testers will read this code and if no further testing or analysis is carried out then the only option to the mechanic is to replace this lambda sensor. However this course of action may not be required once further analysis and testing is undertaken as there could be a problem with another part that is causing the fault code for the lambda sensor to be displayed meaning this part could be fixed rather than replacing the whole lambda sensor. This is where FSA units come into play as the use of analytical oscilloscopes can be used to determine precisely what needs to be done to correctly fix the vehicle giving garage owners potential benefits such as greater customer satisfaction and customer loyalty which can be very difficult to achieve in the automotive aftermarket. The reason for the low sales of these units could be down to a number of reasons and the objectives for this project are to accurately research and discover these reasons so

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that an informed strategy can be developed and implemented to boost the sales of the range. Early predictions for the reasoning behind the low sales are; is the range overpriced? Do garages feel they will gain a healthy return from investing in an FSA? Is the necessary training available plus affordable and is enough education and awareness in place in the industry for garages to feel they need an FSA unit?

1.1 Research Question

How can the sales and marketing strategy of the FSA engine system analyser range from Bosch be transformed and tailored in order to improve sales turnover?

2.0 Aims and Objectives

2.1 Aim

The overriding aim of the project is to develop a new sales and marketing strategy for the FSA range in order to increase the sales turnover of the range. To do this extensive market research must be undertaken to understand primarily what garage owner’s views are on the product and why sales are low in the first place. This will form the basis of developing a new sales and marketing strategy that will make the FSA range appealing to garage owners. Broad answers and explanations must be fashioned for the following objectives that can then be used along with knowledge gained from the literature review to write this new strategy for improving sales turnover.

2.2 Objectives

The following set of objectives outline the topics that need investigation so that relevant and educated information is collected about the oscilloscope market to further enhance the quality of the recommendations and conclusions.

A) To investigate why sales of the FSA range are low and to determine if this is a problem across the market or just for Bosch

B) To gain an understanding of garage owners points of view and examine if they feel they need an FSA oscilloscope unit

C) To consider whether the majority of garages are in the financial position to be able to invest in an FSA

D) To observe if workshops in the UK are up to date with the latest technology and training in the garage equipment market and to provide an overview discussing the potential benefits owning an FSA unit could bring them

E) To research whether the introduction of new models to the range can have a positive impact on sales turnover

F) To determine whether the range should be targeted at the whole garage industry or specific segments of the industry

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G) To examine which methods of marketing and advertising would most benefit the range

H) To probe whether the FSA range has the features and capabilities required to satisfy the garage equipment market

3.0 Literature Review

The literature review covers four key topic areas; buyer behaviour, business-to-business marketing, relationship marketing and market segmentation. These are the most important concepts that will be fundamental in developing a new successful sales and marketing strategy for the FSA range

3.1 Buyer Behaviour

Kotler et al (2009) explain the purchasing and procurement process in organisational buyer behaviour, “Business buyers seek to obtain the highest benefit package (economic, technical, service and social) in relation to a market offering’s costs. To make comparisons, they will try to translate all costs and benefits into monetary terms. A business buyer’s incentive to purchase will be a function of the difference between perceived benefits and perceived costs. The marketer’s task is to construct a profitable offering that delivers superior customer value to the target buyers”.

Graham (2009, p3) discusses the roles of knowledge and information of product on buyer behaviour, “Knowledge is more important than ever, but keeping it simple is essential”. He suggests that overwhelming detail can act as a deterrent when researching the market especially in this modern age of technology, “Offering information in smaller bites works best, since Web site visitors tend to scan rather than read thoroughly”. He goes on to explain, “The sales process includes letting the customer know not only where the information is available, but formatting it for easy access and making it available in small segments”. He summarises by describing how consumers do not want to take risks but want the latest product culminating in the contradiction of today’s consumer, wanting what is brand new but also having the security of what has been reviewed and tested. This is relevant to the advertising material of the FSA range as it full of very complex details that are laid out in thoroughly bland manor.

Heide & Weiss (1994, p1) in their journal article talk about the many uncertainties in high-technology markets for organizational buyers as well as their lack of experience, “From a buyer's' perspective, past research has suggested that the problems that exist in high-technology markets are of two different kinds. First, such markets are characterized by considerable uncertainty. The uncertainty is due, in part, to heterogeneous and rapidly changing technologies (Glazer 1991; Norton and Bass 1987; Teece 1986), and to the fact that buyers frequently lack relevant prior experience (von Hippel 1986). Second, buyers frequently face switching costs, as a result of earlier commitments to particular product technologies or vendors”. The writers also examine this from the seller’s position, describing how a seller must be firmly established in the market otherwise they will find difficulties even being considered by buyers.

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Brassington & Pettitt (2006, p165) state that when buyers are in the supplier selection process it is common for them to stick to formally used suppliers rather than scanning the market for new suppliers, “If existing suppliers can do the job, then they are likely to be favoured”. They explain how there should be a decent working relationship and mutual understanding with existing suppliers. However they do counteract this argument by outlining some potential risks by constantly favouring existing suppliers, e.g. an organisation does not want to become too reliant on one supplier for fear of this supplier going out of business or is the organisation missing out on suppliers with more advanced technology.

3.2 Business-to-Business Marketing

Brassington & Pettitt (2006, p147) introduce business-to-business marketing and purchasing as high risk due to the nature of supply chains and manufacturing processes. They elucidate how the manufacturing process of a firm could come to a complete halt costing the firm heavily on the basis of one wrongly ordered or supplied part or product. Therefore organisations are more wary, watchful and more attention to detail is given when it comes to Business-to-Business marketing and purchasing.

Fill (2005) considers business-to-business marketing from a communication perspective and how the World Wide Web is not an ideal tool for B2B communication, “The WWW is of course both a new distribution channel and communication medium. As a form of communication it is impersonal and more disposed to information search and retrieval than to information that is heavily branded and has emotional overtones. The nature of communications in B2B is that they are very personal, often require face-to-face interaction and the interactive nature lends itself to tailored messages and rapid feedback”. He also considers business-to-business marketing from a sales promotional perspective, “Manufacturers will use competitions and sweepstakes to incentivise the sales force of its distributors, to motivate technical and customer support staff in retail organisations and as an inducement to encourage other businesses to place orders and business with them. Price-based promotions and delayed discounts are used to encourage organisations to place business. Another popular approach is to discount technical support and bundle up a range of support facilities”.

Madhavaram & Appan (2010, p10) discuss and outline the determinants of developing complex market products and offerings in business-to-business markets, “Research suggests that complex market offerings require collaboration efforts (Hobday, 1998; Moretti, 2003). In the context of developing complex market offerings, collaboration involves complex internal exchanges within the organization and complex external exchanges with entities external to the firm. Complex exchanges refer to a system of mutual relationships among at least three entities and the entire system may be organized by an interconnective web of relationships (Bagozzi, 1975; Lusch et al., 1992). Hence, for collaboration, and therefore effective development of complex market offerings to take place in a firm, a firm needs a set of social resources embedded in internal relations (i.e. internal social capital) and external relations (i.e. external social capital)”.

Brown, Sichtmann & Musante (2011, p202) investigate how business-to-business manufacturing firms are increasingly integrating services into their product portfolios

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under the same brand umbrella. Their research considers the reasons behind product-to-service brand extensions success from an organizational buying behaviour, branding, and service-dominant logic perspective. They found that, “In their product-to-service brand extensions, B2B firms are more likely to attain success if they have well-regarded brand reputations, relevant service competencies, and strong buyer-seller relationships. In addition, shared innovativeness, an ability to enhance utility and/or create transaction efficiencies, and effective marketing support are proposed to positively affect brand extension success”.

3.3 Relationship Marketing

Fill (2005) uses the social exchange theory to explain relationship marketing, “The central premise associated with social exchange theory (Blau 1964) is that relationships are based upon the exchange of values between two or more parties. Whatever constitutes the nature of an exchange between the participants, equality or satisfaction must be felt as a result. An absence of equality means that an advantage might have been gained by one party and this will automatically result in negative consequences for another. Therefore, in a B2B context, organisations seeking to maintain marketing channel relationships should not raise prices past threshold levels or allow service level outputs to fall below those of competitors. If channel partners perceive a lack of added value from these exchanges they are more likely to compare performance with other potential suppliers, and even withdraw from the relationship by establishing alternative sources of supply”.

Palmatier, Jarvis, Bechkoff, and Kardes (2009, p1) examine the benefits of relationship marketing. They suggest that, “A large body of research in both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets establishes empirically that relationship marketing (RM) investments enhance both customer trust and commitment, and in turn these relational mediators influence customer behaviours, leading to superior seller performance”. They go on to say however that, “a meta-analysis based on more than 38,000 relationships that tests the commitment–trust-mediated model of RM reveals a surprising finding; namely, RM investments have a direct effect on seller objective performance outcomes that is actually greater than the effect mediated by trust and commitment”.

Chaston (1998) also believes that adopting relationship marketing can be very beneficial, “As entrepreneurial and relationship marketing can enhance performance, then possibly an owner/manager seeking to increase sales may be able to select a style which seem appropriate both to the degree to which customers seek closer relationships with suppliers and the vision of the firm concerning the importance of innovation as a strategy for delivering customer satisfaction”.

Latusek (2010) proposes that discrete choice modelling can be beneficial for business-to-business relationship marketing. He argues that, “B2B marketing managers can increase the profitability of relationship marketing using discrete choice modelling, and how implementing new algorithms like genetic binary choice (GBC) model can allow for further improvement. The financial impact of such support is significant, and can be further increased by improving the predictive accuracy of the models”. Bosch could use this in gauging the reaction of their distributors in relation to informing them of price increases or margin cuts etc.

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3.4 Market Segmentation

Fill (2005) introduces market segmentation as, “The division of a mass market into identifiable and distinct groups or segments, each of which have common characteristics and needs and display similar responses to marketing actions. Through this process specific target segments can be selected and marketing plans developed to satisfy the individual needs of the potential buyers in these chosen segments. The development, or rather identification, of segments can be perceived as opportunities”. He goes on to justify market segmentation by stating, “This process of segmentation is necessary because a single product is unlikely to meet the needs of all customers in a mass market. If it did, then a single type of toothpaste, chocolate bar or car would meet all our needs”.

Kotler et al (2009) discuss the benefits of segment marketing over mass marketing, “Segment marketing offers key benefits over mass marketing. The company can offer a market offering that can be positively differentiated from the competition. If strategy is the art of allocating scarce resources, then segmentation – and the understanding it provides about your customer groups – is part of the science informing that allocation”. They also recommend how business-to-business markets are best segmented, “Business-to-business markets can be segmented with variables that are used in consumer markets, such as geography, benefits sought and usage rate, together with some extra ones. As it is common to find a one-to-one relationship between buyer and seller, segmentations are closely fashioned to the needs of individual organisations. The demographic variables are the most important, followed by operating variables – down to the personal characteristics of the buyer”.

Simkin (2008, p1) explains how market segmentation is crucial in developing a target market strategy but goes on to pronounce how, “business-to-business marketers utilise little more than trade sectors or product groups as the basis for their groupings of customers, rather than customers' characteristics and buying behaviour”. According to Simkin, “A straightforward process has been derived and applied, enabling organisations to practice market segmentation in an evolutionary manner, facilitating the transition to customer-led target market segments. This process also ensures commitment from the managers responsible for implementing the eventual segmentation scheme”.

Dibb and Simkin (2009) warn of the barriers to successful implementation of market segmentation strategies, “The implementation barriers which practitioners face are many and varied, ranging from shortage of data and unsuitable personnel, to operational problems and resistance to change. Even once these problems have been overcome, managers are under pressure to demonstrate the impact and effectiveness of their segmentation schemes”. They undertook a case study of an energy firm formulating and then implementing their market segmentation strategy and devised the following reasons as to why a detailed implementation plan is vital, “. Prepare a detailed plan to ensure that people, budgets, sales and marketing programmes, product development, performance measures and the outlook of senior managers, are re-aligned to reflect the new-look customer segments and priorities. Bring required products quickly to market, make necessary changes to customer service or logistical support, trade or channel relationships must be managed, and the required pricing and promotions actioned”.

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4.0 Research Methods

4.1 Primary Research

A mixture of both inductive and deductive research has been used in the formulation of the primary research. Inductive research has been used to come up with explanations for some of the objectives of the project. Research has been from the bottom up so the research has not been based on theory or hypotheses.

A combination of both quantitative and qualitative data has been gathered as a result of the primary research. This was so that the biggest variety of data, both subjective and objective could be gathered resulting in more accurate assumptions and conclusions of the data.

The core methods of data collection that were used were firstly and primarily an extensive questionnaire to be answered by garage owners and workers. Secondly two in-depth interviews were performed with two Bosch employees with a great knowledge and understanding of the FSA range and oscilloscope market (the garage equipment market where the FSA range can be placed).

The detailed questionnaire has formed the nucleus of all data gathered. It has provided the majority of the data that has been used for analysis and evaluation and has acted as a starting point in answering and giving explanations for the objectives of the project that in turn will devise an answer to the research question. A pilot questionnaire was first answered by 5 respondents and after feedback from one of the trainers and some respondents, the questionnaire was altered in order to heighten the quality of data received. The in-depth interviews were used in conjunction with the questionnaire and provided some practical and constructive information from the two sources. The aim of using the questionnaire along with the interviews as the key research methods was that data collected from both would be of similar conjecture so well supported conclusions could be made and this has turned out to be the case.

The population from which the data was drawn for the questionnaire was garage owners and workers. There are training courses for garage owners and workers happening at Bosch, Denham almost daily for those who have purchased Bosch garage equipment or need specific training on certain equipment. The garage owners and workers attending these courses was where the questionnaire data was sourced. It also provided a decent opportunity to get access to this population at a time where they will be able to complete the questionnaire, like on their lunch break for instance. The questionnaire was also going to be delivered by telephone to try and get a wider variety of respondents but this never came to fruition as enough data was gathered by the respondents on the courses running at Bosch, Denham. No sample size was set with the aim being to attempt to gain as many respondents as possible. Mechanics and garage workers that are representative of the population in question answered a total of 40 questionnaires.

The in-depth interviews were conducted firstly with Paul Edwards, one of the four technical sales executives (TSE’s) for the FSA range. His responsibilities include selling and demonstrating the FSA range to potential customers and he has worked in

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this position for over 20 years. The second was with Steve Waters who is a regional training manager, responsible for training garage workers on the FSA equipment. He is also a long serving Bosch employee.

Getting respondents to co-operate can be difficult. The plan was that potential respondents would show an interest in the topic of the questionnaire and this would form the basis of their co-operation. This turned out to be the case as most respondents were more than happy to answer the questionnaire to get a break from the training course they were attending so no additional incentives were needed.

The types of questions used in the questionnaire were primarily importance, likert and rating scale questions but these were backed up by dichotomous, buying propensity and bi-polar questions. The questionnaire ended with a qualitative question to gain broader views and allow the respondents to open up more. The issues covered were those outlined in the objectives, the aim of the questionnaire being to come up with explanations for these objectives that will be supported by the in-depth interviews and discussions with knowledgeable people. A copy of the questionnaire can be found in the appendices section at the end of the report under appendix A. A copy of the interview questions can be found in the appendices section under appendix B.

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5.0 Data Analysis and Evaluation

5.1 Analysis and Evaluation of Questionnaire Results

This initial section will concentrate on analysis and evaluation of the results from the questionnaire that will primarily form the basis of the conclusions and recommendations to come later in the report. The questions are analysed and grouped so that comparable arguments follow a logical order rather than in the order they appear in the questionnaire

Table 5.1 (a) Question 6 - What factors most influence your decision or would influence your decision when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment?

Results show that ease of use, quality and price are the factors that most influence people’s decisions on purchasing oscilloscope equipment. These results could contribute in explaining why sales of the FSA range are low, as Bosch equipment, especially the FSA range, has a reputation for not being the easiest to use due to the complex and detailed nature of their operation. Much of this is down to the reason that the range is designed and manufactured in Germany with the German market in mind which is geared towards all out quality and functionality over ease of use and price.

The range is also very expensive so the fact that price has a big influence on respondents decisions when purchasing oscilloscope equipment has certainly got to be a contributing factor to the low sales of the range. However Bosch equipment is known through out the market to be of good quality and this was the second highest influencing factor for respondents when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment. The quality of the FSA range must undoubtedly have plenty of focus when it comes to the promotion and advertisement of the range.

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Table 5.1 (b) Question 8 - What do you think is an appropriate price to charge for oscilloscope equipment?

These responses provide further evidence on why turnover for the FSA range is low with all respondents thinking that anything above £5,000 is an inappropriate price to charge. The most advanced, leading FSA units are priced well over £5,000 so this suggests a reduction in price. This however would be difficult to achieve, as Bosch Germany, where everything is centrally controlled, are very strict with pricing. However the FSA 500 to be launched in the next quarter will be priced within this threshold and could be used to get a foothold in the market and to push customers towards the higher end units of the FSA range.

Table 5.1 (c) Question 7 - In your opinion, on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being most important and 5 being least important, how important is oscilloscope equipment in generating sales turnover for a garage?

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Results indicate a mixed response for the importance of oscilloscope equipment in generating sales turnover for a garage. However a higher percentage of respondents feel that it is more important in generating sales turnover for a garage than less important meaning that most garages workers who answered the questionnaire own and use oscilloscope equipment so they can get a slice of the business. This proves that there is defiantly the potential market out there that can be targeted with the FSA range.

Table 5.1 (d) Question 9 - On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being essential and 5 being pointless, rate the level of need for owning oscilloscope equipment in a garage in today's market?

With over half the respondents saying that oscilloscope equipment is essential to have in a garage in today’s market gives full supporting evidence from the results and analysis from question 7 that there is certainly a strong potential market out there for selling FSA’s. This potential market needs to be segmented into particular targets in order to promote and sell the range to garages that are most in need of the advanced Bosch systems.

Table 5.1 (e) Question 15 - From the following options how useful would you rate oscilloscopes for performing diagnosis in a garage?

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These results back up the results from question 9 where the majority of respondents said that owning oscilloscope equipment was essential for a garage. As more and more of the business coming to garages in this day and age requires a level of diagnosis to be performed on the car, the garages that do not specialise in diagnostics are going to be left behind. To remain competitive in the constantly evolving market, that is heading towards more and more ECU’s in vehicles as well as electric and hybrid vehicles, these garages will have to invest in diagnostic equipment eventually. Looking to the future this provides further evidence of the need to own oscilloscope equipment in a garage so the potential to gain great sales growth for the FSA range is there for the taking.

Table 5.1 (f) Question 16 - Approximately how many times would your garage use the oscilloscope in a week?

The fact that most garages only use their oscilloscope equipment 0-5 times a week could explain why they are reluctant to invest too much working capital in the equipment. Especially in the UK market where garages are more focused on how much they are going to make in the next hour rather than looking at longer returns on investment. If they are to spend £7,000 or more on Bosch oscilloscope equipment, a garage is likely to see this as too expensive as it will take them too long to get a return on the investment. This provides further evidence that the high price of the FSA range is one of the most compelling factors to the low sales and must be addressed in the adaptation of the sales and marketing strategy.

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Table 5.1 (g) Question 10 - Are you trained on or do you know how to use oscilloscope equipment?

The following sets of questions were conceived in order to try and gain an understanding of the level of training on oscilloscope equipment within the market. Certain Bosch trainers that were asked their opinion on the level of training in the oscilloscope market held a joint view that training on the equipment within the industry is not as good as it could be. This suggests that mechanics may be afraid of investing in Bosch equipment, as they may not have a full understanding of how to use it effectively. The results from this question back up this viewpoint, as 35% of respondents are not trained on equipment that the majority said is essential to have in a garage, so there could well be an issue with the level of training on oscilloscope equipment within the market.

Table 5.1 (h) Question 11 - What kind of training did you have?

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Most respondents that have had oscilloscope training have been on Bosch courses or on IMI courses but this was expected as all respondents were on some sort of Bosch IMI course. The 29% of respondents who have had training from a colleague or superior may come under the banner of those who do not have a full understanding in the use of oscilloscope equipment.

Table 5.1 (i) Question 13 - If you were to scope a CAN-BUS or air-mass metre signal would you know what a healthy/faulty signal pattern should look like?

It appears that the lack of training on oscilloscope equipment could be in mechanics and technicians system knowledge rather than the physical use of the equipment e.g. connecting to cars and using current clamps etc. It is fine being able to measure a voltage from a component but you must know whether the voltage signal pattern is faulty or not. The questions on training are starting to show that there is a clear lack of training on oscilloscope equipment in the market. This must be one of the defining factors as to why sales of the FSA range are low as garage owners are likely going for competitor products, probably due to the complexity of operation of the Bosch units. Or they do not own oscilloscope equipment at all as nobody in the garage is trained on the equipment or the garage does not specialise in high-end diagnostics.

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Table 5.1 (j) Question 14 - Where would you get the information for a faulty/healthy signal pattern?

The results from question 14 indicate that the assumption, made from the results of the previous question, that the lack of training on oscilloscope equipment could be in mechanics and technicians system knowledge rather than the physical use of the equipment, seems to be a correct one as 40% of respondents believed that information for a healthy/faulty signal pattern comes from the scope (oscilloscope). The scope only displays the signal pattern, not whether this pattern shows the component to be healthy or faulty. This information should come from a technician’s system knowledge.

Table 5.1 (k) Question 19 - Do you think there are adequate training opportunities in the automotive aftermarket for the use of oscilloscopes?

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With almost half the respondents (42.5%) answering no to the availability of adequate training opportunities this firmly backs up the evidence collected from earlier responses that there is an issue with training in the use of oscilloscopes within the market. This presents a great opportunity to re-vamp the training offerings on FSA so that a more wholesome course is offered where the training focuses more on the technician’s system knowledge rather than concentrating fully on connecting to cars using the clamps and explaining how every single little feature works.

Table 5.1 (l) Question 20 - How would you rate the level of training in the use of oscilloscopes in the aftermarket?

Although 55% of respondents rated the level of training in the use of scopes as good or excellent, the 35% that rated the level as poor represents a big problem in the level of training. We already know that a large proportion of respondents believe there are a lack of adequate training opportunities in the market. This coupled with a large proportion who believe the level of training that is in place is poor is yet additional evidence that the level of training on oscilloscope equipment must be focused on when proposing changes to the sales and marketing strategy.

The questions devised to gain an understanding on the level of training in the market have provided conclusive evidence that the level of training in the oscilloscope market is inadequate. Therefore a huge amount of emphasis should go into the training for potential customers so that any potential customers are not put off Bosch units because they feel they will be too difficult to use.

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Table 5.1 (m) Question 17 - How important is mobility of the scope when using oscilloscope equipment?

The results from question 17 clearly state that the mobility of scope equipment is important with 89% of answers being either important or very important. As the majority of products in the FSA range are trolley based this lessens their mobility to a certain extent and this could be further reasoning behind the low sales of the range as consumers may be going for competitors more mobile equipment. As mentioned earlier however, the new FSA 500 to be launched soon will have much greater mobility than the trolley based 7xx units and so will provide an alternative for garages that require smaller, more mobile equipment.

Table 5.1 (n) Question 18 - Do you prefer using handheld, mobile or trolley-based scopes?

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The data gained from question 18 provides information that slightly contradicts the analysis made in the previous question. 42.5% of respondents prefer handheld scopes, however 30% prefer trolley-based scopes, which is still a large proportion of respondents. This shows that if promoted and advertised effectively there would surely be demand for the trolley-based FSA units. With the launch of the new FSA 500 imminent and the continuing availability of the FSA 450, there are both mobile and handheld units in the FSA product portfolio so Bosch has the variety of scope equipment to suit any garage.

Table 5.1(o) Question 1 – Do you read automotive trade magazines?

Results from Q1 show that 33 respondents (82.5%) read automotive trade magazines. These have the potential then to be profitable advertising outlets.

Table 5.1(p) Question 2 - Which automotive trade magazines do you read?

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Results from Q2 indicate that ‘Aftermarket’ is clearly the most popular and most read automotive trade magazine with 63% of respondents’ regular readers. This preliminarily suggests that ‘Aftermarket’ would be the best advertising outlet for the FSA range out of all the automotive trade magazines.

Table 5.1(q) Question 3 – Do you purchase garage equipment based on what you read in automotive trade magazines?

42.5% of respondents purchase garage equipment based on what they read in automotive trade magazines. This supplies solid evidence to the notion that advertising and promoting the FSA range in automotive trade magazines would be beneficial and could lead to increased sales.

Table 5.1(r) Question 4 - Do you ever go to garage equipment trade shows like Mechanex for example?

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The bar graph shows that 50% of respondents attend garage equipment trade shows. This proves the potential to advertise and promote the FSA range at garage equipment trade shows.

Table 5.1 (s) Question 5 - Do you purchase garage equipment based on products viewed at trade shows?

The outcome from Q5 shows that 40% of respondents that attend garage equipment trade shows purchase products based on what they see there. This is a similar figure to that of respondents who purchase equipment based on what they read in automotive trade magazines. This entails that although it is more expensive than advertising in trade magazines, promoting and demonstrating the FSA range at trade shows could yield more positive outcomes due to the face to face nature of trade shows and the possibility of demonstrating the equipment at first hand. So this could result in increased sales of the range.

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Table 5.1 (t) Question 24 - What is more important when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment, functionality or price?

Bosch FSA units provide a variety of quality functions and with 60% of respondents thinking functionality is more important than price, these results indicate that the low level of sales of the FSA range is not solely down to the price of the units and that there are other factors involved. The data gained from the previous questions would suggest that these other factors include the complexity of operation of the Bosch units as ease of use was the highest scoring factor on influencing people’s decision on which piece of oscilloscope equipment to purchase. Also the low level of training and lack of it in the market is putting potential customers off Bosch units as they have so many functions and have a reputation of being difficult to use. If the full features, benefits and unique selling points can be communicated in an effective manner to potential customers, as well as extensive training courses for any customer who purchases an FSA unit then sales turnover of the range could increase dramatically. Mechanics and technicians are more concerned with functionality and this is what the Bosch units provide in abundance.

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However price cannot just be discounted as a reason for low sales as nearly half the respondents focus more on price when it comes to purchasing oscilloscope equipment and the UK market is defiantly geared towards the price sensitive end of the spectrum rather than going for all out quality and functionality but for a higher price.

The final part of the questionnaire and of question 24 asked respondents to elaborate on why they thought either functionality or price is more important when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment. There were many similar comments and the key points to come out of the responses were:

•It is not worth investing in a cheap scope that cannot perform a variety of functions as it will not get enough use

• The more functionality a scope has, allows a greater number of faults to be diagnosed, consequently leading to more business for the garage

• Cheap scopes can give attenuated signals on some components (inaccurate voltage patterns)

However:

• Garages always want an instant return on investment but for an expensive piece of scope equipment this can take months

• The general lack of confidence with using scope equipment is paramount to people choosing to buy cheaper scopes

• An expensive oscilloscope unit will easily scare inexperienced and first time buyers off

In summary the results of the questionnaire have brought some significant issues to light on probable reasons as to why sales of the FSA range have been lower than they potentially could be. Firstly the UK market leans more towards oscilloscope equipment that is cheap and easy to use rather than more expensive equipment with plenty of functions and features. This works against Bosch’s FSA range as they are situated at the higher end of the market. They are expensive but quality units with many features and benefits capable of supplying a garage with a full diagnostic system. Most mechanics and technicians are not aware of this though and they only take notice of the high price and are afraid they will not be able to use the equipment effectively and to its full potential after investing so much money in it.

Secondly the questions that were devised to gain an understanding of the level of training in the oscilloscope market have shown the level of training to be very poor. It has also shown that there is a lack of opportunities to even be trained in the first place and that the quality of the training is not great. This coupled with the views and assumptions widely held across the market that the FSA range is difficult to use must have been combining to turn potential customers away and towards competitor’s products. With the UK market being price sensitive and garage owners more concerned with how much money they can make in the next hour rather than thinking more long term also works against potential sales of the range due to the high prices.

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However the questionnaire has exposed some positives for the range and the target of increasing turnover. The evolving automotive aftermarket is headed towards more ECU’s controlling the systems in vehicles and so for garages that do not specialise in or even perform diagnostic work at all will need to adapt their business plans and market offerings to remain competitive. This means there should be plenty of potential sales in the months and years to come. The FSA units are quality products and the fact that many respondents listed quality as a defining factor when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment is promising. The marketing and advertising strategies of the range need to ensure that the full features, benefits and unique selling points are communicated effectively to potential suitors so that the range’s full quality can be noticed and distinguished by the whole market and potential customers.

5.2 Analysis and Evaluation of Interview Results

The second part of the primary research consisted of two interviews conducted with two highly experienced, long serving Bosch employees to gain a better understanding and to get a variety of viewpoints of the oscilloscope market from a training and sales perspective. The responses from the interviews should add valuable knowledge and know-how when shaping the conclusions and recommendations for the sales and marketing strategy of the FSA range. The interviewees included Steve Waters, Regional Training Manager and Paul Edwards, (TSE) for garage equipment. Steve Waters’ main responsibilities include delivering and running training courses on all types of garage equipment including the FSA range. Paul Edwards’ responsibilities include demonstrating, selling, and promoting the entire garage equipment range with garages and distributors. He has worked for Bosch for over 20 years in this role and has over 30 years industry experience. Consequently he has provided a valuable source of knowledge and information.

Key Points and Recommendations to come out of the interviews were:

•Mechanics are generally unaware of the full capabilities of the FSA range

•If not sold or demonstrated correctly the FSA units could be considered old style testers

• Garages are shortsighted and cannot see a return on investment, they are only interested in what they are going to make in the next hour rather than thinking more long term

•Only 10% of garages in the UK have the expertise to operate a piece of oscilloscope equipment effectively

•If I can spend £1200 - £2000 on a piece of oscilloscope equipment, why should I spend £7000 on a Bosch unit?

•The range is not advertised or marketed enough, distributors don’t stock it, TSE’s don’t carry demo stock and there is no help from Bosch Germany to sell it

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•The operator must be a skilled diagnostic technician, which can take years to acquire the level of experience, skill and training needed so is difficult to achieve

•Training is not up to the standard it should be – it involves being taught which buttons do what and how to connect to a vehicle rather than teaching system knowledge and whether a voltage signal pattern is healthy or not

•The 3-day training course is too long and full of jargon; it is also very costly for a garage to have a mechanic missing for 3 days

•Advertising literature is most likely just chucked in the rubbish or in a cupboard and never looked at again

•The market for oscilloscopes is sat at approximately £2000 so it is difficult to persuade people to part with much more than that

•There have been no sales promotions on the range in the last 3 years

In summary of the key points and recommendations to come out of the interviews there is a lot of supporting evidence to the analysis of the questionnaire results. This will make it easier to propose realistic and pragmatic conclusions and recommendations to the sales and marketing strategy as clear issues have been arisen as to the probable reasons for the low sales of the FSA range.

Price has again been raised as a serious issue as to why sales are down. If the market for oscilloscope equipment is sat at around £2000 as projected in the interviews then for garage owners to part with roughly £5000 more to obtain a Bosch unit is asking an awful lot. The Bosch units would have to be so much better than the competition’s units and it would have to be marketed and advertised so cleverly for prospective customers to choose a Bosch unit. In reality this is unlikely and the issue of price will defiantly be addressed. However the FSA 500 mentioned earlier in the report will be priced much closer to the market average and so will provide consumers with a cheaper alternative. Although as expected with the cheaper price the FSA 500 will not have the same capabilities as the more expensive high-end FSA units.

Training has been shown to be as much of an issue by the interview results as it has by the questionnaire results. The claim, by Paul Edwards, that only 10% of garages in the UK have the expertise to operate oscilloscope equipment effectively is staggering to say the least. The comments on how the training course on FSA operation does not teach participants the things that would be of most use to them provides supporting evidence to the questionnaire analysis that found that it would be more effective to teach system knowledge. Also the fact that the training course is 3 days long and you are not taught any system knowledge means mechanics are out of the garage for a long time. They then come back with a complex new unit knowing how to connect to cars and use all of its features but in most cases not know whether the signal patterns given by the unit will be healthy or faulty. This means the whole training offering on FSA is focusing on the wrong aspects and must be completely revamped and shortened to be more attractive and yield better results.

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Other issues to arise from the interviews are firstly that there have been no sales promotions on the range in the last 3 years. This is hardly going to help create incentives for possible consumers. Also the fact that the distributors and the TSE’s do not carry or hold demo stock means that the FSA range is given no priority by the garage equipment management team. It appears all the effort goes into selling other product ranges like the KTS diagnostic tester range. Also the assumption that garages are only interested in what they make on an hourly basis rather than looking at longer returns on investment has been reasserted so this can now be treated as another serious reason against the high price of the range.

6.0 Conclusions

6.1 Training

From the results of the primary research it is safe to say that there is a clear lack of experience and knowledge in the use of oscilloscopes in the automotive aftermarket. Because of this, mechanics are put off purchasing Bosch FSA units due to the complexity of their operation. Or at least they think that they will be overly complicated to use and so look elsewhere. When you purchase an FSA unit you receive a 3-day training course as part of the package but the research has found that this course does not teach mechanics the necessary system knowledge they need to be confident in using oscilloscopes logically and effectively. Instead it teaches users how to use each little feature and what every single button does even though some of these features will hardly ever be used.

Also a 3-day course is a long time for the mechanic or technician to be away from their garage as it is 3 days worth of working time they could of spent on jobs that the garage would now lose out on. Another problem that was brought to light is that there is not much awareness in the market of the training that is available from Bosch or other organisations which will be contributing to the low level of training across the market.

6.2 Price

The range is generally priced and targeted at the higher end of the market but the primary research has shown that for the majority of mechanics and technicians it is priced too high resulting in them purchasing competitor’s products. The main reasoning for this is that mechanics will not want to part with those amounts of money for a system they may not use enough or effectively especially when they could buy a competitors product for approximately half the price of the higher quality Bosch units. With results of question 6 of the questionnaire showing that price is the third highest influencing factor when garage owners are deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment, behind ease of use and quality, proves that the high price of the Bosch units will be one of the main contributing factors to the low sales of the FSA range.

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One of the reasons why many mechanics believe the high-end Bosch units are over priced is that they are not fully aware of the extra features and benefits included in the high-end Bosch systems. This surely means that the advertising literature and information on the Internet is not being communicated to the market effectively or is not extensive enough.

6.3 Literature, Advertising and Promotion

The FSA range is not advertised or promoted anywhere near enough as it could be resulting in the market not having the knowledge or awareness of the full capabilities of the range. The fact that the TSE’s do not even carry demo stock of the range and distributors do not even stock any high-end FSA units shows that they have almost accepted that they will not sell any of these units which is an attitude that must change if the sales fortunes are to be improved.

Another factor as to why promotion of the range is poor is that there are not enough sales promotions to provide money saving incentives to possible buyers. Sales promotions have provided a steep increase in sales on other product ranges within the Bosch garage equipment family. This will have a lot to do with the price sensitive nature of the UK garage equipment market, but shows that they will most defiantly have a positive effect in trying to increase sales turnover of the range.

The literature on the range is now becoming out of date and does not have the same levels of readability or the attractiveness of competitors advertising literature. The information contained in the FSA brochure is not very clear nor concise and it is probable that many possible customers only read a few lines and are put off by the complex wording and just put it down, never to be looked at again. Apart from the brochure and some information on the Bosch, garage equipment website there is hardly any other advertising or promoting of the range.

7.0 Recommendations

7.1 Sales Promotions

Due to the success of the KTS sales promotion in particular as well as promotions on other product ranges of garage equipment it would be logical to launch a major FSA sales promotion campaign across the whole range. The successful KTS promotion consisted of receiving the KTS diagnostic tester tool, 3 years free software subscription (the software that runs the KTS units) and also a free Bosch power tool out of a choice of 3 depending on how expensive the KTS tool being purchased is. This resulted in a big saving for consumers of around £1,700 for the best deal so there is no surprise that there was a dramatic increase in sales volume of the KTS range whilst this promotion was running. A promotion along similar lines for the FSA range could only have a positive effect on sales volume of the range especially in the UK’s price sensitive market. It could include a healthy price reduction of the units in conjunction with extra training courses free of charge or free of charge Bosch power tools could be offered as part of the deal like last years successful KTS promotion. Free software subscriptions have also always proved popular with garage owners.

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These promotions should be aggressively marketed and advertised with articles in all the major trade magazines, most notably Aftermarket, the trade press and Bosch literature such as Auto Intelligence and Focus. The range must also be given more emphasis at the well attended garage equipment trade shows like Mechanex for instance to gain a better awareness of its capabilities and unique selling points within the market. Attending these trade shows usually lands the TSE’s with plenty of sales leads. When running any FSA sales promotions management must ensure that the TSE’s carry demo stock so that any sales leads can be followed up effectively with in-depth demonstrations and examples from the TSE’s. They must also ensure that distributors always stock units in the range so that lead times for customers after they have ordered a unit are not too long as this will lead to a bad reputation and consumers will begin to look elsewhere.

7.2 Training

The FSA course received when you purchase an FSA unit should be adapted so that a lot less time is spent showing trainees which buttons do what and much more emphasis should be put on teaching system knowledge. This would increase mechanics general confidence with using the FSA units and would slowly but surely increase the general level of understanding in using oscilloscope equipment across the whole market. The course should also be shortened to 2 days rather than 3 so that the mechanics and technicians are not absent from their garage for so long resulting in their garage being less productive. This may be difficult to achieve but if the 2 days were extended so that all the course detail could be covered then this could be manageable.

Images of healthy/faulty signal patterns for all the different testing components could be included within Compacsoft Plus (the software that runs the FSA range) to help users distinguish between them. This would be very helpful for mechanics not so experienced in using oscilloscope equipment. Online tutorials could be provided for those who have purchased an FSA and need a refresh on their training. This could include operating instructions as well as system knowledge and healthy/faulty signal patterns. A technical training evening as proposed by Steve Waters could be held for those who are interested in purchasing FSA and want a live demonstration. This would involve 3 FSA 740’s all showing differing features and capabilities with a couple of experienced trainers showing examples and answering any questions attendees may have. This could be made more attractive and welcoming with incentives such as a free meal and drinks.

7.3 Target Market

As the FSA range is specialist equipment it would be a waste of resources to target the whole garage industry.

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The obvious target market would be the Bosch Car Service (BCS) garages. This is a chain of garages that pay Bosch an annual charge in exchange for using Bosch signage and expertise. They are also required to pass stringent tests of knowledge, proficiency and customer service so that only the most outright, skilled garages can become a BCS member. These members could be invited to a technical training evening and then offered an FSA at a promotional price.

Other segments of the market that would be worth targeting are mechanics and technicians that have completed the full Bosch master technician program, which is a sequence of training courses on all topics, problems and equipment encountered in a garage. These must be completed and exams passed in a certain order and once they have all been completed and all the exams have been passed one can call themselves a Bosch master technician qualified and trained to use the most complicated garage equipment. These mechanics would have the capabilities and would be running the kinds of workshops that would require FSA equipment. Likewise they could be invited to a technical training evening if they wanted more information or in-depth demonstrations.

7.4 Price

As the UK market is price sensitive, which differs to the German market, a strong case could be made to head office, where everything price related is controlled, in Germany to get a reduction in price. Head office in Germany however are very strict with pricing and a set a standard that must be followed throughout all the countries in Europe in which Bosch operate regardless of the culture and specific market dynamics of that country. They are very stubborn in their view that if it works for the German market then it should work abroad. However it would certainly be still worth trying using the lack of sales over the last three years as the main piece of supporting evidence to get a reduction in price from Bosch Germany.

Another option would be to cut the distributors margin and make it cheaper for garages to purchase an FSA this way although this could be dangerous as Bosch will need the distributors onside to help support and promote the range. The new FSA 500 mentioned earlier in the report should be priced as close as possible to competitor products so that consumers have a cheaper alternative to the more expensive units in the range.

7.5 Technical Sales Executives

The TSE’s should go on extra training courses so that they are fully knowledgeable and capable of demonstrating and communicating all the features, benefits and unique selling points of the FSA range. They should be made to hold demo stock and push consumers in the direction of the FSA range when consumers show an interest in diagnostic equipment.

7.6 Distributors

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Bosch distributors should be made to hold demo stock and should be pressed to promote and sell more of the FSA range with reward schemes in place to provide more of an incentive for them to do this. The reward schemes could consist of a greater margin for other product ranges such as the high selling KTS range for distributors who sell a certain number of FSA’s in a year. Another way could be rewarding the specific employees of the distributors who personally sell the most FSA’s by giving them a free of charge Bosch power tool around Christmas time. This could also help motivate them and make them concentrate on selling more Bosch products over competitor’s products.

7.7 Literature and General Advertising

A more eye-catching FSA brochure could be produced with more concise information on the range. It should be designed in the same style as the KTS brochure, which is not overloaded with text but instead contains many large images of the units in action with short bullet-points outlining each unit’s features, benefits and unique selling points. A new web page could be designed, as part of the overall Bosch garage equipment website, that is dedicated to FSA with plenty of screenshots showing the units in action. This could also include information on healthy and faulty signal patterns. Articles in the trade press, automotive trade magazines, particularly ‘Aftermarket’ and Bosch literature should be written outlining the launch of the new FSA 500, fresh sales promotions, beneficial changes to the training courses, the launch of the technical training evening, the launch of the online tutorials and to re-emphasise the range and raise more awareness within the market.

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Appendices

Appendix (A)

Questionnaire – Oscilloscope Equipment

1. Do you read automotive aftermarket trade magazines? Yes No 2. Which automotive trade magazines do you read? PMM CAT Aftermarket Other (please specify) ……………… 3. Do you purchase garage equipment based on what you read in automotive aftermarket trade magazines? Yes No 4. Do you ever go to garage equipment trade shows like Mechanex for example? Yes No 5. Do you purchase garage equipment based on the products viewed at trade shows?

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Yes No 6. What factors most influence your decision or would influence your decision when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment? Quality Price Durability Reliability Ease of use After sales service Warranty 7. In your opinion, on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the most important and 5 being least important, how important is oscilloscope equipment in generating sales turnover for a garage? 1 2 3 4 5 8. What do you think is an appropriate price to charge for oscilloscope equipment? £0–1,500 £1,500–£3,000 £3,000–£5,000 £5,000–£10,000 9. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being essential and 5 being pointless, rate the level of need for owning oscilloscope equipment in a garage in today’s market 1 2 3 4 5 10. Are you trained on or do you know how to use oscilloscope equipment? Yes No 11. What kind of training did you have? Official IMI training course Training from a colleague or superior Other (please specify) ……………………………………………………………… 12. What components do you test using your oscilloscope? Alternators Starters Motors Diesel Injectors/Actuators Petrol Injection Other/s (please specify) ……………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………..

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13. If you were to scope a CAN-BUS or Air-Mass metre signal would you know how a healthy/faulty signal pattern would look like? Yes No 14. Where would you get the information for a faulty/healthy signal pattern? From scope From system knowledge Other (please specify) ………………………………………………………………….. 15. From the following options how useful would you rate oscilloscopes for performing diagnosis in a garage? Essential for diagnosis Very useful Useful Not so useful Not needed 16. Approximately how many times would your garage use it a week? 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 20+ 17. How important is mobility of the scope when using oscilloscope equipment? Very important Important Not very Important No mobility needed 18. Do you or would you prefer using mobile handheld scopes or trolley-based scopes? Handheld Trolley-based Mobile 19. Do you think there are adequate training opportunities in the automotive aftermarket for the use of oscilloscopes? Yes No

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20. How would you rate the level of the training in the use of oscilloscopes in the aftermarket? Excellent Good Average Poor Terrible 21. If your garage does not own an oscilloscope, would investing in one be an affordable option taking into account the price of the unit and training costs for your garage? Yes No 22. If your garage does own an oscilloscope which brand of scope is it? Pico Snap-On Fluke Bosch Other (please specify) ……………………………………………………. 23. Why did your garage choose this scope? Quality Price Functionality Reliability Ease of use Other (please specify) ……………………………………………………………. 24. What is more important when deciding on purchasing oscilloscope equipment, functionality or price? Could you please explain why you chose either option in a sentence or two? Functionality Price Why? ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………….. Thank you very much for your time in answering this questionnaire!

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Appendix (B)

Interview on Oscilloscope Equipment – Steve Waters/Paul Edwards

1. In your opinion without focusing too much on price. Why do you think sales of the FSA range are low? 2. Is there sufficient ROI for garages to justify investing in oscilloscopes more precisely the FSA range? 3. In a general sense are garage owners in today’s market aware of the benefits of owning an FSA could bring to their business? 4. Do you think there are adequate training opportunities available in the use of oscilloscopes for mechanics and technicians? 5. More precisely are there adequate training opportunities in the use of the FSA range to the maximum of its capabilities? 6. Is FSA training and general oscilloscope training attractive, affordable and worthwhile for garages? 7. Is training available on reading healthy/faulty signal patterns 8. Do you think garages are generally aware of the training courses that are available for oscilloscopes?

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9. Do you think in a general sense that garages have the finances to afford an FSA along with the training? 10. Do you feel enough attention is given to the FSA range in terms of sales promotions, advertising, demos and general information on the range? 11. How would you go about selling more of the FSA range? 12. In what ways could garages be advised and recommended of the full features and benefits of the FSA range

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