K. Uma Mahesh - The Professional Visionary Empowering Automotive Industry through Innovative Consultancy and Training

 

 

K. Uma Mahesh, Founder, UMa Consultancy Services

I am Senior Automobile industry professional having 27+ years of experience and   Worked with various OEMs ( like M&M, Renault, Audi, VW, TATA, Hyndai, KIA, MG, Godrej, Maruti ) at both the principal and dealership levels in a range of capacities.

Profitability, Customer Satisfaction and quality manpower are key enablers for the sustainability of any business/ organisation.. In my Tenure, I worked towards profitability and high customer satisfaction at the dealerships. Trained so many people, motivated and guided them to elevate in their career. I made many technicians as General Managers now, supported them in terms of knowledge and improve their educational qualifications.

 

 

Could you tell us about your venture UMa Consultancy Services and its services?

 

We started a KPO – Uma consultancy services to help the dealers to grow their business so that it becomes profitable, customer-centric, employee-focused and the OEM of choice in the area.

We will mentor and drive the dealer team to meet the desired KPI/KRAs of the business centers. We will help by monitoring employee productivity through KPI/KRA performance measurement tools/ dash boards (using power BI ) and team motivation through custom incentive programs. Our ability to innovate and increase productivity could potentially contribute to cost savings.  We deal with end-to-end dealership operations. We customize our services based on the dealership requirements to achieve targets.

 

 

What inspired you to start UMa Consultancy Services, and how has your leadership style contributed to its success?

 

I have been in the automobile industry for nearly three decades, working with various OEMs at both the principal and dealership levels. Throughout my career, I have observed that the core processes and practices are very similar across the industry – about 80% consistent – though the implementation varies significantly.

This realisation made me aware that my experience had been somewhat limited to the organisations I worked for. To expand my horizon and share my knowledge so that I can create more professionals in the Automobile industry, I transitioned to a consulting role. This allows me to assist others in optimising their operations and implementing best practices throughout the industry.

 

 

Could you share with us your professional journey, highlighting key milestones and achievements?

 

My Journey started like Marketing Executive for a lubricants Company and worked in various levels. My last assignment was as “Group Head of After Sales for 5 states of South India and handled 46 business units and manpower strength of 1100+.

Able to develop the people in my team from technician level to Supervisors, Advisors, Technical Managers, Service Managers, General Managers. Supported to their Career growth and academic growth as well.

In my tenure, achieved so many awards and rewards. The following are some of them.

• National Award Winner in “Leads By Example” category. Got from M&M.
• National Award Winner in “Efforts towards Positive Customer Experience” category. Got from M&M.
• National Award Winner in “Turnaround in Workshops Profitability” category in. Got from M&M.
• National Award winner in “Review Discipline” category. Got from M&M.
• National Award winner as Best Customer Care Manager. Got from M&M.
• Achieved best performer award for South India. Got from M/s. Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co.Ltd.
• No.1 Ranker in Scorpio CRDe training at Nashik by M&M
• Got “Excellence in Customer Care – service” award from Mahindra & Mahindra
• Got best Service Manager Award from M&M.
• Achieved National 1st Rank in RDI score and M&M

 

Could you share a few key projects that UMa Consultancy Services has successfully completed?

 

Currently we are doing consultancy to the top Automobile dealerships who are among the top automobile dealers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala.

 

 

What are your areas of expertise and how they have contributed to your success?

 

Our highly experienced and skilled team will mentor and drive the dealer team to meet the desired KPI/KRAs of the business centers. We can help by monitoring employee productivity through KPI/KRA performance measurement tools/ dash boards by using Power BI and AI and team motivation through customised incentive programs. KRA/ KPI based reviews for the measure of performance. Our ability to innovate and increase productivity could potentially contribute to cost savings.

 

The following are my expertise areas

• Over 27+ Years of experience in Automobile Industry both in OEM and dealerships.
• Been handled 5 states and 46 business units in South India.
• Fellow member of The Management Studies Promotion Institute.
• Executive Certification in “Chief Information Officer”.
• Executive Diploma in Leadership & Management.
• Master Course in Business Ethics.
• Certified Expert in Power BI.
• Certified Expert in Chat GPT & AI.
• Trained in "Advanced Agricultural Machinery – Operation & Measurement for Optimal Performance ".

My Expertise Industry /Sectors

OEM

Automotive Dealership operations ( PV & CV)

Channel Development

Automotive data & Research

Sales & Marketing

After Sales Operations

VAS business

Insurance business

Tractors

Lubricants Marketing

The following areas where our expertise team are working for improvement.

 

Productivity tracking various levels, Service Marketing Activities, process implementation to improve Turn Around Time, Customer retention, customer satisfaction, Cost control (By improving productivity efficiency and close monitoring on operational expenses), profitability, Improvement in bodyshop business, Growth in Value Added Services like Extended warranties, car beatification, accessories etc…

 

 

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who are looking to start their own businesses in this field?

 

To start this, we need to understand the difference between Knowledge and skill. People should have passion to guide the people, patience to train them. Leadership with rational decisions and not intuitive. Ability to take risk incorporate the latest technologies to improve the productivity and efficiency.