Missed Shots

How many times have you heard: “How many (fill in the blank) did we sell this (fill in the time period)”?
We’re always pushing our service advisors to sell every possible opportunity they can find (be it from a walkaround, factory maintenance, or what the technician finds).
We need to examine one specific word: “find”.  In this [...]

Eating Our Lunch

Take a look at the most current version of your local business directory, and count the number of new mechanical repair shops which have opened up in your community recently.
I’ll bet you can count more than three; some being sole proprietors, while others are national chains.
Ask yourself: “Why”?
More importantly, really think it through. Ask yourself [...]

10 Tips for Service and Parts This Challenging Year

As I write this, news is being released regarding massive job cuts across industry around the world. More specifically for this audience, the automotive industry is going through twists and turns never before seen. Once-secure manufacturers are seeking government assistance, and generational dynasties of franchise holders are locking the doors and walking away. [...]

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Computer?

I am quite frankly fed up with all the doom and gloom merchants telling dealers and staff that “all is lost”, “we are all doomed” and “the end of the world is nigh”. Yes times are going to get tough, yes the guys and girls in the sales departments will be full of doom [...]

What’s a Sales person to do? Continued…

You remember from yesterday I was talking about Sales people talking to Service customers 2 days after they pick up their vehicle. Here’s what to do if the Sales person who sold them the vehicle no longer works at the store. You have a couple of options here.
1. Give these customers to the newest Sales [...]

AutoDealerStaff.ca Launch a Success

AutoDealerStaff.ca had its official Canadian launch at the 2008 Automechanika show, receiving a very positive reaction from show goers. AutoDealerStaff.ca was the busiest stand at the show, generating more traffic than any other, proving the need for a Canadian Automotive Industry specific recruitment site; for automotive people, by automotive people. The success of the show [...]

Measure Everything

Okay, so I can’t claim credit to this as an original concept; but I can put some “spin” on the idea to increase it’s relevancy to what we do every day.
We all know that tried and true adage “Don’t expect what you don’t inspect”. By and large, we (as industry professionals) view performance measurement (be [...]

Digital Vehicle Health Check System Show 50% Increase In Added Dealer Repair Revenue

ODS Launches Digital Vehicle Health Check System.
Replacing a technicians usual pen (ball point, pencil or whatever they use to complete vehicle health checks) with the revolutionary Digital Data Pen can increase your hours sold per RO by at least 50% – well, that’s what our initial trials have shown across BMW, Ford, Mazda, Jaguar, Nissan [...]

Steps For Extracting The Most From Your Mine

Know Your Market

Do a full SWOT analysis

Plan For Success

Create a complete Service & Parts business plan
Plan for as close to 100% absorption as possible
Drive the marketplace
Hold yourself and everybody measurably accountable

Marketing & Advertising

Know what your competition is doing
Aggressive retail advertising and merchandising = increased CP labor and parts sales
Track campaign results
Have service menus available
Have accessory [...]

How Does a Workshop Become a GOLD Mine? (Part 3)

This is the third part of the four part series How Does a Workshop Become a Gold Mine?
Maximize technician effectiveness
Some dealerships have turned to technician teams to improve service gross profit percentages. In this approach, technicians from level C to level A are assembled in teams or work groups. Customers I are assigned to different teams and [...]