“Maintain your profit margins at 45% C/P Parts and 75% C/P Labor” says Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solutions.



Maintaining your profit margins is not always easy, and it’s not getting any easier! If you are struggling with profit margins, the first thing you must do is measure what you are getting.



The financial statement is the place to look. On your financial you will find month end data as well as year to date. What we want to take a look at it is the month end… Continue

Two friends are out hunting, and as they are walking along they come upon a huge h*** in the ground. As they approach it they are amazed by the size of it.



The first hunter says “Wow, that’s some h***; I can’t even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is.” The second hunter says” I don’t know, let’s throw something down and listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom.”

The first hunter looks around and spies an old automobile transmission lying in the grass. He tells the… Continue

I am constantly surprised at what people say when the answer they are seeking is the obvious one, it's simple and they don't accept it.

It's kinda like the Customer who is buying a car and you hit them right on the number on the first pencil... they look at you like you are screwing them! "It can't be this easy" they are thinking or "I'm paying too much."

In Fixed Operations it's the same. If a Customer needs a repair done and you go back to them with a repair that obviously…

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What did you do in "Customer Service Training" this year? Did you have an in house seminar? Did you have ongoing Training? What subjects did you cover? How did they relate to your Dealership Culture?

These are some of the questions you need to answer.

Why?

If you did not Sell as many Cars this year or Sell as much Service as you needed to and you plan on selling more next year, then the 1st order of business is to decide what worked for you this year and what did…

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One of the most frustrating things that Service Advisors have to deal with is the unavailability of the Customer after they have left the Dealership.



In 100% of the cases there is a series of steps the Advisor can do during the writeup and repair process to increase the chances that they will be able to contact the Customer once the vehicle has been inspected or the repairs have been completed.



Step Number One.



Get a “Pre-Approval” amount. This is amazingly… Continue

In our world there is a constant search for “better.”



Better personnel, better systems, better procesess, better sales…you get the idea.



Is there “better” out there in Fixed Operations?



Sure. In recent years software and computers have made getting every conceivable report possible and as easy as a press of the button.



Software applications like ASR Capture from Reverse Risk is a prime example. Here is an application that does nearly everything that old… Continue

100% of doing exactly the same thing next year as what you did this year will yield you 100% of the same results.



100% of Personnel in your Dealership who do not receive any Training will perform exactly the same next year as they did this year.



100% of the Processes you used this year to get the results you now have will give you exactly 100% of the same results next year.



100% of the of the Profit you made this year comes from 100% of the Personnel you… Continue