In the February 28, 2012, issue of Up to Speed, I discussed the changing role of used vehicle managementand the overwhelming number of responsibilities that have become part of that function today. Although dealership managers must be accountable for all of the 30 regular responsibilities mentioned in that…

Last evening, as I was thumbing through my April issue of National Oil and Lube News (NOLN), I began to reflect on why and how the folks in the independent automotive repair and maintenance business managed to take such a large chunk of service business away from the franchised dealers. Well, in truth they didn’t take it away…we gave it away…years ago…based on our focus on warranty work, our prices, and our indifference to the service…

This is the continuation of the mini case study focused on the objectives and challenges of building a process to measure and manage OTDBs in the operating departments of an NCM client dealership group. Today I’ll be focusing on the vehicle sales departments in general.

The sales management staff had decided that OTDBs needed to be first divided into five major categories: (1) first-time walk-ins; (2) Internet leads; (3) blind phone inquiries; (4) proactive salesperson appointments;…

Over the last 15 years, NCM Associates has provided hundreds of educational programs that delivered unparalleled training to thousands of dealers, general managers and department managers. However, there is one area in which we have admittedly fallen short…focused leadership training. Up until now, our primary focus has been on the “nuts and bolts” of dealership management. However, the NCM Institute faculty members, as well as many of the dealership personnel that…

It was in late 1987, and I was conducting an in-dealership workshop focused on financial and operational planning and controls. I was describing an F&I process that I had recommended to increase service contract penetration, when the general manager said, “We used to do that.” In response, I asked, “Did it work?” “Absolutely,” he answered. I was tempted to say, “Then why did you stop doing it?” but I was new to the consulting business and didn’t want to risk offending one of my few…

Part one of this topic was published here on January 19, 2012. In that article I discussed the four no-cost or low-costactivities that, when executed flawlessly, will increase a service department's customer R.O. count by at least 10%. Today I’ll address several other proven strategies to increase your customer-paid service…

A few weeks ago, we published an article titled “Clear Expectations Set the Standard for Dealership Excellence.” In that discussion, I talked mostly about setting expectations. Today I’ll be presenting one of the processes that NCM recommends for managing expectations…the “one-on-one” meeting discipline.  Why should we have one-on-one meetings?  Because every employee needs and deservesto have quality, individual, interactive…

Over the last ten years, anyone who has not witnessed dramatic changes in the used vehicle arena must have his head in the sand. Why is it then that so many franchised new vehicle dealers have thus far failed to effectively adjust to these changes? So that you understand what I’m talking about, I’ll just mention two of these impactful changes:  (1) the growth of the Internet as a marketing source; and, (2) the advantages available through inventory optimization technology. Even the language…

Several years ago one of my more enlightened and proactive client-dealers said to me, “I know I don’t really need more opportunities to do business; I just need to do a better job of measuring and managing the OTDBs I already have.” He then asked for my help to develop and implement a traffic management process for each of the five operating departments within his multi-rooftop automotive dealership group. Over the next several weeks,…

At most automotive dealerships the last two to three days of the month are typically a flurry of activity by department managers and their productive and support employees trying to get the last deal, the last R.O., and the last counter slip billed out and counted. It always has been, and always will be, the culture of the retail automotive business because, unlike most other businesses, the “counting and accounting cycle” is measured in individual months.

Why is it then that very few…

NCM Associates was on hand at NADA 2012 with the express purpose to open a dialogue with attending dealers and managers to listen to their issues, concerns, successes, and desires relative to their automotive dealership operations.  It was a great opportunity for us to connect with dealers inside and outside the NCM family and as always, the conversations were compelling in many ways.  In particular, one dealer told me about his vision for developing his future leaders, which I found to be…

Over the last ten years, anyone who has not witnessed dramatic changes in the used vehicle arena must have his head in the sand. Why is it then that so many franchised new vehicle dealers have thus far failed to effectively adjust to these changes? So that you understand what I’m talking about, I’ll just mention two of these impactful changes:  (1) the growth of the Internet as a marketing source; and, (2) the advantages available through inventory optimization technology. Even the language…

How often do your sales consultants or sales managers have to respond like this to customers to whom they’ve just presented or demonstrated a used vehicle?

“Don’t worry about that clunking noise we heard. I’ll have a technician get it fixed in a jiffy.”

“That smell will go away as soon as the carpets are thoroughly dried out.”

“After we do a front end alignment, it won’t pull to the right…

The following article is authored by, and reprinted with permission of, Kenneth Shilson, founder and president of the National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers. 

Franchise dealers enter 2012 with many of the same challenges they have faced for the last 24 months: a) excess facilities; b) needing more vehicle sales; c) declining credit scores of their customers; and d) tougher credit approvals from financing subprime sources. In response, many are looking at…

“I don’t need another book on farmin’, when I ain’t farmin’ as good as I know how right now!”

I remember that statement like it was yesterday.  That’s what a dealer told me over the phone back in 1987, in the the early days of my consulting career.  It was right after I explained the services I could offer him. He made it very clear to me that he wasn’t interested in anything new and different. He knew that “magic bullets and shiny objects” wouldn’t provide the solutions he…

By now, many of you have verified your dealership’s profitability for 2011.  As most dealers, general managers and controllers understand, until we perform a final year-end reconciliation of each asset and liability account, the YTD profitability displayed on our income statement remains an unproven number.  For some of you, this verification process will result in an upward adjustment to your 2011 profitability. However, experience tells me that most dealers…

Many professional sales and sales management trainers believe that you have not "maxed out" on a vehicle buyer until that buyer initiates one additional sale (additional household vehicle or personal referral) during his/her normal purchase cycle. Mathematically, here's how the "one additional sale" concept works:  

Assume that the normal customer purchase cycle…

Sometime in your automotive management career, I’m sure that you’ve all been asked, “How do you know whether you’re winning or losing without a scorecard?” Scorekeeping and scoreboarding is a discipline that falls within each of the following major Elements of Effective Accountability Managementas discussed in previous blog posts:

• Plan your Work and Work Your Plan!

• Clearly Define and Communicate Your Expectations!

• Measure What You…

In late December, we posted an article titled, “How Do You Increase Service Department Sales?” In that article, I noted that there are only three ways to do this, the most difficult being to increase the number of customer-paid service transactions (customer R.O. count).  Up To Speedreader feedback indicates this is a high-priority subject, so today I’ll discuss one way to increase your customer R.O. count.

What follows is a…

Several weeks ago we published an article that discussed the 6 Elements of Effective Accountability Management. The second of these elements, “Clearly Defining and Communicating Your Expectations,” is a critically needed, but rarely well-practiced, discipline within the retail automotive industry. You’ve heard it before: people will rise to the level of performance and/or behavior that is set for them. Mind reading is not a job requirement, in spite of what some dealership managers…