CYA

How many times have you heard?

I didn’t say that, or

I didn’t okay that, or

I don’t remember that.

There are two ways to protect oneself from dealer and manager amnesia moments; the AVO and the CYA log.

The AVO

Never act upon a verbal request from a manager or employee. If there is no AVO there is no action. When the new vehicle sales manager tells you to write off a shortage of $75 on a deal get an AVO. If an employee tells you they want to temporarily discontinue their 401K deduction get an AVO or some other instrument in writing.

CYA Log

The CYA log is reserved for the dealer. Don’t expect the dealer to write an AVO in lieu of verbal instructions.

A typical log might look like this.

01/15/2010 - Pay Joe, service porter, $100 discretionary bonus.

02/18/2010 - Write off the dealer’s neighbor’s R.O. 15152, $300.

03/10/2010 - Pull $5,000 from new car advertising and put in prepaid expense per dealer instructions.

The purpose of the log is to CYA when the dealer has his/her amnesia moment. Although you don’t have the dealer’s signature or initial, your retort when questioned by the dealer is “I wouldn’t have recorded the action in my CYA log if you hadn’t told me to do it.”

The Trick Box

The trick box is a Catch 22 situation that puts you in the middle. There are two types of trick boxes.

1. A manager asks you do something out of the norm and tells you the dealer said it is okay. Get an AVO from the manager or beat a track to the dealer’s office. If the dealer verbally approves the deviation, record the dealer’s decision in your CYA log.

2. The general manager, the dealer’s son or the dealer’s wife tells you to do something that deviates from the norm. Again beat a track to the dealer’s office, advise the dealer and record the decision in the CYA log. This is a tough one, it’s the gene thing.