In many Dealerships lack of Profitability in Fixed Operations starts with just 3 processes that are not getting done with every Customer that comes in the door.

Everything starts with building a relationship. It sounds easy, we say it all the time and there is not one Sales book, cd, mp3…course…whatever that does not have some chapter on building relationships.

The Service Department is no different. Studies show that Customers who do not feel taken care of find a reason to do business elsewhere.

Not sayin’ this is happening in your Dealership…

Customers are coming into the service drive and not getting a walk around. It’s true.  Just go stand unobtrusively and watch the service drive for a couple of mornings.

How many Customers are coming in and not being greeted and not getting a thorough walk around? Let’s say for arguments sake that 50% of your Customers come in the door and are properly greeted and get a walk around.

How many ROs does your Service Department write per day?

In front end language, what if 50% of the “ups” that come in were not greeted or presented with an opportunity to purchase a vehicle?

How long would before that Sales Manager was kicked to the curb?

So, if 50% of your Customers do not get an opportunity to have their vehicle thoroughly inspected and to have repairs completed while in your Service Department, what is this doing to your Sales per Repair Order?

How many Sales organizations can stay in business with 50% of the Sales opportunity taken away before they even present a product or service to sell?

Hey, maybe in your Dealership it’s only 30%! Great News!

So after not getting a walk around the vehicle does not get a multipoint inspection. Why? In some stores (not sayin’ this is happening in your store) Service Advisors and Technicians have circumvented the process or stopped doing it altogether.

And the Service Advisors and Technicians in those stores can justify why.

Here are the Top 10 reasons “we don’t do it.”

“They were just in.”

“He/She never buys anything. They are just a mooch.”

“There are too many cars in here today.”

“I didn’t have time.”

“The Customer told me not to do it.”

“I ran out of inspection forms.”

“They are a waiter.”

“It’s too (fill in the weather blank).”

“It takes too long.”

“The Advisor can’t sell it anyways, why bother.”

So the one person your Dealership has been trying to attract comes in (your Customer) and does not get a multipoint inspection because an employee decided not to do one?

Whose name is on the side of the building?

And probably the number one area that Profitability is lost is on the phones. (not  sayin’ this is happening in your Dealership)

People are calling to come in and not being handled properly. You can hear it for yourself. Just go stand by the Advisors workstation and listen.

Call after call coming in and appointments not getting made. It’s not because they don’t want the appointment, it’s because in our industry, everyone assumes that basic phone handling skills are a pre-requisite for becoming an Advisor.

And everyone has a different level of skill. Some do it right, some do it sometimes and some not at all.

Probably the single biggest impact we (DealerPro) have in a store right away is getting everyone answering the phones properly. Even in our “technosociety” people still call before they come in. And if the person answering the phone is not trained to do it properly, why would they come in?

If you are looking for ways to get more in the bank from your Fixed Operations then you might want to take a look at these 3 processes.

Not sayin’ that these are not being  done in your store…

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