Dear Dealer:

I was talking to one of my long standing clients last week and asked him what the brightest burning fire was at his dealership.

Without hesitation he replied, “Service absorption.”

“Why?” I asked.

“We sold fewer cars 15 months ago, the cars are built better, and we have allowed independents to nearly corner the market on customer pay business. So when warranty business drops off in 3 to 6 months, where is the business going to come from?”

I had to think about what he said for a moment. How many other dealers are in this predicament? We all knew this day would come, but how many of us planned for it? If we don’t do something soon, where will the business come from?

“Why wouldn’t it come through your phones?” I asked. “How many of the current customer pay calls are your advisor’s turning into appointments?”

“Not many,” he said. “They call for a price on a repair and we give it to them. Then, never hear from them again.”

“Let’s locate the breakdown. I’ll run three calls into service and we can evaluate how the staff handles the phone. It will be readily apparent whether or not they are driving traffic to the store or away from the store,” I offered.

“That is the best idea I have heard all month. Let’s do it,” he said.

If your store is concerned about service absorption and customer pay service traffic, Applied Concepts, Inc. will perform a no cost, no obligation evaluation of how the phones are being handled in fixed operations. We will run three mystery shopping calls and review them with you and other influential managers via a teleconference.

To take advantage of this no cost service, simply email me or call me at 800-393-2277 ext. 270.

Respectfully,

Matthew DeFiglio
National Sales Manager
Applied Concepts, Inc.
www.appliedconcepts.net