PDF - Fixed Ops Magazine

Transcription

TABLE OF C ON TEN TS
J u ly / A u g u s t
p.
10
p.
Calming Them Down Or Revving Them Up
24
Four Steps to Stop Handing Customers to Your Competiti o n
30
Helping Your Customers U nderstand the Alternatives
36
Your W ebsite Doesn’ t Know That…
44
How T ec h Giants A re Reshaping Customer
Expec tations of Yo ur Parts D epartment
p.
p.
And How You Can Solve That Problem With Y our Service B D C
T wo A pproac hes To Getting M ore Vehicle Recall Customers
I nto Your Servic e D rive
p.
p.
50
p.
60
p.
66
p.
70
p.
76
How to Win at Mobile Service Marketing
Wiper Blade Considerations For Today’s Driver
Do You Service Cars?
The Netflix Effect
Change the Dynamics, Compile Analysis
in Seconds, Not Weeks
Chang e the Dynamics, Compile Analysis in Seconds, N ot Wee k s
Clearing the Path to a More Effective
Service Department
p.
6
p.
96
What ’ s a Servi c e A dviso r Wo rth ?
98
G M A dvanc es R eal-T ime Parts P ric ing
p.
Four Keys to R educin g Wasted Time in Service
p.
p.
How Sustaina bil ity D rives M ore Profita ble D ealership Business
p.
100
Schedule That Service Appointment!
Follow Your Dentist ’s Example
p.
102
Everything in Its Place
p.
p.
84
Take an Ac tive R oll in M akin g an “Impact” on L ocal
Collision Sc hool Programs This F all
94
parts department
bo dy shop
C o ll isi o n R epairers Get Uniq ue Benefits F r o m
B o dy Sh o p -Spec ifi c P erfo rmanc e Gro ups
administration
D eve l o pin g A n A dvertisin g Strate g y
pri c in g survey
104
T ires and A l i g nment
8
I N DUS T R Y N EW S & EVEN T S
105
Advertisers Direc tory
Breaking the Mold
Cookie Cutter Manufacturer’ s M arketing is Killin g
Your Servic e Department
92
servi c e department
Storag e T hat Helps Automotive D ealerships D rive E fficiency
80
88
l etter fr om the pu bl isher
Green Decisions That Pay Off
p.
p.
| | F i x e d Ops M a g a z i n e
Why Service “Waiters” are Killing
your Revenue, Profits and CSI…
18
p.
2015
Educating the Next Generation
p.
The Safety Recall MESS
Be P repared
p.
The Quick Oil Change
A L oss Leader Designed For Owner Retenti on
Growing Your Own
T he Benefits of Developing Your Own Technicians
p.
105
N ew P r o duc ts
109
M ar ketpl a c e
p.
letter from the publisher
J u ly / A u g u s t 2 0 1 5 | | F i x e d O p s M a g a z i n e
Mark your calendars and save the dates!
The 2015 Fixed Ops Magazine Conference and Expo is
set for November 1st through 3rd at the newly-renovated
Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Now is the time to save the
dates for a one-of-a-kind event that will focus exclusively on
your world of Fixed Operations
The line-up of speakers is quickly taking shape and will be announced shortly. With representatives from the leading companies in your Fixed Operations world, you can be assured of a
unique event that will be both valuable and interesting – three
days that will help you to focus your efforts on making your
Fixed Operations team the best and the most productive that
it can be.
More information will follow soon. Most important: be sure that your e-mail address and
the e-mail addresses for your key associates are sent to us right away. Then you’ll be
assured of receiving complete sign-up and hotel reservation details.
Visit www.FixedOpsMag.com to get more information. Or send an e-mail to
[email protected] with the words “Conference and Expo” in the subject line.
That will keep you dialed into all of the event updates.
Packed into these three days will be:
1 7 8 5 3 S a ntia go Blvd., St e. 107-467
Vil l a Pa r k, CA 92861
P h o ne 7 1 4 -8 0 3 -5 4 7 6
Fax 714-276-0255
Info @ F ixedOpsMag.com
w w w. F ixed OpsMag.com
N i c k W est
Pho n e : 7 1 4 - 8 03- 5476
F a x : 7 1 4 - 2 76- 0255
N i c k@ F i x e dOpsM ag.com
PHONE: 7 1 4 - 3 07- 6020
- Seminars and education sessions on a wide range of Fixed Ops-related topics.
- Trade show hours featuring some of the industry’s leading companies, products,
services, technologies and solutions.
- Multiple networking opportunities
INF O @ F IXEDO PSM AG .COM
All of this with insights from some of the top thought leaders in the Fixed Ops world.
To help your dealership boost profitability, improve efficiency and increase customer
retention.
M a ri a @ F i x e dOpsM ag.coM
Plus, you can combine your attendance at the Fixed Ops Conference and Expo with
both the SEMA and AAPEX trade shows, which kick-off in Las Vegas on November
3rd – the same day the Fixed Ops event wraps up. One visit to Las Vegas, three big,
business-stimulating gatherings!
You should be there? Who else should attend?
- Fixed Operations Directors and Managers
- Service / Parts / Body Shop Directors and Managers
- General Managers and Dealer Principals
- Anyone else in your company who’s a Fixed Operations decision-maker or
decision-influencer
You can register for the Conference today! Visit www.FixedOpsMag.com
Watch for more information on the 2015 Fixed Ops Magazine Conference and Expo in
the pages of this publication, in our Fixed Ops Weekly Fix e-newsletter and in our e-mail
announcements. All of the information will be coming your way very soon.
So hold those dates. And we’ll see you November 1-3, 2015 at the Tropicana Hotel in
Las Vegas!
M a ri a Pusparan i
Fixed Ops Magazine is published by Prism Automotive,
LLC, 17853 Santiago Blvd., Suite 107-467, Villa Park,
CA 92861; phone 877-349-3367. Subscriptions are free
to qualified subscribers in the U.S. who are active as fixed
operations directors or service managers of franchised
automobile dealerships. Additional subscriptions are
available at: $30/year/US; $45/year/Canada; $90/
year/other foreign. Single issue price, $10. Periodicals
postage paid at Fort Worth, TX. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to:
Fixed Ops Magazine, 17853 Santiago Blvd.,
Suite 107-467, Villa Park, CA 92861.
Reproduction or use, without express written permission
of publisher, of editorial or graphic content in any
manner is prohibited. The statements and opinions
expressed herein are those of individual authors and
do not necessarily represent the views of Fixed Ops
Magazine or Prism Automotive, LLC. The appearance
of advertisers does not constitute an endorsement of the
products or services featured. All rights reserved.
Nick West / Publisher
Ph on e : 7 1 4 - 8 0 3 - 5 4 7 6
E-mail:
N i c k @ F i xe d Ops Ma g. c o m
p. 6
To v iew th e Digita l Edit ion of
F ixed Ops Ma ga z in e, visit:
www.FixedOpsMag.com
IN DUS T R Y N E W S & EVENT S
Xtime Powers Service
Scheduling For Hyundai
Auto Canada
Xtime, a leading customer retention solution for auto manufacturers and
dealerships, has become the exclusive online Service scheduling provider
for Hyundai Auto Canada. By integrating Xtime’s solution, Hyundai dealerships will be able to deliver a modern Service retail experience that exceeds
consumer expectations, ultimately helping dealers attract and retain Service
customers.
“Hyundai has a long history of adopting the latest technology and bringing
it to consumers and this is an extension of that commitment,” said Annie
Deslauriers, Director of Customer Services at Hyundai Auto Canada. “By
offering our customers the ability to schedule their vehicle Service online,
Hyundai dealers are standing out from the competition with this premium
approach.”
With Xtime’s Scheduling 7 powering the Hyundai Car Care Scheduling platform, consumers get a seamless Service scheduling experience. Owners will
now have the ability to schedule appointments from any desktop or mobile
phone, giving them instant insight into Service availability. They can also
select appointments based on preferred Service Advisor, sync appointments
to their personal calendars and receive text and e-mail reminders.
Cars.com Launches Revolutionary
Service & Repair Feature
Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying, selling and now servicing cars, has launched a new Service & Repair feature to help car owners
confidently navigate the Service and Repair process as effectively as it does
during the car shopping process. With this game-changing online feature,
Cars.com aims to remove the stress and fear of the unknown associated
with maintaining and repairing a vehicle. Through innovative, confidencebuilding features that help save consumers time and demystify the entire
Service process, car owners can approach any Service or Repair situation
with less apprehension. With the new Service & Repair feature, Cars.com
can also help car owners understand how much to pay by providing a fair
price estimate for their service, including the breakdown between the cost of
Parts and Labor. Consumers can find Service centers in their area and read
reviews written by other Service customers.
“Most people can relate to the anxiety that occurs when the ‘check engine’
light comes on. Thoughts of expensive repairs and worst-case scenarios
fill your mind,” said Cars.com Executive Editor, Joe Wiesenfelder. “That
apprehension is warranted because drivers spend nearly $1,000 per year
maintaining their car. With the launch of our revolutionary Service & Repair
feature, we aim to help relieve some of the stress that affects drivers when
they see that little red light illuminate.”
Carfax Announces Instant
Availability of Crash Reports Online
Carfax has taken a huge step forward in eliminating the waiting time to receive automobile accident reports from police departments. Through one
online source (Crashdocs.org), crash reports from virtually any police department in the U.S. are easily accessible and now are available instantly from a
rapidly growing number of agencies. Insurers, lawyers and other interested
parties can quickly order the reports they need and view some of them immediately, all with no added convenience fees.
Industry professionals no longer have to contact individual police departments or pay high convenience fees to obtain crash reports. Crashdocs is
the single source for information about a specific crash from law enforcement agencies nationwide. There is zero investment – no start-up costs,
maintenance fees, or hardware/software to buy – for police departments to
be part of Crashdocs’ e-commerce platform.
p. 8
DMEa Launches Service
Connect Mobile App With TCi
DMEautomotive has announced that TCi, Tire Centers LLC, one of America’s
premier tire distributors, has selected Service Connect, DMEa’s groundbreaking aftermarket-branded mobile app, to help its retailers increase
sales, loyalty and retention among today’s “always-on” consumers. TCi has
thousands of customers across the U.S.
TCi will offer Service Connect to its independent tire dealer customers nationwide as part of its T3 Prime program, which offers internet marketing and
other services. The technology behind Service Connect is proven to increase
sales and retention, as well as drive customer loyalty, especially among the
mobile-hungry millennial generation.
“We are pleased to be one of the first to make the power of mobile marketing
completely turnkey for the aftermarket industry,” said Mike Walther, Chief
Executive Officer for DMEautomotive. “TCi has a passion for service excellence and creating customer loyalty, which makes Service Connect a perfect
fit. Service Connect takes that passion and puts it in the hands of the millions
of consumers who are increasingly turning to their smartphones and apps
for their vehicle needs.”
“We chose DMEautomotive for their marketing excellence and industry leading programs,” said Vickie Johnson, TCi’s Director of Retail Marketing. “Service Connect will help our dealers engage with customers on their terms,
more quickly, and with greater efficiency than ever before.”
Continued on Page 110
E VEN TS
N ovember
1-3 / The Fixed Ops Magazine Conference and Expo
Tropicana Hotel Casino and Resort, Las Vegas, NV
714-803-5476 / [email protected]
3-5 / AAPEX
Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV
708-226-1300 / www.AAPEXShow.com
3-6 / SEMA Show
Las Vegas Convention Center
909-396-0289 / www.SEMAShow.com
M ARCH / APRIL 2016
31 - 3 / The NADA Convention and Expo
Las Vegas Convention Center
703-821-7000 / www.NADA.org
Featu r e
Why Service “Waiters” are Killing
your Revenue, Profits and CSI…
A n d H o w Y o u C a n S o l v e T hat P r o b l e m W i th Y o u r S e r v i c e BD C By Kolbe Meier
In this article, I’ll identify one of the top
“defects” in Service scheduling and Service drive flow that’s causing “defects”
in the overall Service experience in dealerships across the county. I’m going to
share with you empirical data that identifies what’s causing this “defect” (even at
some of the most successful dealerships
in America) and what steps you can take to
solve this problem and work towards turning your Service drive into an orchestrated
symphony rather than a chaotic scramble.
I’ll share with you the exact steps to identify, address and resolve this “defect”
while taking control of your Service drive
in order to maximize revenue, profits, CSI
and retention. You’ll also have a clear understanding of how your scheduling strategies (or lack thereof) are impacting your
business.
Turning information into knowledge and
action
For the past twelve months I’ve been traveling the country meeting with General
Managers, Fixed Ops Directors and Service Managers to discuss the results of a
Service Department audit that we created
in order to take a deep dive -- with a scientific approach -- to examining the key elements of Service scheduling.
p. 10
The purpose of these meetings has been
to discuss three aspects of their Service
Department operation:
A key finding: more than 75% of Service
Managers report a high number of “waiters” having negative impact on business.
• How they acquire, schedule and retain
customers via inbound and outbound
phone calls.
• In-dealership and online scheduling process.
• Service CRM scheduling set up, including capacities and skills
For each of the Service Departments audited, we were granted access to review their
Service CRM scheduling tool (Xtime, Time
Highway, AutoBook, etc.) and their recorded inbound Service calls. This provided us
critical insight into how inbound Service
appointment calls were being handled.
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p. 11
We listened to thousands of calls and
broke them into two separate categories:
customers calling to schedule an appointment and customers shopping for prices.
For those customers calling to schedule
an appointment, we created a scorecard
that examined 11 key “impact questions”
that are essential to executing a flawless
appointment call. From those 11 questions
scored, the results for one particular question jumped out at us:
“Did the Appointment Coordinator or
Advisor inquire about or offer alternative transportation to the guest when
scheduling the Service appointment?”
After looking at the results, I instantly knew
that we had spotted a problem. But before
I reveal those results, let’s discuss why this
question is so important and how it’s impacting your business every single day. To
get there, I want you to first consider these
two questions:
Question number one: What percentage of your repair order count is coming
from a scheduled Service appointment?
Measuring this statistic is an essential step
that every Service Manager needs to take
if you’re looking to bring order and harmony to your Service drive. Remember: if you
can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. And
p. 12
if you can’t manage it, you certainly cannot
impact it.
“A key finding:
more than
75% of Service
Managers report
a high number of
“waiters” having
negative impact
on business.”
The higher the percent of business that
comes from scheduled appointments, the
better you control the Service drive flow.
Proper Service drive scheduling leads to
increased CSI, increased dollars per repair order, less pressure on your ASMs
and overall increased Service retention -which is the ultimate goal.
The appointment vs. walk-in trend
Most of our new clients start off with an
appointment-to-walk-in ratio of 25-35%.
After helping them to implement a Service
BDC (and creating processes for “first appointment” and “next appointment” and
aggressively marketing “the benefits of
scheduling an appointment”) we’ve witnessed shifts to upwards of 75-80% appointments vs. walk-ins.
Keep in mind: this shift does not happen
overnight. Some dealerships have taken
up to 2-3 years to make this transition.
However, the pay off has been significant and this is why you want to focus
on driving this number:
1. Increase in dollars per repair order.
Why? When your ASMs have more quality time to spend with each guest they are
less likely to skip steps in the Service drive
process. Whenever you skip steps in that
process (aka “the sales process”) you automatically receive lower returns. And if
only 25% of your business is coming from
an appointment, you greatly diminish your
chances of creating a steady Service drive
flow.
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2. Increase in CSI scores and retention.
Based on meeting the three key “customer
desires” that Horst Schulze, former COO
of the Ritz-Carlton, made famous – Timeliness, No Defects and Caring – having
your guests wait in any kind of line is not
going motivate them to continue to do
business with you. Customers do not like
to wait and your CSI surveys scores will
support that statement.
Getting this number established is critical
because in a recent survey that we conducted with Service Managers, more than
75% stated that too many “waiters” where
causing major problems in their Service
lane. In another survey that we sent out to
more than 800 ASMs, “too many waiters”
came in second only to “vehicle not ready
at promise time” as the top defect effecting CSI and retention.
Question number two: What is the ideal
number of “waiters” your shop can handle per hour?
How to reduce / manage your “waiters”
and create a better guest experience.
Keep in mind that this number will vary
based on the time of the day. At 9:00AM
this number most likely will have to be lower, due to the “walk-in” factor. At 3:00PM,
this number can be higher.
Almost half of the stores who recently
participated in our audit did not have the
“waiter” capacity established in their Service CRM. Another 25% of those who had
the “waiters” feature turned on admitted
they had not adjusted that capacity since
the Service CRM product had been installed. In the case for some stores, that
was more than five years ago!
p. 14
In most Service Departments “waiters”
take precedence over all other vehicles in
the shop and are moved to the front of the
line. Let’s face it, there’s a big difference
between the guest who drops off their vehicle at 8:00AM and tells the ASM they’ll
be back to pick it up at 6:00PM and the
guest that says “You have an hour to get
my vehicle back to me and clock starts
ticking now!”
So what strategy can we implement today
in order combat this “defect”? Let’s start
by managing expectations up-front and by
discussing transportation expectations on
the inbound Service appointment phone
call.
“Did the
Appointment
Coordinator or
Advisor inquire
about or offer
alternative
transportation
to the guest when
scheduling the
Service
appointment?”
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Advisors much more confidence
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for the needed service.”
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Back to that all-important question from
earlier in this article: “Did the Associate or
ASM inquire about or offer the guest alternative transportation when scheduling the
Service appointment?” The survey results:
The question was asked only 16% of the
time. Ouch! That means that on 84% of
the calls in which a guest was calling to
schedule a Service appointment, we did
NOT discuss alternative transportation
with the caller.
So what happens when that guest arrives
in the Service lane? The ASM is forced to
deal with this question, placing increased
pressure on your ASMs and your Techs
when a high percentage of those customers turn into “waiters.”
Here are two ways you can attack this
challenge and provide your guests with a
better overall Service experience.
1. Review the “waiters” setting in your
scheduling product. If the “waiter” capacity is not turned on, estimate how many
you can handle per hour and manage and
adjust it from there. If it’s on, review your
current capacity and history to see if it’s
accurate and it’s best serving your guests,
Advisors and Technicians. You’ll need to
monitor this number and fine-tune it over
the weeks after the adjustment. It’s a giv-
p. 16
en that you’ll have a higher percentage of
“waiters” for your express Service vs. your
main shop.
2. Discuss inbound call guide strategy.
Meet with your Service Coordinators and
ASMs to discuss their current inbound
call guide strategy. Make sure that they
are discussing this with 100% of inbound
appointments. Here’s what the word track
should sound like on all inbound appointment calls:
“Mr. Jones, are you planning on taking advantage of our shuttle service, (or a lowcost daily rental) or have you arranged your
own transportation while we perform the
work on your vehicle?”
Now, notice how the word “waiting” is never mentioned? Why? It’s your least desired
option. If you want to reduce the number of
“waiters”, then not offering that option upfront is the best strategy. Let the customer
make the conscious effort to go that route.
By doing this you can better manage their
expectations and strategically spread out
those “waiters” through out the day. You’ll
have to remind your team that this strategy
is worthless unless they choose the “waiter” button in your Service CRM when they
are entering the appointment.
This word track will also help you better
accommodate those who plan on taking
advantage of your shuttle service, or the
low-cost daily rental if your store offers
that option. Remember, your guests are
most likely unaware of your shuttle service
polices, such as “runs every half hour” or
“makes 3-4 stops” prior to arriving at the
guest’s destination. It’s for these reasons
that it’s our duty to ask the guest, up-front,
what alternative transportation needs they
require in order to be best prepared to
meet their expectations.
Track your monthly waiters in order to
manage that number. Drive your appointment vs. walk-in percentage and watch
what a difference it makes in your Service
drive. When you do this, you’ll make life
easier on your Advisors and Technicians
-- and improved CSI, revenue and profits
will follow.
Kolbe Meier, Founder and CEO of Irvine,
CA-based Blueprint, Inc., BDC Architects,
has studied team performance and behavioral patterns of dealerships and clients for
the past 20 years. Kolbe has built, measured
and improved client-centric, revenue-driven
contact centers for the nation’s most successful dealerships, groups and OEMs.
Today, Blueprint’s research, software and
comprehensive BDC solutions are used in
hundreds of dealerships nationwide.
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p. 17
Featu r e
Calming Them Down Or
Revving Them Up
T w o A pp r o ach e s T o G e tt i n g M o r e V e h i c l e
R e ca l l C u st o m e r s I n t o Y o u r S e r v i c e D r i v e Consumer response to the current tidal
wave of automotive recalls runs the gamut
from hysterical to totally tuned-out. Can
you blame them?
An estimated “46 million cars with unfixed
flaws” were on the road at the end of 2014,
according to a recent article in Automotive
News. And there may be even more vehicle
recalls in 2015, Mark Rosekind, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), told Consumer
Reports.
Some recall news headlines alarm consumers:
- “FCA trial over child’s fiery death expected to renew recall push” – March
15, Automotive News
- “GM ignition-switch death claims rise
by 3 to 87” – April 20, Automotive News
Other headlines may not draw much concern:
- “Ford recalls 213,000 police vehicles to
fix door springs” – March 25, Click on
Detroit
Either way, one thing is certain: the recall
epidemic represents a huge opportunity
for your Service drive to boost revenue
p. 18
By Chris Miller
and profits and increase customer loyalty
and retention, while performing a public
service.
Is your dealership ready with formalized
best practices for handling all vehicle recall prospects?
The epidemic also represents an opportunity for your dealership to boost sales of
new and pre-owned cars, based on the
mileage of the recalled vehicles and the
remedy of the recall issues.
First, your dealership must keep up to date
on recall news.
How you handle vehicle recall prospects
is critical to your success -- whether one
individual contacts you in a panic, or you
systematically reach out via phone, e-mail,
or direct mail to let thousands know they
have a problem that your Service Department can solve.
1. Designate a staff member to keep upto-date on recalls for the makes and models you sell and typically take in trade.
Most recalls are publicized via press releases from NHTSA and the OEMs weeks,
or months, before the OEMs mail the individual owners notices. So, have your staff
person go to Google Alerts and register to
receive daily vehicle recall alerts. Enter the
keywords, “US automotive recall, US vehicle recall.”
p. 19
Staying on top of recall news means:
A. You won’t be uninformed and unprepared when a panicked consumer calls
about a recall. The unprepared dealership
may lose the opportunity to service that
consumer.
B. You won’t miss opportunities to reach
out to consumers who are unaware that
their vehicles are under recall.
2. Have your designated staff member organize recall news, so that notices about
dangerous defects are prioritized over
problems that could wait until a car owner’s next scheduled Service.
3. Have this same staff member make recall information available in a common
folder online for quick access by your
Business Development Center (BDC) representatives and Service Advisors. The
more knowledgeable your representatives,
the more confidence they inspire in your
recall prospects.
Now, let’s look at best practices for handling incoming calls from panicked consumers:
1. Develop a script that your BDC representatives and Service Advisors can use to
conduct a conversation with callers that is
sympathetic, informative and reassuring. It
should be positive in tone and take your
BDC representatives and Service Advisors
through the following steps:
A. Sincerely apologize to customers for the
defect on behalf of the manufacturer.
B. Listen sympathetically to customers as
they vent fear, frustration and anger. Often
this is as important to your callers as fixing
the problem.
C. Assure customers they have called the
right dealership to get the specific help
they need to solve their problem.
D. Invite them to come into the dealership
and assure them their safety is your number one priority.
E. Explain that the repair work will be done
at no charge to them.
p. 20
F. Let customers know your dealership values their time. Schedule the appointments
for repairs at the customers’ convenience.
Don’t state things in a negative way, such
as, “We can’t fit you in until next week.”
Instead, be positive: “We can get you in as
early as next week.”
“A word
of caution:
Don’t waste
your money
marketing
to more
consumers each
month than you
can handle.”
G. Offer to provide a rental car in the meantime, if the vehicle defect is life threatening. Or, offer free shuttle service, if that’s
what your customers need.
H. If the vehicle defect can be fixed in a
few hours, let prospective customers know
that your Service waiting area is an attractive place, with amenities such as WiFi, TV,
food service, etc.
2. Train your BDC representatives and
Service Advisors to use the script, so it
doesn’t sound like one and to properly
handle all questions not specifically covered in the script. This training would impart information on:
• Dealership and OEM recall policy.
• Where to quickly look up data on specific
recalls and VINs.
• How to close the call with a Service appointment. (Failure to engage vehicle owners when they call may result in their contacting a competing dealer.)
• How to upsell callers on additional services.
• When to earmark leads for possible new
or pre-owned car sales.
Now let’s focus on reaching the large market of totally tuned-out consumers: the fatigued and the oblivious.
Fatigued consumers don’t want to hear
about yet another recall. They’ve had
enough. Even if the recall defect may be
life-threatening, many of these consumers
cope by denying the problem. They think:
‘It will never happen to me. I’ve had the car
this long and nothing has happened.’
p. 21
Oblivious consumers don’t keep up with
the news or read their mail. They don’t
know about the recalls.
You need to reach out to all these consumers with a message that will break through
their ennui, but not threaten them, and will
make it as painless as possible to get their
vehicle repaired.
But, first, how do you find these fatigued
and oblivious consumers whose vehicles are under recall?
OEMs will send you the list of original owners, but it’s often difficult to track down
secondary owners in your area -- particularly ones with whom you have not previously done business.
One place to look for consumers -- in your
area, with open recalls -- is your state’s
Department or Registry of Motor Vehicles.
You can also request this type of information from insurance companies.
When you have your list, prioritize it as follows:
1. By the defects most dangerous to consumers.
2. By the repairs most profitable to the
dealership.
3. By the availability of Parts -- in stock, or
quickly ordered / delivered. Stage ordering
based on the monthly volume of vehicle
owners you expect to contact. Make sure
you have the Parts prior to sending the first
mailers to vehicle owners.
p. 22
4. By how trained your Service Techs are in
the repair processes needed.
5. By geographical proximity of the prospects to the dealership. Mail to the closest
ones first.
Now, plan your marketing communications strategy.
A word of caution: Don’t waste your money
marketing to more consumers each month
than you can handle. Dealers should budget a minimum 3-5% response rate (30-50
customers per month per 1,000 mailers),
factoring in your Service Department’s capacity to fulfill Service requests based on
the number of Service bays, Service Technician resources and repair orders they are
able to process each month.
Once your Service drive is prepared – Parts
Department well-stocked and Technicians
well-trained in the specific recall repairs
-- initiate a multi-pronged marketing approach using e-mail and first class mailings designed to brand your dealership
and the OEM you represent.
To get the attention of message-weary
and oblivious consumers, your first class
mailing should be just that: First Class -clever, fresh and arresting. It must not look
like junk mail, or a black and white notice
from the government. It should include the
OEM’s logo and your dealership’s logo.
Your message must be brief and educational. Consumers need to know your
repair service is both NHTSA and U.S.
Department of Transportation compliant.
Besides the recall information, this mailing should include your dealership’s street
address and website address, a toll free
number and your hours of operation. Your
e-mails should follow suit.
Ten days after sending the first class mailing, and / or e-mail equivalent, have your
BDC follow up with a well-scripted phone
call – factual, not alarmist. Be sure you
comply with National Do Not Call (DNC)
Registry rules.
And, do take advantage of the recall campaign to upsell services -- without any incremental cost of advertising. Simply create a Service incentive offer to accompany
the recall notice. The offer could include
recommended factory Service interval
maintenance based on mileage, oil changes, etc.
OEM recalls represent a fabulous, ongoing
opportunity to drive more and more vehicle recall prospects into your dealership to
boost Service drive revenues and profits.
Chris Miller is President of Danville, CAbased Recall Masters, a leading provider
of recall marketing programs and automotive services marketing. Chris has over
17 years experience building software to
automate marketing communications. He
has worked with marquee brands including
HSBC/Household Automotive, Washington Mutual, Residential Pacific Mortgage,
ServiceMagic, Monumental Life Insurance,
Mercedes Benz USA, BMW/Mini North
America, Volvo North America, JP Morgan
Chase, Wells Fargo, Moxy Solutions, and
Costco Automotive Group.
p. 23
Featu r e
How to Win at Mobile
Service Marketing
F o u r S t e ps t o S t o p H a n d i n g C u st o m e r s t o Y o u r C o m p e t i t i o n By Brad Highland
The vehicle Service industry is a $215 billion industry, but dealerships lose up to 90
percent of that Service revenue.
As vehicles go out of warranty, dealerships
too often lose both current customers
and potential customers to independent
automotive Service centers, even though
dealerships can offer superior service and
more knowledgeable Technicians at equally competitive prices.
If more than 40 percent of consumers
don’t have a preference in where they get
their vehicle serviced, what can Service
Departments do to recapture the attention
and business of consumers?
They can meet customers where they
gather, and add mobile marketing for the
Service Department.
Consumers’ increasing reliance on mobile devices is a fact, not a fluke. Recent
reports from Google and eMarketer confirm that more people are choosing smartphones over desktop computers and tablets to search online.
Those choices have real implications for
how Service Departments market to and
connect with consumers.
Until dealerships put a mobile strategy in
place for their Service marketing, they may
p. 24
be giving potential customers to the competition. Here are four fundamental steps
to a mobile marketing strategy for dealership Service Departments.
1. Mobile-friendly website design
Remember early website design, with its
flashing fonts and animated background
images? At first, those design features
seemed fun to include on websites. However, their novelty soon wore off as they
began turning off visitors. So website owners stopped using them.
The same thing has happened with using
mobile devices to access the internet. In
the beginning, consumers were simply
content to have access to websites on
their smartphones. Yet, as people grow
more comfortable with mobile devices,
they want the experience of accessing and
viewing information to be more intuitive
and pleasing.
Google picked up on this trend and wrote
about it in “The Mobile Playbook.” Here,
Google said that 40 percent of consumers
defect to a competing site after having a
bad mobile experience on a brand’s website.
To help foster better mobile experiences,
Google is changing its ranking system,
which puts pressure on brands to improve
the mobile experience for consumers.
In late April 2015, Google updated its
search algorithm to help mobile users find
more relevant content and have more positive mobile experiences on websites. That
algorithm update now penalizes websites
that lack a mobile-friendly design and
bumps them down in search results.
right information to consumers on different types of devices. Also, make sure the
new design loads each webpage quickly
to help improve the mobile experience for
consumers.
Dealerships need more than a mobilefriendly website to show up for Service
queries in mobile search results. They also
need to devote more website content to
Service.
A lot of marketers, designers, analysts
and industry players started calling the
algorithm change “Mobilegeddon.” It
may sound melodramatic, but there’s real
money to be gained – or lost – in Google’s
change.
2. Relevant content for mobile intent
Having a mobile-friendly website can
help dealers maintain their spot in Google
search results by catering to consumers
using mobile devices. Yet, website design
can only take a website so far. Websites
also need content that’s relevant to a consumer’s search query.
The average dealership website dedicates
about 95 percent of website content to
vehicle sales and variable operations. In
contrast, independent automotive Service
centers can focus solely on auto repair and
Service content on their websites. That’s a
huge advantage for them.
C+R Research has found that four out of
five consumers search online for vehicle
Service and the majority of those consumers searching online likely use their mobile
devices.
Imagine that someone’s car breaks down
near your dealership. If that person searches for “auto repair” on Google using a mobile device, will your Service Department
appear in the search results?
To capture that consumer interest, make
sure your dealership’s website has a
mobile-friendly design. Choose a design
that offers a fully customizable layout, so
you can tailor the website to display the
More often than not, it won’t. Before Mobilegeddon, it was reported that the average
dealership’s Service Department shows up
less than 5 percent of the time in Google
search results for auto repair service.
p. 26
When consumers search online, they tend
to find the dealerships’ Service competition, not dealerships, because dealerships
aren’t providing enough information to
beat out their competitors.
To have a fighting chance in mobile search
results, Service Departments must push
for more mobile-optimized content on the
dealership website. That includes Service
hours, click-to-call buttons to schedule an
appointment and Service specials.
We’ve seen a
$30 gross
per RO increase.
Experience Service
Part of Reynolds Retail Management System…
transforming the way consumers experience
your dealership.
reyrey.com/ignite | 888.853.2617
© 2015 The Reynolds and Reynolds Company. All rights reserved. 1006517-8 6/15
Greg May
Partner and Dealer Principal
Greg May Honda
Waco, TX
Including relevant Service content on the
dealership’s website can help increase
the website’s relevance to Service-related
searches made on mobile devices. Ultimately, these changes can help drive mobile consumers to the dealership.
Given consumers’ preference for mobile
devices, there are several mobile-optimized search advertising options that your
Service Department can use to win back
mobile consumers. If your dealership already uses text ads, add a phone number
to your Service Department that consumers can call by tapping on their touch
screens.
Also, you may want to add call-only campaigns. These can help drive phone calls
from a Google search ad directly to your
Service Department. Proper training of
Service Advisors can turn those calls into
Service appointments.
Various review sites may have specific
rules for handling negative reviews, but a
good general rule of thumb is to treat all
reviewers with respect. It can be tempting to defend your dealership if and when
negative experiences are made public.
However, avoiding a combative approach
and working to reconcile issues with customers can help your dealership develop a
positive reputation with current and future
customers.
4. Mobile access to reviews
3. Mobile-optimized search advertising
Although Google’s algorithm update was
significant, it only affected organic search
results. Paid search results work as they
always have always worked, regardless of
device.
However, dealerships can take advantage
of newer options for paid search advertising that are optimized for mobile devices.
If a mobile search marketing strategy combines paid and organic, dealerships can
better drive mobile leads directly to their
Service Departments.
A Naked Lime study has shown that combining paid and organic search strategies
helps drive potential customers to be 16
percent more likely to make a purchase.
That’s because shoppers have greater
confidence in a brand when they see that
brand appear multiple times in a single
search results page.
More retailers, including dealerships, are
using mobile-optimized search advertising to strengthen their presence in mobile search results. Recently, eMarketer
predicted that retailers will spend more
than $28 billion this year on mobile ads,
including search advertising. Over time,
eMarketer’s research shows spending on
these mobile-friendly ads will increase exponentially.
p. 28
Consumers also use their mobile devices
to visit social media apps and review sites
to read, discuss, and share their experiences. That includes reading reviews on
Service Departments and independent automotive Service centers.
A study by BrightLocal found that almost
80 percent of consumers trust online reviews just as much as they trust recommendations made by people they know
personally. And Cars.com found that seven
out of ten car shoppers think reading dealership reviews is a “very” or “extremely”
important part of the research process.
Reviews matter to potential customers,
and they can read and write those reviews
at any time – including at your Service Department – thanks to mobile devices.
Stay on top of your dealership’s Service
reputation by monitoring social media accounts and by reviewing those sites in real
time. If and when issues come up, deal
with them appropriately as they happen,
instead of waiting for them to die down or
go away.
Most social media platforms and review
sites offer mobile-optimized content in
a mobile-friendly design. If your dealership doesn’t manage its digital reputation, those negative comments may rank
higher than your website in Google search
results, making all of your previous efforts
for mobile pointless – and painful to your
business.
Conclusion
For many consumers, mobile devices are
their best digital friends. They take their
devices everywhere and use them for everything from social media to banking.
Since consumers are comfortable with
mobile devices, they’re also using them
more and more to find vehicle Service,
Maintenance and Repair services. They
won’t accept negative mobile experiences
when they’re doing their research – and
now, neither will Google.
Dealerships that want to beat the competition can win more Service business by
implementing a four-step mobile marketing strategy. If dealerships focus on mobile
design, content, advertising and reputation management, they can stay ahead of
the curve and capture more consumer attention – and more business.
Brad Highland is the Director of Web Services for Kettering, Ohio-based Naked
Lime Marketing. He has more than 13
years of automotive experience and an
extensive background in operational leadership. In his current role, Highland leads
the service and support of Naked Lime’s
paid advertising, SEO, social media and
reputation management products for automobile retailers.
Featu r e
Wiper Blade
Considerations For
Today’s Driver
H e l p i n g Y o u r C u st o m e r s U n d e r sta n d th e A l t e r n at i v e s
By James Croston
Even for die-hard automotive enthusiasts,
windshield wipers are not likely the most
exciting part of owning or driving a vehicle.
However, that doesn’t mean that they’re
any less important to the safe operation of
a vehicle. In fact, the American Optometric
Association reports that 90 percent of all
driving decisions are based solely on visual cues. Without quality wipers, drivers can
experience poor visibility, which directly
affects safety on the road.
Over time, general wear and tear, road debris and harsh climate conditions can all
negatively impact windshield wiper performance. There are a lot of questions for
your dealership’s customers to ask before
choosing the right replacement wipers,
and the process of buying a new pair can
be overwhelming.
This article outlines important information
on wiper lifecycles, recommended maintenance and replacement options to help
achieve maximum wiper performance and
improve driving visibility for your store’s
customers.
Signs for Wiper Blade Replacement
Wiper replacement isn’t exactly top-ofmind…until it is. At one point or another,
everyone has been guilty of driving with
tattered windshield wipers -- and it’s not
until drivers are already on the road (typically during a storm) that they think about
replacing them.
p. 30
That one second of impaired visibility can
mean the difference between a relaxing
ride and a potentially harmful car accident.
To avoid this, consider adding windshield
wipers to regular auto maintenance schedules at your dealership at the beginning
and end of Daylight Saving Time. This
provides a natural cue for drivers to think
about wiper maintenance as seasons typically transition between icy and rainy climate conditions.
Look for the following replacement signs
on the vehicles that pass through your Service drive on a regular basis to help them
avoid poor (and potentially dangerous)
driving visibility:
• Streaking – Caused by dry rubber that
has hardened and cracked. Streaking can
also be caused by tree sap, road tar and
other foreign substances on the blade rubber.
• Chattering – The dragging, squeaky
sound the blade makes as it passes across
the windshield is caused by the “permanent set” or “curve” in the rubber that
some wiper blades develop while they are
not being used.
• Worn Rubber – General rounding of the
wiping edge caused by age is a sign it’s
time to replace your customers’ windshield
wiper blades.
• Split Rubber – A condition that divides
the rubber piece caused by the effects of
the ultraviolet sunrays.
dealer
TM
THE INDUSTRY LEADING DMS-INTEGRATED
AFTERMARKET PARTS SOLUTION
+
More Efficient Service
Parts ordering efficiencies
=
Sell More
Service all makes and models
Grow Profits
Increase your CSI rating
LEARN MORE AT AUTOZONEPRO.COM/AZCONNECT
©2015 AutoZone, Inc. All rights reserved. AutoZone, AutoZone & Design, Duralast, and Duralast…Proven Tough are registered marks and Going The Extra Mile is a mark of
AutoZone Parts, LP LLC or one of its affiliates. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. Used under license from Penske Racing South, Inc.
p. 31
• Bent Refill or Wiper Frame – Ice scrapers, automatic car washes or vandalism
can bend the wiper refill or wiper frame.
Do not refill wiper blades that are distorted, bent or badly worn. Replace them with
new wiper blades to avoid the possibility of
windshield damage.
Wiper Replacement Options
Once it’s clear that wipers should be replaced, drivers have to decide between the
countless wiper options available to them.
Wiper needs can differ across a wide range
of factors including, wiper type, budget,
vehicle make, model year, climate, manufacturer and blade length, to name a few.
So it’s important to consider each one for
your customers’ specific situations.
Refills vs. Replacements
Some drivers use wiper refills instead of
replacement blades to help reduce costs.
The strip of rubber that makes contact with
the windshield can be replaced if the reusable wiper blade frame is in good condition. However, trends indicate that specific
refill sizes can sometimes be difficult to
find, so most drivers choose to replace the
entire wiper blade.
p. 32
Replacement wiper blades may be easier,
as all of the necessary components are in
a single package, but there are endless
options and not all of them are the best
choice for individual driving needs. The
key to making a great choice is to learn
more about the wiper blade options available.
approximately 45 percent of all new models sold in the U.S. and Canada.
Conventional vs. Beam
While the sheer number can be overwhelming, the two most common wiper styles are
conventional and beam blades. For many
years, the only available style was a conventional design, which includes a metal
frame with a limited number of pressure
points that press a rubber element across
the windshield. As the more economical
option, some drivers still use conventional
blades today.
of questions
Introduced in the U.S. during the early
2000s, beam blades are the latest in wiper
blade technology as they are made from a
single-piece steel beam for more uniform
pressure across the blade. Over the last
15 years, domestic vehicle designs have
increasingly incorporated beam wiper
blades and today, they come equipped on
Engineered for superior performance in all
weather conditions, beam blades offer a
number of benefits, including:
“There are a lot
for your
dealership’s
customers to
ask before
choosing the
right replacement
wipers, and
the process of
buying a new
pair can be
overwhelming.”
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Learn about our Fixed Operations
breakout sessions at User Summit.
San Diego Bayfront Hilton 8/18 - 8/20
UserSummit.DealerSocket.com
DEALERSOCKET.COM/FO
866.441-9664
• Sleek, modern style for improved aesthetics.
• Lower profile improves driving visibility
and protects the blade structure from road
debris.
• More aerodynamic blade design reduces
wind lift.
• No exposed parts to further protect it
from snow and ice.
• Infinite number of pressure points provide even pressure and windshield contact
across the entire length of the blade.
• Highly-curved design for windshields
found on new vehicle models.
Connector Confusion
Beyond blade styles, drivers must also
consider connector types, which attach
a blade to the wiper arm. There are more
than a dozen arm styles and each has its
own unique connection system. This can
cause confusion as vehicle type, model
year and wiper brands can impact options.
For model years prior to 2000, drivers can
expect to encounter one of the three common connector types for conventional wiper blades, including:
• Side lock – a small pin on the wiper arm
snaps into a hole on the wiper adaptor
• Bayonet – a flat metal piece slides into
the wiper adaptor
• Hook – a curved metal piece slips over
and around the wiper adaptor
For model years after 2010, drivers can
expect to find one of the three common
connector types for beam wiper blades,
including:
• Pinch Tab – the attachment is squeezed
on both sides, so the blade can fall into
place.
• Side Pin – a blade is inserted into an arm
pin and rotated 90 degrees to lock it in
place.
• Push Button– a button on the wiper blade
locks onto a hole in the wiper arm.
It’s important to note that connectors differ greatly, even from what’s listed above.
However, beam wiper blades are engi-
p. 34
neered to fit 96 percent of all arm and connector types.
“Wiper needs can
differ across a wide
range of factors.”
Extending Wiper Lifecycles
To protect a new set of wiper blades, consider the following maintenance practices.
Not only do these help drivers keep visibility top of mind, but they can also extend
wiper replacement intervals.
• Regularly clean the wiper’s rubber element and remove loose dirt and road grime
from the windshield.
• To thoroughly clean the wiper, use a small
amount of non-abrasive glass cleaner on a
wet sponge.
• Always use an ice scraper to remove
snow and ice from the windshield. Using
wipers to de-ice your windshield can damage the blade’s rubber element and wiper
motor.
Windshield and headlight conditions also
play a role in driving visibility. Even a small
chip can cause the entire windshield to
break, which can be expensive to fix and
extremely dangerous if driving when it
shatters. Damaged glass can also cut
the rubber wiping element on the blades,
causing streaking and poor visibility.
Make sure all lights, including headlights,
brake lights and signals, are working properly. Inspecting headlights weekly ensures
the best driving visibility at night and helps
drivers avoid traffic tickets.
Moving Forward
The evolution of wiper blades is far from
over as OEMs continue to evaluate new
materials, technologies and designs. The
replacement options may change, but establishing regular wiper maintenance habits remains the best strategy for maximizing your customers’ visibility in all driving
conditions.
James Croston is the Director of Marketing
for Rochester Hills, MI-based Trico Products.
He has been with Trico Products for 25 years.
They come for service.
You get a new sale.
An additional source of quality sales leads
delivering better gross profit and a higher closing ratio.
Digital
Advertising
Reputation
Management
Market
Strategy
SEO and
Social
Targeted
Marketing
Web
Protect your customers. Get more of theirs. | 888.841.8130 | nakedlime.com/xtreamservice
© 2015 Naked Lime Marketing. All rights reserved. 7/15
Featu r e
Do You Service Cars?
Y o u r W e b s i t e D o e s n ’ t K n o w T hat … Today’s shoppers are increasingly looking
to the Internet, gathering information to
help in their purchase decision, whether it
be a television, a new book or the latest
model vehicle. As an auto dealership, one
of most effective ways to get your message to consumers is through your website. A typical dealership website will have
its entire inventory, with 40 plus pictures
for each vehicle, new and used vehicle
specials, financing forms and multiple other tools and information to help consumers
in their car buying purchase. Sadly, however, when it comes to Service information
on a dealership’s website, consumers are
usually out of luck. Short of a “schedule an
appointment” feature (and perhaps some
Service specials), the Service Department
tends to be the most under-promoted with
the least website presence, despite being
a dealership’s largest profit center.
On the majority of dealer websites, every
widget, gadget and conversion form leads
a consumer down the road to a sale. But
what about those consumers coming to
your website for Service information? They
typically leave disappointed and have to
search for it elsewhere.
The Service Department is almost an afterthought on most dealership’s websites.
But adding it as a clear and important part
of the website could, in fact, offer an excellent opportunity to attract and retain
Service business.
p. 36
By Rich Holland
A study conducted by Google in 2013
found that, each month, 70 million searches on Google are for aftermarket services.
Drivers are also looking online for help on
changing oil filters and brake fluid, as well
as fixing fuel pumps. It’s critical to connect
with these drivers whenever and wherever
they are searching for their next service.
Think about it. A customer may initially
come to your website to buy a car – and
perhaps they will. What happens when
they have Service questions like, when
their next Service is due or what exactly
is a 30,000-mile Service? They may look
to your website first but be forced onto
the manufacturer’s website -- or even an
independent’s -- to find the answer. All of
a sudden, they see a Service special for a
30,000 mile Service on that independent’s
website and head over to get their car serviced.
The more information you provide on your
website about every profit center in your
dealership, the more you’ll be able to become a resource for your customers and
keep them from wandering. Google “car
p. 38
repair (your city)”. I’m willing to bet that
your organic search results are dominated by independent chains and local
repair stores – and that’s not even including the pay-per-click ads. Why is that? It’s
because dealerships aren’t establishing
enough of a presence on the Internet for
Google to index them properly and establish relevancy to a consumer search.
So what can you do to fix this? Here are a
few tips:
1. Make Service exposure just as important as Sales – Just as it’s important for
a dealership to promote sales through
in-depth vehicle display pages, financing
information, lease and purchase specials,
manufacturer promotions and value propositions, make sure that your Service Department is not neglected. Make it easy for
your customers to schedule Service online
through your website. Keep any specials
up-to-date. Consider including a menu of
basic services and what they include. You
don’t necessarily have to price the services on your website -- just provide the
answers to the basic questions people ask
“The Service
Department is
almost an
afterthought
on most
dealership’s
websites. But
adding it as a
clear and
important part
of the website
could, in fact,
offer an excellent
opportunity to
attract and retain
Service business.”
you all of the time – like what major services include. Include value statements for
some upsell services, such as transmission flushes that inform the customer what
that is and how it benefits them. Include
some simple videos to help customers
better understand the process and why do
it at your dealership.
2. Highlight your staff – Consider creating
a “Meet Our Service Team” tab under your
Service department menu. On this page,
highlight employees with their names and
pictures. (And even videos.) Include some
relevant information -- certifications, years
of experience, etc. There are unlimited
third-party sites that will give consumers
information about your vehicles – which
is what a Sales customer cares about the
most – but none that will provide information about your Service Department and
staff except for yours (other than reviews
of course –but more on that in the next
point). Employees can be the strongest
selling point for any Service Department.
Don’t assume that just because a customer bought their vehicle from your dealership that they will use your Service Department. Just as in Sales, people like to do
p. 40
business with people they like. Customers
can never like you if they don’t know who
you are.
3. Make online Service reviews just as important as Sales reviews – There are typically far more website Sales reviews than
Service reviews, despite the fact that most
dealerships service more cars in a day than
they sell. And many dealerships don’t have
any Service reviews at all. The simple fact
is that most dealers aren’t asking their Service customers to leave them reviews as
aggressively as they are in Sales. When a
consumer is researching which dealership
to do business with – whether that’s to buy
or to service a vehicle – nowadays you
can almost guarantee that they will check
out reviews. It can make a huge difference
in swaying the consumer towards doing
business with your dealership if you have
as many positive reviews as possible for
every department in your dealership. Find
some choice reviews and republish them
on your website under the Service Department menu as value statements. Be sure
to link back to the actual reviews so customers know that they are valid and real.
“Make it easy for
your customers to
schedule Service
online through
your website. Keep
any specials up-todate. Consider including a menu of
basic services and
what they include.”
4. Make it easy for your customers to connect with you – Today’s technology provides consumers with a multitude of communication options: chat, text, phone and
e-mail. Pay attention to your customer’s
communication preference. Make it easy
for them to communicate with you in the
manner in which they want to -- not the
way you want them to. Many dealerships
are already using these technologies in
their Sales Departments. Consider adding
them to your Service Department, as well.
For instance, texting Service recommendations to customers can lead to a huge
increase in approvals. And no more phone
tag.
By establishing a comprehensive online
presence for the Service Department,
dealerships can increase the probability that consumers seeking Service information will find the dealership and
choose to service their vehicle there.
Once they know that they can find the information on your website, chances are
that the next time they need information,
they’ll look to you first. Become a resource, build trust and start to lift the veil
p. 42
“Many dealerships
don’t have any
Service reviews at
all. The simple fact
is that most dealers
aren’t asking
their Service
of transparency just enough to bring them
to your Service Department. The last thing
you want is to force a consumer to gather
information from your Service competitors
-- whether that’s another dealership or an
independent. Don’t give your competitor
the first shot at the business. You wouldn’t
even think about using that strategy in
your Sales Department. Why are we, as an
industry, doing that in our Service Departments?
Your website is your virtual dealership. It
introduces your store and informs consumers what you do, who you are and
what you sell. Make sure that your dealership maximizes the potential of your website to the fullest extent!
customers to
leave them reviews
as aggressively as
they are in Sales.”
Rich Holland is Managing Director of
AutoPoint, a leading platform that drives
improvement in auto dealer Fixed Operations. As a frequent speaker on the
future of automotive dealership Service,
Rich believes in the “adapt or die” theory
of innovation. He is a recognized expert
in information technologies and how to
create customer loyalty through digital
excellence. He brings over thirty years of
diverse experience to AutoPoint.
Featu r e
The Netflix Effect
H o w T e ch G i a n ts A r e R e shap i n g C u st o m e r
E x p e ctat i o n s o f Y o u r P a r ts D e pa r t m e n t
Remember the days of browsing through
rows of videotapes at Blockbuster? You
had to hope the newest release was still
on the shelf when you got there and no
matter how hard you tried, you always got
hit with late return fees. How things have
changed! Now with the touch of a button
you can access movies anywhere at anytime thanks to disruptors like Hulu, Netflix
and Amazon.
These tech giants seem unrelated to the
automotive industry at first glance, but they
are having a significant impact. Because of
them, today’s consumers don’t just buy
movies online -- they buy everything online. Like it or not, other companies are
changing your customers’ shopping habits
-- permanently. The automotive industry
has been slower than others to embrace
e-commerce, but this is rapidly changing
as more and more dealers are realizing and
capitalizing on the enormous online opportunity.
The Big Ecommerce Shift
It’s undeniable that consumers have a
growing interest in shopping for auto
Parts online. In fact, Google reported that
searches for Parts and Service have increased by 38% from 2013 to 2014. The
purpose of these searches is shifting from
the intention to research to the intention
to buy. The latest Nielsen Global E-Commerce Report revealed that online purchase intention rates for auto Parts have
actually doubled between 2011 and 2014.
p. 44
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p. 45
With customer demand driving this auto
industry transformation, parts e-commerce is positioned to skyrocket in the
future. This market is projected to double
by 2020 according to Frost & Sullivan.
Fortunately, this growing market is not yet
saturated, leaving room for many dealers
to grow their business significantly by selling Parts online.
Ecommerce vs. Brick-and-mortar
The e-commerce world may seem totally
foreign, but selling Parts online isn’t all
that different from the wholesale business.
Both require lower prices and fast delivery,
but selling online gives you the opportunity to sell to customers all over the country
without requiring your staff to deliver.
Selling online also expands your existing
reach of a 20 to 30 mile radius to a virtually unlimited range. People who live too
far from your store -- who otherwise might
have bought from a dealership close to
them -- can now purchase from your dealership and have parts delivered straight to
their doors. Having an online Parts store
gives you a wider reach but does require
some investment in marketing so shoppers
know you exist.
p. 46
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p. 47
Another big difference with having a Parts
website is that it extends your Parts Department hours and enables customers to
shop 24/7. A Parts store that never closes
gives customers the opportunity to shop at
the convenience of their own busy schedules, whether it’s during their lunch breaks
or after a long day at the office.
checkout cart instead of a Parts request
form on your site. Parts catalogs are continuously improving and evolving with innovations in ecommerce technology that
add intelligence to the catalog to update
the weights and dimensions, remove discontinued items and reflect price changes
quickly.
Providing customers with convenience
and a better shopping experience creates
a new revenue channel and the opportunity to grow the volume of Parts sales (which
OEMs love and incentivize with rewards in
many cases).
Likewise, with more intelligent catalogs, it’s
easier for consumers to choose the right
part and shop with confidence. Online fitment is much easier with VIN filtering, part
diagrams and photos so consumers know
that the part they order will fit their car.
It’s Getting Easier To Jump Into The Ecommerce Game
It’s easier now than ever to get a piece of
the online auto Parts market. It may seem
daunting, but opening an online Parts
store is not as difficult as it seems. There
are turnkey e-commerce solutions with
Parts and Accessories catalogs and shopping carts that will plug into dealerships’
existing sites. There are also custom solutions for stand-alone websites that are
designed and branded separately from
your dealership so you can sell nationally
at lower prices without sacrificing your local margins.
Shipping is also becoming simpler. Auto
Part e-commerce platforms integrate with
shipping providers and shipping managers
to give you a streamlined and fast way to
fulfill and ship orders. Additionally, shipping cost estimates are getting more accurate over time as technology improves
to make calculations based on the best
ways to package an order.
One of the easiest ways to convert customers is by having a Parts catalog and
Tips on Getting Started
1. Review your goals and determine whether you want to aggressively grow sales nationally or just provide convenience to local customers.
2. Watch product demonstrations of Parts
e-commerce platforms and be evaluating:
the catalog accuracy, user-friendly website
design, online security, fraud screening
tools, shipping tools, price setting tools
to protect margins and the quality of customer support.
3. Once you pick a platform and are up
and running, you need to understand that
online customers expect quick fulfillment.
If you wait 5 days to fulfill an order, then
you will end up with upset customers
and poor reviews. If your online business
grows significantly, you will have to staff
appropriately to handle the increased order volumes.
Online shopping is undoubtedly here to
stay and will shape the future of dealerships. You are now standing at a fork in
the road. Which direction will you choose
-- the path of Blockbuster or the path of
Netflix?
Amanda Oppenheim is Marketing Manager
for Tempe, Arizona-based RevolutionParts.
RevolutionParts is an auto Parts e-commerce provider that makes it easy for dealers
to sell online and deliver a great shopping
experience for their customers. The RevolutionParts platform has powered over $100
million in online Parts sales for hundreds of
dealerships across the U.S. and Canada.
p. 48
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p. 49
Featu r e
Change the Dynamics,
Compile Analysis in Seconds,
Not Weeks
C ha n g e th e Dy n a m i cs , C o m p i l e A n a lys i s
i n S e c o n d s , N o t W e e k s
by Kevin Smith
The Business Challenge:
Historically, submitting for a Warranty Labor Rate increase has been akin to getting
a root canal that lasts weeks on-end. Compiling the data can be mind-numbing and
traditionally yields only a few dollars per
hour increase.
The ineffectiveness and inefficiencies of
this process lead to the additional challenge of procrastination. It’s simple human
nature to put things off when we feel the
pain of performing the task is outweighed
by the perceived gain. For this reason over
70% of dealerships file late. As they say,
“procrastination is like credit card spending; its lots of fun until the bill comes due.”
However, unlike credit card spending, the
cost for tardiness (loss of productive time
and scanty financial increases) never visibly hit your financial statement, but have a
significant hidden net profit impact nonetheless.
The Solution:
A robust business intelligence (BI) tool
can compile a warranty labor rate increase
analysis in seconds. Additionally, maximizing the data set against OEM guidelines
via advanced analytics greatly improves
financial results.
p. 50
“A robust business intelligence (BI) tool can
compile a warranty labor rate increase
analysis in seconds. Additionally, maximizing the
data set against OEM guidelines via advanced
analytics greatly improves financial results.”
p. 51
Financial Impact BI vs. Conventional
Analysis
• Average results utilizing business intelligence tool – Increase of $8 per hour annually.
• Average results utilizing conventional
process – Less than $3 per hour annually.
• The bottom line – Difference of over $5
per hour, or $60,000+ per year in annual
net profit.
• Impact of eliminating late filing -- Additional $5,000+ net profit per month. (This
reflects traditional sized stores with average historical results.)
Best Practices:
• WARNING: DO NOT MAKE THIS A ONCEA-YEAR EVENT! Most managers think of
the warranty labor rate increase as an annual event much like a tax return. However,
any good CPA will tell you that taxes are
not a once-a-year event and that tax planning should occur throughout the year to
maximize your benefit when it’s time to file,
and so too with CP ELR and WLR.
• Proper planning also helps ensure that
you file on a timely basis. We see a very
large segment of dealerships that not only
file late, but woefully late. Keep in mind
that filing even six months late can equate
to $30,000+ in net profit that’s lost forever.
p. 52
• Robust business intelligence tools make
planning easy. They automatically provide
you the WLRI analysis monthly and highlight areas of opportunity. Keep in mind,
the analysis used for WLRI is based on
your CP information. Therefore, addressing your areas of opportunity in the warranty arena could have even a greater impact on the CP segment of your business.
Overview OEM Processes and Guidelines:
• Many manufacturers give dealerships an
option to either subscribe to an annual automated increase, or to submit a detailed
analysis. In most cases, the analysis must
be supported by a market survey. A few
manufacturers require only a market survey.
• The analysis rules vary by manufacturer
but typically work as follows:
- Gather a specified number of consecutive CP ROs from a recent specified time
period. (For example, GM uses the past
90 days and requires a 30 consecutive RO
sample.)
- Exclude allowed maintenance services
to calculate the CP ELR for the RO sample.
•If the sample analysis rate is higher than
your current rate, advise the manufacturer
that you would like to file for an increase.
Your OEM will provide instructions and the
forms to be completed.
If your dealership is on an OEM automated
increase program, you may think you have
no control. But don’t give up so soon. You
still have an opportunity for significant
improvements in the future with proper
planning. By reviewing the results from an
automated analysis performed monthly,
you will easily be able to determine if the
analysis is significantly greater than the
automated increase. If so, you may contemplate reviewing your OEM agreement.
Typically, you have the option to renew
the automated process, but can opt out
at specific time intervals. Analytically, we
have found that dealerships migrating from
OEM automated increases often realize
the largest gains.
How Business Intelligence Drives Results and Eliminates the Headache of
Manual Compilation:
• BI tools have an extensive database of all
manufacturer rules and apply them monthly across their dealer base.
• They exclude op codes, where possible,
based on the manufacturer’s rules.
• By reviewing historical data to identify
when your last increase was, and how
much you received, a BI tool automatically
knows when you are due for another increase.
p. 53
• Every month a robust BI tool will analyze all ROs and every possible consecutive combination while excluding op codes
when allowed, to determine the best consecutive ROs to use for your increase request.
• A BI tool does NOT gather a random
sample of ROs like human would traditionally do. Rather, it identifies the best consecutive ROs. If a manufacturer requires
30 consecutive ROs within the past 90
days, a BI tool would analyze 2,971 possible combinations to provide you with
the one consecutive combination with the
highest ELR. Sounds excessive, but it’s
the only way to ensure you properly comply with the OEM guidelines in an efficient
and effective manner.
• A BI tool should automatically perform
this analysis monthly and e-mail the results. The e-mail also shows when you are
due for your next increase and will highlight opportunities to improve your warranty rate. When you receive your e-mail
you will:
- See how your current rate analysis compares to your current approved rate and
the estimated annual profit impact.
- Submit your request to the manufacturer,
if it is due, and if the increase is significant.
p. 54
• Prepare the manufacturers package using the BI Analysis report.
• Submit the completed package to the
manufacturer and wait to see your approved increase amount and effective date
to update your DMS.
“A BI tool does
NOT gather
a random sample
of RO’s like
human would
traditionally do.
Rather,
it identifies
the best
consecutive RO’s.”
-If you are not due for an increase you
should review the top five opportunities.
Remember: this is like tax planning. The
top five services were specifically identified as having a significant negative impact
on your warranty analysis. These obviously
also pull your overall CP ELR down. The
top five opportunities are ranked based on
the frequency of usage and the amount the
ELR is below the calculated rate.
How a BI Tool assists in Attacking the
CP and Warranty Opportunities Identified Within the Monthly Analysis:
• The monthly report generated from a BI
tool would generally contain three main
sections:
- Labor Rate Analysis: This report is used
to submit your rate increase and details
the best consecutive RO’s per the OEM
guidelines.
- Included Op Codes: This report shows all
op codes that were included in the analysis, and sorts these by the services with
the highest opportunity for improvement
based on frequency of use and ELR.
- Excluded Op Codes: This report details
the op codes that may be excluded from
the analysis per OEM guidelines.
p. 55
• In order to continually improve your CP,
and therefore your warranty labor rate, follow these or similar steps monthly:
- Open your report and locate the Included
Op Codes. (The top opportunities will traditionally be highlighted, as well as identified at the top of the report.) These were
identified as the opportunities because
these services were frequently sold at effective labor rates lower than your monthly
warranty analysis rate.
- Review both the labor price you are
charging and the flagged hours you are
paying Techs for each key opportunity. If
you do this monthly and address correctable opportunities you will see new potentials for improvement each month. Likewise, if you don’t make the adjustments,
you may see the same challenges month
after month. In some cases corrective actions may jump out at you. If not, you may
consider the following:
• Maintenance Services - Most BI tools
have a module that allows you to compares your labor price and flagged hours
against other similar dealerships for each
maintenance category. By reviewing these
services against a performance group, you
should be able to better define opportunities.
p. 56
“Recover hidden
profit by
eliminating the
ineffectiveness and
inefficiency of
addressing your
warranty labor
increase via a
manual process.”
• Repair Opportunities - BI tools have an
ELR Manager Advisor Performance Report
to see if repair pricing is below your door
or grid repair rates. If you see an opportunity you can review an ELR Manager Audit
Detail Exception report to see the specific
repairs that are in your top five and therefore causing a lower than desired ELR.
• Market Survey - Prior to considering a
labor price increase we suggest doing a
market survey to ensure you will still remain competitive.
• Flagged Hours - If your flagged hours are
higher than the performance group averages you review, contemplate how the op
code is used and be sure you are not combining multiple services into one op code
and potentially over-paying Techs.
• Review and Communicate - The most important step is to make the changes in your
DMS and review the changes with Service
Advisors and Technicians as necessary.
Summary
Recover hidden profit by eliminating the
ineffectiveness and inefficiency of addressing your warranty labor increase via a
manual process. Enlist a robust Business
Intelligence Tool in order to strategically
maximize your overall ELR and, in turn,
your warranty labor rate. Turn information
into action and increased profitability and
maximize the return on your time.
Kevin Smith is the President of Dallas,
Texas-based Dynatron Software. Dynatron has been the market leader in Fixed
Ops Business Intelligence since 1997
and offers a suite of cost-effective webbased solutions.
p. 57
© 2015 Cars.com, LLC™. All rights reserved.
p. 58
CARS.COM SAW NEARLY TWO MILLION
SERVICE-RELATED VISITS IN 2014.1
If you’re not where shoppers are looking, where are you?
Boost your dealership’s bottom line with a badge of approval. At Cars.com, our
new service offerings—including RepairPal Certified—will put you in front of
new and off-warranty shoppers whenever and wherever they’re searching for
service. Ensure car owners trust and choose your service department over the
competition, before it’s too late.
1
Cars.com Internal Data, January 2015
p. 59
Featu r e
Clearing the Path to a More Effective Service Department
F o u r K e ys t o R e d u c i n g Wast e d T i m e i n S e r v i c e By Jason Sideris
When one of my team members has a particularly tough problem to work through,
he likes to take a walk around the building
to “wander and ponder.” He knows how
moving around and changing his scenery
will help him think through the issue and
discover the right solution.
But that method doesn’t work when walking around is the problem.
Think about your Service Department. How
much time does your staff spend “walking
around” and how much does that cut down
on productively? How many more customers could you serve? And how much more
revenue could you generate?
Following the Map
Walking might lead you to intellectual
breakthroughs in some environments, but
excessive walking in the Service Department can lead to a loss of productivity,
customer throughput and revenue.
Have you watched your staff in action lately? If you watch your Service Advisors and
Technicians complete an RO, you’ll likely
see a lot of movement -- and not all of it
is productive.
Let’s take a more in depth look at your Service Department. To do that, we need to
document the path of the typical RO,
p. 60
so it’s time to make an actual map. Grab a
sheet of paper and sketch out your Service
Department, labeling the Service drive, Advisor desks, Service bays and Parts desk.
Think about the normal flow of an RO from
the Service Advisor to the Dispatcher to
the Technician to the Parts counter and all
of the trips in between. Then, draw a line
for each path walked to complete a typical RO.
Are any of the lines overlapping? Does
the Service Advisor or Technician visit any
areas more than once? Those lines represent wasted time.
Now think about how long it takes to walk
each line. Write down the estimated time
for each line you drew.
Don’t forget that when people are interrupted in the middle of a task, it might take
a few minutes to get back into the mindset
of what they were doing. On your drawing, there likely are a couple of instances
where you can spot that in your Service
Department. One example might be in the
Technician’s repeated trips to the Parts
counter. Factor in that time, too, when
considering the amount of non-productive
time in your Service Department.
It’s time to do some math. Add up all that
time you calculated and you will have the
average amount of time spent walking for
an RO in your Service Department. Multiply that number by the number of ROs your
dealership completes in a day and then for
the month.
You have just figured out how much time
your staff spends walking each day and
every month.
All of your staff’s time spent waiting for
parts and other interruptions from “work
mode” decreases productivity.
Let’s go one step further. It’s time to calculate how much money all that walking
cost your Service Department. Take the
walking hours and multiply them by your
dealership’s effective labor rate. That number is the opportunity cost of all that walking.
p. 62
Now that you’ve found how much your
employees are walking, cut the amount of
steps they take.
reducing the time Service Advisors spend
explaining options to customers and increasing customer satisfaction.
Cutting the Steps
Here are four keys to help reduce the
amount of walking and waiting in your Service Department:
On your map, did you also draw lines that
indicate that your Service Advisors are frequently stepping away from their desks to
check the Service drive for new customers? The automatic notifications from RFID
systems also can help reduce the number
of trips Service Advisors take from their
desk to check for new customers and keep
them focused on more productive tasks.
Repair Order Write-Ups: One process
where you can reduce wasted time is RO
write-up. When starting an RO, the Service
Advisor must gather and verify the consumer’s information and complaint quickly
and accurately.
Technologies such as RFID enable the
write-up process to start as soon as the
customer pulls into the Service drive. With
RFID, the customer can receive a personalized greeting on-screen and the Service
Advisor can be notified of the customer’s
arrival and begin the RO faster.
If these tools are built as part of the dealership management system, you also can
display recommended maintenance and
Service specials on-screen to customers,
“Technologies
such as RFID
enable the
write-up process
to start as soon
as the customer
pulls into the
Service drive.”
p. 63
“Dealerships that
invest in an electronic
estimating tool
are able to provide
quick, accurate and
consistent pricing for
Service repairs. These
tools enable Service
Advisors to quickly
look up Service
operations and
obtain prices for
labor, parts,
materials, and taxes.”
Price Quotes: Because of the complexity
of each vehicle and every repair, quoting
repair prices to customers can be challenging, even for seasoned Service Advisors. Some Service Advisors may try to
quote from memory, rather than looking
up the necessary information or making
the call to Parts. Others might do all the
research for Parts and Labor but forget to
include taxes or shop fees.
Dealerships that invest in an electronic estimating tool are able to provide quick, accurate and consistent pricing for Service
repairs. These tools enable Service Advisors to quickly look up Service operations
and obtain prices for labor, parts, materials, and taxes. Having all the information
at the Advisors’ fingertips decreases the
amount of time they spend researching
the cost of repairs, including calling the
Parts Department for information. It also
helps them provide more accurate quotes
to customers in the Service drive or over
the phone.
All of this can reduce the time your Service
staff spends on quoting repair information
and improve customer satisfaction because customers have received thorough,
accurate information about the service or
repair.
Automated Electronic Communication: How many times has there been
some type of confusion or disagreement
among your technicians because they
thought jobs were assigned incorrectly?
How many times have your Technicians
p. 64
waited at an Advisor’s desk or in front of
the Dispatcher for the next available RO?
It can be difficult to quickly prioritize jobs
and ensure that each job is assigned to a
Technician with the correct skill level. With
an automated electronic communication
system, every job can be assigned to the
appropriate Technician based on qualifications set up in the system. This type of system can help eliminate the perception of
favoritism, enable the Technician to work
on jobs faster, and allow for more time to
be spent on actual repairs. Less walking.
Less waiting. More time for working. More
revenue.
Parts Delivery: Remember how on your
map your Technicians are spending their
time wandering to the Parts counter and
waiting for parts to complete a repair? A
simple solution is to assign someone from
the Parts Department to deliver parts directly to Technicians in the Service bay.
Technicians are able to spend more time
performing the necessary repairs, rather
than walking and waiting.
Plus, instead of having multiple Technicians at the Parts counter waiting for parts,
the Parts employee could grab all the nec-
essary items for new jobs and make one
trip. That keeps all the Technicians focused and in working mode. It also helps
the Parts employee cut time by making
fewer trips to and from inventory.
Clearing the Path
The map you drew here shows opportunities that walking or waiting in your Service
Department is likely costing you. It also
shows you where you can make improvements in processes or technology to help
your team work smarter and more productively.
By optimizing how time is spent in the
Service drive, your dealership can increase productivity of your staff, customer
throughput and customer satisfaction – all
of which can lead to more revenue for your
dealership.
Jason Sideris is the Director of
Product Planning for Fixed Operations at Reynolds and Reynolds.
Through nearly 20 years of experience working in the automotive
industry, Sideris has gained a deep
understanding of how innovative
technology and solid processes
come together to enable operational excellence for dealers and
improve the customer experience
with the dealership.
p. 65
Featu r e
Green Decisions
That Pay Off
H o w S u sta i n a b i l i ty D r i v e s M o r e
P r o f i ta b l e D e a l e r sh i p B u s i n e ss By Leigh Harrington
Pa r t t w o o f t w o - pa r t s e r i e s
Part One of our series was about the role
that sustainability plays in today’s automotive marketplace and how it’s not only good
for people and the planet, but can also improve your dealership’s performance. We
outlined three keys to capitalize on the
growing opportunity that sustainability
provides: Internal Adoption, Collaboration
and Communication.
For Part Two of this series we’ll cover some
executable steps to help jump-start your
sustainability. These are immediate steps
that can bring big impact, typically with
short time frames and little investment.
1. Build your plan. Sustainability is not a
collection of disparate activities that somehow blend together and lead to incremental improvement. It’s a strategy that entails
documenting your plan to ensure that your
efforts are laser-focused, properly targeted
and objectively evaluated.
Focus your efforts on those aspects of
sustainability that provide the best return
on your efforts. For example, auto manufacturers focused initially on gas mileage
and lower emission engines. As customers’ demand for sustainability increased,
they started spending more R&D monies
on such things as sustainable materials for
interior parts and more sustainable manufacturing processes. Dealerships can ini-
p. 66
tially focus on a number of products and
services within the Service Department,
including eco-friendly motor oils and using
environmentally-friendly waste processes
for such things as used oil and oil filters.
These are areas that take little to no investment and can reap immediate results.
For the sustainable steps you outline in
your dealership plan, set goals and setup
evaluation processes that allow you to
objectively measure and tout your efforts
to the marketplace. For example, if your
used oil is collected and re-refined instead
of being burned and ending its effective
use, you’re part of a closed-loop recycling
system that directly reduces Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) emissions. Work with an environmental services partner whose best
practices include close-loop processes,
third-party verifiable GHG reduction numbers and communications support for
building sustainability messaging for your
dealership to use with customers. Develop
similar evaluation methods for all of your
program activities, from light bulbs and oil
filter recycling, to dollars invested in community programs.
2) Enlist the support of your current
partners. For example, the major motorsport groups have brought together huge
sponsors to make the best sustainability
team, including the largest environmental
program in sports, NASCAR Green. Automotive dealerships can follow this same
model.
Safety-Kleen provides the same service to
local dealers as they do to racing partners.
The same closed-loop collection and rerefining process is used for oil collected at
motorsports events as the oil collected at
dealership Service Departments. The motor oil can be re-refined into “new” oil for
oil changes that reduce your carbon footprint even further. Similar scenarios with
other partners can lead to additional environmental benefits.
p. 67
Use the current sustainability efforts of
partners and team with them to identify
new ways to become more sustainable.
Assign accountability to a single person in
each portion of your operation to develop
a comprehensive list of partner opportunities. Where possible, leverage your partner
to help develop and deliver the sustainability message to your customers.
the best products, dealerships can confidently position themselves as a sustainable business.
5) Walk the walk. Just offering ecofriendly products and services to your
customers isn’t enough. Customers want
to do business with companies that show
a deep commitment to “doing the right
thing.”1This means showing sustainability
in all areas of your operation.
3) Brand your sustainability commitment. By educating people about your
dealership’s efforts, you can improve the
performance of your business by attracting and keeping eco-responsible customers.
Develop a central repository of information. Collect descriptions and background
information on all of your sustainable initiatives and their performance metrics and
utilize the information to develop compelling and engaging messages to your customers. Build your messaging into your
customer experience, whether it be in person at the dealership, over the phone, or
online. Leveraging your current advertising
and marketing resources will help control
costs and will ensure that messaging is
in line with your overall brand and value
proposition.
Initially focus on communicating your company’s actions, then shift to sharing results
as they become available. Point-of-purchase materials and website information
are two good starting points. Make sure
you can back up any claims and continue
to expand and change your communication channels and methods to reach more
customers and the community at large.
4) Institute the most environmentalfriendly products and services that
match your business needs. Consumers
want environmentally responsible products and they view companies that offer
them more favorably. But there’s a catch.
Consumers demand as high (or even higher) standards for “green” products. So like
NASCAR®, your business must use only
the best suppliers. For help recycling bottles, NASCAR® partnered with one of the
world’s largest soda makers, while race
tires are recycled by their tire sponsor. By
following motorsports’ lead in offering only
p. 68
that see many millions of miles rely on motor oil re-refined from used oil. Some of
the largest fleets in North America use rerefined, green motor oil, including the U.S.
Armed Forces and its vehicles on critical
missions all over the world.
With the sophisticated and proven rerefined oils that exist today, there’s every reason to add them to your menu of
oil change offerings. Offering oil products
from a closed loop system is simply the
right thing to do for the environment -- and
a great way to differentiate your dealership
in a crowded marketplace to generate and
keep more customers.
According to a national online study by
Maslansky, Luntz and Partners, eight out
of ten consumers who buy green products
state that they would choose an oil change
that’s been recycled and re-refined, if given the option. Consumers are not just curious about the service; they’re willing to
pay up to approximately $12 more per oil
change, if they’re properly educated about
the product.
Our company has returned more than 140
million gallons of re-refined oil to the marketplace last year. And the process of refining used oil consumes up to 85 percent
less energy than producing motor oil from
virgin crude, helping to conserve our country’s limited natural resources and reducing our dependency on foreign oil.
There’s no question that motor oil refined
from used oil is good for the environment,
but you may be surprised to learn how
good it is for vehicles. Consumers who opt
for a green oil change make no sacrifices
when it comes to engine protection and
performance. Large fleets with vehicles
Develop and post a sustainability policy
for your dealership. Along with including
re-refined oil as a product option, find a
partner that collects your used oil to be
re-refined and collects parts washer solvent and antifreeze and recycles it using a
similar closed-loop process. Your partner
should also collect used oil filters using a
process that breaks them down to recycle
their raw materials, including extracting as
much used oil as possible from each filter.
In your fleet, consider fitting low-rolling
resistance tires to corporate vehicles. And
throughout your business, enact policies
that require employees to recycle at work
and showcase any effort to go “paperless”.
All of these practices lend credibility to becoming a more sustainable business and
build a great story for the marketplace to
help capture and retain more customers.
In conclusion, sustainability can play a major role in building your business. Though
individual dealerships may not have the
marketing budget or clout of automotive manufacturers, a few initial steps can
make your sustainability program a reality.
If you’ll follow a few simple rules for success and begin with small initiatives, it will
pay off in numerous ways, including attracting and keeping customers.
Leigh Harrington is Director of Marketing Strategy and Communications for
Clean Harbors, Inc. and its wholly owned
subsidiary, Richardson, Texas-based
Safety-Kleen Systems. Clean Harbors is
North America’s leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services.
Safety-Kleen is a leading North American
used oil recycling and re-refining, parts
cleaning and environmental solutions
company that provides a broad set of
environmentally responsible products and
services that keep North American businesses in balance with the environment.
p. 69
Featu r e
Schedule That Service
Appointment!
F o l l o w Y o u r D e n t i st ’ s E x a m p l e
By Justin Sprague
Over the years, dealers have frequently
asked me how to make more money in
their Service Department. And in a CDK
survey nearly 30% of our over 2,800 dealer respondents said that increasing Parts
and Service Department revenue was their
number one goal and priority.
No surprise. So what do I tell them? And
how can you reach these seemingly obvious goals?
There’s a lot going on in the background.
Customers – especially your younger customers – perceive that a dealership’s Service Department is more expensive than
the independent Service alternatives in
their area. They’re far less loyal to a dealership and more likely to defect to independents.
And, as we know, cars on the road are
older. You know that customers have been
keeping their vehicles longer and that warranty work is decreasing. So dealers ask
me, how do we get more customer-pay
business?
And I always tell them, it comes down to
improving your customer’s experience. It
really is all about the process, the people
and the technologies.
First, we as an industry need to realize
(and own up to the fact) that the current
systems in the typical dealership Service
Department can be cumbersome, clunky
and ultimately don’t lead to a seamless
customer experience that helps drive
p. 70
customer retention. Then we need to adopt
the technologies that can make this whole
workflow a lot more streamlined.
When I walk through a dealership’s Service processes, time and time again, I see
that many stores are thinking about these
things in the wrong way. Right now, many
of you see the Service process as a series
of transactions rather than one seamless
event.
And it’s not just about customer pay, by
the way. Develop strong relationships with
these customers now and you’ll have them
throughout the vehicle ownership lifecycle.
Dealerships are finally making money on
vehicles, but the NADA tells us it’s typically
very little per car. Dealers have told me that
vehicle Sales is basically a loss leader that
gives the Fixed Operations Departments
an opportunity to sell products and services that make money.
But you have to attract them early. Are
you setting up that first appointment before your new or used vehicle buyer leaves
your store? Do you have an easy way to
do that? If you don’t, this is a huge missed
opportunity.
p. 71
One J.D. Power study said that if you offer to schedule the first maintenance at
the time of the vehicle purchase, it greatly
improves Service loyalty. If you get them
to come into your dealership for that first
service visit -- and give them a good experience while they’re there -- you get nearly
all (about 90%) of their Service visits after
that. If you don’t, you only get 25% of their
visits. So it’s very much worth your while to
schedule that first appointment.
Think of how your dentist does it – you
can’t leave that place without setting up
your next appointment. They even do it before you pay your bill. Those people follow
a tight process to get you to come back in.
They’re not thinking about it like a transaction. They’re thinking in the long-term customer lifecycle way. And my dentist is vigilant on e-mail and text reminders. Why? To
reduce no-shows. The same rule applies at
your dealership.
p. 72
And what’s the appointment-setting experience for your customer after that first
appointment? Most dealerships (and other businesses) have online appointment
scheduling. But it stops there. Think of
Amazon.com’s model; when you log in,
you see your past order history and suggestions for what you might like. And it’s
just a few clicks to order. They’ve perfected this workflow.
The same principles apply to vehicle Service. Why stop at appointments? Give your
customers that same transparency and
relationship-building information. Remind
them about their past denied work. Suggest the maintenance for which their vehicle may be due. With just a couple of clicks
they can order these things. It’s not that
difficult, but I see dealerships that don’t
do this. A lot of dealers use one vendor
for their appointment plug-in, another for
the walk-around and other one for inspections. Are these providers talking to each
other? Does the customer see the same
data when they make an appointment as
the Service Advisor does when that customer drives in? Probably not.
By the way, you also want to appeal to
younger buyers, who tend to be less loyal.
They don’t like going to the mailbox. They
want everything done online, at their fingertips. They grew up using Amazon.com.
This is what they’re looking for.
“Are you setting up
that first appointment
before your new or
used vehicle buyer
leaves your store? Do
you have an easy way
to do that? If you don’t,
this is a huge missed
opportunity.”
Get Fixed.
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operations audience? With Fixed Ops Magazine.
- Fixed Ops Magazine is the only publication that is focused 100% on the needs of fixed operations managers.
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Bottom line? Fixed Ops Magazine is the only way to efficiently reach and sell to virtually 100% of America’s
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p. 73
It needs to be fast, it needs to be easy, it
needs to be complete. And they see value
in you or someone else keeping track of
all this stuff for them and just letting them
look when they need it. Ask anybody under
the age of 35 and they’ll tell you the same
thing. Want to keep these millennials and
have them come back for another vehicle
eventually? Do business the way they want
to do business.
Let’s move onto writing the ticket. We’ve
all seen how busy a Service Department
can be at 8:00 in the morning. The line
of vehicles waiting. Impatient customers.
I’ve seen them churn and burn them – get
them in and get them out. No greeting at
the vehicle. No walkarounds. Nothing. Lost
opportunities to check on the customer’s
past denied work and suggested maintenance.
But there is so much that can be done
there. It should be thought of like the Apple
Store experience. When you walk in, you
see the Apple folks standing there, with an
iPad, waiting to greet you if you have an
appointment. Have you been to an Apple
Store on a busy Saturday afternoon? It’s
really the same concept.
p. 74
Dealership groups are starting to get it.
You may have seen that they have been
getting traction by using tablets in the Service drive. It’s working and leading to more
dollars per RO.
automated inspection process, that again,
sees everything from the past customer interactions and gives you the opportunity to
upsell. Otherwise, you’re leaving money on
the table and not building trust.
When you look at your department in the
eyes of the customer, often what they see
is something that is a hassle -- inconvenient and generally a time drain in their
day. Just take booking an appointment for
example. If a customer calls in to schedule
Service on their vehicle, there has to be a
solid line of communication between members of the Service department. If there’s
some level of human error or miscommunication, it’s the customer who suffers and
feels that the dealership they’ve chosen to
work with was not worth their time.
One more thing: a single solution integrated into the DMS makes things faster. Less
rekeying. Better workflow. No surprises for
the customer, which leads to more trust.
And you could use that time to sell even
more.
All of this communication centers around
the Service Advisor. Not keeping this key
person informed of scheduling issues,
maintenance progress or team cohesion
can lead to a Service Department that, for
lack of better term, is falling apart in the
eyes of a customer. So communication
tools -- IP Telephony, texting, e-mail -- are
key to this hub. You need seamless communication to the Technician too, with an
So take your cues from your dentist: customer pay, a seamless ongoing process
and workflow and a better customer experience over the ownership lifecycle. All of
it will make the process -- and quite fitting
for this example -- less painful.
Justin Sprague is the Vice President of Product Marketing at Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based CDK
Global. In his role, he is responsible for the product strategy / direction and project management.
His career history includes contributing as Director of Sales Support
and Business Development, Director of Sales Enablement and Director of Product Marketing.
Get Fixed.
Digitally.
You’re already holding in your hands the industry’s #1 Fixed Operations information resource for new
car dealership Directors and Managers.
But there’s more.
Fixed Ops Magazine has several free online online resources. And if you and your associates aren’t
already receiving them, well...you should be.
- Fixed Ops Weekly Fix E-Newsletter: Every Friday, keep up on the latest Industry News and
New Products from the world of Service, Parts and the Body Shop.
- The Fixed Ops Magazine Digital Edition: Read your favorite publication in print or online wherever you
like. And sign up an unlimited number of your fellow Directors and Managers to receive the magazine,
as well.
- Special offers from leading companies: Sign up for free webinars, learn about new products and
services, or receive advance information that will help you and your dealership.
How? Just do this:
Send an e-mail to [email protected]
with your name, title, dealership name and e-mail
address. In the subject line put,
“Sign me up!”
That’s it.
But there’s a bonus...
Send us that same information for your Service
Manager, Parts Manager, Body Shop Manager and
General Manager and you’ll all be signed up for
these free online extras.
(You can even take the credit...)
Sign up today!
It’s all free. But it’s all valuable.
p. 75
Featu r e
Everything in Its Place
S t o r a g e T hat H e l ps A u t o m o t i v e D e a l e r sh i ps
D r i v e E f f i c i e n cy The phrase “the customer is always right”
exists for a reason: In today’s customercentric landscape, the focus is nearly always on the customer. Customers have
high expectations -- and it’s up to dealerships to find a way to meet their demands.
With the increase in automotive sales that
we’re seeing right now (spurred on by continued economic improvement, low interest rates and lower fuel prices) auto shops
and dealerships across the country will
need to drive organizational efficiency to
keep pace with the increase in demand.
“While the automotive industry has seen a
resurgence in recent years, a new industry identity is emerging -- one that’s more
open, inclusive and without borders,” says
Alexander Scheidt, Global Automotive Industry Leader, IBM Global Business Services. “By 2025, the industry will not only
recreate our highly personalized and digitized lives inside our cars, but also give
consumers a bigger role in defining that
experience.”
For automotive dealerships, enhancing the
automotive experience starts with streamlining operations to be able to service customers in a timely manner. More efficient
p. 76
By Tim Vaughan
dealerships mean smoother workflow, better profitability, higher levels of customer
satisfaction and increased customer retention.
and small items in one location. Parts of
all sizes can be stored together for maximum density so there’s not one cubic inch
of wasted space.
There are a number of storage solutions
that can immediately increase productivity
in the workplace and lead to an improved
customer experience. There are three major factors to consider when reviewing a
potential storage solution: functionality,
ergonomic design and organization. Here’s
a look at a few that stand up to the test:
“For automotive
Service Bays
Maximize your space: One of the biggest advantages of a Service bay is that
it can be customized to meet your specific Service Department space and pace
and make use of available height for more
space-efficient storage. Look for a storage
bay with lockable cabinets to improve your
Service Department’s security, reduce
shrinkage and give Technicians a place for
secure personal storage with cabinets that
lock.
Quick access to parts and tools: Another key benefit of a Service bay is that
it offers Technicians quick access to large
dealerships,
enhancing the
automotive experience
starts with
streamlining
operations to be able
to service
customers in a timely
manner. More
efficient dealerships
mean smoother
workflow, better
profitability and
increased customer
retention.”
“All the technicians have all their tools
and supplies right there directly in front
of their bay,” says AlphaCars of New England Owner and General Manager Dmitry
Bykhovsky. “And if customers are in view,
they don’t see all the tools and supplies.
Everything is neatly organized with a professional aesthetic.”
Infinite configuration: Because a dealership’s Service facility needs may change
over time, a Service bay allows for multiple configurations. For maximum efficiency now and in the future, dealerships
can combine drawers, shelves and roll-out
trays for evolving storage and retrieval
needs -- and reconfigure them as needed.
Technician Carts
Technician carts, or mobile cabinets, are
mini workstations and high-density storage cabinets on wheels providing the perfect combination of versatile mobility and
secure storage. The optimal tool storage
and transport for Service Technicians,
Technician carts allow safe, secure storage for mechanic tools without the need
to empty the cart at night. The dealership
also maintains a clean, professional look
when carts are not in use.
Lightweight and durable: Heavy-duty,
lightweight mobile Technician carts are
flexible and maneuverable, making transport of tools and parts fast and easy. Some
options have deep pan shelves at the top
and bottom, which are covered with a
ribbed rubber mat.
Safe, secure, and aesthetically pleasing:
Cart garages offer a storage area integrated into a complete Technician workbay.
The garage allows carts to be stored securely and neatly when not in use, enabling
the Technician to keep the cart set up without concerns for shrinkage or a disorganized appearance. Many are available as a
fully enclosed free-standing garage or as a
security door with face frame only.
“There are
three major
factors to
consider when
reviewing a
potential storage
solution: functionality,
ergonomic design
and organization.”
p. 77
Another key element to organization is not
so much a product as it is a concept. Implementing 5S compliant storage as part
of lean manufacturing programs is a small
step you can take to eliminating waste (in
both time and effort) through inventory
management, space reduction and organizational improvement.
“A place for everything and everything in its place”: This is, in fact, the 5S
mantra. 5S, which includes 5 “pillars” of
workplace organization (sort, set in order,
shine, standardize and sustain), involves,
in part, eliminating time wasted searching
for, determining how to use and returning
items. Under this philosophy, parts or tools
should be arranged in a way that makes
them both easy to use and easily accessible.
By using storage cabinets with barcoded
handles and compartments for small assembly pieces, dealerships can minimize
wasted time due to unorganized or misplaced inventory. Mobile storage cabinets
p. 78
“One of the biggest
advantages of a
Service bay is that
it can be customized
to meet your
specific Service
Department space
and pace and make
use of available
height for more
space-efficient
storage.”
and toolboxes can also allow for streamlined efficiency by essentially relocating
the workspace to wherever an employee
needs to be in the Service facility.
The relationship between fluidity and efficiency: At its core, the 5S methodology
involves systematically improving productivity by establishing and maintaining an
orderly workplace. However, this doesn’t
just mean identifying and sorting items so
that they’re easy to find, but also involves
achieving a sense of “flow.”
This is done by developing and sustaining a productive work environment including adding flexibility to production lines in
order to facilitate faster turnaround times.
Storage solutions that can be adjusted
based on individual facility requirements
result in the most efficient operations. For
example, flexible workbench lines should
integrate with existing conveyor systems
to improve employee efficiency and keep
the process moving.
Bigger storage density and a smaller
footprint: As stated by the EPA, “a typical
5S implementation [results] in significant
reductions in the square footage of space
needed for existing operations.” Why is
this necessary? The reason is simple: Removing unnecessary items from the production facility frees up space that can be
used more effectively (and ensure a more
consistent “flow” of operations).
Modular storage cabinets, which can accommodate everything from small parts to
large equipment, allow for the maximum
use of cubic space and the highest-density
storage within a facility. Cabinets systematically protect and control inventory by
providing distinct and easily identifiable
locations for specific products. By maximizing organization, restocking happens
quicker and overstocking declines drastically. Likewise, retrieval time is also greatly
reduced.
With conventional shelving, over half of
retrieval time is spent simply getting to
-- and finding -- stored items. However, customizing the height, width, color,
“5S, which includes 5
“pillars” of workplace
organization
(sort, set in order,
shine, standardize
and sustain), involves,
in part, eliminating
time wasted searching
for, determining
how to use and
returning items.”
number and layout of drawers trumps standard shelving as a more organized method
of storing and retrieving parts. The unity of
speed and efficiency in the storage and retrieval processes eliminates wasted time,
excessive inventories and the hassles of
searching for parts.
With consolidation and space utilization
becoming key trends in the automotive industry, dealerships are increasingly relying
on more efficient storage with incorporation of lean methodologies such as 5S to
create highly flexible production environments. While the future of the industry
remains to be seen, companies that continually work to improve process and enable more timely operations best position
themselves for success in the long-term.
Tim Vaughan is the Vertical Market Manager for Vehicle Service Solutions at Stanley Black & Decker. He has over 17 years
of experience in the automotive tools and
equipment industry, working as consultant
/ designer on multiple dealership initiatives.
Tim has been involved in the design and
implementation of over 800 dealership projects, for both new and remodeled facilities.
p. 79
Featu r e
Breaking the Mold
C o o k i e C u tt e r Ma n u f act u r e r ’ s Ma r k e t i n g
i s K i l l i n g Y o u r S e r v i c e D e pa r t m e n t This headline might be a little strong but
it’s the truth. Cookie cutter marketing
(many times forced on you by the manufacturer) is really bad at getting customers
into your Service Department. Unfortunately, it’s great at another thing: making
your dealership blend in with every dealership in your area. (Which, as you know, is
the kiss of death when it comes to effective marketing.)
So Why is This Type of Marketing so Bad?
• It’s untrackable. Not being able to track
how a marketing effort is performing is almost as bad as not marketing at all. For all
you know, you could just be blindly throwing money out the window and getting no
real results. It’s shocking to me that, in an
industry so driven by a “what-have-youdone-for-me-lately?” mentality, it’s possible for this type of marketing to fly. Even
when there are OP codes involved, they
are only as good as the Service Advisor
typing them in. Many have common codes
memorized and type them in on everything. This can give the appearance that
a failing campaign is doing well or that a
great campaign is failing.
p. 80
B y J o n at h a n ( J B ) B e n j a m i n
As if not knowing how your marketing is
performing wasn’t bad enough, it gets
worse. Not tracking your marketing prevents you from being able to test and measure new strategies. How can you improve
if you have no idea of what’s working and
what isn’t? This mistake could be costing
your Service Department six figures a year
-- or even more.
• It doesn’t differentiate your dealership.
A huge problem with manufacturer’s marketing is that it’s cookie cutter, one-sizefits-all, boilerplate -- however you want to
put it. The point is, with that type of marketing, your dealership is going to look exactly like every single other dealership that
services your brand. Well, how is a customer supposed to notice you when you’re
offering the exact same thing (in the exact
same way) that every other dealership is
offering? Getting their business becomes
a crapshoot at that point. That’s no way to
run your marketing.
facturer, their whole business model revolves around marketing successfully. To
be frank, manufacturers bank on you taking the easy route and opting into their
marketing programs simply because it’s
profitable for them. Think about it: they’re
force-feeding their entire distribution network the same canned material over and
over. It has to make them a mint, all while
leaving you twisting in the wind.
“A huge problem with
manufacturer’s
marketing is that
it’s cookie cutter,
one-size-fits-all,
boilerplate.”
• It looks like junk mail. Quality marketing is key. Unfortunately, most, if not all,
manufacturer’s marketing looks and feels
like junk mail. This point dovetails with the
last one: if it looks and feels like junk mail,
it’s going to blend in with the junk mail and
most likely not even be noticed. By producing unique quality marketing, not only
will it stick out to your customers, but it’s
going to stick around.
What’s the Alternative to Manufacturer’s
Marketing?
Sticking with the status quo, cookie cutter
or manufacturer-type marketing is harming
your Service Department’s performance;
there’s no question about that. It’s for this
reason that many dealerships are seeking alternative methods for handling their
marketing. Where are they finding these alternative methods and how do they know
they will work?
Independent auto marketing companies
can only survive if they effectively make
their client’s dealership stand out from
the rest of the market. Unlike the manu-
p. 81
What is the True Cost of Not Creating
a Customer’s Buying Preference with
Unique High-Quality Marketing?
The answer to this question can vary
greatly from dealership to dealership. The
answer that holds true for every dealership is that the cost of missing the mark
with marketing and losing out on potential
Service customers (as well as retention) in
today’s market far outweighs the investment costs of unique marketing from an
independent auto marketing company.
Is there risk stepping outside of your comfort zone and ditching the cookie cutter
marketing? You bet there is, but there’s always risk involved with change. Ask yourself this: What’s riskier? Taking a chance
on setting yourself apart from your competition in an effort to dominate your market?
Or continuing to do the same stuff your
competition is doing and praying that fate
will smile upon your dealership and deliver
greater profitability? The answer to that
question should be clear.
p. 82
“With geo-location
whenever they’re
near your dealership,
customers can
receive a push
notification
reminding them they
have offers to
use with your
Service Department.”
How Unique Marketing Leads to Market
Domination
• 100% Trackable - It’s important that
you’re able to track the success of any
marketing campaign so you can measure
your results and make adjustments accordingly. I would suggest tracking that’s
“pure”, like barcodes that are scanned at
the point of sale. The more unique and
targeted it is, the easier it will be to track
your ROI and really hone your marketing to
perfection.
• High Quality Checkbooks or Coupons
- When a customer receives a higher quality checkbook or coupon, it feels substantial; it feels like something worth keeping.
It’s a lot more than a throwaway postcard.
Not only that, but they’re more durable for
good reason: you want your customers using these all year long. They need to be
durable for that to happen.
• Digital & Physical Checks - People forget things all the time, even substantial
high-quality checkbooks for car service.
It’s for this reason that pairing your marketing with technology is worth the cost
and effort. It allows your customers to
have all their checks in digital format on
their smartphone. As people rarely forget
their phone, this eliminates most situations in which your customer might skip an
intended Service because they left a discount offer at home.
“What is the
true cost of not
creating a
customer’s
buying preference
with unique
high-quality
marketing?”
• Automatic Push Notifications – In today’s world, this is hands-down the coolest feature you can add to your marketing
arsenal. Not only can your customers have
coupons loaded on their smartphone, but
with geo-location whenever they’re near
your dealership, they can receive a push
notification reminding them they have offers to use with your Service Department.
You really can’t market any more directly
than that.
Successful Dealerships are Proactive,
not Reactive
In this industry, your run-of-the-mill dealership is going to be very reactive -- reactive
to sales trends and what their competition
is doing. But that’s exactly what makes
them run-of-the-mill and not a market
leader.
Where true success and market domination occurs is when dealerships decide to
lead and not follow. Whether it’s with sales
tactics, strategies or, most importantly,
marketing. If you plan on just doing whatever it takes to keep up with your competition, that’s all you’ll ever be able to do
-- follow.
However, if you have the desire to not
use your competition as a frame of reference for your success, you’ll find that by
thinking outside the box. By implementing
unique and personalized marketing, you’ll
be leading the pack. The second you have
your competition reacting to what you’re
doing, that’s the moment you know you’ve
become a leader in your market. And isn’t
that the goal of every dealership?
Jonathan (JB) Benjamin has worked in automotive marketing and customer retention
for the past 11 years and is currently the
CEO & Co-Founder of Brandon, Floridabased Pulse, a national automotive marketing company. Their unique marketing programs that help dealers gain market share,
build revenue, increase Service retention
and stand out, has earned them a 90+%
retention rate with their dealer clients.
p. 83
Featu r e
Educating the
Next Generation
T a k e a n A ct i v e R o l l i n Ma k i n g a n “ I m pact ”
o n L o ca l C o l l i s i o n S ch o o l P r o g r a m s T h i s Fa l l In a few short weeks, high school and college collision school instructors will begin
their fall semester and work towards providing the best technical education possible for their students -- the future repair
industry professionals. While some are
very fortunate to have supportive administration, many lack proper / current tools,
equipment and supplies due to limited program budgets.
We’ve heard from the industry that an entry-level collision repair Technician produces roughly $50,000 per month in additional
revenue for a dealership. If this is true, how
much are you losing each month or each
year due to the number of unfulfilled entrylevel collision staffing opportunities now -and how many will be unfulfilled in the near
future with your current staff approaching
retirement? Instead of waiting until a time
of crisis with not enough entry-level staff
to keep up with the work, now more than
ever is a great time to get connected with
local schools and their collision instructors
and students.
p. 84
By Brandon Eckenrode
The Collision Repair Education Foundation
is looking to help dealerships across the
country that are interested in taking an active role in helping local high school and
college collision school programs. “Help”
that dealerships can consider includes:
Scrap Parts Donation
“The Collision Repair Education Foundation
is looking to help dealerships across
the country that are interested
in taking an active role.”
The fenders, hoods, door skins and bumper covers that your dealership is currently
scrapping are perfect donations to local
schools and provide the students currentmodel vehicle parts on which to practice.
Many collision instructors currently resort
to ‘dumpster diving’ and rummage through
dealership’s garbage. However, we have
the opportunity to work together in bringing some professionalism around this process of introducing an instructor to your
dealership and arranging for a time to have
them pick the items up from you.
Collision Student Safety Kit Sponsorship
Through a $50 per student sponsorship
amount, dealerships can provide local collision students with safety kits that include:
work shirt, work pants, a pair of safety
glasses, earplugs and a disposable dust
mask. If a dealership sponsors at least
100 collision student safety kits, we would
add the dealerships logo to the shirts and
these students would not only look professional in their school but each would also
be a walking billboard for the dealership.
Hosting Collision School Program
For many high school and college collision
students, their outside industry exposure
is only through stories they hear from their
instructor as they don’t get the opportunity
to see a live working shop area within a
dealership. By taking the time to welcome
a local school to your dealership and introducing them to your staff members that
can describe their day-to-day duties, this
can help to showcase the real working
world.
p. 85
MAKE “BACK TO SCHOOL” SAFER &
MORE PROFESSIONAL THIS FALL!
For only $50 you can sponsor a
Safety Kit for a local student
Safety Glasses
Ear Plugs
Dust Mask
Shirt
Pants
Contact us about
sponsoring collision safety
kits for students in your state.
[email protected]
“The fenders,
hoods, door skins
and bumper covers
that your
dealership is
currently
scrapping are
perfect donations
to local schools
and provide
the students
current-model
vehicle parts on
which to practice.”
Used Equipment Donation
If your dealership is replacing any type of
collision repair related tools, equipment
and / or supplies, please consider donating the old items to local collision school
programs as many would be able to utilize these within their programs. Limited
collision budgets allow for instructors to
purchase only the essentials for a collision
program and your donation of used equipment could help make a collision instructor’s year!
p. 86
“By taking the time
to welcome a local
school to your
dealership and
introducing them
to your staff
members that can
describe their
day-to-day duties,
this can help to
showcase the real
working world.”
About the CREF
As the Collision Repair Education Foundation is a national 501c3 charitable organization, any support and / or donation to
a local collision school program is tax-deductible through our organization. We have
gone from providing $300,000 in support
to high school and college collision school
programs in 2009 to over $35 million since
then and that has been done only through
our generous donors. If your dealership
is interested in working together with the
Collision Repair Education Foundation, being connected with a local collision school
program and starting to get involved with
their students, please contact us at: info@
ed-foundation.org or call 847-463-5244.
You can also visit us online at CollisionEducationFoundation.org
Brandon Eckenrode is the Director of
Development for the Collision Repair
Education Foundation, the 501c3 charitable organization that provides support to high school and post-secondary
collision school programs, instructors
and students nationwide. Brandon has
worked within the collision industry for
nearly 15 years, formerly with I-CAR, the
international non-profit repair training organization. You can reach him at Brandon.
[email protected] or 847463-5244
p. 87
Featu r e
The Safety
Recall Mess
B e P r e pa r e d B y R o ss M a c d o n a l d
Last year’s record 63.9 million vehicles
affected by NHTSA-issued safety recalls
have made it abundantly clear that auto
manufacturing defects will remain a significant issue, resulting in continued safety
risk for vehicle drivers, and increased risk
and cost for dealers.
2014’s safety recall numbers average out
to 175,000 vehicles affected every day and
represent more than 25% of all U.S. registered vehicles. In a recent Bloomberg.com
story, NHTSA’s Chief Administrator, Mark
Rosekind, indicated that he expects 2015
safety recall numbers will remain at, or
above last year’s numbers. “We’ll probably
see an increase in recalls again in 2015,”
said Rosekind. He went on to say, “This
was the year of the recall, right? Put your
seat belt on, folks.”
p. 88
Legislation Is Heating Up
While franchised dealers cannot legally sell
new vehicles with open safety recalls, they
aren’t prohibited from selling pre-owned
units with open safety recalls. They’re also
not required to repair open recalls affecting
their on- and off-brand used inventory, or
to even notify customers of recalls affecting them.
Yet prime-time national safety recall stories, watched by millions, usually target
dealers with hidden cameras and undercover tactics to try and expose them selling new or used vehicles with open recalls.
Dealers are also being named more frequently as defendants and paying compensation to plaintiffs in personal injury
lawsuits stemming from accidents related
to recalls. Consumer safety groups are
promoting stiff penalties and even jail time
for any dealer knowingly selling vehicles
with open recalls.
“Dealers are also being named more
frequently as defendants and paying
compensation to plaintiffs in personal
injury lawsuits stemming from accidents
related to recalls.”
Legislative initiatives around the safety recall issue are heating up due to the high
visibility that recalls have been receiving.
2014 yielded the following proposed federal legislation:
1) The Hide No Harm Act of 2014 (Sen.
Richard Blumenthal, CT) -- Would make it
a crime, punishable by fines and up to five
years in prison, for a corporate officer to
knowingly conceal the fact that a corporate action or product poses a danger of
death or serious physical injury.
2) Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety
Enhancement Act (Sen. Claire McCaskill,
MO) -- Would double funding for NHTSA’s
vehicle safety operations over 6 years,
raises or eliminates caps on fines, gives
prosecutors more freedom to pursue criminal charges against safety law violators.
3) Whistle-Blower Bill (Sen. John Thune,
SD) – Would provide cash incentives to
encourage industry employees to alert officials about faulty products.
State and even municipal governments
are trying to enact laws to limit the sale
of used vehicles with open safety recalls. New York City’s Consumer Affairs
Dept. subpoenaed 200 New York auto
dealers last year in an attempt to force
auto retailers to repair open recalls before selling, and in California, the state
dealer association, (CNCDA) has recently
proposed their own legislation in an attempt to stay ahead of the state’s efforts
to bring legislation that they feel would be
biased and detrimental to their dealers.
p. 89
“Commit to
making safety
recall management
part of your
dealership’s
culture to know
the safety recall
status of every
vehicle in your
inventory — every day!”
The Takata airbag recall has also led to
lawsuits brought against dealers as well
as the OEMs, and a dealer in California
was sued (and eventually sold his Lexus
dealership) after the tragic death of a family caused by a jammed accelerator pedal
that led to Toyota recalling millions of vehicles. And to top it off, personal injury attorneys across the country are now using
Takata airbag incidents to solicit new clients in their marketing.
Are you feeling discouraged yet? Wait -- It
gets worse.
lic, powers their consumer-facing recall
lookup and their year / make mobile alert
initiatives at www.SaferCar.gov. Unfortunately, NHTSA’s year / make / model / style
safety recall data contains significant errors (up to 30%) in attributing safety recall
ID numbers to the correct vehicles.
Safety Recall Data Errors
No single-source, all-OEM, VIN-specific,
real-time safety recall database exists.
Safety recall data is held by two groups:
the collective vehicle manufacturers and
by the government agency charged with
vehicle safety and the issuing and management of vehicle safety recalls – The
Department of Transportation’s National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA).
NHTSA recall data errors result in consumers receiving false-positive recall results, or
worse, not being notified about real safety
recalls affecting their vehicles. NHTSA’s
SaferCar.gov mobile alert functionality is
limited to year and make matches that result in a steady barrage of positive recall
alerts for models consumers don’t even
own. Alternately, consumers and dealers
can manually check every vehicle, every
day, for safety recalls that can be issued
by NHTSA at any time.
NHTSA’s year / make / model / style safety
recall database, mandated by Congress
last year to be made available to the pub-
These safety recall data errors beg the
question: Given the potential danger to
consumers and risk for dealers, is 70-80%
p. 90
These errors include safety recalls tied to
erroneous years, wrong models, wrong
manufacturers and multiple models affected but not called out and -- in some cases
-- missing altogether.
accurate safety recall data good enough
for consumer safety and dealer liability
risk?
Safety Recall Timing Issues
The OEMs are the true keepers of the actual recall repair status. In addition to NHTSA’s recall data errors, there are numerous
timing issues with reporting, publishing
and communicating safety recall data between NHTSA and the OEMs, NHTSA and
consumers, OEMs to consumers and finally, between the OEMs and their franchised
dealer body. Consider:
1) NHTSA can publish safety recall ID
numbers to their consumer-facing website
before the OEMs, creating a lag in posting
the recall-repaired, or recall-open status
to their own VIN check websites, or when
making information available to their franchised dealer body through their internal
communications systems.
2) NHTSA can also lag behind the OEMs
in posting the NHTSA-generated recall ID
number and description details.
3) NHTSA can completely fail to publish
their safety recalls to their own recall database.
4) OEMs can publish a safety recall before
NHTSA has even assigned an ID number
to the recall.
5) OEMs can know the NHTSA safety recall
ID number and publish it on their consumer
and dealer-facing websites before NHTSA
has actually entered it into their consumer
recall website (SaferCar.gov).
6) OEMs can miss-identify safety recall ID
numbers in their VIN-specific safety recall
data, causing confusion for consumers.
7) It’s even possible for the OEM and SaferCar.gov to not recognize a real VIN as a
valid VIN.
The graphic on page 90 illustrates just how
complex the safety recall data flow and accuracy issues really are, and gives insight
as to why it’s so difficult for dealers to implement effective recall management.
Franchised dealers are caught in the middle between their manufacturers and the
public – yet the media and opportunistic
attorneys target them as responsible for
the recall problem when they don’t make
defective products and the entire process
(other than reporting to their OEM when a
recall has been repaired) is completely out
of their control!
Dealers that attempt to navigate through
this safety recall morass have an extremely
difficult time. They’re faced with a recall
landscape that changes daily, if not hourly.
They’re forced to accept NHTSA and OEM
data that can have numerous and significant attribution, communication and timing errors. And they must spend significant
resources to manually check every VIN,
every day, with safety recall data that’s
less than completely accurate.
going to be errors and timing issues that
will affect the accuracy. Even your internal
OEM communication system can’t be relied upon for 100% accurate recall status.
Repair all on-brand pre-owned units and
develop reciprocal relationships with other
franchised dealers in your market area to
get your off-brand vehicles repaired.
for the OEMs to reduce their vehicle defect rates. But until that becomes a reality, safety recall issues will remain high for
consumers and for auto retailers for the
foreseeable future.
Finally, do it every day. The huge number
of recalls issued these days makes it imperative to check every vehicle, every day.
It’s not enough to check for recalls when
you onboard and it might kill a sale if you
wait until a customer is sitting in the finance office to know that there is an open
safety recall on the vehicle they just fell in
love with.
Today’s safety recall risk makes this a
dealership-sized problem and doing nothing and hoping nothing bad happens is not
a strategy. Clearly, the best alternative is
Ross Macdonald has more than 20 years
of automotive software, data and configuration technology experience developing
innovative and value-driven solutions for
the franchised dealer market. In his current
role as CMO for Beaverton, Oregon-based
AutoAp, Inc., he leads marketing efforts
for this automation-focused software development company providing innovative,
patents-pending solutions for dealerships
and consumers, including their recently
launched Dynamic Recall Management
SM service that checks 100% of a dealer’s
new and used on- and off-brand inventory
everyday against their best-in-class safety
recall data, reducing dealers’ safety recall
risk and giving them a cost effective, easyto-use solution to help them avoid selling
vehicles with open safety recalls.
INCREASE YOUR FIXED OPS SALES & PROFITS
What Can You Do To Get On Top Of
Safety Recall Management At Your
Dealership?
First, commit to making it part of your
dealership’s culture to know the safety recall status of every vehicle in your inventory -- every day!
Next, get recall data from both the OEMs
and from NHTSA. Accept that there are still
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p. 91
Featu r e
The Quick Oil Change
A L o ss L e a d e r D e s i g n e d F o r O w n e r R e t e n t i o n In a for-profit business you strive to be
profitable in every job you do. Some jobs
are profitable on their own while others are
designed to make profit and keep the customer for the long run and therefore gain
the larger, more profitable jobs. In fishing we call that “chumming the water” -throwing out bait (a loss leader) to attract
the fish (a profit when the fish are caught).
As you will be able to see from the following calculations, a basic lube, oil change
and filter change is normally a loss leader.
Even though this is a loss, it keeps the customers coming back for the longer-term
maintenance and repair work. It also keeps
them coming back to repeat the new or
used vehicle buying cycle. (Purchase a
vehicle / maintain and repair the vehicle
during the ownership cycle / purchase the
next vehicle from your dealership.)
We must keep the customer in this maintenance and repair cycle if we expect to get
the long-term additional and more profitable maintenance and repair work. This
expanded work comes in the 15k, 30k,
45k, 60k, etc. mileage vehicles.
Your oil change process should be evaluated for lost steps, wasted manpower and
time-consuming trips to get to the vehicle
and to the Parts Department for supplies.
p. 92
By Eugene (Gene) White
You must also evaluate your Service Advisors’ repair order (RO) documentation and
presentation of needed services -- the job
we pay them to do.
The following is a current example of the
profit resultant using the flat rate time
method and the elapsed time method of
labor calculations. These times were determined after a short time study and years
of experience. Note that the dealership in
this example did not have a pit and utilized
an above-ground lift and two men per RO.
Using a pit with two Techs on the floor and
one in the pit serving both stalls, as most
quick lube businesses do, significantly
changes this argument. Thus the 1.5 Tech
calculation.
An Example of Labor Costs and
Respective Labor Profits
No. Techs assigned to the RO
1.0
1.5
2.0
Flat Rate Hours flagged
0.30
0.30
0.30
Elapsed time (time study)
0.50
0.33
0.25
Labor Cost based on flat rate hours
$3.00
$3.00 $3.00
Labor cost based on elapsed time
$5.00
$7.50 $10.00
Labor dollars sold on the RO
$10.00 $10.00 $10.00
Profit based on flat rate hours
$7.00
$7.00 $7.00
Profit based on elapsed time
$5.00$2.50 $0.00
These calculations do not include the average Service Department cost to write,
manage and process each repair order. For
this example, the actual cost at the Dealership was in excess of $50.00 for each RO
written. You will make some profit in the
Parts Department but this also carries additional overhead costs to process.
Overhead Cost Per R.O. Written and
Stall Cost Per Day
Overhead cost per repair order and stall
cost per day are critical calculations. This
is basic management information needed
for profit evaluations. This information,
plus your effective labor rate and real cost
of labor, are necessary if you are to understand the “how to” and the “why to” of
improving the overall Service Department
profit structure, especially quick oil changes. Games played here will keep you in the
dark on what needs to change to become
more profitable in the future.
What’s your average overhead cost per
repair order? Divide your total Service
Department overhead costs (personnel,
semi-fixed and fixed) by the total number
of repair orders written. This calculation
gives you the overhead burden just to write
and process one repair order. I normally
find this number to be in the $50.00-plus
range.
What’s your average overhead cost per
stall, per day? Divide your total Service
Department overhead costs as outlined
above by the number of stalls in your Service Department. It’s not unusual for this
cost to be between $150.00 and $200.00
per day.
Your Fixed Operations profit structure must
be continuously monitored and compared
to current benchmarks. It’s been noted
and stated many times that the majority of
profit at dealerships today is generated in
Fixed Operations. I’m always appalled that
dealerships accept 100% market penetration for new vehicles sold and only 30% to
35% market penetration in the Service and
Body Shop Departments. (The Parts Department volume and respective profit is a
result of this market share that you attain.)
The franchised dealer body created this
market in the first place. They had the customer as a captive audience. We already
get 100% of the warranty work and 100%
of the problem vehicles. So what type work
are we missing? Why give up that work
without a whimper?
Accounting for Flat Rate Hours and
Effective Labor Rates
Lube Technicians must be fully accounted
for using ”flag time.” They should be expensed in “cost of labor” -- NOT in “other
salaries and wages”. Lube Technicians
must be flagged at least 0.3 flat rate hours
or 0.15 each if two work on the same repair
order. Another technique is to flag one 0.3
one time and the second 0.3 on the next
job. Maintaining equality with this last option is somewhat of a chore. If this accountability process is not done, your effective labor rate and flat rate hours per
repair order are in error. I’m aware that two
technicians cannot work on warranty jobs.
Without a pit, it normally takes from 18 to
28 minutes of labor to get the vehicle, get
the parts, accomplish the oil change and
return the vehicle to the parking area. Keep
in mind that when two people are assigned
to the job, the man minutes used are double the elapsed time.
“We must keep
the customer
in this
maintenance
and repair
cycle if we
expect to get
the long-term
additional and
more profitable
maintenance
and repair
work.”
I often hear that there’s nothing to sell
on today’s vehicles. This is an interesting
comment when you consider a used vehicle turned over to the Service Department
to prepare for resale will normally come
back to the Used Vehicle Manager with a
high dollar estimate for repairs -- same vehicles, same dealership, same labor rates
and same parts pricing. Low hanging fruit?
The following are maintenance services
that, when needed, should always be recommended to your customers and their
response documented on the RO, either
“sale” or “no sale”:
-
Replacing engine air filter
Replacing gas cap (emissions)
Replacing cabin air filter
Testing and replacing radiator cap
Replacing fuel filters
Replacing belts
WW blades
Headlight restoration
Light bulbs
Testing and replacing battery
Radiator flushing
Brake fluid change
AC services
Power steering fluid change
Tire rotation
Replacing brake pads
Struts and shocks
Detailing
Spark plugs
Timing belt
Do not oversell. No one wants to be nickeled and dimed! This will drive away business. Again, document on the R.O. when
needed services are offered and denied,
especially safety items.
Always recommend necessary maintenance and especially understand the reason for and source of each service needed and suggested. Educate your Service
Advisors on the technical reason for each
maintenance service. Educate your customers on preserving their investment in
their vehicle and its reliability. Finally, strive
for increased market share!
E. Eugene (Gene) White, BSIT/SAE/IIE,
is President of Gene White Management, Inc. in Hoover, AL. He is a recognized Fixed Operations expert and
has performed in-dealership evaluations
and training (automotive, heavy-duty
trucks, recreational vehicles and marine) for the past 35 years. He has had
69 “expert” level articles published and
has conducted convention workshops
for NADA, ATD, FADA, NACE, WD & S,
accounting CPAs and multiple State Associations and 20 Groups. He has been
certified as a world class Technician by
ASE, certified Automotive, Body and
Paint, and HD truck Technician.
p. 93
Featu r e
Growing Your Own
T h e B e n e f i ts o f D e v e l o p i n g Y o u r O w n T e ch n i c i a n s Although it’s my great hope that you have
few days like the one that I’m going to recount, I doubt that many of you can say
that you haven’t had more days like this
than you’d like. I call this brief story “A Day
in the Life of a Service Manager”:
As I was walking through the shop Monday
morning, my eyes caught one of my top,
young Technicians who seemed more anxious than usual to seek me out. I walked
up to him and asked, ‘How’s it going?’ His
reply was an unexpected one. “Boss, we
need to talk. You know, I’ve been really
happy here for a long time and I appreciate all that you’ve done for me … but I’ve
decided it’s time to move on. My mind is
made up. I’ve already found a new job and
made a promise to go. Please accept this
as my two week notice.”
Dumbstruck by this surprising news, I returned to my office. Surely, I intend to try
to talk him out of leaving. I can’t afford to
lose a good tech like him. But what if he
really is set on leaving? What am I going
to do? I need his production. I’d better get
scrambling to get the word out to find a
replacement.
After talking to him one-on-one and confirming that he was set on his decision it
was time to leap into action. I ran ads on
the web, in the local papers, put the word
out to my other Techs that I would pay a
finder’s fee if they could refer a past coworker or friend. I scoured the bushes for
candidates. We needed somebody good
… and we needed someone NOW!
After two weeks of trying, the pool of applicants was pretty thin in spite of our efforts.
There were some applications that looked
p. 94
By Andrew Rezin
Reducing the Skills Gap:
The KNOWLEDGE GAP: Students are prepared to enter the workforce and be productive
High School
College
The KNOWLEDGE GAP
High School
Senior Experience
Gap
Employment
Eliminated
College
Employment
Employment
like a ‘who’s who’ of local auto shops …
with a listing of 6 to 10 past shops … and
every job change was due to ‘a misunderstanding with the boss’. There were some
applicants with some experience … but
no factory training or ASE certifications. It
would take a lot of time and money to get
one of them up to speed!
Then, there it was! The applicant that
seemed too good to be true. Ten years of
experience, ASE master and L1 certified,
factory master training. Wow! But then
when I spoke to him I realized ‘the rest of
the story’. He was shopping the market
(again) to see if we’d outbid his current
employer and everyone else in town. He
wanted $4 more per flat rate hour than our
top tech -- and wanted a 40-hour guarantee to boot!
All too often the result that we encounter
when we have an unexpected need for a
new Tech and have to hit the open market is a bad one. Whether it’s inheriting
someone else’s headache, getting a high
skilled but under-motivated tech, or simply
paying too much, the results of the ‘emergency search’ are rarely pleasant.
Have you ever experienced anything like
this? Did you think to yourself that ‘there
has got to be a better way?
If you could ‘have it your way’ what would
you wish for?
• Some local talent ready and waiting to fill
the void?
• Someone that you know and who knows
your organization?
• Someone young, energetic and willing
and able to grow?
• Someone that’s affordable?
Although it seems like a pipedream, it is
not an unreasonable request. That’s exactly what you could and should expect.
Take your lead from the practice that’s
followed by all of the professional sports
teams in the U.S. and around the globe.
No matter what sport or what location you
look at, you will find that their solution to
meeting unexpected and immediate staffing needs is not to go to the open market and pay too much to receive too little.
They turn to their farm system to identify
the young talent that’s chomping at the bit
to have the opportunity to get into the big
leagues!
By having a farm system, sports teams
have built the means to grow their own,
nurture them, observe them and teach
them to play the game the way that they
want it played. Isn’t that exactly what you
wish that you could do when put in a similar situation? You can!
Ready to get started? The ‘farm system’
that you are looking to build is very likely right in your back yard. It’s the public
high school or career center automotive
program in your community. It’s also the
public community or technical college program in your area. The combination of the
two can provide you with access to the
candidates that you long for … but there
is a price.
The students from the local career center
or community college have a solid foundation in automotive theory. They have had
a good introduction to the knowledge and
skills needed to succeed in a career in auto
repair. They are eager, enthusiastic, willing
to learn and affordable. They are not, however, a finished product. They are a golden
opportunity to make a small investment in
time in money that can yield large longterm rewards. Who is better qualified to
help polish these ‘diamonds in the rough’
than you?
Getting involved can be done at many levels. How involved you get and how big a
return you receive depends upon you. You
can choose the level of involvement that
fits your organization best. Here are some
of the best ways to invest a little bit of your
time and effort that will have the greatest rewards in building a relationship with
these local schools:
You can choose the level of
involvement that fits your
organization best
A.A. Rezin
© 2015
Registered
Apprenticeships
Structured
Cooperative
Education
Internships &
Practicums
Traditional
Co-op
Career
Exploration
Traditional
Education
NO INDUSTRY
INVOLVEMENT
The more you are involved, the more you
can affect who they recruit, what they teach
and how well their graduates are prepared
to become successful Technicians in your
organization. You can even have direct impact in assuring that the program is being
efficiently run and properly funded so that
they have the resources needed to teach
21st century technologies that your future
Technicians will need.
Your time investment need not be a major
one. You can choose the level of involvement that fits your organization best. But
there’s strong evidence that shows that
the greater future employers are involved
in the education and development of future
Techs, the more likely those students are
to succeed in the auto repair industry and
stay in the industry as your employees.
The direct benefits of intentionally building and investing in your future workforce
are great. It’s the most cost-effective way
for you to build for the future. By offering shadowing, internship and paid cooperative work placement opportunities,
you can ‘test drive’ your prospective new
HIGH INDUSTRY
INVOLVEMENT
employees. You can have your best Technicians take them under their wing and
help them to polish their skills and learn to
do it ‘the right way’. By the time they graduate and are eligible to become full-time
employees, you will have built a strong relationship that will go a long way towards
assuring employee loyalty.
Will things be the same in your shop the
next time that you unexpectedly lose a
Tech? I certainly hope not. You can become part of the solution to the Technician shortage in your shop by building a
pipeline to your future. Even more exciting,
by building a farm system and getting involved with your local educational partners
YOU can be 1st in line to reap the benefits!
It is a win – win – win!
Andy Rezin is an educator, author, consultant, and industry-experienced advocate for automotive technical education.
His 20-year career in the private sector
combined management positions at
Chrysler Corporation and several large
Midwest dealer groups and served as
the inspiration for his textbook, “Automotive Service Management: Principles
into Practice”, published by Pearson.
He currently chairs a statewide committee for the Ohio Board of Regents on
apprenticeship partnerships and serves
on the Board of Directors of Clean Fuels
Ohio and the advisory committees for
several local and state career and technical education agencies.
p. 95
SERV I C E D E PT.
What’s a Service
Advisor Worth?
Many years ago I got my start in the auto
industry as a Service Advisor. At the time,
I had just been discharged from the Army
after returning from Viet Nam, had no experience, no technical skills and absolutely no training. Fortunately for me, I had a
Master Technician who took me under his
wing and taught me how to write a proper
repair order and how to ask the customer
investigative questions that would enable
me to effectively communicate the customers’ concerns to him and the other
Technicians. It really was a lot of fun and I
learned many processes that I’m still using
and training others to use throughout the
auto industry.
As a result of that experience, I have come
to have a high regard for the position of
Service Advisor and I firmly believe it remains as one of the single most important
positions in the dealership today for those
dealers who want to thrive in the long-term
with high CSI and ever increasing owner
retention goals. I fully understand that the
salesperson must sell the customer their
first vehicle but can we agree that the
Service Advisor is the one responsible for
bringing them back again and again for
all of their future vehicle needs? So that
brings me to my question: “What is a Service Advisor Worth?” The following information is based on NADA guides:
p. 96
By Don Reed
• Assume an Advisor is writing 12 RO’s per
day (8 CP and 4 Warranty)
• Average HPRO = 1.5
• Average Gross Profit produced per day =
$1,637.00 (Parts and Labor)
• Average Gross Profit produced per month
= $36,016.00
• Average Gross Profit produced per year
= $432,194.00
NADA also shows that the average
dealer last year grossed an average of
$1,190.00 per new vehicle retailed on a
selling price of $32,335.00 with a margin
of 3.68%. The analogy here is that the average Service Advisor produced the same
amount of gross profit for the dealer as
a Salesperson who sold 363 new units
($432,194.00/$1,190.00 = 363) for the year
or 30 per month! How would your Owners
and General Managers respond to a salesperson selling 30 units per month EVERY
MONTH? Chances are that person would
get all the support they needed to continue to be so successful. Think about this:
“How many employees in your dealership
are producing $432,194.00 a year in gross
profit?
Now, let’s continue on with this logic and
answer these questions:
1. Who handles the most incoming calls
per day — Salesperson or Advisor?
2. Who meets and greets the most Sales
Opportunities per day — Salesperson or
Advisor?
3. Who has the greatest impact on Owner
Retention — Salesperson or Advisor?
4. Who has the greatest impact on Brand
Loyalty — Salesperson or Advisor?
5. Who needs telephone training to increase appointments — Salesperson or
Advisor?
6. Who needs Sales Training — Salesperson or Advisor?
The answer to questions 1, 2, 3, and 4 is
the Service Advisor, in my opinion, and the
answer to questions 5 and 6 is BOTH the
Salesperson and the Advisor.
“If you find
that one
Advisor is
outperforming
another by .3
HPRO or more
then have a
one-on-one
with your
underachieving
Advisor.”
tion becomes: “What is the cost of an
untrained Advisor?” Simply reverse the
math above and instantly you can see that
an Advisor performing at 1.2 versus 1.5
is costing you about $64,000.00 per year
per Advisor in lost gross profit which, of
course, becomes a net profit opportunity
loss! Again, with four Advisors you’re losing about $256,000.00 a year for their below-average performance in advising their
customers how to properly maintain their
vehicles. That equates to losing about
215 new unit sales per year. How does
this make any sense to anyone who wants
to increase net profits and get a reasonable return on investment for the dealer?
Look at your last months’ financial statement (assuming you have access to one) or
at the very least your DMS report and make
the above calculation for your Service Advisors, individually. If you find that one Advisor is outperforming another by .3 HPRO
or more then have a one-on-one with your
underachieving Advisor and ask this one
word question: “Why?” Let them explain to
you why they are an underachiever. Next
ask them: “What are you going to do differently starting today?” You’ve probably
heard the old saying “there are only two
reasons why people fail — they don’t know
how or they don’t want to do what it takes
to become a top performer!
Next, let’s determine if it’s worth the money to train your Advisors how to improve
their performance. My experience shows
that, time and time again, when an Advisor who’s averaging 1.5 HPRO is properly trained on how to put their customers
FIRST throughout their daily activities, they
will, in fact, increase their productivity by
no less than .3 HPRO. Based on the same
assumptions I used previously you now
have produced additional gross profit of
$5,331.00 per month on sales of $8,644.00
with a margin of 62%. If you’re currently
managing a profitable Service and Parts
operation this additional .3 HPRO sends
about $64,000.00 straight to your bottom
line, less whatever compensation you paid
the Advisor for their efforts. If you have
four Advisors, that equates to about an
additional $256,000.00 in net profit and is
the equivalent of selling about another 215
new units! HELLO?
On the flip side is a much more commonplace scenario that I see across our
industry where the Service Advisor is not
performing at 1.5 HPRO and is dwelling
in the land of 1.2 or less. Now the ques-
If your Advisors don’t know how to change
to do what it takes to improve, then that’s
your fault BUT if they don’t want to, then
do yourself a big favor and hit the eject
button and replace them NOW with someone who wants to be a top performing Advisor. As Mac Anderson says in his book,
You Can’t Send a Duck to Eagle School!
Stop trying to manage ducks and go recruit some eagles!
After 26 years in the automobile business
as a Dealer, GM, Sales Manager, Service
Manager, Service Advisor and Salesperson,
Don Reed decided to start to a new career
as a Consultant and Trainer, “turning around”
dealerships that were in need of building their
profits. As CEO of DealerPro Training, he has
worked with hundreds of dealerships and
major dealer groups across the U.S., Canada
and the United Kingdom to increase profits
in Fixed Operations. He has been published
in multiple industry magazines and has conducted workshops for NADA 20 Groups,
state dealer associations, OEM’s and the
RVDA Convention and has been rated a Top
10 Speaker at the NADA Convention for four
consecutive years.
p. 97
PA R TS D E PT.
GM Advances Real-Time
Parts Pricing
By Ted Fellowes
GM Customer Care and Aftersales World Headquarters in Grand Blanc, Michigan
MyPriceLink (MPL), GM’s new Parts listprice initiative, is the first exclusively realtime provisioning of Service Parts list prices by a vehicle manufacturer to its dealers
and Parts buyers. GM expects -- and aftermarket Parts proponents fear -- that MPL
will strengthen dealers’ Parts businesses.
GM turned to its JV affiliate OEConnection
to implement and manage MPL.
MPL is an example of using systems to
compete for Service Parts market share.
Once GM successfully implements MPL,
most automakers will follow suit (as they
did with “conquest pricing”). The systems
infrastructure inherent to online-only list
price access enables a wide range of pricing and incentive programs. MPL may herald the most consequential innovations in
automotive Service-Parts data/systems in
years.
New Pricing Approach. Real-time pricing
(“dynamic pricing” to some in the industry)
is a strategy in which businesses abandon
published price lists in order to flexibly set
prices based on current market factors.
Beyond the automotive industry, the use of
real-time pricing is growing.
p. 98
OEM List Price Data. For a century, automakers published their Service Parts
“list” prices on paper. In recent decades,
OEMs licensed Parts price files to data aggregators and other intermediaries as well
as directly to dealer and shop systems
providers. Despite restrictions, OEMs’
proprietary Parts pricing information leaks
into the pricing systems of alternate Parts
suppliers. These competitors of automakers’ OE Parts generate prices for their alternative Parts by flexing off automakers’
list prices to: 1) win greater market share
relative to genuine parts; and 2) avoid pricing “too” far below the OEM parts price.
Motivations. Real-time list price access
frees automakers from the costs of publishing list prices and licensing price files.
Real-time access also eliminates the errors
and costs of buyers using outdated prices.
With MPL, GM will provide list prices reflecting the specifics of each transaction.
(And online list price infrastructure enables
automated incentives for direct buyers, indirect payers and channel partners).
Forcing alternative Parts suppliers to price
without access to OEM price data may
undo advantages (in share and average
margin) that alternative suppliers seek
from using OEM list prices.
List Price Access.
◊ MPL replaces publication of list prices
for GM’s “collision” Parts (prices for other
items will continue to be published)
◊ MPL will enter pilot testing with two Application Programming Interfaces(APIs):
- CES API – for collision estimating systems (initially CCC, Mitchell International,
Audatex)
- DMS API – “Parts Invoice Generation”
(leading DMS providers)
◊ PPS API “Order Fulfillment” – for parts
procurement solutions (such as OPSTrax
or CCI’s TRUE Parts Network) will be the
third API
GM’s Kris Mayer emphasizes two principles
for MPL implementation: “First, ensure that
GM owners have access to the right Parts
information (both technical and pricing for
their vehicle) at the critical point of the estimate being written without any workflow
disruption, thus reducing supplements
and improving cycle time for all involved.
Impacts. Implementing live-list pricing
will boost OE Parts market share while
preserving revenue and margins. Systems
providers will need to identify potential
workflow disruptions (for example, Service
pricing applications must adapt to an occasional missing price) and then – when
appropriate – work with OEC to validate
and then implement an API.
GM Customer Care and Aftersales facility in Fort Worth, Texas
Second, that those needing GM list prices be provided real-time access through
MPL”.
MPL requires users to identify a specific
vehicle with each request, enabling GM
to identify vehicle characteristics and (according to GM) provide real-time pricing
aimed at making sure that each vehicle is
repaired right the first time with the right
parts, potentially avoiding a total loss or
leakage to aftermarket parts.
Dealer Workflows. As GM collision Parts
list prices will no longer reside in dealer
systems, dealers will obtain list prices
from MPL either by directly accessing the
MPL tab in OEC’s dealer portal (which will
be provided at no charge) or indirectly by
having their DMS send real-time inquiries
to MPL. (DMS Access depends on API
implementation by the DMS provider and
dealer enrollment in OEC’s CollisionLink
Plus).
The dealer MPL application retrieves list
price and previous “quote.” As MPL list
price quotes will vary with market conditions, each quote is saved and later retrieved as appropriate.
Shop Workflows. Shop estimating solutions will use an MPL API. As a shop user
builds estimates, their collision estimating
system sends requests to MPL – less all
PPI (personal private information). OEC’s
price engine then generates list prices for
MPL. Because list prices are specific to
each estimate, MPL saves each list price
“quote.” Later, the shop’s estimating solution will retrieve previously-created quotes
(as appropriate).
Insurers will access GM list prices via either an estimating application or CollisionLinkInsurance, a website designed for this
purpose.
What MPL is Not.
◊ MPL does not change GM’s margins for
dealer acquisition and sale of Service Parts
◊ MPL does not replace or eliminate GM’s
conquest pricing program
◊ MPL does not set transaction prices
(which remains between dealers and buyers)
Timing. GM first announced MPL in November 2014 (at SEMA). The market reacted swiftly, asking GM to identify less
disruptive, integrated implementation approaches. GM paused MPL and engaged
with shop and dealer systems providers. During the hiatus, APIs were defined,
shared with industry stakeholders and implemented. GM dealers will see a new MPL
tab in their OEC portal in September 2015
and market tests of MyPriceLink commence in select cities this summer prior to
MPLs official launch (likely in late 2015).
Brad Desaulniers, a leading voice in the
Parts procurement field, said, “Many aftermarket and recycled Parts suppliers must
define and implement completely new
pricing systems immediately. If aggressively implemented by GM, MPL could significantly reduce … late model alternative
Parts sales and profitability.”
DMS providers are implementing MPL’s
DMS API though several have complained
that “GM should provide list price data
via the DMS in a seamless manner at no
charge (or product purchase obligation) to
the dealers.”
Conclusion.
◊ Adoption of real-time pricing for spare
Parts will spread to other automakers
◊ Aftermarket Parts suppliers will pursue
real-time pricing
◊ GM will leverage capabilities inherent in
MPL’s digital infrastructure to further boost
OE Parts sales
◊ Real-time pricing will drive insurers, automakers and others into direct discussions
◊ Connected-vehicle and telematics, when
added to the mix, will lead to further improvements of collision repair processes
MPL is a single salvo in the back-andforth, healthy competition between Parttype supplier communities … and the
push-and-pull between insurers, shops
and Parts suppliers.
During 30 years focused on Service Parts systems and information services from the dealership, vehicle-maker and buyer perspective,
Ted Fellowes has been a leader in dealer systems innovation – first EPC, first dealer Parts
e-commerce and first web Parts locator. He
has served in executive roles with Bell & Howell (now, Snap-on) and OEConnection. Five
years ago he launched Fellowes Research which now has clients
in North America, Asia and Europe, including vehicle manufacturers, consulting / investment firms, DMS providers and Fixed Ops
solutions providers. Fellowes is the leading expert on automotive
Service Parts e-commerce.
p. 99
BOD Y S H OP
Collision Repairers Get
Unique Benefits From
Body Shop-Specific
Performance Groups
By Greg Eisenhardt
The collision repair industry is evolving
rapidly. Repairers are facing new challenges every single day: getting cars to the
door, cycle time reduction demands, hiring
and retaining qualified Technicians. These
are all just a few elements that play a significant role in the health of a collision center. However, these issues didn’t just pop
up within the last year.
Vision Groups, also known as “Performance Groups” or “20-Groups,” were
formed to provide solutions to the challenges that owners and managers of dealership and independent shops face every
day. Most groups meet on a quarterly basis
to share and discuss ideas, opportunities,
business trends and strategic directions
of their businesses. Some of the meeting topics include improving cycle times,
hiring and retaining qualified employees,
implementing ‘Lean’ processes, maximizing profitability, improving overall financial
performance and determining when and
how to add locations.
The group’s members represent various
levels of experience from some of the top
collision centers in North America. They
are selected based on performance measures and each member contributes during the meetings to strengthen the performance of the entire group.
p. 100
Performance Groups focus on facilitating business success through teamwork,
adaptability and innovation. For example,
since the Sherwin-Williams program began in 2000, its members have grown their
businesses significantly while overcoming
a variety of challenges including new shop
acquisitions, changes in vehicle technology and the evolving demands of today’s
digital consumer.
Designed to meet everyday productivity
and profitability challenges of today’s dealer collision centers, Performance Groups
have been well documented and are even
somewhat prevalent in the independent
Body Shop world, but what’s more unique
are the few, special 20 Groups dedicated
exclusively to the dealership Body Shop.
According to Greg McVicker, Body Shop
Manager at the Budd Bear Collision Center
in Washington, Pa., “Our Dealer Collison
Repair Performance Group has given me
access to bright minds fighting the same
fight I do every day.
Jeff Diaz, Body Shop Manager, Gwatney
Collision in Jacksonville, Ark., adds, “Our
business is a reflection of everyone in our
Dealer Performance Group with ideas and
processes that enabled us to be at an advantage over our competitors. When you
join our group you are joining a family that
will not let you down. The resilience and
persistent entrepreneurial spirit of participants, partnered with industry consulting
expertise, produces an ideal environment
for success and continuous improvement.”
Having the chance to hear their solutions
and feedback gives you a chance to solve
challenges in your dealer facility with ideas
that would be difficult to sometimes think
up on your own.”
our numbers together and ask questions
on how someone is doing well in an area
that we may be struggling with, and we
also challenge each other to make changes and get better.”
There’s definitely a difference in a dealer
shop setting and that of an independent.
Meeting with your peers can prove to be
invigorating. For example, many standard
Fixed Operations 20 groups, while certainly informative and beneficial to the dealerships’ overall bottom line, often focus on
Parts and Service first. In the Dealer Collision Repairer Performance Groups, the
focus is on how to make the Body Shop a
sustainable profit center through process
teachings and best practices. Also, unlike
independent collision repair facilities, dealership shops have some disadvantages
– obtaining management buy-in, sharing
expenses, occasional ‘turf-wars’ between
Sales / Service / Parts and the Body Shop,
as well as the overall limited visibility to the
true financials within the dealership. The
result is that, with Dealership Collision Repairer Performance Groups, its members
all share these exact same ‘challenges’
and their members work with each other to
turn them into positives.
It’s a fact that leading independent shops
Performance Group members’ sales
growth continually outpaces the growth of
the industry, as well as maintaining solid
net profit performance. Dealer Collision
Center Performance Groups are equally
successful. Plus, they have access to
some of the industry’s leading business
consultants to help contribute to their continual growth and profitability.
Billy Coleman, Body Shop Manager of
Gullo Ford in Conroe, Texas, says, “Our
Dealer Performance Group gives managers a chance to network with people that
understand what we go through to stay
competitive and profitable. We can analyze
Jay Barr, Fixed Ops Manager, Cross Creek
Subaru Body Shop in Fayetteville, N.C.,
says, “I decided to join a Dealer Performance Group because it holds me accountable for positive results. Secondly,
the group provides great interaction with
top performers within the industry that are
willing to help you utilize the data provided
to make smart business decisions. The
impact a group makes on an individual’s
business can be unbelievable if one is willing to apply the information.”
Dealer Performance Groups also share
knowledge about the unique advantages
they all have versus the independent shop
– the strength of their dealership brand,
the existing dealership customer base,
and tapping into the shared resources (Accounting / Marketing / Finance) that the
dealership already has in place.
Within a collision repair dealer setting it’s
often very difficult to continually come up
with every idea necessary to take the collision repair business to the next level, especially year after year. Dealership Fixed
Ops and Body Shop Managers need to
continually look at things in a different way,
so that they can adapt to the ever-changing business needs, driven by the everchanging customer that walks through
their door every day.
A performance group is made up of an
exclusive group of dealer collision repair
specialists who reflect the industry’s highest standards. They are part of a leading value-added program that combines
comprehensive business solutions to help
them improve customer service, employee
growth, insurance relationships, process
refinement, productivity and profitability.
The opportunity to share with their peers
– all overachievers who speak the same
dealer collision repair center language –
collectively combine to review financial
performance, discuss process implementation, build marketing plans and better
define their business goals and objectives.
The result is a competitive edge when it
comes to satisfying the needs of each and
every customer arriving at a dealership.
This lends to a very sustainable future as
the consumer expectations continue to
rapidly evolve.
Greg Eisenhardt is the A-Plus Marketing Manager at Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes.
Based at the company’s Warrensville Heights
headquarters, he is responsible for helping
North American independent and dealership
collision centers achieve success through the
teamwork, adaptability and innovation within the
Vision Groups provided by Sherwin-Williams.
p. 101
A D MI N I S TR ATI ON
Developing An
Advertising Strategy
As the economy continues to improve, consumer spending and disposable income
have grown, as well. This is great news
for business all across the country and the
auto industry is no exception. According
to recent data from Motor Intelligence, the
industry is showing a current year-to-date
growth of 5.4 percent in vehicle sales over
last year. Data from the Small Business
Development Center has also forecasted a
1.2 percent growth for the auto repair industry through 2017 and anticipates that
industry revenue will reach $54.7 billion by
then, as well.
stronger need for one over the other. Acquisition advertising media such as direct
mail, TV and radio excel in building awareness for your brand and generating interest
among consumers for your products and
services. Search advertising, on the other
hand, helps to ensure that consumers are
able find your business when they are in
need of a product or service, but have not
decided on which business to visit. Most
search advertising methods tend to consist of internet ads and online listings, but
can also include traditional media such as
newspapers, magazines and Yellow Pages.
While industry growth is always great
news, we know this usually means competition can be expected to grow too. On
top of that, the post-recession buying habits of consumers have shown us that they
are savvier than ever and prefer to shop
around for the best deals they can find before making a purchase. With that in mind,
now is the perfect time to evaluate your
business and build a marketing campaign
aimed at seizing the new growth opportunities around you.
To help decide which type of advertising
best meets your needs, it’s important to
take an honest look at your business and
the current situation in your market. Who
are your biggest competitors? What are
your strengths and weaknesses? What
services does your business offer that your
competitors don’t? These are all key questions that will help you outline an effective
advertising strategy. You should also take
note of the “convenience features” available at your business. If you offer shuttles
or have a waiting room with free Wi-Fi
and refreshments for your customers, remember that convenience can also be an
important factor in their decision-making
process.
As an initial step, you should consider
whether it makes sense to pursue Acquisition and Search advertising strategies at
the same time, or if your business has a
p. 102
By Mike Tinz
“Without
accountability
for behavior
change
in the form
of feedback or
management support, training
participants will
rarely
implement new
skills or knowledge on the job.”
The next crucial step is to gain a clear understanding of who your ideal customer
is. Once you have a clear idea of who you
want to target, you can start comparing
the demographic and behavioral profiles of
the consumers your local advertisers can
reach. This will also help you decide which
neighborhoods and communities are the
best matches for your business.
Once you’ve decided where to advertise
and to whom you will be advertising, the
next step is determining the offers and design for your ads. According to the DMA,
60 percent of a campaign’s success is
dependent on the offer and creative. Essentially, this means that once a consumer
sees your ad, the visual appeal and value of
the offers are what will determine whether
or not they choose to visit your business.
On that note, let’s talk about some design
tips:
• Diversify your offers while avoiding
clutter – It’s always a great idea to add in
low-cost Service offers to get customers
through the door, while including offers for
higher ticket services, as well. Depending
on the size of your ad, three to six offers
can typically fit well without overcrowding
an ad.
• Use images that your customers can relate to – Some common, successful design
elements usually include local landmarks
and photos of friendly, approachable Technicians. It’s not uncommon for consumers
to be wary of an unfamiliar business so be
sure your ad welcomes them as if it were
an invitation.
• Feature strong offers – Low price oil
changes and discounts for seasonal tune
ups are great ways to bring in first-time
customers and encourage regular repeat
business. When offering discounts on
higher ticket items, a percentage-off their
total invoice or a specific dollar amount off
with a minimum purchase may be more
appealing than a flat, low-percentage offer.
• Provide additional relevant information – If your dealership is new to the area
or has new services available, your ad is
your opportunity to tell people who you
are and what you do. If you can service all
makes and models, or offer complimentary
services like shuttle services, car washes
or overnight drop-offs, be sure to mention
them!
Now that your audience, offer and creative
have all been decided, there’s another
often-overlooked element to consider:
How often will you be reaching out to your
targeted consumers? Repetition is a key
component of advertising and many people tend to underestimate its importance.
Continuity makes a difference. Once consumers have started to receive your offers, maintaining a consistent frequency
will keep your business at the forefront of
their minds and will help to build additional
response over time. Remember -- when
consumers receive your ads, they may not
have the immediate need for your service
but when an offer catches their attention,
they make a point to save it until they need
it. Consistent frequency also ensures that
the save-it-for-later consumers always
have a fresh offer with a valid expiration
available.
Last but certainly not least, as your new
customers redeem your offers, make a
point to track which offers are the most
successful and use that information to adjust discounts on the services to which you
want to draw more attention. Be sure to
keep in mind that when a customer makes
the decision to visit your business, making the sale will be an obvious goal, but
it’s also important to take the opportunity
to exceed their expectations. At this point,
your advertising has achieved your goal of
attracting new customers, and now you
have the opportunity to gain their loyalty
and earn their repeat business as well.
Mike Tinz is Vice President of Sales &
Training at Money Mailer and has over 20
years experience within the direct marketing industry. Prior to joining Money Mailer
in 2012, Tinz held positions as ValPak’s VP
of Sales and has also managed sales teams
in territories across the country. Money
Mailer, a leader in the U.S. direct marketing industry, has been certified as a WorldClass Franchise by the Franchise Research
Institute and is Entrepreneur Magazine’s
#1 Business Services/Advertising Services
franchise for 2015. Money Mailer delivers
hyperlocal savings to consumers through
shared mail, mobile, online and social media and helps businesses affordably and accurately reach these consumers.
p. 103
P R I C I N G S U R VEY
THIS ISSUE:
Tires and Alignment
Orange CA
2011 Taurus SE, Sedan, 3.5L, V6
National Competitor
National Competitor
National Competitor
Dealer #1
Dealer #2
National Competitor
National Competitor
National Competitor
Dealer #1
Dealer #2
National Competitor
National Competitor
National Competitor
Dealer #1
Dealer #2
National Competitor
National Competitor
National Competitor
Dealer #1
Dealer #2
Tire Rotation
Tire Rotation & Balance
Front Wheel Alignment
Four Wheel Alignment
Tire Patch/Repair
Tire Rotation
Tire Patch/Repair
Tire Rotation
Tire Patch/Repair
Tire Rotation
Tire Patch/Repair
$10.00
$75.00
$20.00
$68.00
$19.99
$24.99
$9.95
$59.95
$21.95
$61.95
Kansas City KS
2013 Camry LE, Sedan, 2.5L in-line 4
$22.00
$22.00
$20.00
$29.95
$29.99
Hunterdon NJ
2009 Chevy Equinox, 3.4L, V6
$40.00
$53.00
$59.96
$59.95
$49.99
$16.00
$55.96
$20.00
$67.80
$20.00
$60.00
$19.99
$79.95
$21.00
$59.95
Knoxville TN
2012 Honda CRV EX, SUV, 2.4 i-VTEC in-line 4
**They do not offer Front Wheel Alignments.
$10.00
$15.99
$15.00
$15.95
$24.99
$47.96
$51.96
$62.00
$30.00
$59.95
$85.00
NA**
$89.99
$89.95
$129.95
$84.99
$84.99
$84.99
$99.95
$224.95
$89.99
$74.99
NA**
NA**
NA**
NA**
NA**
$84.99
NA**
NA**
$85.00
$89.00
$89.99
$89.95
$129.95
$84.99
$84.99
$84.99
$99.95
$224.95
$89.95
$74.95
$84.99
$89.95
$89.95
$84.99
$79.99
$84.99
$89.95
$89.95
$28.99
$25.00
$24.99
$25.00
$31.95
$28.00
$19.99
$24.99
$25.00
$20.00
$16.00
$32.00
$20.00
$19.95
$39.95
$19.99
$22.99
$19.00
$25.00
$29.95
InteliChek shops local, regional and national competition for automotive dealerships, providing market
intelligence to improve customer retention, identify new trends, conquer new business, analyze competitive
activity and identify areas of improvement.
For this month’s feature, InteliChek contacted a selection of independent retailers, mass merchants and new vehicle
dealerships to obtain current pricing on Tires and Alignment. Four markets of varying size were selected. InteliChek requested and verified retail prices via phone calls, using specific vehicles, and vehicle services. In that way,
direct and useful comparisons can be made
For more information on InteliChek, visit www.intelichek.com.
p. 104
N ew p r od u c t s
Falken ZIEX ZE950 A/S All-Season
High-Performance Tire
The ZIEX ZE950 A/S incorporates the latest in technology
and design from Falken to create an excellent choice for
drivers of today’s sedans, sports cars and crossover vehicles
where mileage, all-season and high performance handling
are a priority. Using the Falken exclusive Dynamic Range Technology in the
all new silica tread compound and asymmetric tread design, the ZIEX ZE950
provides optimum levels of dry, wet, ice and snow grip as well as delivering
the longest mileage of any Falken High Performance tires. With 100 sizes
from 15-inch to 20-inch and speed ratings of H, V, and W, the ZIEX ZE950
covers a wide range of fitments, from family sedans to crossover vehicles.
Advertisers Directory
AAPEXPage 23
Automotive Lift Institute (ALI)
AutoZonePage 31
BalcrankPage 83
Bardahl / Protex
Page 91
BG Products
Inside Back Cover
Blueprint, Inc.Page 3
Cars.com Havoline High-Mileage Motor Oil
This is a motor oil specially formulated for cars with 75,000+
miles that provides extra cleaning power and wear protection compared to our conventional motor oils.
Customer Benefits:
• Superb engine seal agents helps to prevent oil consumption and leaks.
• Formulated to prevent oil consumption.
• Higher detergency helps minimize sludge accumulation.
• Extra piston deposit control protection helps maintain a clean, smooth running engine.
New Rotary Lift Two-Post and
Drive-On Brochures Make Finding
the Right Lift Easier
Page 7
AutoPointPage 55
Pages 58 and 59
CastrolInside Front Cover
CDK Global / Cash Discovery
Pages 63 and 109
CPS Products / TerraClean / Uview
Page 57
DealerPro Training
Page 87
DealerSocketPage 33
DealertrackPage 47
Dynatron Software
Page 21
EcoPower / Safety-Kleen
Page 109
eLead1One / Service1One
Page 43
EuroVent / JohnDow Industries
Page 77
Fixed Ops Magazine Conference and Expo
Pages 67, 69 and 71
Fluid Rx Diagnostics
Page 15
Fuel Chief / JohnDow Industries
Page 79
Granitize Products
Page 9
Hunter Engineering
Page 89
I-CARPage 53
Rotary Lift has updated its two-post and drive-on lift brochures to provide
a more comprehensive overview of each product line. The new brochures
cover the full range of light-duty and heavy-duty lifts for each configuration,
and also include guides to help customers find the right lifts and lifting accessories for their needs.
Infomedia / Microcat Live
Page 17
Infomedia / Superservice
Back Cover
ITW ProAP / RainX
Page 39
Mark VII Car Wash Equipment
Page 29
Lifts detailed in the updated two-post brochure range from the new spacesaving ATO7 7,000 lb. capacity lift to the heavy-duty SPO18 18,000 lb. capacity lift, and include the best-selling SPOA10 10,000 lb. capacity lift. The driveon brochure covers lifts with capacities ranging from 12,000 lbs. to 60,000
lbs., including new Shockwave-equipped SM and AR Series light-duty fourpost lifts, the patented Y-Lift and new heavy-duty HDC Series runway lifts.
Full specifications, photos and applicable diagrams are included for each lift.
Mighty Auto Parts
Page 37
NADA 20 Group
Page 49
Naked Lime Marketing
Page 35
NAPA PRO Link / NAPA Auto Parts
Page 109
The back of each brochure features a convenient new lift application guide.
The guide shows which Rotary Lift models are suited for various vehicles
based on weight, length and wheelbase. Customers can use the chart to
identify the types of lifts that are appropriate for the vehicles they typically
service.
Coats’ RC Series Rim Clamp
The new Coats® RC Series Rim Clamp® tire changers
are built upon the same time honored traditions Coats has
brought its customers over the years. The RC Series machines represent an industry standard for speed, durability,
and ease of use. Capable of servicing tire diameters up to 21 inches, the
RC Series has conveniently placed foot pedals for precise control over the
changing process, built-in bead sealing jets to quickly seal loose beads and
the RC Robo-Arm® to assist with the mount/demount process. Efficient operation means faster floor to floor times and a shop that runs smoothly, day
after day.
NCM AssociatesPage 45
NitroFillPage 65
PDQ Vehicle Wash Systems
Pages 41 and 109
Pennzoil / Shell Oil Products
Page 109
Phillips 66 / Kendall
Page 13
PowerPusher / NuStar
Page 109
Reynolds and Reynolds
Page 27
Rome Technologies
Page 61
Rousseau MetalPage 109
SFA Companies / Omega Wheel Arm
Page 11
Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes
Page 85
Simoniz USAPage 5
Traver ConnectPage 19
TSD Rental Management Software
Page 51
Wildeck
Pages 81 and 109
XPELPage 25
p. 105
n ew p r od u c t s
New Hofmann geodyna 7850p Video
Wheel Balancing System
If your shop can’t keep up with the demand for tire balances, the new Hofmann geodyna 7850p Video Wheel Balancing System may be the answer.
Designed for high-volume shops, the Hofmann geodyna 7850p is easy to
use and increases productivity by dramatically reducing balancing time, using
the automatic non-contact rim profiling system, resulting in quicker customer
turnaround and adding to the shop’s bottom line.
Offering automatic data entry and selection of balancing mode via the scanner and Smart Sonar, the Hofmann geodyna 7850p Video Wheel Balancing
System also has other productivity-enhancing features like the wheel lift,
which is integrated into the 7850p. In addition, it provides users automatic
spoke detection, one-spin balance and a patented VPM measurement technique for uncompromised accuracy.
The Hofmann geodyna 7850p Video Wheel Balancing System is highly intuitive and has a fast-touch screen monitor with large digits and colored weight
position indicators. Its ergonomic design, including the patented telescopic
wheel guard, reduces the overall space that the 7850p will require in a shop.
Other unique features include the patented electro-mechanical power clamp
which allows for quick clamping and unclamping of wheel assemblies and the
easyWEIGHT laser pointer which provides fast, accurate and easy positioning
of adhesive weights on the wheel.
New Chief Rivet Gun Efficiently
Bonds Aluminum and Steel
Chief Automotive Technologies has introduced a self-piercing rivet gun for all
common autobody riveting applications, including efficiently bonding aluminum and steel vehicle body panels. The rivet gun is part of Chief’s product
line expansion to include “fusion” products that shops need to properly repair collision-damaged vehicles. The gun features a pneumatic-hydraulic design that offers improved consistency over battery-operated riveting systems.
While today’s battery-operated rivet guns may get the job done, their power
drains throughout the course of the repair. By utilizing air and hydraulics, the
Chief PNP90 gun is able to drive the last rivet of the day as hard and as fast
as the first. This consistent performance helps Technicians properly complete
repairs in record time.
The PNP90 gun’s riveting power comes from a pneumatically driven hydraulic
pressure intensifier. Quick-connect couplings provide a fast and easy connection to the rivet gun actuator or optional blind rivet actuator. As new applications are developed, users will be able to upgrade the PNP90 gun with
additional actuators. This modular design allows the PNP90 gun to evolve
with the industry.
Reelcraft Dual Pedestal Stainless Steel
Hose Reel
Reelcraft’s stainless steel hose reels are ideal for food processing, pre-rinse,
wash down, chemical transfer and industrial-solvent handling. Swivel include
Viton O-rings. Note: Standard latch parts are made from aluminum. Series
80000 and D80000 stainless reels have an aluminum fluid path.
- Reinforced Steel - The steel guide arm and dual pedestal base are stamped
with ribs and gussets and robotically welded to insure maximum strength and
lightest possible weight.
- Full Flow Stress Free Swivel design - The full flow swivel combines the highest grade seal design and materials with bearing areas to insure maximum
service life.
- Quality Finish and Corrosions Resistant - Individually powder coated components offer the maximum protection from premature corrosion.
p. 106
Ladder Industries Super Duty
Rolastair™ Rolling Ladder
Designed for extra heavy-duty use
- Rugged 1-1/4” dia. steel tube construction
- Standard 14” deep top platform
- 5” dia. rigid casters under platform
- Stepjack Floor Locking device with 3-1/2” dia. swivel casters
- All welded handrails
- Knock-down construction for shipping
- Heavy-duty 2-1/2” “Big Foot” replaceable shoes
- 10 step and larger 36” wide units have the Rolalift Floor Locking device
- OSHA Safety green enamel finish
- 500 lb. Capacity
JohnDow Industries EuroVent
Systems
EuroVent is an exhaust ventilation system that incorporates an extruded aluminum exhaust rail and a sliding ventilation crab. The rail is installed overhead
and along the Service bays, and is connected to a high-efficiency exhaust fan.
The sliding crab, equipped with an exhaust hose and tailpipe adapter, rolls
along the rail and can be positioned at any bay where ventilation is needed.
EuroVent is an extremely flexible and efficient system. Flexible because the
system can be easily sized to fit any shop and easily changes at a future time
to increase or decrease shop coverage. Ventilation crabs can be added as
needed to handle additional volume. Efficient because of the trolley system
design. Fewer outlets are required to cover all of the Service bays. When not
in use, the sliding crabs can be pushed out of the way. And with fewer drops,
a smaller exhaust fan can be used, saving cost and energy consumption.
Wildeck Expands Its Safety
Products With the New
EdgeAlertOpen Gate Alarm System
An open gate on an elevated mezzanine level is a serious safety concern
that could result in an employee falling and sustaining severe injury, including broken bones or even death. For every elevated application where an
open gate situation could occur, an early warning device such as Wildeck
EdgeAlertOpen Gate Alarm system could make all the difference. When properly installed, the EdgeAlert alarm will signal an open gate condition with a
highly visible flashing light and a loud audible alarm.
The EdgeAlert alarm is easy to operate and can be installed on new or existing swing gates, slide gates, tilt gates or scissor gates. It includes a 120 VAC
plug-in power supply and can also be powered by four long life alkaline D cell
batteries. A single-pole, single-throw 30V, 2A, 60W relay output is provided
for connection to other alarms or safety controls. A dual-channel processor
system is self-monitoring and will display a fault signal if a sensor or wiring
problem is detected.
For maximum visibility at elevated and ground levels, amber-colored LED
lights are located on the front and back of the alarm enclosure. When a gate
is being used for daily activities, workers may choose to silence the EdgeAlert
alarm for 120 seconds by pressing the snooze/acknowledge button. Once an
open gate has been closed and secured, users can reset the EdgeAlert alarm
by pressing the snooze/acknowledge button, or simply opt for the automatic
reset mode.
N ew p r od u c t s
AMSOIL Launches Expanded
Antifreeze & Engine Coolant
Product Line
AMSOIL has announced new Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze & Engine Coolant, now available in two formulations for passenger car/light truck and for
heavy-duty applications. They join reformulated AMSOIL Propylene Glycol
Antifreeze & Coolant, delivering unsurpassed cooling system protection for
virtually any application.
AMSOIL Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze & Engine Coolants provide excellent
protection against metallic corrosion and erosion pitting, even in extreme
temperatures and operating conditions. Both products offer superior corrosion protection for aluminum, steel, cast iron, copper, brass and solder alloys. Designed with a poly-organic acid formulation, AMSOIL Ethylene Glycol
Antifreeze & Coolants virtually eliminate scaling problems. Convenient 50/50
pre-mix is compatible with all other coolants and all cooling system materials
including hoses, gaskets and plastics.
New Generation TCX57 & TCX56
Advanced Tabletop Tire Changers
From Hunter Engineering
New generation TCX57 tabletop tire changers include several enhanced
features for tremendous power and control. Building on the TCX575 family,
the TCX57 and TCX56 add the most powerful side shovel bead breaker and
feature a large tabletop with one-touch diameter adjustments. The TCX57
also has an enhanced second press arm that’s faster and easier to use. The
TCX56 is a conventional head version of the leverless TCX57.
The best-in-class patented bead press system speeds and eases clamping,
lubricating, demounting and mounting the toughest wheel and tire combinations. The exclusive system centers the wheel and tire to ensure maximum
service strength and rigidity. The enhanced adjustable tabletop features a
6-30-inch clamping range. All four clamping jaws move simultaneously to
reduce misclamping and measurement marks further ease clamping. The
TCX57 is strong and capable, to handle a wide range of work, from 19.5
and skid steers to performance and runflat. The powerful swing arm column
reduces footprint by 30% compared to tilt columns systems.
Protex by Bardahl Transmission
Conditioner
Protex transmission products remove harmful sludge and varnish from the
system. This improves shifting and helps control shudder while reducing the
chance of costly repairs and extending the life of the transmission.
Multi-functional flush and cleaner is for use in engines, transmissions and
steering systems:
• Chemically “tunes-up” the engine by loosening sticky valves, lifters and
rings.
• Proprietary chemical formula dissolves harmful gum and varnish, and removes sludge.
• Improves transmission shifting and helps control “shudder”.
• Prepares engine, transmission and steering system for fluid change.
• Dispersants and detergents keep removed deposits in suspension until the
fluid is drained.
• Safe for all engines, transmissions and steering systems.
• Compatible with all fluids including synthetics.
Mark VII SoftWash System For
Dealers
SoftWash DF is optimized for car dealers and fleet operators who need to wash a high volume of vehicles
but don’t need all the bells and whistles required by a
retail carwash operator.
SoftWash DF is designed to wash vehicles before or after service is performed so the customer’s car is returned clean, which will favorably impact
vehicle pickup scores when the customer is surveyed for the Customer Service Index. In addition, demonstrator vehicles can be kept looking like new for
the next test ride and new cars can receive a quick touch-up before delivery
to buyers.
FS Curtis ML Series Reciprocating
Air Compressors
Masterline is the most robust, heavy-duty reciprocating air compressor lineup
available. The perfect combination of quality components and efficient design
make the ML Series rugged, affordable and smart. Because every model is
built tough to last a lifetime in demanding working conditions, the ML Series
is an outstanding alternative to splash-lubricated reciprocating compressors
and small rotary compressors. Choose higher quality. Choose superior durability. Choose Curtis ML Series pressure lubricated air compressors.
FX Series Refrigerant Management
Centers from CPS
CPS Automotive presents the latest in quality and performance with its FX
Series offering of Refrigerant Management Centers that quickly and efficiently
recover, recycle and recharge automotive AC systems.
The all new FX series features state-of-the-art technology including a 7” LCD
with graphic user interface, a patent-pending oilless compressor and patented motor-controlled ball valves. All of these features, along with the sleek new
ergonomic housing, have been meticulously designed to provide the Technician with the fastest, most reliable and user-friendly equipment on the market
today. Available in three different models to accommodate all refrigerants, the
FX series is the new standard for AC Service management equipment.
Yellow Jacket Refrigerant
Management System
Yellow Jacket has announced a new SAE J2788 and J2788H Compliant Series. Features include full-color graphic display, advanced user interface and
onboard diagnostics, automatic scale calibration, remote troubleshooting
and vacuum hold.
The RMS 37880 Automatic provides full cycle recovery/recycle/evacuate/recharge to easily and quickly bring the vehicle back to factory specifications.
The unit is designed with a unique flush feature and is OEM approved for use
with high voltage compressor A/C systems.
RMS 37880 capabilities:
- Built-in oil injection
- High or low side charging
- Fully automatic air purging
- Fast tank refills with no hose changes
- Built-in self-diagnostics
p. 107
n ew p r od u c t s
Modulube Zip Pit
The Zip Pit™ is a pre-molded, one piece unit designed for secondary containment.
The design of the above-grade lube pit enables Technicians to work both top
and bottom of the vehicle concurrently. It’s also more ergonomically efficient.
The Zip Pit features a Technician glider which is custom fabricated to ensure
durability and comfort. The glider is installed onto a track system to eliminate
lateral movement and provide stability.
BG Products BG 44K Fuel
System Cleaner
BG 44K® is the ultimate tank-treatment fuel system cleaner. It’s 11 ounces of
high quality detergents and additives that you pour right into the gas tank to
restore performance and gas mileage. It vanquishes deposits in combustion
chambers, intake manifolds, ports and on valves and restores flow in fuel injectors. Basically, it cleans the entire fuel system. Because it provides efficient
removal of upper-engine deposits, BG 44K® reduces problems caused by
deposit buildup such as engine surge, stalling, stumble, hesitation and power
loss. BG 44K® technology has been proven to increase combustion quality
and power output. BG 44K® will provide quick cleanup of coked fuel injectors
and corrosive deposits on the Fuel Sending Unit. It’s compatible with all fuel
system materials, alcohol-blended fuels and common fuel additives.
Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tire
Born from endurance racing, Michelin Pilot Super Sport gives your customers
the exhilaration of driving the best performing street tire in the world.
- Up to 12% better handling than leading competitors. Inspired by the same
engineering that has powered 13 consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le
Mans.
- Up to 2-times longer lasting than leading competitors. Optimized through
technology of Variable Contact Patch 2.0 and Twaron belt package for long
even wear.
- Better braking than leading competitors. Bi-compound delivers excellent
dry braking using LeMans-inspired compound on the outer shoulder and the
latest generation of wet-oriented elastomers on the inner portion of the tread.
Shure SHURETECH® Bench
Systems
The SHURETECH® Bench System is a concept in workbench design and
innovation that can meet the workbench and tool storage requirements for
any shop environment. SHURETECH® integrates tool and parts storage with
a large work surface and 400lb. drawer capacity. Shure has various pre-configured workstations available or customize your own SHURETECH® workstation by selecting individual components such as tool storage cabinets,
storage cabinets, service reel cabinets and in-ground lift power units.
Features:
• Bench tops are stainless steel
• Tool cabinets feature full-extension 400lb. capacity drawers
• Storage cabinets include swing-out doors and locks
• Stainless steel utility chase panels
Kafko Oil Eater® Fleet Wash
Oil Eater® Fleet Wash is made from an ultra-concentrated, low VOC emissions formula that’s strong enough to remove the toughest dirt and grime.
Fleet Wash contains no harmful acids and when used as directed, is safe on
glass, rubber, vinyl, aluminum and paint. It safely cleans dirt, diesel, grease,
grime, bird droppings and much more. Oil Eater® Fleet Wash leaves a spotfree finish.
Oil Eater® Fleet Wash works great with hard and soft water and rinses sparkling clean leaving a spot-free finish. Oil Eater® Fleet Wash is designed to
lubricate brushes and won’t clog spray nozzles making it perfect for friction
or touchless wash systems. Safe in proportioners. 100% guaranteed or your
money back.
p. 108
Get Speed and Accuracy with New
John Bean V2200 Imaging Wheel
Alignment System
The new John Bean® V2200 Imaging Wheel Alignment System is easy to use
and provides high resolution imaging technology that delivers fast, precise
readings that improve a shop’s productivity and performance. The John Bean
V2200 has all the essential features that alignment professionals need to do
the job quickly and efficiently. User friendly, the V2200 has an extensive vehicle specification database and patented imaging technology that provides
accurate, real-time measurements, delivering customer satisfaction for many
years to come.
The high-resolution cameras on the system produce accurate, live alignment
readings and diagnostic data, while passive front and rear XD targets ensure
durability as there are no wheel electronics to damage. Other productivityenhancing features include: vehicle track width and wheel base, individual
wheel off set and set-back, and the patented EZ-TOE feature that eliminates
the need for a steering wheel holder. The V2200 features the innovative John
Bean AC200 Universal Wheel Clamps. Constructed from rugged cast aluminum, these clamps have a self-centered design for accurate measurement
and vehicle dimensions.
Kaeser’s Launches New VSD
Compressor: The SFC 22
Kaeser Compressors is proud to announce the SFC 22. This variable speed
drive rotary screw compressor delivers best-in-class performance with an efficiency advantage of up to 26% over the competition.
With a flow range of 36-152 cfm at 125 psig, the SFC 22 features the “builtfor-a-lifetime” reliability, simple maintenance and sustainable energy savings
you expect from the Kaeser name, as well as the latest in Siemens drive technology. Kaeser has improved the SFC’s specific power through a combination
of true direct drive design, premium efficiency motors, lower internal pressure
differential and optimized airends. Additional built-in heat recovery options
provide even more energy savings potential.
New features include an enhanced cooling design, eco-friendly filter element,
integral moisture separator with drain and an Electronic Thermal Management system. Units also come standard with Sigma Control 2™—an intelligent controller that offers unsurpassed compressor control and monitoring
with enhanced communications capabilities for seamless integration into
plant control / monitoring systems. The SFC 22 is also available with an integrated dryer for premium compressed air quality.
MA RK E TP L A CE
866.772.1850
PartsVoice.com
p. 109
I N D US TR Y N E WS
Continued from page 8
DealerSocket Partners
With MyDealerLot
DealerSocket has announced a new integration with MyDealerLot (MDL).
MDL is the retail auto industry’s leader in the application of Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) technologies for Automated Guest Recognition and Vehicle Tracking. This integration enhances the customer experience within
the Sales and Service Departments by strategically alerting the Sales and
Service staff that a customer has arrived and allowing them the opportunity
to greet the customer to see if there is an opportunity for a trade-in. Dealers
utilizing MDL’s RFID technology will receive MDL notifications directly on
their DealerSocket dashboard. This provides a quick and easy access point
for Sales and Service Departments to be notified of a visiting customer.
“We are excited and pleased to partner with MyDealerLot as we continue
to enhance the value and performance our customers expect with DealerSocket,” said Matt Redden, CSO of DealerSocket. “This integration provides
dealers the essential technology upgrade necessary to discover new leads
while delivering exceptional customer experience the moment a customer
arrives at their lot.”
“Dealerships today are more reliant than ever on having an automated and
efficient way to connect the Service guest to their Sales Advisor for lifetime
relationships which translate to increase retention, revenue and profits,” said
George Cresto, Founder and CEO of MDL. “DealerSocket’s integration with
MDL’s RFID technology helps dealers further leverage their CRM technology
investment for a truly connected customer experience.”
Dealer-FX Recognized as
TU-Automotive Industry
Award Finalist
Dealer-FX has moved one step further to cementing itself as an industry
leader by receiving recognition as a TU-Automotive Award finalist for Best
Industry Newcomer. This recognition illustrates the firm’s attention to providing connected mobile solutions which empower Service Departments
in meeting changing customer expectations. Dealer-FX exhibited at the
TU Automotive Show on June 3rd and 4th in Detroit. The awards highlight
emerging talent and established players in this space. Being named a finalist highlights Dealer-FX, recently recognized as a Technology Fast 500
company, as a progressive leader in connected Service lane technology and
one that’s poised to better connect dealer business operations with the connected vehicle.
Dealer-FX recently announced 1 Solution 3.0, a suite of products that is
changing the way Service Departments engage with customers and handle
the connected vehicle. With it, Dealer-FX is enabling Service Departments
and future-proofing their ability to meet the changing expectations of customers who are becoming better informed of Service issues. By arming
Service Advisors with advanced information and responsive mobile technology tools, Dealer-FX can assure dealerships of a serious commitment to
increasing their bottom line revenue, growth in maintenance penetration and
enhanced customer satisfaction.
At the event, Gary Kalk, President and CEO of Dealer-FX, spoke about how
telematics is driving new customer expectations and what that means for
dealership Service Departments. “The relationship between customer and
Service Department is being flipped on its head. Customers are now being informed by their connected vehicles and Service Departments need
effective tools to respond. Staying competitive and capitalizing on Service
opportunities at the dealership requires progressive mobile solutions that
provide consumers with information and keep them engaged on the drive.”
p. 110
Xtime’s Marketing 7 Enables
Dealerships to Recapture
“Lost Souls” and Increase
Service Revenue
Xtime has announced that dealers using the Marketing 7 component of the
Xtime Retention System have experienced a significant number of customer
recaptures and notable Service revenue from those re-engaged customers.
As a leading customer retention solution, Xtime enables dealers to deliver
more value, convenience and trust in the Service drive. In particular, Marketing 7 helps dealers combat the high defection rate often seen in Service Departments by enabling dealers to re-engage and recover lost souls — those
customers who at one time patronized the dealer Service Department but
have not visited in 15 months or more.
“These remarkable results are fueled by Marketing 7’s unique approach to
customer recapture,” said Xtime President, Neal East. “Dealerships lose an
average of 29% of their Service customers within only one year, which is a
huge amount of lost future revenue. With Marketing 7, dealers have a closed
loop marketing system with three unique features that bring customers back
to the dealership.”
“Unlike other marketing products available, Marketing 7 is part of a greater
system that incorporates all customer service touch points into one modern
Service retail experience,” continued East. “In effect, any Service details,
from discounts to recommendations to pricing, are consistent. By combining this form of integration with the ability to visualize capacity and utilize
time-based discounting, Marketing 7 is key to creating and maintaining loyal
Service customers.”
Infomedia’s Superservice
Platform to Power Hyundai’s
Workshop Automation Strategy
Infomedia, a global leader in automotive Parts and Service solutions, has
entered into a three-year agreement with Hyundai Motor America (HMA) to
supply and install components of the Superservice Fixed Operations platform supporting Hyundai’s Workshop Automation strategy in the United
States. Following the successful pilot phase of Superservice at key Hyundai
U.S. dealerships, Infomedia will be the authorized supplier of Superservice’s
quick quotation and multi-point inspection (MPI) solutions to HMA’s dealership network. Headline results from pilot dealerships using Superservice
indicated an increase of 24% in customer pay hours per repair order and
increased workshop productivity.
Workshop Automation powered by Superservice will help Hyundai dealerships drive efficiency and Service sales performance by engaging vehicle
owners throughout the Service and Repair process, promoting quoting
transparency and customer satisfaction. Superservice offers a wide range of
unique innovations for Hyundai dealerships, including VIN-precise Service
price guides with repair operations by variant, a mobile friendly MPI compatible with any device, instantaneous pricing of all identified work, photo
and video recommendations, self-authorization and a rich reporting suite.
Hyundai dealerships in the U.S. already have access to Infomedia’s Microcat
LIVE Electronic Parts Catalog.
CEO of IFM Americas, Karen Blunden, said: “We are proud to be working
side-by-side with a respected and progressive automaker such as Hyundai. Their endorsement is testament to Superservice’s ability to proactively
support OE dealerships in their objectives to increase customer retention,
improve workshop efficiency and sustain profitability.”
Google Selects Search Optics
as a Google AdWords Premier
SMB Partner
I-CAR Report Shows Collision
Repair Shops with Gold Class
Designation Save Money
Search Optics, a leading digital marketing provider with a specialty in automotive, has been selected into the Google AdWords Premiere SMB Partner Program. Search Optics specializes in providing automotive marketing
campaigns to dealer associations and dealerships that are data-driven and
backed by real, human analysis from more than 150 Google-certified employees – the most in its industry. More than 1,000 dealers use Search Optics to create incremental showroom traffic.
Collision repair shops that have earned Gold Class recognition from I-CAR
are producing significant cost savings for consumers and insurance companies, according to a new I-CAR white paper detailing the Enterprise Rent-ACar Length of Rental (LOR) report for the first quarter of 2015. Enterprise’s
data shows that Gold Class shops with well-trained Technicians can repair
vehicles faster and, as a result, shorten car rental days — both important
factors to reducing total cost to repair.
“The Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner Program was created to help
small and medium sized businesses who don’t have time or resources to
manage their advertising campaigns,” said Ben Wood, head of Google’s
Americas Channel Sales Partnerships. “Our PSP partners like Search Optics
offer expertise, experience and end-to-end customer service so business
owners can focus on running their business.”
The analysis examined data for the first quarter of 2015 from collision repair shops in the U.S. with which Enterprise conducts business. Enterprise
serves the $35 billion collision-repair industry, comprising over 34,000 facilities. Enterprise compared the market-average LOR for repairable vehicles
across all shops in their database versus those shops that have earned
Gold Class recognition from I-CAR. Gold Class shops have Technicians who
earned Platinum recognition by completing industry specified levels of training which contributes to complete, safe and quality repairs that ultimately
benefit the consumer.
“This recognition from Google as part of the Google AdWords Premier SMB
Partner Program reinforces our philosophy that quality, hands-on marketing
has a more positive impact than automated digital marketing,” said Christian
Fuller, Chief Relationship Officer at Search Optics. “Over the past few years,
Search Optics has been rapidly gaining a reputation for thoughtful marketing
campaigns that are carefully constructed to fit each of our clients’ needs,
thanks in part to our recently launched Blueprint platform.”
CallSource Uncovers Six Key
Behaviors to Successful Service
Appointment Setting
CallSource, the U.S. leader in call management, tracking and training, has
conducted research into best practices for successful Service appointment
setting, winning the company one of four finalist slots at DrivingSales Presidents Club’s Most Valuable Insight competition. The research, presented
recently, analyzed data across 2,464 phone calls and identified six key behaviors that, when successfully performed, were crucial in increasing Service call-to-appointment ratios. The study also examined the frequency with
which call handlers performed these six key behaviors.
Six of the surprisingly simple steps to increase appointments for Fixed Ops
include:
1. Asking the caller, ”How may I help you?” This was only asked 64% of the
time on the analyzed calls.
2. Establishing if the caller is a prior customer. This only occurred 62% of
the time.
3. Identifying the vehicle that needs Service. Call handlers did this only 69%
of the time.
4. Obtaining the caller’s full name. This only happened on 66% of calls studied.
5. Asking about additional questions/concerns. Only 6% of the calls studied
included this critical step.
6. Determine the caller’s timeframe for Service needs. Only 65% of call handlers did this on calls analyzed.
“We were surprised that in nearly 30% of the calls, these key, obvious actions were not implemented by Service Department call handlers,” said Andrew Price, President of CallSource Automotive. “This study is a wakeup
call for dealers into the state of automotive Service Department call handling
and we hope this insight will be used by dealers to immediately improve their
call-to-appointment ratios.”
“This new data further supports the significant advantages of Gold Class
shops,” said John Van Alstyne, CEO and President of I-CAR. “Not only are
shops better qualified to perform proper repairs and do so more cost effectively, consumers and insurance companies also are saving money. And
consumers also gain peace of mind, knowing that Technicians with updated
industry-standard training are repairing their vehicles, which contributes to
complete, safe and quality repairs. This data complements other related
I-CAR data that shows the positive impact training has on shop KPI performance and the further performance benefits that accrue to shops that
possess a culture of learning or as I-CAR refers to it, a “Learning Culture.”
New Report: Boost Sales By Tuning
Up Your Service Center
Dealers wanting to increase their vehicle sales should focus on the back
of their store, as sales are directly affected by customer experiences in the
Service Department, according to the March 2015 PowerRater Consumer
Pulse, a monthly analysis developed jointly by J.D. Power and DealerRater.
An alliance between J.D. Power and DealerRater integrates each company’s
capabilities to gather comprehensive vehicle shopper feedback based on
J.D. Power’s customer satisfaction research and DealerRater’s consumer
ratings and reviews of car dealerships.
“Clearly, there is a strong incentive for dealers to maximize customer satisfaction as it leads to a greater likelihood that customers will post a positive review, helping to support the reputation of the dealer’s Service Department,” said Chris Sutton, Vice President, U.S. Automotive Retail Practice at
J.D. Power.
As shown in data collected by DealerRater, improving its Service reputation
via positive reviews not only increases a dealership’s likelihood of new Service business, but it also positively impacts its ability to sell vehicles.
“Considering how competitive the market is, and the tight profit margins
that dealers are fighting, strengthening online reputation to maximize sales
opportunities is becoming a critical business objective for new-vehicle dealers,” said Gary Tucker, Chief Executive Officer of DealerRater.
p. 111
Solera Holdings, Inc.
Has Acquired
DMEautomotive, LLC
Solera Holdings, Inc. (“Solera”), a leading provider of risk and asset management software and services to the automotive and property marketplace,
has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire DMEautomotive,
LLC (“DMEa”), a leader in data-driven customer retention and marketing solutions for the retail automotive industry.
DMEa’s content-driven software and individualized communication tools enable automotive Sales, Service and Repair providers to partner with their
customers in vehicle management. Combining DMEa’s proprietary technologies with Solera’s existing portfolio will enable Solera’s customers to
increase customer retention and drive loyalty through tailored and frequent
digital contact across the entire automotive ownership lifecycle.
“The acquisition of DMEa is very exciting for us as it will further enrich our
understanding of our customers’ customers on a personalized and household level,” said Tony Aquila, Solera’s Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “When combined with Solera’s vertical software solutions across
the entire automotive lifecycle, this data will create powerful digital content
to enhance the ownership experience and strengthen the relationship and
transparency between our customers and their customers, resulting in a
smoother ride through the ownership lifecycle via technology accessed on
any device.”
RevolutionParts
Helps Dealerships Sell $100 Million
in Auto Parts Online
RevolutionParts, the automotive eCommerce platform that makes it easy for
dealerships to sell Parts online, reached a significant milestone. Since inception, the company has processed $100 million in online Parts sales for automotive dealerships. This achievement validates the consumer demand for
an easier way to shop online for genuine auto parts that are guaranteed to
fit their cars. The Tempe, Arizona-based company has doubled its revenue
year over year and will be fueling local job growth as it doubles the size of its
team in 2015. This will enable it to accommodate the high demand from both
dealerships and consumers for online parts eCommerce solutions. Currently,
more than 200 dealerships use RevolutionParts to sell Parts online. One part
is sold every 30 seconds on the RevolutionParts platform.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see the levels of success and growth that dealerships have had on our platform,” said Ibrahim Mesbah, CEO, RevolutionParts. “We view our customers as partners and their hard work and dedication have made this major achievement possible.”
“Traditional brick-and-mortar dealerships have been going through a huge
paradigm shift as technology changes the way people buy vehicles and auto
parts,” said Andreas Ronneseth, CTO, RevolutionParts. “We are excited to
help dealers in the midst of this large industry change and make it easier for
Parts Managers to adopt advanced technology solutions.”
p. 112
ALI Announces Stolen Annual
Inspection Labels
The Automotive Lift Institute, Inc. (ALI), an ANSI accredited product certification body, has made a public announcement that 200 of its Annual Inspection Labels were stolen when the vehicle of an ALI Certified Lift Inspector
was broken into and vandalized near Buffalo, New York on the night of April
20, 2015. The labels are individually serialized and are applied to automotive
lifts that pass annual lift inspection safety requirements as an indication of
compliance with recognized American National Standards.
If you have had your vehicle lift inspected since April 20, 2015, and it bears
an annual inspection label exhibiting a serial numbers in the stolen series,
the services may not have been performed by an ALI Certified Lift Inspector.
The label should be removed and reported to ALI. If a questionable inspection label has been applied to your lift or should you wish to determine validity of an annual inspection label, please furnish ALI with the name of the inspection provider, the manufacturer’s model and serial number of the lift and
the serial number shown on the inspection label. E-mail this information to:
[email protected], along with your company name and contact information.
Consumers’ ‘Why Should
I Buy from You?’ Answered
by MyCustomerData’s
Custom VIP Loyalty &
Rewards Solution
Auto retailers who differentiate their brands are more profitable, yet dealers can struggle to make those distinctions. In response, MyCustomerData
announced its new membership-based VIP Loyalty and Rewards customer
engagement solution that promises to lift showroom and Service drive traffic
by 35% and repair order revenues by $111 per ticket.
“Without consumer loyalty, a dealer competes on price alone,” said MyCustomerData CEO Kevin Bone. “But when a dealer can capture customers’
continuous, repeating business, customer lifetime value becomes reality.”
Bone said a well-designed loyalty program for auto dealers must attract customers to repeat three activities:
- Buy from the dealership, even if they can find the same vehicle elsewhere
for less.
- Service again, for all their Service and Maintenance needs, even if available
for less elsewhere
- Buy again from the dealership, even if they can find the same vehicle elsewhere for less.
“As customer acquisition costs increase and profit margins tighten, it’s crucial to keep customers coming back for Service Department visits and future
vehicle purchases,” Bone said. “Our process drives Service revenue, identifies qualified leads, lowers marketing costs and maintains healthy margins
on new vehicle sales. When a dealer can show customers how much they’ve
used their membership and the dollar value of that use, their loyalty to the
dealership is strengthened. As a closing tool, MyCustomerData’s ability to
track and monetize a customer’s membership can save deals.”
Learn more at www.tlsummits.com.
Mitchell 1 ProDemand
Consolidates Vintage Repair
and Estimating Information
Mitchell 1 has updated its ProDemand repair, diagnostic and maintenance
software by consolidating vintage repair and estimating information into the
application to deliver full year, make and model coverage from 1974 to the
present year. This latest enhancement gives Technicians easy access to additional years of Service information inside the ProDemand platform and improves the product user’s experience.
“By integrating our vintage information into ProDemand, we have improved
the navigation for our users and saved them time by delivering the data
on a single platform,” said Mike Alberry, Product Manager for ProDemand,
Mitchell 1. “It’s another step in our ongoing efforts to provide the most complete repair information for our customers, while also streamlining the search
process so they can work more efficiently.”
ProDemand provides full OEM repair, estimating, maintenance information
and real-world industry insights to help Technicians work faster and more
accurately. Technicians enter a diagnostic trouble code, component or
symptom and ProDemand returns information from Mitchell 1’s extensive library of OEM content as well as detailed Parts replacement records, tips and
real fixes from SureTrack’s expert-based information database. ProDemand
is also integrated with Manager SE, Mitchell 1’s industry-leading shop management system, further streamlining workflow to increase shop efficiency.
Cars.com Reaches One Million
Dealer Reviews, Offers Enhanced
Site Experience to Auto
Consumers
Cars.com has announced that it has received more than one million consumer-generated online reviews since the site feature first launched just
four years ago. Once viewed as a foreign concept within the automotive
category, online reviews are now an integral component of the modern car
shopping and vehicle maintenance processes, as is evident by the 91% of
consumers who reference them to help select a dealership. And 40% of all
new dealer reviews on Cars.com are based on a Service experience.
“We’re proud to reach one million reviews for our dealer customers. It shows
just how engaged Cars.com shoppers are during the dealership visit and the
value they put on reviews in choosing who to do business with,” said Barbara Mousigian, Vice President of Product at Cars.com. “Since we launched
the feature in 2011, we’ve maintained our transparent and honest model
for generating consumer feedback, which better serves our shoppers and
customers.”
In conjunction with the dealer reviews milestone, Cars.com has rolled out a
new, responsively designed homepage intended to provide a more tailored
consumer experience across all devices. Among the many consumer benefits, auto researchers will find greater integration of Cars.com editorial content and Service tools. The update also allows consumers to submit dealer
reviews on Cars.com via a mobile device. Cars.com OEM customers will
benefit from enhanced digital ad offerings.
Recall Masters Launches Rambo —
New Platform Revolutionizes Recall
Marketing Industry for Auto Dealers
Recall Masters, Inc., has announced the launch of Rambo, a revolutionary
new platform that offers the most complete recall marketing program available for auto dealers. Rambo attracts new customers every month and enables auto dealers to effectively drive more Sales and Service revenue from
vehicle owners motivated by factory recalls. According to Carfax’ annual
research, more than 46 million cars nationwide have at least one safety recall
that has never been fixed. Rambo is a cost-effective platform that markets
to these consumers and brings in new customers for far less than what most
auto dealers are currently paying.
“With Rambo we create opportunities to attract new customers, generate
more revenue from recall repairs, upsell Service based on vehicle maintenance and convert higher mileage and older vehicles into new car sales for
our auto dealer clients. Dealers can begin welcoming new customers in just
two weeks,” said Chris Miller, President of Recall Masters. “The problem is
that the OEM recall process is highly inefficient. With Rambo we truly are the
dealership’s partner in success. In fact, we do practically everything except
greet the customer,” said Miller.
Recall Masters offers exclusive marketing areas. Auto dealers can choose
a preferred marketing area by Zip code and gain exclusive marketing privileges to VINs in the selected area. Only one dealer at a time is authorized
to contact a vehicle owner. Each dealer receives only unperformed, nonexpired recalls on vehicles eligible for Service. When a customer calls in to
inquire about a recall, Rambo ensures a fast and efficient process, making
it easy for the dealership to look up the recall by vehicle VIN. It ensures all
the information is immediately to hand to quickly answer any questions and
service the customer.
Wildeck Achieves
Certification as an
Approved Fabricator for
Clark County, Nevada
One of the most stringent litmus tests for a manufacturer of structural steel
equipment such as mezzanine platforms, vertical lifts and safety guard rail
products is certification by independent quality testing authorities. As a leading manufacturer of storing, lifting and guarding products for nearly 40 years,
Wildeck, Inc., based in Waukesha, WI, has been certified to fabricate structural steel products for use in Clark County, Nevada and other jurisdictions
accepting the comprehensive TG-1 quality systems requirements, one of the
most stringent certifications for fabricators in the country.
According to Hubert Schlegel, Director of Marketing for Wildeck, Inc.,
achieving Clark County approval is a major accomplishment for Wildeck and
recognizes the skills and expertise of all Wildeck employee owners to deliver
the highest quality products to their customers. “To be recognized and approved as a fabricator by the Clark County, Nevada, Department of Building
(CCDB) requires a detailed analysis of a manufacturer’s steel fabrication processes from engineering and drafting to materials procurement, manufacturing, testing, quality control and quality assurance, operator training, record
keeping and other processes.”
p. 113
SHIFTMobility Enhances ShopLite
Software With Carfax
SHIFTMobility has teamed with Carfax to improve its ShopLite mobile solution by becoming part of myCarfax. The ShopLite mobile app now includes
Carfax QuickVIN so repair centers can check-in customers and retrieve vehicle information by keying in the license plate number and state. ShopLite
Premium users get the added benefit of simply snapping a photo of the
license plate to initiate the check-in process.
“We are pleased to partner with Carfax to incorporate real-time integration for license plate information lookup,” said Arvind Jain, SHIFTMobility
President. “Using the industry’s first license plate scan and decode feature
through ShopLite Premium, shop owners will have sophisticated vehicle
knowledge, quicker estimates and faster diagnoses of vehicle issues.”
ShopLite is a fully mobile shop management solution that helps shop Owners and Technicians handle everything from customer and supplier relationships to getting Parts inventory and price lists. The addition of Carfax
QuickVIN quickly displays the vehicle identification number (VIN), vehicle
engine information and year/make/model details within ShopLite. Vehicle
processing time is reduced, helping users increase car count, avoid Partsordering errors and make the best Service and Repair recommendations to
their customers.
Mighty says, “An Educated
Consumer Is Our Best Customer!”
To better inform consumers and enable them to make the right maintenance
decisions for their vehicles, Mighty Auto Parts has begun to produce a series
of educational animated videos. Each video runs approximately two minutes
and features concise, clear explanations of key vehicle services and how
the consumer benefits from having them performed. The first eight Mighty
educational animated videos have been produced and can be found on the
Mighty Auto Parts YouTube Channel at youtube.com/user/mightyautoparts.
Whether it’s the ever-increasing average price of a new vehicle, or some
newfound sense of frugality, people are keeping their vehicles longer. Therefore, consistent preventive maintenance is increasingly important for consumers, who continue to rely on their vehicles for dependable transportation.
“Car owners today can research virtually everything they need to know
about their vehicles online,” said Gary Vann, Mighty Auto Parts Senior Vice
President Sales & Marketing. “Because we believe ‘an educated consumer
is our best customer’, we’re endeavoring to make them more aware of the
servicing needs of all their vehicle’s major systems.”
AAPEX Unveils New Logo
AAPEX has unveiled a new, progressive logo as the first step in transforming
the brand to reflect it as the premier, global automotive aftermarket event
that keeps attendees ahead of the curve when servicing today’s high tech
and highly sophisticated vehicles. With an established and experienced 25plus year history, AAPEX is the venue for more than 2,400 automotive aftermarket manufacturers and suppliers to showcase new products, services
and technologies to buyers from 140 countries. Buyers also turn to AAPEX
and the AAPEXedu for the most up-to-date information on telematics and
the connected car, as well as new technologies that enhance vehicle safety,
security and fuel economy.
p. 114
The new logo captures the current and future direction of AAPEX. With its
streamlined look and contemporary feel, it is in sync with the many technological advances taking place in the automotive industry today.
- AAPEX 2015 will be at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada:
- Education: Monday, November 2 through Thursday, November 5
- Exhibits: Tuesday, November 3 through Thursday, November 5
AAPEX 2015 is expected to feature more than 2,400 exhibitors, 5,000 booths
and 39,000-targeted buyers. Approximately 130,000 automotive aftermarket
professionals are projected to be in Las Vegas during AAPEX.
Pulse Unveils New Geo-Location
Smart Phone Technology to Market
Directly to Inactive Customers
Pulse, a premier automotive direct marketing company specializing in Sales
and Service campaigns, has announced a very high-tech companion for
their VIP Checkbook program. This new technology automatically sends a
push notification to the end user’s smartphone whenever they are within
proximity of a dealership, keeping the dealership’s offers on a customers
mind. Not only will alerts be sent directly to the smartphone, but personalized barcodes allow for super-detailed trackability, when the user takes
advantage of the special Service offer.
Pulse CEO, Jonathan Benjamin, was recently asked about the success of
this program. “Our VIP Checkbook Program had already been delivering
industry leading redemption rates and ROI as far reactivating inactive customers, but we’re already seeing that this new technology is delivering even
better results. End-users have even been requesting the digital versions of
the offers, foreshadowing a shift in the way customers will want to utilize
offers and interact with businesses in the future. Simply put, you can’t get
any closer to a customer than their smartphone. Not only that, but since we
can deliver the coupons directly to the customer’s phone, they don’t have
to worry about leaving their coupons at home or generally not having them
close when they need them.”
OEMs Continue to Endorse PEAK
Performance’s SmartScheduler
PEAK Performance, a trusted authority in automotive customer engagement, has received another national OEM endorsement for its state-of-theart, online scheduling solution — SmartScheduler. SmartScheduler is now
approved to sell to over 6,000 dealerships in North America, expanding its
fast-growing reach.
Dealers using SmartScheduler maximize their capacity to drive additional
revenue by monitoring Service capacity and future bookings. SmartScheduler works with a dealer’s DMS in real time and links with ADP, Reynolds and
Arkona. SmartScheduler has proven to be the fastest in the industry, with
29 seconds being the average time it takes to book an appointment. Additionally, dealers who offer SmartScheduler see significant gains in customer
behavior – 95% of customers complete the appointment booking process
and 75% return to the dealership for their next Service. Dealers also capture
an average of 4 to 7 appointments daily that are booked after-hours.
According to Steven Gray, Chief Revenue Officer at PEAK, “SmartScheduler
has proven to be the preferred tool of choice for automotive dealerships and
we are excited to receive yet another endorsement from a prestigious OEM
partner.”

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