All Blog Posts Tagged 'service' (616)

Potratz Welcomes Justine Cervenka

Potratz is pleased to welcome Justine Cervenka, an experienced advertising professional who has joined the team as Media Director. Originally from Cobleskill, she has returned to New York after working for multiple agencies in Arizona since 1992.

Justine has handled accounts for a variety of industries, including retail, healthcare, travel, and education. She also… Continue

Added by Paul Potratz on January 25, 2011 at 2:53pm — No Comments

3 Strategies for Failure

There are 3 Strategies for Failure that many Service Managers and Fixed Operations Directors use (with little Success) to facilitate changes in their daily operations and the behaviors of Service Department Personnel.

Yet, these 3 Strategies are the most common response many otherwise capable Managers (and Dealer Principals) use over and over again with little to no results. This in turn leads to a downward spiral of resentment followed by anger followed by the inevitable angry… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on January 20, 2011 at 10:53am — No Comments

You Can Do This, and Start Today!

There is no longer any doubt about the need for a digital presence. If you want to improve your market share here are a few things a dealer can do today.

Require each department head to write a blog once a month. (This should include the GM or Dealer.)

Require each employee that interacts with the public to maintain a page on some social media platform.

Make sure the Dealership maintains a Facebook page and a twitter page. (updates are important.)

Each…

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Added by Craig Darling on January 14, 2011 at 11:33am — No Comments

When is Enough...Enough?

When is enough...enough? If you are in Fixed Operations, this question is surprisingly easy to answer.

NEVER!

There is never enough Gross Profit. In fact, when was the last time you and the Dealer Principal sat down in the office and he or she took out the latest financial, looked it over and then said to you "Go ahead and close the service drive and take the rest of the month off. We have enough Gross Profit!"

There is never enough Service Absorption. We live in an… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on January 12, 2011 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Marketing your Dealership's Service Center

How much of your dealership’s advertising budget goes into promoting your Service Department? Often times it seems that Car Dealers put so much time into getting the Front End ready for Lights, Camera and Action that the Back End gets neglected. Promoting your Service and Parts Center as well as the Body Shop is a healthy way to keep Car Buyers coming into your Service Bay even after their warranty is up.

Consider the age of the average vehicle on the road in your market. All of…

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Added by Paul Potratz on January 7, 2011 at 10:28am — No Comments

Be A Self Developing Leader In 2011

In 2011 there won’t be a lot of time to stand around because everything is faster.

If you are waiting around waiting for someone to tell you “Hey…you…yes you…get some new skills!” then you are about to get run over like an empty paper cup on a New York city street there pal.

This is part 5 in a series on Leadership for 2011.

2011 will be exciting and challenging, no doubt about it.

Car sales are up, RV sales are up…and people are starting to recover… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 27, 2010 at 9:45am — No Comments

John Q. Service Advisor

John Q. is a underachiever at ABC Motors. His HPRO is at .9 and his Gross Profit Margin is below 70%. Now, John Q. is not necessarily a bad guy. In fact, he is a likeable and hard-working employee. He comes to work on time and believes he contributing to the overall success of the Service Department.

Johns current performance level is not acceptable. And the consequence of not taking action has verifiable results. Take a look at Johns numbers.

His current HPRO at .9 at the… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 23, 2010 at 9:36am — No Comments

Contest is nearing the end...

Send in a picture of the service drive all decorated up and you will be entered to win in the DealerPro Training Solutions Best Decorated Service Drive Contest!

It's simple. Decorate, take a pic, send it to lbuchholz@dealerprotrainingcom or mrobson@dealerprotraining.com and you can win!

There are details on the blog at…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 21, 2010 at 4:24pm — No Comments

DealerPro Training Sponsoring Fixed Operations Training Sessions

DealerPro Blog

Once in a while a great deal comes along. Your friend has tickets to the game at half price…you find the golf clubs you want on sale at 40% off…the caterer for your daughters wedding throws in two bottles of champagne for the wedding party… great deals come in all shapes and sizes.

This is a great deal.

DealerPro Training Solutions is sponsoring 10 Training Sessions covering topics…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 15, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Seminar Schedule for the NADA Convention

Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solution is scheduled to present "Implementing The Four Essentials To Service Absorption" at the NADA Convention in February 2011. There are four seminars to choose from.

Friday February 4th@1:30pm in Room 2018 West.

Saturday February 5th@1:00pm in Room 303 South Esplanade.

Sunday February 6th@11:00am Room 2016 West.

Monday February 7th@8:30am Room 2016 West.

Don has been a Top 10 NADA Convention Speaker since 2007. He…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 14, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Lead 2011, Not Manage 2011

In the Dealership we can find ourselves in a position where we are Managing more than Leading.

Typically, as the level of responsibility grows, so grows the level of administrative duties. These administrative duties include responsibility for how much to spend on light bulbs for the showroom floor to changing the shop supplies vendors.

Everything in the Dealership somehow manages to come across your desk, right?!

This is part 3 in the Leadership for 2011… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 13, 2010 at 12:09pm — No Comments

Be A Model Leader In 2011

The personnel in your Dealership are looking to you for direction. They are in need of someone to emulate and follow.

This is part 2 of a series on Leadership for 2011.

In the first post I told you about a training visit and seminar I conducted and how I found a Leadership module hanging on the wall that I thought was one the best I have seen.

The second concept that was written on that poster was…

”Model The Way.”

What it means is that as a Leader,… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on December 6, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Service Absorption Rule #1

“Maintain your profit margins at 45% C/P Parts and 75% C/P Labor” says Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training Solutions.

Maintaining your profit margins is not always easy, and it’s not getting any easier! If you are struggling with profit margins, the first thing you must do is measure what you are getting.

The financial statement is the place to look. On your financial you will find month end data as well as year to date. What we want to take a look at it is the month end… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 30, 2010 at 11:13am — No Comments

The Hundred Mile An Hour Goat

Two friends are out hunting, and as they are walking along they come upon a huge h*** in the ground. As they approach it they are amazed by the size of it.

The first hunter says “Wow, that’s some h***; I can’t even see the bottom. I wonder how deep it is.” The second hunter says” I don’t know, let’s throw something down and listen and see how long it takes to hit bottom.”

The first hunter looks around and spies an old automobile transmission lying in the grass. He tells the… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 29, 2010 at 11:57am — No Comments

Just Because It's The Obvious Answer

I am constantly surprised at what people say when the answer they are seeking is the obvious one, it's simple and they don't accept it.

It's kinda like the Customer who is buying a car and you hit them right on the number on the first pencil... they look at you like you are screwing them! "It can't be this easy" they are thinking or "I'm paying too much."

In Fixed Operations it's the same. If a Customer needs a repair done and you go back to them with a repair that obviously…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 17, 2010 at 5:29pm — No Comments

3 Ways Service Advisors Can Speed Up Service Sales

One of the most frustrating things that Service Advisors have to deal with is the unavailability of the Customer after they have left the Dealership.

In 100% of the cases there is a series of steps the Advisor can do during the writeup and repair process to increase the chances that they will be able to contact the Customer once the vehicle has been inspected or the repairs have been completed.

Step Number One.

Get a “Pre-Approval” amount. This is amazingly… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 11, 2010 at 3:05pm — No Comments

10 Reasons Multi-point Inspections are Important

In our world there is a constant search for “better.”

Better personnel, better systems, better procesess, better sales…you get the idea.

Is there “better” out there in Fixed Operations?

Sure. In recent years software and computers have made getting every conceivable report possible and as easy as a press of the button.

Software applications like ASR Capture from Reverse Risk is a prime example. Here is an application that does nearly everything that old… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 5, 2010 at 12:23pm — No Comments

The 100% Rule

100% of doing exactly the same thing next year as what you did this year will yield you 100% of the same results.

100% of Personnel in your Dealership who do not receive any Training will perform exactly the same next year as they did this year.

100% of the Processes you used this year to get the results you now have will give you exactly 100% of the same results next year.

100% of the of the Profit you made this year comes from 100% of the Personnel you… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 4, 2010 at 3:38pm — No Comments

When to make the Hard Decisions in a Dealership

Every week I am in a Dealer and have found certain things to be true for those that are successful and those that are not.

In Dealers that are successful, they make the hard decisions.

The gather information, investigate, counsel with whom they need to and decide. Once that decision is made, it is broadcast to everyone it needs to be and implemented immediately.

In Dealers that are struggling, this process is broken.

Most often, they make no… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on October 21, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments