Modern Dealership - June 2019 by Modern Dealership

FEATURES

04 Fixed Ops and the Year Ahead

Matt Raymond, Director of Business Development at Team Auto Group

06 Data Mining and the Service Drive

Terry Kidd, Dealer Principal/Owner of Chatsworth Ford

08 The NHRA YES Program Turns 30 With Bob Tasca III

Female Service Techs–A Win for All

MODERN DEALERSHIP INSIGHTS

27 The Heart of Service in America’s Heartland

Bobby Hewlett III, (right) VP and DP of Metro Ford in Independence, MO 2

MODERNDEALERSHIP

ITB

COVER FEATURE

CONTENTS VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 2 • JUNE 2019

DEPARTMENTS

22 35 39 18 31 44

MODERN SALES Master the Upsell Rex Weaver, Director of After Sales at Mercedes-Benz Porsche Lehigh Valley

MODERN FIXED OPS Retaining Service Techs Service On Purpose Laura Chapdelaine, Sales and Leasing Consultant at Battleboro Subaru

MODERN OPERATIONS Giving Back With Guest Chefs at the New LugNutz Cafe Mike Marcotte, President of Marcotte Ford

MODERN COMMUNICATION Female Mechanics’ Skill, Passion and Strength Pay Off Facebook Guerrilla Marketing 3.0 Nathan Hays, Sales Professional at Jefferson City AutoPlex

FROM THE EDITOR:

A dealership is like a machine in which several departments each have a specific function to perform in order for the whole to operate smoothly. Though the Service Drive has been traditionally utilized post automobile purchase, with a modern perception and great technology some might argue that it is becoming the most lucrative cog in the dealership machine and should be treated AND funded as such. Learn how Bobby Hewlett (p. 27) is investing in talent in the Service Drive and how that practice contributes to Metro Ford’s motto, “It’s the Dealer that Makes the Difference”. Stay relevant by joining your Sales and Service forces with Matt Raymond (p. 4), and master the upsell and save your back-end business by following tips from Rex Weaver (p.22 ). Mike Marcotte (p. 18) describes how Marcotte Ford’s LugNutz Café keeps customers satisfied while they wait but is also a source of generational pride and community outreach. Take the time to find out how data mining in the Service Drive is worth the investment with Terry Kidd (p. 6), and what the two crucial questions in Fixed Ops are for Laura Chapdelaine (p. 39). Bob Tasca III and the NHRA YES Program (p. 8) are inspiring Service Techs of the future, while Girls Auto Clinic and Patty’s Auto (p. 13) are breaking the gender mold and finding financial gains in the Service Drive. Plus more on how your back-end can give you front-end profits in this special issue of MD!

JOIN SALES & FIXED OPS FORCES TO STAY RELEVANT WITH

MATT RAYMOND

Director of Business Development at Team Auto Group We have recently acquired 2 stores to add to our group and 2019 brings more adventures, strategies, and challenges. While I was sitting down and speaking with some friends, we were talking about 2019, as well as our focus and direction in which we are headed. We have all been involved in the variable operations side of things for years and we are always hearing “retention retention retention”. Well, that is a great concept, but in a slowing economy with people extending loans longer and longer due to affordability, why are we not looking at other avenues of revenue? Yes, we all know that dealerships have service departments, parts departments, detail departments, and some even have body shops. These are all revenue generating departments, but are we focusing on driving traffic to those different points?

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I recently moved to North Carolina from Northeast Pennsylvania and one of the things we did to expand our fixed operations business was utilize digital billboards. We had access to swap out the billboards on the fly and this was critical while watching the weather. When we knew a storm was coming, we would put up a billboard about tires. When we were expecting a bad snowstorm which typically produced an increase in accidents, we would showcase our body shop on a billboard. We would run similar advertisements on Facebook and the whole idea was to be inside the consumer’s head, by identifying shopping patterns.

Although we don’t see snow often in North Carolina, we have many different opportunities. One of the recent strategies we utilized is free diagnostic testing at one of our rooftops. We put that offer into emails, created a website banner and promoted it on Facebook, as well. Our thought process is the more people we can put in the service drive, the more opportunities we have to sell parts, vehicles and service work. We focus so heavily on selling cars, yet often forget about selling service. We must keep in mind that if people come back for service over and over again, we are creating a truly valuable customer. As we implement data mining products, such as AutoAlert, we have realized conquest opportunities in our service drive. This gives us plenty of insight into how we missed their business originally and why the other dealer failed to retain them. One of the things that I am currently in the process of doing is building out a process in which all conquest customers receive a tour of the dealership. They should be introduced to the sales department, parts department and body shop. I came up with this idea as I put myself back into the consumer’s

“... OUR DEALERSHIPS WILL NOT SURVIVE IF WE DON’T FIGURE OUT A WAY TO CAPITALIZE ON FIXED OPERATIONS.” shoes and thought back to when I bought my first vehicle from a dealership. When I went to the dealer for my first service, I walked into the wrong door. The technicians ignored me and the service writer came out and yelled “You can’t be in there!” to me. I thought to myself, “It was dumb to put two doors next to each other and not label them.” Instead of dealing with a rude service writer, it was easier to visit Jiffy Lube. Overall, we know that our dealerships will not survive if we don’t figure out a way to capitalize on fixed operations. I am working with our Fixed Operations Director on marketing, SEO and creating a reason for the customer to visit us. This will encompass more than just servicing a vehicle. This ensures that each of our rooftops provides an enjoyable experience, in both the showroom and the service drive, while creating raving fans. We must get in the consumer’s head, determine their shopping patterns, deliver relevant content and promote an exceptional customer experience in order to see our dealerships thrive. Whether you’re looking for growth in your variable or fixed operations, join forces and stay relevant.

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WORTH THE INVESTMENT:

Data Mining

the Service Drive

TERRY KIDD

Dealer Principal/Owner of Chatsworth Ford

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For the past 3-5 years the sales floor has felt a decline in walk-in traffic. The reason is obvious as research and shopping can be done online. However, most purchases still take place at the dealership. So, we asked ourselves: Where can we generate buying traffic for the sales department? The answer was right in front of us and had been for years! The service customer. After several meetings with the management team, we realized that the best strategy for us to follow was internal data management, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;miningâ&#x20AC;? as we know it today. Chatsworth Ford is not a large store, but a family run business. Changing the way we do business to increase sales through data mining was a major step. To do this, we chose AutoAlert in a partnership opportunity given to us from Ford Motor Company.

The plan was to integrate sales and service prospecting through our newly formed Business Development Center. No more thirdparty sources or vehicle listing sites. The team decided to change our web site provider and online service scheduling option. We also decided to integrate our service waiting area with the main showroom to expose customers to our new products. We have plenty of customers who wait for repairs as we schedule them on a timely basis, but the team chose not to bombard customers with a salesperson on the service line. Instead, we rely on the service staff to do their thing and make the customer feel welcomed. Salespersons and Sales Managers always interact with the waiting customers in our showroom/waiting area! Through our data mining service, we always have something to discuss with the customers in a low pressure, comfortable atmosphere, such as ESP, routine maintenance, Ford Pass, or vehicle

upgrade options. The process is working, and everyone feels good about the direction we are going. We have increased sales over eight units per month and ESP sales. We have also increased sales in the Service Department. When we combine this with our organic approach to internet sales, we see a lot more workable traffic for all areas of the dealership. Because of this, everyone is a part of this journey. Results do not happen overnight but when we plan properly, partner with suppliers who offer good products, and stay the course, we find a higher return on our investment. Data mining is nothing new. However, every day AutoAlert proves to my team that if we take care of our customer, they will return and do business with us repeatedly! The AutoAlert data mining program puts everything we need to do in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s competitive world into one program. It is user friendly, accurate and well worth the investment! M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

h t u o Y

for

The popular NHRA YES Program is celebrating 30 years of providing young people with opportunities to enter the automotive field through hands-on education.

As exciting as being in the hot, loud pit of a professional Funny Car drag racing team is – preparing for the nitromethane explosion equivalent to a 2.0 earthquake, feeling the adrenaline, hearing the roar of the engines, seeing the crowd cheer – imagine what it would be like for a 17-year-old. Powerful stuff. For decades, the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) has been inviting high-school students to professional races and racetracks as part of its Youth and Education Services program. These lucky kids get to experience NHRA racing for free, and many even get to race their own cars on professional tracks.

Running a nationwide, full-time program like YES requires a lot of resources. Sponsors include Ford, Universal Technical Institute, Dodge/Mopar, and SEMA & PRI.

Thrilling, yes. However the YES program, celebrating its 30th year, has considerably more to offer these young people than big thrills.

The program is reaching a lot of teens. An average of 2,000 students register per event, with 30,000 enrolled overall so far this year.

Free, Fun, and Formative Some students sign up for the program because they’re already passionate about cars and racing. YES tends to fuel their interest. Others sign up and have their interest sparked once they learn about the exciting opportunities available. Like the NHRA itself, YES aims to keep amateur hot-rodders off the streets by giving them a safe environment for racing. But in addition to growing the “off the streets and onto the track” mission, YES also teaches young people about the importance of responsible decisions in general, the value of education, and the opportunities for a lucrative career in the automotive industry.

The NHRA coordinates YES with schools through the STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) program, providing an opportunity for hands-on, realworld education in fields that the government projects will grow the fastest in coming years. YES is the only accredited, free, full-time program educating high-schoolers about the industry in this way. Bob Tasca III, CEO of Tasca Racing and Vice President of Tasca Automotive Group, is an enthusiastic supporter of the YES program and has been participating in education sessions for years. “I tell these kids that my grandfather started as a 25-cents-an-hour ‘grease monkey,’ as they called service technicians back then,” M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

Tasca says, “and he became one of the largest Ford stores in New England, even in the country at one time. It’s the best stepping stone for entering the automotive space. There’s a lot of exciting opportunity available.”

Never Go Out of Style Sure, the good (even excellent) money is one reason to get into the field of electrical or automotive engineering and work as a service technician. “Most people are unaware of the awesome career opportunities and earning opportunity for a Ford tech,” Tasca says. “You can have a six-figure career in five years or less, but it will take a lot of hard work and a focus on training. And you come out with little or no school debt!”

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For some people, the reasons stop there. But there’s way more to this career opportsomething that is particularly important to today’s mobile young people. “You can pick up and move anywhere, and by the time you land, you’ll have a job,” he says. “The industry has about 100,000 jobs available now but produces only about 40,000 technicians a year.” Tasca also educates on the importance of job stability in a career choice. “These young people haven’t lived through a recession,” he says. “They don’t know the stress of not being able to bring home a paycheck. I let them know that during past recessions, we’ve unfortunately had to let people go at the dealerships. But the one position we’ve never let go? Master technicians.”

Making a Connection Tasca participates in YES programs all around the country throughout the school year and sometimes finds himself in front of crowds of 4,000 or more young people. He and the Tasca Racing team also invite the students into the pits so that they can get the full feel of professional racing. It’s this kind of hands-on experience combined with education and opportunity that gets Brad Gerber so excited about the program year after year. “I can’t think of one other program out there as exciting as this one,” says Gerber, the NHRA’s Chief Development Officer. “It’s so engaging, so immersive. They get to go into the pits and touch a big fat slick. But they also have the chance to make lifelong mentors.” Top Ford dealers can be found mingling in the Tasca Racing pit, making themselves available for talking with the youth and giving out their business cards and numbers to those interested in future employment. More young women are attending the YES programs, too, which Tasca is pleased to see: “Our female techs go toe to toe with the best guys in the shop. It’s definitely not just a man’s world.”

The second part of Tasca’s speech is to leave the kids with 3 things that will get them on a path to success! These are the qualities he looks for in a new member of his racing or dealership team: 1. Work harder than you play. You know the saying “work hard, play hard”? For Tasca, it doesn’t quite cut it. “You need a tremendous work ethic to succeed at anything,” he tells the program attendees. “Within a week of hiring people, I can point to the ones who will be successful.” 2. Be responsible with your life. Tasca encourages the attendees to take ownership of their life. “It’s not your mom’s life, or your dad’s – it’s yours. One irresponsible decision and you could throw it all away.” He shares that just two speeding tickets make an employee uninsurable at most dealerships; a DUI might mean five years of being uninsurable. “When going in for an interview, don’t put yourself behind the eight ball at ‘hello.’” 3. Wake up to chase your goals. That’s goals, with an s. Set not just work goals, but also personal goals, goals for your family, etc. “You’re going to hit bumps along the way but as long as you have goals that you’re focused on, you’ll never lose sight of where you’re going,” Tasca says. “Hard work doesn’t always equal success. But if you don’t work hard, you’ll never find success. And do it today. You’re going to blink and you’ll be 30.” M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

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Female Service Techs A Win for Women, Dealerships, and Consumers

Statistics show that women make up somewhere between just one and two percent of all service technicians in the U.S. There are several reasons why the number is low, but given the growing demand for techs – and the fact that the job is widely considered a good one – there’s a big opportunity for more women to enter the field and help dealerships meet the demand. For one thing, somewhere around 77 percent of people who bring their car into the dealership for service are female. Many people actually prefer to work with a female tech. “There are a lot of reasons why having women in this role is a great thing,” says Stacey Smith, Executive Recruiter of Technicians for Automax Recruiting. “It is a good job, and women are good at it. They can build long-term relationships better.

And since more women bring cars in for service than men, it can be a real bonus to have a female tech there to relate to.” That’s how Patrice Banks felt. Along with Smith, Banks is a leader in making a path for women in the industry. Years before she opened Girls Auto Clinic repair center in Philadelphia, she went looking specifically for a female tech, and couldn’t find even one. That sparked a desire to become a service technician herself. At 31, and making six figures as an engineer, Banks enrolled in night classes at a technical school – “the only girl with a bunch of 19-year-old boys.” It wasn’t long before she left her successful career to work in garages and gain experience. M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

Patrice Banks hands off a key at her repair center, Girls Auto Clinic. Banks now trains women on basic car knowledge and hires only female techs at her repair center. The timing for more women to enter the field couldn’t be better: The TechForce Foundation recently released a report that showed the demand for new vehicle techs from 2016 to 2026 to be three times higher than was previously projected for the 2014 to 2024 period.

Old-School Obstacles Obstacles to seeing more women as service techs include that it’s sometimes seen as a “man’s job” and that most women are unaware of the job’s many perks, including the good pay, short schooling with programs that can leave graduates free of student debt, and reasonable hours. Banks says that sexism can be an obstacle too. “In some cases, women might face discrimination at hiring, or they may get hired and face discrimination in the workplace,” she told Modern Dealership last year. “It could be an unsafe work environment, or

Earlier this year, Fox began shooting a pilot sitcom called “Patty’s Auto” inspired by Patrice Banks’ auto clinic.

it could be that she isn’t mentored and trained as much as her male counterparts, so isn’t advancing in her career and gaining the same experience.” The good news, according to Smith, is that FO is a great place for women to find equality at a dealership. “I’ve worked both sides – front-of-the-house sales and FO,” she says. “I see management as being more open to bringing women in on the service side. The job is very task-oriented, and there’s just less room for issues.”

Paving the Way for Success With support coming from players inside the industry – like Smith and Banks – the outlook is positive for female service techs. Opportunities are increasing as dealerships are recognizing the specific value of female techs and more people are spreading the word about great job opportunities. “I think we need to work to get more women into [training], but also be sure we are supporting them once they are in the field,” Banks says.

A Lucrative Career

Certification for low-grade techs requires just one year of schooling, with more advanced tech certification taking another year or so. Even low-grade techs can expect to make about $45,000 to $50,000 out of school. In addition, good techs are so in demand that many dealerships now offer to pay back student debt for their new techs. A perk, for sure, when the average student debt is $32,000. Top-level techs who have earned master mechanic status and have five years of experience can earn $100,000 a year, according to reporting by The New York Times. Some women might have been turned off by the physical/mechanical aspect of the work, but it has become vastly more technical and software-based in nature, reflected in the job’s changing title: mechanic to technician. Plus, the hours are reasonable, with most dealers paying on a flat-rate basis, where the tech is paid for eight hours of work even if she completes the work in four or five hours.

Finding a mentor who believes in you, who understands the challenges you face, and who will help you succeed is essential, she adds. “Ladies, we are so capable. More than we know. [Our] emotional strength, softness, cleverness are needed. Believe and know that it is for you and you can do it.” Smith often posts job opportunities that might be more appealing to female techs – like those being offered by female-owned dealerships – on LinkedIn and other social outlets.

“I think we need to work to get more women into [training], but also be sure we are supporting them once they are in the field,” Banks says.

One dealership that has been particularly interested in female techs is Team Auto Group, a ChevroletBuick-GMC-Cadillac dealership in Salisbury, N.C., where Dealership Partner Kristin Dillard is acting as another agent of change for women in the field. Dillard asks for all the female applicants Automax can provide. And she’s not the only one. More good news from Smith: “If I had 1,000 female techs available right now, I could place them in 30 days.”

M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

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GIVING BACK

WITH GUEST CHEFS AT NEW LUGNUTZ CAFÃ&#x2030;

WITH MIKE MARCOTTE

President of Marcotte Ford

Marcotte Ford celebrated 56plus years in the Holyoke, Mass., community with an $8.2M expansion last year, centered around a full-service restaurant that features a fun way of giving back.

Owners (from left to right): Bryan Marcotte, Mike Marcotte, Mike Filomeno

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WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR LUGNUTZ CAFÉ COME FROM, AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THE CAFÉ? The idea for LugNutz Café came from my father, Bryan Marcotte, about 20 years ago, back when I was in high school. The name was trademarked in 2014. My dad is always thinking of outside-the-box ideas to make Marcotte Ford different from everyone else. He thought, why not add a café into the dealership? We started by having a local partner, The Log Cabin, come into the dealership and set up breakfast two days a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays, from 7 to 11 a.m. We were hoping that while people waited for their vehicle to be serviced, they could enjoy a hot cup of coffee and a bite to eat. When I say “a bite to eat,” we offered buildyour-own omelets, waffles, sausages, pancakes, and fruit cups. No one was leaving hungry.

HOW HAS THE CAFÉ CHANGED OVER THE YEARS? Many customers asked for us to be open more days. Little did they know that, as meetings were being held with our contractor to remodel 1025 Main Street, we were planning on building a full-service restaurant in the middle of the dealership. Each week, more details were put into the café design as menu items were also being talked about.

WHEN DID THE NEW RESTAURANT OPEN? Our newly renovated dealership opened in September of 2018, and LugNutz Café started with a soft launch to our employees. Soon after, we opened to the public. Breakfast and lunch are served Monday through Friday, and our Saturday hours are 7 to 11 a.m., serving breakfast. We offer a variety of weekly breakfast, lunch, soup, and smoothie specials. We just announced a burger special of the week. Our online ordering system allows guests to place their order ahead of time, or to-go. The LugNutz Café “open to the public” sign on the street in front of Marcotte Ford continues to draw new people into the dealership, as they are curious to see what all the buzz is about.

HAS THE CAFÉ HELPED WITH CUSTOMER RETENTION?

It has. The waiting area (which we now call the community area, because this is where everyone gathers) has several TVs, a high-top bar area with outlets that allow the customers to plug in and work, and a community table that invites people to sit and chat with other customers and employees. We also have a seating area that is often overflowing with happy customers eating breakfast or lunch. We are starting to see more and more people come back to LugNutz Café, whether they have a service appointment or just want to stop by to enjoy the café. I think the café also helps create a more relaxed atmosphere, so people feel more comfortable doing business at Marcotte Ford. Once they’ve finished their coffee, a stack of pancakes, or their sandwich, their service advisor is coming around the corner to tell them their vehicle is ready, and they are leaving with a smile. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from both longtime and new customers.

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WHAT ARE SOME OF THE POPULAR MENU ITEMS?

Our menu is tasty and affordable, and we’ve garnered attention for naming many of the items after our business properties or the models of vehicles we sell. Things like Quick Lane Salads, MCTC Sandwiches, Hungry Expeditions, and Explorer Omelets. In addition to our weekly specials, you can always find one of your classic favorites on the menu. Our pizzas and burgers are crowd pleasers, and we have fresh salads and sandwiches that are made to your liking. The number of toppings you can add to any item is just about endless. Perhaps best of all, our menu items are priced under $10.

WE’VE HEARD THAT THE CAFÉ IS ALREADY HAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY. When we first opened, we delivered lunch to local businesses to help spread the word. Now we get asked to host and cater meetings at our dealership through LugNutz Café. Each month, we have a local community member act as a Guest Chef, where they help to serve one of their specialty recipes. For every order served that day, LugNutz Café donates $2 toward their local charity of choice. It has turned into a friendly competition of who can raise the most money! LugNutz Café has also become a popular meeting place on Tuesday mornings. We love seeing different groups of people come in regularly and watch as they pull their tables together to invite others to join them. The café has become a real focal point of the dealership. It’s like your kitchen at home, where everyone gathers together to enjoy a tasty meal and each other’s company. Our LugNutz team has become a great addition to the Marcotte Ford family. To say the least, we are having a blast and can’t wait to see where the café goes in the future.

WHAT’S YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITE MENU ITEM? I am a daily customer at the café. My favorite meal is a burger … with fries, of course!

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An insider’s look at you, the readers of MD! An insider’s We asked … look at you, the readers of MD! We asked …

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lovethe thecar car II have have now. now. My last four vehicles “I“Ilove vehicles have havebeen beenBuicks. Buicks.The Thelatest latestisisa aTurbo. Turbo.It’sIt’sway way morefun! fun!As Asaa person person who who very particularly love more particularly only only likes likesblack blackor orsilver silvercars, cars,I am I amunnaturally unnaturallyinin love withmy myBlack Black Cherry Cherry Regal. Regal. The interior with interior is is black black and andtan, tan,and andit’s it’smy myabsolute absolutefavorite favoriteinterior interior combination.I’ve I’ve had had itit for just over a year.” combination. year.” —CathyNesbit, Nesbit, Social Social Media Media Director, Harry —Cathy Harry Robinson RobinsonBuick BuickGMC GMC

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Be a part of Off The Lot. Be a part of Off The Lot. Send your paragraph answer to the question below – along with your name and title – Send your paragraph answer to the question below – along with your name and title – to media@moderndealership.com for a chance to appear here next time! to media@moderndealership.com for a chance to appear here next time! What has been your favorite road trip? What has been your favorite road trip?

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MASTER THE UPSELL Of the numerous tasks that your service advisors have to do throughout the day, what would you consider to be the most important? Rex Weaver

Director of After Sales at Mercedes-Benz Porsche Lehigh Valley

MODERNDEALERSHIP

Greeting clients? Doing walkarounds? Confirming client information? And on and on. All are important. And that’s not including all of the administrative aspects of the job, from making sure that the billing of the repair order is correct to adding all of the labor operations for warranty submission.

From opening through probably the next two hours of your day, every early wait or drop-off who needs a loaner or who didn’t drop off at night is in the reception area to be waited on.

If there is anything that makes your store and makes you money, it’s the upsells.

If your technicians are doing what they should be, they’re pushing recommendations to your advisors within 15 or 20 minutes of “punching on” the job.

A deep MPI done by a qualified technician and then sold to the client is what your service department should be doing all day long. There lies the problem.

Advisors Pressed for Time If I were to tell you that the average upsell sits in an advisor’s inbox for 20 minutes, would that surprise you? It shouldn’t, because that is the average. That number is easy enough to see if you’re using an electronic MPI (and by now, you should be) in the status reports. Let’s run through a typical day in the life of your business. Your early advisors start by writing up night drops. For most businesses that can run from 15 to 30 percent of your daily business. To make my math round, we’ll say that you have 100 ROs per day, so 15 to 30 were dropped off. When your technicians arrive, they start working on drop-offs or they may start working on the wave of waiters that starts to come into your store. And as much as we try to control the flow of waits, it’s becoming a bigger part of our business.

Now the recommendations start coming in to your advisors.

The storm begins. Clients are dropping off cars, clients are getting loaners or shuttles, and now your technicians are loading your advisors with upsell recommendations from the night drops that started when they arrived or when the first wave of waiters came into the shop. We can see that 20 minutes as an average in the “attention service advisor” status of your MPI is probably an understatement. When we move to the level of the outbound upsell call, that’s a whole other story. When technicians or managers are now on the advisors’ statuses and pushing to make the outbound calls, what do you think the quality of the call is going to be? You guessed it: Not great. The call is going to be rushed because the time that should be spent just doesn’t exist. And depending on the setup of your write-up area, the call isn’t private and having the advisor actually try to sell the work won’t ever happen. Because after the manager or technician pushing the advisor to make the call, the only thing the advisor is trying to do is get the RO from the inbox into the outbox. You see it every day that the first rush of vehicles through your shop is just coming in and out. Night drop upsell calls in the morning

advisors can focus on what rings the register, but we’re still lacking in the professional outbound sales call. rush are weak, and then the engagement between your advisors and the clients who are waiting is also weak and rushed. In the meantime, your advisors are also working on paperwork and billing and documenting labor operations for warranty and probably being questioned by warranty administrators about the mistakes from the day before. This is day after day.

The Solution: Status Update BDC Most stores have taken a couple of tasks off the plate of their advisors. Examples are using BDCs to take appointment calls or having bookers pay technicians and close and bill ROs. We do this with the hopes that

When you’re hiring advisors, what are the skill sets you’re looking for? Are you looking for a salesperson? Probably not. You’re probably looking for someone who knows your DMS. Maybe ex-technicians, because they “know the vehicle,” or maybe just someone who can fill a seat. And then when you’re talking about a job that could be the most important job in your dealership in an advisor, since they speak to more people than anyone else in your store, maybe you should start supporting their most important task: upselling quality recommendations to your clients. Now the solution: The Status Update BDC. A team of professionals where the only job they have is one of the most important jobs in your department. They monitor your MPI route sheet and, as technicians, switch to the “attention service advisor status” for upsells.

When you have trained and motivated professionals making these calls, you can expect the closing ratios to skyrocket. As a thought exercise, let’s say they don’t. Let’s say the only thing that happens is you cut the wait time for a technician to either start working on the vehicle or pulling it out because the upsells were declined. Let’s go back to simple math. Say we take the wait time for a technician waiting for an upsell from 20 minutes (remember, that’s the national average) to five minutes, because you have a team of trained professionals just waiting for the calls because that’s all they do. What would that translate into for your store? Remember our example was 100 ROs per day. And to add some other factors into the equation, let’s look at effective labor rates and average hours per RO. If 100 ROs save 15 minutes per RO, that’s 1,500 minutes, or 25 hours saved. If you have

an effective labor rate of $120 per hour, that would come to $3,000 saved per day. If you then take that to 25 working days, that equals $75,000 a month. And of course that’s $900,000 saved a year. And that happens by not increasing your closing ratio at all – and it will. Why would it? Because you have salespeople making sales calls. You have people who are constantly training to be better at their craft, day after day, and their only craft is closing sales. Now let’s look at a possible objection.

Stranger Danger? Worried that having someone other than the greeting or tenured advisor making the calls won’t be effective? After all, the advisor is the one who built the relationship with the client, so how is a stranger going to make an effective sales call?

After monitoring as many inbound status updates calls as I have, from as many stores as I have, half of the clients don’t even know or care who their advisor even is. And when you’re going through advisors and training new ones, do you even want them making the calls? I will make a comparison to something that happened in the car business many years ago that proves the point. When we used to sells cars, we held gross at the front end, and back-end products were something that was a slight add and usually done by the sales manager, if at all. Salespeople did their own paperwork and that was that. Once the battle for gross at the front end began, because of access to pricing through online pricing, front-end gross became a little tougher. We then introduced the finance and insurance manager. F&I has become the rock star position at your dealership, and the creation of products for their pros to sell are coming up more and more every day. As a matter of fact, your F&I department could be the most profitable department in your entire store. What happens to the customer’s relationship with your dealership then? What happens when a salesperson spends hours with a client, building a relationship, just to have it damaged by having a complete stranger now try to sell rates and products to someone they never met, much less spoke with before?

You’re right, nothing happened. Oh, I stand corrected. Something great happened. You saved the front end of your business by doing something different.

The Future Starts Now Now is the time to, if not save, grow the back end of your business. Now is the time to take the department that we’ve all taken for granted to the next level. If we had time to monitor each call and spend time each day training our advisors to turn into the super rock stars that we need them to be, we’d have already done it. What about the rock star advisor you do have? Great. Let them keep doing what they’re doing. But you know that your drive isn’t filled with them. What are some of the other advantages? It can absolutely change your advisor hiring practices. As a matter of fact, like at the front end when you had sales product specialists and then turned the customer over to the actual closer, you can do the same thing at the fixed end. You can have a person whose skill set is the meet and greet and gathering information, and the actual “closing” is done by the professional who has the time to create a professional and effective sales call every time for every client. Not only does your business deserve it – your clients deserve it.

The Status Update BDC will be the way business is done in the future. It’s a matter of whether you want to do it now or catch up to everyone else later. But it will be the way it’s done because we have no choice. 26

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THE

HEART

SERVICE

A M E R I C A ’ S H E A RT L A N D When most people think of our country’s heartland, they picture open prairies and golden fields of grain, hard work and rustic communities, simplicity and honesty. A bit of a “small town” feel. Certainly that exists. But it doesn’t mean that many Midwest cities aren’t also growing at a good clip.

With Bobby Hewlett III

VP and DP of Metro Ford in Independence, Mo.

M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

Kansas City is one such city, and according to U.S. Census Bureau data, the KC Metro Area’s growth is due to migration, not to more babies being born than people dying (the latter being the main reason why some of America’s biggest cities, including New York and Los Angeles, continue to grow). From 2007 to 2017, the population of Kansas City’s downtown more than quadrupled, making it the sixth-fastestgrowing downtown in America. Bobby Hewlett III and his family have seen a lot of changes to the city and surrounding neighborhoods in the past decades as they’ve served the area’s automotive needs. Amidst the growing city, one thing that hasn’t changed is the Hewletts’ honest approach to business and dedication to the customer.

THE DEALER MAKES THE DIFFERENCE Some of Bobby Hewlett’s fondest childhood memories were made at the dealership. Beginning at the age of 8, he would tag along with his dad to work so that he could help out with maintenance chores like mowing the lawn. “It was then I think I got the bug,” Hewlett says. “I don’t know if it was watching people drive off the lot in their new cars, the balloons and the popcorn … it was really just the excitement of the overall atmosphere that I was attracted to.” It didn’t take long for the young Hewlett to notice his father’s strong work ethic. In 1978, his father bought the family’s first dealership. It was then that his father coined and lived out the quote that you’ll still hear him say today: “All Fords are

All in the Family: Hewlett is pictured here with his son, Bobby Hewlett IV, a Sales Consultant on the Metro Ford team.

What would Hewlett want his son to learn from him?

“Remain grounded, be honest, and to recognize how important our employees and families are to our success.”

Hewlett’s favorite car?

“Ford trucks, because they have been unbeatable for 42 years!”

created equal; it’s the dealer who makes a difference, and that’s the truth.” Today, there are 11 Ford dealerships in the KC Metro Area. Hewlett serves as Vice President and Dealer Principal of Metro Ford in Independence, Mo., KC’s neighbor to the east. His brother, Brad Hewlett, is Dealer Principal of Bob Allen Ford in Overland Park, Kansas, to the south. Bobby Hewlett’s son, Bobby Hewlett IV, is now working as a sales consultant with him at Metro Ford. “Not many people get to go to work and be with their family every day,” Hewlett says. “I had the opportunity to learn firsthand from my father about the ins and outs of the business, and I’m excited to do the same with my son Bobby as he begins his career.”

likes and reviews,” he says. “People trust their friends and family, so it’s a good medium to grow our business.” There are posts of cars and trucks that just arrived, of customers who just bought a new car, of goings-on at the dealership and in the community, and of fun trivia, such as this recent post: “The only car that Jim Morrison, legendary Doors singer, ever owned was a 1967 Shelby GT 500!” with a picture of the Lizard King sitting on the hood of his car. Their post for “Love a Tree Day” in May got 58 likes, eight comments, and one share in less than 24 hours. But even with its popularity, Metro Ford’s Facebook isn’t the team’s number-one place for growing relationships, Hewlett says. That would be the service lane.

To the Hewlett family, standing out as a preferred dealership means providing the very “Service is everything. That is where we best customer experience. really connect with our customers. A sale can be a one-time deal, but service is how we BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS keep customers coming back and build that relationship,” he says. Metro Ford has a popular, engaging Facebook page – something that’s not always easy to establish. Hewlett attributes its success to the dealership’s long-standing focus on the customer. “Most of our Facebook growth has been organic; our relationships have influenced our

Metro Ford highly values its service technicians. In a competitive market where techs can get a job just about anywhere, building and investing in talent is important. “We recruit and keep our staff by investing in them and growing them from entry-level

positions. Most of our employees started out sweeping floors and dumping trash, and through the years we coach and train the ones who embody our principles to excel within the company,” Hewlett says. The team also invests in data technology to improve the customer’s experience in the service lane. AutoAlert’s Service Lead Management tool allows them to identify the customers who could find a better value by upgrading their vehicle, providing an additional level of service through personalized options.

THE EXCITEMENT CONTINUES … It might not be popcorn and balloons that excite Hewlett today, but he still gets immense satisfaction to see happy customers drive off the lot after an excellent service or sales experience. He considers it the most rewarding part of his job. “All the families that we help provide for – through the purchase of a car, or repairing someone’s car so that they can get to work, or pick their kids up at soccer practice safely … there is so much more that goes into a dealership than just the sale of a car,” Hewlett says. “The ability to do the right thing for our customers, our employees, and the community has always been and will always be our main priority.” Hewlett also feels lucky to have a brother in town who is also DP of a dealership, so they can bounce ideas off

MODERNDEALERSHIP

Service technician George Queener has been an associate with Metro Ford since 1993.

each other and provide other support. The two are very close and talk via mobile a couple of times every day. Hewlett says that his love of his job is a big reason why he’s found success. “First thing, you have to love what you are doing, who you’re working with, and the product you’re selling,” he says. “We love it when we see the grandchildren of our customers purchasing or servicing their cars with us – we know we have done a great job.”

FEMALE MECHANICS’ SKILL, PASSION, STRENGTH PAY OFF Uncomfortable as it might be, vulnerability is required for true courage. And true courage leads to some really great stuff.

That is popular research professor and New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown’s conclusion after spending more than 20 years studying courage, vulnerability, and empathy. “Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper and more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path,” Brown says. The decision Rebecca Schindler and Susan Sweeney made to enter the world of auto mechanics, even though fewer than 2 percent of service techs are women, required quite a bit of vulnerability and self-determination. They would tell you it’s paid off.

Hazed and Happy Rebecca Schindler vividly remembers her first day as a service technician: “I was the only woman on the team, so I had a point to prove. I had to show them that I could do everything they could.” She started by getting organized, something most technicians do during their first days. She brought in little plastic cups, like the ones used for mouthwash, for all the different kinds of screws, bolts, clips, etc., needed for different jobs. They were neatly labeled and filled by the end of the day. “The next day, I came in to see everything dumped out in a big pile,” she says, smiling. “This was just the usual hazing. I was so glad I was treated the same and wasn’t left out!” M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

“I was the only woman on the team, so I had a point to prove. I had to show them that I could do everything they could.”

Still, she had to go above and beyond to prove to herself and her team that she was as capable as they. At just 5 feet tall and 120 pounds, Schindler says she usually required more time to complete the often very physical tasks of the job than the guys did. She also relied on more (and better) tools. “What they could get done in one step might have taken me five,” she says, then adds, “but I’m also incredibly thorough. Plus, anytime someone says ‘You can’t do that,’ it just lights a fire under my ass.” The job can be physically dangerous. When she “chopped off” the tip of her finger one day, she wanted to be tough about it. So she covered it with her other hand to hide it and walked out of the shop. Her manager (the same one who once told her that she was “taking a job away from a man with a family to support”) asked if everything was OK, and she said she was fine. “I Krazy Glued it and kept working,” Schindler says. When she met Patrice Banks a few years ago, her life changed drastically.

Breaking Things to Make Them Better Even when she was a girl, Susan Sweeney had an interest in cars. She remembers watching her dad fix his own car and being curious about what he was doing.

But it wasn’t until a high school tour of a tech school that her interest in automotive repair and bodywork piqued and she decided auto mechanics would be the career she’d pursue. “Nobody in my family was in the automotive industry, but it just clicked for me,” Sweeney says. “I was all in from the start. I was enrolled in Lincoln Technical Institute two weeks out of high school.” While in school, she bought a ’76 Camaro – basically so that she could “break it apart and build it into something better”: a racing machine. In addition to her passion for empowering people about their vehicle by educating them about how the it functions and what is being repaired, Sweeney has a passion for building (and racing) hot rods. The pace of her speech picks up as she excitedly talks about things like “500 horsepower at the crank,” “G-body,” “running high test fuel” …. Despite her obvious passion for and knowledge of cars, she did face quite a bit of discrimination initially in her job as a service tech. But it just fueled her. “My support came from family and friends. They’ve been amazing the whole time,” Sweeney says. If she ever feels discriminated against today, it doesn’t bother her as much. It even brings out her playful side at times. “I love going into a shop and acting clueless, then

directing them to the exact part I need,” she says with a smile. One of the people most appreciative of Sweeney’s skill and expertise is Patrice Banks.

Girls Auto Clinic When Patrice Banks went looking for a female mechanic in Philadelphia just a few years ago, she couldn’t find even one. Her experience with male techs had often left her with more questions than answers. And not that women are the only ones with questions about repairs, but with more than three-quarters of people who bring their car in for service being women, it seemed to make good business sense to Banks to employ female techs. The seed for opening an all-female repair shop was planted. Banks attended school and began offering free clinics about basic car maintenance to women. That’s how she met both Schindler and Sweeney. When she shared her idea of opening a repair shop/salon that employed only women, and catered to women, both were on board. “The highlight of my career has been working at Girls Auto Clinic alongside the most amazing women I have ever met,” Sweeney says. “A place where I know I belong and fit in. I am so blessed to be here with them.”

Schindler says that although the guys she worked with at previous jobs had been pretty cool, the atmosphere in general wasn’t supportive. “I knew not to ask for help unless the job absolutely required two people,” she says. “And making mistakes was really frowned upon. I feel so lucky to be working with such a smart, capable group of women, who are eager to help and support one another.” One of Sweeney’s biggest showings of support came shortly after Girls Auto Clinic opened. Banks had hired a foreman to help make sure that the shop was set up correctly, but he left right before the grand opening. Sweeney offered to step up and take his place. “I didn’t want to go above the others, but I did have the most years of experience, and I wanted to help,” she says. The group unanimously voted for her to be forewoman, the title she’s had since opening day.

Paving the Way and Building More Dreams Banks calls all of the women who work for her “amazing technicians.” She encourages any woman interested in the job to pursue it. “Ladies, we are so capable. More than we know,” she says. “[Our] emotional strength, softness, cleverness

Susan Sweeney, forewoman at Girls Auto Clinic, works on an engine.

are needed. Believe and know that it is for you and you can do it.” Sweeney’s and Schindler’s chosen paths as service technicians says a lot about these women, especially when statistics show that in most male-dominated fields, women typically leave because they aren’t supported and don’t feel they truly have anyone to model themselves after. Both eventually found what they were looking for by creating it together with the team at Girls Auto Clinic.

“Ladies, we are so capable. More than we know. [Our] emotional strength, softness, cleverness are needed. Believe and know that it is for you and you can do it.”

Now they get to do what they love while supporting a new generation of skilled technicians who happen to be women.

PATRICE BANKS

Adding to the excitement is the upcoming Fox pilot “Patty’s Auto,” a multi-camera ensemble comedy inspired by Girls Auto Clinic. Actors came and shadowed the team to get a feel for their day-to-day life and the goings-on at the shop. “We were so lucky they wanted to spend so much time with us,” Sweeney says. “We had dinner with them afterward too. It was such a fun day.” In addition to team goals and activities, the women at GAC are also encouraged to keep growing and pursuing their own dreams. Sweeney is in the process of fixing up her family’s new home. After that, she plans to build a new hot rod. “What inspires me is learning new things, working with this great team of women, and making the world a better place,” she says. “And showing my kids (I have two boys and two girls) that they can do and be anything they want to.”

Schindler also has plans for the future. Taking steps to make her dream of opening her own unique repair shop a reality, she substitute teaches severely autistic children once or twice a month and will earn her double BA in early childhood education and special education in January. From there, she plans to open a shop that hires adults with ADHD and other special needs. “Everyone deserves meaningful work. These are intelligent, capable people who want to work, and who take pride in their work,” she says. “I have learned so much from them.” With all the adventure on her road to success, and with big plans in place for the future, Schindler is most excited about what’s happening in her life today.

“My career highlight is happening right now – it’s the present,” she says. “Watching this industry as well as society evolve.” 34

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SERVICE TECH RETENTION According to NADA Data 2018, service, parts and body shop – fixed ops– represents 49.6% of a dealership’s total gross. Let that sink in for a minute. That’s just under double the gross from new vehicle sales, and nearly half of what a dealership earns. Of every dollar your dealership makes, fifty cents are a direct result of fixed ops. The percentage of profits generated by fixed ops has been trending larger every year, up over two percent just in the last two years as evidenced by NADA data. In a presentation at NADA Show 2019, Chairman Charlie Gilchrist noted that the industry faces an annual fixed ops personnel shortage of 39,000 trained techs. As techs retire or leave the industry, there simply aren’t enough new recruits

to replace them. Considering that half of average dealership revenue derives from fixed ops, this is a big human resources problem. That problem begins to look like a crisis when half of new graduates from certified auto tech programs leave within two years, as statistics show. There’s a lot to unpack with regard to the who, what, and why of the tech shortage, much of which is beyond the scope of this article. There’s a substantial history to how the industry came to this point, and there may not be a one-size-fits-all answer to this nuanced problem. There do seem to be some common themes that reappear in both our own research and the published findings of others we’ve examined, though. We’ll look at a few of these issues and some possible solutions. M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

THE BAD There are a number of reasons why attracting and retaining skilled, experienced service techs can be an uphill battle. Let’s start with the elephant in the room: flat-rate compensation. Flat rate- charging the customer and paying the technician based on a preset number of billed hours a job is estimated to be completed within- has been the default for around a century as the standard model in around three quarters of service drives. While there are arguments to be made both for and against, it’s a system that courts controversy these days. Perusing the internet, browsing articles and reviewing forum comments from every position in fixed ops, it doesn’t take more than a few minutes of research to find that this system is problematic. In our own research, the perceived obsolescence of flat rate payment is a common refrain; to quote the sole comment from one Service Director, “Get rid of flat rate and the shortage will stop.” Ouch. There are, tradition aside, a few potential “pros” to flat rate. An experienced tech can bill more hours than they work by completing repairs in less time than is billed for. Some managers hold that this helps to motivate techs to be more efficient and also to bill more hours, increasing service drive profits. When experienced techs have something good to say about flat rate, the ability to make more money by “beating the clock” is the positive aspect they point to in its favor. There are, of course, negatives as well, such as when what should be an hour-long repair becomes a three-hour headache complete with rusty bolts. Service drives experience slow times when there may not be enough traffic for every bay to be occupied with a full

day’s billed hours. Under standard flat rate compensation, a tech only gets paid for billed hours. OEMs seem to allot fewer and fewer hours for warranty work that doesn’t trend toward being correspondingly easier, and for some techs warranty repair and recalls are a bigger portion of workload than customerpay jobs. These situations can –regardless of how busy a tech may actually be– create a feast-or-famine situation at payday. While work ethic can affect the bottom line, a tech’s income can be helped or harmed to a large degree by factors beyond his or her control. This is not a great recipe for longterm retention. While an experienced master tech could earn a six-figure income under the right circumstances, a larger portion of the workforce seems to struggle with the unreliability of the flat rate system. The fact that wages have remained stagnant only compounds the problem: according to at least one article on the topic, between 2003 and 2011, techs lost 7.5% of salary to inflation. This has occurred despite increased prices charged to customers. In a brief survey we put together, one tech suggested that, alongside further training, paying techs 1/3 of the going hourly shop rate would go far to keep techs in the industry. Considering that 50% of shop rate was the standard for decades, this doesn’t seem unreasonable. Tool costs are also problematic for technicians. In our survey, 100% of techs with over five years’ experience report having spent over $20,000 on tools. Average tech pay is just over $31,000 annually at the entry level; NADA reports a little over $61K average for dealership techs. While location, level of experience and duties performed account for the wide range of salaries, the high cost of tools to the tech is universal. A recent Fixed

THE GOOD Ops Journal article noted that techs are often saddled with several thousand dollars of debt just in toolboxes to hold their gear. Some techs might need to be more frugal when it comes to shopping for tools, but the job requires a considerable investment. It’s not uncommon for a rookie tech to spend $4-5,000 on a minimal “starter kit” of tools just to be able to work. Providing tools could be a huge step toward recruiting and retaining techs. Imagine the trouble we’d be in if doctors were expected to buy their own MRI machines, right out of med school, with student loan debt, paid at best average wages in an unreliable pay system. This is the situation technicians are often faced with. Add in long hours, the physical toll the job takes, negative stereotypes held by customers paranoid of being ripped off, and it’s a wonder anyone would choose the job at all.

Fortunately, it’s not all doom and gloom. Even as many leave the industry, forum comments from techs lamenting being driven out of work they love are common. Many techs are defecting to similar work in the aviation and heavy machinery industries. Many seem to feel that, while the work itself is rewarding, the deck is stacked against them when it comes to making a stable living in Automotive. The problem doesn’t seem to be that techs don’t like the job. Given NADA statistics referenced earlier, staffing the service drive with the professionals required to keep it profitable should be of crucial concern. There may not be a onesize-fits-all solution; shifting a century-old paradigm built largely around what OEMs pay for warranty work requires an industry-wide effort. On the bright side, at least half of the techs we surveyed want to remain in fixed ops, and actions at the dealership level could help attract and retain skilled staff. Some dealerships offer a base salary, hybrid compensation combining base pay with bonuses, pay scales that feature a base pay with increasing hourly compensation based on productivity targets, or other pay plans that don’t rely 100% on flat rate hours. While some might still prefer flat rate, many techs and prospective recruits seem to prefer at least some portion of compensation to be stable, even if it may mean slightly less pay overall. While the common argument for flat rate from management is that it encourages techs to work quickly and flag more hours, there are downsides to this line of thought. That type of pressure on technicians can create a slippery slope toward behaviors that give the M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

industry’s reputation a black eye. Techs who feel they are allowed the time to properly diagnose and solve problems are more likely to do the job right the first time. Those forced to scramble for hours may be inclined to perform unnecessary repairs or be less than honest in order to flag the hours they need to make ends meet. This perpetuates negative stereotypes in customers’ minds about the industry and dealer service drives in particular. While one would hope that a few “bad apples” are responsible for the tarnish on mechanics’ reputation, conditions that cause this type of behavior seem all too common across the industry. Providing technicians a sense of financial security is fundamental to ensuring quality and integrity in Fixed Ops. This is fundamental to ensuring dealership profits in the long term, especially in an era when a bad review has the potential to reach thousands of customers almost instantly. While replacing the flat rate system might be difficult, there are digital tools available to benefit both the tech’s paycheck and the dealership’s balance sheet. About half of our survey respondents indicated they perform some amount of sales function in the 38

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service drive, but almost none received any compensation for sales. Compensation- be it a commission or even a simple spiff per vehicle- paid to techs could not only help motivate more sales in the service drive, it can provide another income stream for fixed ops staff, improve morale, and lessen the sting of lost pay when an RO is declined in favor of a new vehicle purchase. Tools such as AutoAlert’s Service Lead Management can be used to make sales in the service drive and increase job satisfaction as it pads the tech’s paycheck. Converting service drive sales from a loss to a win could create some goodwill and help keep techs happy and productive. Situations vary from one to the next, and what works the best for your service drive may not for another dealer’s. We’ve only scratched the surface of employee recruitment and retention in Fixed Ops and as always, your mileage might vary. One thing is certain: without technicians, there is no service drive. While there may not be an easy, cheap solution to the shortage of qualified techs, consider what a sustained loss of Fixed Ops crew means for revenue. Can your dealership afford to lose 49.6% of its gross?

Sales and Leasing Consultant at Brattleboro Subaru

Effectively working the service drive in 2019 is about research and preparation, not just building immediate rapport with someone facing unforeseen service costs or who's nurturing an urge for the newest and shiniest bells and whistles. Increasingly, equity and other data analysis and real-time market expertise are our most important skills, and we should also take active roles in our dealerships' used inventory strategy. Whether your dealership employs an in-house equity/trade-in specialist or service BDC rep, uses a CRM with equity and other data mining information, and has dedicated equity mining software, applying your experience to maximize ROI on these tools is your responsibility. No method is foolproof, so asking the right questions, and being perceptive about the answers, remains as important as when customers are sitting at your desk. Even if your only access is a service schedule printout, be sure to monitor appointments monthly, weekly, and daily, and make contact accordingly. Ideally, you'll have the opportunity to look at not only their service history, but their lease/ownership pattern going back several models.

MODERNDEALERSHIP

HOW DOES IT BENEFIT THE CUSTOMER TO TRADE IN THEIR VEHICLE? Are they outpacing allotted lease miles? Missing out on major safety and tech upgrades on newer modelsâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;for instance, did they pay for a navigation system that requires updates when smartphone integration is standard on every 2019 model? Driving with borrowed time from a notorious time-sensitive repair they may still be unaware of? Do they own a niche or highly-sought-after vehicle that was recently discontinued? A vehicle that will fit a popular price point for your area? This is where your experience comes into play. Have a conversation with your pre-owned manager before making these calls. Knowledge is power, and it'll come across to your potential customer.

HOW DOES THEIR VEHICLE FIT INTO YOUR DEALERSHIP'S CURRENT AND PROJECTED USED INVENTORY NEEDS? Remember seasonal trends. For example, convertibles will be more welcome in March than November, and sub-$10k sedans are popular during graduation season. Again, your knowledge and credibility around these buying patterns will come across to your dealership's service customers. Hopefully you have some used car customers who have granted you the time and trust to find a car for their specific needs. Local trades are always more marketable, particularly if they've been serviced in-house. If they have always come in right on time for service intervals, even better. Over time, you'll develop a practiced eye and ear for every potential scenario and be ready to make a customized case for maximizing customers' time in the dealership with a demo and formal trade appraisal. Using this approach thoroughly and consistently, salespeople have the opportunity to shorten the trade cycle and make leasing/ownership much easier for our customers by taking the guesswork out of knowing when the best time to trade is. We also add structure and some predictability to our days and strengthen our dealerships' inventory.

Consistently amazing customer service doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t happEN by accident. It happens on purpose! - SHEP HYKEN Customer Service Expert and Best-Selling Author of The Amazement Revolution

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FROM CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ALGORITHMS AND ADVANCED GEOLOCATION TARGETING TO CUTTING-EDGE AI FOLLOW UP ASSISTANCE, WEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;RE BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE

Nathan Hays, Sales Professional at Jefferson City AutoPlex

Many of us in the industry have seen Facebook and other social media platforms change the way we advertise and get business. With Facebook, first came the personal page, then the business or fan page, and now what’s working for me? Facebook Groups. Facebook groups and communities are the newest meta in marketing yourself and your dealership. What do they allow you to do? Advertise to niches without setting up any advertising parameters. Literally two or three clicks of a button, for free, and you’re automatically in front of 34,000 people in your region who like Honda Civics. Let’s not forget dozens of Corvette, Mustang, and Camaro groups, and why you should or shouldn’t buy one.

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Refer other people’s businesses, create partnerships, and be seen. Commenting on posts and creating conversations raises awareness for your brand.

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Responding to group posts presents you not as a seller, but as a giver, just answering people’s questions, sharing your experiences, and referring other people’s businesses. If you make your own group, you can charge admission, sell advertisements and sponsorships, raise awareness for topics you enjoy, and share events that are going on in your community.

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MODERNDEALERSHIP

Groups remain a static fixation for hyperactive people, especially at a time when algorithms change on social media (affecting timelines, photos, videos, live streaming, etc.) all the time. Those people are choosing to be there. They want to be there. You’re not serving up ads they might not like. But you’re helping your community and answering questions when they arise. Your town or city probably already has a local Facebook Group. They’re talking about the greatest hair stylist, massage therapist, realtor, and lawnmowing service. You use those services, too, right? As an example from a group that I run in my hometown, with a population of about 26,000 people: Someone is looking for a hairstylist for an upcoming wedding, and in a matter of 24 hours, there are 65 comments and three shares, plus many reactions. What would it do for your business if that person were looking for a new car, and you were the go-to person in your community? You had the most top-of-mind awareness? You have homefield advantage already. Like the Cheers song: “Where everybody knows your name ….”

How can you take action? Other examples: One post about me, and two others I created to help spread awareness in the community:

Find out if there are community groups in your area. Search via Facebook or ask around. Can’t find one? Start one. Get some referral partners in your market to join and invite their customers. Try to remain unbiased. Consider making your group “Admin Post Approval Only” to cut down on spam. Do research on engagement, share events, and allow non-profits to share theirs too. In my group we don’t allow GoFundMe posts, due to people scamming others for money. Your mileage may vary. Find some people to administrate and moderate the group with you. Create a group message in Facebook Messenger so you can talk about posts and members you might want to decline or add.

You can dedicate 30 minutes a day to cultivating relationships with people in Facebook Groups. You’re already on Facebook most of the day anyway, right? Why not use that time to grow your brand? And NOW you can join groups as a business page. What a great way to get likes, recommendations, and support!

Have questions? Let’s connect! Find me on Facebook, or email me at nhays@jeffcityautoplex.com.

Host meet-ups, car shows, coffee breaks, lunches, etc. My group has a monthly photo contest. At the beginning of each month, local photographers (and nonphotographers too) can share a recent photograph for a chance to be the group’s cover photo for the month. Share the group, add your customers, and let them go to bat for you when someone is looking to schedule service or purchase a new car. It works, and as your group grows you’ll get even more exposure.

M O D E R N D E A L E R S H I P. C O M

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< 2 years 2-5 years NEW

53% 75%

> 5 years

of consumers who purchased their vehicle NEW always get their vehicle serviced according to manufacturer guidelines

< 2 year old vehicles

64%

TOP REASONS

2-5 year old vehicles

43%

> 5 year old vehicles

TOP REASONS

CONSUMERS PREFER DEALERSHIP FOR MAINTENANCE

CONSUMERS PREFER GENERAL REPAIR CENTER FOR MAINTENANCE

THEY KNOW THE VEHICLE

C O S T/ P R I C E

PRIOR EXPERIENCE

THEY KNOW ME

C O N V E N I E N T LO C AT I O N

PERCENT OF CONSUMERS WHO ARE D I S S AT I S F I E D & P R O B A B LY N O T R E T U R N I N G

ACROSS ALL PROVIDERS

25% OF M I LLENNIALS

14% OF G E N X- E RS

55% of consumers would choose one dealership for service over another if it provided online estimates of service costs

56% of consumers would choose one dealership for service over another if it allowed them to schedule a service appointment online

32% 44%

8% OF BABY B O O M E R S

32% of consumers are interested in getting a trade-in value from their service provider during a service visit and almost half - 44% of millennials are!

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