NADA 2011 Edition MMG Magazine

Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts

March-April 2011 Newsletter - NADA Issue

19th Annual Mopar Masters Guild Meeting Convenes in San Francisco

Parts Managers from around the country meet with their peers, Mopar and Supporting Vendors to share information & knowledge!

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A Message from the desk of Dan Hutton Tom O’Brien CDJ Mopar Masters Guild President The 19th annual Mopar Masters Guild meeting in San Francisco was a huge success this year. It was great to see all the new members for the first time. I would like to take this time to thank everybody who participated in our meeting this year.

Dr. Jody Janati our guest speaker this year gave an outstanding presentation on how to handle conflict in the work place and in your personal life. “Steering you down the road to Resolution” was the title of her presentation. Dr. Janati talked to us about responses that balance conflict in the work place. I encourage everybody to reference back to her document on a daily basis.

Our vendors kept us up to date on their latest products and services. It was great to see all of our vendors this year. They are “world class” and without their support much of this event would not be possible.

It was great to welcome our leaders at Mopar; Pietro Gorlier and Jim Sassorossi and the rest of the Mopar Team. Opportunities like this give our members the chance to interact with the Mopar representatives responsible for making the difference at Mopar.

I would like to thank the officers, executive committee, and the San Francisco planning committee chairman Mark Skinner. Mark did such a wonderful job that we put him in charge of our next meeting in Las Vegas (the 20th annual Mopar Masters meeting!). WOW that is hard to believe that the guild is celebrating such a significant milestone. Mark, thanks for volunteering for next year’s meeting.

A special thanks has to go out to Don Cushing. He’s the one that puts together our newsletter and takes care of all our needs in the meetings such as Video, Audio, pictures etc… What would we do without you?

From the feedback I’ve been receiving, this was one of our best meetings we have ever had.

Next year we will be celebrating our 20th year as a Guild in 2012. This wouldn’t be possible without our entire membership’s hard work over the past 20 years.

Please make plans to join us in Las Vegas.

Blessings

Dan Hutton

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19th Annual Meeting of the Mopar Masters Guild at NADA 2011 San Francisco This year’s 19th Annual Mopar Masters Guild meeting was held in San Francisco. Once again the top DCJ Parts Managers met to share information and ideas as well as to hear what’s new from our Supporting Vendors.

Friday February 4th Guild President Dan Hutton called our meeting to order bright and early on Friday morning after attendees shared hellos and caught up on the past year while having breakfast. Dan promptly called for each of us to introduce ourselves and give some brief info.

In attendance for our MMG Meeting/Performance Group were:  Casey Brown Allen Samuels DCJ  Andy Reed Allen Samuels DCJ  Dave Bollenbach Autowest CJD  Ernie Wennerstrom Bald Hill DCJ  Gerry Oakes Baxter CJD  Marvin Windham Benchmark CJD  Susan McDaniel Bill Luke CJD  Carl Kellums Brunswick Auto Mart  Guillermo Nava Buerge CJ  Phil Kreuger Buerge CJ  Steve Correll Christopher’s Dodge World  Joe McBeth Dallas Dodge  Larry Morris Fred Beans DCJ  Mike Mulkins Go Chrysler Jeep West  Alan Yancey Hayes CDJ  Rick Monteiro Jack Powell CJD (Continued on page 4)

Also In This Issue President’s Message MMG NADA 2011 Notes MMG Attends Snap-On Party OEConnection UPS Rousseau Storage 49th Annual Tierra Del Sol Safari Work & Play Certified Professional Award Program Guild Motto

Page 2 Page 16-17 Page 20-21 Page 23 Page 26 Page 28 Page 30-31 Page 33 Page 35 Page 38

19th Annual MMG Meeting Our Supporting Vendors FenderBender ADP Reynolds & Reynolds Tracy Industries Way Up Slow, Way Down Fast Do You Remember (When)?

Successful Leadership By Definition 2011 MMG Committees

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             

Brent Hoge Rich Schott Don Cushing Jeff Bright Jonathan Dworsky Steve Hofer Ken Kokoszka Mark Skinner Mike Gerber Rick Cutaia Ole Olson Doug Price Paul Allred Dan Hutton

Larry H. Miller CJD Moore CJ MMG Magazine Publisher (Bald Hill DCJ) Normandin CJD Park CJ (Dlr. Principal) Park CJ Pollard Friendly Motor Co. Power CJD Rairdon Chrysler Rick Hendrick DCJ Ryan Chrysler Security DCJ Stateline CJD Tom O’Brien CJD

Treasurer Steve Hofer announced that our guild business would be discussed on Saturday morning due to time constraints. Steve then introduced our guest speaker Dr. Joni Janati who teaches at the University of Minnesota. Her specialty is dealing with difficult people and how to negotiate difficult situations. Dr. Janati’s presentation lasted four hours (which went by too fast!) and gave us great insight for dealing with our customers, our employees and even our own families! It would be near impossible to try and condense Dr. Janati’s presentation for this article and it is one (presentation) that you would need to attend. Dr. Janati provided all of us with notes and she followed up with an email to all of us with everything that she covered in San Francisco. If you would like a copy of her notes please contact me at dcpub@cox.net.

Vendor presentation reports are condensed since it would be difficult to cover everything that was discussed.

We would like to suggest a solution: Mark your calendars for NADA 2012 and attend our 20th MMG Meeting in Las Vegas!

Our first Supporting Vendor of the day was Reynolds & Reynolds. Jason Sideris, Director, Product Marketing, Fixed Operations was the presenter and was joined by Jeffery Adams, Product Marketing Manager. Jason thanked all in attendance and then he and Jeffery brought us up-to-date on what’s new coming from R&R. Some of their material was sensitive in nature, so again, it was the type of presentation that you needed to attend.

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Rick Monteiro then introduced our next Supporting Vendor, UPS. Gary Meyers, National Account Manager spoke on UPS’ upcoming agenda and goals:  Coverage Review  Pricing Change  World Ship  QuantumView  Secured Website  Dealer Listing Confirmation  Survey Links  Customer Service

Vice President Mike Mulkins introduced our next Supporting Vendor, Tracy Industries, represented by David Carroll, National Sales Managers and Rod Holmsten, National Sales Director. David discussed the current programs that Tracy offers and fielded questions about any improvements or changes that the guild may suggest.

One suggestion was to notify the parts manger when an IRF or Fleet customer receives their wholesale rebate so that the manager can make a follow-up phone call to thank the customer. Tracy sales reps will be contacting select dealers shortly to schedule time for training, installer calls, open houses and to discuss the many programs that Tracy offers to help increase dealer business to IRF’s, Fleets, etc.

Our next Supporting Vendor to make a presentation was OEConnection. Mark Tomasetti, Sr. Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer addressed members and introduced his colleagues, Steve Reeling, Product Manager, Dealer Products and Seth Galvarro, Product Manager. Reeling gave us info on Service Advantage which is a sales tool for service advisors to sell services for the vehicle. Service Advantage also has an “all makes” feature for other brand vehicles. Steve tells us that this is a very professional presentation for your service lane. Contact Steve.Reeling@oeconnection.com for more information. Sell more service…sell more parts! Mr. Tomasetti then gave us an update on OEConnection’s CollisionLink:  Dealer growth trends continue from last year  70% penetration among major wholesale dealers  Expect 100% penetration by year-end 2012  Volume through CollisionLink has significantly increased as more relevant shops sign on.

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 Relevant body shops are defined as    

Shops who are likely DRP participants for major insurance companies Large independents Multiple shop owners Production shops (consolidators)

Seth Galvarro then gave us an update on RepairLink with MORE, the OEM mechanical replacement parts eCommerce solution. Market activation began in July 2010. The program is now live in 12 markets!

“Independent shops love an all makes, all model solution,” says Galvarro. This tool will allow an IRF the ability to shop for OEM parts (just like a NAPA application) and shops know that these parts (OEM) are built to spec, have the quality of the manufacturers’ requirements and they will fit on the car without any retooling.

RepairLink with MORE is a joint venture with another of our valuable Supporting Vendors, Snap-On Business Solutions. David Foutz, Director, Parts Solutions took to the floor to continue the RepairLink presentation.

Dave took us through the MORE solution live, showing us the Repair Shop Landing Page, Shop Home Page, Catalog Navigation, etc. Great product, great solution to increase your wholesale mechanical parts business!

Watch for rollout in your area soon! Dave then covered the updates on PAIS and EASy Solutions.

Ken Satz, Director, Product Management, also representing Snap-On, then gave us a look at a new platform being developed by Snap-On called Cornerstone which will hopefully be available within the next 24 months.

This ended the first day of our 2011 meetings. Members adjourned to get ready for our Guild Cocktail Reception.

The Mopar Masters Guild’s Cocktail Reception was held at the John Pence Art Gallery. Guild President Dan Hutton arranged for 3 wide-screen televisions to be placed around the Gallery while a DVD (produced by yours truly) played in a loop showing a collage of NADA Memories, photos from past years’ NADA events. Here are a few of THIS year’s photos from our Cocktail Reception. Hope you enjoy!

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Saturday February 5th The first portion of this morning would be dedicated to guild business. ARO, tire programs, vendor visits, committees, etc, were just a few of the topics covered.

Returning to our Supporting Vendor presentations, Dealer Tire took to the floor. John Bellissimo, Director Inside Sales was joined by Eric Evanoff, Director, National Field Training Services and Kenneth Henderson, Director, Carline Services. John thanked the group for the opportunity to talk about dealership Fixed Operations.

He covered:  Tire Sales in the Dealer Channel  Consumers today  Opportunity  ARO Tire Progress Eric Evanoff then covered:  Field Trainer Locations  In-dealership Training Trainers have spent 782 hours in dealerships training personnel The Success Factors haven’t changed:  Inventory  Inspect  Train Sell It takes commitment! Customers are keeping their cars longer therefore creating more opportunities to sell tires and extra services. John, Eric and Ken then fielded questions from the group.

Gerry Oakes introduced Randy Emerick, Director, Maufacturer Solutions for our next Supporting Vendor ADP. Randy would be covering ADP’s Electronic Vehicle Inspection as well as their Mobile App for service write-ups and service drive. First Randy introduced Elite Extra, which has a business solution called Extreme Tracking and Routing Application that integrates through ADP. Jim Ward, President of Elite Extra, took us through this application. This technology could help you with a delivery solution, save you money in operating (Continued on page 9)

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costs and fuel economy. It also tracks drivers, tracks parts and gives your customer a “real time” ETA when they can expect their parts delivery. Jim then gave us a brief bio on the company. Mr. Ward was joined by Ross Kleiner, Business Development Manager and Matthew Porter, Senior Account Manager, Northwest Region. For more info see www.eliteextra.com. Returning to the floor, Randy then fielded questions about ADP’s Electronic Vehicle Inspection, Mobile App (which will be using I-Pads), Fiat, as well as any questions or concerns pertaining to ADP in general.

After a short break we continued with several more Supporting Vendors in a “Vendor Fair” format. The following Supporting Vendors gave a short presentation:  Corporate Billing, Inc www.corpbill.com  Leif Founds – Vice President  Jeff Leavitt – Vice President

 FenderBender Magazine

www.fenderbender.com

 Chris Messer – Publisher

 Rousseau Storage Solutions

www.rousseaumetal.com  Pierre-Jean Sevigny – Product Specialist Representative

 Dealermine Corporation    

www.dealermine.com Mark DeLucia – President Steve Bakker – Chief Technology Officer Nick Bianchi – Account Manager Ben Buchanan – Account Manager

After the presentations, members were given the opportunity to visit each of these vendors at their business tables. Vendors also joined us for lunch which gave us more opportunity to discuss their products.

One of the Mopar Masters Guild’s highlights at our annual meeting is our interaction with Mopar. On this afternoon we welcomed Jeff Sloan, Head of Parts Sales & Field Operations, Chrysler Group. Jeff gave us an overview of topics that Mopar would be covering and introduced the rest of the Mopar team joining him:

       

Pietro Gorlier - President and Chief Executive Officer – Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care Jim Sassorossi - Head of Sales Operations, Mopar Parts Trish Hecker - Head of Service Marketing, Mopar Brand Brian Rogos - Head of Mopar Accessories & Performance Parts Kathy Murrenus - Head of Maintenance Portfolio Larry Benitz - Head of Wholesale Operations Jerry Quell - Head of Inventory Management Kathy Wideman - Head of Repair Parts & Powertrain (Continued on page 10)

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Mr. Sassorossi gave us an update on Mopar and thanked our group for leading the way. “How can we change? How can we grow the business?

When we think outside the box do we ask, ‘how did we get into that box to begin with?’” asked Jim. “Parts sales are up and we need to continue that pace. Our growth expectation this year is 20%” he continued. Jim discussed the many opportunities that we have, how we can affect change, facing fill and system fill. “We want to be best in class. Changing the way we do business, welcoming more customers in; we’re sending out 5 million OCP mailers a month, 2 million emails last month. These are the things we can use to conquest business. We need to become complete service & tire centers,” he says. Jim covered so much more including accessories, quality control and strategic pricing just to name a few.

(Jim gave all in attendance a real good “peek under the tent” at an all new “All Makes” strategy that looks to be very good and will be announced shortly. Unfortunately, for print, we cannot discuss this more in detail, but keep a watchful eye out for that announcement soon.)

(What more can we offer to convince you, as the Parts Manger, Fixed Operations Manager, or Service Manager that these meetings are worth the price of your trip…and then some? Read on!)

One final slide of Jim’s presentation:  Achieving Our Ambition…  Through teamwork and execution, we stand poised to achieve our overall vision of becoming an elite After Sales brand and delivering unprecedented value to the ownership experience.

Live it in your dealership!

We took a short break and then welcomed Brian Rogos. Brian offered us some accessory statistics. “The average PNUR of the parts managers and dealers in this room is $623.00 per unit,” said Rogos to a huge round of applause. Terrific numbers! “If you show it to the customer you have a chance to sell it,” he continued. Brian then covered Accessory Communications & Cataloging, retail packaging, Drag Pak Challenger, 200S Concept, EVTS, bedliners and much more. He then opened up the floor for any questions.

Up next, Jerry Quell offered up information on Mopar PDC Fill, ARO, Off-the-Shelf Fill, Maintenance Parts Fill, Inventory vs. Sales, D2D Parts Exchange, Return Policy Enhancements, Quality Initiative, Packaging, Dealer Standards for 2011 and comparisons among the dealers in attendance. There were plenty of hands raised for questions!

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Trish Hecker followed with Service Marketing & Interactive update. Says Trish, “We have a 30 million car parc. With the tools that we have today, how many of these customers do we get to talk to?” She then showed us all of the currently available tools to allow us the ability to attempt to reach these potential customers. Much more was covered during Hecker’s presentation including Social Marketing; Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, YouTube and independent blogs. (Did you know that there are over 250 independent fan clubs that use a blog?) She covered several strategies using Social Media to once again help draw potential customers to our dealerships.

If there ever was an event that helps keep you and your dealership at the forefront and well ahead of the competition due to the wealth of information that is presented not only by the Mopar Masters Guild, but also exclusive Corporation programs and info from Mopar Executives, it would certainly be our Annual Meeting at NADA!

Our next Mopar Executive to address guild members was Pietro Gorlier, President and Chief Executive Officer – Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care. Mr. Gorlier presented “Company Performance & Mopar Review.” Pietro began, “We’ve been talking for months on how to drive more traffic and how to increase retention and I think that all the programs that we have launched are really going in the right direction.”

Company Highlights Discussed:  Total Year New Revenue  Total Year Modified Operating Profit  Total Year Net Loss  Total Liquidity  Total Year Worldwide Sales  2011 Vehicle Lineup  Fiat  Future Models and change within these Models  Saturday Dealership Service Hours (with Depot Support)

“We have new customers that are coming into our Service Lanes for the first time. The first impression is the most important.” remarked Pietro. He then reminded us of the most important points of Mopar Elite. “We have a fantastic opportunity to start with a new customer.” We were then shown special versions of the Chrysler 200 and Durango Citadel, all beautifully accessorized.

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 2011 Priorities & Expectations:

 Retail Transformation  Wholesale Transformation  Accessories & Customization

In conclusion, Mr. Gorlier presented a slide reading – By continuing our transformation across Mopar and throughout our dealer network we will be well on our way to achieving our vision of becoming best-in-class.

Says Pietro, “We came back from 2009 when it was our year of interruption and now we are back in business and on regular pace. There is no reason why Mopar cannot be Best-in-Class in the industry in Parts & Service.”

The Mopar Masters Guild would like to thank Pietro Gorlier, Jim Sassorossi, Trish Hecker and the rest of the Executive Mopar team for their valuable time sharing with the guild, working together and most of all for their Mopar’s continued support as we continue our goal and journey to be “Best-In-Class!”

Many of us used our time on Saturday night by attending Snap-On Business Solution’s Super Bowl Party.

See article and pictures from the party on Page 20-21 of this issue.

Sunday February 6th This was an open day for all of us and many used this time to visit the NADA Convention floor. I personally was able to visit a few of our Supporting Vendors at their booths.

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We all made sure we were back at the Omni Hotel to attend our very own Super Bowl Party. Steelers vs. Packers! The room seemed divided on who was rooting for which team. Several serving stations with plenty of “football fare” food kept us all happy and full. While we all enjoyed the Super Bowl commercials for their sometimes zany humor we waited patiently for the new Chrysler commercial that Piertro Gorlier had mentioned the day before. We were NOT disappointed! I don’t think any of us expected a two minute commercial starring a Detroit based rap star, Eminem, touting the new Chrysler 200. It was two minutes of silence in the room culminating with cheers and applause for what was, to us, one of the most powerful messages Chrysler could have sent. The commercial was quite the talk for the rest of our time there. The Green Bay Packers may have won the Super Bowl but in our eyes Chrysler was the BIG winner!

Imported From Detroit…what a GREAT slogan!

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Monday February 7th One portion of our meetings that had been missing for a while is the Super Performance Guild meeting. With changes in Chrysler training this year, the Performance Guild meeting has made its way back. We began Monday morning with our Facilitators Doug Johnson, After Sales Training Manager, Chrysler Academy and Tom Rice, Chrysler Academy (T.A.Rice & Associates). Doug welcomed everyone and went over his responsibilities concerning training. He covered highlights of 2011 and 2012 Chrysler Training and Certification Plans. There are 5 areas of training in the dealership  Parts Manager  Parts Advisor  Service Manager  Service Advisor  Warranty Administrator “If you look at all the positions across the country, we have about 14,600 people that we have to send through our training program. Everybody participating in those 5 positions I mentioned earlier.Currently we have 6 trainers,” say Johnson.

This is why dealerships are noticing a back-log in the classes.

Trainers are being added. Doug also mentioned the positive feedback that he has been receiving from the new Chrysler 200 commercial and mentioned that he “liked” the new Mopar Masters Facebook Page. He then gave us information on the particulars of training; Pricing (including a “no-show: fee) and Requirements (a headset with microphone is mandatory!).

Doug then continued covering the 2012 requirements. Watch for more updates soon!

Tom Rice welcomed everyone and went over the agenda:  Day 1  Introductions  Financial Reviews  Fixed Ops Topics of Discussion  Day 2  Best/Useful Idea Presentations  Fixed Ops Discussion (continued) Also attending our Performance Group was Mark Beaton, Chrysler Academy, Professional Fixed Operations Management Consultation and Training. Mark introduced himself telling us that he and his company, MBA Dealer Services, LLC have the responsibility of our Composites and Financial Reviews. Mark mentioned the new website for Performance Groups, www.chryslerperformancegroups.com. This site lists:  Upcoming Events  Financial Reviews  Best Ideas  Downloadable Files (Continued on page 15)

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This site can be accessed only if you are a member of a Performance Group. You can reach Mark at mb840@chrysler.com.

Financial reports were then passed around to everyone. Much of the day was conversation and interaction with these reports.

Tuesday February 8th We started this day at 7:00am to allow members to present their Best/Useful Idea. This was the format: Review Your Idea  Idea – What was done?  How was it implemented?  What were the results?  What is your next step?  Rate each idea on the provided form  Submit for scoring and tabulation Presenters were:  Gerry Oakes  Steve Hofer  Rick Cutaia  Ernie Wennerstrom  Mike Mulkins  Joe McBeth  Ken Kokoszka  Paul Allred  Rick Monteiro  Susan McDaniel  Marvin Windham  Alan Yancey  Rich Schott Votes were cast and the results were calculated. Winners were:  1st Place – Mike Mulkins  2nd Place – Alan Yancey  3rd Place – (tie) – Susan McDaniel & Ken Kokoszka This concluded our Super Performance Guild Meeting and our Mopar Masters Guild Meeting for 2011. Another successful and informative event with the “Best of the Best” sharing information, knowledge, ideas and friendship!

President Dan Hutton thanked everyone for attending this year and looked forward to having everyone make plans in 2012 for the Mopar Masters Guild 20th Anniversary Celebration of its existence.

See you all in Las Vegas!

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MMG NADA 2011 Notes We asked 3 attendees for their thoughts on this year’s meetings. Two have attended the MMG Annual meetings before and one is a first time attendee.

Here’s what they had to offer: Well it has been several years since I attended the Mopar Masters Guild meeting. Some folks I have, unfortunately, not had the opportunity to speak to in years.

I want to express that Mopar Masters is a family, a community and I was warmly welcomed back. Like the guild motto states “The exchange of information by like size dealers in a non competitive environment” the information, the ideas, the solutions that you can attain make this the must place to be. The networking and the relationships that you can build here are priceless.

The group has a voice and that voice is heard whether it is Mopar or our supporting vendors, The group is well recognized and respected in the Mopar community and outside of the Mopar community. There is really nothing like the Mopar Masters Guild in any of the other OEM’s parts channels.

I am proud to be a member of Mopar Masters and am looking forward to becoming more involved and active and continuing the legacy of the Mopar Masters.

Larry Morris Fred Beans Parts DCJ *********************************************************************** Wow, what can I say? This was my first meeting of the Mopar Masters Guild and I really didn’t know what to expect. I was just trying to take it all in.

The meetings were an inspiration and there was a lot of great information put forth. I really liked listening to the psychiatrist Dr. Jody Janati. That was something I wasn’t expecting. From there, it just kept getting better.

One thing I did notice was all of the Guild Members I spoke with think outside the box.

They don’t take “no” for an answer and they were more than willing to share their thoughts on how they are successfully handling certain aspects of their business. The second day was also excellent. I really enjoyed the vendors that came in and I am actually now using one of them in conjunction with our delivery service.

To summarize my first Guild meeting, it was awesome! It seemed like a tight knit group of people that share common goals. Laying down a good business foundation; sharing ideas with each other; helping each other out; all in an effort to run a successful and profitable department.

Dave Bollenbach Parts Manager Autowest CJD Roseville, CA (Continued on page 17)

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*********************************************************************** At our last meeting in San Francisco, I did not prepare and present a Best/Useful Idea to the group.

My excuse was that I felt I was too busy handling all of the preparations for the meetings, etc. as the Planning Committee Chairman. But as I was listening to and benefitting from all of the great ideas that were presented during our Performance Group meeting, I realized that I didn't do my part to contribute to what our meetings are all about, which is, sharing ideas and experiences with the group so that we can all benefit from the "Brain Trust" that is the Mopar Master's Guild.

Some of the ideas are simple and easy, and some of them are complicated and took a great deal of work and effort, but the common thread is that they were all ideas that were created because there was a need, or a problem that needed to be solved, and our members shared how they made the idea work in their store. In my opinion we all are surely able to use an entire idea, or even just duplicate a part of a solution, and help make our own stores better, by taking advantage of the collective intelligence that is represented within our group.

Mike Mulkins made a very important point during his presentation, by saying that it's not just a question of how do you make an argument to justify coming to these meetings, annually. The question should be how do we make an argument to justify NOT coming to our MMG meetings every year at NADA. The sharing of ideas and the open dialogue between our members and our supporting vendors is just too valuable to ignore.

I certainly don't assume that I am the only one with this opinion, but, (this is a recurring theme) I always, always come away from our MMG meetings with such an abundance of ideas and motivation to improve our business, that it energizes me to implement and more importantly, EXECUTE the ideas that are shared each and every year at NADA. So for next year, I won't promise a mind blowing or ground shaking idea to share, but I am making a commitment, to participate on both sides of information exchange instead of simply being a recipient of some useful ideas from the Best of the Best, Mopar Parts Managers in the country.

Mark A. Skinner Power Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge PHX, AZ

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Our Supporting Vendors Support those who support you

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Our Supporting Vendors Support those who support you

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Mopar Masters Guild members attend Super Bowl Party held by Snap-On Business Solutions Submitted by Paul Allred - Stateline CJD The guild members were invited to Snap-on Business Solution’s private Super Bowl customer party Saturday night. It was held at Pete’s Tavern and Snap-On reserved the whole tavern for their party.

The place was jamming and packed with Snap-On customers and representatives from the company having a good time! The band had a female singer that could really sing. My only disappointment was not seeing our gifted friend Dave Foutz crooning to the audience!

Here’s some pictures from the event!

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The 49th annual Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari in southern California

The Mopar Performance Big Rig was on hand to welcome a 6000 plus crowd of 4X4 four enthusiasts (with over 1200 registered vehicles!) in Ocotillo Wells, California during the first weekend of March, 2011. This sleepy little patch of sand boasts a population of several species of snakes, scorpions, bats and coyotes during a regular week but this weekend it became home to a few thousand Jeep Wranglers, Rams and other custom four wheel drives.

The Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari is the largest off-road, four wheel drive event in the state. We met a few old timers that have attended every event since 1962. Most of them are still running their old CJ Jeeps but a few gave them up for new ones with warranties and air conditioning.

As a platinum sponsor Jack Powell Chrysler Jeep Dodge employees were on hand to work the Mopar Performance marketing behemoth and of course try their luck in the off road challenges in between.

We can’t thank the Mopar staff from Detroit Stephanie Rooks, Tom Haberkamp and Kirk Carbary enough. These guys (and gal!) made sure that every detail was taken care of. All we had to do was smile and take orders.

We were very successful selling lift kits using “The General” as a fashion model. We sold a 2011 Jeep Liberty, a 2” Mopar Performance Lift kit, two 4” long arm lift kits and two Mopar Accessory front bumper and winch packages. We also handed out plenty of coupons and sold some t-shirts and hot wheels.

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This was Tierra Del Sol's grand opening weekend of the New Truckhaven Offroad Training Area and it proved to be a big hit. Two of our group’s campers decided to stress test their Jeeps on one of the black diamond courses.

That resulted in one broken drive shaft and one broken hub. Our technician Dave Buchard said “You’ve got to find the weak points to make them better”.

Celebrating our successful selling day, Service Manager Gary Block (and Chef extraordinaire) served up a huge meal of pulled pork sandwiches and salads back at camp. Back in January I had an opportunity to go hog hunting with Roy Benner on his ranch in Cisco Texas. Let me just say that Gary did my pig proud and it offered more ammunition for the campfire stories.

On Saturday night more than $100,000.00 in prizes was given away to the 3,000 plus off roaders in attendance at the award ceremony and raffle.

This was a great way to engage the Jeep Nation on their home turf. We made a lot of new friends, reconnected with old ones and proved to the community that Mopar has some of the best off-road products anywhere.

We can’t wait for next year, Rick Monteiro Jack Powell CJD

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Way Up Slow, Way Down Fast One day in 2009, things would change for dealer Art Laws PORTLAND, OR — Standing along busy Sandy Blvd here, Art Laws, who now owns Timberline Tire Factory, points down the street to a series of structures.

“This had been Timberline Dodge since 1982. I used to own these buildings,” he says with a shrug. “I've had to sell off most of them.”

Laws, 70, began selling Dodges in 1965. “I never drove anything else,” he says of the brand. “I started off as night janitor a few blocks from here at the Dodge Store and slowly made my way up.”

He didn't realize the way down would be so fast when Chrysler Group LLC pulled the plug on his store and nearly 800 like it nationwide as part of the auto maker's post-bankruptcy reorganization plans. Back when he was a low man on the pole, as he learned more about the car business, he started calling the former Chrysler Corp. with tips on how to better run a dealership. “One day, they told me if I thought I could run it so much better, then I ought to,” he says.

Twenty years after he first started working at the dealership, Chrysler loaned him money to take over the struggling store.

He renamed Timberline Dodge. He made a profit in the first year. Over the years, Laws would expand his brand representations to Chrysler and Jeep. His facilities were on eight city blocks in downtown Portland. According to Laws, his sprawling store was a top-grossing dealership in the Northwest. “We had a big showroom I built in 1996 and I had 179 employees.” But one day in 2009, all of that would change. He got the “Dear Dealer” letter telling him he had 21 days to “get out of the Chrysler car business,” Laws says, shaking his head.

The turn of events came as a surprise to the Automotive Hall of Fame inductee and former dealer-council chairman. As a dealer, Laws took pride in great customer service based upon a distinctive system he developed. “One day they tried to take everything they could,” he says. “They tried to take chairs, tables, hoists, tools, everything, and sell it at auction. They said I'd signed a personal guarantee.”

Out of the car business, Laws had to downsize his staff and his real-estate holdings. He agonized over firing people he had employed for 25 years. In the end, he laid off more than 130 people and sold most of his real estate.

He estimates losing his dealer status cost him $3 million to $4 million.

Once prominent in the community, Laws took pride in aiding schools, funding lifeguard programs on the Sandy River, sponsoring rodeos and lending free space in his buildings to social groups. “I can't afford do that anymore,” he says. After being financially forced to sell his home, Laws and his wife of 51 years moved into the basement of their daughter and son-in-law's home. He converted one of the two buildings he retained into the tire store and a Napa Auto Parts distributorship. In the other building, he and his son own and operate a stationary-bicycle aerobics studio. It shares space with a mattress outlet. After losing the dealership, Laws was asked by Chrysler to remain a parts dealer. Timberline Dodge had been a top Chrysler-parts distributor. But he says operating within Chrysler's new terms didn't provide enough profit margin to remain in business. In October, he closed his parts warehouse.

Laws wishes he could still sell Chrysler-brand vehicles. If he could, he would like to buy back his dealership. But he knows he can't afford to, and doubts he would be comfortable with the terms. His goal was to pass the dealership on to his son. “I wish I could have seen this coming sooner,” he says of the dealership termination. Laws remains dismayed, but not defeated “I'm an outdoorsman and I have survived avalanches,” he says. “Don't think I won't survive this, too.”

Editor’s Note: Two of Art Law’s former Parts Managers; Mickey Ronnigen and Candy Thomas achieved Mopar Masters status while working at Mr. Law’s dealership.

Source: Nick Jaynes - Ward’s Dealer Business

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Work and Play Last January I was scheduled to attend a 20 group meeting with my dealer in Dallas, Texas. We did all the normal exercises; the breakout sessions, the composite comparison and best ideas. This was a little different for me since I normally hang out with the MMG members at these types of meetings and we all have such large volume parts operations.

We took a lot of great ideas away from the group and we used those ideas to improve in areas that I sometimes overlook. You know, stepping over the dimes to pick up dollars. But at the end of the day those dimes add up to dollars. We are so good at high volume wholesale because it comes so easy to us that we sometimes neglect the lowest hanging fruit, our own internal operations.

This is the year to refocus and pick up some additional sales with the people and facilities we already have. It’s my mission this year to enhance our Express Lane customer experience with the new Mopar Elite program and offer Good, Better, Best, Oil changes and Tires options for customers. What’s on your list? What great ideas did you choose to implement from our recent meetings in San Francisco?

Getting back to Texas, I made plans to spend a couple of days hunting Texas varmints with former MMG president Roy Benner at his ranch near Cisco, Texas. West Texas has seen a huge increase in the feral hog population in recent years and offers an out of state hunting license to hunt those varmints for only $45.00.

Since I have never been hunting it sounded like a great opportunity to learn from a seasoned veteran. Roy was a great teacher and gave me the opportunity to shoot my first hog on the second hunt. The first hunt didn’t go so well. While practicing my aim I accidently shot a tree and scared everything off. The third hunt yielded 18 deer in perfect view from the blind. This of course happened just one day after deer season was over and I didn’t have a deer tag anyway….maybe next year.

It was great to see Roy’s brothers Gary, Don and Dale during this trip, every one of them a parts manager. Do you think it’s in their DNA? The brothers have three houses on different sections of the 440 acres of prime west Texas hunting grounds.

Thanks for a great adventure Roy. My team here very much enjoyed their pulled pork sandwiches camping this last weekend at the Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari. Work leads to play, play leads to work…… what else could you ask for?

Rick Monteiro Jack Powell CJD Amateur Varmint Hunter

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Do you remember (when)?  …baseball games where played during sunlight hours? It sure helped you get through

the work day with the radio on in the background!  …Mike Cervantes One of the wittiest men I ever met.  …Roy Benner. Probably the best business mind around.  …when you could name EVERY team in pro sports? (Try that with today’s NHL

franchises)  …John Gilbert, Steve Benoit & Karl Halley (The short list of the finest

GENTLEMEN I ever met)  …many of us used Dodge Rampages for spot deliveries?  …battery acid and jeans with holes in them?  …when a fender actually weight more than 15 lbs?  …paper catalogs were the only way to go?  …the closest one ever got to a Chrysler executive was his/her signature on a bulletin.  …Dean Taylor. Who had the absolutely best story ever from NADA. A night out in

New Orleans...Clue (Midgets, an engaged couple, a homeless guy, Hurricanes and works of art). Still clueless? Call an old timer!  …The Guild’s visionaries, Chuck & Cy Thank you so much! Talk about the

GODFATHER(s)  …a customer would call and say, “I need a ballast resistor for my 74 Dodge Dart,”

and we all knew the part number? Today, the customer is stopped in mid-sentence with your parts advisor saying, “Do you have the last nine of the VIN?” Wasn’t technology supposed to streamline things?

And finally, THE finest Gentleman I ever had the privilege to meet, Corky Mayo. God bless you in your time of difficulty. We will all miss Sue. Submitted by Ernie Wennerstrom Bald Hill DCJ

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New Enhancements to the Certified Professional Award Program Chrysler Academy is pleased to announce the Chrysler Certified Professional Award Program. This program rewards and recognizes dealership Sales employees, After Sales employees and Technicians who have challenged themselves to attain higher levels of training and performance. Based on individual 2010 achievement levels and point values, certified dealership personnel can visit www.certprofs.com to view and order awards selections.

We are happy to announce several great new flexible enhancements to reward outstanding performance in 2010. This significantly enhanced award program was reorganized to fit new Chrysler Academy achievement levels and requirements. Additional key enhancements include:  A gallery of new awards for participants to choose from for most positions and levels of achievement  Reward points which allow winners “freedom of choice” with their award selections  New and exciting award items  An option to purchase additional award items on a personal credit card This new direction is designed to keep enthusiasm levels high and maintain dealership employee momentum for attaining high levels of certification achievement. Knowledgeable, informed employees are a key resource for driving productivity, customer satisfaction, service excellence and enhanced customer treatment.

Detailed information on the 2010 Chrysler Certified Professional Award Program is available under More Information or at www.certprofs.com.

Should you have any questions regarding your selections, please email ccp@imperialm.com or contact Program Headquarters at 800-849-4235.

Mopar Masters Guild is now on Facebook!

Check out our new page. Posts from members, friends and pictures from our events including NADA 2011 San Francisco!

Try us…..and “like” us www.facebook.com Search for Mopar Masters Guild

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Successful Leadership By Definition No Kidding A knowledgeable and successful friend of mine and I were discussing prosperous organizations versus, well, not so successful ones (i.e. Marriott vs Ramada).

We reviewed obvious differences we all experience such as employee attitudes, facility appearance, financial performance, and the weighty "word on the street" reputation.

My own assessment of high performing fixed operations is that they also have a number of attributes in common. But, number one would be that the management team is made up of "aggressive leaders" not, "maintaining managers."

There is a wonderful book on this heady subject by John C. Maxwell titled Leadership 101, published about 10 years ago. Some time ago a successful employee presented a copy to me including a judicious hand-written note inside, "Thank you for adjusting the sails."

Who me?

About two-thirds into this gem there's a succinct description of the "levels of leadership." Reading this was a poke in the eye as it defined the development of management styles, reflecting my own inauguration and progression over the years, of which I was obviously yet to reach the top. I thought it would be an interesting read for department supervisors to discover their own levels of achievement, as well as the potential for further success as defined here.

According to Mr. Maxwell, the success of managers is directly related to their ability to be leaders who are able to meaningfully influence their employees. There are five distinct levels of leadership in this regard beginning with the "boss" mentality, where unfortunately too many fixed operations managers reside. My experience is that many dealer executives inherited their positions (last man/woman standing), and have experienced very nominal leadership themselves, and essentially no management/ leadership training during their entire career.

Five levels The entry leadership level is described as "position." Here the employees follow primarily because they have to - the manager has the authority by golly and everyone knows it. During a workshop recently, one of my students told us how his service manager hibernated in his office each day and only came out to yell and scream at someone. This individual had been in management for years and obviously never progressed beyond the boss mentality. When I queried about the general manager my student's reply was "Oh, he's the same way" - no surprise there.

This level of management is occupied with employees who work because they have to, and turnover is common. Why continue with this dud if you don't have too?

Level two The second leadership level is "permission." Employees here follow the manager because they want to and they enjoy their work environment. Managers at this level of leadership donate time, energy, (Continued on page 37)

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and focus on employee needs and desires. An interesting quote from the book is "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."

Unfortunately, without progressing to the next level of leadership, this manager will find his or her employees will not develop continuous improvement since a love-fest isn't actual progress.

Level three The third leadership level is "production." As a result of successes in level two, employees will eventually follow a manager because of what that manager has done for the organization. Employees are still quite happy here, but more importantly, they are energetic and take on problem solving too.

Keeping successful momentum stimulated with organizational vision, strategy, direction and followthrough are the challenges at this level of leadership.

Level four The fourth level of leadership is defined as "people development." This occurs when individual employees are specifically developed and then empowered towards success. The book describes this leadership progression through management as moving from loving the leader, to admiring the leader, to employees becoming very loyal to the leader.

At level four, the manager is a continuous model for others, providing opportunities for subordinates to grow, while surrounding him or herself with like-minded individuals. This boss is extremely successful because the employees are extremely successful.

Level five Level five is described with the word "personhood." Few reach this level where employees follow because of who the manager is and what he or she represents. This accomplished trailblazer gains the most fulfillments from watching others grow and develop, and he or she has earned a reputation of providing abundant wisdom and guidance. Anyone at this level has been a successful leader for many years, before earning this unique distinction.

I would encourage you to study diligently, and then practice successful leadership traits. Your employees deserve a manager who will lead them to be better than they ever thought they would, could, or should be - that's at least level four on your part. You know you can do it, and maybe you already have.

Ed Kovalchick, CEO

Net Profit Inc. www.NPInc.com www.NetProfitTraining.com Ph 1.205.663.1962 USA Ed@netprofitgroup.com

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2011 Mopar Masters Guild Committees President Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Dan Hutton Mike Mulkins Steve Hofer Rick Cutaia

Tom O’Brien Chrysler Jeep Dodge Go Chrysler Jeep West Park Chrysler Jeep Rick Hendrick Dodge

Executive Committee

All of the above and: Gerry Oakes Paul Allred Rick Monteiro Marvin Windham Alan Yancey Brent Hoge

Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge Stateline Chrysler Jeep Dodge Jack Powell Chrysler Jeep Dodge Benchmark Chrysler Jeep Dodge Hayes Chrylser Dodge Jeep Larry Miller Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Membership Committee

Brent Christensen (West) Doug Price (East) Robbie Jackson (South) (North)

Ken Garff West Valley CJD Security Dodge Chrysler Salsbury’s Dodge City TBA

Vendor Chairmen

Paul Allred Gerry Oakes Marvin Windham

Stateline Chrysler Jeep Dodge Baxter Chrysler Jeep Benchmark Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Newsletter Chairmen

Don Cushing Mike Mulkins

Bald Hill Dodge Chrysler Jeep Go Chrysler Jeep West

Performance Group

Mike Gerber

Rairdon’s Chrysler Jeep Dodge of Kirkland

Finance Committee

Brent Hoge Steve Hofer

Larry Miller Chrysler Jeep Dodge Park Chrysler Jeep

UPS

Rick Monteiro Paul Allred Marvin Windham

Jack Powell Chrysler Jeep Dodge Stateline Chrysler Jeep Dodge Benchmark Chrysler Jeep Dodge

ADP

Gerry Oakes Mark Skinner Dan Hutton

Baxter Chrysler Jeep Dodge Power Chrysler Jeep Dodge Tom O’Brien Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Snap-On

Dan Hutton

Tom O’Brien Chrysler Jeep Dodge

OEConnection

Brent Hoge

Larry Miller Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Dealer Tire

Steve Hofer Mike Mulkins Alan Yancey

Park Chrysler Jeep Go Chrysler Jeep West Hayes Chrysler Dodge Jeep (Dan, Brent, Steve, Mike & Alan are the Chairs for Snap-On, OEConnection and Dealer Tire)

Tracy Industries

Mike Mulkins Steve Hofer Brent Hoge Guillermo Nava

Go Chrysler Jeep West Park Chrysler Jeep Larry Miller Chrysler Jeep Dodge Buerge Chrysler Jeep

Reynolds & Reynolds

Paul Allred

Stateline Chrysler Jeep Dodge

NADA 2012 Planning

Mark Skinner

Power Chrysler Jeep Dodge

Website Chairman

Steve Hofer

Park Chrysler Jeep

THE GUILD MOTTO “THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION BY LIKE SIZE DEALERS IN A NON COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT” This is the reason the Guild exists. The strength of our existence relies not on the voices of a select few, but on the combined knowledge of all. With this in mind, everyone should remember to become as proactive as possible. The Guild is YOURS, be proud of it and be part of it!