A little effort now can save a lot of money later The most common calls I get are usually related to new managers or major obsolescence issues, but every so often I am asked to review the inventory of a prospective buy-sell dealership. I have to admi

Ok, I felt it, witnessed it, calculated it, preached it and now sophisticated and comprehensive research, studying more than 75,000 customers over several years, has provided absolute proof. Bells, whistles, fluff and items unrelated to actual proble

Over 4,500 dealerships closed their doors in the past 10 years. That means there are 4,500 fewer service departments, 9,000 fewer service advisors, 30,000 fewer technicians and 40,000 fewer service bays. (Time out: I know this sounds depressing at fi

“How am I doin’ boss?” “Ok, you still got a job, ain’t ya?” (chuckle, chuckle). Reality is…frankly, meaningful performance measurements are lacking in the entire pecking order of many dealership environments I encounter. However, there

How many times over the past 10 years have you heard the following words/phrases…. customer loyalty, owner loyalty, customer retention, reward programs, loyalty programs? The folks at Twitter use the term “trending” to describe popular stor

The decline in new car sales that began in 2008 had a predictable outcome: less late-model vehicles on the road and on the service drive. The bad news: J.D. Power and Associates says there are 63 million vehicles on the road under five years old. Thi

In my last column in the August 2012 issue of Dealer magazine “So Ya Wanna be a Technician,” I provided a dose of technician reality for the unwashed. “Technicianing,” fortunately for you Mr./Ms. Manager, is a type of physical and mental addi

Consumers are motivated by many factors that influence their automobile-buying decisions: price, prestige, creature comforts and resale value, just to name a few. Likewise, there are many reasons why vehicle owners purchase preventive maintenance ser

Ever heard this one? What’s the difference between a puppy and technician? At 12 weeks the puppy stops whining. Budda bing, budda boom. I am guessing that most reading this column have never functioned as a full-fledged master technician, plowing t