The Driving Sales Executive Summit is on in a BIG way Oct 9-10 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The industry is currently in a very dynamic yet super profitable state, but for how long? Change is just a supply chain kink or governmental policy away. Innovations are being introduced all the time, and now is the time to decide which ones are worthy and which ones are half-baked. Bottom line, it all comes down to people.

Is your dealership culture a positive, winning one, and are you and your team prepared for the next market phase that’s on the horizon? No one saw the Covid crisis coming let alone that it would usher in an era of unparalleled profit…we may not be so lucky next time…but we’ll be ready. This summit is focused to help you handle whatever is next.
Reg here and use Kelley100 to save $100:-): https://bit.ly/3RI7E0b

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Service Advisors and Service Managers in particular must treat their clients like a guest in their home. More and more, customers expect personal attention and are not just looking for a transaction when taking their car to the shop. With that said, let’s get into some specific skills that every Advisor can master to “WOW” the customers that they interact with on a daily basis. Make no mistake the “WOW” factor is what it takes to excel in today’s Service Drive.

Attentiveness

First impressions set the stage or how attentive you make your guest feel from the very start. Make sure you act with a sense of urgency that can be immediately noticed from the moment your customer arrives in your service drive. In addition, the aptitude to actually and actively listen to customers is so critical for providing excellent service for a variety of reasons. Not only is it vital to care to individual customer exchanges (carefully deciphering the how they describe their concerns and repeating for clarity), but it’s also important to be mindful and attentive to the response that you get from customers in general. Look to your feedback mechanisms to get customers worst-case impressions. For example, customers may not be saying it bluntly, but pay attention to consistent survey results to address repetitive concerns folks don’t mention but are concerned about. 

Proactive Communication Skills

Customers, as you and I, HATE to be lost in the shuffle. Make sure you are being proactive instead of reacting to your customer’s needs. In the Service Department there are a few distinct ways this manifests itself. From confirming the appointment to carefully assembling a pre-write up and studying your customer’s history to keeping folks abreast with a proactive status call, ensure your client feels like you are going the extra mile to keep them updated.

Using Positive Verbal and Body Language

Your ability to make minor changes in your speech forms can truly go a long way in creating happy customers. Language is a very important part of persuasion, and people (particularly customers) create perceptions about you and the dealership based off of the language that you use.

Here’s an example: Let’s say a customer contacts you with a concern that needs diagnosis

Small changes that utilize “positive language” can greatly affect how the customer hears your response…

• Without positive language: “Sir, a “DIAG” is $130.”
• With positive language: “Ma’m we will need to get your car checked out to see what is causing your concern, from there we will give you an estimate of what it will take to fix it. If for some reason you don’t choose to have the repair performed, you will be charged a $130 diagnostic fee.”

The first example isn’t negative by any means, but the tone that it conveys feels abrupt and impersonal, and can be taken the wrong way by customers. On the other hand, the second example is stating the same thing (your “DIAG” fee), but instead focuses on when/how the customer will get to their resolution rather than focusing on the negative. Equally important is the practice of using open body posture and pleasant facial expressions, we’ve all heard that language is 70% plus “Body Language” so pay heed!

Theatrical Performing Talent

I know this is a shocker but, sometimes you’re going to come across people that you’ll never be able to make happy. Situations outside of your control (they had a terrible day, or they are just a natural-born complainer) will sometimes tiptoe their way into your usual routine, and you’ll be greeted with those customers that seem to want nothing else but to break you down. Every excellent Service Advisor and/or Manager will have the basic acting skill necessary to maintain their usual cheerful facade despite dealing with people who may be just plain cranky, or worse!

Time Management Skills

You should spend more time with customers in general, however, the bottom line is that there is a limit, and you need to be concerned with getting customers what they want in an efficient manner.

The trick here is that this should also be applied when realizing when you simply cannot help a customer. If you don’t know the solution to a problem, the best Service Advisor will get a customer over to someone who does. Don’t waste time trying to go above and beyond for a customer in an area where you will just end up wasting both of your time!

A Soothing Presence

Descriptions for this type of personality: “keeps their cool,” “staying cool under pressure,” etc., but it all represents the same thing: the ability that some people have to stay calm and even influence others when things get chaotic. The best customer service reps know that they cannot let a heated customer force them to lose their cool; It is actually their job to try to be the “adult” for a customer who thinks the sky is falling due to their current problem.

Ability to Handle Surprises

Sometimes a customer is going to throw you a curveball. Maybe the problem you encounter isn’t “black and white”, or maybe the customer isn’t reacting how you thought they would. Whatever the case, it’s best to be able to think on your feet. Keep calm and handle each situation as it arises.

I hope this short list helps to inspire you to review these aspects and put them into action. Remember, it’s your action and sense of caring and urgency the customer appreciates the most. Use your interactions with every customer to build and refine your skills to become “That guy” or “That lady” customers can count on for a great experience each and every time!

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Albany, N.Y. – June 18, 2019 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced today it has successfully completed all dealership management system (DMS) integrations with DDI Technology, an established provider of vehicle title and registration services for auto dealerships. Auto/Mate’s DMS customers can now use DDI Technology’s solutions to improve workflow, reduce fraud and errors, eliminate paper storage and keep data secure.

“The vehicle title and registration process can be slow and laborious, so having a specialized service will allow our customers to speed up the process and improve the customer experience,” said Mike Esposito, president and CEO of Auto/Mate.

“Our solutions are customizable so Auto/Mate’s customers can feel confident that our specialists can work with their current process,” said Glenn Thames, President of DDI Technology. “Dealers can eliminate headaches and save valuable hours associated with researching state requirements and completing state documents for lien adds, refinances, duplicate title and owner or state transfers.”

DDI Technology supports electronic vehicle registration in Florida, Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina. It’s Premier TRS^TM service can assist dealerships with title and registration management in all 50 states.

Auto/Mate’s integration program, Open/Mate, is based on open standards so that third-party vendors can easily integrate with the DMS. Auto/Mate’s open integration program keeps integration costs low for vendors, saving auto dealers money while providing them with more vendor choices.

For more information visit www.automate.com.

About DDI Technology

DDI Technology is a software and systems firm founded in 1998 with the goal of delivering superior products and services. DDI is owned and operated by a group of experienced software engineers whose knowledge and experience spans the spectrum of the information technology (IT) industry.

Committed to excellence, DDI continues to focus on superior products, professional and consulting services in the areas of Electronic Liens and Titles.

DDI fosters partnerships with progressive and innovative businesses including federal, state and local governments by supplying new technologies to enable partners to provide superior service to their customers while saving time and money. For more information visitwww.dditechnology.com.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. AMPS® is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,500 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate has received multiple consecutive DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards.

Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 1,200 years of combined experience working in franchised auto dealerships, the foundation of its By Car People, For Car People slogan. Auto/Mate is committed to winning its customers’ business each and every month with no long-term contracts and free software upgrades.

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The automotive industry is in a state of change with the advent of electric and autonomous vehicles and the ownership model moving toward mobility-as-a-service. The one constant in this changing market is the need to properly maintain vehicles no matter the propulsion system or ownership model. Maintaining vehicles with Original Equipment (OE) parts ensures proper fit and function.

Automakers have long had successful and robust Mechanical Wholesale and Collision Wholesale programs designed to sell parts. These programs, while robust, fail to capture a sizeable portion of part sales for older vehicles. One reason we explore in this paper is demand generation – how to create additional demand for an automaker’s existing parts programs.

Sales of cars and trucks have been robust since the end of the Great Recession in 2009. Service has also expanded due to vehicles being driven for longer periods of time. Consumers today are keenly aware of the need for preventive maintenance, repairs and scheduled servicing to extend the overall value of their vehicles. This has subsequently created rising demand for parts and services, resulting in new growth and revenue opportunities for many businesses such as independent auto repair shops, collision shops and OE-franchised dealerships.

Independent shops, which perform more than 70% of all post-warranty service and repairs, typically buy most of their parts from non-OE sources that often don’t offer OE-branded parts in their database. There is significant untapped opportunity for OEs and dealers to sell more of their parts to independent repairers, and this additional demand can be met with existing programs by partnering with a trusted data provider to code OE parts and make that enhanced information available to everyone involved in the parts-purchasing decision.

Independent shops, which perform more than 70% of all post-warranty service and repairs, typically buy most of their parts from non-OE sources that often don’t offer OE-branded parts in their database.

Data Shows Parts Opportunity Grows as Vehicles Age

Americans have been buying new and used vehicles at a record pace. These vehicles are lasting longer as a result of the great quality that goes into vehicle production. IHS said the number of vehicles on the road that are at least 25 years old represents 14 million, an increase from eight million in 2002. Furthermore, there are about 44 million vehicles that are 16 to 24 years old, a number that is up from 26 million in 2002.

These aging vehicles aren’t going away anytime soon. Edmunds analysts expect 2019 used vehicle sales to reach 41 million, their highest level since the recession. With sticker prices on new vehicles rising and incentives falling, older used vehicles could remain a very popular choice in the coming years.

All of this means the opportunity for post-warranty parts sales will continue to increase.

The Original Equipment Parts Opportunity

Industry estimates show that the global automotive aftermarket industry is expected to reach $722.8 billion by 2020. However many dealers and OEs are missing out on a large opportunity since a majority of this is represented by non-OE parts utilized by independent auto repair shops. Sure, aftermarket parts can sometimes be less expensive, but today a majority of OE parts are not coded to be visible in the database many of these shops use to purchase parts. By making these parts available, coded to industry standards and visible in the databases where OE parts are noticeably absent, automakers will create more demand in both mechanical and collision wholesale markets.

Fixed operations account for one-half of dealership gross profits, while capturing only one-third of the available market. According to the NADA’s Annual Dealer Financial Profile research, fixed operations accounted for 49% of dealership gross profits in 2017, yet dealerships currently receive only 33% of all service visits in the U.S. according to a recent Cox Automotive Service Industry Study.

The OE opportunity is to capture more of this available market. Dealerships are turning to e-commerce and mail-order sales of parts to help boost their income from fixed operations. Many automakers support and encourage this strategy through incentives and co-op funds to help push the sale of their parts. Not only are the parts sales highly profitable, but the use of OE parts on vehicles ensures a positive brand experience.

Industry estimates show that the global automotive aftermarket industry is expected to reach $722.8 billion by 2020. However, many dealers and OEs are missing out on a large opportunity since a majority of this is represented by non-OE parts utilized by independent auto repair shops

Proper Coding Unleashes Demand

Identifying the correct part is more difficult in an aftermarket setting than in a dealership. With just a VIN, a dealership can identify the exact part needed for a repair. An independent repairer, however, needs to supply year-make-model, part type and various part type characteristics to be presented with a choice of parts. Only properly coded parts are presented to the decision-maker.

ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Enhanced Standard) is the North American industry standard for the management and exchange of automotive parts data. With ACES, suppliers can publish automotive data using standardized vehicle characteristics, parts classifications and qualifier statements, giving properly coded parts the advantage.

Most automakers have not made their parts data widely available and coded to ACES standards, missing out on the opportunity to have their parts available to the 160,000 U.S. automotive service and repair locations in need of quality parts for repairs. Making properly coded OE data more widely available will generate more demand for OE parts.

New Technologies Address Old Concerns

Automakers have historically been concerned that making their parts information widely available benefits only their competitors. With dramatic changes in technology influencing data use and delivery, limiting access to parts information today is counterproductive.

For example, the advent of e-commerce has taught customers to shop around for products. If data is not made available on all e-commerce platforms, the owner of the data will not even be in consideration.

Most automakers have not made their parts data widely available and coded to ACES standards, missing out on the opportunity to have their parts available to the 160,000 U.S. automotive service and repair locations in need of quality parts for repairs.

Automakers can only have confidence to make their data available with the right governance—who is allowed to distribute the data, where is it going and how is it used? Trusted data providers today have key relationships with tight contracts that control how companies can and can’t use the OEM data – similar to the way Apple controls how music is downloaded with royalties paid back to the artist, which in this case is the OEM.

For continued confidence in the control of their data, an automaker needs transparency into the use of that data. Today’s technology enables precise tracking of massive amounts of data, and this transparency can provide new insights into parts demand.

The Impact of a Trusted Data Partner

Consider two examples: 1) A leading automaker recently engaged their trusted data partner to enhance their unique fluid part numbers and insert them at the point of estimating to ensure their part was visible. 2) Another leading automaker engaged their data partner to code their parts data to the standard for e-commerce used by the aftermarket, enabling them to publish their parts availability on all major e-commerce and mechanical estimating platforms to create demand where it didn’t exist before. Both automakers believe these initiatives resulted in significant market expansion and part sales.

Trusted data providers today can help automakers create and execute on a comprehensive data strategy, to best determine where the data goes, prioritize opportunities while casting a wide net, and ensuring that it will be protected.

Trusted data providers today can help automakers create and execute on a comprehensive data strategy, to best determine where the data goes, prioritize opportunities while casting a wide net, and ensuring that it will be protected. These data providers will provide broad market access through sophisticated, advanced tools and technologies built with leading market intelligence. Ultimately, they will help OEM data get delivered through a multitude of delivery technologies that include bulk distribution, web services, batch delivery, etc. They can help OEMs determine which data assets should be made available, including an inventory of data that’s currently not utilized or underutilized. Lastly, the right data partner can help determine use cases for maximum value and can add value to the data to allow downstream customers to append other data, and make it commercially available with industry standards, link parts, services and images.

In summary, the opportunity is large and growing, the risks of yesterday are addressed by new technology and trusted data partners. Automakers have the products to compete. Creative pricing and packaging and placement in the right channels will create demand for existing Mechanical and Collision Wholesale programs.

ABOUT MOTOR
MOTOR Information Systems is one of the world’s premier suppliers of automotive data and a trusted partner of leading Automakers, helping sell parts and service vehicles. Since 1903, MOTOR’s mission has been to provide customers with accurate, thorough and timely information to help run their businesses more efficiently, effectively and profitably.

For more information, please visit www.motor.com

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The guiding force behind one of the automotive industry’s leading transactional solution service providers is Dealer Pay’s Julie R Douglas

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HyreCar is a publicly traded company that has figured out an ingenious way to turn sitting inventory, both new and used, into a revenue stream that runs fast. They took a hard look at the concept of ride-share and came up with a very creative way to insert car dealerships into the money making formula.  It’s really quite simple, instead of letting used or slow moving new inventory sit, why not rent the fully insured assets to local drivers who need a vehicle for Lyft or Uber gigs, but either have no vehicle, or don’t want to put excessive mileage on their current vehicle(s).

Once the rental hits say 2k miles, the dealer pulls it off of the road, labels it a demo (still a new car designation, but at a more buyer-friendly price), and puts the driver into another vehicle. At any point in the process, the ride-share driver can make arrangements to buy the car he or she is using at a discount after putting on the 2,000+ miles. It’s a great way to make money for both the driver and the dealer that could, as a result, develop a customer for life. It’s also a great way for someone who needs money and a car, but has a credit challenge, to make their life better and more productive. The driver can choose the length of their rental from a day, to a week, to a year. The program requires no additional hiring of personnel and can be easily managed by the fleet manager who would be trained to use the HyreCar management software.

If you are having issues with aging inventory, and it’s tying up your cash flow, I highly suggest you have a conversation with a representative from HyreCar, a truly unique outlier in automotive that brings results that can keep you running in the black.

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Sales and service get their own distinct roles in any car dealership. In an ideal world, sales is available to attract new customers and to sell cars. Service exists to help keep those customers coming back and turn all of them into loyal, lifelong customers.

With this in mind, it is very important take a look at how well do sales and service departments work together. Do they work well together? At the end of the day, the achievements of one department is inextricably tied with the success of the other.

Of all the ways the product sales and service are linked, the first hand-off from sales to service is at the base of this working connection. It all starts here. If this is the customer’s first experience at the dealership, the hand-off is critical towards the long-term value of that customer.

Coordinate Goals and Goals

Product sales and service (necessarily) have various day-to-day objectives. Sales is trying to market cars. Service is trying to fix all of them. Sometimes the sales department can be considered just another customer (albeit an attentive customer) who provides a steady flow of repair work. This view is limited and needs to be re-examined. Product sales and service are two sides of the same coin.

While the daily goals may be different for each department, the particular long-term goals should be focused on exactly the same objective – to grow the faithful customer base of the dealership. Which means that issues such as repair work, or even accessories should be looked at as a means to a finish, not profit centers in-and-of their own.

Whenever service and sales are centered on the same goals, us-versus-them goes away as well as the sales-to-service hand-off becomes a meaningful changeover for the customer and for the car dealership.

Teach Staff the Importance of this Relationship

It is necessary that employees understand how the relationship between sales and service is supposed to function. Salespeople and service advisors have to be on good terms and be able to interact. Customers need to see a unified front. During hand-off, customers should believe that they are dealing with two players on a single team, not opposing players required to play each other.

Involve Service in the Sales Process

To further solidify the unified front, consider integrating assistance into the sales process. In-house accessory installation is one way to accomplish this. Customers will get a taste of your service department when your sales department sells a good accessory and your service department installs it.

Also, consider the message being delivered every time you send an installation away from your dealership. The message you’re sending when  you do this is that you want the client to take their service business somewhere else.

The greater familiarity the customer has with the service department before and during the sale, the more likely they are to bring their car in for service after the sale. With all the rise of competition from self-employed service shops, dealers are finding this harder to attract and preserve service customers. Integrating sales and service leverages a dealer’s unique assets and tilts the benefit in the dealer’s favor.

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I had my COO, Timm Cuzzo pull all Nextup’s 2018 data so that I could help us all understand the importance of being honest with your data and how it can drastically, eventually, help you be more profitable.

• Anyone Say Hello to That Guest? Across dealerships in Canada, Australia and the US we recorded 2,157,876 total opportunities in 2018. Appointments, Be-Backs and Walk-ins. What did your dealership record today? Many dealers I talk to always say “we don’t have 100% coverage” at the store. It’s so critical to set this as a foundational measurement. Without it I feel that everything else falls apart and you’ll never get true data on your business performance and profitability.

• Manager Intros Matter. How many times this past month did a manager intro occur on the floor for a sales associate? The reason I ask is because in 2018 when a Manager Intro didn’t happen Nextup’s data showed that our client’s closing ratios were a paltry 16%. However, when Managers got involved with their team on the floor the closing ratios more than doubled at 35%. The most intriguing piece of data here is when the dealers logging this data had manager intros and a test drive occur with their showroom opportunities the closing ratios increased to 57%!

• The Feel of The Wheel, Seals the Deal. We recorded a solid 1,287,521 test drives on the platform last year. It’s a good number but here’s why you want to keep improving it, year over year. ONLY 1% of showroom prospects that DID NOT go on a test drive purchased a vehicle. I have shared that nugget before, here in the magazine and on stage. Why? BECAUSE IT NEVER CHANGES, EVER. Your store’s mandate for an increase in test drive numbers should be a resolution that absolutely must happen.

• Love the One You’re With. We constantly debate and discuss the need to get people through the sales process faster because “that’s what buyers want”. Has anyone ever recorded the people that want a dealership to take their time with them during their visit? Ensured they listened to them and delivered what they were looking for in an efficient and timely manner? No? It’s ok we did. The AVERAGE TIME with SOLD APPOINTMENTS on those 2 million plus opportunities was 2 Hours and 41 Minutes. AVERAGE TIME with a SOLD WALK-IN? 2 Hours and 16 Minutes. Don’t let your sales people being working with showroom customers and all the while have one eye on the door for the next opportunity. They’ll close more deals being attentive staying “with their guests”.

• The Good, Bad and the Ugly of Finance Wait Times. Here’s the Good, on all that recorded data we saw this year, the dealers that were measuring wait times FOR FINANCE clock in at an average of 10 MINUTES. The Bad (ok it’s not terrible but it can always improve), guests were spending almost an hour – 57 MINUTES – in Finance. We know the longer they’re in Finance the lower the CSI Scores get. Where I spoke of taking our time with guests in the earlier data, this is an area that needs cleaner measurement of time because the UGLY is when you hear of guests waiting for hours to get into Finance or spending hours haggling with them. Just check your surveys and online reviews, it’s there.

I hope you can take all of this and download it to the rest of your staff or management team. Here’s a handy infographic of all I’ve shared for your reference.

thenextup.com/EOY

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In taking a look at the dealers who made it through the recession, a common theme in their strength is how well these sellers support their employees when the company isn’t as successful. Those that adopted the people-first strategy weathered the economic downturn.

Today, while sellers may not be faced with extinction because of insufficient sales, they’re still facing problems addressing the costly talent gap, struggling to find top salespeople and company technicians, and attracting millennials from all other fields. That’s no surprise in an economic climate with the unemployment rate at the lowest in nearly five centuries and companies such as Amazon apparently determined to upend the minimum wage.

No matter the financial conditions, you need good people to support your business. And these talented employees are going to be in demand.

At Hireology, we have an expression for this phenomenon: the Applicant Economy.

I believe that developing a hiring sales process to target high-performing human capital not only will factor into the biggest trends for 2019 but also will serve as a key aspect in the industry’s success over the following five years. Here’s what we see as the three biggest trends within 2019.

1 . Addressing the “Brand Tax” in finding and retaining top talent in the car industry

What happens when automotive retailers — an industry that does not have the best reputation or even recognition with consumers, especially millennials — have job openings? They will pay a steep “brand taxes,” by both paying more than market value on recruitment efforts and promotion via job posting systems.

To circumvent the particular brand tax, dealers need to much better commercialize their website and external-facing brand. Just like it’s important for the consumer aspect of a dealership website to be convincing, dealers need to ensure that jobs may be easily found on the career section of their website. The career section should include an overview of the car dealership culture, strong job descriptions and an overview of career paths and benefits. To further avoid the brand taxes, dealers need to make sure they’re optimizing their recruitment spend similar to how that they’d optimize their consumer advertising spending budget.

2 . Adopting the people-first strategy

In the current labor market, there is a top echelon of talent for which all companies should compete. Top talent tend to be not just browsing job boards. They may be leveraging multiple channels to search for work and will have many choices and expectations.

Implementing a people-first strategy helps dealers build and engage a larger pool of these candidates. Beyond recruitment marketing, dealers should showcase a strong company culture, ongoing learning opportunities and other perks that can help their brands compete in the market.

Dealers that attract and hire talented applicants are not only investing in their people but in the dealership. In time, these employees will bring their own passion and energy to the company and make clear that they value their own work.

3. Increasing the HR function to a management role at dealerships

Payroll can account for at least fifty percent of a dealership’s operating costs — if not more — so there’s small margin for error with bad hiring practices, weak onboarding, higher turnover, etc . Yet, when I speak with human resources professionals at dealerships across the nation, I constantly hear their annoyance at lacking the bandwidth in order to strategically approach talent acquisition and retention.

In the applicant-driven economy when human resources must put on so many hats — compliance, functions, etc . — dealers must place HR to succeed by investing in attracting, employing and integrating new personnel to their dealerships. This includes adding a HUMAN RESOURCES expert such as a chief human resources official to the leadership team.

By elevating the HR functionality and prioritizing company culture, sellers will decrease the time needed to employ and onboard quality employees.

If dealerships want to draw in top talent, 2019 needs to be the entire year that they shift their approach about how they market job openings. Sellers must market their open opportunities in the same way that they would the cars on the lot in order to win the Candidate Economy.

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