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5 strategies to improve your dealership from being good to great Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline— James C. Collins. Transform and improve your dealership from being good to great: Every dealership strives to grow profits, and they have their own set of approaches to attain growth. The definition of success and methods to obtain the perceived success varies from dealer to dealer. However, it is always a top challenge to find the key to being better than the rest and transitioning from being merely good to being a great dealership. In other words, it takes efforts and effective strategies to improve the dealership from being good to great. It is an easy guess that there is no single proven formula to be a great dealership. The transition from good to great require making conscious choices, consistency of actions, and discipline. In addition, the combination of the right people and generosity are other contributors to transform your dealership from good to great. Let us take an in-depth look at what characteristics and strategies support a dealership’s transformation for the better. 1. Being proactive and building opportunities: Customers lie at the heart of the automotive business. Therefore, providing a meaningful experience to the customer forms the basis of high profits. Car buyers seek convenience and simplicity in buying online and in-stores. As per a Cox Automotive report, 54% of car buyers would buy from a dealer that offered their preferred experience over the lowest price. Furthermore, buyers spent a considerable amount of time on the internet, and more than one-third of car buyers visit just one dealership before purchase, reported PRNewswire. So, the question is, how do you ensure your dealership is the one they visit? The answer rests in delivering convenience and being more accessible to your potential buyers. Utilize digital mediums to offer meaningful and transparent information via your web channels and robust research tools they want. Hence, proactively investing in technology and tools to help ease your customers’ research process is a way to building opportunities. Additionally, installing help desk services such as web bots to quickly answer or address customers’ queries could be an effective strategy to enhance potential customers’ experience to win their business. Remember: Managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great— James C. Collins. 2. Identify your most important assets: The right people to improve dealership from good to great Getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seat is one of the most critical factors to transform your dealership drastically. Firstly, implementing a data-driven approach while hiring would add to creating a productive team of employees. Utilizing personality and cognitive assessments would lead to not only identifying the right people but also placing them in the right role. Consequently, it would enable you to help your employee perform their best in the position that aligns with their personality and cognitive capacity. However, taking the help of those assessments is just the first step. Interpreting results and translating them into a meaningful plan is very important. Understanding how to better utilize the person’s strengths and safeguard against the weakness requires experienced eyes. Reading the results to place the person in a suitable role, for example, personality types– analyzer, maverick, craftsman, and controller does not suffice. Efficiently comprehending the traits against the role’s requirements takes effort. A professional consultation would make a massive difference in that scenario. Significantly, even small changes could improve dealership from good to great. Remember: People are not your most important asset…. the right people are— James C. Collins. 3. Solid assessment and decision-making ability Continually assessing your processes to shape your decision is crucial to taking your dealership from good to great—weighing opportunities and threats, assets and liabilities, strengths and weaknesses all factors into the decision-making process. Dealers’ decision-making is not limited to inventory; they need robust retrospection to make the right decision for all their stakeholders- employees, customers, suppliers, and providers. Notably, it would benefit from asking oneself questions such as: How much has my current big box provider costed me, have my profit KPIs and numbers grown since they started working with me? How easily can I access my reinsurance funds? When was the last time I saw my provider’s rep? How much is my current provider invested in my employees? Do they train them based on individual performance? What has my current provider promised versus performed towards increasing my profitability? Remember: Bad decisions made with good intentions, are still bad decisions. — James C. Collins. 4. A disciplined culture to improve from being good to great A dealership’s culture is most often determined by what the dealer and their employees bring to work. For instance, a winning mindset and discipline in attaining goals create a growth culture for everyone involved in the dealership. An exceptionally positive workplace environment has undeniable benefits and distinguishes a good dealership from a great one. A disciplined culture is a major ingredient to improve dealership from good to great. Fostering a positive culture makes your best people want to stick around. Moreover, creating a culture centered around customer experience and giving your employees the power to do what needs to be done to enhance customers’ experience empowers them. However, trusting your staff with authority often means ensuring they have got the proper training they need to make those decisions. A disciplined work environment facilitates management as well as employees being on their best behavior. Therefore, leading by example and setting high standards of conduct among workers is a principle of greatness. Remember: A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness. — James C. Collins. 5. Generosity and giving back to the community: A renowned PNW dealer received the Robert P. Mallon Dealer of the Year award

Get deep insights into your potential customers through this marketing tool for dealerships. Have you heard of the saying, there are no traffic jams along the extra mile? This is exactly what this new gear could do for you. The digital, AI-powered tool gets insights into your customers like no one else does so that you could go an extra mile to learn about your customers. It can help you put your inventory in front of the right car shoppers first and not stop marketing to them until they buy. Additionally, this marketing tool for dealerships could provide you valuable information such as motivation to buy and current vehicle. You might have tools to learn what channels your shoppers are using or who has visited your website are what have they browsed for. But do you know— Which shoppers are active in your market right now? Who is shopping, their name, contact? What are they shopping for, make, model? When and where they are shopping, days in the market, shopping behavior, intensity? Having in-depth information at your disposal would not only facilitate in identifying your target customers and reaching out to them before your competitors do but also in shaping your messaging and initiating a meaningful conversation that sells cars. This is what the highly advanced, Artificial intelligence-based tool could do for you to increase your sales and profitability. If used efficiently, the tool would enable you to do better in core areas of marketing, namely: Positioning Place Brand’s promise and value Measurement/Results A valuable marketing tool for dealerships could help you excel the following crucial areas of marketing: Get in front of your shoppers first— Advanced audience identification technology lets you reach out to shoppers inside and outside your database within 24 hours of them entering the market. Furthermore, this marketing tool for dealerships knows who is shopping, what they are shopping for, how you could effectively position your brand, and where they are in the buyer’s journey so you can engage with them at the right time and before another dealership else. Omnichannel, cross-device targeting— Shoppers actively use multiple channels such as social media, website, email, and devices. Identifying the proper channels and ways to communicate with them would give you an upper hand over your competitors. Brand’s promise and value: Relevant messages and offers— Shoppers are online day and night and across more than six devices. They expect brands to move with them. With dynamic media and creative optimization, you could create messaging that resonates with your customers and appeals to them to take action. Attribution and results— Finally, attributing digital visitors is not a problem with this tool. It tracks every marketing touchpoint to deliver attribution for you to see the results. In addition, the tool gives you rich data based on about 90% of U.S. connected devices and by following over 250 million potential shoppers. Once a shopper is matched to a dealership, the tool deploys omnichannel marketing. As a dealership marketer, would it not make sense to spend your time where it is more profitable and generate the highest ROI. So, it is important to consider questions such as How can I learn about my target audience? How can I reach out to them before my competitors do, and close the deal? What message would resonate with their motivation to buying a new vehicle? Most importantly, is there a tool that can help find all those answers? The answer is YES! There is a marketing tool for dealerships that could help skyrocket the profitability.  We have a tool to answers all your marketing and audience-related questions and some that you did not consider. We are committed to dealerships’ success in all realms. In addition, we are here to help you make the best use of your marketing efforts by utilizing the resources where it matters the most. Call us today or reach out to us using this form to learn more and schedule a demo of how this marketing tool for dealerships could help you significantly grow your profits.

The automotive industry is still under uncertainty. Chip shortage due to the use of silicon in COVID vaccines and an uptick in demand due to a rise in wages and stimulus checks is drastically impacting the industry. So much so that Production is not able to keep pace with demand and several OEM’s, including Ford and GM have idled shifts as a result. Consequently, it has been a challenge for the dealerships to find a reliable way to procure used vehicles. According to the Detroit Bureau publication, many companies decided to temporarily pause their production due to the semiconductor shortage. For example, Ford had to stop production in Louisville, Kentucky, in December 2020, followed by a month-long pause at a German factory. Stellantis (the new company formed by a merger between Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot) reduced output at factories in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada around the same time. The more your buy, the more you can sell Amidst the production deficiencies of new vehicles, selling used cars is an obvious option for the dealerships to stay profitable. However, it is a big task to find a proven way to procure used vehicles. Many dealerships have demonstrated that the best inventory comes from customers. As a result of their proactive efforts to buy more, they have sold more and reaped higher profits. By buying vehicles from your customers and reconditioning them faster could help boost your profit. However, there is more you can do to increase your PVR. Here are some strategies for you to procure used vehicles, and increase your profit per vehicle: 1. Opportunity in Service Drive: Good used cars are hard to find. Fewer vehicles are going through auction, and those that do are selling at record-breaking prices with questionable quality. Where is the good used car inventory? Have you checked your service drive? You know the customer. You know the quality. The average dealer sees at least 300-400 used cars per month come through service. Are you offering these customers buy-bids and appraisals? Many may be unaware that the value of their vehicle is at its peak. Your guaranteed price may be just the nudge they need to cash in, buy something from inventory, or pre-order something new from you. We know you’re selling out of your service drive. Are you also buying? 2. Offer valuable F&I products Consumers know that in the current market situation finding a desirable vehicle is not easy. So, they value their prices possession and would be interested in protecting it. Products such as GAP can help them find peace of mind in case of theft. Furthermore, GAP will help guard against the threat of negative equity when the market moves back to normal. It is a product that covers a car buyer’s negative loan balance in the event of total loss from theft or collision. 3. How do you sell more products: Explaining the customers that the insurance companies only pay the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle at the time of loss. Without GAP, consumers can easily be left owing thousands of dollars on their loans. In other words, the insurance company may not cover the difference between what consumers owe and what the vehicle is worth at that time of loss. Furthermore, this will create the need awareness in customers and help you handle objections that the customer might have regarding the value of the product. 4. Make an offer your customers cannot refuse: It is needless to say, consumers love instant cash offers and instant appraisals. Offering an appraisal and a buy bid on cars that come to your service drive will accelerate your buying opportunities. Notably, capitalizing on service drive will create a win-win situation for both you and your customers. We do the math. You keep the profit. To conclude, being proactive and creative in your ways of procuring used inventory will help you stand apart from your competitors. In addition to the listed strategies, we have more effective and unique solutions to help your skyrocket your profitability. What would an extra $100 per vehicle retailed do for you? How will it impact your annual profit? Do you want to leave that money on the table? We will help you find that money because we do the math to help you make more profit. Reach out to us today!

Affordability declined to a new low New car prices are at recorded high. As per the COX Automotive and Moody’s analytics, new vehicle affordability declined to a new low on the affordability index this June. In other words, weeks of income needed to buy a new light vehicle rose to 37 weeks compared to 35.5 in May.  Source: Cox Automotive In July, the average new car in the U.S. carried a sticker price of $41,263. As you may know, the reason is the worldwide shortage of microchips that slowed the production of cars. The average sticker price of non-luxury vehicles rose by $353 in June. High new car prices do not necessarily mean low affordability: An increase in vehicle prices does not necessarily imply cars are becoming less affordable. A rise in wages and stimulus checks can mean that people could have more money to spend even though prices have soared. The average financing rate decreased. It led to offsetting some inflation and consequently prevented limiting what otherwise would have been an even higher rise in the monthly payment.  Opportunity for dealers: This situation presents an opportunity for dealers to sell more products to add value to the purchase. When customers pay a high price to own a vehicle, they want to protect their purchases against mishaps such as theft and appearance accidents. Therefore, offering products such as GAP and appearance protection (CilaJet) could reduce out-of-pocket ownership costs. In addition, it may improve the price-to-value relationship for the buyer. Furthermore, products like these will help guard against the threat of negative equity when the market moves back to normal. GAP deficiency chart Additionally, GAP is guaranteed asset protection, a product that covers a car buyer’s negative loan balance in the event of total loss from theft or collision. Insurance companies only pay the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle at the time of loss. Without GAP, consumers can easily be left owing thousands of dollars on their loans. Your value: The agent notifies you of total loss claims, creating a sales retention opportunity. Underwritten by Virginia Surety, an “A” rated insurer. Your customers’ value: Insurance deductible covered up to $1000.00 Benefits paid up to $50,000.00. Protection is provided for loan terms up to 84 months, lease up to 60 months. How you sell it: Create needs awareness. Used vehicles are selling at premium prices and are at greater risk for depreciation. In the event of a total loss, the insurance company may not cover the difference between what consumers owe and what the vehicle is worth at that time of loss. Benefits of GAP to customers and dealerships The current market conditions are against the car buyers. For instance, if a customer buys a new car today, the prices could drop about 25%, and then the customer would have negative equity. Explaining this to your buyers would help them understand and value GAP and address their resistance or objections to buying it. To emphasize, it is also possible that the average length of the trade cycle, i.e., the amount of time people keep their cars. Thus, putting people in a position to have a dealer with repairs and maintenance that they might avoid with a shorter trade cycle. It brings in another opportunity for dealers to help their customers manage repairs and maintenance smoothly. You may offering multiple High Mileage Programs available on any vehicle, covering those with over 100,000 miles. Consequently, it would provide much needed peace of mind to your customers. It includes Roadside Assistance, rental benefits, and trip interruption for the entire term of the contract. In addition, prepaid maintenance would be valuable for customers as well as the dealers. It will bring the customers to the dealership and provide dealerships with additional ways to engage with customers and create the possibility of a second sale. Not to mention, more opportunity for trade-ins, which is highly important in today’s market condition. To conclude, dealerships could find opportunities amidst an unprecedented state of inventory shortage which led to high new car prices and low affordability. Offering F&I products such as GAP and Cilajet would increase the price-to-value relationship for the customers while protecting their purchases. We can provide you with custom product packages and training to sell more products. Reach out to us today to get strategic solutions for your dealership.

What do top performing dealerships have in common? No two dealers are exactly the same in terms of their business and management style. Every dealership has its own culture, environment, set of traits, and mindsets that dealers and their employees bring in. All those factors greatly influence the success of the dealership. Some dealers focus on providing the best customer experience and go the extra mile to help customers, whereas other dealers have excellent synchronization among their departments. As a result, they reap high monetary benefits. Notably, the top performing dealerships have a lot in common.  While the approaches to being successful and metrics to measure performance might vary from dealer to dealer. However, most successful and top performing dealerships share some common traits. The below listed traits could set them apart from their competitors. If you have the grit to develop the following qualities, you could claim your space among the top-performing dealerships. 1. Ready to adapt and embrace new possibilities: Alvin Toffler rightly said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ” The dealers who rushed to embrace technology sold more cars in the pandemic-related lockdown. They were successful during the pandemic because they adapted quickly and embraced the change. They found innovative solutions to stay relevant. For instance, they move entirely online, use AI-powered chatbots, and redesign their websites for a pleasant buying experience. In addition, solo test drives, new tools to find customers, virtual F&I, and online paperwork and transactions can contribute to a great customer experience. A wall street article shows how a dealer benefited by embracing technology. “I truly believe we sold more cars last month because we’re finally utilizing technology more efficiently,” said owner Ryan LaFontaine, whose southeast Michigan chain includes 17 stores selling major brands. According to a survey by cars.com, one in five buyers used home delivery for their vehicle in August 2020. Additionally, 66% of the dealerships said they offer home delivery. This 66% of the dealers adapted to the unexpected situation quickly to win new customers. 2. Successful dealerships know how to handle success: In the current market conditions, most dealers are making more profits than the past, so they start believing that it will continue until the end of the year. As a result, they tend to focus on the overall profitability and lose sight of increasing PVR (Per Vehicle Retailed) for each car deal. This perception could make them the victim of their own success. Successful dealers have a common trait of being highly ambitious. They are driven to become better than before, and they do not sit back, relax, and enjoy momentary success. For example, instead of getting comfortable with the current earning and only offering one or two F&I products, understanding customers’ needs is the key. Then,  matching them with multiple ancillary products in the F&I department could considerably grow your PPV (Price Per Vehicle). In other words, the quality of always seeking growth opportunities is the differentiating factor. This is what makes a difference between successful and mediocre dealerships. As said by Frank Sonnenberg, it does not cost more to strive for excellence, but if you settle for mediocrity, it could cost you dearly. 3. Always seeking growth opportunities and taking risks: Successful dealers do not stop at one accomplishment. They strive to do more and attain higher growth. As a result of their appetite for growth, the successful dealers gain a more significant market share. They take risks for maximum return and minimum liabilities. Successful people value courage, plan for the future, prepare themselves, and move forward fearlessly. In contrast, mediocre dealerships do not have a clear vision of where they are headed and how to achieve more. Besides, they are afraid to take risks even when they know that the easy choice could impact them negatively. 4. Ready to overcomes obstacles: So many scenarios are changing rapidly in the auto retail sector. For instance, going digital due to the pandemic and encountering inventory shortages due to supply chain disruption. Dealers who were turned obstacles into opportunities are among the most successful ones. For example, local PNW dealer bought a franchised dealership amidst the global shut-down triggered by the pandemic. He successfully grew his monthly retail from 35 sales to around 120 retails. To achieve this tremendous growth, he stuck to his formula of maintaining a solid inventory and efficient staff that keeps the customers coming back. The dealer learned and adjusted his strategies to overcome the challenges. Consequently, he attained a growth of over 200% in average monthly sales. 5. Strong leadership: The most noticeable trait of successful dealers is their capability to lead. They possess guiding principles and values for themselves and their staff, which act as a compass to guide them towards success. Having a clear vision of where they are and what is next for them to achieve is an essential characteristic of a strong leader. Additionally, discipline to work towards their goal and the potential to lead and motivate others towards growth are the qualities that exist in highly successful dealers. Notably, the successful dealers possess an excellent leadership trait of caring about the growth and development of their employees. Thus, they ensure to invest in their personnel and take necessary steps to help them be their very best. Furthermore, the profitable dealers understand the value of proper training and development. So, they take this aspect very critically. To conclude, the dealerships could attain record success and profitability when they are driven by values such as customer centricity, transparency, empathy towards employees’ growth and development. Additionally, traits such as being open to change, innovation, risk, and a positive outlook to overcome challenges are a recipe for success. Finally, developing a growth mindset of continuously improving and achieving more would help dealers claim a space among the top performing dealerships.

Finding and hiring the right people for the job is a challenging task As the businesses return to normal and the Fed is pumping money to revive the economy, the retail auto sector is experiencing a sharp rise in demand. For example, Ford Motors Company sales increased by 65% during April 2021.  On the other hand, the chip shortage has disrupted the global supply and chain, which led to skyrocketing prices of the new and used inventory. Regardless, car shoppers are not expecting to delay their purchases. This means the dealerships need well-trained staff to efficiently assist potential customers. A person who could effectively match customers’ needs, and budget to the appropriate vehicle while enhancing their experience. However, hiring the right people for the job is a long-standing challenge for dealerships. Especially, when the labor market is tighter than normal. Additionally, amidst inventory shortage, the dealers are focusing on ways to unlock new profit centers such as the F&I department and service drives. Then again, identifying and recruiting the people skilled in doing this type of work requires ample resources and time. As per a COX Automotive Study, published on June 21, 2021: 72% of auto dealers say that finding and hiring the right employee is the top staffing challenge. It is considerably grueling in the tight labor market to find a person that fits best in your dealership’s role and culture. Notably, some candidates feel they lack the right skill for the open position. The Cox study found that 32% of job seekers are not interested in dealership jobs as they do not think they have the right skills. Whereas others prefer to stay home due to health risks or are unwilling to change their current position, some are not looking due to childcare responsibilities. Still, others prefer collecting unemployment insurance coverage over earning wages. Consequently, your job as a people’s manager is getting tougher and the task to hire right people is demanding. Data driven recruiting process is the key to identifying the right talent Fortunately, a data-driven recruiting process can help you recognize and hire right people.  The right person contribute to achieving your financial goals while keeping customers satisfied and willing to return to your dealership. The personality and cognitive analysis provide reliable data about the traits and attitude of the candidate. So, you can recruit the person with complete confidence. For example, taking help of the personality and cognitive evaluations will enable you to determine the candidate’s qualities and potential upfront. It helps to understand how the person behaves in a particular situation and what are their blind spots. As a result, you will get direction on coaching to the strengths and guarding against the weaknesses. Undeniably, recruiting the right person is critical for the success of your department and overall profitability. Therefore, utilizing a data-driven recruitment process to find the right fit for the role and team is imperative. Additionally, personality and cognitive assessments help you go beyond the resume. It would enable you to get deep insights to prepare for, and conduct high-quality, meaningful interviews. Furthermore, the assessments help you reach candidates based on the highest predictors of job success. Moreover, the assessment data provides direction to communicate effectively with your hires. The role of creating a supportive work environment in retaining the right people High employee turnover in the retail auto industry leads to constant hiring. Therefore, retention through a supportive work environment is a crucial factor to consider. The Cox Study found that the top driver of employee engagement, which leads to retention, is a supportive work environment, including the following essential elements. The benefit of personality and cognitive assessment to find the right fit Career development and communication are the top elements that influence employee retention. The personality and cognitive assessments help you understand the focus area of training for your employees. In addition, it provides insights on how to better communicate with your employees. In short, an examination such as P.I. Test would help you to not only find the right employees but also contributes towards creating a suitable communication and work environment. This leads to help retain your staff longer and save your valuable time and resources. The importance of professional interpretation of assessment data  The assessments help you not only in hiring the right person but also in helping your people be their best. Remember, a professional interpretation of results is essential in identifying the best fit. In addition, it will lead to an effective hiring and development process and help you become aware of the efficient ways to interact with your hires. What are the person’s strengths, management style, and influencing skills? For example, is the candidate good at analyzing facts before making decisions? Does your new hire have an eye for detail? Are they deliberate, precise, and fit for the immense paperwork involved in the F&I department? The results may give you a brief idea about their personality and potential. But a professional can help you understand how the traits fit with the role and responsibilities and how to make the best use of your employees’ traits.  We can help you implement that in your dealership. With our decades of auto industry experience, we understand how to analyze people’s traits and identify the potential fit for the role. Reach out to us today to help you hire right people in your team.