Like everyone knows, the finance department is arguably the most important department of the dealership. Dealerships are relying more and more for strong #'s from their finance department in order to be successful. With that said, the GM has asked me to spend time with our 2 finance managers and evaluate the entire department. I am going to review their #'s over the last 12 months and find areas where we can improve the department both in overall gross and product penetration. I'm happy to spend as much time as is needed with them due to the fact that I get paid on the overall gross generated from the sales department. If they do better, I do better.

     With that said, I know what we expect from them is a very lofty but attainable goal.  The reason I know our goals are attainable is because I was able to do them on a fairly regular basis. I did finance when times were better and banks were easier to deal with. So I'm wondering if it is a totally different game now and if the #'s that we did back in the day are still attainable.

Here's what we expect out of them:

1. Warranty penetration: 55% with $1000 in markup
2. Gap penetration: 30% with $400 in markup
3. Credit life penetration: 12% with approx $150 in markup
4. Chemical penetration: 25% with $200 in markup
5. Etch penetration: 85% with $261 in markup
6. Finance penetration: 75% with approx $350 reserve

In total, the goal is $1500 per car. That is new and used combined.

     I was wondering if those #'s are attainable or if the goals need to be modified due to current market conditions. Are there dealers who's finance guys are still putting up these kind of #'s?? Let me know

     Like everyone knows, the finance department is arguably the most important department of the dealership. Dealerships are relying more and more for strong #'s from their finance department in order to be successful. With that said, the GM has asked me to spend time with our 2 finance managers and evaluate the entire department. I am going to review their #'s over the last 12 months and find areas where we can improve the department both in overall gross and product penetration. I'm happy to spend as much time as is needed with them due to the fact that I get paid on the overall gross generated from the sales department. If they do better, I do better.

     With that said, I know what we expect from them is a very lofty but attainable goal.  The reason I know our goals are attainable is because I was able to do them on a fairly regular basis. I did finance when times were better and banks were easier to deal with. So I'm wondering if it is a totally different game now and if the #'s that we did back in the day are still attainable.

Here's what we expect out of them:

1. Warranty penetration: 55% with $1000 in markup
2. Gap penetration: 30% with $400 in markup
3. Credit life penetration: 12% with approx $150 in markup
4. Chemical penetration: 25% with $200 in markup
5. Etch penetration: 85% with $261 in markup
6. Finance penetration: 75% with approx $350 reserve

In total, the goal is $1500 per car. That is new and used combined.

     I was wondering if those #'s are attainable or if the goals need to be modified due to current market conditions. Are there dealers who's finance guys are still putting up these kind of #'s?? Let me know

     We have been going back and forth lately on what a detailers responsibility should be. I am the used car manager at a franchise Ford store and used cars are very critical to our success. We have had tons of issues with keeping our display at a level where we have enough cars to sell. The main reason for the lack of displayed vehicles is the delay with our detailer in getting cars out.

     We just recently hired a part time detailer to help out and we have definitely made an improvement. Even still, I feel like we aren't near as efficient as we could and should be. The reason I think we aren't very efficient is because we require our detailers to do a lot of things other than just detail the car. The GM of the store says that it is their responsibility to deliver a completely finished, perfect product. So, aside from the detail they have to: Buff the car when applicable, put on etch sticker, put on dealer logo and plate frame, gas the car, bookout the car, print carfax, print buyers guide and kelly retail sticker, sticker and park the car on the lot. All that probably takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete.

     I think we should have our lot techs take care of all the extracurricular stuff to free up time for our detailers in order for them to be 100% efficient. They have plenty of time to take care of those items so I don't think there is any reason why they can't help us out with that. The only negative with my plan is that it may be difficult to track down a lot tech to finish up the process. My rebuttal to that objection is that we can easily institute a process to where the lot techs are continuously checking to see which car needs to be finished up. That way the detailer doesn't waste any time looking for the lot tech.

     Anyway, I feel like our system is somewhat broke. We are getting into the busier months and I feel like the more dialed in this process is, the more successful we will be. Used is everything right now and we need to make sure we are on our A game. Any suggestions? Do most dealerships require as much as we do out of their detailers?

     We have been going back and forth lately on what a detailers responsibility should be. I am the used car manager at a franchise Ford store and used cars are very critical to our success. We have had tons of issues with keeping our display at a level where we have enough cars to sell. The main reason for the lack of displayed vehicles is the delay with our detailer in getting cars out.

     We just recently hired a part time detailer to help out and we have definitely made an improvement. Even still, I feel like we aren't near as efficient as we could and should be. The reason I think we aren't very efficient is because we require our detailers to do a lot of things other than just detail the car. The GM of the store says that it is their responsibility to deliver a completely finished, perfect product. So, aside from the detail they have to: Buff the car when applicable, put on etch sticker, put on dealer logo and plate frame, gas the car, bookout the car, print carfax, print buyers guide and kelly retail sticker, sticker and park the car on the lot. All that probably takes a good 20-30 minutes to complete.

     I think we should have our lot techs take care of all the extracurricular stuff to free up time for our detailers in order for them to be 100% efficient. They have plenty of time to take care of those items so I don't think there is any reason why they can't help us out with that. The only negative with my plan is that it may be difficult to track down a lot tech to finish up the process. My rebuttal to that objection is that we can easily institute a process to where the lot techs are continuously checking to see which car needs to be finished up. That way the detailer doesn't waste any time looking for the lot tech.

     Anyway, I feel like our system is somewhat broke. We are getting into the busier months and I feel like the more dialed in this process is, the more successful we will be. Used is everything right now and we need to make sure we are on our A game. Any suggestions? Do most dealerships require as much as we do out of their detailers?

     The GM of our store and the used car buyer are having a disagreement as to what a used car buyer's responsibility should be.  We are making a few changes in our management team and the used car buyer wants to take on the used car manager responsibilities (pricing, managing recon, merchandising, marketing etc).

     The GM's argument is that a store should have a buyer who's only responsibility is to acquire inventory and a used car manager who handles the rest of the responsibilities that I already mentioned.  He says that you should never mix the two. A used car buyer should be paid on the volume of cars that we sold of his and the time in which they turned. A used car manager should be paid with the rest of the management team on the overall gross generated by the sales department. He thinks it is impossible for one person to do both jobs efficiently and not effect the volume/gross of the store.

     Our used car buyer's argument is that he used to do both jobs at another dealership that he worked at and managed to do a very good job. He says that both jobs go hand in hand, and it is easier to just do everything yourself rather than rely on someone else to do their job.

     I'm somewhat stuck in the middle but definitely agree more with the GM than I do with the buyer. We sell 70-80 used cars a month on average and I feel like there is way too much work involved to maintain that level. It would be one thing if we worked at Bob's auto and sold 20-30 cars per month, but we don't. I think that anytime you overload somebody with too many responsibilities, inevitably something will suffer. What are your guys' thoughts????

     The GM of our store and the used car buyer are having a disagreement as to what a used car buyer's responsibility should be.  We are making a few changes in our management team and the used car buyer wants to take on the used car manager responsibilities (pricing, managing recon, merchandising, marketing etc).

     The GM's argument is that a store should have a buyer who's only responsibility is to acquire inventory and a used car manager who handles the rest of the responsibilities that I already mentioned.  He says that you should never mix the two. A used car buyer should be paid on the volume of cars that we sold of his and the time in which they turned. A used car manager should be paid with the rest of the management team on the overall gross generated by the sales department. He thinks it is impossible for one person to do both jobs efficiently and not effect the volume/gross of the store.

     Our used car buyer's argument is that he used to do both jobs at another dealership that he worked at and managed to do a very good job. He says that both jobs go hand in hand, and it is easier to just do everything yourself rather than rely on someone else to do their job.

     I'm somewhat stuck in the middle but definitely agree more with the GM than I do with the buyer. We sell 70-80 used cars a month on average and I feel like there is way too much work involved to maintain that level. It would be one thing if we worked at Bob's auto and sold 20-30 cars per month, but we don't. I think that anytime you overload somebody with too many responsibilities, inevitably something will suffer. What are your guys' thoughts????

Which is better: Experience or a rookie?

     We are in the process of interviewing and hiring 3-4 guys in order to get our sales team to an appropriate level for the spring and summer. The other sales manager and I are in agreement with the owner that we need the help going in to the busier months but we are struggling to find the right guys. Part of the problem is that the owner only wants us to hire someone that has a good amount of previous sales experience under his belt ( car sales or not). His take is that if we hire a person who already has experience, we will have to spend less time training him and getting him where we need him to be.  While I think experience is really important, I don't think that should be the determining factor as to whether or not we will hire them.

     My take is that ideally we would like to hire a guy with some sales experience, but I think we should be more open minded. We put our prospective employees through a screening process and the lady that does that for us asks them about sales experience. She doesn't even set up an interview with people that don't have experience. I think we could be turning away some really good candidates and I haven't even had a chance to meet them. I tried to argue the point by telling him that his 2 managers ( myself and the other desk manager ) were both hired with no sales experience whatsoever. I like the idea of taking a young, ambitious guy and training and molding him into a superstar. But that's just me!

     So who's right? Do you go for instant gratification and get a mediocre guy with some experience or do you look for a guy that could be great and invest the time into him?

Which is better: Experience or a rookie?

     We are in the process of interviewing and hiring 3-4 guys in order to get our sales team to an appropriate level for the spring and summer. The other sales manager and I are in agreement with the owner that we need the help going in to the busier months but we are struggling to find the right guys. Part of the problem is that the owner only wants us to hire someone that has a good amount of previous sales experience under his belt ( car sales or not). His take is that if we hire a person who already has experience, we will have to spend less time training him and getting him where we need him to be.  While I think experience is really important, I don't think that should be the determining factor as to whether or not we will hire them.

     My take is that ideally we would like to hire a guy with some sales experience, but I think we should be more open minded. We put our prospective employees through a screening process and the lady that does that for us asks them about sales experience. She doesn't even set up an interview with people that don't have experience. I think we could be turning away some really good candidates and I haven't even had a chance to meet them. I tried to argue the point by telling him that his 2 managers ( myself and the other desk manager ) were both hired with no sales experience whatsoever. I like the idea of taking a young, ambitious guy and training and molding him into a superstar. But that's just me!

     So who's right? Do you go for instant gratification and get a mediocre guy with some experience or do you look for a guy that could be great and invest the time into him?

     We have had an eternal struggle at our dealership with getting sales guys to attend the BDC on a regular basis. I'm sure most dealers have had similar difficulties convincing their salespeople to leave the floor for an hour every day and go to the BDC. We have a few guys that see the vision and have bought in to the benefits of their efforts in the BDC. The problem is trying to get all of our salespeople to buy in so we don't feel like we are forcing them to go up.

    I feel like we have tried just about everything to get them to cooperate. We have tried: letting them make their own schedule, trying to show them success stories because of hard work in the BDC, reminding them constantly, negative reinforcement if they fail to go up at least 75% of the time, and positive reinforcement by spiffing them for just showing up. Nothing has seemed to work over the long term. It sucks that you have to spiff them to do their job, that doesn't seem right to me!

     Anyway, I know there are many dealers out there that have very successful BDC departments and I want to know what the secret is. I know how important it is to have a scheduled time dedicated to both sold and unsold follow up. Are my guys just lazy? Should I give them the boot and start with a clean slate? Let me know what you guys have done that works.

     We have had an eternal struggle at our dealership with getting sales guys to attend the BDC on a regular basis. I'm sure most dealers have had similar difficulties convincing their salespeople to leave the floor for an hour every day and go to the BDC. We have a few guys that see the vision and have bought in to the benefits of their efforts in the BDC. The problem is trying to get all of our salespeople to buy in so we don't feel like we are forcing them to go up.

    I feel like we have tried just about everything to get them to cooperate. We have tried: letting them make their own schedule, trying to show them success stories because of hard work in the BDC, reminding them constantly, negative reinforcement if they fail to go up at least 75% of the time, and positive reinforcement by spiffing them for just showing up. Nothing has seemed to work over the long term. It sucks that you have to spiff them to do their job, that doesn't seem right to me!

     Anyway, I know there are many dealers out there that have very successful BDC departments and I want to know what the secret is. I know how important it is to have a scheduled time dedicated to both sold and unsold follow up. Are my guys just lazy? Should I give them the boot and start with a clean slate? Let me know what you guys have done that works.