When we are hit with an unprecedented situation - out of left field - it can easily derail your dealer's efforts. Sustaining everything you have worked on is no easy feat. More importantly, to maintain your efforts, you have to have empowered managers who become empowered leaders. Have you empowered your managers to make decisions? Have you allowed them to be a part of making decisions regarding processes you are currently devising? Have they assisted you in implementing these new processes ensuring that their teams are on board? 

Here are the top three ways you can empower your managers. 

The GM is One Person. They Do Not Have All of the Answers. No One Does. Work Together. 

All too often, every single decision - down to the header of an email - is the sole decision of the GM. That mindset - even when business is good - is toxic and detracts from your managers from growing and evolving if they cannot make decisions. Now more than ever, it is essential that you allow your managers to make informed decisions - working with you, not for you - to get through this situation. Remembering that they, too, are just as stressed. We are all stressed. Giving them support is critical. 

Keep Your Managers Informed. Keep. It. Real. 

No one likes secrets. The longer you wait to keep your managers informed about what is going on, the less likely they will buy in to the process. Keeping them informed also shows that you trust them, and view them as an integral part of the dealership's success. Not to mention, their buy-in is paramount in making your current processes successful. 

Create A Weekly Round Table Discussion. Stop Looking at All the Reports. They Are Not Going to Help You. 

Now is not the time to be worried about YOY reports, or solely worrying about the set, show, & sold rate. Instead of focusing on percentages/numbers, focus on results. Given the current circumstances, the best way to connect all of your departments is by holding a weekly round table discussion. 

Empower your managers to share what they have accomplished with their departments for the week. Having your teams share everything from current prospects, service work, potential leads, and potential leads for other departments. For example, you can have your sales consultants call previous customers and ask them how they are doing and if they need service work, etc. A simple care call and lead to a service appointment. The customer is also likely to remember that you took the time to call. 

One of the other things you can do is ask for marketing ideas! Each week, we get new ideas from having a conversation. Those conversations surrounding marketing ideas turn into actual creative content, which has turned into results. Keep in mind that having this weekly round table is to unite everyone as a team vs. the typical siloed approach. 

Bottom Line: Empowering your managers is what enables them to become leaders. They cannot lead if they cannot manage. Now more than ever, your managers need to know they have the Owners & GM's support. Your support inspires them to go the extra mile, make it happen, and move the needle. We will get past this, what will make or break your dealer getting past this sooner is working together as a united front with empowered leaders. 

How Have You Empowered Your Managers? 

While each dealer presumably will and or has already responded differently to COVID-19, it is essential for all dealers to respond. Offering a front-facing customer and employee message. There are still many dealers who have not responded at all or even updated their Google Business Page. 

Regardless of what decision(s) you have or will make - offering your customers and employees, a message can help you move/transition into the new way of doing business during this unprecedented time. 

There are several unique challenges that we are facing today. But these challenges have not stopped us before, no? So let's not stop now, there are several ways to combat these challenges, and here are the top things to consider: 

Online Purchasing 

Instead of the conversation being stuck on auto-loop, make the bold move and offer your customers the ability to complete several of the steps   online. Work with customer to start the trade-in process, and try and offer the ability for you to appraise their vehicle at their home, or at least pick up the car to appraise it. It is no secret that there several facets that make up a deal, but the more flexibility you offer the customer, the easier it is to get the deal done. 

Flexibility with Your Sales Consultants and BDC Teams 

With several states mandating appointments only, offer your sales consultants the flexibility of working from home, allowing them to call customers and book appointments remotely. This will also help with reducing foot traffic in the store to be in alignment with social distancing guidelines. 

Bottom Line: There is no one right answer or solution, but proactively working to assist your customers still is better than not doing anything at all. More importantly, now is the time for dealers to refine and build a united front with their respective teams. 

How are you building a united front with your team? Have you offered your teams the ability to work remotely? 

For those dealers who have BDC Departments, it is possible for your BDC team to work from home. In which case they can manage the leads, social media, and continue to make follow-up calls and or book service and sales appointments. 

But How Can I Track Results? 

Just like you would any other day - review reports in the CRM. There are a lot of CRM's that use click-to-call features as well. At the end of the day, it will come down to results, are they booking appointments for either sales or service. 

Have A Daily Touch Points

Take the time to touch base with your BDC to see what results they are getting, or what challenges they are facing and work with them. 

Keep Your Social Media & Google Business Pages Up-to-Date 

It is essential that you keep your social media channels up-to-date with current hours and important information. Also consider toning down social posts so that important information does not get lost in the several auto posted, posts. 

Bottom Line: while this is unchartered territory for all of us, there are still customers whose needs have to be met. Whether that is servicing their vehicle or selling another one. It is these times that push our teams to work together to stay strong offering our customers a united front. 

Are you allowing your teams to work remotely?

In most cases, it takes a lot of time and thought on the dealer level to introduce a new business process. However, in times like this, we are facing unchartered territory, which means that we have to pivot on a moment's notice and act on it. That said, one of the ways we have worked towards handling process changes is to offer curbside pick-up for service. 

By offering curbside pick-up for our service customers, it eliminates more traffic in the dealership, which is to assist in social distancing. At the same time, it is also offering our customers peace of mind so they can still service their vehicles. 

Here are some of the things to consider when offering this service to your customers: 

Create A Well Defined Internal Process 

For this process to work, your employees need to know what the procedures are. Understanding that the situation is fluid. In that there will undeniably be hiccups in offering this service. However, the more your team is involved in helping create and manage this process, the fewer interruptions there will be. 

Inform Your Customers 

One of the most effective ways to inform your customers is by creating a short video that entails what steps and precautionary measures you are taking to provide uninterrupted service. Once you have a defined, clear message, be sure to post on social and business pages. 

Things to Consider for Your Process 

• - Offer pick-up for service appointments within a 5-10 mile radius

- Have a well-marked area outside of your dealership where customers are to drop-off/pick-up their  vehicles 

- Offer payment solutions outside of the dealership 

• - Minimize as many touch points as you possibly can - i.e., how many people are touching/moving the vehicle 

• - Increase sanitation processes 

• - Offer clear communication on how the customer is to expect updates, etc. Most CRM's enable you the ability to text the customer with their permission. 

Bottom Line: Again, there is no right answer for how your dealer is to approach these unprecedented times. But what you can do is offer your customers alternative ways to manage their vehicle being serviced. 

How are you handling service for your customers? 

We are handling unchartered territory right now when it comes to handling the processes on the dealer level. But that does not mean we have to cease communicating with both current and prospective customers. There are ways for your dealer to communicate effectively with both your staff and customers. Here are the top three things you can do. 

Make Sure Your Online Appointment Services Are in Working Order. 

Most dealers leave their third party tools on autopilot. Now more than ever, it is essential that your online forms are in working order. In addition to ensuring they are still relevant and practical. That said, I strongly encourage you to take a moment and use the form(s) as if you were the customer. 

Another thing to consider is how these leads are being handled. Is your staff fully aware of how the appointments are to be handled? If not, I strongly suggest making sure that everyone who is working with the customer is aware of the new changes. In doing so, it eases the tension and frustrations on both ends of the spectrum. In which case, ensuring that you are still offering the customer a comfortable experience. 

Social Media Posts. What Can Your Customers Expect? How Can You Give them Peace of Mind? 

It is essential to make sure that both your customers and employees are aware of how you are handling service appointments, test drives, deals, etc. One of the most effective ways to channel these processes that are front-facing is to create short videos. Sure, you can send an email blast, BUT most inboxes are already being flooded at the moment. So rather than remain un-opened in an email inbox, take the time to create a video. 

Update Your Google Business Page. Turn on Customer Messaging. 

There was a great post the other day about both using and updating your Google Business page. In doing so, it will help keep your customers informed as to how you are handling the current situation. Not to mention, you can also create posts that inform your customer of everything from updated hours, and both your sales and service processes. 

One other thing you can do is consider using a tracking line on your Google Business page. If the phone number is clearly listed on your dealer's website, Google will most likely approve that number. In doing so, you can have a better handle on how your calls are being handled. All to ensure that your customer(s) needs are being managed effectively. 

Bottom Line: having the most up to date information readily available will offer assistance in streamlining your current processes. Namely, it can, in some cases, also provide your customers peace of mind as there might be an increased demand in both servicing and maintaining their vehicles. Lastly, remember, this is unchartered territory for both you and your customers. So if there is any way to make this easier for both of you, it can have a positive impact. 

There are a lot of costs associated with extending hours. However, with fixed-ops being the dealer's life line and main money maker, it seems like a no brainer to have extended summer hours two or three days of the week.

Here are a few top reasons you should extend your hours

Late Appointments

Imagine all of the customers that would now stop in after work? If you close at 8 PM, you can set your scheduling software to have the last appointment set for 7:15 PM. This would easily generate 10-15 more appointments per week. The Advisor (or in some cases a service BDC) can use this when booking the appointment via phone or chat if the customer isn’t available during the day.

Appointment Oriented Culture

The goal with the extended hours is to promote appointments. Walk-in traffic (which is most common for dealers) can actually cause for upset customers and chaos. As there is extended wait times in addition to the shortage of staff to handle the flux of R/O’s. That said, this “extended hours” is meant to be used as a means of making appointments for that time frame. Offering as “this Thursday we have extended the hours to 7:15 - that is the last appointment I have available. Are you available at 6:45 or 7:15 PM?” The customer then feels as if you’ve helped them by ‘squeezing’ him/her in.

Investment Revenue

With the extended hours being successful it offers the dealer the chance (based on 4 advisors) to add an additional 35-40k on the books per month. With that said, the money can be used - depending on the overall absorption, which should be 70%+ -  to reinvest in the service department. Whether that is newer technology in the lane (such as tablets) or even newer amenities for the service lounge.  

Bottom line. The cost to remain open for 4 additional hours per week can be paid back in thousands of dollars with appointments. Run the “extended hours” for 90 Days. Use the data to review how many appointments vs. walk-ins there were for the time frame. Understanding that there will be a percentage of walk-ins. If this is making the dealer money, then it will have a huge impact on the dealer's bottom line. In addition to giving the advisors the chance to earn additional income.

Would you consider late nights for the summer? Who has extended hours now and is having success?

A brand is more than just your OEM’s logo slapped on the website or POP Marketing. In fact, customers know who your manufacturer is, but do they know who or what your Service Lanes Brand Message is?

More often than not when looking at various dealer websites, there isn’t anything that sticks out. All of the coupons (if there even are any) all look the same. And there is nothing that says who or why you should service at “ABC Service Center.”

Or in some cases, there is the occasional video of “why service here” where no one watches the whole thing. (when is the last time you watched an entire brand video on YouTube?)

Instead of capturing who and what your brand is on your website the customer is left reading the reviews - using them to shape their opinion of your brand. Something we have to remember too is that the customer is not servicing their vehicle every month or once a week. Therefore, it takes that much longer to change their perception about your brand if they have had a less than perfect experience.

Think about it for a moment. If the customer has a bad experience at a restaurant - sure s/he might write a bad review. But that bad experience does not shape their views on the restaurant industry in a whole, no? Why? Well, the customer goes to the next venue mostly forgetting about their bad experience.

Whereas, in our industry, the service intervals for many could be as much as 6+ months apart.  And so when the time comes for them to do service again they will go back to their last visit, which in some cases might not have been so pleasant. Sure, you might have reached out to the customer to apologize trying to rectify the situation. However, the damage is already done, and the customer will think twice before s/he returns to the dealership.

That is why there is so much emphasis and focus on what your “brand is,” which can make or break keeping the service customer!

Here are some tips/suggestions that can help identify who and what your brand is:

• Do your service advisors know what your brand stands for? Does your brand logo have a meaning?
• Does your service lane or dealer have a “slogan”? Might sound cheesy, but successful brands have a message or a theme that is recurring in all of their campaigns. While the OEM has one, which many require being visible in the showroom - do any of the advisors know what it is?
• If you do have good reviews - are they visible on your site? This will surely help with converting the customer who's on the fence about returning.
• Bottom line, there are so many places to choose from, and your customer will choose what is best for them. So it is essential to have a consistent brand image that translates well to the customer.

What is your brand image? Do you have a slogan that is part of your brand logo?

There are many opinions on whether or not one can truly multitask. However, for those of us who work in the BDC, multitasking is a quintessential part of our jobs. But just because we multitask does not mean that we are any more productive. In fact, too much multitasking can wind-up leading to your team not only making more mistakes but, more importantly, burning out. All of which is not good for the dealership! Here are some of the top things to consider when you are on the brink of over tasking yourself, or your team in the BDC! 

You Ever Have So Much Going On You Make A Decision That You Know Isn't Right Or Completely Screw Something Up? 

We have all been there. That moment where you hit the send button before completing your thoughts in an email, enter the wrong price in an email blast, forgot to call a customer back, forgot to send the email blast out before 11 AM, accidentally miss-typing a tracking line, and or spelled a model wrong all because you were 'multitasking' or in a rush to get the job done. Its the above moments that make us cringe afterward because the mistake seemed - in hindsight looking back - so simple and easily avoidable. But when your head is spinning in several directions at once, it becomes increasingly harder to accomplishing anything. Or, more importantly, getting your work done without making potentially costly mistakes. 

Delegate Responsibility Even if that Means Getting Your Sales Managers to Help. 

One of the worst things you can do to yourself or your team is not asking for help! This is not to say that your sales managers can or will help you, BUT you have to ask. Even if your sales managers handled something as simple as pricing updates in your inventory tool, or managed adding/removing of specials to your website can save you time so you can continue to focus your efforts on other pressing matters. Not to mention, how many times have we heard "they are too busy selling cars" to help, but have time to sit and catch-up? There is time to help. 

Learn to Say No. We All Have Limits. 

One of the hardest things to do is say "no." Just the idea of saying no to another project, integrating another vendor, updating the websites, creating logins for a new hire, managing reporting, managing login issues, sending another email blast, managing the sales consultants' social media accounts, and or working late nights from home is hard. But at the end of the day, we all have limits! It is just as much our fault if we do not express those limits in a meaningful, relevant way. Sometimes your boss (or the sales managers) genuinely have no idea how much you do on the dealer level in the BDC. So if it is not something you bring-up, and you continue to say "yes," it can and usually winds up with you becoming completely burnt out! 

One Necessary List is Outlining Who is Responsible for What! 

One of the easiest things to do is point fingers playing the blame game, which is not only demoralizing but a waste of time. To avoid this and burning out one or more of your employees who is multitasking, it is best to create a list of who is responsible for the core tasks in Business Development. In creating that list and handing out responsibilities  - you will come to learn that there are those who are over-tasked multitaskers and others who are being underutilized. That said, keep in mind that just because someone is 'over-tasked' and an avid multitasker, and it appears that s/he is working harder is not always the case. In fact, you might find that those who are overtasked and multitasker are actually less productive. That said, the goal and purpose of creating a list are to ensure that all of your core tasks within your department are not just checked off, but completed correctly. 

Bottom Line: Whether you can multitask or not, it is never best to have too many tasks on your plate at one time. The more tasks you have to complete, the greater chance you have in making a potentially costly mistake. Not to mention, multitasking and or taking on to much work will wind up burning you out. And we all know that it tends to become harder and harder to check back in when we are burnt out! 

How to do you approach multitasking? When is the last time you asked for help? 
 

Planning and setting goals for the year ahead is hard considering we tend to plan month by month especially when it comes to measuring success. So instead of focusing simply on one month at a time, perhaps it is best to have overarching growth goals for the year. Not to mention, by planning for the year you can create more defined goals that are long-lasting vs. in the moment fixes that don’t stick!

Here are the top three growth opportunities your dealer should consider in 2020. 

Selling More Extended Warranties in Finance

If you are not selling extended warranties you are leaving money on the table. Whether you have your sales consultants sell the extended warranty or have it be apart of your sales process the more warranties you sell the better chances you have in the customer returning to the dealership to have their vehicle both serviced and repaired. For the customers that do not purchase an extended warranty at the time of sale, you can easily create campaigns in your CRM. Once you have sent the customer an email about the extended warranty have either the sales consultant or finance manager follow-up and offer the warranty! 

Sell More Service Contracts vs. Just Offering Free Oil Changes! 

For the dealerships who give away free oil changes with the hopes of the customer coming back and spending more money - that is not the best way to increase retention. In fact, in many cases when the customer gets a free oil change they think of the word “free,” which does not always entice them to spend more money with you. Especially if the “free” oil change does not include the shop supplies that the customer usually winds up paying for - instead focus on selling service contracts at a discount. This way the customer is paying for their service - albeit, at a discount, but it increases their chances of not just coming in for service, but spending more in service. Not to mention, if you sell the customer a contract it often does not often increase their monthly payment by much at all making it that much easier to sell the contract. 

Don’t Lose Financing Deals With Customers Bringing In Their Own Finance 

One of the trends noticed in the last year or so is the number of customers bringing their own financing to the table, which means you lose out on the reserve from the lender. If the customer does bring in their own financing always be sure to offer matching it and or trying to beat their offer! Not to mention, in most cases the customer is not aware of the many stipulations their offers present - i.e. the vehicle cannot be over a certain year, and/or have too many miles. All of which can limit their selection. 

Bottom Line: Every dollar counts and selling extended warranties, service contracts, and financing the deal for the customer is revenue towards your dealer’s bottom line. And if we simply focus on one month at a time we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. In that, when you look at processes from a month-to-month concept you actually wind up falling short of one process to increase on another! As you are not actually changing the culture and or training them to do better! Whereas if you have growth goals, and offer training in the above areas (or whatever they may be) throughout the year it increases your chances of being successful. 

There is nothing better than hitting your monthly goals in the service department! Especially considering that fixed-op's is the dealerships money maker. But to hit your fixed-ops revenue goals - as a department - there are fundamental processes that need to be in place! Here are the top things to consider: 

Limit Daily RO’s per Advisor 

NADA statistics offer than an advisor should not be handling any more than 20-25 RO’s per day. Managing too many RO’s leaves room for “underselling” as s/he is trying their best to push everyone through the lane. Leaving hundreds - if not thousands - of dollars in the lane.

The best way to combat this issue is to a) make sure you are staffed correctly by reviewing your average daily appointments, which is most likely a *small* percentage of your business and daily average walk-ins. Track your *busy* times making sure you have your “A” team in place. In doing so, your advisors will not only make more money BUT - you will hit your goals!

Review the Weekly Appointments

This sure does sound tedious. I get that. But what if the advisor (depending on how your store’s scheduler works) were to review their upcoming appointments. Looking to see what s/he is coming in for? This is *huge* not only does it give the advisor the chance to see what's coming up, but it affords them the ability to plan ahead on what they need to focus on!

This also assists the advisor in understanding when their *busy* times are. Making sure that the lane is staffed accordingly. If the lane is not staffed, then you are absolutely leaving money on the table.

Offer A Shuttle Service

If you do not already have a shuttle service. Get one. If you offer to take the customer to work - or wherever within reason - s/he will not be sitting in the service lounge bored. Instead, when you call to offer them the recommended services s/he might be more inclined to take the recommended service. However, it is crucial that when you are “upselling” to focus on the “discount.” Namely, explain to the customer “Mr. Customer, everything is going very smooth - btw, we noticed that the windshield wipers were a bit cracked. It is common with the weather we’ve experienced. But the good news is we are running a special of $15 off! Not to mention, these guys will keep your windshield clean!”

Discuss Dollars Per RO

Going back to how many RO’s the advisor should handle daily - is also reviewing how much s/he is averaging per RO. If you don’t know what your average per RO is then you might not be as motivated to focus efforts on upselling. Not to mention, when reviewing average dollars per RO you might be shocked at just how much money you are leaving on the table. This is the selling tactic to the advisor when they argue that they need 50+ RO's a day to make money!

It is best practice to have a quick pow-wow in the morning with the service advisors to discuss what the store's average is and strategize a plan for each advisor. For example, you have 45 appointments for the day. Calculate the percentage of appointments that should have one or more upsells. And at the end of the day tally the results. Going over them the next morning. This will help increase average dollars per RO, and build up the momentum in the lane!

When is the last time you had a morning meeting with your advisors? How many RO's do your Advisors handle on a daily basis?