Introduction to Service Manager Scorecards

In this insightful episode of the Driving Sales Defining Leadership Podcast, we delve into the essential process of creating effective parts and service manager scorecards. Hosts Bart Wilson and J.D. Mixon are joined by special guest Craig Wilson, who brings his extensive experience and expert insights to the discussion. Learn why service manager scorecards are crucial for managing your service departments, discover the key performance indicators (KPIs) you should track, and get practical tips to enhance your department’s efficiency and accountability.

Understanding Parts Manager Scorecards

Craig also shares valuable strategies for developing parts manager scorecards that can significantly impact your dealership’s performance. Discover the essential metrics for parts managers, understand the importance of proactive parts management, and learn how aligning service and parts goals can drive overall success. This episode is packed with actionable advice that will help you create scorecards that improve performance and drive results.

Key Takeaways: 

• Importance of scorecards for parts and service managers
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) to track for enhanced performance
• Practical tips for aligning service and parts department goals
• Strategies for proactive parts management
• Understanding the impact of effective labor rate and other metrics 

Chapter List: 

• 0:00 Introduction and episode overview
• 1:02 Welcome and introductions
• 2:15 Importance of scorecards in service and parts departments
• 4:10 Key performance indicators for parts managers
• 6:45 Aligning service and parts goals
• 8:20 Practical tips for creating effective scorecards
• 11:35 Strategies for proactive parts management
• 13:50 Understanding effective labor rate and other crucial metrics
• 16:00 The role of customer satisfaction index (CSI) in scorecards
• 18:25 Tips for tracking technician productivity and efficiency
• 21:10 Conclusion and final thoughts

Joined by Craig Wilson, Customer Success Manager at DrivingSales, the discussion centers on the metrics and best practices that make BDC managers pivotal to dealership success.

Episode Highlights:

1. Introduction to BDC Manager Scorecards: Bart, J.D., and Craig begin by emphasizing the importance of the BDC manager role, highlighting its dual focus on sales and service teams. The conversation sets the stage for understanding how scorecards can track performance and drive improvements.
2. Historical Context and Evolution of BDCs: The hosts discuss the evolution of BDCs, noting their inception when technology allowed for more precise tracking of sales and service activities. This historical perspective underscores the relevance of BDCs in today's data-driven dealership environment.
3. Metrics and Quotas for BDC Managers: The core of the episode delves into specific metrics that BDC managers should focus on. This includes effort-based and performance-based quotas, such as the number of appointments set, show percentages, and CRM task completion rates. The discussion highlights the importance of balancing various metrics to avoid overwhelming managers with too many targets.
4. The Role of AI in BDC Operations: A significant portion of the episode explores the impact of artificial intelligence on BDC workflows. The hosts agree that AI should enhance, not replace, the capabilities of BDC agents, particularly in managing repetitive tasks and improving customer interactions.
5. Effort vs. Performance-Based Quotas: The conversation navigates through the distinctions between effort-based quotas (like call volumes) and performance-based quotas (like sales outcomes). The hosts advocate for a balanced approach that recognizes both types of efforts in driving success.
6. Practical Tips for BDC Managers: Practical advice is offered on how to structure scorecards effectively. This includes tips on setting realistic quotas, conducting periodic reviews, and ensuring that the scorecards remain relevant and actionable for BDC managers.
7. The Importance of Customer Engagement: The episode underscores the critical role of customer engagement in the success of BDC operations. The hosts share strategies for BDC managers to foster positive customer relationships and improve overall dealership performance.
8. Case Studies and Real-World Examples: To illustrate the concepts discussed, real-world examples and case studies are presented. These anecdotes provide concrete evidence of how well-structured scorecards can lead to significant improvements in dealership performance.
9. Future Trends in BDC Management: Looking ahead, the hosts speculate on future trends in BDC management, including the increasing integration of advanced technologies and the continuous evolution of customer expectations in the automotive industry.
10. Conclusion and Call to Action: The episode wraps up with a call to action for listeners to implement the discussed strategies in their own dealerships. The hosts invite feedback and questions from the audience, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the ever-changing automotive landscape.

Discover a world where leadership meets innovation in the automotive industry. "DrivingSales Defining Leadership" podcast episode dives deep into the art of leading a team to excellence. With insights from industry experts, J.D. Mixon, Bart Wilson, and special guest, Mel Wilson, Fixed Ops Director of Goode Ford in Burley, ID, learn how to revitalize your leadership approach and steer your dealership toward success.

Empowering Teams for Transition:

In this episode, we explore the essence of transformative leadership and its impact on team dynamics. Learn how to cultivate a culture of empowerment, where every team member feels valued and motivated to contribute their best.

Strategies for Success:

Dive into practical strategies that can help you navigate the challenges of the automotive industry. From employee development to leveraging human capital, discover how to optimize your team's performance and drive sales.

Cultivating a Winning Culture:

Uncover the secrets to building a resilient and adaptable team culture. Learn how consistency in training and accountability can forge a path to success, making your dealership a beacon of excellence in the automotive sector.

Join us as we explore these themes and more, providing you with the tools you need to lead with confidence and achieve remarkable results.

Dive deep into the world of automotive service excellence with "Creating Scorecards for Service Advisors," an essential episode for anyone in the automotive service industry. Hosted by Bart Wilson, J.D. Mixon, and Craig Wilson, this episode of "DrivingSales Defining Leadership" podcast provides a comprehensive guide on developing effective scorecards tailored to Service Advisors. Whether you're a service manager, dealership principal, or an aspiring service advisor, this episode is packed with actionable insights to elevate your team's performance, streamline operations, and significantly enhance customer satisfaction.

Chapter List:

0:00 - Introduction to Scorecards for Service Advisors

2:15 - Why Scorecards Are Essential in Automotive Service

4:30 - Key Metrics to Include in Your Service Advisor Scorecards

6:45 - Steps to Implement Scorecards Effectively

9:00 - Utilizing Scorecards to Motivate and Guide Service Advisors

11:30 - Q&A Session with Industry Experts

13:45 - Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Be sure to Like, Share, and Subscribe to our channel to stay updated with the latest in automotive service leadership.

We recently sat down with Travis Peterson, VP of Product at One View to discuss how cloud computing and cloud storage has evolved. We chat about how dealers are leveraging cloud storage and the best practices you can implement when moving your documents to the cloud.

How has cloud computing transformed document storage?

You know, as far as the dealership is concerned, their world has changed drastically. They looked at documents they had coming off that dot matrix printer for the sound effects. I even remember years of saying I just wanted to print during the day so I feel that nostalgia. But dealerships, as they've evolved, realize that there's more use of electronic signatures, and electronic storage of the documents because it's not just the retail space, it's also the security of those documents, who can touch them and access them.

A lot of the dealerships over the past few decades have been dealing with that struggle. Maybe they're getting off of paper and they're trying to get into scanning or they've scanned paperwork and they're trying to figure out how they evolve into a digital age of all of their documents being stored in a different storage system that's easily retrievable across the dealership.

So the evolution of dealerships and how they transition their paper for their digital asset is very important.

Document storage and security.

The concern is how people have access and what are the security controls. I remember my days a long time ago being in banking and the fact that you had to have two signatures to take cash from the vault.

And the reality is how much money, maybe digital or people's data that goes through a dealership is kind of the reason why dealerships have been pressured into that financial institution regulations. What dealerships have to do.

How can cloud storage help with document organization and accessibility?

You think about your laptop, you sync it up to Dropbox, you sync it up to some cloud solution. The reality is, if I'm just throwing the files into the file cabinet, it does no good when I want to go and retrieve them. So you have to have them organized in a way where it's VIN-specific, customer-specific, and relationally. you want to be able to pull all those data points together when you're trying to find something related to a legal situation or a deal and you need to make sure that everything we needed substantiated and we have it. Or everything that is there, someone requests us to delete it. We need to be able to know that we are confident in our ability to go out and delete all of the data that needs to be deleted for that client.

Why has automotive retail been slow to adopt cloud storage?

I think that COVID was a big driver, a big push. But I think that a lot of people have just lived with paper as being the tangible asset to be able to work through a car deal or the tangible asset to provide proof. Franchises for a long time harped on the fact that you had to have the physical piece of paper in your hands, and if you didn't have that physical piece of paper. how is it going to be real? Manufacturing that paper and pulling it back out and saying, yeah, a piece of paper is legitimate enough for me to consider it to be the original.

A lot of dealerships are scared and have been scared, honestly over the past few decades. Just knowing, "Am going to be good for the franchise asks? Am I going to be good if the IRS calls? Am I going to be good, protected is a better way of saying good, but am I going to be protected in this situation when I have to produce that document or whoever is requesting it? And will they question that process or will they question the validity of the paperwork?"

I think the challenge in my mind is I think about it is how many times have we taken our kids to the doctor and have no paperwork anymore to fill out. They adopted that quite a while ago. In banking, what kind of digital solutions do we have in place now where we don't really go into the brick-and-mortar anymore for a bank? And things became digital and we stayed with that, whereas we're in the dealership and now we've got paperwork that we have to fill out. We've got deal jackets that are still paper and we're trying to figure out how we're going to store them in the file cabinets.

How do customers feel about data security and protection?

I always joke that there are just different generational situations. You may have a parent who is all about technology and wants to embrace it as much as they can. And then you're going to have another parent that says, I don't want to. I mean, I'm a parent that has lots of different apps just to keep track of stuff. And there are some days where it'd be nice if I just got one sheet of paper that told me everything that's going to happen this week. 

But that's just people's perceptions of technology. If the idea of me keeping organized and having all of the data at my fingertips is something that I'm okay with, and I think that that comes down to that security factor. If the dealership is okay with that security and knows all of the documents that are going to be stored are going to be secure, then I think that changes the factor for people acknowledging and accepting a digital cloud solution for storing their documents.

And the other side of that coin is going to be someone who says, I don't trust that I don't want my data out there stored in some system that I don't have access to. They want to control that. So some people are going to be safer or feel safer keeping it at the dealership in a file cabinet. They just don't know what they don't know about the security controls that exist in the dealership

How to you protect the dealership documents? 

It's a partnership between the dealership and us because the dealership has employees, so then we have to extend to the dealerships the fact that we need legitimate user access. We need people to have real emails. We don't want to have just random logins to the system. We want everything to be secure. So we're going to use MFA technology to make sure that people are logging in and accessing it in a secure manner.

We're going to make sure that our system is using proper encryption technology and APIs that are going to connect the user to the images that they're trying to look at or that they're accessing. But something that you mentioned is all about the redundancy of the data, and the reality is, is going back to that paper now, this paper that I have here in my hand, the one copy, that's the only copy. We use a system that can store a daily backup, a weekly backup, and a monthly backup. There's just multiple iterations of that backup being capped, and that gives you more confidence. From my perspective, I'll jokingly say, that if I were to go back to my cell phone and say, How many times are the images or the photos of my kids back up on there? That's an important thing to me, and I want to make sure that this paperwork: service deals, parts, app checks, whatever it is that is put into a digital file cabinet that is backed up multiple times with secure redundancy that only the people that need to access it are able to access it.

How cloud storage can help with dealership compliance

Another point of that, I mean, you brought up credit compliance. In my opinion, choosing a vendor that can store that without printing it isn't an even bigger piece of the puzzle. Why would I want to put it on that piece of paper that goes on to the edge of the desk that someone can walk by and just pick up? I remember when I was in the dealership, the red flag compliance training that we went through, making sure that there was no paperwork on my desk and that everything was cleaned up. That's a big key and that's great. But why not just circumvent that process completely and just have that data never go into a paper format?

Are most dealers scanning and uploading documents or electrically managing them?

It all depends on the DMS. Frankly, We're kind of talking about the deals or finance. So yeah, if a dealership is doing the contracting, they're really focused on that.

But then a call that I had this morning was about how I figure out all these systems that I'm using to produce a deal. And I jokingly say, What's in the deal? We'll see with our clients that the average deal is 60 pages if all are printed out. The question is how many systems did you use electronics systems to produce 60 pages of paperwork? Some of them are a digital e-signature. So that is a hot topic. That's it's really something people really want to inquire about or figure out. How do I get that into my dealership? Maybe you have an E menu, or maybe your whole contract is E, but then you forget that there's other paperwork that comes from 60 pages. So maybe you consolidate 20 or 30 of those pages and get them just electronically stored. That's phenomenal. That's great. You just reduce half of the work that someone has to do scanning and the paperwork. Hopefully, you don't print those out. Hopefully, you keep them there in electronic form.

What is the value of cloud storage for fixed operations?

Fixed Ops, I think, is not looking at as much for parts, but definitely in service. Parts maybe if you have a large wholesale business you'll say, Hey, it's going to be a lot easier to retrieve the documents, look them up, look for stamps that way. But service is going to be very focused on their warranty and then the warranty processing documentation or they're going to be a situation where they're producing a lot of repair orders, a lot of paperwork that's coming out of the printers, and they want to find a way to archive and get that captured and stored.

I was working with the dealership last week. They are taking down their old building. They built a brand new one and the statement that the CFO made to me is it would have been great if we'd done this five years ago. I wouldn't be trying to figure out what to do with all this paper. So that paper, when you move from one place to the other, becomes a large storage area in your new building. If you didn't have that storage requirement, you could use it for a moneymaking situation. 

So in service, they're looking at real estate that paper consumers that they could be using instead for a revenue-generating product. Instead. So that's what we see with the service side of business as well as they're focused on the warranty. How do I know that I have everything captured for warranty paperwork should I ever get a question from my franchise? 

How cloud storage can help with a DMS switch.

It's a good question. I'm just going to speak in generalities of documents. If you were to think back to the days of file cabinets that would sit inside of a dealership, they would switch their DMS, they would change their CRM, all that information would change, but their file cabinet would stay the same. They would still store their customer's data in a secure place where everyone who needed access could go in and access it. I remember in the dealership I was at, the file cabinets were located in the office. You had to know the code to get into the office to be able to access those documents, or they were in a storage room wherever keyed control. I mean, you had to have the key and you have to get in.

But you have to realize that a lot of dealerships, as they transition through that process and store those documents, from my perspective here, we need a system that is going to make it where they can access the documents anywhere in the dealership they need to.

What processes does a dealer need to have in place?

As far as your file cabinet, imagine that I just open up a drawer and shove the documents in there. By not making sure that they're alphabetized. If I'm not making sure that they're organized by VIN or retrievable by VIN, it's going to be a challenge. But if I have added value, I know what documents should be going into that drawer of the file cabinet. And I know they went in and they're still in there. I've got a thousand repair orders for this month and I'm going to file them away into the file cabinet.

From our perspective, we know that the dealerships need an exception or they need something that's dynamic that is going to tie to the document type that they're working with today. And it's going to tie into all the documents that they need to have access to. a dealership that has that kind of checks and balances to make sure everything that went in there is a perfect way for them to know I switched my DMS. I need to go back and look at something historical. It's right over there in that drawer, in that folder. 

Well, if it's a digital cabinet like we're providing, that's a place where they can switch their DMS, and still be able to find the documents that they need. One of the challenges we've seen over time is when a dealership converts from one system to the other. They have one file cabinet regardless of the DMS, the efficiencies, find the documents, and answer the questions a lot easier. 

I just had a dealership yesterday that was looking at their accounting data and they were trying to figure out why a fixed asset changed and they needed the details for their CPA. How that's going to happen? For every dealership that switches their DMS, they need to look for the data. They need to answer a question for someone, And that could be or CPA that could be an auditor. If I can easily get to it, that's going to be important. Well, back that train up just a little bit.

I know our process of how we train people and I think that's a big thing too. What we do here is train the individuals who put the data into the system and make sure that it's a high-quality document going in. I may talk about a dealership that is still today counting every page they're scanning into the system. Is it required? No, it's not. They choose to do that because it gives them assurance. This reporter has eight pages. I scanned eight pages and I'm good to go knowing that everything is there. And that gives them confidence from the very beginning of the capture to make sure that everything is easily accessible, regardless of the DMS, regardless of how many years have gone by and I need to go back and look for the document. It's there. 

What reporting do you provide?

There's definitely reporting right at the front. There's a simplified exception report or an advanced exception report where someone can just see a chronological record of the tickets, where you can use our exception report that is going to give you that advanced perspective. It's a graphical interface. It's going to tell you what documents you closed in your DMS in a certain period of time. Click on service. Say I closed 1000 repair orders this month. I scanned 900 of them. Where's the other 100? I get them scanned in. I look at the report again. I can see regularly that all of the documents are being scanned into the system.

To me that exception report is key. Your accuracy in the process that you put in place. I've had people on my system switch, then they don't have that visibility anymore and they feel like they're floundering. They don't know why. I was told I scanned everything with an exception report that's right up front, right in people's faces lets people know what is being scanned and what is missing is very important to the production they're accessing. Whether it's fixed, whether it's variable, accessing those documents that they need at the dealership.

Who is scanning the documents in the dealership?

 The same person who would be filing the documents today is typically the person I would recommend be the person scanning the documents. But it's going to be the last person who touches the document ideally. When I'm finished. If it's someone who is finished with the title work on a deal, it would probably be the best person suited to scan the deal. If it's a service person who brings everything to a cashier, maybe I'm going to scan there. 

I had a store up in the northeast. They had service advisors, as soon as they finished with that repair order, they were able to scan it right in from a terminal that is centralized to them, get everything scanned at one spot. So every dealership's going to do it just a little bit differently and you don't have to hire someone to do that job. It's just all about setting it on a scanner and quickly scanning it. 

When it comes to who is going to look at that report, I'm going to recommend that it's management right up front. I'm going to recommend that it's a controller or CFO who has visibility and is aware of that on a monthly basis. I can recommend that it's a service manager, a finance manager that's looking at the exception report for their deal genre, wherever they're at. If it's fixed. I'm looking at service, if it's sales, I'm looking at the deals, because when I need to go back and look at that document, I want to know the system was there to protect me and I'm in control, or I'm directing the person that is routing those documents through the channel.

I don't need to hire anyone else to do it. It's a short, quick report that people are going to look at, whether it's 5 minutes a week or 10 minutes a month. They're going to look at that report. It's a quick accountability to the process to make sure that everything that you put in place is now working and you're going to be confident when you need to go retrieve the document.

Dive into the latest episode of the DrivingSales Defining Leadership podcast, where hosts Bart Wilson and J.D. Mixon welcome Team Development Consultant, Armand Hebert. Together, they unravel the intricacies of hiring the right team members and developing leadership skills that elevate productivity beyond current benchmarks. This episode is a treasure trove for modern automotive dealerships aiming to enhance their workforce, focusing on understanding and leveraging core motivators to assemble teams that not only meet but exceed expectations.

Discover why technical skills only account for 15% of workplace success, while the lion's share hinges on people skills. Learn the art of hiring for behavioral styles aligned with job descriptions and the significance of training employees in ways their behavioral style learns best for quicker ramp-up times and heightened productivity. Armand shares his expertise in navigating the diverse motivators and values that underpin effective team development and hiring strategies.

Whether you're struggling with culture fit, motivation techniques, or refining your sales process, this episode offers invaluable insights.

The DrivingSales Defining Leadership podcast is back up and running, and we've decided to launch a second podcast: DrivingSales Insights. Each podcast contains content that has been tailored to a distinct focus. Here is a quick overview of each with links so you can check them out.

DrivingSales Insights

We've been a part of some great conversations over the years. This podcast contains best practices from those conversations to provide you with nuggets you can implement with your teams.

If you're looking for a strategy or some tactics to help you improve your store, your employees, and yourself, this may be a good podcast for you.

Topics include sales techniques, including digital retailing, advanced marketing, progressive fixed operations, and the next generation of Employee Management

DrivingSales Defining Leadership

Customer expectations, new technology, and the economy are three of the many external factors impacting dealerships today.

In the Defining Leadership podcast, we take a deep dive into different topics that will focus on how to define leadership in automotive dealerships today. Episodes focus on human capital management, improving processes to improve your store, and what today’s workforce is looking for in a career.

Check both of them out. We'll be adding episodes frequently. If you'd like to suggest topics or provide feedback, you can email us at podcast@drivingsales.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

In this episode of "DrivingSales Defining Leadership," hosts J.D. Mixon and Bart Wilson discuss the evolution of leadership and the essential traits required in today’s dynamic environment. Our special guest, Gail Rubinstein, Founder & CEO of Retail Resilient, brings her unique insights and experiences to the table, enriching the conversation with practical examples and personal anecdotes.

The episode delves into the concept of resilience, both personally and professionally, exploring its definition, importance, and how it can be nurtured and developed within a team. Gail shares her journey and the challenges she faced, providing a real-world perspective on resilience in business. J.D. and Bart contribute their thoughts on the necessity of resilience in the auto industry, particularly in the face of rapid technological changes and market shifts.

Listeners will also gain valuable insights into the effective use of social media and AI in sales, with practical advice on how sales teams can adapt and thrive in the digital age. The discussion touches upon the balance between technology and personal touch in customer interactions, emphasizing the importance of human connection in a tech-driven world.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone in the auto industry, as well as leaders and professionals from various sectors who aim to foster resilience in their teams and adapt to the ever-changing business landscape.

Learn more about DrivingSales at DrivingSales.com and explore Retail Resilient at retailresilient.com.

Tune in to "DrivingSales Defining Leadership" for more insights into the art of leadership.

During this roundtable, we focus on goal setting in the new year. This ranges from goals for ourselves, and our teams, but also how to encourage our team members to set goals for themselves. As we know as leaders in organizations, allowing our team to set their own expectations/goals almost always improves follow-through.



We had a great discussion with Michael King, ECommerce Performance Specialist at RevolutionParts about his experience with dealerships and parts eCommerce.

What is the origin of RevolutionParts?

Well, you know, the whole concept for me came about 20 years ago. I was working for a dealership on Cape Cod, and we got the opportunity to build a brand-new dealership. When I designed the parts room, I designed my parts office directly behind the counter so that I could hear the transactions, both on the tech side and on the retail side.

More and more, I heard a very poor buyer experience for the retail customer. They'd come in looking for something. They'd be greeted with a grumpy parts guy, which we all know doesn't exist. And you know, the first thing would be, I need your VIN number. Well, I don't have it. So they go trudge out to the parking lot, get their registration, and they come back in.

You look up the part. I don't have it in stock. It'll take two days to get. So the whole the whole concept of the retail buying experience was just not a good one. So at that point, the original equipment retailing of parts was kind of in its infancy and there was only one customer at that time who they're not around anymore because it didn't involve the times like RP does.

And I just launched the site, struggled with it a little bit, new to e-commerce. But you know one thing led to another I enhanced the customer experience, kind of refined the way that we did things, ship things, price things and you know, before you know, it, 20 years went by and, you know, the business was doing $25 million a year in sales.

Are the buyers inside or outside of the dealer's PMA?

The overwhelming majority, if you talk to anybody running an e-commerce store out of a dealership, is parts sold outside of their primary area.

For me, when I was running the store, I purposely did not advertise in my area because I didn't want to compete with myself. A body shop or a repair shop buys parts for me on the wholesale level, then I'm advertising that same part at close to the same price on a retail level. It creates friction for not only them and their customers, but the dealership in the service of customers.

I always made sure I advertised outside of my marketing area, and I'll bet you'll find if you did an analysis, you probably find 95 to 98% of the sales online are outside of the dealership's primarily market.

How do you address lower margins on eCommerce parts?

The reality of it is, do you want 10% of something or 100% of nothing? Because all of all of the online well, 99%, 98% of the online business that you do, you're never going to see that customer.

Those were unrealized sales. So by creating this extra channel, yeah, you're selling a little bit less than retail, but you know, you're increasing your volume of sales way past where they would be.

You've also got to remember, too, that when you sell it online, you're selling two items, you sell in parts and you're selling shipping. They're both a profit center. You might be selling that part to a retail customer at cost plus 10, plus 15, whatever your feelings are for that number. But also if you manage your shipping properly, you're making 20 to 30% profit margins on your shipping. So at the end of the day, you're getting basically the same money for that retail part. You're just doing it in a different fashion.

How does RevolutionParts help dealers with shipping?

You know, for years I battled with the shipping carriers, and I always had the same kind of routine with them. UPS wanted it all. FedEx wanted it all. Nobody got all of it. I always had multiple carriers just for safety's sake and for choices. But when FedEx came in and wanted more packages, well your deal has to be better. If you are a better deal, you're going to win. So it always kept the two carriers very honest about what they were giving us for rates because they knew if they tried to take advantage of us, they'd stop losing packages.

The RP platform does the same exact thing. When you bring up your order to ship it, it shows you all the available carriers that you have at your disposal. It shows you how much they're going to charge.

By using a volume approach now, we can offer big volume discounts to little stores that are just starting off. They have no sales history. So that helps them be competitive right out of the gate. You don't have to suffer through lousy shipping rates for the first year until you get your volume up. The carrier has already done it for you. You get the best USPS rates. We just launched FedEx which I think is in beta right now. We had UPS which is coming back. I was shipping a thousand packages a day which gave me huge bargaining power with the carriers. Well, now a small dealership was sending out three packages a day gets that same exact power because he's part of the RP family and the amount of packages going through the platform just gets him the best rates there are.

What are successful dealers doing?

As far as crushing it goes, nobody surprises me because it can be done. If you're diligent at your craft, anybody can be successful in doing this. One of the huge things that I see that I promote is the customer journey. The customer journey has to be perfect. Somebody sitting in their living room with their laptop buying a part wants the exact same hand-holding treatment as somebody standing in front of your retail counter. If you're if you're willing to do that, it doesn't mean giving the store away, because that absolutely is not customer service. But if you pay attention to the customer journey, then when you're doing advertising to get started and kind of building your brand as you move forward and the customer journey is your main focus, you have to buy in.

You have to spend less and less to get customer traffic because now you're building repeat customers. You've done exactly what they expected you to do: give them a great product at a great price, a reasonable timeframe, and good communication. That part of it is paramount if you want to succeed. Then the other part is just being proactive with your site, taking pictures, enhancing descriptions, things that make your store different from another store that maybe isn't going through the effort to do that. By far, the customer experience is definitely a big driver for success.

What does the average eCommerce customer look like?

Most of our customers, if you look at demographics, which I'll leave to our geniuses in our advertising agency here at RP. But demographics, it's workaday people, you know, 25 to 55, not necessarily do-it-yourselfers because not all of them are, but they get cost-conscious about where they spend their money. They want service.

They're not going to settle for being ignored when they send you an email. They're educated people and they they just want a better value. They think the last few years have been a little rough. And I think especially now more than ever, you know, it's a person that works for a living, looking for a better way to spend his money or her money and get as much as they can in return.

How do you sell OEM against aftermarket?

Well, it's not only that the grade. I mean, obviously, OEM is the preferred replacement part. You always want to use what the factory specs. But again, it goes back to that customer journey.

If you go to an aftermarket store and you buy something, how's that? If they need more information from you, how's the communication? If you need to make a return, if a package gets lost, it typically is not as personal and that's what people want. They want to be treated like a real-life customer walking in and saying, "Hey, Joe, how are you? What do you need today?" They want that same kind of experience and they don't always get it in the aftermarket world. So having great customer experience and then offering an original part at a very competitive and sometimes even less expensive, you know, that's a good combination for success.

How does Customer Success work with dealerships?

I work hand in hand with a lot of dealers, some small, some large. I'll look at the way they interact with people and then I'll just start tutoring and coaching them, saying, well, you know, this kind of response is a little bit on the empathetic side on this one here. You're getting carried away with your answers.

I just teach them how to react, because when you're a counter guy and you're dealing with technicians, service advisors, used car managers, there's not a ton of empathy that goes on in that environment. Bringing that to the table for your atypical parts guy is part of the process and just kind of educate them and show them the path to success.

I use a little store that I kind of took on as a project and taught him, and it's only a little two-person store and they had a revolution store. They were doing pretty well, you know, 15, 20,000 a month in sales. And I just took them on and said, "Listen, I'm going to kind of show you how this all supposed to happen. And if you follow what I teach, you will continue to build on it. If I find that you're not listening to me, then we'll just part of our team go our separate ways."

So we did that. We worked on customer communication, we worked on the site content, we worked on packaging and promotion, and they don't spend any more money on advertising than they did a year ago, which was only 1500 dollars a month, which in the eCommerce world is pretty modest. They still have only two people. They're still in the same-sized parts room with the same inventory. Instead of doing 15, 20 a month, they doing 100 to 120 a month and there was no investment involved other than this is how eCommerce works. This is what your customers expect. And if you kind of follow the best practices you can be as successful as you want to be.

The value of a vendor with dealer experience

It helps, you know, and I do understand even as a tech or shop owner, I understand the challenge. My dad owned his own shop. My grandfather had it before him. I got to grow up through the struggles that they had running small repair facilities and, take that 20 years or 30 years later into today's times where technology is a challenge, the cost of tools, the cost of insurance, you know, it's not an easy task for a shop owner to keep the doors open. Anything that we can do from our side to make sourcing the parts they need easier, more efficient, I see that as a big part of our future as well.

What's the future of eCommerce?

We have all kinds of really wild things going, where we're trying to bring not only original equipment parts to the masses through the platform, but we're looking at aftermarket sources. We're looking at accessories performance. We have such a great team of engineers and they're very nimble.

I always come up with these crazy ideas where I see this local shop, you know, small shop, three bays. And the only way the shop can be successful is with the shop owner under the hood. He can't afford to be in his office talking to people. My idea was, the next evolution of RevolutionParts is we integrate voice to text and artificial intelligence. So when that guy has his head under the hood, he's got a wrench in his hand. And he said, "All right, I know what's wrong with this car. I need a water pump, I need a dry belt, I need a tensioner". He just voiced, "Open revolution, insert last eight of the VIN." These are what I need for parts. Check availability, select the same-day delivery feature an hour later those parts of delivered to him by one of his local dealerships. There are all kinds of opportunities then and we're working on all of them.

eCommerce levels the playing field.

I think the one thing that I would like to emphasize is the size of the dealership, the size of the parts room means nothing. E-commerce is a level playing field.

And it's not just the U.S. I mean, it's a great big world out there. There are people all over the world who want parts and American cars find their way into every nook and cranny of the globe. You never know where a person is that wants to buy something from you.

Keep an open mind about e-commerce and be diligent about your craft. You've got to love it. I love selling parts. And you can be like that little dealership. You can be a little dealership that has a parts room that is smaller than my living room and still do a million and change. That's nothing to sneeze at. That's pretty respectable.