It starts every Friday night; Dealer, GM and GSM calling the store to see how many units they got out and what's the gross? This process is repeated throughout the weekend, and now extends through the entire week. Dealers live in the "now" world. They want immediate gratification, it's all about the sale. Here's the challenge, you have to sell more to earn the same as previous years.

Considering the average dealer spends $600 per new vehicle retailed, $600 X 300 is a whopping $180,000, why? Why are you spending so much money to attract prospective consumers, when you don't have to?

One simple step will dramatically decrease your ad spend, increase your service retention, and increase new and pre-owned sales.

1. Promote that every new and pre-owned unit sold has Service Customer Pick-up & Delivery.

How does this work? Simply promote that your dealership provides Service Customer Pick-up & Delivery when you purchase a new or pre-owned unit. Consider Dealer "A" that offers a new unit for sale at $40K, and Dealer "B" offers the same make, model and trim, yet the vehicle comes with Service Customer Pick-up & Delivery. Dealer "B" charges $42K. Wouldn't be nice to actually hold gross on a new vehicle, and stop selling new cars like a commodity? Consumers demonstrate daily that they're willing to pay for convenience.

Since you offer Service Customer Pick-up & Delivery, your customers will find your service department convenient, not time consuming, easy to visit (since a concierge driver is providing Pick-up & Delivery), and the consumer will opt to conduct business with your service department versus a closer dealer or independent. Remember, consumers defect to other repair facilities based upon proximity to their home or office, it's simply more convenient.

What are some of the benefits of this strategy?

• Considerably less ad spend
• Increased new and pre-owned sales
• Significantly increased service retention
• Significantly increased customer trades
• Less reliant upon auction units
• Significantly increased service spend per customer RO
• Significantly decrease loaner out times
• Increased CSI

These are just a few of the many benefits associated with Service Customer Pick-up & Delivery. You can even take this to another level and offer Consumer Test Drives at the consumer's home.

Your PMA will now extend as far as you would like. A 10 Mile radius per your current PMA will become obsolete. You can now control multiple PMA's around your dealership(s). Your fellow dealer across town who doesn't offer Service Customer Pick-up & Delivery can't compete, not to mention other brands. Let's start generating Gross Profit, and retaining customers, it's very easy.

Ken Hite is Senior Vice President at RedCap. RedCap's technology and drivers are utilized by OEMs and dealers for Service Customer Pick-up and Delivery, as well as Consumer Test Drives conducted at the consumer's home. Ken has 25 years experience within the automotive industry, inclusive of retail, OEM, after-market and start-ups. The auto industry must learn to exceed customer expectations and implement business processes based upon customer convenience.