Having the opportunity to go through the Disney Institute with GM they talked about how everyone only cared about their bottom line, so if someone was needed by another department it was no problem just give me a number so I can bill their time against it.  It is human nature to get tunnel vision and only care about your department and your numbers, this doesn't add value to the business it only moves dollars from one department to the other, but the bottom dollar doesn't change for the business.  This brings a shirts against the skins approach to the business and puts up walls so no one helps the other departments unless they are getting paid.  There are times for this such as used car reconditioning; ultimately the customer pays the bill not the used car department due to the repair expense will be added to the cost of the vehicle. If a transmission suddenly goes out as the customer drives a used car off the lot, why should the service department move a bunch of money from sales to service so they look good, did it bring value to the business? These conversations go back and forth, as the service department will say I could have been doing work that made me money and I suffer because of it, sales gets the bad taste that service just gouges them on everything, and the wall get's higher. 

 
I am fortunate enough to work for one of the best owner's and companies. Our vision is "to be so effective that we are able to be helpful to others" with focus on five business critical areas, customer enthusiasm, employee satisfaction, financial performance, market effectiveness, ongoing improvement.  When a decision is made WE look at customer enthusiasm as our number one priority as that carries the most weight.  In this case the used car department is the customer, does it make sense to barrel them over because you can, this is a bad profit.  Better to cover your expense, bank the goodwill and they will help in the future, this tears down the wall.
 
Every company has many departments and they are all looked as profit centers, dealerships are no different and as we look to increase our pay we forget those other centers, this moves the financial above the customer and the employee which isn't where it belongs.  If everyone looks out what is best for the customer, while protecting the other four areas, in the end everyone wins including the business, while never taking advantage of anyone.

Having the opportunity to go through the Disney Institute with GM they talked about how everyone only cared about their bottom line, so if someone was needed by another department it was no problem just give me a number so I can bill their time against it.  It is human nature to get tunnel vision and only care about your department and your numbers, this doesn't add value to the business it only moves dollars from one department to the other, but the bottom dollar doesn't change for the business.  This brings a shirts against the skins approach to the business and puts up walls so no one helps the other departments unless they are getting paid.  There are times for this such as used car reconditioning; ultimately the customer pays the bill not the used car department due to the repair expense will be added to the cost of the vehicle. If a transmission suddenly goes out as the customer drives a used car off the lot, why should the service department move a bunch of money from sales to service so they look good, did it bring value to the business? These conversations go back and forth, as the service department will say I could have been doing work that made me money and I suffer because of it, sales gets the bad taste that service just gouges them on everything, and the wall get's higher. 

 
I am fortunate enough to work for one of the best owner's and companies. Our vision is "to be so effective that we are able to be helpful to others" with focus on five business critical areas, customer enthusiasm, employee satisfaction, financial performance, market effectiveness, ongoing improvement.  When a decision is made WE look at customer enthusiasm as our number one priority as that carries the most weight.  In this case the used car department is the customer, does it make sense to barrel them over because you can, this is a bad profit.  Better to cover your expense, bank the goodwill and they will help in the future, this tears down the wall.
 
Every company has many departments and they are all looked as profit centers, dealerships are no different and as we look to increase our pay we forget those other centers, this moves the financial above the customer and the employee which isn't where it belongs.  If everyone looks out what is best for the customer, while protecting the other four areas, in the end everyone wins including the business, while never taking advantage of anyone.

With recent results published from NADA regarding the aftermarket shop owning seventy three percent of the service and repair business, I knew we needed to get proactive in searching out the aftermarket customers and try to begin to understand what drives their traffic.

My marketing strategy consists of using the OEM to stay in touch with my retained customers across three brands Nissan, Chevrolet and VW. I make sure that the offers stay fresh and all traditional channels of marketing are being used effectively. This has allowed me to maintain and grow an active customer database all why staying within budget. We use this as a way to keep our name and specials in front of our customers and routinely monitor what coupons are most effective and being brought back to the store.

Where we have put a lot of thought and really started to get proactive is in attracting the other segments of business.

#1 – Increasing conquest traffic. I looked at all customers that may have purchased our brand anywhere and go directly after them. This segment may include the do it yourself customer and the collision repair customer, it doesn’t matter, I want them in my shop. To attack these customers I will do quarterly mailers to different brands each month with accelerated specials to just get the car in the door. The special is updated regularly to keep it fresh. After reviewing the response of these customers I say the offer has to be aggressive to have the customer darken your door.

#2 -  GEO Marketing – I have targeted the independents close to me that appear to have a solid book of business. I circle that area and market their customers with a special that says we work on all makes and all models. I have located the tire stores near me and sent their households the same buy 3 get one free plus we match any advertised price. Our program is somewhat new but just last month we have information that 156 customers have clicked on our ad from their phone. We are also able to see that 21 customers came in from that special alone.

In April alone I can account for 19 new VIN numbers in my system averaging $286 per repair. In addition our tire business is growing one hundred percent each month this year, and while we weren’t asleep last year in selling tires we have climbed to the larges in our zone.

With recent results published from NADA regarding the aftermarket shop owning seventy three percent of the service and repair business, I knew we needed to get proactive in searching out the aftermarket customers and try to begin to understand what drives their traffic.

My marketing strategy consists of using the OEM to stay in touch with my retained customers across three brands Nissan, Chevrolet and VW. I make sure that the offers stay fresh and all traditional channels of marketing are being used effectively. This has allowed me to maintain and grow an active customer database all why staying within budget. We use this as a way to keep our name and specials in front of our customers and routinely monitor what coupons are most effective and being brought back to the store.

Where we have put a lot of thought and really started to get proactive is in attracting the other segments of business.

#1 – Increasing conquest traffic. I looked at all customers that may have purchased our brand anywhere and go directly after them. This segment may include the do it yourself customer and the collision repair customer, it doesn’t matter, I want them in my shop. To attack these customers I will do quarterly mailers to different brands each month with accelerated specials to just get the car in the door. The special is updated regularly to keep it fresh. After reviewing the response of these customers I say the offer has to be aggressive to have the customer darken your door.

#2 -  GEO Marketing – I have targeted the independents close to me that appear to have a solid book of business. I circle that area and market their customers with a special that says we work on all makes and all models. I have located the tire stores near me and sent their households the same buy 3 get one free plus we match any advertised price. Our program is somewhat new but just last month we have information that 156 customers have clicked on our ad from their phone. We are also able to see that 21 customers came in from that special alone.

In April alone I can account for 19 new VIN numbers in my system averaging $286 per repair. In addition our tire business is growing one hundred percent each month this year, and while we weren’t asleep last year in selling tires we have climbed to the larges in our zone.