Discovered years ago to gain great return customer retention, 'actively' vs 'passively', at time of delivery, coordinate an appointment date, via your Customer Relations staff or BDC based on the miles each customer drives/month relative to factory or owners' manual recommended interval services. Strongly suggest doing this for Both pre-owned as New sales. Establish a tactful and personalized BDC reminder system for all your customer's appointments. Assigning a service adviser at time of delivery, with a physical introduction during operational hours is icing on the cake combined with 'the' service adviser's follow-ups. No hypothetical here, just proven results. Of course, coordination with service management supporting the follow up with 'monitoring' by the advisers immediately post delivery with congrats, and again before appointment as a personal reminder by her/him retention rocks. Unbiased, aligning female buyers with a female adviser gains excellent retention post sale.

Just took the challenge Will and punched in "oil change northville, mi". Results: 1) Three paid ads from Firestone, Goodyear, and Shelton Buick (36 miles from my home). 2) Organic included Yellow Pages, Jim's Oil Depot (local independent shop), Jiffy Lube, and Valvoline Instant Oil Change.

Great input, Michael! Thank you for your comments. You're absolutely right and it doesn't end with just getting your front end marketing in order. @Larry! It's crazy isn't it?!?! Just a little tweaking here and there and dealers can at least start to conquest some of these customers back. Thanks for the comments.

Marketing the Service shop presents a list of specific targets with SEM that could be focused on with individual web pages. Using Will's keyword phrasing you can build a list of the obvious search keywords by combining "service + location". Guess all of the searches your potential customers will be typing in that relate to your services. Then design a single page of the site to match each keyword phrase. This can turn out to be a lot of work but really that's what the game is about, outworking your competition with the right actions. There are other factors to helping sites rank organically but none of it matters if you haven't built a solid foundation with the actual pages targeting the keywords you are in the game to rank for. Phase two of course is making it easy for a lead to connect from Any And All pages on your site with ONE click. (Not 15 clicks) This is as simple as putting a duplicated contact form into the page template itself. At the very least a big obvious button inviting people to connect needs to be a permanent fixture on every page.

Great article Will! Spot on!

Thanks for the love Adam!

"In depth Service and Warranty information. (This is so undervalued by so many dealers)" I could not agree more Will. You inspired me now to develop an entire section on our website :) As dealers we seem to "get drunk off our own wine". Meaning, we always assume the information we provide is what the consumer wants. When in reality, we miss some key components around content. I bet if you look at 10 random dealer sites right now, you will not find in depth Service and Warranty information... Great post!

Grant! Thanks for your thoughts. I actually have an entire post in the works about Service and the dealers website. I am so glad that I've inspired you. Thanks for the comments and best of luck in 2015! It was great to meet you briefly at DSES!

Looking forward to the post! Best of luck in 2015 to you as well!

Simple, quick and easy really sums it up. your Bigbox groups such as AutoNation and Sonic are promising 45 min purchase processes. Look at the Carvana and Vroom business models. Well done Will! #Stard Time to seize the day! Get to werk!

@Jeff - Thank you sir!! And you are spot on. @Grant - Here's a quick post on Service. http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/UtilityBelt/2015/02/03/4-simple-ways-to-improve-service-marketing - As the year progresses I am going to take a deep dive into this side as well as the front end.

I agree that dealers need to focus more on their aged inventory problem, no doubt, but they don't like hearing it, especially from vendors. Your company (vAuto) cannot possibly be excited by this post. Car dealers as a whole are growing more and more tired of being told how to sell cars by vendors who, in many cases, have never even held an upper level management position (GSM or GM) working at an actual car dealership. The surest way to upset an entire segment of the industry is to tell them how they should manage their used car inventory. It's a very touchy subject. FYI. Good luck!

I guess you could say the same of most every post from a vendor on DrivingSales, but we welcome the participation on our platform from everyone. Looking back over 2014, some of the most active and engaging posts on DS.com have come from vendors. Yes, we know that dealers can get tired of hearing what they "should be doing" from others but I would put forth that Will has seen more inventory mix ups, mess ups, miscues, successes, wins and conquests than most dealers ever will since he steps foot in many different dealerships on a weekly basis. Not saying he's an expert (and I don't believe he said that either), but getting others in the industry to think about a given topic and perhaps make a change for the better as a result is what DS.com is all about. We appreciate your participation, as well, Dennis as you bring a unique perspective to many topics. Thanks to both of you for being active on DS.com.

That is possibly true, Larry. As any veteran of the industry knows, a dealers used car inventory is like one of their kids. That was my point.

@Dennis - I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that both the community and vAuto are perfectly fine with this post. Will is a respected member of the automotive community who is simply sharing his experience (without even a hint of sales pressure) to help dealers continue to improve their performance - that's the only thing that matters here. Cheers to you Will for the contribution. Keep it up.

Great post Will, I spent the larger part of my (previous) "Dealer career" driving this number as low as possible for 5 retail locations. Inventory turn is a basic concept most of the industry overlooks. And usually the reason why it is ignored or tolerated at higher levels is: either a) the manager has a fear to admit they made a purchase mistake, b) overvalued a trade-in to make a deal or c) just simply got caught in a market shift. All part of the industry. You don't have to have been a GSM or GM to understand simple math. Larry - I don't buy into "dealers are getting tired of hearing what they should be doing". I know 100's of DPs and GMs that ask for help everyday from guys like Will. It just seems there is more resistance to listening from the 2% of the dealers that are present in the room. Will - I agree 100% with your $28 per day number and have the Manheim/Adesa data to show the wholesale "cost to carry". Be happy to share it with you.

Such class attacking someone for their opinion when it does not involve you at all.. Wow.. You guys never stop. The fact that there are 2 different automotive communities must be recognized. There are dealers and there are vendors. It is not the same community and each one does not share every little detail or bit of information with the other.Those are just facts. No big deal. Dealers do indeed grow sick and tired of hearing how to sell cars from people who have never even held an upper management position at a dealership. If you think thats not true then you need to pay better attention to your clients. There isnt anything new here so it's pretty petty that others want to make it something it is not. I didn't realize everyone had such thin skin, gentlemen. If you look back at my comment you will see that I was only pointing out the fact that dealers, not vendors, take their used car inventory very seriously, are touchy about the subject and are very sensitive to opinions from outsider's. That is all. End of story. Now it has to be some big production. Wow! @ Eric - I don't remember you being part of this conversation so not sure why you would target me. Why you must continue to stalk other people's conversation is beyond me.

Dennis, apparently you don't seem to understand the basic mechanics of how blog comments, or basic community tact, seem to function. This is a place for constructive, positive discussion. Nobody needs to ask for someone else's opinions, nobody is stalking someone when they address others in comments; it's called a conversation, either handle it with maturity or stay out of it - your comments are continuously off-putting and don't lend themselves to a positive environment whatsoever.

I understand everything just fine. What I don't understand is when it became okay for a vendor to target and attack people who work in dealership's every day. That is not good! Once again, I was not speaking to anyone directly. You are obviously trying to make this something it wasn't. There is no need for the constant attacks, targeting or yet another attempt at cyber bullying. It will not work. I made a statement that is a fact. Take it or leave it, but it is 100% true. @Eric - I wasn't aware you were the community police. You made it very obvious you showed up just to attack me. As usual, but without reason or cause. You are not a community officer or representative. Facts are facts! My apologies to the others involved for your continued bad decisions based on some kind of hard feelings towards me.

Dennis...I love you (in a Christian way, of course) and appreciate the help you have given me and others...but I disagree with you here. I appreciated the reminder and the $28/day cost because I am not as good at inventory management as I should be. As a dealer, I don't mind hearing it because I know that many of the vendors come from the dealer world and have my best interests in mind. With you being both a dealer and a vendor, you are protective of dealers and I certainly can see why you have that concern...however, I don't believe it's warranted here for sure...in my opinion.

@Tom .. I respect you a ton, appreciate your response and if you look back at my first comment it was just a friendly reminder, from a long time used car dealer, that most dealers don't appreciate advice from people they don't know concerning their used car inventory. They are very sensitive to discussing that subject with strangers and we all need to be careful and respect the dealers. That is all it was, but as usual it has to be made into some big production that it was not intended to be, by people not even involved. The same group does it over and over and over and over. This is where the disconnect is loud and clear. When you have certain vendors who feel it is okay to target and attack members of the dealer community there is a big problem. I am done with this conversation, and the facts speak for themselves. My apologies to you, Will, for everyone feeling the need to hijack your post.

While I'm not the community police as you put it, I am one of the original members of this fine community who worked tirelessly for years helping Jared build this site into the top tier destination that it has become - and would like for it to retain that same level of quality without having one vendor belittle another vendor simply for sharing credible, and most importantly, original content.

Great insights, Will. It's often that the simple solutions get overlooked.

All, Thank you for the comments and love! The point of this post as with all of my posts was to simply share observations and experiences to help fellow dealers. Throughout my career I've had the privilege of working with dealers in many different capacities to assist them with many different components of their business and I look forward to continuing my efforts for many years to come. @Dennis – no one is attacking you for anything other than making this comment thread out to be about Dennis Wagner. I have never met you or conversed with you but I can tell you that I'm only going to acknowledge you this once. 1. This was not a post about vAuto. However, I can assure you that they are okay with this post. This is a post about the investment that dealers make in their vehicles and what it's costing them when vehicles sit on their lot. It's simple math and I wanted to share it. This isn't about using a tool like vAuto or any other to help. It's about giving our community information to give them pause to reflect on their internal strategies to alleviate some of those costly burdens. 2. "That is possibly true, Larry. As any veteran of the industry knows, a dealers used car inventory is like one of their kids. That was my point" This comment makes the point of my article precisely. So I'll use your analogy instead. Dealers may not want to hear about their "kids" sitting out there costing them money but fact of the matter is…"Those kids need to go get a job and stop sleeping on my couch when they're over 30…days" 3. Neither Eric, nor others sought you out to attack you. Unfortunately, you were the first to comment making assumptions about me and about our industry that you call facts. When you make broad statements like the ones you do, they naturally incite retort, which I think is your goal. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect yours just like any other even if we don't agree but no one is attacking you... just your words.

Great insights Will. This reminds me of a reference Brian Benstock made in Dale's first book. And his "rent per space" is a whole lot higher in Queens N.Y.!

Bill is right on the mark with "rent" being higher in NY. Wholesale drops at auction in the Eastern market are swift and large at some points of the year.

Showing regional variation of market/turn conditions would make an awesome follow-up post!

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving and as I look back over the past year, I would be remiss if I didn't say thanks to Will McGinnis and V-Auto for all they've done for me and my dealership. When I met Will for the first time, we got on the topic of Dale's Velocity books (the 1st two I had read many times) and without asking, Will brought me a copy of "Overdrive" the very next day. It's a small thing and guys like Will may be rare, but for guys like me that enjoy learning how to generate faster turns with higher net profits, he's the best! He cares about his dealers, as do most of the guys I've met from V-Auto. When he takes the time to post something he feels may be helpful, it's because he's trying to help! Anyway, I for one enjoyed the article and hope all the guys over at V-Auto have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

@Will - I wish that were true, but I have a clear and well documented history showing otherwise. My last comment has been deleted about 10 times by someone also. @Eric - No Eric, if I hadn't been targeted and attacked by a certain group of people, some of which are posting on Twitter/Facebook now and often, trying to stir the pot or get others to join in on the attacks by the vendor community against the dealer community, I might have considered it a coincidence that you replied here, but we both know that isn't true. You were obviously contacted by someone to come and fight the evil car dealers, we know this. Do you not see how bad that looks on the vendor communities behalf? Vendors cannot attack the dealer community. It just can't happen. What? Maybe another 2 or 3 in that very group are in this thread now because of others trying to create drama. The constant attacks that have happened over and over and over again by the group will no longer happen at all.. Period! or it will be made public on this and every other social media platform for all dealers to see. There is a very clear pattern developing, Eric and it is not a pretty one.

Too many dealer principals are still locked into old school GP per retail unit thinking. Managers are called to the carpet for "giving away" units. You can't spend GPRU, only total gross. A unit that retails for $1000 in the first 10 days on the lot is generating more NET dollars than the unit that sold for $2000 60 days later. Once they "get it" it becomes a no brainer.

Do you factor in your digital marketing efforts into "your rent?"

Love it, Bill Simmons! - I don't want to get too far down in the weeds, Playford but rest assured that there will be a follow up post. ;) Likely, thanks to Jay's help with some more data points. Thanks for the kind words, Chris. It was great to read it and also realize that we met well over a year and a half ago. Glad things are going well for you! Thank you for your input, Jack! You hit the nail on the head!! Great question, Megan! Yes, all expenses are factored in. (i.e. commissions, marketing, delivery, etc.)

Will, great post, keep them coming. As an old vAuto Director and longtime previous employee, I know vAuto would support this post and they only hire car "guys" and "gals", most of them with upper management experience and some were dealers themselves, to help their dealerships improve their used car operations. Inventory is a depreciating asset on its own, not counting the "rent" it takes to move it, to turn is the key. I have seen too many dealers go into hold and hope mode with their inventory and get crushed in the long run.

I am going...first time. I have found that the vendors who strive to educate first, get the sales later.

I look forward to seeing you there, Will. And like usual, I'm sure we'll meet up during one of those "after hours" thingamabobs you mention.

Tom, you chose wisely! This is the best event for all automotive parties in the industry! Speaking of Parties... Joe, you are correct in that assessment! See you there bud!

Hi Will, I'm excited to be going for the first time and representing Uperator on Startup Alley. I know from my industry friends and from following this site for the past 5 years that this is one of the premier events. I agree that it's important for people who partner with dealerships attend the keynotes and workshops and hope to get that opportunity. I will heed your advice and make that effort - at least to see Joe Webb or JD Rucker speak! I hope you'll find a few minutes to come over and say hi to me during the conference. Sincerely, Adam Ross

Thanks for the post, Will! Sound advice. This year will be my first time in attendance as well. Excited to debut ChatterUP to the world as part of Startup Alley, and looking forward to meeting, in person, many of the people I've been following here and on Twitter over the past year or so. See you there!

Great post Will. Speaking from the dealer side I can tell you that the vendors who are genuinely useful and get to know me are the ones I want to do business with. Let me give you a quick example.... Jason Hamblin of L2T Media one day reached out to me on Google Plus to offer his help in supporting a community web-tv series we were about to launch. Never in our convos did Jason bring up what his company does or try to sell me on something, he was simply interested in helping us out. Fast forward a few months later when we needed an approved Chrysler Digital vendor to run an SEM campaign. When I saw that L2T's name was on the list, the choice was made. I didn't even have to consider the other vendors. Jason and L2T had earned the business simply be being helpful, no cold call or unsolicited email needed. Oh, I'm looking forward to finally meeting you IRL at DSES WIll. See you there :)

Adam and Nate - That is great news! I'm looking forward to seeing StartUp Alley this year and looking forward to meeting you guys. Jason!!! What a great story! I love it. I am looking forward to finally meeting you too, sir! Thanks for the comments and the story.

Very nice Will! Light that fire! So many people head home from the conferences with their head spinning and a briefcase full of notes - the key element missing is usually the execution. There were so many great ideas shared; no reason for someone not to act on at least one tactic and start moving the improvement needle.

Thanks for the comment, Eric! I'm curious though... there has to be a dealer on this site that has made at least one change in their dealership since October, right?