Training

F&I Manager Training

Often, it’s hard for dealers to keep up with just how fast the gross profit potential of F&I is growing. We have had many conversations with dealers, in recent years, who were measuring their F&I gross based on benchmarks from the 90s, only to learn, after talking to us, that we have many dealers who average more than three times what was considered a very good PVR in the 90s. We respect the industry’s need for privacy, so we are not putting out actual numbers here. But, if you want to find out how much room for improvement there is in your F&I department, we would be happy to talk to you about how much gross we would project your F&I department could produce and the training solutions we offer. We would be glad to answer any questions you have about what we do and how we do it. So, you can decide if what we offer would be a good fit for your organization.

Leadership Training

As you know, most managers are promoted from sales because they were good salespeople. Then, as managers, they begin attempting to manage their new team. Which makes sense because the one thing they know how to do better than everyone on their team is selling. These new managers understand the business, so they manage the day-to-day activities very well. But, the one thing they have no experience in and no training in is being a leader. So, when it comes to getting the most from their people, they just simply can’t. That’s usually where the turnover begins, and as our new manager continues on the quest for “good employees,” they fail over and over as leaders, never taking responsibility for having done so. Instead, they blame their failure on the fact that they just can’t find “good employees.”

Benchmarking & Net Profit

To use an analogy, when it comes to benchmarking, driving a car faster isn’t necessarily better. If you go slower than the flow of traffic, you can get run over. If you go faster, you can get a ticket. Benchmarks are the same. If your number is significantly lower than the benchmark, anyone can see there is a problem. But, if your number is significantly higher, only a small handful of people can see there is a problem.

Service & Support

Depending on your needs, we can visit the dealership daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Additionally, we can provide progress reports daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

Management Training

In many basic ways, the car business hasn’t changed in the last fifty years. However, in some ways it has. To be successful at managing today’s employees requires a much higher set of skills than most managers have. Lacking these critical skills creates a lot of missed opportunities and turnover. It’s easy to blame the workforce and throw up your hands, but many organizations are finding that it is much more effective to change with the times and implement proven strategies to solve the problem.

Recruiting & Retention

All successful dealers agree that finding and keeping the right employees is a major key to being successful. I repel at the never-ending drumbeat about how “the business is changing” because most of the people saying that are only saying it to sell their great new solution to a problem that many dealers don’t have. Then, if you look closer, most of the people saying that the business has changed don’t know enough about the history and heritage of this business to make such claims. However, in some ways, it is safe to say that business has changed. I don’t think anyone could disagree that while margins shrink and customer demands for more convenient hours increase, we are asking more and more from our sales staff. And, at the same time, a “what’s in it for me” attitude has taken over in the minds of today’s applicants. If you would like to know more about how we can help resolve these issues, we would be happy to talk to you about what we have to offer in the way of training and retention solutions, so you can decide if our solutions are right for you.

Reducing Turn-over

As you probably know, reducing employee turnover has four major components: Hiring the right people, training them in an engaging, thorough way, then providing them with leadership that they respect and eagerly follow. If you think your organization might benefit from reduced turn-over, let us know, and we will be happy to provide you with all the information and options available so you can make the choice that is best for both you and your organization.

CSI

If your CSI isn’t quite what you want it to be, you probably already know that your team may be delivering great customer service and just simply failing to get customers to convey that. Or, you could have something that runs a little deeper. In either case, we offer solutions to both scenarios. If you think your CSI needs a boost, let us know, and we will be happy to share our solutions with you. We would be happy to provide you with all the information you need to decide if the solutions we offer are right for your organization.

Training Salespeople

As you know, our job, training new salespeople and turning them into high achievers, is tougher today than it has ever been. Twenty years ago, a sharp applicant with a knack for sales needed a pen and someone who could show him where the key box, the write-up sheets, and the log were. Not today! Yet today many applicants don’t even show up with the necessary communication skills that the average high school graduate had twenty years ago. The interest in time off may be higher than the interest in earning a high income. If they aren’t happy with their new job selling cars, they may leave very quickly. Our job as trainers has gotten more demanding, now more than ever. We have to turn them into high achievers very quickly because no one enjoys a job that they are not good at or that doesn’t pay well. But, if we do our jobs as trainers and leaders, we can turn them into the kind of producers who are good at what they do and who earn good money. What segment of your salesforce generates the most frustration and turnover? The underachievers, right? It’s not the people selling 20 or more cars a month that typically pose the largest challenge. It’s the under-performers. If you don’t have a system that can quickly get salespeople performing at a high level, you are going to have turnover and frustration.
Additionally, today’s applicants are more sensitive to being reprimanded and resent being reprimanded for things they feel like they were not taught in the first place. If you would like some information about the solutions we offer, we would like to share them with you, so you can decide if any of them are right for you and your staff.

BDC / Phone Skills

As you know, customers have become increasingly more difficult to get on the phone, so when you do, you have to make it count. Additionally, salespeople are tasked with communicating through both E-mail and text, without any training in how to professionally and persuasively do so in a business manner. We offer a variety of solutions for improving both phone and written communications. Only you know what the best solutions for your organization and your customers are. We would be happy to provide you with the information about the BDC solutions we offer, so you can decide if any of them are right for you and your customers.

Service Department Training & Consulting

All dealers with great service departments agree that a program for retaining, servicing, selling, and satisfying customers is one of the major keys to high fixed coverage numbers and stability. If you think you might benefit from having your service manager and service advisors trained to get results for both your customers and your organization, we would be happy to share our process for achieving that and let you decide if it’s right for you.

Parts Department Training & Consulting

All good dealers know that striking a balance between having too many parts in stock, and so few that it costs you business or increased wait times takes work. If you feel like your organization could benefit from: increased parts turn, and true turn, better purchase efficiency, reduced obsolescence, reduced excess stock, better over the counter sales, increased wholesale business, use of effective special order processes, more up to date and accurate counts, improved bin location accuracy, reduced emergency purchases, or, if you think your people could benefit from better phone skills, we would be happy to answer your questions so you can decide if this would be a good offering for your organization.

Body Shop Department Training & Consulting

If you think your organization may benefit from applying additional focus to labor gross, parts gross, materials gross, materials net, sublet gross, total gross, technician proficiency, receivables, or DRP ranking, or, if you would just like some additional input on what those benchmarks should look like, we would be happy to talk to you. In some cases, Body Shop managers can benefit from assistance in establishing financial objectives, managing a work plan, motivating & coaching, or establishing performance standards. If you would like to take a look at the solutions we offer and decide if any of them are right for your body shop, we would love to share our solutions with you, so you’ll have all the information you need to make a decision about what is best for you.