Overland Park, KS – NCMAssociates announced its new one-day operational review format for automotive dealership fixed operating departments as an additional option under its “38 in 8” in-dealership consulting program. The new service, which is designed for automotive dealers who desire immediate progress in departmental dealership profitability, was designed in response to observations made by NCM’s automotive retail operations specialists who identified trends in the fixed operating departments that could be addressed quickly and effectively by using a very structured, collaborative approach resulting in a customized action plan and management commitments to ensure desired outcomes are achieved.
“The development of the one-day consulting engagement stems from our Retail Operations Consulting division’s first-hand observations in working with our clients inside their dealerships,” said NCM president and CEO Paul Faletti Jr. “Our retail specialists were seeing escalating rates of process evaporation specifically within the used vehicle and fixed operations departments that were having significant impact on departmental profitability,” he added. To address this issue and bring their clients’ operations back to industry-leading Benchmark®-level performance, the NCM Retail Operations team created department-specific 38-point checklists that would provide an efficient yet comprehensive way to identify issues, prioritize focus areas, and develop actionable business plans to correct identified issues and set a course for immediate profit improvement. The one-day consulting programs are called “38 in 8” departmental tune-ups referring to the 38-point checklist and the eight hours required from start to finish.
The single-day on-site consulting engagements take a very structured approach to ensure the retail coach can do a thorough operational review while gathering input from the management team. After preliminary discussions with the dealer and general manager, the retail coach gets to work interviewing the departmental manager and analyzing the operation using the detailed checklist. This discovery process reveals the key implementation items that will form the basis of a business plan and “Guarantee of Action” assignments (GOAs). Once that business plan is developed, the coach explains the plan in detail to the dealer, general manager and departmental manager where they will discuss the findings, recommended corrective actions and commitment to the GOAs.
Paul Stowe, divisional director of NCM Retail Operations Consulting, is pleased with the early response to the 38 in 8 program for the used vehicle department and is looking forward to even greater success with the oneday program for the fixed operations department. “Even though this is a very concise approach, it has produced significant profit improvement for our clients who’ve used the 38 in 8 program for their used car operations,” he said. “We’re pleased we can now offer the one-day format for our clients who are facing profit challenges in their service and parts operations, as we’ve been concerned with some recent downward trending in the fixed operating departments that could be quickly remedied with this type of focused attention,” Stowe added.
For more information on NCM Retail Operations Consulting and its 38 in 8 used vehicle and fixed operations profit improvement programs, visit http://www.ncm20.com/38in8 or call 800.756.2620.
About NCM® Associates, Inc.
NCM Associates, Inc. is the originator of the automotive industry 20 Group peer collaboration process and has been providing dealership Benchmark analytical data, education and consulting services to the industry since 1947. Located in Overland Park, Kan., NCM provides a robust suite of services designed to drive dealership profitability using its proven, operations-focused Benchmark® for Success program with new and pre-owned U.S. automotive dealerships, as well as with businesses in more than 20 other industries. NCM is proud to be 100% employee-owned. For more information, visit www.ncm20.com or call 800.756.2620.
