Creating a long-term relationship with each new and used vehicle buyer can be accomplished by utilizing inexpensive fundamentals! Current selling and servicing practices lead customers to believe that any service operation can be used. If there is a

A recent study released by J.D. Power and Associates really underscores the importance of when to ask the customer for additional service work (see graphic below). As you can see, if your service advisors time it right, they can greatly increase thei

Once, service and parts were considered as one… Back when our industry began, a little more than a century ago, most dealerships were primarily repair shops or custom coach builders. service, parts and body repairs were all together and the busines

Last week I participated in a mediation conference and explained to a consumer that the “issue” they were experiencing with their vehicle was not caused by a defect, but instead actually was a normal operating condition of the vehicle and a by-pr

GRAPH TO BE INCLUDED There are 50,000 fewer service bays in the United States than there were ten years ago. According to The Lang Report, there were 1,180,000 services bays in 2010 compared to 1,230,000 in 2000 (see graph below). Dealerships lost a

So, I get a call from a good-sized import client I had restructured in service about ten years ago.  “Quick service is out of control…customer retention is down, the repair order count is behind year-to-date, cars are lined up–shop

Fact: Most customer-pay service work (maintenance and repair) is done by aftermarket service centers. Fact: Aftermarket service centers outnumber dealerships by at least four to one. Fact: There is a universal perception that dealerships charge more

Potential legal problems often arise when consumers purchase aftermarket parts. Aftermarket parts, and particularly performance enhancing parts such as programmers, can cause damage to a vehicle, can void manufacturer and aftermarket warranties and c

Please don’t take offense to the oblivious title — it’s just “catchy,” but after evaluating this tidbit you’ll recognize how much of the precious revenue-producing calendar clock time goes fallow. Of course, if you