DealersEdge Professional Forums

Has anyone had any luck with outsourcing their prep/recon depts

Many dealers have had good luck with outsourcing cleanups, but the question is what is the motivating factor that has you exploring this option? Many dealerships view this as a direct expense and are trying to to reduce that expense. You might consider making or hiring detailers as "quasi-technicians" that are employees of the service department or body shop (body shops already have to detail cars before delivery to customer). You would pay them on a flat-rate basis with a bonus based on customer satisfaction of delivery condition of vehicle scores. This generates revenue for the department they are employees of instead of an outside expense. A value (1.5 hours at pre-established internal labor rate, for example) is established based on type of vehicle (pickup trucks, suv's, vans get more time). A good, experienced detailer can beat the flat rate times in most cases, so he is motivated to get the vehicles done in a timely fashion. The sales departments know going in what their clean-up costs will be. Even if the cost turns out to be $5-10 dollars per vehicle higher than outsourcing, you have generated far more than that $5-10 of additional revenue for the dealership through the clean-up department. Also, if there is a quality issue, you can resolve it in a much more timely fashion than having to coordinate the re-do or touch-up through the outside off-site company. In my book, anytime you can turn an expense into a revenue generator its a win-win situation.