How/When did you know you were ready for management?

[Impala67]

You've got way too much experience to be a GM rep.

LMAO



How much do you understand of all the numbers? i.e. the composite, aged inventory, inventory turns, stuff like that?

I work back counter, and the other back counter parts person is a middle aged man who teaches me groups every day, so the numbers are coming to me, I've learned as much as I can of the principles of what you said but not of my personal inventory, I know how most of what you said works theoretically, from what I have read. But the next step is understanding with a real inventory in front of me that I can monitor daily, day-to-day operations as well.

[Impala67]

I started off dumping trash, then driving customers home, then detailing cars, then lube guy, then a tech for 5 years, then parts advisor for about 7 years, and have been a manager for the last 10 or so.

I thought I was a ready after maybe 5 years in parts or so but I was lucky, my boss showed me how to do everything in the parts department. I was a pretty fast learner and had a good memory. There's a lot to know behind the scenes and hopefully, your boss doesn't keep it all to himself. Where I am now, these guys had never been shown anything aside from looking up parts and billing them out. I've been slowly working to change that since I got here last October. I much prefer that everyone can do everything but that's not always the case.

So I guess it depends on how much you know and how much you want to know.

I started off at the local auto parts store in high school, worked my way through college, after going full time there for a few months, I got a job at the local Chrysler dealer at the back counter, the manager there did his best at showing me everything, but at that time i dont think i was ready to think ahead with this job/career. The reason I left there was pay, i felt after 2 years and no raise that i was under appreciated. But no hard feelings. My next two stores were fords where I was only at for one year combined, they did not work out because of management only, un-fit, and empty promises. The store im at now, ive been here for a year, my personal life is settled, and here is a good place to work, sure the manager is a little hot headed at times but he means well, he does stand up for us. I will ask him for my training come once my full year is up in September. And I hope he looks at me with a open mind.

[Impala67]

Impala,

A lot of what Zep had to say was very true. I'll say this--if you have a solid work ethic, good knowledge of how things work in general in the parts department, are a good communicator and want to be a good parts manager then you can be ready. I made the jump to management when I saw and opportunity and because I needed to do it for my family (had my first little one on the way and wanted to make an improvement to my income). Did I know everything one needs to know to be a good parts manager? NO! Still don't. However, I put in the time it takes to figure things out and leaned on my peers (and this forum ) when necessary. I think a lot of parts managers don't necessarily know/understand the formulas and benchmarks that JMShocker mentioned initially but that stuff starts to make more sense as you work as PM day in and day out...at least it did for me. Hope this helps and best of luck!

I would like to think that I have a good work ethic, I do try to come in early each and every day and do a pre-work ritual, do my I-bin's, help technicians, help service advisers, take care of the York electronics invoices, recall hotline parts. I would like to think so. I have ideas that I would like to execute, one such is to introduce some sort of game-based fun & competitive activity into parts so everyone has something to work for, be it who has the best gp/month, gp%/month, documents/person, lines/doc, did the most I-bins, cleanliness chores, etc, and give them a little extra bonus money, or gift cards, or a nice whiskey. I've looked at benchmarks and KPI's, and read several different articles on how to improve several different factors. One in this dealership that I think we need a major overhaul is our wholesale business that took a huge hit when they let a guy go years before I got here where he took have of two large cities with him, bonus cheques take home money went from high 7's to low 4's in the course of two months from what I've been told. I even teach the old back counter guy a thing or two a day, he says im a outstanding individual

[Impala67]

Read this forum and the DFOAB as much as you can. In your spare time go through everything you can in Global Connect too, that will help you to be able to find the resources you might need. GM itself will not be much help, some of the classes are good but most are a waste of time. I try to get the people I work with to do that but not much interest has been shown. The last store I managed had people that did that and now they have moved on and have stores of there own. I believe that if you have ambition you can get there. It will also take an owner or service manager or sales manager or fixed op manager or general manager helping you out. We never learn it all.
Good luck

Where should I look specifically in Global? I try to talk to each department manager each day, ask them something about the business and just personal stuff.

[Impala67]

"Get out now"

You really think so?!

[Impala67]

I was a service advisor for 7 years before taking the PM position. Our service side was dropping and couldn't feed three advisors and our PM was caught embezzling. So, I jumped at the chance to make more money and gain more knowledge. I have been the PM here for 10 years and I am also the parts director for our 6 other stores. But I feel our industry is in a downfall. Granted vehicles will always need parts, the industry hasn't done its due diligence in cultivating a workforce of technicians. Thankfully, I have ridden the wave a quality techs and benefitted from their ability to fix vehicles. Sadly, there aren't many of those techs left. Its seems to me that GM is more interested in selling maintenance that actual repairs. We are the only dealer in our town and we have reached critical mass in service. We are extremely busy and in some areas it can be 4 weeks before we can look at your vehicle. And, it could be another 4 weeks before its fixed. I fear that is may be too late and that it may be our demise once another dealer moves in. There aren't techs to hire and the ones that have the training are hired guns that move from place to place getting guarantees with no care about the hours they produce. And the young techs are content with making 60 hours a pay period...no drive and no ambition.

All that being said, if you are younger than 30, get out!!!! Many of us, are too old to jump professions and hope to make the money we make now.

The only time I had to do service was at the local auto parts store as a overflow guy but I think I did well, they gave me spiffs because the manager said just sell alignments and in the course of a week, I sold 5 a day.

I want to get the point of critical mass, where we are busy, our sister bmw store is like that, we have a good mix of experienced, veteran, and young techs, all hungry, all a little angry when it isnt busy or when we dont have parts now, but i understand and I try to source what I can for them.

Where do I go if I need to get out, what are your suggestions? And that seems to be the consensus answer of why you guys dont leave.

[Impala67]

Started parking cars for service when I was 16, then became parts driver, then parts consultant, then internet parts manager/rental department manager, then service appointment coordinator, then parts consultant at a different dealership, now finally parts manager for over 4 years at my 3rd dealership in my 18 year career.
The biggest advice I can give anybody that wants to be a manager is to find a mentor that has been successful and learn everything they do and why they do it.
You will always have your own style and make your own tweaks to what you learn from your mentor(s) but it is invaluable to have one in my opinion.
The other thing is always try to have fun and learn something new; as hard as it gets sometimes dealing with techs, customers, advisors at the end of the day you want to feel good about what you accomplished and hopefully make your customers happy along the way as well.
Good Luck!

It's I good thing that I have a mentor who I can still talk to, and call up for questions. I visit him often, and bring coffees for all the guys there, I bought my car there so its good to have friends where I can still get the good discount. I do try to feel accomplished each day, some days are harder then others, but when the advisors and technician say goodnight when I leave, it makes it all better.

[Impala67]

First off, it is refreshing to see someone interested in moving along in the auto parts field and into management.

Ask questions, not just the "how do you do this or that", but "WHY you do this or that??"

Volunteer to help and to learn... any manager worth his weight will appreciate the offer.

My biggest steps in understanding a parts operation came when I purposely looked for more responsibility and asked questions...

~ gt has two less cents in his pocket

Thanks, I know that I am not ready at all yet. I want to become ready, and I do know that it will take a lot of time, patience, training, and personal growth (Anger problem - I am fixing this).

I ask how, but not why, I will do this more often now. Thank you.

[Impala67]

Good point, GT! It seems that often in this business when logical or relevant questions are asked, people sometimes tend to get defensive or shut down because it might uncover either a lack of knowledge or another issue. We need more curious and driven people in this business! Kudos to the OP!

I have been a solitary curious person, trying to absorb information that I obtain through videos and articles, now, the next step is to become a more vocally curious person, so that I can get direct answers to questions that I've had for a while, I have several people in my immediate vicinity to ask questions to, and I will take advantage of this.

[rover]

I wasn't sure I wanted the responsibility. My boss at the time told me I had better take it if offered. The job was offered so thought I would try it. I was doing most of the work anyway. And wouldn't you know it I was offered a job the same time to be a parts manager at a different store in a nice location by lake Michigan. I ended up staying because of the comfort level that if it didn't work out I would still be employed. 40 years in same dealer this January. 20+ as parts mgr. I swear something new crops up every other day. The programs change by the month it seems. Trying to hang in here another 2 years or so. I work for a good family that is now into the 3rd generation owner. They have owned this store for 45 years. This business seems harder than ever these days and some of it is may age I'm sure. I'm not sure I have ever known I was ready to be a manager. I just started doing it. I still call other managers to get feed back on problems when I hit a wall. Yes,this is a great forum with lots of people that share the same problems. lots of good advise on here.