small dro's=heat from APM

[GMPIECESPARTS]

Today i was told i am in the top 10% in the
nation.The top 10% of managers with the
worst % of dro's vs cso's,im from a small
store with a small inventory,we just
dont have the same service work over and over
so with large body shops orders placed
on cso orders you can see how dros will look
small.if the dro orders would ship or cancel
i could mix it up more.i dont know it made
me upset that they would place me in such a
rank.i think gm sets up the programs aimed
toward large mega dealers.anyone else have this problem or heard of this report.

[Chuck Hartle]

I guess it is a matter of ego? I want to ask a question here. Your DPM classified you in the top 10% of abusers utilizing the CSO rather than DRO. What was his conclusion or implied penalty for this?
Since you receive the same discount and the same return allowance regardless of DRO or CSO, and you are a small dealer with almost no chance of making a big difference with RSG and going for your CFI, what is the problem?

I have several suggestions along this line. First of all, your DRO is usually due by noon approximately and your CSO is due by 3 or 4 pm approximately depending on where you are located. Have you considered entering all your customer orders into the DCS system to check the local depot availability. You could then order all customer orders before noon on your DRO that you know has immediate availability. You can then order referrals and other customer orders after the DRO cutoff.

This is what I have seen many mid-size and small GM dealerships doing. GM has seemed to improve their order fill over the past several years and Ford now brings up the bottom of the depot fill list. Customer satisfaction has to be the top prioriety and getting the part the fastest way you can.
With that thought in mind, and if the only problem you have is the DPM giving you heat, continue to do it the same way if there are no penalties or backlash problems except an occasional scolding from the DPM when he shows up.

The system is built for the advantage of larger dealerships, as is Ford and DaimlerChrysler. Reality dictates that you do it to the best of your ability while not sacrificing customer satisfaction to improve a DPM's rating. And, with GM offering no real difference in discounts and return allowance between DRO and CSO, I would personally take the scolding and continue on with the way I conduct business......

Just a thought,
Chuck Hartle

[PWILBURN]

I think Chuck is correct in advising you to work these CSO orders into your DRO order but I believe you are mistaken about the program benefitting the large mega dealers. We are one of those large dealers you refer to and you must realize that we compete with
"want to be wholesalers" Since the introduction of this system the only advantage offered to large dealers who invest great sums of money in their parts inventory is in the "PNSI" disount. These "want to be's" I referred to earlier offer greater discounts and CSO the parts in to fill the orders so they have no holding cost to speak of. The only catch for them is in managing return reserve. Unless GM changes the discount or creates a difference between the incentives offered I wouldn't worry about it.

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