Breaking news! Does the Fixed operations ?

[bsilcox]

What does everyone FEEL about this article? It was taken from another publication and authored by Charlie Polsen. I would love some feed back on this process, Please!!

Breaking news! Does the Fixed operations function exactly the same way as the Vehicle Sales Floor? Every day the dealer, general manager, service manager, and parts manager must know two important numbers: How many customers pay ROs were generated today? How many maintenance services were sold today? Divide the maintenance services sold by the customer pay ROs and youll have the customer penetration rate (CPR). For example, if you sold 35 maintenance services and had 100 customer-pay ROs, then your CPR is 35 percent (35 divided by 100 equals .35).

If your customer pay RO count is low, then you need to get more traffic on the drive. You can do that by beefing up your marketing plan. Marketing is defined as the techniques you use to get customers into your service department.

If your maintenance service sales are low, then you need to modify your merchandising plan. Merchandising is defined as the tools, props, processes, and word tracks you use to sell service to customers who are on your service drive.

The customer penetration rate tells you how you played the hand you were dealt.

Lets take a moment to define a maintenance service. A maintenance service is anything except a repair service or an oil change. It is something that customers dont typically ask for; it is hardly ever the primary item on an RO. In short, a maintenance service is something the advisors have to sell!

Maintenance services include wiper blade replacement, brake fluid exchanges, air filters, battery post services, headlight restoration, coolant flushes, and tire rotationsjust to name a few. There are about 20 to 25 industry-recognized services that fit the maintenance service category.

I want to stress again, do not include oil changes. Why? Your advisors typically dont sell oil changes; rather they simply write them up. Every driver 16 years old and up knows they need an oil change. Dont include them in your formula; it will mess up your numbers and give you a falsely inflated number.

Stop right now and do the math. What was the CPR in your service department yesterday? Now compare the CPR of your best advisor with the overall CPR of the department. Is that advisor pulling down the average or raising it? Create competition among your advisors by posting CPR numbers every Monday morning from the previous week. Give the top advisor a reward: a roving trophy, preferred parking, gift card, etc. CPR is a very fair measurement because it creates a level playing field. It is one of the few things within an advisors control. Rather obviously, you cant control the economy, the media, or how the government bailout money will be spent. But, you can control how many maintenance services you and your advisors sell. CPR allows you to hold your personnel accountable to a quantifiable standard.

OK, so what is the standard? The starting point is 25 percent. The goal is to be above 50 percent. Track your CPR for 30 days and see where you stand. If youre not satisfied with the numbers, then formulate a strategy to attack the problem. Contact me if you need any help with your growth plan. Happy sales to you!


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Bob Silcox

[jazdale]

I agree, the LOF is the primary reason in most cases. The CPR indicator seems like a good measuring stick.

However, the recent groundswell of factory authorized inspections seems to move the sales pitch from the writer to the tech. Once inspected, the writer uses a qualified technician's statement that something needs to be serviced. Maybe it carries more value to the customer than a writer's sales pitch. A pitch that may not have even raised the hood, or left the podium.

Unfortunately, the owner's manual has been altered so many times, it is no longer the bible - especially true with domestics.