MAKE MONEY

[NEWBMANAGER]

WE ARE A GM,HONDA AND NISSAN DEALER IN THE NORTH WEST. WE ARE HAVING A MEETING TO DISCUSS SOME IDEAS ON HOW WE CAN SAVE MONEY OR MAKE MORE MONEY.JUST THOUGHT I WOULD THROW THIS OUT AND GET SOME OF YOUR IDEAS.
THANKS

[z28]

Check your outside services accounts and either eliminate some and do it yourself or renegotiate their prices.

[Stevenspeaking]

How many vehicles come through the shop that are offered accessories as an upsell?

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Its like a big lifesize chess game.

[Gene]

Have controller run inventory list of all cars on lot to check for recalls, Call other lots and share recalls with other makes. Look at all payable accounts to see where you can save money, reduce trash pick up, or recycling pick up, extend parts washer intervals from 6 to 8 weeks. Lookhard and you will find tons of stuff.

[PARTSMGRMLR]

ARE YOU ALREADY DOING MULTI POINT INSPECTIONS ON EVERY VEHICLE? IF NOT THERE IA AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SERIOUS MONEY. WE DO THEM HERE AND SPIFF THE TECH FOR WHAT GETS SOLD. 50% OF THE VEHICLES THRU OUR SHOP NEED SOMETHING (BRAKES BATTERIES TIRES WIPER BLADES FILTERS ETC)

[Gran Sasso]

Out of curiosity, what kind of spiff are you giving on the upsells? We are trying to come up with a system for the guys in the shop, and I could use some ideas.

Thanks

[byoung]

We have (2) spiff programs in place one for Tech's and one for Sales
Tech's receive $1 for every wiper blade
$2 for every fan, alt, compres. belt etc.
$5 for every timing belt
$5 for every set of brake pads, shoes etc.
$5 for every tire
These have to be "up-sells", so you have to monitor the RO's.

Sales spiffs are for every add-on accessory either during or after the sale, for every $100.00 worth of "retail" parts, the salesman get to take a "pull" off of the Creative Cash Board. There are 50 spots on the board with an alpha C A S H figure under a dot. The values vary depending on what you assign to them, i.e. C=$1 A=$10 S=$15 and H=$20. There is also a GOLD star with a $100.00 grand prize for the board after all the spots are pulled off. The sales person pulls the spots themselves and initials the spot they pulled, so when the final spot is pulled, YOU pull the GOLD spot and award the $100 to the successful salesperson. If you use the example values, 1,10,15 and twenty and the $100 jackpot, it will cost $450, but will generate $5,000 in sales. This money is paid directly to the sales person or the tech in cash, so it is more of an incentive for "instant cash". There is also no limit as to the amount the tech or salesperson can make.

I have the "Creative Cash Board" information if you are interested.

[zsmith]

I'm confused - don't the techs get paid for doing the work on an upsell? Why do they need a spiff too?

[Gran Sasso]

zsmith, I hear ya. You would think the guys would be looking at how they can get every penny out of each car. But most guys are only looking for the real gravy. I know the spiff program should be "Upsell, and you get to keep your job." But right now I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get things going here.

[byoung]

Agreed that the Tech's do receive compensation for the "upsell", but in some "rare cases", the tech's don't really look that hard for additional items or repairs, so this is an incentive to look a little harder. This way a tech also realizes that they can get paid a few dollars for parts sales as well, not just labor hours.It is a small price to pay for increased sales. If you use this program for the service advisors as well, they will also try a little harder during the "shop drive walk around". Two sets of eyes are sometimes better then 1 set. This is just an idea, it works well for us, so that's why I passed it along. Everyone is looking for ideas to help improve the cash flow, so that we may celebrate another anniversary in business.