Advisors as cashiers

[texaslp]

I know this subject has been done before and I'm not looking to rehash the whole subject again. I have a very specific quetion after reading the previous posts on this topic.

Many of you spoke out FOR advisors as cashiers and shared your personal experience as being very positive.

A smaller number of people spoke out against the practice and had some valid concerns.

My question is this. Is there anyone who does NOT agree that advisors should cashier who has actually tried it? If so what are the issues that did not work?

[msheri]

With SA's as cashier, it is easier to hide blown estimates by reduction of labor rate, adding discounts, etc.
Return on time. You have to ask whether an advisor is better utilized SELLING, or performing non-profit generating administrative tasks that they may or may not be properly trained for.
Training-You will have to spend time training ALL of your advisors to perform the admin tasks correctly.
Booking-if the advisors are to do the booking also, you will have to deal with the potential over-booking and under-booking. This may cost you some serious money or at least ill will with techs who suffer if the issue is under-booking.
You need to look at the whole picture, the cashier salary savings can quickly be eaten up by lost gross and writeoffs due to errors.

[This message has been edited by msheri (edited 06-18-2009).]

[TheOne]

msheri I think I'm in LOVE!!!!!!!!

[texaslp]

Let me clarify a little bit. What we are looking at is for the advisor to take the credit card or check(very seldom cash) from the customer, NOT do the cashiering or booking of the tickets.

It is not really about saving the cost of a cashier either.

1. Our facilty is not designed well. The cashier is not at all convenient to the service drive.

2. Service advisors are not reviewing the tickets, making sure they are done and correct before the customer gets to the cashier window. (Cant solve that problem-just cant).

[lostgopher]

I am in favor of anyone else but the parts department doing the cashiering. If service did it, maybe after a few times of having to re-do tickets because they did not ask the customer if they had any coupons, they would maybe do a better job at write up. They would maybe do a better job of asking if their address and phone number were still the same. It also would help in explaining what actually was done to their vehicle. There are too many times when I am trying to track down parts and am on the phone, then I have to multitask the before mentioned items.

[msheri]

Texaslp- I understand better after the clarification, but let me ask you this:

Do All of your advisors know how to tell if a check, cashiers check, or money order is fraudulent. Do they know to check for signatures on EVERY credit card, and to diplomatically ask for ID verification if there is a suspicion something is fishy? Do you have a setup that will guarantee nobody unauthorized has access to the credit card machine? This is VERY, VERY, VERY important, because the merchant reprints and reports have the card number, expiration dates, and customer names on them. If you can be shown to have allowed access....very bad will, very expensive. These are just food for thought, not criticism.

Is it possible to make the cashier more convenient to the customer?

[This message has been edited by msheri (edited 06-18-2009).]

[sp7128]

You need to look at the positives of the advisor being the cashier !! They by far out-weigh they negatives. Take a piece of paper draw a line down the middle and make one half positive the other negative,,,,You will fill the positive column three to one using real measurable results... not "what ifs"... Your cashier can steal from you easier than the advisor.

[Chas]

Who will verify and handle the return of rental units?
Who will verify the all required documents are turned-in?
Who will be responsible for approving accounts receivable availability?
Who will document that the vehicles are still on the premises when a Repair Order is still open?
Who will double check the accuracies of parts and services charged on repair orders?
Who will as mentioned will be responsible for protecting the privacy of a financial transaction?
Who will inform management or ownership (CSI) of pending problems, Customer-Advisor?
Who will be solely accountable for the money?
Who will assist the warranty clerk in obtaining all required factory documentation?
Who will handle after hour sales?
Who will be responsible for follow-up on missing or aged open repair orders?
Who will help move the customer along when rush hour hits and the Advisors in a heated discussion?
Who will handle the customers calling and unable too contact the advisor?

Obviously Pro-Cashier... These are just general points. For obvious reasons I wont tell everyone how money can be robbed from a dealership without a separation of duties. But throughout my 25 years in the car business/accounting my theft ratio runs; 20 % Service Managers, 30 % Service Advisors, 25 % Parts Counter & 25% Cashier. The big money; taken by Service Managers & Service Advisors. The separation of duties is critical.

If CSI and Retention are your greatest concern, its all in the presentation prior to cashing-out.

[KLINK]

Chas

If your cashier is responsible for, and handles all of these duties, I would like you to forward me their resume please.

[texaslp]

From reading all of the other threads on this subject it seems that EVERYONE who has tried this loves it. I need to present all sides, pros and cons to the dealer and I understand some of the cons that ya'll are mentioning, but the evidence seems to be overwhelming in favor from those who have tried it.

Back to my original question. Is there anyone who does NOT agree that advisors should cashier who has actually tried it?