Help with internals

[robc]

As always I am looking for good ideas out there from all our message board readers.

Does anyone have some particular problems with internal repairs?

Do you end up in fights with used cars, or problems in getting people to understand your shop policy decisions? How many use internals for other items like employee/family vehicles while they are in the shop?




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** Rob, Editor WD&S **
Help is only a message post away!
robc@dealersedge.com

[Paradise]

Rob:
You really struck one of my definite sore spots here. After years of arguments concerning Internals..this was my solution.
ONE person was in charge of all internals. IOW"S the controlling of. Used car, new car,etc ..did not matter. They were printed and kept in a rack aside their desk. PO's were generated by this person period..if sublet work was to be dispatched..tow bills..ANY purchase order for anything. Estimates were made on used car work < form created with stock number /estimate/management signature and attached to internal soft copy for filing> and immediately given to UCM/NCM to sign off on..work completed..internal immediately closed when work completed < out of balance> and taken to office. Dispatch handled physical work..but the fixed *controller* was always given the soft copy..dispatch took them hard copy when work completed to process.
New car additions were handled same way. However..menu's were generated for Sales manager to use as a guide and updated weekly or per price changes. Labor included. Unusual new Car additions were handled via a similiar estimate sheet with manager signing off on. Estimates were noted on wash sheet and set up in office. All internals were opened with a stock number.The fixed controller was also given or generated a list of all parts ordered for new car additions to stay atop of status.An internal was opened via the new car stock number and kept in rack.." waiting for accessories". If front office attempted to close a deal..they were immediately alerted via computer alert there was an existing internal open..and knew to contact fixed person to find status..and close or resolve in manner to book deal appropriately to insure no losses or after deal policy losses.
We totally stopped the free for all...new car, used car, advisor, dispatcher, etc,etc..dispatching sublets and obtaining PO's..sending cars down the road for anything or calling subleters in for work. If the fixed controller did not generate the PO...with internal generated initially..whomever called the subleter or shipped the car down the road..paid for the repair out of pocket at retail.All work was generated from service..period with R/O's written. Some work may have no mark-up/profit via service..however..there was a service file/hard copy always present per vin documenting the work.
NO internals for employees. They were written up and paid for their repairs as any other walk in customer.
The fixed controller ran an internal..AND an open R/O list every morning..using Advisor option and would review ALL open R/O's every morning over coffee..call in and question advisor/warranty admin/dispatcher/etc over anything appearing unusual and status. This stopped losses cold in every division of fixed/sales.
We had an outside detail service that operated inside. When bills were complete and presented..fixed controller immediately opened Internal..billed per stock number..closed internal immediately and presented all paper to front office for final closing and payables posting.
Internals were closed immediately upon completion...the office never chased paper. We stopped the usual dealership flow of several people handling *pieces* of paper flow and never seeing trends develope. No fingers pointed thata way and shrugged shoulders. We knew exactly where..what..who..and when.
Arguments stopped cold because we had estimates attached signed by management. We had a 92% immediate,< same day to next day> close rate on all internals. Deals were booked correctly..no surprises and policy losses because of sloppy handling. No sublet bills/ tow bills hanging around advisor, sales,management rat holes. Fixed controller had all copies and would chase bills throughout the day.
This is extremely simple to set up.
The front office embraced this to say the least. Bills were booked all during the day..so payables was up to date all during the day..no piles of bills at months end. Deals were closed with accurate $$ and no internals floating in or bills to chase at close. Month end was breeze with the exception of closing last minute deals. Losses were not because of fragmented paper handling.
Suspect warranties were caught and questioned immediately.. All receivables were caught , corrected and questioned immediately. Nothing aged period.
This kept the Service Director immediately aware of bad trends developing in tech/advisor/warranties . It also removed him arguing on the phone or in office with sales managers. He had more time to do his job. Pacify customers, techs, track work and make certain cars were getting fixed and out of shop in timely manner. No aging receivable discussions with controller at months end. No factory audit surprises and fears. No paper aging in cashiers office drawer...with discussions...Is the car still here?? Someone walked the service dept and lot every day making certain cars were not slipped in sans R/O's. Yes...it happens. My husband took over a huge facility in Florida last year and found 4 cars in service with no R/O's written. Buddy work.

Just my 50cents here. However..this focused approach is simple, clean..and one person who knows how to track and is dedicated can resolve a lot of dysfunction. Once in place it's simple and streamlined to the max.This is so valuable in an aggressive, busy facility. Any extended warranty/service contract or mishandling of warranty work via a lazy or sloppy advisor was immediately deducted from advisors paycheck at retail. Warranty administrators getting sloppy or lazy were caught immediately and bad/greedy techs fudging anything were caught immediately.
We used our DMS system to the max. Those who whined the loudest about the flow change were found to be the most prone to guilt or perpetually sloppy or fradulent work ethics.This included Service managers. If you have nothing to hide......
No commissions being paid..THEN policy losses being booked debting dealers twice.
Our profits rose naturally..like we had indeed attracted new business..by simply plugging the normal..inattentive losses.

Rant over. Thanks for permitting me to vent. I've seen it work..very successfully and easily. I have never understood why so many people handle pieces of paper with no one person really attuned to seeing deveoping trends and resolving problems before they explode. Preventative management. Lots of $$$$$ float around during the day. Why not keep them

[tjsmith]

We had a problem here also....what we did was had a dealer meeting, with all the car salesmen, service mgr, parts mgr, business mgr, F&I mgr, UCD & NCD Mgr ...you get the picture. And we hashed it out in a business like manner, but we accomplish what we set out to do & came up with a plan that satisfies everyone in each dept.

[Mike Vogel]

I agree with Paradise. Any store that I have run I have assigned at least one person ( depending on the size ) to be in charge of all internal work. This includes used car recon, pdi, accessories, due bills, etc. Either that person or the used car technician gets an authorization from a sales manager or used car manager before any work is performed. That person is also responsible for open internal ro's and for getting invoices to the business office for processing. It works like a dream when it is set up properly. An added major benefit is to the customer, they are handled more professionally when they come in for any internal work.

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Mike Vogel
Claremont Toyota
Claremont, CA

[Paradise]

Mr. Vogel:

I agree with you completely..obviously <s>.
However...as I said..I took it a big step further. I created the position of "Fixed Controller". Basically a sub-controller. Someone who has the real physical knowledge of the soup to nuts technicalities within the entire Fixed Department.
Reguardless of how you cut it..in a busy facility the sheer amount of paper work..areas prone to loss and need intensive tracking can be numerous. What I found was the key bottom line within this position is the simplicity of function and again..."Focus". You have ONE person attuned to all facits of Fixed from internals to warranties..bills, PO's..Body Shop sublets waiting payment..even on to Special Orders for new customers to heat cases.IOW's...any money and flow of..influence in and out of Fixed Period.

Fragmented handling of divisions of a business does not function any better in a car dealership than it does in Government <g>.
It's a simple, clean method of function.
Controllers love it because their tracking is reduced to one person who can answer basically all their questions reguarding $$$$.
No matter how tight you < not addressing you directly here..Dealerships in General> consider your operation..stop and think about how many different people you have to run to and they run to or call to give the GM/Controller/Dealer one straight answer and how long it takes "them" to collect the data or detailed straight answer.
You may indeed have a great effortless flow in place with various people doing their assigned jobs well..but can they rapidly pick up an overall negative trend developing..and do they CARE if they do detect something? The.."It's not MY job syndrome". I'm Just the cashier. I'm JUST the advisor..I'm JUST the Warranty Admin. I'm JUST PAID to be the....fill in the blank from parts counterman to even manager.Think about how many people admit "after" a problem is exposed...they knew something..but did not say..or did tell..no one listened..
Listen carefully in your next meeting when your discussing a problem that erupted.

The enigma within this modality of functioning is it's simplicity. The reward is the ability to focus. Like putting glasses on. This person really knows who is inclined to drop the ball..is dropping the ball..and at times attempting to steal the ball or hide it to cover their butt. They know it fast. Before the simple small loss compounds to a factory audit..the frazzeled UCM..dumps bills for 20 sets of new tires on the office after the cars have gone to auction..the advisor passes off a repair as warranty..gets paid his commission and the department eats it 90 days down the road...so on and so forth. Pick a usual scenerio.
A real check and balance person between Sales to Fixed. They take your expensive DMS system...actually use it per design ..report savy..individual tracking function. Daily. A linear state of functioning.
We always gauged our level of daily success within this method of operations by the level of squirming and whining. Whoever was doing the most of either the loudest..was usually suspect of something. We ended up with a management..sub management crew with high ethics , efficient business practices and eager to make the process grow and function. Made their jobs easier and permitted them to focus on their primary positions..making the deals..fixing the cars and customers..paying the payables..instead of putting out constant internal spit fires.
The weasels tended to huff off down the road to the dealerships where lack of focus supported their personal work ethic < lack of> and promoted their personal retirement programs via being paid for whatever no matter for as long as they could get away with it.
Once instituted..off and running..tweaking ensued along the way when the ultimate functioning prevailed.It was amazing to see various office personnel..to all other employees jump on the band wagon with their valuable observations and enhancements. The pride of function was amazing. Everyone tripped over themselves to aid in the functioning. It became a true one-upping in a positive way . Even the porters got in the act.Amazing what they notice. The usual month end carping and complaining was replaced with the NCSM..ribbing the UCM..with how efficiently he cranked out vehicles and closed clean deals sans policy adjustments. It became a positive competition among everyone.
This position does not take control away from anyone..comptroller on down..or eliminate any specific position.It enhances everyone's position. What it does do is centralize the intelligence of the operation..provoke ultimate utilization of the expensive DMS system..and adds an on-site auditor..savy beyond numbers only.. who is creating real time functioning in place of one who swoops in to stomp out a fire after uncovering a trend or function that has ..as usual.. cost someone a chunk of change in the end..creating a new " Meeting Opportunity" to discuss another fragmented way to stop another individual problem.

It works. Bottom line.

[Michael White]

I did what many of you have done; assigned one person yo do all of the internal RO's. We can do 125 used cars and 100 new vehicles a month. To help keep track of the RO;s, the advisors handling them actually has 3 employee numbers: 1 for customer RO's; another for new car PDI RO's, and another just for used cars. The team leaders work directly with the used car managers.

To help control the internal costing, I have one person close out all of the internals. I will help her if she gets backed up. We have R&R, and in the closeout screen, we can close out internals directly to the car using the "DA" option. Systme seems to work OK for us, and the costing goes directly to the car, so there is never a problem with sales selling a vehicle without the costs showing on their screens.
Mike