Paperwork

[warr_wiz]

I have a question just out of curiosity. Does anyone else have a paperwork problem in the sales and f&i depts? Things like extended warranty forms not filled out or never submitted, registering the wrong vehicle, transfer the wrong reg, wrong VIN and/or stock # on get ready sheets, the little things that can waste a lot of time. I am a fixed operations manager at a medium sized 2 line GM dealer. Customers come to service for repairs, we have to tell them the warranty does not exist. Or according to the reg, the wrong plate is on the car. I just think it makes not only the whole store bad, but I think the customers are thinking, boy this service department is really jerking me around. Service paperwork is surely not perfect but it seems pretty bad from my point of view.

[Vernon]

I think being a former service manager one of the first things a dealer should do is not only enter the customers info on the front end but also through the service side which should include cust name address,work number,home number,e-mail address all the info you can get and any added notations.

We are really into the computer era. I think the e-mail addresss will be vital in the near future because so many households now have computer systems. Especially new and late model used car buyers. You could also use the e-mails by building a database of these e-mail addresses and send out parts and service specials. Not to mention recording lost vehicle sales for lack of wrong make model and or even color and price. With digital cameras in todays world if a dealer had a huge data base of e-mail addresses he could insert todays specials on aging new units or recent trade ins, do a inside and outside picture of these units along with specifications of the unit and send to all previous customers who have or have not bought in the past.

Think of it this way, if you had 5-10,000 e-mail addresses of all the past customers who have visited or purchased recently and could write 1 letter and send to all of this data base would this increase your chances of selling the unit? Would only take 2 minutes to send. Can you reach 5-10,000 customers in 1 day through newspapers. Also a great way to stay in touch. Just my thoughts

[jazdale]

ww,

I see this problem all too often.

My hunch is that the sales department convinced the office that since they drive the sales, they should be exempt from following policy and procedures for paperflow.
It always seemed ludicrous to me when I was helping a car-deal biller post deals into accounting, s/he would rip the deal apart and piece it together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Missing rebates/reciepts, unknown costs, buried numbers, wrong license fees, etc. It just seemed like such a waste to re-create what happened, when a few simple keystrokes/penstrokes could have alleviated all the aggrevation.

The best ran dealerships seem to be the ones that follow exacting procedures and hold the sales team accountable for wrong or missing information.

**************************

Vernon,
Seems you took WW's post into a new tangent.
You're right, the in-house system is probably the best database to work for your marketing efforts. But remember theres a fine line between 'staying in touch' and spam.

[warr_wiz]

Thanks for the replies. I guess a lot of the mistakes are either common sense, or lack there of, laziness, or even open the eyes and look at what your are doing. It saves EVERYONE aggravation and time. And as we know, in the service department time is what we sell, time is money, and lost time is gone forever. And as for data entry Vernon. That is a whole new rant for me too. No one is perfect, least of all me. Otherwise I would have someone typing this for me from my yacht. Open the eyes and think just a bit and many of these problems go away. Thanks again for the replies and also for listening. If I could type faster, I'd say more. Hehe.

[richardwright]

WW I feel your pain. A never ending battle for us is completed worksheets and credit apps. It can be very frustrating on F&I to have to get up in the middle of delivery to check someones work. And the only way we can handle it is to bring it up in every single sales meeting. Unfortunatly firing people would not do any good, because when a new one gets comfortable the essence of laziness sets in. Just thought I would coment.

[callbob]

Try No Paperwork No Check. Sales and F&I people by nature are not detail people most of the time. They do like their paycheck. If they will not respond to "suggestions" and "policy" try leaving a deal off their commission check. I realize that this requires the cooperation of the
Office Manager, but they are chasing this paperwork also so they should be prone to help. Of course the Dealer needs to back you up on this - and he may be the one of the problems. Other then explaining the situation and what it is costing in time and money not much you can do - Good Luck on this one. Will find out if he is a real business owner or just another salesman with his name on the sign.

[warr_wiz]

You know I would think at the very least it is embrassing to the individual involved to have to stop in the middle of anything to check something, or tell someone this form is not correct..we can just do it over. I think the no paperwork, no check deal has been done. It probably was just one of thise 3 week rules that are all too common. Think about this..how much free time could we have if everything only had to be done once, without a major project to get it done. Sorry about ranting on and on here but maybe I just have a different prospective on dealership operations. Or maybe I'm a little to retentive. I just hate wasting time. I already don't have enough in a day.

[callbob]

Warr-Wiz
This is a good place to rant - better then taking it home. A couple of "Confuscis Says"(sp?):

If you don't have time to do it right the first time how will you have time to the second time?

If you(they)keep doing what you (they) are doing you(they)are going to keep getting what you(they)are getting.

Unfortunately trying to obtain peace in the Middle East is easier the trying to get some F&I people to get things right.

So much for my philosphy lesson. This information and $.50 ($5.00 at Starbucks) will get you a cup of coffee (before taxes)

Have a GREAT weekend

[Doug]

Age old problem.

As far as service contracts go, we (in service dept) now get a photo-copy of every service contract sold (and every cancellation) so we can enter the data in "vehicle information" ourselves plus we keep the copy in the service file for that car.

As far as the never-ending problem of sales departments' lack of attention to detail and the problems created....well....I just don't have the energy to "go there" tonight. Let's just say that, somehow, the service department always seems to end up looking like "the bad guys" and pick up the pieces while sales/F&I staff shrug their shoulders.

Cheers
Doug

[richardwright]

Doug, You could not be more right. I take at least one trip to the service department everyday, just to see if there are any big warranty claims I can use. And one thing I noticed is that the service dept catches more heat than any other dept in the dealership. And the sad part is that all the heat is from problems from the sales dept. And Doug Im accualy in F&I and I never make a mistake. (Hahahahahaha)