A dealer principal once told us that when we first walked into his service department it scared some of his staff, so we were curious as to what it was that caused such a negative reaction. His reply was: “Well, you asked a lot of questions.”

We read somewhere that young children ask over 100 questions a day and university students ask about three, so maybe we have two problems. We never went to university and have yet to grow up!

There has been a lot of talk recently – almost hysteria, in fact – on the proposed ‘Right to Repair’ Bill, C-273. For sure, it has areas that leave much to be desired. But when was the last time you read an automotive bill written by politicians that you actually liked?

 

There was a similar bill, called ‘Block Exemption’, brought into law by the European Commission in 2002. It technically could allow independent garages even to carry out warranty...

You may have read an article we wrote in the March issue of Canadian auto deealer about the automotive service industry in India. Whenever we asked the question, “where is the money?” the answer always came back loud and clear: “The Service Department.” Those dealers knew that even in an expanding market with increasing sales volumes the margins were low and the competition was high. It is the service department that holds the key to a healthy bottom line for a...

Tired of listening to the woes of our own auto industry I decided to visit India and take a look at their automotive market, which is expanding at a mind-blowing pace.

It might be a good place to learn something about process.

We recently spent a whole morning with a seasoned service manager trying to convince him that what was really lacking in the service department was a simple-to-follow process for running the business and making the staff accountable. This should have been an easy sell considering that his business was in a decline, most of the key performance indicators were below industry standards and the bottom line had almost disappeared. But the...

In four easy steps.
Let’s face facts. Today’s customers are looking for fast, efficient, quality service for their vehicles, and that is especially true when looking at the oil-change business. But many dealerships are still not geared toward handling quick service, nor do they give the impression of really wanting that business.

Adding bays may not be the best way to increase capacity.
I would like to own five acres of land on the edge of Lake Ontario in my hometown of Oakville, Ontario, and build a small but elegant castle there. The problem is, however, even if I could afford to buy the land and build that castle I would have a major problem paying the property taxes.

 

Not only are the independents eating our lunch - we’redelivering it!
OK, I admit it; abbreviations get me totally confused. Likewhat’s the difference between CRS, CMS, CRM, and PMS? Answer is not much, Iguess; they all cause a degree of frustration and head-aches. But just in case we don’t have enough acronyms,here comes another. Reading an automotive magazine recently, my eye caught aquestion on the front page: "Are you ready for a BDO?"

What the hell is a BDO?
It stands for...

When your business is exchanging time for money, your  time management had better be good.
I overheard someone recently say, "our flat rate technicians are out of work, but at least we are not paying them." Obviously that person had not worked out the cost of keeping a technician sitting on the bench. 

People may hate visiting them more than us but there is a lot we can learn from dentists.
No, I am not suggesting that we should be trying for number one on the most-hated list. But I am suggesting that we take a look at how dentists have kept pace with their changing business over the years and consider some of the parallels between them and us.