Cut the fluff. We might be shutting down again.

This time, rather than lamenting, we focus on preparation. In the end, if everything is able to stay open, we’re only that much more prepared to do business.

Harry Brown’s Family Automotive in Faribault, Minnesota skipped crawling, felt no need to walk, and went directly from rolling over to sprinting as an infant client. This Guided Development customer is the new child prodigy as they make leaps and bounds in record time. Vehicle Personalization Expert, Kurt Daughtery, is the proud father and is already predicting this kid puts himself through college as we all stand in awe of the remarkable progress they’ve made in their first full month using the program.

In recent years, the demand for certified technicians has ballooned as the number of quality workers in this field declines.  Experienced technicians are almost certainly guaranteed to find work. The technician knows it, and the dealership knows it. This creates an environment where the expert is looking for steady work to earn a good living, and the dealership is looking to provide steady work to talented people.

It would seem the flood of recall work for most brands over the last several years would fill this need. Yet recall work is redundant and, at times, not particularly challenging. Warranty work, which keeps many service bays busy, often falls in the same category. Couple these dynamics with the shortage of a talented workforce, and you’d have to ask yourself, why would anyone want to be a service manager these days?

"If you give a mouse a cookie" [1]. You may or may not be familiar with this popular children’s book series by author Laura Numeroff, each book opens with the main character receiving something, like a cookie. Then, in a playful circular and interrelated pattern they ask for more items until we arrive back to the beginning…when they ask for another cookie. There’s an interesting connection to this book and a dealerships Customer Lifetime Value.

When Carl Moyer of Karl Chevrolet decided to take on the tire store across the street, he and his team planned for success. But, they could have never predicted they would have made GM history by being the first dealership to sell $1million dollars’ worth of tires in one year. Their success continued in following years as they increased their tire sales from $1 million in 2009 to $3 million in 2011.  Not only does Karl Chevrolet present their customers with tire oprtions, but they also offer tire and wheel accessories.  The dealership displays about 50 ready to sell accessorized vehicles and uses Insignia’s accessories system for selling accessories.