Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 41

By Charlie Polston
Automotive Customer
Retention and
Profitability Consultant,
BG Products, Inc.

// Fixed Operations

The New Car
Buyers' Clinic:
A Case Study in
How to Royally
Mess It up!
Happy New Year! I
hope you enjoyed a
relaxing time with family
and friends over Christmas and had a few days
to recharge your batteries. Service directors will
need to be at the top of
their game in 2018
because dealers will be
depending on fixed ops
more than ever to keep
the dealership profitable.
The prognosticators are
saying there will be one
million fewer cars sold in
2018, so parts and service will be called on to
pick up the slack. (Savvy
dealers already know that
fixed ops is the backbone
of profitability, but there's
nothing like declining new
car sales projections to
cause everyone to get
religion about the cash
cow we call the service
department.)
There are two critical
opportunities you have to
introduce new and used

car buyers to your service
department: The first, of
course, happens at the
time of vehicle delivery
when the salesman
brings the buyer out on
the service lane to meet
the service advisor. The
second occurs at the new
and used car buyers'
clinic.
The following is a true
story that happened last
summer. Dewey and I
have been friends for
over 30 years, so he
knows what I do for a
living and he sent me a
lengthy email explaining
his experience. Everything in italics is in Dewey's own words.
My wife and I were
looking for a good,
used, larger vehicle to
better meet the needs
of our family. However,
due to some incredible
incentives, we decided to
purchase a new vehicle
instead. The overall buy-

ing experience was very
good and very pleasant!
Our salesman was just
super and the whole experience from his greeting
to the test drive to meeting the new car manager
to the finance presentation was well done.
A few days later, we
got a letter congratulating us on our purchase
followed by an email and
call inviting us to their
customer appreciation
event for new car buyers.
My wife and I accepted
the invitation.
There were about 50
people there, some with
families, but at least 35 of
us were "new car buyers."
They had barbecue set
out and lots of tables set
up on the show room
floor. After checking in,
the first person I met from
the dealership was a man
that was very busy setting
up and serving drinks
and very hastily moving

around. I said, "Hi, is
Vinny, my salesman,
going to be here tonight?"
I got a very quick and
disconnected response
of, "I don't know anybody
by that name, nor do I
know any of the salesmen." Wow, that was not
a good first impression
at all and actually, it was
rude. He had an employee shirt on, but there was
not a greeting of "Hello,
I'm glad you're here!" And
then to not know any of
the salesmen! I seriously
thought he was a low-level employee that got the
job of setting this all up.
When the meeting
started, to my surprise,
the rude guy turned
out to be the SERVICE
DIRECTOR! He ran the
entire meeting. I was not
impressed and already
thinking, "this is not the
way to retain new customers."
He handed out an
agenda for the meeting...
one he said would only
last about 30 minutes.
What a joke! He basically
just read the agenda. My
impression was that he
did not want to be there
or doing the meeting. The
agenda said we would
meet several employees, but as it turned out,
just one service advisor
showed up at the end and
there were no parts people, not a single salesman, no techs, and no
upper management. He

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

Continued on pg. 42
JANUARY 2018

41


http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - January 2018

Digital Dealer - January 2018
Contents
The Art of Handling Mistakes
Motion and Commotion – The Buy/Sell Market Intensifies
You Don’t Have to Be Blood to Be Family in the Dealership
Shifting From Crisis to Opportunity
Warning! Your Customers Know More Than Your Salespeople. But Not for Long.
Advertising Your Tech-Spertise!
From the Show Director
Drawing the Curtain Back
Digital Dealer Workshops Chicago
Cover story
Interview with the 2018 Chairman of the Chicago Auto Show
Ready… Fire!...Then Aim
Turning Cash Buyers into Auto
Need a Tech – Keep a Tech or Other Staffer?
The New Car Buyers’ Clinic: A Case Study in How to Royally Mess It up!
The Pros and Cons of Building a Dealership Facebook Page
Is Your Dealership's Advertising Stuck in the '60s?
4 Ways to Sell More Cars in 2018
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - CT1
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - CT2
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Digital Dealer - January 2018
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Cover2
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 1
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Contents
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 3
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - The Art of Handling Mistakes
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 5
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 6
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Motion and Commotion – The Buy/Sell Market Intensifies
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 8
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 9
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 10
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 11
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - You Don’t Have to Be Blood to Be Family in the Dealership
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 13
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 14
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Shifting From Crisis to Opportunity
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 16
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 17
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Warning! Your Customers Know More Than Your Salespeople. But Not for Long.
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 19
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Advertising Your Tech-Spertise!
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 21
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - From the Show Director
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 23
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 24
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Drawing the Curtain Back
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 26
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Digital Dealer Workshops Chicago
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Interview with the 2018 Chairman of the Chicago Auto Show
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 29
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 30
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 31
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 32
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 33
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Ready… Fire!...Then Aim
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 35
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Turning Cash Buyers into Auto
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 37
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Need a Tech – Keep a Tech or Other Staffer?
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 39
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 40
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - The New Car Buyers’ Clinic: A Case Study in How to Royally Mess It up!
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 42
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - The Pros and Cons of Building a Dealership Facebook Page
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 44
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Is Your Dealership's Advertising Stuck in the '60s?
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 46
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 47
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - 4 Ways to Sell More Cars in 2018
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Cover3
Digital Dealer - January 2018 - Cover4
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201901
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201808
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201710
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/digitaldealer/201708
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