Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/561797
SOLUTIONS 28 • September 17, 2015 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com These are some of the top things a dealer should do today to be more profit- able and successful. They are not listed in any par- ticular order of priority. 1. Hire the best tal- ent you can find. Base your hiring profile on attitude and aptitude. If they don't have the right attitude, you can't fix it. Aptitude can't be created at our level. You have it, or you don't. Some people don't have what it takes to be good salespeople — no amount of training will fix that. Others can't fix mechani- cal objects. No matter how much you spend on training them, they will never be good technicians. Once you find the right people, pay what it takes to keep them. In our manage- ment workshops we do an activity called "The Cost of Turnover." It is amazing how much it costs to replace an employee. You need to hire the right ones in the first place. 2. Get rid of non-performers. It is often hard to fire people — especially if they have been with you a long time. They may have become your friends. However, you have to separate your business operation from your personal relationships. Personnel expenses are a major cost of operating a dealership. Our margins are so tight that we simply can't afford to pay people who can't or won't fulfill the job requirements. Besides, they are often dissatis- fied with their jobs — do them a favor and help them find another career. 3. Ensure all of your employees are involved in training on a regular basis. The best dealers have training budgets and sched- ules to make sure it gets done. They make it a priority because they know that they will maximize their results per employee if they do this. Hold your employees accountable. 4. Hire salespeople — not order-takers. If your overall margins in unit sales average 10 percent or less, you have an issue. The current national norm average is 13 percent. To maxi- mize profits, salespeople need to be trained to spend their time building a relationship with the customer and doing presentations that build value to overcome price objections. 5. Get serious about the pre-owned business. Become the place to go for pre- owned bikes, ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, etc. The national norm for gross profit in pre- owned is 21 percent. Establish actual local market value (not what the book says) — what you can sell it for. Then, subtract your fixed margin (21 percent) and reconditioning costs, and you are ready to rock. 6. Have a sales-oriented, process-driven, fully-compliant F&I office with high- performing staff. This is where so many dealers miss the boat. The national norm for F&I product sales per unit (metric) averages over $450. In 2014, the average F&I sales per employee was over $250,000! Can you afford not to pay someone to do this? 7. Compare your data with industry benchmarks, so you can identify problem areas and address them quickly. Use the tools that are out there to determine where you are today. You have to establish your benchmarks, so you can tell if you are making changes that actually improve your numbers. If you don't continually improve, you are put- ting your business at risk. 8. Have well-trained, customer service- oriented personnel in the P&A and service departments. You need to "wow" your cus- tomer to drive repeat business and increase unit sales. Your P&A folks and your service writer need sales and customer service train- ing. They have a very short window in which to build rapport with the customer and probe them for their wants and needs. Then they have to do what they can to satisfy those wants and needs while asking for the upsell business. 9. Embrace social media. Utilize low-cost, high-percentage marketing tools like Face- book, YouTube, email and your dealership's website. Invest in training on social media mar- keting. This is where our buyers are heading, folks — best be ready if you want to capture their business. Monitor your online reviews with Google, Bing, Yelp, Yahoo, etc. Address bad reviews promptly with positive statements about what you did to take care of the customer or address the issue in your business. PSB Steve Jones is senior projects manager at Gart Sutton & Associates. He has worked in the powersports industry for more than 30 years, for dealerships and manufacturers, and as a consultant and trainer. Contact him at steve@gartsutton.com. Improve your dealership with these 9 tips RETAIL REMEDIES STEVE JONES "Compare your data with industry benchmarks, so you can identify problem areas and address them quickly. Use the tools that are out there to determine where you are today."