Auto Dealer Monthly, June 2017

18 auto dealer today June 2017 T r a i n i n g W ILLUSTRATION GETTY IMAGES JDAWNINK By Ron Reahard When youre an automobile dealer every day brings a new challenge a new problem to solve another obstacle to overcome Its a never ending struggle to stay one step ahead of the competition outrun those who have more resources and outmaneuver those who believe they have a duty to tell you how to run your business The manufacturers tell you exactly what your dealership has to look like when you have to remodel and even the color of the tile on your floors They require you to buy vehicles nobody wants in order to get a few you can actually sell They dictate how much you have to spend on advertising Every month you have to run faster and farther on a treadmill the manufacturer forced you to buy and charged to your parts statement endlessly chasing their incentive money in order to hopefully make a profit And all it takes is one dissatisfied customer to cost you tens of thousands of dollars Its no wonder even very profitable dealers start grasping at straws in an attempt to gain some measure of control over your business Just Drink This In the late 1800s and early 1900s anyone with the ability to mix up a batch of colored liquid could claim to be a doctor with a miracle cure for jaundice tapeworms and heart palpitations There were no regulations Phony doctors could say their elixirs cured anything and everything Their medicines were made from useless ingredients like mineral oil and herbs and often harmful ingredients like opium heroin or alcohol But mostly they were made up of outrageous lies Traveling medicine shows attracted huge crowds and smoothtalking hucksters suckered countless people out of their money Enter todays version of the snake oil salesman with his magic elixir guaranteed to cure a variety of automobile dealer ills from slow sales to constipation weak profits to weak blood low customer satisfaction to low testosterone Yes its Doc Meriwether and the Yellow Kid with his traveling medicine show here to save you and your dealership from depression and bankruptcy with magic software that provides information you didnt know you needed They have an electronic desking tool that will enable you to close more deals in less time overpriced F I menus the size of a home theater and wait for it manage your inventory But this is technology Its totally different These arent carpetbaggers and scalawags selling out of a tent unless theyre peddling tent sales These are legitimate companies that have been in business for years They have five star ratings on Google They have testimonials from actual customers who brag about how much more money they made with their menu software their hybrid process and no haggle pricing For their dealers sales are up profits are way up chargebacks are down and customer satisfaction has never been higher If you dont believe it call their references In earlier times references were the Yellow Kid a plant in the crowd who stood up and gave his personal story of being cured by their product their process or their technology So like those desperate people of yesterday who wanted to believe dealers today sign up pay their money and wait for the sales and profits to roll in Except they dont Back to Basics Its easy to get caught up in the technology software and consulting trap Were all excited by a shiny new gadget Were amazed by insightful analytics and the pretty There is no magic elixir for curing the aches and pains of slow sales and F I production but training and support is a reliably effective treatment Stop Grasping at Straws