Fixed-Ops

With almost all car shopping done in the virtual space, dealers are seeing an increased value in their BDC. With this success, it looks like more and more dealerships are looking to bring the same BDC model over to the service department for even...

Sales and service have their own distinct roles in any dealership. In an ideal world, sales exists to attract and new customers and to sell cars. Service exists to keep those customers coming back and turn them into loyal, lifelong customers. With this in mind,...

The automotive industry is running toward a problematic shortage. According to information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2026, the automotive repair industry will need 46,000 more service technicians to meet demand. Currently, the retirement of the last generation of service technicians...

There is a “Technician Drought” that has been plaguing the car industry for decades, pretty severely for the past 5 years or so. Finding and keeping excellent quality techs has been as elusive as a rainstorm in the middle of the desert. Like a...

Whether it operates three rooftops or 300, a dealership group is a unique animal. Each store within the group presents its own distinctive management and performance challenges as does the collective group itself. Managing for higher performance in crucial profit areas is always a...

It’s a simple matter of math. Every year, approximately 76,000 service technician jobs open up in the auto industry as workers retire and new jobs develop. At the same time, roughly 37,000 new technicians graduate from US training programs and colleges. This translates into...

According to Cox Automotive’s latest study, Opportunities to Build Customer Loyalty, an estimated 70 percent of consumers who purchased or leased from a dealer did not return for service in the past year. So, how can dealers increase sales in the fixed-ops department in...

Generally speaking, customers don’t like visiting an auto repair facility. At best it means taking time out of a busy day for routine maintenance, and at worst it means costly repairs, and going without a vehicle until the repair is completed. At the outset,...

We live in a world of instant gratification. Our time has been dreamed about for generations. Smart phones put most of the world’s knowledge right at our fingertips. E-Commerce makes shopping for almost anything simple and easy. Social media shrinks the world and gives...

According to Kurt Stephan of Dealer Marketing, service and parts make up between 40% and 45% of a dealer’s profits, meaning the service department is crucial to a dealership’s long-term success. Cox Automotive has released its 2018 Service Industry Study, which also emphasizes the...