The fourth quarter can create plenty of pressure for dealers chasing year-end goals, but Frank Eckert, Owner of Eckert Solutions Group, says that pressure should not lead to desperation. Eckert joins us on today’s CBT Live segment to discuss how dealers can finish the year strong while protecting retention, developing technicians and setting themselves up for a stronger 2027.
Before launching aggressive year-end offers, Eckert believes that dealers should first assess how much ground they need to make up. He also notes that a dealer who is only slightly off target might have the flexibility to be more aggressive. However, dealers that are actually behind could face bigger problems by trying to chase numbers at any cost. Therefore, Eckert cautioned against relying on extremely low-priced service offers or other loss leaders simply to bring inactive customers back. Since many manufacturers track service activity over rolling 12-month periods, a heavily discounted Q4 offer can condition customers to wait for another discount the following year and potentially devalue the dealership experience.
While technology can help dealers identify opportunities without replacing the fundamentals of dealership operations, Eckert said AI can support customer outreach and make dealership data easier to interpret, potentially helping a good analyst become a stronger one. He then pointed to the ongoing technician shortage as a major challenge for service departments, since he believes dealers need to provide technicians with a clear path for growth, ongoing training and mentorship, and enough repair-order volume to keep technicians productive. Eckert said work-life balance is becoming increasingly important as dealers compete for the next generation of service talent.
Eckert also encouraged dealers to use the first quarter of 2027 as an opportunity to test new ideas and build on what worked in 2026. Rather than holding onto an unsuccessful process simply because it has been in place for years, he said dealers should experiment with changes to hours, dispatch and other service operations and quickly determine what works. He also sees mobile service as a way to meet customers where they want to be served while effectively adding service capacity without another traditional brick-and-mortar stall. The broader goal, Eckert said, is to carry successful momentum from 2026 into 2027 while continuing to improve the customer experience.
