As the DEALER advocate magazine, DEALER
welcomes your letters, and after verification will run them signed or
unsigned. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.
Send To:
DEALER magazine
1116 W. 7th Street
PMB 239 Columbia, TN 38401 (931) 388-1800 ext. 203
Fax (931) 388-4881 e-mail: mroscoe@dealeronline.com
A few years back, Porsche tried to turn their dealer body into delivery and service facilities. By abandoning those plans it now enjoys the best sales its had in years. The paradigm shift is real. Great opportunities are here and now for those dealers smart enough to provide the customer with what they want.
Selling out to a public company may sound like the future. It may sound like the best thing. Auto Nation et al. are struggling during the best sales of the century. The failure of the factories trying to emulate the public companies is an indicator too. The vigorous entrepreneurial dealer sees the future differently. I hate to say it Bob, but you're wrong.
Respectfully,
Jack M. Jason
General Manager
Greenwich Acura
DUPECAR@aol.com
Jack:
The great thing about prognostication, Jack, is that everyone can do it-and
I welcome your opinions. My opinion merely echoes what I hear from our hundreds
of dealer clients and my own experience of nearly 50 years in the industry
as a dealer, a factory guy and a consultant. I've been wrong before, but frankly,
when I got your letter, I had to go back and read my article-because much
of your dialogue doesn't match what I said.
I hold the dealer body in high regard and fight for them nearly every day as an expert witness. Dealers are our bread and butter. I believe in their cause, and for that reason we all need to think clearly about where we are headed. We would be foolish to ignore what's happened to the local grocery store, the hardware store and lumberyard, and other retailers. Why not be a part of the dynamics of change? None of us can say with certainty how change will manifest itself in our industry, so we need to look at all the possibilities.
If you don't mind my saying so, I think it is a bit "elitist" to propose that the owner of a luxury vehicle has any different expectations than the buyer of an economy car who worked just as hard for the money he spends, maybe harder. All customers want their money's worth today, not just the "luxury car" buyer. It's the experience, not the MSRP, that makes the difference. You and many others are delivering that. Congratulations!
Anyway, thanks for the letter, and good luck with your single-line Acura store. After the next downturn in the economy, let's compare notes.
Kindest regards,
Bob Dilmore
Sandi Jerome,
I have enjoyed reading your articles as the DEALER magazine finally makes
it to my desk. Sorry I have missed several over the weeks. In the most recent
article, you have explained a pay plan regarding the BDC manager and I do
have interest in having the spreadsheets e-mailed to me. Our dealership has
not set up a BDC center, but we are very interested in setting one up.
One of the things we would like to explore is software in linking with our Reynolds & Reynolds system. R&R is a great software package for administration use, but not very user-friendly with all the contact information coming through the dealership on daily basis. My owner and I will be attending the NADA convention next week and will explore some of the vendors at the convention. Maybe you could help with some suggestions or recommendations of some systems with good integration of phone calls (caller ID), letter generators, e-mails, and customer information (photos, journals, vehicles, service history, rental usage history and other items).
Thanks in e-mailing the spreadsheets.
Harry Haber
General Sales Manager
Capistrano Volkswagen
I attended your F&I Class in Atlanta three years ago and listened to your opinion about AutoNation and the used vehicle industry at that time. I also attended the F&I School for a refresher course a year later. I believed you then and I believe you now about your opinions about the new car business and the attempts of GM to screw the dealers. After being in this business for 15 years and working at a Ford, Toyota and GM dealerships I have seen the industry change in many ways just as you have predicted in the many articles that I have read since our first meeting three years ago.
I plan on attending some more classes in the near future and I have influenced my dealer to pay attention to your articles on a regular basis. I praise you for your "no nonsense" approach and the "down to earth" view you have about the industry. Keep up the good work.
P.S. So you think Carmax stock would not be a good purchase right now? LOL
See you soon,
Dale Blanchard
Financial Manager
Jim Koestner Inc.
Pontiac, Buick and GMC
Plainwell, MI
Dear Jim Ziegler,
I just read your "Dealer Advocate" column in the January issue and
I must say that I found it quite interesting. I am the Internet Manager at
a Ford dealership in Pennsylvania and I found most of your observations and
projections to be right on.
I have been in charge of our "online" clientele for about six months now and have found them to be information-gathering, high-tech tire kickers. I have ended up providing much information to customers, who then proceeded to purchase a vehicle elsewhere from a live person, face-to-face. I DO believe that the internet will take a role in the future of retail auto buying and selling, but I'm not sure what that role will be at this point.
I always loved the story, "The Emperor's New Clothes" and I was glad to see you are not afraid to sound off and tell him he is naked. I find that refreshing. If you need some direct input from anyone who is on the frontline in the car/online retail business, feel free to call me. I'd be glad to help.
P.S. Yvette Mimieux was hot, but I think she took a back seat to Ingrid Bergman, sorry.
Jeff Wimer
Internet Sales Manager
Preston Ford/KIA
Sharon, PA
Dear Mike,
I love your magazine. I've been in the auto business over 50 years and have
never seen an auto magazine as interesting.
Joe Levy, Jr.
Illinois Toyota, Buick, Olds,
Mitsubishi and Subaru Dealer
Mr. Ziegler:
As a GM dealer, I agree with your assessment of the situation 100%. Mine is
a mom and pop store that is below the GM radar. They don't hassle me; they
just ignore me, which is alright most of the time. Presently, however, I wish
I could get some new Yukon XL's and some new de Villes.
What prompts me to write you is your one innocuous sentence: "If I were a dealer organization, I would get to the stockholders." For years I have asked GM to develop a way that dealership employees could purchase GM stock for our 401k portfolios. So far, all I have gotten are smiles that seem to be express pity for the dullard. I agree, the key to getting GM on track is the vote of the stockholders.
Name withheld upon request
Hello Mike,
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to you in Orlando at NADA. As always,
it's a pleasure to read your magazine. It was with great interest that I read
your interview concerning factory warranty payment policies ("Dealer
Undercover"). With warranty dropping anywhere from 25 to even 40 percent,
we have been forced to reevaluate our customer pay business.
In our service department, we took the approach of the multi-tiered labor rate. Basically, we have created a second service department within our regular one. Our approach is to go for the "other work" that has been kind of left behind for a while. It meant having technicians again, as well as trained technicians. This allowed us to become competitive in the market area that many customers felt the dealership couldn't compete in.
We are going to advertise all areas that our shop is equipped for. We are going to go after the after marketers as never before. I heard a very good quote in one of the seminars I attended in Orlando, "We can only be undersold if we allow it to happen." This has meant some major changes, but I feel we are going to make this happen. The shop is excited about it and we are going to go at this aggressively. We won't be able to get them all, but we are going to go after our fair share. We will also be getting paid at a fair hourly labor rate, not one that is constantly being cut, altered or eliminated altogether.
Sincerely,
Larry Shidemantle
Service/Parts Director
Shaffer Ford Sales, Inc.
Sirs:
Bob Dilmore's prognostications are flawed. He espouses the "bigger is
better" attitude without understanding and recognizing consumer tastes.
For example, the owner of a luxury vehicle has different expectations/needs
than the owner of an entry-level vehicle. The consolidation of brands under
one roof only sounds like a great idea. Witness McDonalds' attempts at broadening
their menu from hamburgers to fried chicken, tacos, and pizza. In spite of
a successful marketing brand, the consumer's expectation of the dining experience
couldn't be met by a red and yellow environment.
Likewise, I disagree with the creation of a common culture with standard operating procedures. Been to a DMV? They all operate under an SOP and commonality too. Who can honestly say they enjoy that experience? People choose to live in various neighborhoods, paying more for what the same house may cost elsewhere. They do so as an expression of their individuality. Dealers in their community must tailor their business methodology to conform to what their customer's expectations are. Not the other way around.
