April 21, 2023

with Martha Alvarado, Sarah Vantine, Wendy Reeves, and Shawn Armorer

https://youtube.com/watch?v=r2afMV4jYIc

In this episode, our panel of automotive Business Development Center (BDC) experts gathers to discuss their upcoming session “If you got a problem, Yo, I’ll solve it” at the Digital Dealer Conference on May 1-3, 2023, at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. They share insights on BDC best practices, strategies, and challenges, and give us a taste of what to expect from their session at the event. Get to know our distinguished guests: ⬇️


Martha Alvarado is the BDC Director at Wondries Toyota and a performance-driven professional with over 20 years of experience in sales and customer service within the automotive industry. Her expertise lies in client relationship management, customer acquisition, and revenue growth, while adeptly overseeing high-level business processes and communications. 

Sarah Vantine is the Vice President of Sales at Quantum5 with over a decade of experience in the automotive industry. She specializes in creating innovative business development strategies that empower teams and enhance customer experiences.

Wendy Reeves is the founder of BDC Angels. She is a passionate BDC expert with deep roots in the automotive industry. She focuses on empowering and inspiring sales and BDC teams by providing customized processes and best practices tailored to each dealership’s needs.

Shawn Armorer is the founder of BDC Alchemy Inc., and is a seasoned automotive expert with 20+ years of experience. He specializes in creating revenue-generating BDCs by collaborating with dealerships to align their BDC strategies with sales and service departments for sustainable growth.

Throughout the episode, the panel discusses their perspectives on various aspects of BDC operations, including remote work and its effects on team dynamics, the importance of a positive work culture, and the role of technology in enhancing customer experiences. Don’t miss this insightful conversation as these experts share their valuable knowledge and experiences to help you improve your BDC operations.

Register to The Digital Dealer Conference below: ⤵️

https://www.digitaldealer.com/tampa/register

“We have to focus on how to keep our teams motivated.” –Martha Alvarado

“Training is so important because that’s the conversation I oftenly have with dealerships.” –Sarah Vantine

“The biggest piece is really understanding what the baseline is and then building out from there.” –Wendy Reeves

“The key to a successful BDC is to have the right people in place and provide them with the training and resources they need.” –Shawn Armorer

  1. Train and motivate BDCs.
  2. Define desired BDC state clearly.
  3. Train employees to succeed.

Stay Tuned For Our Latest Episodes

Join host Kaylee Felio as she delves into the fascinating world of auto parts in The Parts Girl Podcast.

Start Listening Today!

With a mix of expert guests, industry insights, and personal anecdotes, Kaylee explores the stories behind the parts that keep our vehicles running smoothly. Whether you’re a seasoned mechanic or just curious about how cars work, you’ll find something to love in this engaging and informative podcast. Tune in now to start exploring the fascinating world of auto parts with The Parts Girl Podcast!

/by

Unlocking infinite growth with online sales

In the past few years, we’ve witnessed an important shift in thinking amongst dealers to appreciating just how much parts and service produces profit and overall dealership health. After all, parts and service departments are responsible for producing 49.6% of a dealership’s gross profits, according to NADA. Not only that, the parts inventory is the second largest capital investment a dealer makes, after new car inventory. Now, with online sales, dealers can expand their reach nationwide and experience infinite growth in parts sales- with the right tools and systems. Here’s how.

Creating the foundation 

Regardless of whether you’re already selling parts online or not, it’s important to audit your operation to ensure that new customers gained through online sales will return to you in the future.  If say for instance your dealership does well attracting new business, but struggles to retain customers, you’ll want to take a close look at customer service and follow-up to ensure you won’t lose future online sales customers to the same breakdowns. The most crucial aspect of successful online sales is good inventory control; accurate physical and digital inventory, good sourcing setups, and clear reporting which result in having the parts you need when you need them and accurately predicting future needs. 

Making a plan

Many dealerships get into online sales to offload excess inventory and discarding obsolete inventory is a great starting place, but it’s important to have a sense of bigger goals and direction in order to unlock the most potential. It’s important to consider shipping infrastructure, scaling ability, maintenance of online listings, and long-term goals. 

Implementing support

In our nearly 30 years of experience working with parts departments, we’ve witnessed the majority of parts and service operations struggling to get out of a reactive zone. In many cases, Parts Managers are juggling too many duties and inventory health suffers as a result. Without a responsive, clean, lean, adaptive, and accurate inventory, it’s nearly impossible to increase revenue streams. If you’re hoping to tap into the expanded market of online sales, it’s essential to give your Parts Managers and their teams the tools, time, and support they need to operate at a higher level. 

PartsEdge saves Parts Managers hundreds of hours each year by taking all the guesswork out of DMS management, sourcing setup, and inventory optimization allowing them to focus on expanding a successful operation.  Our expert team is available on-demand to guide your operation to record success. As a result, our clients see an average  20% drop in total inventory, 15%+ less idle inventory, a 50% increase in ROI, and a 20% increase in parts sales. If you’re ready to put our parts power tool to work, send us a message! Our testimonials speak for themselves. 

/by

The future of team building | The Future of the Industry

During the past three years, nearly every industry and individual has been impacted either directly or indirectly by the COVID-19 pandemic. The automotive industry is no exception. Massive shifts have taken place in the labor market and in workers’ priorities, leading to an undeniably altered landscape for employers to navigate. With over 1 million COVID-related deaths, the workforce itself has shrunk leading to a higher demand for workers and a correlated increase in negotiating power. Witnessing the unthinkable sudden loss of loved ones and job security, many Americans re-assessed their priorities. For workers, this shift in thinking has translated into valuing the experience of work just as much as the steady paycheck. For dealerships, it’s a good time re-think your employee retention strategy and focus on creating a workplace where todays workers thrive.

Start with the basics 

While the paycheck is no longer the only thing workers are considering when job hunting, it certainly is a crucial foundation in making a selection. Find out exactly what the going rate for the positions you are looking to hire in your area is and aim to match or beat that benchmark. If good pay is the foundation, ample sick days, vacation time, and benefits are the roof and the walls. Today’s workers seek employers that understand they work to live, not the other way around. Additionally, when workers do take time off, it’s important to be respectful of this time by not contacting them. Ensuring your pay and benefits structure is competitive in your region will help you attract and retain the kind of employees who can help you grow the business to new levels of success. 

Set clear expectations

Setting and following up on clear job expectations is crucial for the success of the employee and the operation at large. Not being certain of duties and expectations quickly leads to burnout, frustration, and, ultimately, turnover. It’s important that during the interview process, you are very clear on what is needed, how success will be measured and how often, and how the role could evolve. Finding the right fit for the job and creating systems for checking in creates cohesive relationships and loyalty in employees. 

Consider your overall models

Some models for pay, raises, and incentives inherently breed competition among employees and can result in hostile workplaces filled with resentment. Each dealership is different, but it’s important to ask yourself if your models encourage collaboration or competition between your employees. While bonuses and incentives can be a great way to increase morale and encourage individual ownership in pay, if they aren’t fairly structured, they can cause more harm than good. Workers today value good relationships at work and won’t stick around long in environments that breed discord.

Check-in on HR

Unfortunately it sometimes only takes one hostile employee to unease an entire department. Ensuring you have a professional and responsive HR team can help identify breakdowns in departments and set clear expectations for a remedy before team members sour completely due to unhelpful (and in some cases inappropriate) behavior from co-workers.

What changes have helped your dealership better attract and retain employees? Leave a comment below!

We’ve created an extensive library of free e-books, DMS education, parts inventory education, and more editions of this series exploring industry trends and helping you prepare for the future of the industry.

Thoughts, questions, or opinions? Get in touch!

/by

Minimizing idle stock

Idle stock can clutter inventory shelves and drag down overall parts department health. Creating a systematic plan to identify and remove idle inventory is key to keeping things moving smoothly. In many cases, we find idle inventory originating from manufacturer programs. While they are typically guaranteeing these parts, some of them still end up in idle stock which takes up space, funds with holding costs, and wastes everyone’s time. Here’s how you can get ahead of idle inventory and build a plan for ongoing management. 

Review parts ordered daily

A daily review of all parts orders (including wholesale)  is essential to begin finding the root of idle inventory. You’ll want to look especially closely at high-dollar items that are for a warranty repair and when multiple parts are ordered by the same technician. Many idle parts originate from warranty repairs that do not reach completion and techs ordering spec parts when uncertain about which is specifically needed. 

Review open SOR report daily

One of the main contributors to idle stock is incomplete customer repairs. By reviewing the ‘SOR Report by Advisor’ which is sent daily, you can keep a close tab on what is outstanding and find solutions to getting customers scheduled for repairs. If you haven’t already, consider creating a specific commission-based position for follow-up on repairs or utilize your BDC to follow up and schedule repairs. 

Run RPD (Report Prepaid Parts) at least once a week

Review any returns from customers or technicians with a high dollar value and return eligibility. Ensuring all customer-pay parts on counter tickets and repair orders are pre-paid encourages customers to return and complete repairs. 

Run monthly return routines

Monthly, you’ll want to check for and send back all ASR-guaranteed returns. Be sure to: 

  • build and send back accrual returns. 
  • report obsolete parts to the Parts Broker
  • build and purge monthly accrual parts.

Determine the Purge Value needed monthly

Even with great monitoring and follow-up, some amount of obsolescence is unavoidable. Calculating the amount needed monthly to purge will help you make a plan and get ahead. To calculate this, look at the monthly Technical Obsolescence average value. Then, find the monthly average of accrual earned to determine the accrual needed to reduce or maintain obsolete value.

Review wholesale customers with high return percentages

Wholesale customers can be a massive source of idle inventory from returns. It’s important to ensure your wholesale customers are truly bringing value to your operation. To find high-return wholesale customers review the credit ranking report to see what wholesale customers are potentially abusing return privileges. Consider lowering discounts and/or charging a restocking fee to those who are high in return percentages, above 10%.

Using a combination of all the above strategies will help to reduce the growth of idle inventory and reduce obsolete parts growth. Consistent daily reviews and monthly returns will go a long way in identifying the root cause of internal issues that are contributing to idle inventory. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions!PartsEdge saves Parts Managers hundreds of hours each year by taking all the guesswork out of DMS management, sourcing setup, and optimization allowing them to focus on creating a successful operation.  Our expert team is available on-demand to guide your operation to record success. As a result, our clients see an average  20% drop in total inventory, 15%+ less idle inventory, a 50% increase in ROI, and a 20% increase in parts sales. If you’re ready to put our parts power tool to work, send us a message! Our testimonials speak for themselves.

/by