Ford’s $F ( ▼ 1.36% ) year has been largely defined by recalls, from parking brake issues to airbag warnings, putting thousands of customers back into service lanes across the country.
But for operators like Kelsey Riley, operations director at Lasco Auto Group in Michigan, every recall is a chance to prove that the systems behind the service lane (communication, consistency, leadership) actually work.
As Riley said: “I know that [Ford’s] talked about it in meetings,” she told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Uli de’ Martino.“They have processes that they’re working on to implement better quality control when it comes to those types of items.”
In the meantime, she said her stores are focused on how every team communicates, responds, and shows up when a recall hits.
“Every morning we have a meeting, and it starts at 8:45 with the sales staff,” Riley said. “Everyone knows what the mission and goal is for the day. If you don’t have a mission, it’s kind of hard to have a goal of what everyone’s trying to strive for.”
Between meetings, she said the group stays connected through Microsoft Teams, keeping threads open to address issues in real time.
Her reasoning: “It just makes things roll a lot smoother,” Riley said. “Communication is every organization’s Achilles heel to some point.”
Sounds simple, but it’s those tiny efficiencies that compound into one smooth operation. And what might look like just another communication app is really confidence in how and where your team connects, and an edge that other stores might not have.
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And the best part: That discipline pays off once the service drive starts moving.
Because by the time customers arrive for recall work, her team has already aligned on priorities, parts flow, and customer touchpoints, removing the friction that usually slows recall repairs down.
And when the repair can’t happen in-store, Lasco’s mobile service team steps in to keep customers out of the waiting room entirely.
“We have a phenomenal service team that’s here to help support any of our customers,” Riley said. “We have a mobile service team. They go out, they do recalls…we try to best serve the customer in that realm.”
Big picture: Simple systems, done daily, can make even an OEM with one of the highest recall counts still feel like a brand worth sticking with.
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