William Demaree aims to hit a 100% video MPI rate across the Tom Wood Automotive dealerships, where he is the group’s corporate fixed ops director. And right now, they’re closing in at 79.8%.
Demaree shared some details about what’s helping fuel the progress, including a little old-fashioned micromanagement.
Driving the news: Demaree first launched the pilot at a Nissan store in January, with a 100% MPI rate target. Now, they’re spreading the practice to the group’s other dealerships, aiming for not just 100%, but top-notch-quality videos, too.
In fact, bonus eligibility at Tom Wood is now tied to video MPIs and the standards at which they’re created.
"You must have video MPI quality at the Tom Wood standard to qualify, or you can forfeit your bonus," Demaree told Daily Dealer Live host Sam D’Arc.
For context: Demaree first appeared on the Daily Dealer Live show in February, about two weeks after the group kicked off the pilot plan.
At that time, he said filters were laid out, batteries hooked up, vehicles staged, with the aim to run each video from 1.5 minutes to 2.5 minutes.
"It's purposeful; It's intentional," he said in January.
Adding to his strategy: Demaree runs a group-wide contest. The next awards will be a Nintendo Switch and a $500 gift card to the technician who submits the best video.
Plus, the winner gets shared with the whole group.
He also said he’s “micromanaging the crap” out of the process.
“Wherever I'm at, I have videos playing in the corner,” Demaree said. “I'm circling, sending emails. I'm popping in stores with gift cards. I'm giving away awards."
By the numbers: That pilot dealership was running at .3 hours per repair order. Now it’s at .71, with two months of steady growth, and plans to hit .9.
“This is exactly what we're hoping to see,” Demaree said. “Commodity sales are up… Our numbers are going up, and now that we have the whole group coming on, this was the first month we really had a solid year-over-year improvement in April.”
OUTSMART THE CAR MARKET IN 5 MINUTES A WEEK
Get insights trusted by 55,000+ car dealers. Free, fast, and built for automotive leaders.
Worth noting: Tom Wood uses TruVideo through Xtime, and the integration isn't producing clean group-wide data.
"Xtime has dummied down the reporting where it doesn't match, and it's not linking up," Demaree said.
Until that's resolved, he's managing the process manually.
Bottom line: Demaree cited an 80/20 rule for encouraging other managers to help guide their techs. Meaning, spend 20% of the time in the office and 80% roaming around the shop.
"Shut your computer off, get out in the shop,” Demaree said.
A quick word from our partner
Smarter data drives smarter growth.
In today’s hyper-competitive auto market, precision is everything.
Experian Automotive’s Marketing solutions help dealers, OEMs, agencies, and aftermarket brands pinpoint in-market and near-market shoppers, strengthen owner loyalty, increase service revenue, and outmaneuver competitors.
Activate over 1,000 syndicated automotive audiences across over 30 platforms — and enrich them with over 3,500 vertical, demographic, lifestyle & interest, and behavioral audiences.
