After more than 40 years of experience in the auto industry, Dave Rogers knows sometimes the answers to issues can’t be found without a fresh set of eyes.
As the Fixed Ops Director at Piazza Auto Group and overseeing 30 stores, he’s working to improve performance, productivity, and retain customers. Part of that improvement is overcoming “store blindness” and doing consistent tracking and reviewing.
Fresh eyes pays off: Ever looked at a problem so often that you can’t see what’s wrong until someone else points it out? The answer is probably yes, which is why Rogers recommends reaching out to someone else for that fresh look.
“We walk in a store; we don't see everything. So you bring in an outside party, they look at it with a fresh view,” Rogers explained to Sam D’Arc during a Daily Dealer Live appearance.
“I tell my general managers… ‘Come in a different door than you went out sometimes. Take a look from a different angle.’ But there's nothing like having a third-party outside person that's there, there to double-check you.”
Returning to basics: Back in February, Rogers explained how he was also getting back to the basics at the Piazza stores, focusing on advisor selling skills and fixed ops. In the months since, he’s noticed that the stores that have monitored tech payroll and production on a daily to monthly basis are seeing improved results.
In digging into the numbers, Rogers found a few alarming figures.
Close rates were down 5%, leading to a concentration on selling skills and building value.
The decrease was possibly caused by customers’ concerns about fuel prices and increases in parts due to tariffs.
Recalls dropped along with warranty work, which helped drive traffic.
He noted the stores that performed the best had managers involved early in the process.
“They're getting involved early; don't let the car leave if they say no to brakes, tires, batteries, stuff like that. Those guys were at 50% closing,” Rogers said.
Increasing productivity: To help with productivity, the stores have a 2,000-hour tech floor.
The floor was designed to lift up techs averaging between 1,500 and 1,700 hours.
New blood from tech and vocational schools has improved. Though there is still a shortage, it’s better than 15 years ago.
Pushing back: Another challenge has been new recommendations from OEMs for extended maintenance intervals of up to 14 months. His shops continue to push 6,000 miles for oil changes.
Free maintenance plans, such as Hyundai’s, have not been the answer for retaining customers in Rogers’ view.
“Every time they throw this free maintenance plan out, it fails miserably. I think it chases people away more than it ever helps them,” Rogers said. “I think some of the brands, when you have that transient customer, are gonna be the biggest problem if we have a downturn.”
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True definition of success: For retention, he targets customers visiting a shop twice per year. Though he points out how that has helped, the dealership will be told when that customer returns to the market to buy a vehicle.
“You're gonna build rapport with that customer. You're gonna make them your own,” Rogers said. “I think that we should be shooting for; the true gauge will be when we get the CDPs, and see if the customer buys another car from us.”
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