High temperatures in Wichita Falls have soared to as high as 108 under the baking Texas sun, testing people and vehicles. A little more than 100 miles away in Carrollton, Texas, the temperatures have been a degree or two cooler, but no less taxing.
As general managers of North Texas dealerships, David Fillmore and Justin Villa know the heat presents challenges and the need to adapt, but there are still vehicles to move in the competitive hot market.
“Both David and I have the benefit of managing truck stores, and we are in the number one truck market in the country…We don’t have time to slow down,” said Villa, the general manager of Vanguard GMC.
Driving the news: Much of the southern part of the country has been under a relentless heat wave this summer, with weeks of temperatures between 105 and 110.
During the heat, dealers are taking care of their staff and meeting the needs of customers.
That includes making some operational changes, as Fillmore and Villa noted at their North Texas dealerships.
Keeping customers cool: With the extreme heat, Villa said they want to keep customers out of the elements as much as possible.
They work to keep one model of each vehicle in the showroom to give customers a chance to check out features in the air conditioning.
Additionally, they ask customers to schedule appointments, so they can start the car ahead of time to cool it down.
He suggests sending a text just ahead of the appointment for the customer to respond with a text when they are 10 minutes away, pointing out that they want to get the vehicle cooled and ready for them.
“Hopefully you catch that customer right when they just had to get in their hot car, and they think, ‘Man, that's a really good idea. Thanks for thinking about me.’” Villa explained. “You know, then it's, 'Hey, I'm 10 minutes out.’ So everybody knows it's showtime. You can be ready, and it makes your presentation better. It shows that you care.”
Taking care of staff: There’s a heated competition for meeting customers’ needs even in the heat, so as Fillmore, general manager of Grubbs CDJR and Kia in Wichita Falls, points out, it’s up to them to watch out for the staff.
Refrigerators in the showroom and in the service department are stocked full of water.
Fillmore, who also introduced “Techo Tuesdays” to feed his service department tacos, has also been getting snow cones for the staff to provide a tasty, cool treat.
“I like to feed the horses,” Fillmore said. “We do snow cones twice a month for the team. I go to Bahama Bucks and get their party packs. It's $120, but it'll feed the whole store snow cones.”
Adjusting schedules: Some operations have been adjusted around the heat.
Fillmore has his technicians and porters working earlier in the day.
Additionally, his car washers are working overnight to wash and prep vehicles.
Villa pushes to get appointments earlier in the day so the staff can be taking care of contacts through calls and emails inside during the heat of the day.
His shop is not air-conditioned, and his techs and advisors try to crank the wrenches early in the day and spend the hot afternoons with the lighter lifts in the shop, diags and ordering parts.
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Challenges from the heat: Fillmore and Villa both have experienced vapor lock with their gas pumps on site due to the extreme heat.
“We have the gas done in the cars before 4 or 5 o'clock because we get vapor lock, so our gas pump will not work,” Fillmore said.
To get ahead of the evening rush when people are off work, he has his porters fill tanks in the morning.
He also leverages technology, using LoJack to tell his porters the battery condition of vehicles to see which ones need charging.
Bottom line: Keeping the dealership running efficiently under the intense heat takes preparation and teamwork.
“You have to keep everybody's head on a swivel and everybody working together towards the common goal of keeping customers as comfortable as possible,” Villa said. Luckily, the majority of our in-store customers live in this market, too, so they're as used to it as we are. But that doesn't mean that they like it any more than we do.”
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