AutoPoint Blog

An Assembly Site in Trouble ..

The automotive industry is not known for its cutting-edge practices. Manufacturers and dealerships are usually traditional, and follow the same basic processes they’ve had for decades. However, innovation and adaption are key to successful growth, and the auto industry in particular could use some disruption.  ..

Hectic Work Environments ..

Whenever you hire a new service employee, the standard procedure is to put them through new employee training. Even highly experienced technicians or seasoned service advisors have to go through a new hire orientation type of process. However, a simple training is not enough to develop valuable employees and retain them for long periods of time. Don’t train your new employees—educate them instead. ..

Paper has been disappearing for the last decade. With the invention of the smartphone, everything you used to write down, you now enter on a screen. And it’s not only people who have been putting away the paper—businesses have too. ..

The youngest members of the millennial generation are still very new to the road. They’re just now owning their first cars and taking charge of their own maintenance and repairs. ..

Oil prices are lower than they have been in years, with the price per barrel half what it was just last June, according to the New York Times. The related decrease in gas prices at the pump might have a startling effect on the auto industry—for both sales and service shops alike. ..

You could train your service advisors on every sales technique in the book. You could have the lowest prices and the highest quality. You could run your shop like a well-oiled machine. And yet, you might still have trouble retaining your customers if you don’t empower and educate them throughout the service process. ..

Automotive experts generally distinguish car salesmen from service advisors. Both might sell products and services, but service advisors carry a different image than your traditional salesman. Advisors report inspection results and educate customers about their vehicles, which happens to lead to sales, whereas salesmen simply sell vehicles. Right? ..

The service department tends to be the busiest place in a dealership, and service managers must stay in tune with what’s going on. While meetings and discussions can be useful, at times they only result in vague ideas the service staff never acts upon. Just like in any organization, a service department is only as good as its leader. Sometimes, you have to get in the trenches to really understand employee problems, obstacles, and frustrations. ..