Three Essentials for AUTO DEALERS

When it comes down to it, there are three things that every used car dealer needs to be doing in their dealership.

I was on YouTube this week and ran across an interview I did about “Resources for Growth” for auto dealers. A lot of the information I shared in the interview comes from my 25 years in the auto industry. Over that time, I’ve worked as GM in the dealership, as a vendor to the dealership, as a consultant for the dealership and now as FIADA’s Director of Operations, I’m a resource of the dealership. What my experience has taught me is that there are three things that dealerships need to be healthy and function well: a quality source for continuing education, a

By Jennifer Finlay

compliance-friendly way to do business, and a thoughtful collection of policies that guide the day-to-day. Let me explain these in more detail.

Continue to Learn

I gave that YouTube interview long before I started working at FIADA, but even then I was clear on how important the association is for dealers to keep ahead of their business through continuing education. The used car industry is always changing and evolving, if you aren’t growing with it you will get left behind. There are plenty of places you can go to learn, but by far the most comprehensive and economical place is FIADA.

Dealer Training School/Continuing Education: You probably remember this course from when you got your license. I actually advise new dealers to take the same course again at the end of the first year because it will just reinforce everything you are doing. The law in Florida is that dealers must get at least 8 hours of continuing education every two years. Even if that wasn’t the law, it is good business sense to continually teach yourself about your business.

Lunch & Learns and Workshops: FIADA knows you are busy and your time is valuable. Lunch & Learns are designed to be short and to the point lunch-hour lessons that you can take back to work with you and see immediate returns. The morning/afternoon workshop series called Green Pea University is another quick and easy training that should be on your radar. With our partner Peak Performance Team, these four-hour seminars will cover a variety of topics and will be held throughout the state. Check out page 2 for the opportunities coming in February.

Annual Convention: This issue of the magazine is dedicated to recapping the Annual Convention that was just held in Orlando, so you can see this event is three days of education, networking and events that are specifically designed for independent dealerships at every stage of their journey. We are already making plans for the 2023 Convention to be held the last week of October at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek.

We are constantly developing the educational calendar and offering educational instruction through this magazine to keep our dealer members at the top of their game. We send out regular emails and social media posts to keep you informed of breaking news. FIADA is really the primary way you can be involved with the industry, learn from other dealers and be surrounded with people who are as passionate about the business as you are-and its fun!

Be Consistently Compliant

The auto industry is highly-regulated. Every aspect of selling a car including purchasing it as inventory, advertising it for sale, going through a mechanical inspection, selling it to a customer, financing the sale to the customer, offering a warranty after the sale-all of it, is scrutinized, reviewed and studied by a government agency.

Whether it’s the Attorney General, the FTC, the Office of Financial Regulation, the Florida Department of Revenue, the CFPD or some other three or four letter group, there is a regulating body that watches everything you do and has the power to put you out of business. If that doesn’t scare you, it should!

There is no way a dealer can keep up with all the rules and requirements, because a) there are so many and b) something always seems to be changing. You would literally have to hire someone and make it their only job to watch the rules, keep up with the changes and make sure you are following them to the letter. Since a lean staff is an efficient staff, I think a much better way to ensure your compliance is to choose a good Dealer Management Software (DMS) program. A good DMS program will run you from a couple hundred, to several hundred, dollars a month but the money they save in potential penalties and fines is priceless. The software programs get updated regularly and ensure that whenever you log-in to your user portal you are running the most up-to-date, regulatory compliant version available. If there is a line that legally has been required to change on one of your forms, the DMS will update it in real-time and you’re not going to have to worry about it anymore. There’s no dealer too small or too large that doesn’t need a DMS for accounting, sales tax and compliance reasons at the very

Write it All Down

Arguably, the most important thing you can do for your dealership is to develop documented, auditable processes for everything you do. Everything. I know it is tempting not to do this because running you dealership probably feels as natural as breathing, but trust me, an actual, written, published policy and procedures binder is important.

Start with all of your basic processes. What happens when you give a test drive? What are the steps you take to get inventory front-line ready? What is included in your detail process? How do you do deals at your dealership? Keep a notepad next to you for a few weeks and literally take notes on everything you do. You can shape these notes into your dealership’s internal processes bible that will keep you compliant and consistent. Need some examples?

I worked at a dealership that didn’t really have a policy on test drives. People came in, we let them test drive the car, that’s it. One day, one of the customers ran into another car during the test drive and as we began filing out the accident information we discovered their driver’s license wasn’t valid. Immediately we put a policy in place that we had to check the driver’s license before allowing a test drive. Another example? What’s your policy on keys? If the transporter gives you two sets of keys a good policy may be to separate them, and then staple one set to the inside of the deal jacket.

When I was a consultant I was hired by a dealership to help them “get things organized.” I noticed in the office there was an empty chair at a desk that looked like it had been used in the past. I asked the owner who sits there? He said, “oh, that’s Gordon’s spot.” I said, “ok, what does Gordon do?” He said, “Gordon does our online advertising, but he’s been out for three weeks.” I was shocked. Does that mean no one has been doing anything with online ads for a nearly a month? Unfortunately, yes it did. No one else knew how to do what Gordon did. I immediately began to sit down with every employee at the dealership and talk to them about their duties and daily responsibilities. I turned all of my notes and consequent suggestions into a procedures manual for each position at the dealership. I gave each employee a binder for their desk, and then put a second copy into a master collection of all the procedures that I gave to the owner. Now, if Gordon is out for three weeks someone else can pick up the pieces and the show can go on. See how important written policies are?

I know it might be overwhelming to create a set of internal operations policies for your dealership. Just pick a place and start. Even though you are writing them down, they don’t have to be set in stone. It’s okay to experiment and try new things. Before you can change things though, you need to know how it all works, and that’s what written policies offers.