10 Things I Would Do If I Bought Your Dealership

James A. Ziegler The Alpha Dawg

10 Things I Would Do If I Bought Your Dealership Today

Jim Ziegler, CSP, HSG , the Alpha Dawg Ziegler SuperSystems, inc.

(770) 921-4440

www.AlphaDawgBlog.com www.ZieglerSeminars.com

http://www.alphadawgblog.com/

http://www.zieglerseminars.com/



They just called a meeting in your dealership. All of the employees in the company are gathered in the showroom for the big announcement. There’s a lot of suspense, apprehension and speculation, rumors have been circulating for several weeks. Your Dealer walks to the front of the room and starts talking about he started this company 20 years ago and spends the next 15 minutes telling you how much he loves each of you and a few stories about funny things that happened over the years. People are fidgeting and looking at each other as if we sort of know where this is heading. The son-of-bitch is retiring. His kids are walking brain-dead Pokémon Chasers and with no competent heirs to leave it to he’s sold the store. Then, he finally drops the bomb… THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN SOLD … and the new owner, Jim Ziegler, from Atlanta will be taking over operations immediately.



It’s never pretty and it’s not always pleasant, but; this scenario happens sooner or later in almost every dealership in the country.

The first question on everyone’s mind is… “Do I still have a Job?” The Answer is… “Maybe.” Whether it’s Jim Ziegler, or any other new dealer acquiring a dealership, I’m buying the assets not the company. I am going to evaluate every employee very carefully before rehiring them to be part of the new company. There will be a number of people leaving immediately and I’m prepared for that. Even if I decided that no one was worth keeping, I will have a backup plan and a team in place to insure a smooth transition.


10 Things I Would Do If I Bought Your Dealership Today There are processes and marketing projects I’d do immediately if I bought your dealership. As the new owner, it’s a clean slate. There are certain projects I believe are top priority to increase sales and raise profits. I have to concentrate on the basics… •  Facility – mostly inventory display changes and showroom point of sale changes •  Processes and Training – This is going to be intensified •  Staffing – probably going to make a lot of changes in sales and management •  Inventory – Due Diligence, where at we at in the cars on the ground (before the sale) •  Vendors (we’ll be firing some vendors and bringing on some new ones) •  CRM – probably going to change companies •  Website – probably going to change companies •  Advertising – definitely going to make changes •  BDC/Internet Department/Communications Center – going to strengthen the BDC


10 Things I Would Do If I Bought Your Dealership Today Cover Your Weaknesses

As any experienced dealer will tell you, it’s important to know your weaknesses. Not everyone is an expert on all functions that happen in a dealership. Personally, my weakness is Fixed Operations and Accounting; I am a variable operations expert. So my first priority is to be sure I have extremely competent people handling accounting, service and fixed operations. Even though I am NOT an expert on these departments, I will become an expert on managing them. THEN: I will hire nationally recognized outside companies to consult, audit and report on my accounting and fixed operations performance… I will also join a Dealer 20-group by NADA or NCM.



Sales Department Daily Management Business Meetings This is the first step in my business plan; organizing, monitoring and measuring the variable operations of the dealership. Without exception we’re going to have a daily business meeting. The dealer or the general manager will always attend. We’ll tolerate no excuses. This meeting will take place every day with the exception of weekends with all variable managers scheduled. And every department, new car sales, pre-owned sales, BDC, and F&I, will be present to discuss deals in transit, appointments, CRM reports and callbacks, missed and makeable deals, problems and solutions.



High Conversion, Responsive Website I’ve often said that your website and Google are the battle fields. SEO and SEM are the weapons. One of my first and highest priorities is getting a “Kick-Ass Website” One thing I am keenly aware of is that all manufacturer mandated websites are basically dog crap. AND, I am also aware that many co-op approved vendors are often times the worst and most ineffective, incompetent frauds on the planet. SO, I am going to have a second website as my primary website and I won’t buy crap just because it’s manufacturer approved co-op crap.



My Goal is to Build a Sales-Producing Website: Does our website convert? Does it look the same as all of the others? There are website developers out there that are screaming for my dealership’s business. And they will do a much better job than vendors offering manufacturer-sanctioned websites. Mobile Enabled Website: If 85% of consumers are on handheld devices, is our site responsive to mobile devices? How Quickly does your Site Load? If the site takes more than a few seconds to load the consumers move on.



High Conversion, Responsive Website What I’m looking for in a website… •  Fast loading •  SEO maximized, every page relevant •  Mobile, every page relevant, click to correct destination •  Originality and market exclusivity •  Give me all of your references… show me their sites •  Support



Cut Off the Data-Suckers Hopefully I was smart enough to get the entire customer base and CRM data. The next priority is to find out who’s extracting customer data out of my DMS operating system. I am going to cut off all companies that are lifting customer data out of my system that do not have an apparent need to use that data in the dealership’s behalf. I am NOT going to do business with any company that has clauses in the EULA Agreements that give them ownership of my customer data or the right to resell or repurpose it or share it with their affiliates.



Solidify the Selling System •  Quantify, exactly what the dealership’s selling system is. No shades of Gray

are acceptable. Every detail, possibility and scenario are covered. The selling system is absolute and no individual is an exception.

•  Training, we will implement a constant and ongoing training program on sales

techniques as well as our processes. We will train existing employees continually as well as the new-hires.

“Average People With Great Processes Can Achieve Incredible Things”



Management Training

In my dealership we’re going to train managers continually and hold the managers accountable to do what we trained them to do. This includes sending managers and employees to seminars and conferences and reporting back what they learned.

•  BDC/Internet Managers •  Pre-Owned Sales Managers •  New Car Managers •  F&I Management and closers

We Don’t Have a Knowing Problem – We Have a Doing Problem



Marry Your CRM One of my top priorities as the new dealer is to take a close look at our CRM programs and the provider. My experience is that several of the very best CRMs on the market are only great when they work. In truth, several of the top CRM companies in our business have the crappiest support and they crash continually, usually during peak times at the end of the month. I know who’s who in the CRM game and I will probably fire whatever company the previous dealer was using.

I coined this phrase several years ago and it’s sort of echoed around the industry, often repeated; but, seldom fully understood.



Marry Your CRM: My philosophy is that our CRM is the heartbeat of sales and service, so we will use it exactly the way it’s designed to be used. If an employee or manager refuses to use the CRM - or refuses to fill in every blank exactly the way we have designed the program - then we will terminate that individual. When shopping for a CRM, I will need a CRM company that understands our philosophy and our processes. What is their response time when I need changes made or they have an error?



Marry Your CRM •  Is the CRM customizable to our culture? OR does the CRM company want us to

change our processes to their way of doing it?

•  Do they understand the Car Business, OR are they on a mission to change us?

•  Do they have a Data-Mining, and Equity-Mining program?

•  Do they have a legally compliant ‘Texting’ program?

•  All of their references and support assurances



I’ll Fire All of the Outside Vendors

•  Lead Providers – Show me the ROI – actual cars sold

•  SEO/SEM Companies

•  Call Monitoring

•  Social Media and Advertising Agencies

•  Data-Mining



Never Trust Statistics About a Vendor’s Performance That Are Supplied By The Vendor


10 Things I Would Do If I Bought Your Dealership Today Dear Vendor; “Don’t be selling me No Damn VDPs and SRPs and Keep On Trying to Tell me You’re Just an Advertising Source”



Hire an SEO Company: Google is the new battlefield and most dealerships are losing to vendors that outbid and outmaneuver them in Google first-page results. These vendors are stealing your customers and renting them back to you at exorbitant prices. So hold lead providers accountable for sales results, reduce spending and spend more on search engine optimization. Hire a Full Services Advertising Agency: Important that your agency is Google certified and expert in traditional advertising as well as Social Media advertising. Hire a Social Media Company: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, even Twitter; Social media is maybe the most cost effective and productive advertising selling cars today. When I buy your dealership, this might be the route I take with an effective budget.



If I Bought Your Dealership Today, these are just a few of the projects I’d perform immediately. The bigger picture is these are the thing every Dealer and General Manager should be doing already… every day in every dealership. The Point is simply holding your people, your processes and your vendors accountable. Pay for results not double-talk. I see so many dealerships blindly accepting Bad People doing a Bad Job with no checks and balances. I see Dealers spending huge money with fraudulent and incompetent vendors who are NOT delivering the results… and nobody is being held accountable and nobody is measuring the ROI vs. the ad spend. People Always ask me How I grow dealerships to the Big Numbers? Well, it ain’t Rocket Science folks.



Got Questions? Now’s the Time!

Jim Ziegler, CSP, HSG , the Alpha Dawg Ziegler SuperSystems, inc.

(770) 921-4440

www.AlphaDawgBlog.com www.ZieglerSeminars.com

http://www.alphadawgblog.com/

http://www.zieglerseminars.com/

Automotive

10 Things I Would Do If I Bought Your Dealership