Dealership Logistics

APTINT · July 22, 2015

Hey so I was curious to how other people servicing dealerships deal with the logistics of the appointments. Do you deal with Sales/Service/Finance? Does one contact person that has keys? Do you allow customers to wait? How do you reprimand a dealer for wasting time? I know they are all different, but just curious to see if anyone out there has a system that seems to be working well...

TomTint · July 22, 2015

There is no one answer for this, But when we were doing cars, we had several dealerships and always tried to accommodate them as quickly as possible,and with as little disruption to their system as possible. It is a double edge sword, dealers want and expect service if they are giving you multiple cars a day,week,month. They should take some president over the one shot retail customer. Provided they are a loyal dealer. But remember, you sleep in the bed you make, some dealers are simply the scum of the earth, getting paid can be a exercise in temper control, paperwork and "lost POs" are always a possibility and if you give them to much slack, they will exploit any generosity you show, to gain a edge.

APTINT · July 22, 2015

Yeah, Im not worried about getting paid, all the billing works fine. Just more so, sending installers out to a 10am appointment and the installer cant get started for an hour or so because someone cant find the key or customer is late, or there is no indoor space to work yada yada yada.

TomTint · July 22, 2015

That is going to happen time to time. It is what it is.

Bham · July 22, 2015

AP-- you almost have to "train" your dealerships.

Always get a P.O.# before they take final delivery. Very Important.

I've got my favorite dealership used to dealing with me and it's nice. They call ahead for scheduling,, they drop the car off and usually give their customer a 'loaner' for a day, just in case I can't deliver until the next morning.

I always put information in the car for the customer to contact me directly after install if there are any problems. Some dealerships would rather you deal with them only and let them deal with their customer. Every one is different.

Once you have a good outline of how to deal with a dealership, then you have to train your people(dealerships) to follow that outline :twocents

Edited July 22, 2015 by Bham

APTINT · July 22, 2015

Yeah.......i guess I was just hoping for a miracle on this one LOL. I have a good system, been using it for a long time now, just always something... :deadhorse

Tintguy1980 · July 22, 2015

Last dealership I serviced was in Naples (Devoe Cadillac). Handled them similar to Bham. At some point we agreed on one price for anything done; 2-door four door, SUV or truck (a median of lowest cost to highest). The method was for the car to be delivered to my shop and they could always count on picking it up at their start time the next morning. This meant it was done late evening or early morning most of the time but, it was street priced and they always paid on time.

I left the area in 96 and went back about three years later to visit friends and stopped by Devoe. The guys at Devoe were begging me to stay and service them cause they couldn't get anybody to do the same for them as I did. It was a steady feed of work from them for sure.

Another dealership there wanted me to do them like Devoe and I turned them down. When asked why, I simply said their reputation proceeds them in terms of making good on their debts. They weren't too thrill to hear that but hey, pay your bills and you wouldn't have that reputation to begin with.

Edit: Devoe didn't jack the price to the buyer or customer and if there were any issues they simply sent the car owner direct to my shop.

Edited July 22, 2015 by smartie2shoes

Tracy McKelvey · December 1, 2017

We created a software that helps keep all the dealership specific Data. Has a phone app to scan the VIn, generate the invoice, payroll auto figure features, Picture of the completed job, Keeps track of PO/RO/Stock#. It even has a sign on for the dealership to view invoices themselves. Plus a ton of other stuff. Cost about 25 cents a car on average.

DealershipInvoicing.com

Glad to discuss if it could help.

602-820-9009