From the January issue of UCD
By John Dismukes
At the 2024 NIADA BHPH Dealer Forum, I had the opportunity to moderate the panel “Getting the vehicle is easy, getting it frontline ready is vital.”
It was a spirited discussion surrounding the BHPH approach to acquiring vehicles, reconditioning, and keeping the vehicles on the road for the life of the loan.
Afterward I follow up with one of my panelists, Jordan Ridgeway, owner of The Car Store of Myrtle Beach. Here is our discussion and hopefully it has some ideas for you.
John Dismukes: We had some great discussions during the panel. What is one point that was brought up that you’ve dealt with at The Car Store and perhaps are still fine tuning.
Jordan Ridgeway: One point we brought up was in regards to heavy diagnosis on problem vehicles. I expressed how we will outsource the vehicle to another shop if we spend more than two hours on an issue we cannot seem to figure out or is above our knowledge. While this does seem to work for us, one thing on my mind since the panel is that I think we would benefit from having an additional A Tech/diagnostics technician for these sorts of issues. I believe it could help keep some outsource costs down and solve some issues that some new technology on vehicles can present. It’s something we are strongly considering and may plan to implement in the very near future.
JR: Another topic that I thought was interesting was the conversation on what we are doing to keep our customers on the road. We had many different answers on what each individual was doing as far as warranty/goodwill repairs. Also we discussed who was doing free oil changes and who wasn’t. The consensus was that the more we can do to help the customer stay on the road can only help us. Not only does that customer continue to pay (most of the time), but he/she will send their friends and family.
JD: That is a great point. I was taught to consider longevity in business as well as the power of repeat and referral customers. A large part of that is taking care of the customer when the machines we sell have issues. Our customers want to have a trusted source for their transportation needs. That trust is built by providing a safe, reliable automobile and standing behind what you sell. Once that trust is established, your customers will refer their friends and family to do business with your dealership.
JD: One of the biggest challenges that we face as independent dealers is keeping up with active recalls on our inventory. Do you have any processes in place to deal with this challenge?
JR: I believe we have not been doing a great job keeping up with recalls on vehicles on the lot or in the pre-inspection. I understand you cannot rebuild a used vehicle before you sell it, but we believe in putting out the safest product possible, and that should include any safety recalls from the manufacturer as well. We now have put a process in place to hopefully eliminate any vehicle from hitting the lot with an active recall. We will monitor this process and hopefully all goes as expected.
JD: That is a sound philosophy and should be a cornerstone of our industry – providing a safe, reliable vehicle to our customers. The dealer that got me into the car business had the philosophy that we were in a transportation ministry and to never sell a car that we wouldn’t sell to our mom. It’s easier said than done sometimes, but that thought process and intention goes a long way to building a trustworthy reputation in the marketplace.
JD: We had BHPH Dealers from all over the country attending our panel discussion, many of whom I’ve had follow-up conversations with since the forum. Despite the geographical differences, those of us who choose to do service whether internal or external face significant challenges. Reconditioning, the amount of goodwill we give, comebacks, and staffing our service departments offer significant challenges and in the same regard significant opportunities. What is an insight you took away from the panel discussion to keep the needle moving forward in your service department at The Car Store of Myrtle Beach?
JR: Overall, I thought the panel brought some insight to everyone in the room, and especially to me. By no means do I think we have mastered the art of the service department. We have made every mistake in the book and try to learn from them as we go. We will continue to track our numbers and try to get better each month. At the end of the day, the more cars you recondition, the more you can sell. It all starts in the service department.
Let’s keep the conversation going, let me know your thoughts. Email me at john@niada.com
