JIM BELL SAYS THAT THE REASON WHY MANY SERVICE DEPARTMENTS OFTEN STRUGGLE WITH CUSTOMER RETENTION, IS DUE TO A RELUCTANCE TO CHANGE PRACTICES INTERNALLY It’s well known that many dealerships today are struggling with retaining their customer base, despite the …
IS IT REALISTIC AND DOES IT HAVE A CHANCE OF HAPPENING? By the time you read this article, you will have no doubt worked out your service department forecast for 2014. Our question is how did you arrive at the …
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS, LEADING DMS PROVIDER PBS SYSTEMS GROUP HAS TAKEN A UNIQUE APPROACH TO THE INDUSTRY SINCE DAY ONE Today, it’s hard to imagine there was a time when the business office in the dealership didn’t rely …
DEALER SUCCESSION IS OFTEN VERY DIFFERENT TODAY FROM WHAT IT ONCE WAS Not that long ago, succession in automotive retail meant transferring the ownership of the business to family members. Many dealers in Canada today are second and third generation …
WHEN RESOLVING CUSTOMERS’ CONCERNS CONSIDER THE CONVENIENCE AS PART OF THE SOLUTION There are many components to great customer service, but few can be weighted as heavily as a customer’s time. In the information age, time is the most precious …
CELEBRITY CHEF FABIO VIVIANI LOVES HIS BIG AND POWERFUL MERCEDES-BENZ Celebrity: Fabio Viviani Profession: Celebrity Chef, Author & TV personality Vehicle: 2013 Mercedes-Benz CLS55 AMG Fabio Viviani is a celebrity chef, author, and TV personality. He gained fame on Bravo’s …
EUROPEAN “COLD WAR” HAS THROWN THE TRANSITION TO A NEW REFRIGERANT INTO DISARRAY If you were in the auto business in the 1990s, you probably remember the near chaos that surrounded a change in vehicle air-conditioning refrigerant at that time. …
WHY INDIFFERENCE TO A NEW CONCEPT OR PROCESS IS OFTEN DUE TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING IT This may surprise you but until recently I had never played golf. Some friends convinced me to play and I have to admit …
WHY COMMON STANDARDS FOR LEGISLATION AND REGULATION ARE IN OUR BEST INTERESTS We live in a great country. One that is pretty diverse, as any of you who have had the opportunity to travel across Canada can appreciate. While such …
SOMETIMES, IT’S BENEFICIAL TO LOOK OUTSIDE OF THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY TO SEE HOW BUSINESSES INVEST IN THEIR FACILITIES TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE When office towers in downtown Toronto saw companies leave for the suburbs, both landlords and some innovative …
WHY WE’VE STILL GOT A LONG WAY TO GO TO INTEGRATING THE VIRTUAL AND ACTUAL DEALERSHIP In a recent column, I spoke about the “two solitudes” of the auto retailing world in the context of an increasingly digital environment. This …
WHY PAYING ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE THINGS IS CRITICAL FOR AN EFFECTIVE — AND PROFITABLE —FIXED-OPS STRATEGY There is a popular book called Don’t sweat the small stuff and it’s all small stuff. This might be considered good advice by …
