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FEA TURE

Support Your Support Teams

By Anthony Greenhalgh, Director of Marketing and Sales at Rapid Recon

From the age of 16, I have been a guy who
grew up in auto dealerships. I’ve held 11
positions over 29 years — 24 working
for the same dealer and the last five for a
reconditioning company. I’ve held many
positions in a dealership, from office clerk to
director. When I thought I had experienced
it all, I was pleasantly surprised with new
challenges every new day.

From my dealership experience and
observations from my current seat, good
processes and good people are the pinnacles
of success.

I argue these two points here:
• Dealerships everywhere miss the mark
when it comes to their non-revenue-
producing employees
• When support teams ask for
something, the importance of getting
that “ask” handled quickly is much A successful business is built on a solid foundation: a foundation supported by
non-revenue-producing personnel.
greater than you
Hit the Mark holding costs until that $80,000 is in your dealer’s left holding the expense instead of
bank. the bank.
I am no stranger to personnel expense.
Fifty-two percent of my annual gross as You have taken an hourly employee off their Equip for Efficiency
a dealership manager went to personnel, task. There’s only one of them (AP support),
making it the most expensive line on the but they support 11 of you, including Let’s talk tools, specifically technology
financial statement. department heads. That means this holdup hardware. I visit many dealerships, and
is also delaying 11 people because a five- too often, the business office is stacked
I’m not here to preach about spending minute task isn’t getting done, which with hand-me-down computer equipment
less on people or arguing you should save quickly turns into an hour of inefficiency. plagued with slow, inadequate processors
yourself into a bigger net profit. It’s more I was a department head before I realized and low memory. That gigantic copy,
about efficiency and how dealerships I was the problem. Arrogance is expensive, scan, and print machine you require team
everywhere miss the mark when ignoring and you can quote me on that. When your members to share is stuck in a corner room
or minimizing the value of non-revenue- support team asks for something, the away from desks. Reread those last two
producing employees to your dealership’s importance of getting it done quickly is sentences, and if you don’t cringe, I believe
(and your) success. much greater than you. you’re comfortable with wasting money.

When your support team asks for something I talk efficiency every day, but it’s usually We, literally, have people paid by the minute
it’s because they need it to complete a more related to service, parts, body shop, and carrying out tasks that take time. Rather
significant task. Holding a payable is just a sales. Business office efficiency rarely comes than asking someone to work harder, think
small part of cutting a check, finalizing a car up, but it’s just as vital, if not more so, from about what we can do as department heads
deal, and getting a vehicle titled. You have a a financial standpoint as vehicle holding to help them work smarter by eliminating
$250 bill on your desk, but it’s holding up costs and contracts in transit. Inefficiency things that slow them down. Making
$80,000. Plus, your dealer is still covering here adds up to big money when the minor adjustments can easily justify a $500

20 | MIDATLANTIC DEALER NEWS | MIDATLANTICAUTODEALERSUNITED.ORG • APRIL 2022