Repeat repairs
In his latest installment on ‘six ways to lose money’ in service operations, Jim Bell takes a look at one that can have arguably the biggest impact: policy Policy is work we perform and it doesn’t pay. Some people call …
Category: Focus on fixed: Jim Bell
Sundry shortfall
Protecting the environment has become a major issue over the last several years and so have the related fines for not complying. Recovering the cost of shop supplies from a customer is an interesting subject that appears to have a …
The human factor
CONTINUING HIS LOOK AT SIX KPIS THAT CAN AFFECT THE BOTTOM LINE IN SERVICE OPERATIONS, JIM BELL FOCUSES ON PERSONNEL EXPENSES. In our first installment for this series, we mentioned that personnel expense should not be more than 50 per …
Measuring service
PARTS TO LABOUR RATIOS Many of us remember when the value of the parts on a work order often exceeded the labour dollars. That was in the days not so long ago when you installed rebuilt engines, transmissions and other …
Bad ratios, big losses
IN HIS ONGOING SERIES ABOUT SIX KPIS THAT CAN COST SERVICE DEPARTMENTS BIG MONEY, JIM BELL TAKES A LOOK AT GROSS PROFIT ON CUSTOMER PAID LABOUR RATIOS Last issue, we introduced this series on the six KPI indicators for losing …
Six KPI numbers to consider if you want a good bottom line
IN THE FIRST OF A SPECIAL SERIES, JIM BELL LOOKS AT KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS THAT CAN MAKE OR BREAK YOUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT WHEN IT COMES TO PROFITABILITY Today, more than any time in the history of the automotive industry, it …
Atithi Devo Bhava
JIM BELL SAYS THAT WE COULD LEARN A LOT ABOUT SERVICE PRACTICES BY WHAT’S HAPPENING IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST DEVELOPING AUTOMOTIVE MARKETS — INDIA Around five years ago we wrote an article on the automotive industry in India …
Our changing service industry
ALTHOUGH MANY STORES NOW HAVE FEWER SERVICE CUSTOMERS, THERE ARE STILL SMART WAYS TO BOOST THE BOTTOM LINE For certain, vehicles still break down and have to be repaired, but not as often as they used to. According to J.D. …
Retention roadblock
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 …
Forecasting service operation sales
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 …
Sweat the small stuff
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 …
Why did you call this meeting?
SERVICE MEETINGS CAN ENCOURAGE FEEDBACK AND COMMUNICATION, BUT ONLY IF THEY ARE ORGANIZED AND EXECUTED PROPERLY When was the last time that you held a really productive service department meeting and said to yourself, “that was a great meeting.” The …
