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ACAR Report Notes – June

June 8, 2020

With early results in, it looks like May is showing a strong rebound. New inventory levels are very low, so make sure you are getting all the gross.

As the country opens and PPP wraps up it is time to evaluate our staffing needs thru the end of the year. We suggest building to what an average month will look like.

Concerns:
Furloughed employees – who and when to bring back
PPP wrapping up – no longer necessary to manage headcounts and compensation
 
Opportunities:
With high unemployment a good time to upgrade your staff
Re-Design Pay Plans – sales, gross and CSI components
Re-Distribute duties
Re-Align workspaces, counters, and offices for efficiency
Eliminate mediocre employees (unless legal reasons prevent)
 
In discussion with dealers, the new hours have been very beneficial and are changing staffing needs. Be very thoughtful as you begin increasing hours. If it does not generate gross or market share to cover those additional costs, do not change those hours.

Also, with changes in processes and new technologies implemented in the last two months there are shifting expectations. For example, salespeople traditionally need to average at least 11 units per month. Should that now be 15 or 20 with more appointment setting and at home deliveries? Is it time to try a new approach?

List duties by position so you can see if the appropriate person is responsible for those duties. I have heard many stories about indispensable employees and once they were furloughed, it turns out they were not needed in the first place.

As you break out responsibilities verify that highly compensated employees are only doing high level work. If someone at $14 an hour can perform the duties of an $8,000 a month person, they should be performing those tasks. For example, an “A” tech should not be working on reconditioning. By moving duties to the appropriate position, it will free up managers to be better utilized or allow you to work with fewer
managers.

As our dealers have been forced to change, they are seeing surprising results and will be changing processes significantly going forward. Make sure you are making a To Do List to keep implementing these changes. As you work thru your new staffing needs please use the Re-Focus Profit Planner for the listing of your employee head counts and compensation. Also, we have templates to inventory all positions in the dealership
and compare back to where they are recorded on the statement, you may be surprised. Just give us a call at 1-888-409-2227 if you would like to discuss.