Fine Tuning Fixed Ops.

As fixed operations continue to evolve, Ally offers their expertise to help dealers maximize potential and profits. Two of Ally’s leading Fixed Operations experts, Jim Stewart, National Fixed Operations Consulting & Training Manager and Robert Brooks, National Fixed Operations Product Manager have their pulse on the industry and offer key insights on the areas of focus that can help dealers drive results.

With over 40 years of combined experience working in dealerships, both Jim and Robert agree that the biggest change they’ve seen in the industry is maintenance. According to Stewart, “there’s been a shift in the focus on maintenance by a lot of manufacturers, and especially the Big 3. With oil change and other kinds of maintenance or tune-up intervals being much longer, it changes the ability for the fixed operations departments to see their customers as often to make recommendations and offer additional services.”

Technology advancements have also played a pivotal role in the evolution of fixed operations. “The technology that’s built into cars, including the ability to update vehicles remotely” have required dealerships to make incredible investments in both technology and the technicians to work on vehicles.

To help keep pace with evolution, Ally has assembled a team of eleven experts that form its fixed operations consulting team. This talented team fields continual, tough questions from dealerships because they believe that regular maintenance is essential to keeping fixed operations running smoothly – just like vehicles entering the service drive.

Stewart says, one of the constant questions we receive is “how do we get technicians?”. Finding and keeping qualified technicians is a universal and difficult challenge throughout the country and industry.

We also field numerous questions about profitability from senior management or ownership and dealer principals. They’re looking for additional fixed coverage and for fixed operations to carry more of the load with key questions on metrics and expenses. Successful dealers are the ones who step back and look at their structure. Ally can help with tips for analyzing financial statements, factory warranty compliance needs and preparing for the annual opportunity to request an increased factory labor rate.

One of Ally’s specialties in the fixed operations arena is to train service advisors and dealership professionals who interact with customers more than anyone at the store according to both Stewart and Brooks. “Advisors don’t need to know as much about the cars, but more importantly, how to take care of customers and make them feel like the most important person in the dealership. Exceptional customer service is the building block for everything and the cornerstone of our training” says Brooks.

We understand that fixed operations training is not one-size-fits-all. According to Brooks, “one of the things about our consulting program – and we did this intentionally when we built the program – is that we adjust what we do to meet the dealer’s needs. Each dealer is its own unique entity.” While what we teach is ‘best practices,’ every time we visit a store, we learn and take something away with us. “If we see an opportunity to implement something successful that we learned somewhere else, we can make those recommendations and help dealers create a process,” says Brooks.

To help dealers get started, dealers can connect with Ally’s Fixed Operations Consulting by:

Website: allyfixedops.com

Toll-free phone number/voicemail: 1-(833) 304-2559

Email: fixedops@ally.com