By Ken Rock Whenever I visit dealerships, I often see technicians standing around at the parts counter or waiting to talk with service advisors. This is a waste of your technicians’ time and billable hours. I’m not blaming the technicians. I’m blaming managers and directors who aren’t enforcing the use of an electronic dispatch process. […]

Did you hear the latest? To stay informed about the latest happenings at Auto/Mate, subscribe to get DMS Central emails delivered right to your inbox! http://bit.ly/2llEk6d Publications AutoSuccess Dealer Service Building a Customer Centric Service Department When you want to increase fixed ops revenue, it’s easy to focus on the results that you want, instead […]

By Melissa Maldonado, Director of Customer Support Do you have what it takes to be a leader? Being a manager doesn’t automatically make you a leader, and you can also be a leader without being a manager. But how do you know if you’re a leader or a manager? A true leader is someone who […]

Join us for this exclusive WardsAuto webinar on Tuesday, October 1st at 2:00 pm EST! Are you looking for ways to increase your Fixed Ops profits? Want to retain more customers? Growing fixed ops profits doesn’t always have to be accomplished by increasing repair order (RO) volume, or increasing labor hours or lines per RO. […]

By Mike Esposito Dealers often look for new technology solutions to help them solve a problem, and rightfully so. When a well-trained staff follows a well-documented process, technology saves time and money and makes it easy to analyze data so you can make smart business decisions. However, if your staff isn’t well trained and your […]

Auto/Mate is more than just a software company! To stay informed on everything we’re up to, check out our monthly roundup of articles, events and news. Publications Hire for Attitude, Not Skills AutoSuccess Are you having trouble finding good people to hire? In this article, Mike Esposito explains why hiring for attitude is often a […]

If employee turnover is a top concern for your dealership, one of your top priorities must be transforming your workplace culture and leadership style. We traditionally think of leadership as a top-down, authoritarian hierarchy. Years ago, this was the typical structure in almost every dealership. There was also a general belief that a high-pressure sales […]

by Ken Rock This is such a pervasive problem. At almost every dealership I visit, as I sit in the accounting office going through parts invoices, I notice that half of the invoices have the words ‘cash sale’ as customer. If you ask the parts people why there are so many ‘cash sale’ invoices, the […]

by Melissa Maldonado, Director of Customer Support, Auto/Mate In my position I visit many dealership accounting offices, and recently I’ve noticed a common problem. Accounting employees aren’t being properly trained. This is a big problem because if your office isn’t being managed efficiently, your money isn’t being managed efficiently. Typically, new hires are trained by […]

Our monthly roundup summarizes Auto/Mate’s presence in the news. Check out our latest articles, event participation and press releases! Publications The Scheduling Tug of War Used Car Dealer Magazine With customer pay and recon vehicles battling for the service department’s time, how do you decide which one wins? Mike Esposito shares a few recommendations. Inside […]

by Mike Esposito, president and CEO, Auto/Mate It’s been over 20 years since I managed a large Chevy store, but some things never change. Many dealers still have issues with the recon process and getting pre-owned inventory out to the front line in a timely manner. The crux of this problem starts with pay plans and the fact that […]

by Dominique Conti, Marketing Director, Kimoby Car dealerships are under increasing pressure to boost their revenues and mitigate their operational costs in order to remain competitive. One of the ways dealerships are choosing to address these challenges is through innovative new marketing techniques, such as business texting. The reason? Gone are the days that car […]

by Ken Rock Here’s what I’ve noticed in dealerships: the problem isn’t just a lack of training, it’s the general lack of a thought process that any training is needed. At dealerships, we often take people who do their jobs well and make them a manager. The problem is, we don’t teach them how to […]

Your accounting staff may not generate revenue like your sales or service staff do, but what happens in your office has a huge impact on the profitability of your business. If your office isn’t being managed efficiently, your money isn’t being managed efficiently. On Wednesday, July 31st Auto/Mate’s Director of Support Services, Melissa Maldonado, will […]

Did you see us in the news this month? Publications How to Prevent Harassment in the #MeToo Era F&I Showroom In the June issue, Dave Druzynski urges dealers to set aside old handbooks and corny training videos, to create an enforceable policy that aligns with current best practices. Is Your DMS Ready for the Digital […]