By Ken Rock, Customer Care Manager, Auto/Mate   In my job I travel and work with many dealerships, and when I say many, I mean a lot. So I get to see firsthand what really happens in dealerships, as opposed to what dealers think is happening.   My specialty is fixed ops, and lately, I’ve […]

by Dave Druzynski, Chief People Officer   Employee engagement is the strength of the mental and emotional connection that employees feel toward their workplace. It affects every part of your business, including revenues, customer experience, turnover, talent acquisition and brand awareness.   Studies show that companies with high levels of employee engagement also have high […]

Did you see us in the news in August? Here’s a summary in case you missed us. Publications     Auto Dealer Today Empowerment Plus Training Equals Success Sales and F&I professionals underperform when dealers fail to tie training to performance or empower managers and staff to make good decisions. Melissa Maldonado breaks down what […]

by Mike Jordan, Senior Systems Engineer     We often forget about technology until it’s broken. It’s easy to assume everything is fine, until it isn’t. That’s why having a server down that runs your entire operation will test your disaster plan (You do have a disaster/business continuity plan, don’t you?). Days. Let that sink […]

by Ken Rock, Customer Care Manager   When dealership management system (DMS) vendors introduced auto dispatch years ago, many service managers tried it and quickly gave it up. The first auto dispatch systems were buggy and complicated, so avoidance by service personnel was understandable.   As programming and features improved, auto dispatch became more user […]

A roundup of the latest news and events from Auto/Mate.   Publications       Fixed Ops Magazine, July/August issue Is Parts Obsolescence Eating Your Lunch? Fixed Ops expert Ken Rock reveals how much revenue your dealership is losing due to parts obsolescence, and shares a strategy to turn parts into a profit generator.   […]

Guest blog by Todd Stewart, CSO, Dealer Wizard, LLC   One of the core challenges for automotive retail dealers continues to be new vehicle margin compression. This is certainly not a new topic, evident by the amount of discussion and debate it has sparked between manufacturers and dealers over the past several years, especially in national […]

by Mike Esposito, president and CEO, Auto/Mate   Recently Auto/Mate won a “Special Award for Managers” from Energage as part of their annual Top Workplaces program. The award made me think about how important a management team is to a company’s overall success.   Sometimes managing your managers can be trickier than managing an entire […]

A roundup of the latest articles, events and news from Auto/Mate.   Publications     Car Biz Today, June 2018 issue How to Interview a Job Candidate Have you ever hired someone only to be disappointed in their performance? CPO Dave Druzynski outlines a step-by-step hiring process so that next time, you’ll hire the right […]

by Joy Wilson, Scan 123   Since the beginning of time, natural disasters have caused havoc to people and the areas surrounding them. Right now, Hawaii residents are dealing with the latest eruption of Kilauea Volcano. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in 2017, there were 16 severe weather events that each cost […]

Congratulations to Team Auto/Mate who raised nearly $7,000 for the American Diabetes Association! On Sunday, June 10, 17 of our employees rode, ran and walked in the Tour de Cure, The American Diabetes Association’s signature fundraising event. Proceeds fund diabetes research, advocacy, programs and education.   Sunday was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Albany, NY. […]

How do you get employees to perform their best? Learn the latest strategies in this upcoming Automotive News PowerTRAINING webinar! Auto/Mate’s Director of Support Services, Melissa Maldonado, will share proven techniques for getting the most out of your employees. It’s not all about motivation; it’s about hands-on training and coaching!   Date: Tuesday, June 12 […]

Auto/Mate is back and better than ever before, as evidenced by our recent news clips and videos. Check it out!   Publications   Car Biz Today Newscast, May 1, 2018 How Auto/Mate is Focused on Building Services Your Dealership Can Relate To Jim Fitzpatrick with CBT News caught up with Auto/Mate’s Dave Druzynski at Digital […]

Twenty-one and a half Auto/Mate employees ran and walked for a good cause last week in the Capital District Physicians Health Plan (CDPHP) Workforce Challenge. You might be asking, how can there be 21.5 participants? Well, one of our team members is pregnant so we had to count the half!   That’s a record number […]

by Mike Esposito, president and CEO   Customer Nights hosted by auto dealerships have always been around, but recently there seems to be a resurgence in their popularity. Many customer loyalty advocates recommend hosting these events as a way to connect with and show appreciation for customers.   True loyalty is created when your customers: […]