It’s the new year, and you (might) still be trying to hold true to your resolutions. You may be trying to lose weight, exercise or spend more time unplugged from your phone and the Internet. While your health is incredibly important, what about your resolutions with your business or work? At your dealerships, there are so many things you can put on your “to improve” list, but if you are prioritizing in terms of efficiency, F&I and your service department, you should be taking a look at your dealership’s recon management programs. Perhaps you are reading this and realizing you don’t even have a recon program; what better time to start than right now while 2018 is still new and resolutions are still being made?
Why should you prioritize reconditioning programs at your dealership, with so many other great resolutions you may have personally made for 2018?
Control
The primary benefit of an efficient and well-run recon program is that control of the reconditioning process is put back in the hands of management. Any businessperson will agree that, to be successful, they have to control the processes that operate the business. Others may perform services for the business, but control is retained.
With the establishment of a reconditioning program, individual managers and vendors operate under the program’s processes, ensuring efficient workflow and profitability of the dealership’s pre-owed program. Under a reconditioning program, sales management is then free to focus on training sales personnel and selling cars. Time will no longer be lost to recon responsibilities — walking the lot, approving repairs, inspecting cars, etc. Imagine the time saved on five different vendors!
Accounting Efficiency
A function that often goes unnoticed with reconditioning is the workload that the traditional process places on the accounting department. When five or six different recon vendors are used, a tremendous amount of paperwork can be generated. This paperwork has to be matched with POs, ROs, management authorizations, etc. Countless hours can be saved by converting to a paperless billing system as well as reducing the vendors to be paid to one. A well-planned and operating reconditioning management program will drastically reduce time processing recon invoices by converting to a simple fixed price per car. The accounting department will love whoever makes that decision.
Planning for the Future
With used inventories and lease turn-ins at an all-time high — and forecasted to go higher — determining the right reconditioning program for your dealership can be a challenge. Whether keeping all reconditioning services in-house, using outside preferred vendors or implementing a recon management program, one thing is for sure; dealerships will meet the challenge. Make 2018 your “recon resolution” year.
