CATA News

Credit card processing fees are going up every year, twice a year. Most dealers feel like credit card processing is just a cost of doing business. However, due to recent legal changes, dealers can now pass along those fees to their customers and give them choices in how to pay. Credit card companies and states are very specific on how to roll this out.

NADA is hosting a webinar by Dealer Merchant Services to discuss the legal, compliance and best practices to ensure the process is rolled out correctly. Dealers may register to attend here.

Everyone can agree that Service Advisors are the backbone of any automotive dealership or repair shop. They are responsible for communicating with customers, diagnosing issues, and recommending the appropriate services to ensure their satisfaction. However, providing service advisors with proper training to perform their duties effectively is an overlooked aspect of running most Fixed Ops departments.

A well-crafted playbook can serve as an essential training tool to provide Service Advisors with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their role outside of the typical initial training period.

These 6 steps can be used to create your own playbook for Service Advisor training!

Recruit the Right Personnel

The foundation of any winning team is its people. The right people for your team require skill, the ability to learn, a “do what it takes” attitude, and a willingness to be a team player. Skill is arguably the least important because you can always coach the right person to do the job.

Your recruiting process will be the key factor in getting the right people in the door to join your team. As the industry changes, the candidate you may have been looking for 3 years ago can look vastly different now. Mapping out “must have” qualifications going into the hiring process saves time when combing through applications and avoids getting the wrong candidate through the door.

Having the right employees in your service drive sets you up for success as you follow the remaining 5 steps!

Develop the Right Playbook

If you think about successful sports teams, they each have their own playbook containing “plays” or step-by-step instructions to success. In your Fixed Ops department, the same idea applies. Your playbook should consist of your processes!

The content of your playbook should be modified to incorporate improvements in your personnel and your tools. It is an extension of your initial training period and should include “real life” situations and examples as continued education.

As new questions and the need for updates arise, continue to add to your playbook and modify its existing content. This ongoing process will ensure your playbook is always up to date and relevant to your business processes.

Teach the Playbook

The best way to teach your playbook is to utilize the Wooden Method. This method includes the following steps:

Following these steps helps to create good habits that can be executed reflexively and without hesitation. The teaching is most successful when it is done outside of “game conditions”, so setting aside meeting times when technicians are not with clients to review the playbook and answer questions will set them up for success.

It is extremely important to dedicate practice time. Typically, most service departments don’t dedicate enough time to practicing and training, but when we take a look back at the sports comparison, its apparent how critical it is. When the proper amount of time is invested, you'll see better performance in the long run.

Coach the Playbook

Sports teams spend a significant amount of time, effort, and expense associated with enhancing the performance of their teams through coaching. Successful teams even spend time doing specialized training to fix specific problems select individuals may have. Going along with the analogy in your Fixed Ops department, you should be constantly training using these methods:

Understand the Key Performance Indicators that Lead to Winning

Data is a key asset to developing winning teams. The use of data and data analytics as a decision enhancement tool has become standard practice in sports across areas like recruiting, play calling, and more. When it comes to Fixed Ops management, the same idea applies for performance enhancement opportunities.

Repeat

Persistence is key. In this case, remember the “Seven Times Rule”: People will not truly understand what you are saying until you explain it seven times.

Before fully implementing the playbook, review and revise it to ensure it is comprehensive and effective. Get feedback from your service advisors and make necessary adjustments to improve its quality.

Creating a playbook for service advisor training can significantly enhance the performance and customer satisfaction of your service department. Remember to dedicate time for training, incorporate feedback, and revise it regularly to ensure its relevance and effectiveness. Dynatron Software can help your Fixed Ops department turn goals into action and action into results! For more information call 866-888-3962.

We’re thrilled to reintroduce CATA’s Learning University, professional training for retail sales, service and management dealership personnel.

Professional Automotive Selling – CLICK TO REGISTER

When: Tuesday, April 18, CATA HQ

Led by experienced performance coach Lee Eddy, the first course “Selling Vehicles in a Digital Retail Age” will focus on the core selling principles and framework while connecting the digital retail experience to achieve results. As inventory levels steadily increase, this convenient one-day course offers strategies and solutions to help automotive sales teams sharpen their skills after years of taking orders.  

Who should attend?

Professional Service Consulting – CLICK TO REGISTER

When: Tuesday, April 24, CATA HQ

Led by experienced performance coach Lee Eddy, the next course "Professional Service Consulting" will focus on the core processes, skills and behaviors that ensure an outstanding Service Experience, Service Retention and improved Service and Parts sales! As automotive professionals, we all know ongoing and long-term customer retention at our stores is a result of the Service Experience!

Who should attend?

Don’t hesitate…CATA Learning University courses are limited to 20 registrants for an intimate educational group setting.

If you have any questions, contact Lee Eddy at 630-215-3634 or leeeddy@comcast.net. 

When: Tuesday, June 13

Where: Cog Hill Golf & Country Club | Lemont, IL

Join us for the annual golf outing to network with fellow dealer and allied members, hear association updates at the annual membership meeting, and enjoy a beautiful summer day on the course.

As in the past, the outing will include several contests throughout the course for the chance to win cash prizes. Contests include straightest drive, longest putt, closest to the pin, hole-in-one and more. One lucky golfer even has the chance to win the $10,000 putting contest!

We will kick off the day with a coffee and networking reception, followed by the annual meeting and lunch. After golfing concludes, we will gather back together for a 19th hole Happy Hour.

Schedule of Events

New this year is a golf outing raffle. Your registration will include two raffle tickets to enterto win a variety of raffle prizes donated by our sponsors. Additional raffle tickets will be available for purchase onsite.

Registration

Dealer registration is $100 per golfer. Allied registration is $130 per golfer. There is an additional $30 charge if you wish to golf on the Ravines course.

Lunch-only tickets are also available for $40.

Registration is open now through May 24. Don't wait - register now!

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the USO BBQ for the Troops fundraiser, a grassroots initiative directly supporting the USO Illinois. Each July, approximately 100 Chicagoland new-car dealers fire up their grills and raise money for a great cause. Since 2013, dealers have raised over $1M for local troops and their families.

Mark your calendars and save the date for this year’s region-wide BBQ: Saturday, July 15.

Click here to sign up and look for more information coming out soon.

As the Biden administration works to strike a balance between two objectives — accelerating electric vehicle adoption and securing a domestic supply chain — forthcoming guidance that further constricts battery material and component sourcing rules could tip the scale.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, buyers who meet certain income thresholds can get a tax credit of up to $7,500 for North American-assembled new EVs that also meet sticker price restrictions.

Starting April 18, the credit will be split in two, with $3,750 for EVs that have at least 40 percent of the value of the battery's critical minerals extracted or processed in the U.S. or in a country where the U.S. has a free-trade agreement, or from materials that were recycled in North America. Another $3,750 is available if at least half of the value of the EV's battery components are made or assembled in North America.

Those percentages ramp up over time, maxing out at 80 percent in 2027 for minerals and 100 percent in 2029 for battery components.

An updated list of eligible vehicles, including the amount of the available credit, is expected to be available April 18 at fueleconomy.gov. Automakers will report monthly to the IRS — under penalty of perjury — on which vehicles qualify.

Source: Automotive News

Automotive News is looking for candidates for its best practices feature – a series of stories about dealerships doing something innovative that is delivering proven benefits to operations.

This survey asks dealers to briefly describe an established practice that is working well at your franchised store or dealership group. This can be in any department in the store – new-car sales, used-car sales, finance and insurance, parts and service, accessories, etc. It also could be something that applies to other aspects of operation — customer service and loyalty, employee satisfaction, employee benefits, marketing, expense oversight, etc. They’re also looking for innovative practices that are working well for dealerships as they navigate the shift to electric vehicles.

 They will review submissions, and we may contact you for a possible story. Please make sure to leave your contact information at the end of the survey.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

The automotive retail industry is changing at a rapid pace with levels of innovation unseen since the invention of the combustion engine. It’s time to embrace change and move into a future where the car buying experience is digital-first, personalized and customer-centric. Let’s rethink the role of the dealership and ensure we’re ready for this seismic shift.

Addressed by C-suite OEM and dealership speakers, this two-day event has been carefully curated to provide solutions for the most critical automotive retail issues including:

Presenters include:

Reserve Your Place Now

The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed new and very aggressive emissions regulations for new light-duty vehicle model years 2027-2032. These proposals go well beyond anything this or prior administrations have announced or targeted in the past and would effectively require 2/3 of all new vehicles sold in 2032 to be EVs.

America’s franchised new-car dealers remain all-in on EVs. During the comment period, NADA will explain everything that dealers are doing to get ready for widespread and mass-market EV adoption, including the substantial investments already made – and the billons of coming investments – in tools, training and equipment necessary to facilitate a first-tier education, sales and service experience for EV customers across the entire market and price-point spectrum.

NADA will also explain how emissions mandates that go too far too fast are concerning in that they:

In the end – and regardless of the stringency or feasibility of the final regulations – one thing is already clear: Dealers will be more essential than ever in helping America embrace EVs and get us to the adoption percentages that the administration is pursuing.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued yesterday its long-awaited final rule to implement section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act requiring financial institutions to compile, maintain and report to the CFPB certain data on credit applications received from small, women-owned and minority-owned businesses.

The final rule applies only to financial institutions within the CFPB’s jurisdiction. In particular, this does not include motor vehicle dealers engaged in indirect vehicle financing transactions, which are subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) in this matter. The FRB has not yet proposed a rule to implement section 1071 for such motor vehicle dealers, although, when it does, the FRB can be expected to seek consistency with the CFPB’s final section 1071 rule. For this reason, NADA and the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) have jointly advocated on this issue on multiple occasions to both the FRB and the CFPB.

For banks, finance companies and other financial institutions that are covered by the CFPB rule and must report data to the CFPB, the requirements are extensive and these financial institutions may seek to have dealers make adjustments to the credit application process to facilitate their ability to satisfy these requirements. 

While the NADA Regulatory Affairs team is in the process of reviewing the CFPB’s final 888-page rule, certain features are particularly noteworthy:

NADA will disseminate additional information on the CFPB’s final rule after it has been more thoroughly analyzed and NADA will continue its active advocacy with the FRB.