Dealer Success Groups
Six reasons not to, answered.
Jeff Blackton has had this conversation a few thousand times. These are the six things dealers say, in the order they say them, with what he actually tells them.
“I do not have the time.”
One hour a month for the group, half an hour with Jeff. That is ninety minutes, online, and you do not close the store or buy a plane ticket for either of them.
The work is the part that takes time, and it is work you were going to have to do anyway. The group is what makes you actually do it, because somebody asks you next month whether you did.
“My numbers are not good enough to show anybody.”
Nobody's are, the first month. That is the most common thing Jeff hears and it is the reason the board exists.
One member went from a 65% recovery rate to 123%. He did not start at 123%.
“I tried a twenty group. It was a waste.”
Fair. Most of them are two days, a hotel, a binder and a long drive home, and then nothing happens for six months.
This one is an hour, online, every month, and it ends with each owner naming one thing that will be done before the next meeting. Jeff reads that list back at the top of the next hour.
“$839 a month is real money.”
It is. It also includes the Toolbox, which sells on its own at $99 a month, and the hiring program, which sells at $1,495 a quarter. The group, the workshop and Jeff's half hour come to about $242 of it.
One technician billing one more hour a day at a $135 shop rate returns about $2,800 a month.
“My manufacturer already does something like this.”
Then ask them about this one before you pay for a seat yourself. Some manufacturers sponsor a group for their dealers.
Over 93% of dealers in a manufacturer-sponsored group are on the call every month, which is not a number you get from a programme people are being made to attend.
“I am five years from selling. Why bother.”
Because absorption and a clean parts shelf are most of what a buyer pays for, and both of them take about two years to move.
Succession is one of the ten workshop topics, and it is on the calendar because this is a trade full of family businesses handing over at once.
If none of those stopped you
Here is the whole thing in four lines.
- A group of seven to twelve owners carrying lines like yours, online, one hour a month.
- Half an hour with Jeff every month, your store only.
- A live workshop a month, and your service and parts managers are in it.
- The Toolbox and the hiring program included, which placed 157 parts people and technicians for member dealers last year.
Dealers who did it
What moved, in their words.
“Bob and his team have really helped us through some of the most unstable times there's ever been for a farm dealership. He has the experience with his team to give us feedback on decisions that could make it or break it for our family owned shop.”
65% to 123% “Your system works as promised. We went from a 65% recovery rate to 123%.”
“Bob helped us reorganize our service department and take it from losing money to making money. He didn't just tell us what to do, but helped us do it with practical tools and one-on-one coaching.”
Watch
Dealer Success Groups, explained.
Published by Bob Clements International. Watch it on YouTube
Before you decide anything
How much money are you walking over?
Work out your recovery rate first. It takes about ten minutes and a month of work orders, and it is the number the whole program moves.
Download the calculatorApply
If none of that put you off.
Three things is enough to start. Jeff reads every one of these and calls you himself, usually inside two business days.
That is with Jeff
He calls applicants himself, usually inside two business days, and always from a Kansas City number. He will ask about your locations, your years and your business system on the call. Nothing is charged until you have talked to him and seen which group you would be in.
Would you rather ask questions first? Book thirty minutes