I came up through the stores, from the floor to General Manager and Partner. Then I spent 17 years at vAuto, Cox Automotive, and LotLinx working with dealers every day.
Now I work for the dealer. I find where the money leaks between the gross you should make and the net you keep, fix it, and show you what it was worth.
Most stores work on these one at a time, with a different vendor telling them each one is the problem. I look at all of it together and decide what changes first.
Where your cars come from, what you pay, and which sources actually make money.
Pricing discipline, aging, and knowing when to move a car before it costs you.
Whether shoppers see the car the way you'd show it on the lot, and why some units never get looked at.
Which dollars sold cars and which didn't.
Lead handling and the desk, and where gross gets given away.
What you pay for, what you actually use, and what to renegotiate or cut.
I've run the store, and I've sat across from thousands of them as the vendor. I know what the tools promise, what they actually do, and how dealers really use them.
Published in Automotive News, Digital Dealer, and AutoSuccess on inventory decisions, at-risk vehicles, and reaching active buyers.
Tell me what's bugging you about your numbers. If I can help, I'll tell you how. If I can't, I'll tell you that too.