Staff are the moral fibre of any dealership
When the moral fibre of your staff is in the right place, you are on the road to success, no matter what kind of business you are in.
- Dealer News
- 10 July 2025
Inefficiency in a dealership is often not that obvious and that is why it is difficult to identify and address.
Here are a few pointers that I hope will resonate with you:
Where there are comprehensive and more efficient automated systems available, such as paper filing instead of electronic filing is one example. Hopefully your DMS offers this functionality and if it does, ensure that you utilise it efficiently.
Document retrieval, document management and document security are far more efficient, which should also reduce your audit costs. Additionally, it could save space that could be used for more productive purposes.
Having various standalone systems that are department or function specific is massively inefficient as they often require duplicate information capture and there is rarely inter departmental functionality. Many OEMs partner with standalone Sales, CRM, workshop and parts inventory systems, which then have to be integrated with an accounting system.
OEMs seem to work in sales and after-sales “silos” and often to do not consider the inefficiencies that result at the dealership. Your DMS should be a comprehensive system that manages all aspects of a modern dealership, and having all these standalone systems may satisfy a sales or after-sales requirement of the OEM at the expense of dealership efficiency.
HET is normally massively disruptive in any business as it takes time for employees to get to grips with the requirements of the job. A fair amount of HET comes down to employing the wrong person for the job caused by pressure to urgently fill the vacancy. Take more time to ensure that you employ the best people and then give them the training required to perform their tasks efficiently!
The days of merely having your accounts as the main source of business information are long gone. If you do not have information and activity, efficiency, trends and comparative performance, you cannot manage a dealership efficiently. Data analysis should be at the centre of every critical business decision.
Dealerfloor (dealerfloor.co.za) and I will be publishing regular articles on dealership efficiency. I am really looking forward to sharing ideas with you. Join the conversation by sending a WhatsApp to 082-776-1887 to be added to our group.
When the moral fibre of your staff is in the right place, you are on the road to success, no matter what kind of business you are in.
Opel has revealed the next-generation Grandland in South Africa, joining the current Opel range consisting of the Corsa, Mokka and Zafira.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is transforming the way we operate - from backend systems to customer-facing solutions.
Advertisement
Advertisement
You can't buy happiness but you can buy cars and that's kind of the same thing.
Unknown
When the moral fibre of your staff is in the right place, you are on the road to success, no matter what kind of business you are in.
The Thorp Motor Group did the official breaking of new ground for its latest and most ambitious development yet – a brand-new Motor City in Sandown that will bring four of the Group’s leading vehicle brands together under one roof.
One of the topics that comes up often when I write articles is “waste” within a dealership. Quite often, expenses are cut when times are challenging but often, waste is confused with expenditure.