automotiveMastermind

To continue advancing into a digital dealership model in the new year, dealers need to ensure they have both the right tools and the team to succeed in today’s increasingly digital market.

With 2020 behind us, dealership leaders are entering the new year with many important lessons learned on pivoting and keeping their businesses moving forward despite industry disruption.

With sales revenue down, for many dealers, the service drive became a key component to survival. In this blog post, we share 3 ways to maximize service-to-sales profitability at your dealership.

In this blog post, we explore three ways creative dealerships can adapt to 2021 inventory challenges.

Consumers are turning to digital platforms at nearly every step of their buying journey, taking virtual test drives, purchasing and even scheduling service for their vehicles.

Opportunities exist inside the dealership in 2021 – including in the F&I office. In this blog post, we analyze the state of automotive finance market.

Many proactive dealers are turning away from expensive third-party auto lead providers and either reallocating the funds or simply cutting budgets for lead generation.

With continuing COVID-19 safety procedures & guidelines, virtual events and experiences have surged in popularity in 2020. Trade shows and annual conferences have all switched to digital experiences.

No dealership leader could have anticipated the events seen in 2020 – much less prepare for the challenges they would face as a result. However, the auto retail industry is proving resilient.

It’s rare to find a dealership completely unaware of the value of their service drive. Parts and service sales currently account for 12.5% of new vehicle dealership’s total sales.

Today, data mining powers many conveniences and capabilities we often take for granted, ranging from email spam filters and credit card fraud alerts to personalized suggestions from Amazon or Netflix.

From an automotive retail perspective, dealers can use predictive tools to inform decisions related to inventory, merchandising, pricing and more, resulting in improved efficiency and efficacy.

It’s long been the responsibility of dealers to identify and grow today’s automotive retail professionals into the dealership leaders of tomorrow. This preparation starts with effective coaching.

Faced with tightening margins, low vehicle inventories and a narrowing opportunity to rebound in 2020, auto dealers are looking for additional ways to maximize dealership profitability.

The composition of dealership teams around the U.S. is changing – and getting younger. A 2019 industry study found that by 2020, Gen Z were expected to make up 20% of the dealership workforce.

At Mastermind, it’s part of our company culture to go the extra mile to support our dealer partners, our communities and each other – no matter what.

Dealership best practices for engaging auto sales leads have evolved over the years to keep pace with changing automotive consumer preferences and marketplace conditions.

Dealers have seen their business model suddenly shift to being predominantly pre-owned, to the point where IHS Markit research found that in May 2020, there were 3 used vehicles sold for ever new one.

With razor-thin margins and cutthroat competition, dealers know they can’t afford to allow inefficiencies to build up in their operations if they want to protect and grow their bottom line.