I just read that Florida has passed a bill that prohibits auto manufacturers from forcing dealers to renovate dealerships more often than once a decade. Hopefully dealers will see value in upgrading their facilities more often than that, of course. A more important part of that bill, in my opinion, was to prohibit the enforcement of standardized retail sales achievement programs without considering local and regional differences. That is only fair. In an industry where location, location, location is emphasized, it makes no sense to require all dealerships to reach the same bar without considering the market where the dealership is located. What are your thoughts on the Florida bill, readers?
As for this week’s issue, we have pieces by two new contributors. I have quoted Blake Seabaugh of accounting firm Perkins & Co. in my stories, but this week he has a column looking at the importance of normalizing earnings before deciding what a dealership is worth. Seabaugh suggests five areas to look at closely, such as searching for unrecorded liabilities, which if present produce overstated earnings.
Customer satisfaction – the all-important CSI score – is a buzz word these days. But how about customer engagement? This week, Jeff Tobaben of Evolve Performance Group discusses the importance of going beyond customer satisfaction and striving for customer engagement. It starts with employee engagement, he says.
Then there is Transaction News….
Enjoy!
