For Immediate Release:

Used car sales are a critical component of total dealership revenue, particularly in today’s struggling economy. Consumers are drawn to Certified programs where they can trust that their purchase has been reconditioned by skilled technicians to manufacturers’ standards. Profitability of used cars is highly dependent on the speed of reconditioning once it arrives on the lot.

Reconditioning work directly competes for technician time with service. Additionally, incentive structures typically favor customer service work ahead of reconditioning. Most dealerships lack a formal system for communicating updates on the reconditioning process, causing frustration and costly delays. Without accurate data or performance metrics, dealerships are unable to provide suitable incentives to FO for reconditioning work.

Rapid Recon is a web-based solution that electronically monitors and reports reconditioning status updates to improve communication between used car sales and fixed operations. Here is how it works:

• New purchases and booked trades are automatically entered into Rapid Recon each morning through the DMS software.
• The system sends email and/or text alerts when a car is ready to begin reconditioning.
• Once each step is completed, the technician clicks a button to send an alert to initiate the next phase of work to begin.
• The “notes” section allows technicians to add specific comments to clarify a car’s status or delay.
• FO and used car salespeople can log into Rapid Recon to view the real-time status of every car, putting everyone on the same page.

In addition to status monitoring, Rapid Recon reports key reconditioning performance. This function provides data that can be used to develop reconditioning incentive programs for FO staff. It holds individuals accountable for the timeliness of their work and identifies weaknesses in a dealership’s reconditioning process. All of this information can be used to establish performance goals aimed at improving reconditioning efficiency.

Briggs Auto Group in Kansas has seen significant improvements in their reconditioning times and implemented key changes to the FO incentive structure based on the data they obtain through their custom Rapid Recon system. Throughout their seven dealerships, Briggs sells more than 600 cars per month. Rapid Recon provides them with a low-cost solution for centralizing their reconditioning management across locations.

In addition, Rapid Recon’s performance metrics allow them to offer “pay for performance” incentives to recon center managers. Prior to Rapid Recon their reconditioning cycle was taking 14 days. Briggs’ average is now under 7 days, which has had significant impact on profitability. Their three recon center managers are incentivized with monthly bonuses of up to 50% of their base pay if they achieve reconditioning cycles of seven days or less.

Dennis McGinn, Founder & CEODennis McGinn is founder and CEO of Rapid Recon, Inc., a SAAS workflow application for the automotive industry with customers such as AutoNation and Penske Automotive. During his thirty-eight year career in the high technology industry, McGinn has been CEO of two other software companies, the Accrugraph Corporation, a telecommunication software provider, now part of Nortel Systems, and WhiteLight Systems, Inc. a vendor of business analytics applications acquired by the Symphony Technology Group.

McGinn spent twenty-one years at Hewlett-Packard Company where he was General Manager of three Business Units, Worldwide Group Marketing Manager for their Network and Peripherals Divisions, and the Computer Systems Group Regional Sales Manager for Sales, Service and Support for the company’s largest region, encompassing the thirteen western states. While at Hewlett-Packard McGinn’s Advanced Manufacturing Systems developed the Ford Service Bay Diagnostic System in addition to factory automation for General Motors.

Dennis McGinn can be contacted at 650 322-­‐0600, or by email at dennismcginn@rapidrecon.com