21 Oct Who Is Really Responsible For Time-to-Line?

Quick Quiz: Who is really responsible for time to line?

1. Used car manager
2. F&I Manager
3. Fixed Operations manager
4. All of the above

If 1,2 and 3 are not being measured as a start-to-finish workflow process, Time to Line performance cannot realistically be measured and managed. This fact makes the GM, by default, the owner of Time to Line. The problem is that he or she does not typically have the time to collect and verify the data needed to evaluate each and every car from acquisition to front line ready.

Suppose, however, you could eliminate the time a GM needs to referee conflicting priorities between their used car manager and fixed ops manager, and replace that time with a realistic Time to Line goal that is both measurable and manageable? That is exactly what workflow technology does for Time to Line.

Workflow technology measures and manages, in real-time, every step of the process from purchase or trade to front-line ready or funded, so your employees are independently accountable. It’s also flexible enough to change quickly to keep up with the unforeseen day-to- day challenges of a dealership.

Every dealership should be able to respond to constantly changing conditions. This includes varying business levels, availability of qualified technicians, space and location changes, and onsite and offsite vendor management. The GM needs to be able to have sales, service and F&I operating with the same game plan for every car, constantly adapting to change. This is what makes workflow the right tool for the job; it also creates a culture of individually managed accountability that is net positive. To illustrate this point, we need to look at what has been happening up until now.

GMs have been attending their 20 Group meetings for years, and when the topic of reconditioning comes up, the response is most likely, “My average is two or three days and, therefore, I don’t have a problem.” If the GM had the real numbers, however, the response might be, “My average is 10 days and should be five days or less,” which means that GM has two turns hidden in recon. When there is no reliable measurement to work with, the tendency is for the recon process manger to quote best-case numbers — usually what a GM wants to hear. Sound familiar?

With a properly configured workflow system, Time to Line puts your used car manager and fixed ops manager on the same page and provides the GM with a way to not only hold each everyone accountable from start to finish but to set realistic targets for each step and even plan resource capacity levels and sub- relationships to support your business plan.

Next time, I will be describe how three different dealerships are using workflow to measure and manage Time to Line from purchase or trade to funded, including new cars.

Dennis McGinn is the founder and CEO of Rapid Recon.