With today's current economy, most dealerships and OEMs are putting renewed focus on Fixed Ops. Why? Simple, people might hesitate to buy a new or used vehicle during a weak economy, but if their car needs to be repaired, or they need a part or accessory, they are going to get that service completed regardless of the economy. Look at any large dealership that has been around for a long time, and they will tell you that their fixed ops carried them through tough times.
Here is the dilemma - many eCommerce and Internet Manager types do not want to work in Fixed Ops because their salary is based on profitability from Internet Sales. Since they don't have a "piece of the action" in Fixed Ops, they don't want to work there. This stems back to a long-standing problem within our industry - dealerships are unsure how to pay for folks that handle the eCommerce side of their business. Today's economy points more and more to a salary based payplan as the eCommerce/Internet director of a dealership has responsibilities that are expanding above and beyond the sales arena only.
If you are not focusing on Fixed Ops at your dealership - you should be. If your dealership is not compensating you for these efforts - they should be. Whether your dealership likes it or not, many of the OEMs are now requiring dealerships to meet specific requirements for the Internet market - and someone needs to be addressing these. Are you?
Here is the dilemma - many eCommerce and Internet Manager types do not want to work in Fixed Ops because their salary is based on profitability from Internet Sales. Since they don't have a "piece of the action" in Fixed Ops, they don't want to work there. This stems back to a long-standing problem within our industry - dealerships are unsure how to pay for folks that handle the eCommerce side of their business. Today's economy points more and more to a salary based payplan as the eCommerce/Internet director of a dealership has responsibilities that are expanding above and beyond the sales arena only.
If you are not focusing on Fixed Ops at your dealership - you should be. If your dealership is not compensating you for these efforts - they should be. Whether your dealership likes it or not, many of the OEMs are now requiring dealerships to meet specific requirements for the Internet market - and someone needs to be addressing these. Are you?