Consulting
“In any endeavor you are involved in it’s important to surround yourself with value creators, opinionated people and those skilled in their area of expertise. You want to make sure you don’t make the common mistake of building a team full of “Yes Men,” people with the same skill sets as you, or those who bring the team down with their negativity. – John Wooden
Sometimes the most valuable person in the room is the one who has no stake in being right.
When you see the same people, the same processes, the same reports every day—and you’re making good money—it’s easy to miss the gradual changes taking place around you.
Processes become accepted because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” Trusted employees are no longer questioned. Opportunities are overlooked. Risks develop gradually until they become serious problems.
Large corporations address this by using independent board members and outside advisors. Most automobile dealerships do not.
I’ve walked into dealerships where management was convinced they knew what the problem was. After spending a day asking questions, it turned out the real problem was somewhere entirely different.
How We Can Help
Our advisory services provide an experienced, objective perspective on issues such as:
Strategic planning
Financial performance
Operational efficiency
Internal controls
Fraud prevention
Buy-sell decisions
Succession planning
Manufacturer relations
Major capital expenditures
Management structure and accountability
Sometimes our greatest value comes from us asking questions no one inside the dealership is asking.
Experience Matters
Throughout my career I have served dealerships in virtually every capacity imaginable—consultant, expert witness, turnaround specialist, court-appointed manager, intermediary, and trusted advisor to dealers, lenders, attorneys, and investors.
That experience allows me to recognize patterns that others may miss. For example:
One dealer resisted bringing in an independent review because he completely trusted his office manager. After months of discussion, he finally agreed to an outside audit. The result was the discovery that more than $7 million had been skimmed from the dealership over a period of years.
In another dealership, management believed the parts department was poorly managed and considered replacing the parts manager. A closer examination revealed the real problem was the way accessories were being handled between departments. Once corrected, the parts department became profitable while management gained a much clearer understanding of the true performance of the service department.
Advising Automobile Dealers, LLC
We Could Make the Difference for You