Posts Tagged security
Award Winning Dealerships
Today’s automobile dealership is a complex business. Management faces daunting challenges to operate sales, finance, fixed assets, human resources, inventory and regulatory requirements successfully. Smart executives take advantage of an ever-increasing variety of products and services made available to them by suppliers specializing in specific areas of expertise such as sales training, finance, human resources, security, loss prevention, insurance, and specialty equipment.
Even with all of the energy now being devoted to keeping a dealership running smoothly there are still some areas of day to day operations for which the appropriate solution, product or consultant has not yet been found. One such area is the use and control of dealer demo tags, a statutory requirement in most states, and long regarded by most dealers as a problem without any good solution.
Efforts have been made over the years by individual dealers to govern demo tags in a variety of manners ranging from:
Furnishing every salesperson with an never ending supply of tags in order to ensure that the unavailability of a demo tag does not compromise the continuity of the communication established between a salesperson and their customer. This solution results in the dealership owning far more demo tags than necessary. The dealer incurs higher acquisition and insurance costs, greater management requirements and added liability exposure. These are issues that managers as well as financial and insurance consultants find troublesome.Requiring salespeople to sign demo tags out and in, which, while reducing the overall number of tags required (a plus for managers, financial and insurance people) interferes with the flow of the sale and requires the time and attention of an employee. Signing tags out and in takes time that should and could be used more productively. Further, this method, as many dealers are finding out when doing dealer tag inventory checks, is not a foolproof system for controlling use and access to dealer tags.
Some dealers believe that by charging a large deposit to the salesperson the tag will not be abused or lost. However, a large deposit virtually insures that a prompt lost or theft report, which limits the dealer’s liability, is less likely to be made. Until a report is made, the liability associated with that demo tag remains with the dealer and not the person using or possessing the tag. Prompt reporting of lost or stolen tags is a very big issue with insurance providers.
While the problem of demo tag control appears intractable, there are solutions. The solutions take the form of dealer demo tag control systems and there are a number of providers in the market today.
One such provider is M-Tech, a company that is specializing in dealer demo tag control systems. M-Tech manufactures and markets the Securitag System. This “Smart Box” has been solving demo tag access control problems for nearly twenty years.
M-Tech’s biggest supporters are the dealers, managers and salespeople using the product. It is gratifying to be given such a vote of confidence.
Access Control Systems (ACS) and Your Dealership
Posted by Bernard Boulé in Opinion, WM 30 on April 1st, 2009
Reading through “Trade Publications” as I do on a regular basis I cannot help but think that the Automobile Dealership Business (ADB) has become technologically as complex and consequently as acronym ridden as the fields of engineering, aviation or the military. In which, you need to know the meanings of what seems like hundreds of Upper Case Letter Groupings (UCLG) in order to understand what is being discussed in any particular article. To make matters worse, it seems that anyone can add to the acronym body at anytime without warning or prior notification, so I was not surprised when I discovered that the Field Of Endeavor (FOE) in which I have been working for the past 20 years, the technology of Access Control Systems, has been “acronymized” as (ACS) technology.
By now, you are beginning to wonder what any of this has to do with you and your dealership’s day-to-day operations and the answer is simple:
- Increased Profitability
- Improved Security
- Streamlined Sales
- Increased Management Efficiency
- Reduced Overhead
- Lower Liability Exposure and perhaps even Lower Insurance Costs.
All of the above benefits can be realized through the utilization of ACS Technology. You may be wondering how ACS technology even fits into the dealership environment. Your question probably is: ‘ How does this apply to me and to my dealership?’ In response to this question I would say every dealership, regardless of its size or location needs to employ some type or types of ACS to limit access to everything from the shop supplies to the cash drawer. After all, you wouldn’t leave your cash drawer open exposing its contents to all of your employees and customers would you? So why would you leave your other assets like specialty tools, inventory, inventory keys, dealer tags or office supplies exposed? They are all valuable assets requiring some type of access control to make certain that only the persons authorized to have access to them actually have that access.
You probably already have some type of Access Control Systems at work in your dealership such as cash registers, locked tool rooms or secure office supply storage. You may even have a fenced and gated lot or lots, which limits access to your inventory. This is rudimentary ACS Technology working for you. Some of this may be manually controlled in which case it would probably require the time and attention of a manager or a specifically assigned employee and likely does not produce accurate records of access usage. Some may be automated, eliminating the need for direct supervision, and they may produce reliable access usage reports. The latter is the direction ACS Technology is heading today. Dealerships should be taking advantage of this emerging technology to control access to assets such as: inventory keys and dealer demo tags. Two areas of constant concern to dealers and managers everywhere. There are good, proven, reliable and affordable ACS specially designed to deal with these concerns.
With technology advancing at such a rapid pace now is the best time to jump in and find out exactly how ACS technology can benefit your dealership.
Security In and Around Your Dealership
Posted by Bernard Boulé in How To, Opinion on March 30th, 2009
- How important is it to you the dealer?
- How important is it to your managers and staff?
- How important is it to people who want to take advantage of you and your business?
- How important should it be?
Above are four questions that every automobile dealership, large or small, publicly owned or private, single dealership or member of a group of dealerships, even mega dealerships, should be working on, hard and fast, to find answers for. The fate of the entire automobile retail industry may depend on how serious today’s Automobile Dealers perceive the whole issue of security to be. We should be able to learn from the mistakes and shortcomings of others. Let’s take the airline industry as an example. In that industry there was a recognized need for security that had been established over a long period of time resulting from incidences of people taking advantage of low or non-existent security measures. The industry responded, raising the level of security by implementing security checks of people boarding aircraft as well as their baggage and cargo. However, it was common knowledge that security levels were not uniform throughout the industry and that common knowledge was taken advantage of with disastrous results, which we are all well aware of.
Today, automobile dealerships are large business operations, not unlike the airlines, with hundreds of employees selling millions of dollars worth of product every year. The pressure is on to perform, meet goals, maintain growth and stay competitive. Often times, for upper level management, the business of operating an automobile dealership is more involved with dealings with the factory, the banks, the insurance industry, state and local regulatory agencies and a host of other business related distractions than it is with the business of selling cars and trucks. The thousands of Dealer Principals who operate their own stores either have to allocate a disproportionate percentage of their time and energy to administrative tasks or delegate those responsibilities to various managers.
Regardless of your particular situation, in the day-to-day business of doing business, important issues, which do not have near term deadlines, tend to be left off from meeting agendas in deference of more pressing matters. This is normal. We all understand that time in meetings is precious; the critical issues are dealt with, while items considered to be less critical are deferred to subsequent meetings, or given to committees to evaluate and report on later. From experience we also know that this committee work often remains uncompleted from meeting to meeting. Committee members usually have other responsibilities, which of necessity take priority, and they only work on committee matters when time permits. The truth is that if you have not actually taken the issue of dealership security and assigned a high priority to it, you will likely never actually deal with it. The sheer scope and complexity of the matter virtually guarantees that. The result will likely be an ineffectual, uncoordinated collection of antiquated equipment, practices, policies and procedures, which will leave you and your business virtually unprotected.
In today’s world of shady business practices, color coded terrorism threat level indicators and federally mandated security measures for some industries, the issue of security in, of and around your dealership should now be very close to the top of your list of priorities. In virtually all of the dealer interviews I have read recently when the dealer is asked to what he/she attributes the success of their business, the response is:
- Dealing honestly with their customers and employees.
- Up-to-date training for sales and management personnel.
- Attention to business practices and procedures.
We all know that it is of paramount importance to deal honestly with our customers and employees. No business will survive for very long if they do not follow this advice. Most dealers have come to the realization that a well trained sales and management team will make more sales than untrained uncoordinated salespeople and managers. However, some dealers have not yet come to the conclusion that they need to up-date and in some cases change or improve some or all of their old business practices and procedures. They are still attempting to operate their dealership the same way they did it 10, 20 or more years ago. We all know that ‘the times they are a changin,’and we have to change with them or we’ll be left behind.
One of the changes all dealers need to be making today is a serious revision of the security systems, practices and procedures used in and around the dealership. Dealers actually need to encourage each other to take these steps, for the good of the automobile retail industry as a whole. The cost of taking the initiative and implementing adequate security systems and procedures to protect all aspects of the business, while not insignificant, is likely not as high as would be the cost of complying with some form of federally mandated security requirements. Just ask any airline executive. Such federal mandates would likely be the result if the assets of an automobile dealership were utilized in some sort of incident like what we saw in Oklahoma or more recently in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.
Decisions to make the kinds of commitments to security systems, practices and procedures that will be required to keep your dealership and it’s assets safe, secure and profitable will not happen by accident. You will have to be proactive, ‘take the bull by the horns’! Make it happen!
So, the answers to the four questions regarding how important security in and around the dealership should be:
- For you the dealer; Top priority. Urgent.
- For your personnel and management; High priority. Very important for the continued success of the dealership.
- The level of security at your dealership is the most important factor in their planning and decision making in so far as your dealership is concerned.
- There is probably nothing more important that you can do today, for the future of your dealership and the automobile retail industry, than to make certain that you have done everything within your power to ascertain that you have adequate security systems, practices and procedures in place and functioning.
Keys to a More Successful Dealership
Posted by Bernard Boulé in How To, Opinion on March 11th, 2009
How much longer will you continue to rely on the same security practices and procedures you used 15, 20 or more years ago to ensure the safety and security of your dealership? These measures, which at that time were probably sufficient, are likely to be seriously inadequate in today’s technologically advanced environment. Every dealership’s management realizes the need for various types of security equipment, practices and procedures in the dealership.
However, all security is not created equal. There are good security systems, practices and procedures and there are bad security measures. The good ones result in a smoother running, more productive, efficient, safe and secure place for your people to work. The bad ones only provide the appearance of the real thing while leaving your dealership exposed to an untold variety of potential hazards. The real danger is that you are relying on these bad security systems, practices and procedures to protect your business. A task they may be unable to perform.
Management has many responsibilities; one of them is to make certain that the assets of the business are properly protected. It’s up to you to test your current security systems to find out if they are actually working. Check each system to make sure it is fully functional and that it still meets your requirements. Review practices and procedures and if necessary make changes to bring them up to date. Often good security measures fail to meet objectives simply because your personnel have been allowed to settle into a comfortable routine. Routine is the enemy of security. It is your responsibility to make sure your personnel are aware of the importance of security at the dealership at all times.
One of the next things you can do is examine the method you use to manage your dealer demo plates. Dealer plates are one of your strongest selling tools and as such they should be readily available to personnel who need them. They should also be one of the main security concerns in any dealership. A dealer plate is more than just a piece of metal you get from the State. It represents the entire assets of your dealership when it is on the road. Should you trust everyone in your dealership with access to your demo plates 24 hours a day 7 days a week?
Does your current method of demo plate management provide you with the access control and security you require while keeping the number to demo plates at a minimum?
Does it allow you to follow the number of demonstrations given by your sales staff?
Does it keep sales persons from spending valuable time searching for lost or missing dealer plates?
Does it prevent them borrowing demo plates from other salespersons?
If the answer to these questions is NO then you need to change your current system.
A good dealer plate control system makes plates available to sales persons whenever they need them. They can stay focused on selling. This allows them to maintain the continuity of their presentation. A good presentation equals more sales. More sales equal larger profits. Remember sales people are trained to make sales. Their training probably does not include the course on ‘how to care for a dealer plate’. There are several dealer plate control systems available on the market today. Take the time to evaluate them before you make your selection and remember you are looking for a system that provides you with both security and access control. Function, not cost, should be the motivating factor in your selection.
Once you have checked everything and removed bad systems and procedures that didn’t provide your business with an adequate level of security and you have implemented good security systems, practices and procedures designed to handle the security requirements of your dealership today, you should be all set to move forward confidently. Some training will doubtless be required and any good security system will expose those most in need of this training. It is possible that it will also reveal the presence of persons on your staff who do not, or cannot, respect the rules and regulations in place. Under the previous systems and procedures it may have been possible for these individuals to remain unnoticed while taking advantage of your faith and trust. With a good system in place these individuals cannot remain invisible. It is security’s job to expose these problems. It is management’s job to decide how to handle the situations.
Good security systems, practices and procedures work invisibly in the foreground. If they do their job properly, no one even knows they are there. While the cost of good security is not insignificant, the cost of bad security or no security has the potential to be unlimited. The ultimate goal of every dealership is to sustain growth and operate profitably. The return on your investment in good security is assured as your dealership profits from increased sales by a more confident, efficient, focused and honest sales force working in a stable secure environment benefiting from lower overhead and reduced liability exposure. These are the keys to a more successful dealership.
Code Orange!
Posted by Bernard Boulé in Opinion on March 6th, 2009
Or maybe by the time you read this Yellow or perhaps Red. The point is that regardless the level of threat, there is a threat and we must all, each and every one of us, do everything in our power to combat this threat. Not even one of us can expect our friend or neighbor to do our part and feel truly secure.
When everything goes smoothly, Security did not seem to be an issue; but, we do not have to look far into the past to find an occasion when all did not work smoothly and lack of security was immediately blamed for the unwanted result. Lack of security at the airports, lack of security at the flight schools, lack of security at the INS and in general lack of security and awareness in the population were all cited. They were all Dots, we were told later, that should have been connected by dot connectors and that the connected dots would have drawn a plan that would have enabled our law enforcement officials to prevent the attacks of September 11th.
Well, great strides have been taken to improve security in all the areas identified as having been insufficient as a result of those terrorist attacks. The Department of Homeland Security has been created with sweeping powers in an attempt to thwart enemy plots against the USA, and for all we know it is working because for more than a year now no new terrorist attacks have occurred on US soil. That’s the thing about good security; when it works really well, you hardly even know it’s there. When it fails everyone knows immediately.
The Department of Homeland Security tells us that they are expecting enemies of the USA to attempt attacks against “Soft Targets”. That is to say things or places that might not normally be considered a dangerous place to be or a likely spot for an attack. These “Soft Targets” are less likely to be guarded and therefore more easily attacked. This is where you come in. As a citizen and business leader, it is your responsibility to do everything in your power to help prevent any future terrorist attacks. There are things you can do; be more vigilant, be aware of your surroundings, take notice of unusual activities and report unusual or suspicious behavior to authorities. Review security procedures and control measures at your dealership. Make certain that you know who has access to stock keys and dealer tags and that these items are being used and controlled according to State regulations. Dealerships that operate in States that do not require the use of demo tags for demo drives should institute a system that controls which vehicles are out on demo rides and who is with those vehicles, to maintain some control of inventory.
Remember, terrorists don’t need your cooperation to succeed in their plans; they just need your complacency. Don’t let your dealership become a Dot in some future plot!
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