Automotive News Canada - June 2022 - F8

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
ANATOMY OF
A MAKEOVER
Fixed ops director injects some pep in old dealership's step
KEN WYSOCKY
foj@autonews.com
A
s the old saying goes, the easiest
way to eat an elephant is one bite
at a time.
Shawn Butler can relate. Th e recently
hired fi xed ops director at
Bristol Honda in Tennessee is
taking that metaphorical advice
to heart as he works - step by
step - to revive a moribund and
neglected service department
that's been underperforming for
years.
Th e importance of Butler's mission
is magnifi ed by the inventory shortage
hampering dealerships' vehicle sales, which
fosters more reliance on fi xed ops revenue.
Furthermore, service departments now serve
as valuable funnels for potential
used-car acquisitions
that can at least partially
replenish stores'
fl agging inventories.
Th e problems at the
55-year-old store, recently
purchased by Umansky
Automotive Group, of
Memphis, Tenn., are, well,
elephantine in scale: a
well-below-average level
of customer-pay repair orders per day; a low
eff ective labor rate stemming
Lee: " We like
his energy. "
from below-market
prices for services; inadequate investments
in training and equipment; little
marketing to generate customer traffi c; no express
service lanes; and insuffi cient emphasis
on processes and protocols.
Smaller issues also refl ect the larger problem
of neglect, such as the more than 400
burned-out lightbulbs in the shop and service
drive, says Butler, who was hired April 1 to initiate
a fi xed ops makeover.
" Little things matter, too, " says Butler, who
has 27 years of fi xed ops experience.
PAGE 8 JUNE 2022
" I live and breathe this stuff, "
says Bristol Honda Fixed Ops
Director Shawn Butler, who
was hired to revive a service
department that's been
underperforming for years.
Mike Lee, dealer principal and general
manager, says he and Greg Moore, the auto
group's fi xed ops director, believe Butler is up
to the task.
" We like his energy, " he tells Fixed Ops Journal.
" He brings a lot of enthusiasm to fi xed
ops. And he's doing a fantastic job. "
For his part, Butler says he's " super passionate
about fi xed ops. I live and breathe this
stuff . "
Th e shop has 19 service bays and employs
34 people, including 14 technicians - 11 line
technicians and three recently hired express
lane technicians, he says.
Man with a plan
Butler says his makeover formula centers on
three basic actions: Assess the situation, prioritize
what needs to be done and then execute
the plan.
Th e fi rst step was talking to individual employees
and generally observing operations.
Butler says he looked at myriad things: How
do customers and personnel interact? How do
advisers greet customers? What's the overall
atmosphere like? Do customers seem happy
to be at the store? How is employee morale?
How well does the parts department work
with technicians? What are the technicians'
skill levels? And so forth.
" I also study the numbers, " says Butler, who
has quarterbacked fi xed ops makeovers at two
other stores, located in Virginia and Tennessee.
" Th e numbers don't lie. "
Butler determined he had two big advantages
on the plus side of the ledger: solid and
skilled technicians who've been good longterm
employees.
" We have a really good core staff , " he says.
On the negative side, there'd been no training
or process updates for the last four or fi ve
years.
" Over the course of time, if you're not investing
and evolving, things start going backward, "
Butler observes. " You start underper
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