Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
Issue link: http://autodealermonthly.epubxp.com/i/117504
By Paul Chavez DE A LERSHIP SPOTLIGHT CONSTRUCTION DELAYS George Grubbs III���s Infniti dealership is smack in the middle of a major roadwork zone, but he refuses to let the project create detours between him and his customers. A fve-yea $2 billion, 13.5-mile highway fve ve-year, constru constructio o construction project is under way in North Texas. Wh e W Texas. When it���s completed, the North Tarrant Exp n Expre x rant Express will ofer a 12-lane corridor between For we tween Fort Worth and Euless. Meanwhile, the w Gr view of Grubbs Infniti is blocked by 40-foot d f mounds of dirt and giant pieces of excavator equipment. George Grubbs III is the luxury dealership���s owner and the scion of four generations of Texas car dealers. He says the lack of accessibility and visibility led to changes in operations rooted in lessons learned from his father and grandfather. ���When faced with things like that, it forces you to dig in, get back to basics and learn what it really takes to get the job done,��� Grubbs says. Grubbs Infniti is located in the middle of the 12-county Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. 34 With a population of 6.5 million, it���s the largest land-locked metropolitan area in the United States. Tere are four Infniti dealerships in the market. In January, three of them fnished in the Top 4 for Infniti sales nationwide. But in early 2012, the freeway project contributed to a 20 percent drop in Grubbs Infniti���s service and parts departments. Tat led to a signifcant shif in the dealership���s business model: Grubbs began ���Valet Plus,��� a service in which a Grubbs stafer will pick up a customer���s vehicle for service, leave them a loaner car and bring the customer���s vehicle back afer it���s been serviced. Te Valet Plus progam extends into the sales side, too, with the dealership delivering a vehicle to a potential customer���s home or ofce for an overnight test drive. If there���s a trade-in, the dealership will drive it back for AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY ��� M ARCH 2013 an appraisal and come back the next day with fgures on both cars, Grubbs says. Te Valet Plus pitch on the company���s website states it pretty simply: ���We���re perfectly fne if you never step foot in the dealership. Don���t get us wrong, we would love to see you. But we would rather you experience these luxury cars without spending a single moment of your precious time waiting in trafc.��� ���A lot of people take us up on that,��� Grubbs says. A NEW OUTLOOK Te Valet Plus service made a dramatic difference in the last six months of 2012. Service revenue rallied and was down only 5 percent at the end of the year, and Grubbs says he plans to continue the service afer the road is fnished.