Details in Courtney’s daily checkout include information on customers planning to come to the dealership the next day to bring a title and spare key, notes on signed deals and ideas on which lenders could best fund a deal.
“I was sick and tired of if someone wasn’t here and a customer came in, we shouldn’t be spending time trying to figure what the heck’s going on with that customer, how much money do they owe us, if there was a down payment that needed to be paid or a form needed to be signed,” Courtney said. He wanted to ensure “everybody was on the same page.”
“It’s more convenient for a customer to walk in and we’ll say ‘I was expecting you. I was already briefed on that,’ ” Courtney said. “If there’s someone that needs to come in and re-sign, it’s all put in there so everybody knows what’s going on.”
The daily checkout also eliminates having to bother an employee who’s out of the office, empowering everyone to make decisions — even when a boss isn’t around.
“Too often in the dealership world and business in general, people in higher management sometimes when they’re not present, people either in lower management or other staff have a hard time feeling comfortable making decisions,” Courtney said.
Finance Manager Noah Posthumus said the daily checkouts are especially effective for the store’s small F&I department, which processes as many as 190 vehicle sales a month.
“It allows us to stay on top of everything and not let things fall in the cracks,” Posthumus said. “That checkout has made things run smoother and keep the lines of communication open.”
