CAC: Parts Pricing

Your price is a marketing tool, but most of you don’t use it that way. How often have we heard that “your price is too high” or “I can get it down the street for less?” How well customer contact personnel respond to these and other comments about your prices is critically important to your success. The price points you use should be a product of your need to make money and the competitive nature of your marketplace.

Over the years dealers have applied a methodology called “matrix pricing.” This approach started in the 1970’s and it still continues today, well beyond its useful life. We will explain how it works and we will also expose the “new” realities in price theory for the parts business.  We will look into the new approach of applying an “array” of variables to develop a selling price: activity, price, competitiveness, and inventory risk. This four element array leads to several thousand mark ups designed to allow the dealer to attach a price that will be competitive, while at the same time produce an overall gross profit that allows the Company to maintain the profit required to sustain itself.

Learning the impact of a discount on your business is a critical aspect of defending your price. This class will teach you how to see the impact on gross profit and net profit. Learning how to respond to price objections and overcome them is a principle that is important to understand, and is discussed in this webinar. This program will be beneficial for anyone in the parts business that is touching customers with the responsibility for selling or customer service.

CAC: Parts Activity Based Management

The use of activity-based management as a management tool, has been relatively recent in our Industry. It was an unintended consequence of the work of Edward Deming, in Japan, and allows dealerships to review activities in a different manner. The use of the sales per employee implies a series of activities and relationships to our work that relies on historical approaches and does not take into account the opportunities to reinvent the operations of the department.

Our business is based on satisfying customer requirements. In order to be able to satisfy these needs we must better utilize technology and information in better and different manners. In many cases organizational transformation, has rarely been done without the attendant review on process effectiveness and market coverage methods.

This program will expose a series of thoughts that will allow the learner to be better able to evaluate the processes and methods in use today. The business world has been inundated with various “new” thinking approaches. This is Industrial Engineering at its’ root which morphed into the Continuous Improvement Movement, to Kaizen, then Six Sigma and finally the 5 S approach today. Each of these approaches is married to financial reporting which allows a more comprehensive review of all we do from an activity-based perspective. You will never regret taking this class.

CWI: Parts Inventory CSA

With the rapid changes we have experienced in our industry, we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. The requirements in inventory management have changed dramatically since the arrival of computers to drive this job function. Additionally, the technology within dealer management systems continues to progress at a rapid pace with cloud computing and “smart” systems to name just a few.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the inventory management job function. In assessing this job function we have taken the classes involved in managing the parts business and created an skills and knowledge assessment questionnaire. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for the Part Business. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Parts Management CSA

With the rapid changes we have experienced in our industry, we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. The changes we face include machine design, computerization of componentry, telematics, and the use of exotic materials. Additionally, the technology within dealer management systems continues to progress at a rapid pace with VoIP, AI, and “smart” systems to name just a few.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the Parts Management job function. In assessing a Parts Manager, we have taken the 750 questions that comprise the final assessment from all of the classes offered for Parts Managers and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the CSA, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Purchasing & Expediting CSA

With the rapid changes we have experienced in our industry, we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. We have arrived at the point that we must find every part that every customer orders, and do this on the day that they order the parts. Supply chains and transportation logistics are complicated subjects and need specialized skills.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the purchasing and expediting job function. In assessing this task, we have taken all of the classes involved in the Parts Business and created a skills and knowledge assessment questionnaire. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for the Parts Business and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Parts & Service Marketing CSA

With the distribution networks supporting construction equipment becoming even more dependent on absorption and contribution margins we have recognized the critical nature of comprehensive and current marketing information. The Dealer Management Systems now offer comprehensive call reporting, machine population and all of the attendant reporting structures on market potential and market capture. The Sales Function requires very strong parts and service marketing.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the parts and service marketing job function. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in selling and marketing and created a skills assessment. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for Marketing and Selling. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Product Support Sales CSA

Selling is as old as the hills and most people think it is a function that requires you be good with people.  The Sales Function also requires strong back office support. Dealer Business Systems development has allowed the management of territories with market segmentation and call reporting. Territory Potentials and Market Capture have also required we be able to provide office support to the sales force.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the sales support job function. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in selling and marketing and created a skills assessment. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for Selling. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Product Support Sales Management CSA

Selling is as old as the hills and most people think it is a function that requires you be good with people.  Sales requires very serious organizational skills. Not just a personality. From the rapid changes we have experienced in our industry, we are at the point where the skills and the knowledge of our employees is a critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. The leadership involved with the sales team is critical. The challenges in maintaining a motivated, skilled work force is not easy.

The comprehensive skills assessment covers all of the topics and subject matter required in the course of performing the sales job function. In assessing this position, we have taken all of the classes involved in selling and created a skills assessment. We have taken the 900 questions, from the pretest and final assessment, from all of the classes offered for Selling and Marketing. We have taken all of these questions and boiled them down to ninety essential questions. Each question has an answer within a multiple-choice selection.

The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into one of our four levels of accomplishment: Developing, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced.

These assessments can be used, in conjunction with background checks and interviews, to screen applicants before they are hired. They should also be used in the annual performance review with each employee. They can even be used as a foundation piece of information related to the wages and salaries paid to the employees. Finally, and this is the genesis of the creation of the comprehensive assessment skills, the assessment has been developed to be used to create a specific employee development program for each employee in the parts and service business teams.

CWI: Service Management CSA

There are some fundamental truths about people and their work: everyone wants to do a good job, everyone can do more than they think they can, and everyone is fundamentally lazy. In management and leadership we have to deal with the people and the processes. That is the job. You lead people and you manage the process.

The job of the manager or supervisor starts with the basic job function description and moves on to standards of performance. Everyone has to understand what is expected of them, as well as accepting that what is expected of them is both achievable and important. The various aspects of management are exposed in this power program.

In dealing with people, you also will need to be able to communicate with the employees.  In this program we explore two of the main forms of communications: praise and criticism. This part of interpersonal relations can be learned. These are skills that can be learned by following a simple plan. We discuss this plan in detail, which has many common elements with both praise and criticism to provide you with a better ability in working with your employees.

CWI: Construction Industry Technician CSA

With the rapid changes and developments experienced in capital equipment over the past few decades we have reached the point where the skills and the knowledge of technicians is the critical difference in developing and maintaining our relationships with our customers. This has included changes in machine design, computerization of componentry, telematics, and the use of exotic materials.

The Construction Industry Technician comprehensive skills assessment covers the four major areas of equipment: Engine, Drive Train, Hydraulics and Electrical. In creating this assessment, we have taken into consideration the major manufacturers.

We have created a series of multiple-choice questions within each of the four categories above. The results from the CSA, Comprehensive Skills Assessment, categorize the skills and knowledge of the individual being assessed, into a score.
The following reflects how our clients use the assessment programs.

1. Recruiting: The assessments should be part of the process of recruiting employees. In conjunction with background checks and interviews, the assessment gives you a much more objective evaluation of the applicants before they are hired.
2. Performance Reviews: The assessments should also be part of the process of the annual performance review with each employee.

Upon completion of a specific Job Function Skills Assessment the student will receive their score. This score will rank their skills based on the results we have seen from the thousands of assessments taken.