On this week's episode of Parts Hold, Coach Christian and Coach Cliff weigh in on a popular debate in the auto industry. Can managers be friends with their employees? Christian and Cliff agree that yes, without a doubt, you can and should be friends with your staff. It can be a tricky balance, that's for sure. And you might think that you won't be able to hold your friends accountable the same way you need to with other employees. But the truth is; if you're communicating properly it's absolutely possible. Tune in for some great stories and lessons learned on the service drive and parts counter.

As the Parts Manager, you're going to need to work pretty closely with the Service Manager. And that can be a real challenge. More often than not, the Service Manager position can be a revolving door. And when that's not the case, sometimes the body in that position is just not effective. You have to do your best to make some effort to establish common ground. Fixed Ops can only fire on all cylinders if you're helping each other succeed. And remember that you don't just have to be compliant in your role. If you're a valuable employee, you have good ideas, and you should share them.

On this week's episode of Parts Hold, Coach Christian and Coach Cliff dive into a slightly different area than usual: soft skills. In many ways, these kind of interpersonal skills are just as important as technical knowledge. Especially when we're hiring staff, these soft skills are crucial to get a pulse on. Teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and adaptability are just a sampling of the kind of soft skills you should be looking out for.

On this week's episode of Parts Hold, Coach Christian and Coach Cliff break down some key steps to help parts managers truly become the master of their universe. Some of the essential steps of the process include anticipating sales, focusing on fast-moving parts like filters and wiper blades, and keeping an eye on obsolete parts. Tune in for the full breakdown!

In today's episode, Cliff and Christian explain how to make satisfied customers from your parts counter. It's important to make friends and build rapport with customers if you want them returning for future service.

Today on Parts Hold, we're playing you some of the best moments from our past episodes. We'll be back soon!

On this week's episode of Parts Hold, we're excited to welcome Kurtis Wilde, a tech-savvy Parts Manager out of BC, Canada. He walks us through the myriad ways he turns to technology to make his job easier. He focuses on utilizing his DMS system to automate stocking levels and save time, adjusting the pricing strategies for the different items that you he can control, creating a consistent process for thanking customers for their business, using a digital scheduler to plan out his entire day, and much much more.

On this week's episode of Parts Hold, Coach Christian and Coach Cliff talk about some of the dynamics in the dealership, and specifically how the Parts department often feels like the middle child in the family. One of the best ways to shift this dynamic is to get more involved with Sales and Service. As a Parts Manager, you can give them reasons to consider Parts. Watch the full video a list of helpful strategies to do just that.

On this week's episode of Parts Hold, Coach Christian and Coach Cliff talk about the career path from the Parts counter to Parts Manager. Understanding e-commerce is key first and foremost, and it's wise to get involved with both eBay and Amazon. Other key areas of focus include keeping an eye on obsolete parts, understanding pricing structures and strategies, and becoming a customer advocate. Christian and Cliff also share their insight on the mysterious prospect of extra-terrestrial beings.

Getting involved in wholesale is a jump into the deep end, it's not something you just dip your toes into. Once you make the decision to start, you have to commit to developing a real strategy to make the most of your efforts. If you're a multi-franchise store, we strongly recommend you get invested in a strategic wholesale operation. Speed in execution, dividing delivery areas along major highways, and building partnerships with the manufacturers are just three of Cliff's keys to success.