Recon Company Selects New System to Cut Costs. Revenue and Profit Surge
Mar 3, 2008
“We initially went high-tech because we were drowning in paper,” said Chad Adams,
Operations Manager of ReconMasters. “It was taking weeks to create and send out
invoices, and longer to collect on them. We were also swamped trying to do payroll
and taxes. We had no idea where we were most profitable, where we were making mistakes
or wasting resources. The massive amount of paperwork kept us from focusing on other
important things, like growing the business.”
Customer Profile
- ReconMasters was founded in 1994
- Services provided – detailing, dent removal, wheel repair, headlight refinishing,
windshield repair
- On-site services at 30 automobile dealerships; also retail services
- Over 20 employees plus 1099 contractors
- Based in Southern California
Business Challenges
- The company was drowning in paperwork, resulting in delayed billing and high administrative
costs.
- Handwritten service estimates looked unprofessional and were prone to error.
- They had a low success rate in signing up new dealerships.
- The dealership service departments were not booking enough cosmetic services.
“We accelerated our cash receipts by two weeks, freeing up $50,000 in working capital.
Our dealerships are delighted − increasing their revenue from cosmetic services
a minimum of 20% a year, and an 8X increase at one dealership! That brought an extra
$100,000 a year in pure profit to the dealership!”
Chad Adams Operations Manager ReconMasters
Manual Service Estimates Meant Lost Sales Opportunities
ReconMasters’ handwritten, paper-based process for estimating recon services had
its own set of problems:
- ReconMasters inspectors handed Service Advisors a diagram of dents to be proposed
for repair, requiring busy dealership employees to prepare the customer estimates;
- Estimates required manual calculations, resulting in errors;
- Slow turnaround time to provide estimates to customers meant lost sales opportunities.
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From Paper Process to Process Automation
ReconMasters needed to take charge of increasing its revenue, and also needed automation
to create accurate information that could quickly and easily be placed in front
of the customer for a decision. They found what they needed in Recon Pro from AutoMobile
Technologies.
Competitor Replacement Rate Increases Four Fold
“Recon Pro is a sure-fire profit center for us and for our dealerships,” continued
Adams. “Before Recon Pro we were just another reconditioning vendor among many.
We needed an edge just to get in the door and talk to dealership service managers,
most of whom already had a recon company on site.”
“We have more than doubled our success rate in persuading service managers to replace their current vendor with us, thanks to Recon Pro.”
Hi-Tech Sales Tactic Open the Door
After purchasing Recon Pro, the company started prospecting by sending service managers
a few screen shots and a quick description of the features of the software.
“This high-tech tactic got their attention. Service managers were willing to meet
with us to find out if there was substance behind what we claimed we could do. Once
we did a short demo of this innovative software and explained how we could make
them money and improve customer satisfaction — using technology and a no risk/ no
hassle process — the deal was usually sealed,” concluded Adams.
Easy to Deploy and Easy to Train Users
ReconMasters, like most reconditioning companies, needed a software system that
was easy to install, easy to maintain, and easy to use. Because the system works
on both cell phones and handheld computers, they were able to get their technicians
productive without an initial investment in new hardware. The Web-based portion
of the system runs on AMT computers, so there was no installation of software and
all software enhancements are handled by AMT. The graphical interface made it easy
for the technicians to up and running in a matter of hours. AMT customized the software
within a few days to reflect Recon Master’s services, employees and customers.
The result – after an initial pilot at one dealership they are rolling out Recon
Pro at all their locations. Recon Pro is now part of the package that they commit
to each new dealership.
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