Service

In the drive to increase dealer profitability, ASE have partnered with an energy consultant to deliver considerable savings to the energy costs in a dealership. Proven to go beyond other automotive procurement schemes, ASE offers an exclusive product that delivers considerably more competitive contract prices either directly from the supplier or via a broker. As a result of aggregated buying power the economy of scale benefits are passed through to the dealership utility bills. Guaranteed to cut the cost of dealership energy bills. Industry figures estimate that utility invoices contain errors of between 3% and 5% by value of overcharging and with ever more complex contracts being used this looks set to continue.

ASE’s Projector system is designed to monitor actual versus budget performance across a dealership.

• Helps to identify trends and areas of opportunity across all departments
• Continuously improve efficiencies and take action to correct shortfalls in performance
• Focuses on both Profit & Loss and company cash flows
• Establishes best practices and eliminates poor performance
• Assists to plan training, development and coaching needs for all levels of staff
• Delivers the rewards of improved performance to the dealership, staff and customers

The Projector system helps dealers generate their own forecasts and plans that clearly illustrate the opportunities and risks associated with the potential sales volumes, gross margins, direct profit and expense levels on a departmental basis as well as for the whole operation. Projector is a highly effective measurement tool for driving continuous improvement – designed by people with many years’ experience in financial planning, on behalf of dealers and manufacturers.

• Industry knowledge means potential issues with dealer health are identified at an earlier stage
• 40 years’ of automotive experience ensures that objective measures are used to assess the financial health of the dealer network
• ASE’s expertise is used to model potential scenarios, e.g. a declining vehicle parc, and the potential impact on dealer health
• Understanding the detailed day to day operation of a dealership means it is easy for ASE to allocate actions to team members and track their completion
• Multiple data feeds allow information to flow from all relevant sources and be stored in a central reference point.
• ASE’s bank of motor industry professionals are experienced in the delivery of reviews across local, regional, national and international networks

ASE are well-placed to give early warning signals about under-performing dealerships, and advise on remedial action. We’ve developed a market leading Cloud-based risk management tool that enables the health of dealers within a franchise to be assessed on a regular basis, and categorised into red, amber and green. Required actions, notes and results can easily be allocated, attached and followed up, ensuring control is maintained over the risk management process – even with large teams and international operations. This reduces risk to key stakeholders, especially when combined with ASE’s range of Dealer Support Services e.g. Best Practice Workshops, DMS optimisation/training, financial controls and accounting support. ASE was engaged by a struggling manufacturer who was facing a significant downturn in sales volume. They were concerned about the potential implications for their dealer network. ASE helped them devise and implement a network tool which minimised risk for all stakeholders. Various scenarios were modelled and reviewed to understand the impact on the profitability of the network, resulting in the manufacturer implementing a financially sound network restructure. The understanding of the financial impact enabled them to gain the support of the dealers to implement this restructure.

• ASE workshops are valued by dealers as an independent source of support separate from the manufacturer
• The agenda of each workshop is unique and highly relevant as it is driven by the specific KPI’s of each of the attendee dealers
• New contacts and relationships between attendees ensure that knowledge is shared on an ongoing basis
• Process improvements and practical ideas to improve profitability across all departments is the workshop focus, not fixing prices and margins across the wider network
• The independent nature of the workshop facilitates the sharing of best practice to sell more cars, parts and hours, rather than a forum to discuss other franchise issues

• Proven motor industry operators assess each situation, identify quick wins from every visit and give practical solutions to deliver an immediate boost to performance
• Going beyond other consultancy services ASE leave a long term legacy as well as create an immediate fix
• Completely focussed on the automotive industry driving dealer profitability across the global motor industry, assignments include:
• In-dealership performance improvement
• Dealership turnaround
• Consultancy outsourcing & implants
• A global footprint facilitates the sharing of global market intelligence and best practice

ASE’s global consultancy division, the ASE ProFit Optimisation service comprises of a team of highly experienced motor retail operators. The team of ProFit Optimisers were specifically head-hunted directly from operational roles and selected for their exceptional track record in delivering performance improvement in motor retail.An understanding of the key profit drivers for an automotive retail business, gained over 40 years of analysing transactional data from and providing solutions to thousands of dealers across the world combined with the practical hands-on motors experience of the team of ProFit Optimisers creates the unique ProFit Optimisation service. Through the application of dealer and field team coaching, process efficiencies, KPI monitoring and measurement, risk mitigation and opportunity maximisation a measurable impact is made. The ProFit Optimisation service delivers dealer performance improvement and is aimed at dealer groups and manufacturers, with the knowledge that a healthy dealer creates a healthy group or network and a profitable Brand.

• ASE’s training is delivered by a team of specialists still actively working on a day to day basis within a dealership, which means that processes can be illustrated within a live situation in their own business
• A toolbox of profit enhancement ideas, generated by ASE during 40 years of motor industry experience, means that for every issue a practical and proven solution can be implemented
• ASE’s unrivalled access to successful dealers worldwide facilitates access to global best practice and ensures incorporation of the latest technological solutions
• Bespoke performance training courses can be devised to match the specific needs of any automotive business
• The scale of the ASE team enables a rapid response to emergency requests and secondments to support onsite training requirements

ASE’s wealth of knowledge and bank of automotive experts means that training for any area in the management and performance of a dealership can be delivered. We frequently conduct in-dealership training and coaching, delivered by specialists, current or ex-dealer staff, to improve sales processes in either sales or service. In addition, ASE regularly hold regional motor trade specific courses e.g. VAT training days and national conferences for senior management, such as the annual Finance Director’s Conference. ASE performance improvement training has been delivered for individual dealers, dealer groups, multi-franchise independent groups and manufacturer dealer networks. Dealer Performance Training in action ASE was requested by a prestige franchise to deliver a global series of dealer improvement visits. The visits involved onsite training of sales and aftersales teams, the agenda being tailored in real time by one our experienced consultants to ensure the maximum benefit to the dealers and their teams. Unanimous buy-in was achieved and tangible success was gained, including the disposal of a number of problem demonstrators.