Business View Magazine - September 2015

128 Business View - September 2015 Business View - September 2015 129 days. “Most people, when they do come in, they’ve done 13 or 14 hours of research on the exact car they want. Our pricing is out there and all the third-party sites out there make it pretty straightforward to find in- formation regarding a car. So, that’s kind of our mind- set in how we handle that issue.” Walters adds, “You have to build a culture within your dealership. It’s not about how much you can make per customer, it’s about how many customers you can make happy. We are very transparent. Anybody knows what we’re making on a car, nowadays. We price fairly. Of course, some of the old-school buyers don’t believe that, anyway. They just arbitrarily throw numbers out, because they want to negotiate. Those are the custom- ers that haven’t done any investigation and don’t know what cars are worth. They think the dealer is making 15 grand on a higher ender, when the mark-up is actu- ally around five percent above invoice. Those are our toughest customers.” In addition to the Group’s transparent pricing and salaried employees, Dolan reports that his vehicle specialists come “with zero car experience. We teach them about the product and train them in the way our customers want to be treated. We spend time with our customers and basically validate all the information that they’ve brought in, because all the information is out there, online. We also have delivery specialists who deliver all purchased cars, new and used. And nowadays we want to educate our consumers on ev- ery little gadget so that they can get the full enjoyment out of their cars.” Future plans for the Dolan Group include a brand new outlet. “We’re in the process of building a new Lexus dealership – a whole, new, state-of- the-art facility. We’re going from a building that is 40 years old and 31,000 square feet to one that is 68,000 square feet. We’re tripling our shop size to better service our cus- tomers. We’re going to have a state-of-the-art, inside showroom to get people out of the weather. We’re also going to have a full coffee shop. It’s going to be pretty nice building, when it’s done, by the end of July.” Nevada is one of the states that was very severely impacted by the Great Recession, but, according to Dolan, the area is beginning to rebound, especially since a few new, billion-dollar businesses are moving into the area, including Elon Musk’s new Tesla battery facility. “We’re bouncing back,” he says. “Consumer confidence is definitely getting better in the area, but it’s still gradual, so we’re doing the best we can, with what we’ve got. We’re always trying to change and push the boundaries on what we do with the business, becoming more consumer-friendly and bucking the system of the old ways of negotiation and really work- ing on that customer experience and retaining the cus- tomer. That’s kind of our mantra.” Walters agrees: “Customer experience is number one, and retention is probably equal to that. We’re trying to retain our customers and keep them here. Those are the two biggest points we’re always focused on. We’re doing things in a new way, and it’s been less profitable because we’re not trying to take advantage of people, but, I think, in the long run, we’re going to gain so many more customers.” Based on Dolan Automotive Group’s past successes and their new way of doing business with a more edu- cated and knowledgeable buying public, it’s a good bet that those customers will keep on coming and then staying with the Group, once they get there. PREFERRED VENDORS Custom Truck Accessories – Based in Reno, Nevada, Custom Truck Accessories offers everything from ton- neau covers, mud guards, step bars, running boards, hood shields, lifting and lowering components, leather Interiors , mobile navigation, and sound systems for any type of vehicle, to luxury wheel and tire packages for - cars and trucks - www.customtruckaccessories. com