Dealer Strategic Planning Inc. (DSP) has created a new tire retailer 20-group comprised of 20 tire retailers from non-competing markets in the United States and Canada.
The group will hold its first meeting in August.
"My expectations are to come away with real ideas and actions to help improve my business," says Jeff Pohlman, a Hamilton, Ohio-based dealer who will host the meeting. "As a plus, by being the host dealer, I will get experienced advice from 19 other dealers when they visit my business and offer improvement suggestions."
The goal of DSP's 20-groups is "to help dealers increase (their) bottom line profits by peer learning, sharing best practices, financial benchmarking and access to industry experts," say DSP officials.
Each month, dealers receive a detailed financial analysis designed to help them track their performance against group and industry benchmarks. The 20-groups meet three times a year for two-and-a-half days of "intense business discussions. Financial analysis and guidance are provided by Norman Gaither, a well-known consultant in the automotive aftermarket, who has been successfully improving dealers' financial strength for more than 25 years."
"In today's distressed economy, dealers need every edge they can get to help with their bottom line," says Gaither. "We have many dealers reaching our goal of greater than 10% net profit and most outpace the industry norm of 3% net profit."
Subsequent meetings for the new 20-group will be held, with date and place to be determined by participating dealers.
