| Metric | Change |
|---|---|
| Fixed Ops gross profit | +49% |
| Total ELR | +$15.78 |
| Daily RO average | +17.2% |
| One-line RO % | Under 30%Top 10% of comparable stores |
Since partnering with Dynatron, Sherwood Ford has grown Fixed Ops gross profit 49%, worth $1,558,937 in additional annualized customer pay revenue.
About Sherwood Ford
Sherwood Ford in Sherwood Park, Alberta is the largest Ford store in Western Canada, running 54 bays and 51 technicians.
The department is built on process. Service Director Damon Egan describes it as operating like a professional sports franchise, where everything is calculated and precise down to the reports he runs each morning.
Going Deeper Than the Usual Numbers
Most Fixed Ops departments run on hours per RO and RO count. Sherwood Ford uses PriceSmart to break the numbers down further, to gross per hour per technician and gross profitability by category.
"Rather than looking at the same old things that everybody looks at, which is the hours per RO or an RO count, we're going way deeper than that. We're looking at gross per hour per technician. We're looking at the gross profitability on everything that we can look at."
Like any well-run sports team, the dealership tracks both its own performance metrics and its competition. Dynatron’s VPG reports supply that outside view, showing where the store sits against comparable dealers, column by column, and where someone else is still ahead.
"That VPG keeps me very honest with my numbers, and I'm always looking to see who's better than me. And how I get there."
Closing those gaps column by column moved the rate in every labor category. LOF ELR rose 21.4%, maintenance 7.3%, and repair 3.0%, lifting total ELR from $139.51 to $155.29.
Finding the Money in the Op Codes
Sherwood Ford applies that same precision to its individual operation codes. Going through them turned up two problems at once. Some were priced below the market, and the times attached to them were wrong.
Supplemental inspections were a clear example. The store was selling a high volume of them at a price below everyone else in the market, so raising the price kept them competitive and lifted labor gross profit percentage on work they were already doing. With a couple of implementations in place, Sherwood Ford uncovered an additional $45,000 a month from the op code work.
Retention Without Sacrificing Profit
The conventional answer to a growth target is more cars. Specials, coupons, and an open drive bring in volume, and they bring in customers who came for the coupon.
Sherwood Ford went the other way. Advisors keep the same customers every visit, and they work the way a financial advisor does, using declined work and the vehicle’s own history to build a tailored plan for the customer.
That advising is what holds customers after the warranty runs out. Retention climbs as vehicles age, reaching 63% on vehicles eight to twelve years old.
"A lot of times what we're told in this business is that you've got to be the cheapest on the block to get people to come through the door, because there's so many independent competitors. And that's not the case at all."
The Result
Car count rose 15%. Gross profit rose 49%. Hours per RO held steady at 3.88, so the gains did not come from padding jobs. One-line ROs stayed under 30%, in the top 10% of comparable stores. Fixed Ops gross profit now runs roughly three times the comparative market average.
"We started with a very aggressive target this year of getting to a 30% growth. And through everything that we've done and the wholesale changes that we've made, we've been able to manage a 49% growth year over year. And last year was a record breaker." d
About Dynatron Software
Dynatron Software simplifies Fixed Ops by transforming your DMS data into actionable insights. From price optimization to warranty filing and coaching, Dynatron delivers results that empower dealerships to cut through the data fog and increase their profit margins. Typical dealers see a 19x ROI in the first year and $216K in additional annualized revenue.
