For more on this subject, tune into Episode #352 of GarageCast
I'll say something in a 20 Group meeting that still catches people off guard: the dealerships that win the next decade won't be the ones that sell the most units. They'll be the ones that built fixed operations into the engine room of the business — driving profitability, retention, leadership development, and growth, all at once.
For decades, the leadership pipeline in this industry ran one direction: sell well, move into finance, become a sales manager, eventually earn the GM title. Sales got the spotlight because sales generated the excitement, the revenue, and — supposedly — the future leaders.
That model is cracking. And if your org chart still assumes it, you're already behind.
Across powersports, automotive, marine, and RV, I'm watching the strongest operators quietly figure out what many dealers still overlook: fixed operations isn't a support function anymore. It's the operational heartbeat of the store.
Margins are tighter. Technology in these units is more complex than it's ever been. And — this is the part that matters most — retaining a customer is worth more than acquiring one. Service, parts, and the customer experience aren't secondary line items. They're strategic assets.
None of this means walking away from sales. The dealers I work with who are pulling ahead aren't choosing between sales and service — they're building organizations where every department works together to maximize lifetime customer value.
Here's the reality on the ground: pricing transparency has stripped away a lot of the old competitive edges. Digital retailing has compressed margins everyone used to count on. Meanwhile, your service department keeps generating recurring revenue and keeps giving you a reason to talk to the customer again.
Every service visit is a trust-building rep. Every repair order is a chance to show up like a professional. Every maintenance appointment nudges that customer one step closer to buying from you again, rather than from your competitor down the road.
That's exactly why I'm seeing more fixed ops leaders get pulled into the GM chair. They come in with a systems mindset and operational discipline that pair well with traditional sales instincts — and, frankly, it shows in the composites.
The next wave of dealership leadership won't be specialists in one lane. It's going to be utility players who understand the whole business.
I want leaders who get sales, finance, service, and parts, and who understand the customer's entire journey — from the first website click to year seven of ownership. That combination is rare. It's also the single best predictor I've found of a store that scales well.
Too many dealer groups are still running in silos. Sales doesn't talk to service. Service doesn't understand what sales promised. Parts runs its own island. Finance is off in a corner, disconnected from the customer experience. You already know what that produces: inconsistent communication, operational friction, and money left on the table.
The strongest dealerships I work with intentionally cross-train their future leaders. They rotate managers through every department, because real leadership requires understanding how all the pieces move together. When your leaders actually understand the full operation, collaboration stops being a talking point and starts happening naturally — problems get solved faster, customers feel smoother handoffs, and departments stop competing for credit and start chasing the same numbers.
Here's a distinction I make in almost every 20 Group session: the gap between an average store and an exceptional one is rarely talent. It's consistency.
Every dealer tells me they have a process. Far fewer can actually write it down. Even fewer execute it the same way every single day.
Under pressure, people don't rise to some higher standard — they fall back to whatever system they've been trained on. That's the whole argument for a documented, repeatable process. Greeting a customer, writing a repair order, presenting F&I products, scheduling an appointment, walking a vehicle — none of that should be improvised. It should be intentional, every time.
Consistency builds trust. Trust builds retention. Retention builds the profitability number you're actually trying to move.
A lot of dealers pour money into showroom design and completely underinvest in the touchpoint their customers actually see more often: the service drive.
For most of your customers, service is the most frequent interaction they'll ever have with your store. Check-in sets the tone for everything after it. Is it transactional or relational?
The advisors I'd put up against anyone don't just collect information — they start conversations. They ask what the customer's been riding. They learn how the unit actually gets used. They surface needs the customer hasn't even articulated yet. That's not just a nicer experience — it's better diagnostics, stronger relationships, and more legitimate opportunities to recommend maintenance that actually benefits the customer.
Customers forget the paperwork. They remember how they were treated. Every time.
Nearly every dealer principal tells me they need more technicians. What most of them actually need is a better workflow.
Before adding headcount, ask the harder questions first: Are your techs consistently productive? Are your advisors overloaded? Is work distributed efficiently across the shop? Are ROs written thoroughly enough to eliminate comebacks? Is your support staff actually freeing technicians to do skilled work, or are they buried in tasks anyone could do?
Adding technicians on top of a broken process just gives you a bigger broken process. The best-performing service departments I work with get everything they can out of their existing bench before they ever expand payroll. Dispatching, communication, RO quality, advisor support, workflow — fix those first, and the gains usually dwarf what another hire would've bought you.
The technician shortage isn't solving itself. Waiting around for experienced techs to show up on your doorstep stopped being a real strategy a while ago.
The dealers winning this fight are developing talent from inside. Porters move into apprenticeships. Apprentices move up to C-level techs. Technicians advance through a real structured program, backed by mentorship and ongoing training — not a vague promise of "someday."
This isn't just a staffing fix. It's a culture fix. Employees who can see a real path forward stay longer, engage harder, and build loyalty you can't buy any other way. The dealers investing seriously in tech development right now are building an advantage their competitors won't be able to copy on short notice.
Gut instinct still counts for something. But the stores winning today are winning on measurable performance.
The strongest fixed ops departments I work with track their KPIs relentlessly — not to fill a binder, but to make better decisions. I'm talking about:
These numbers tell you where you're strong and expose leaks before they become real money problems. Data takes the emotion out of the decision, creates accountability across the team, and — more than anything else — gives you an actual roadmap instead of a guess.
One of the most common leadership mistakes I see: a GM who believes they have to be the smartest person in every room.
The best leaders I work with know better. They don't need to know everything. They need to be surrounded by people who do.
The high performers empower their specialists. The fixed ops director owns service excellence. The finance manager is responsible for compliance and profitability. The sales manager owns acquisition. The parts manager owns inventory strategy. Leadership's job isn't to have every answer — it's to build an environment where expertise can actually do its job, and departments move toward the same outcome rather than competing for territory.
Every time, organizations built around collaboration outperform those built around ego.
For years, fixed operations was the department customers visited after the sale was already done. Today, it's the department that determines whether there will ever be a next sale.
Service creates trust. Trust creates loyalty. Loyalty creates lifetime customer value — the number that actually matters.
The dealers leading this industry aren't picking between sales excellence and service excellence. They've figured out the future belongs to the stores where both run as one integrated system.
Fixed operations isn't just about turning wrenches anymore. It's about developing leaders, building repeatable processes, maximizing profitability, improving retention, and building a dealership that holds up regardless of what the market throws at it.
The dealers investing in fixed operations today aren't just improving a department. They're building a stronger business from the inside out.
