OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY Dealers should also be looking closely at their operational costs and working with their service departments to increase their revenue. In addition to getting the rate increase, it's also important to ensure that service advisors are upselling customers in the service lane. Dealers can also use a good reporting platform that will actually monitor warranty rates and can give you an alert when the difference between the warranty pay and customer pay rate exceeds 7%, which is a good threshold for a rate increase. It's important to invest in systems that will give you timely reports and analysis to make better operational decisions. SUMMARY In summary, warranty rate analysis should be an annual exercise which will result in the best health for the service department. Following best practices and maintaining operational discipline will ensure that you run a profitable service department. Finally, invest in a data reporting platform that will support you in your dayto-day business by helping you make better decisions. 38 Chris Dulla is V.P. of Frogdata. Frogdata's advanced reporting and decision analytics platform is helping dealers to improve operational performance thru data-driven decisioning. Frogdata also provides warranty uplift services thru their WarrantyBoost platform, and remote warranty administration thru their WarrantyMind platform. Both technologies leverage the Frogdata Decision Analytics platform incorporating AI-based decision models. Chris has spent the last 30 years working in both Automotive retail and technology industry with car dealers. Chris ran a dealership group for 12 years in the Midwest helping to grow their business by over 70% after the recession of 2008. Chris also worked for the largest DMS provider for 18 years where he managed a staff of over 400 employees responsible for driving sales and customer service for 2,200 car dealership clients.