The High Cost of Small Inefficiencies in Your Dealership

In the hustle of a busy dealership, it's easy to overlook how much time is lost to small inefficiencies. A few extra minutes here or there might not seem like much—but multiplied across departments, staff, and days, those minutes become hours. And those hours? They become costs. Real, measurable, preventable costs.

One of the most common sources of these hidden inefficiencies? Physical movement. Simply walking from one end of the dealership to another.

The Dealership Footprint: A Hidden Time Sink

Most showroom-service combinations span 100 to 200 steps—one way. That means when someone from service has a question about a vehicle delivery and walks up front to ask the sales team, they’ve already committed 3–5 minutes to the task before the actual conversation begins. Multiply that by:

• The time it takes to find the right person

• The time spent waiting for them to become available

• The off-topic conversations that often follow

…and a single question can cost 10–15 minutes of productivity per person involved.

Now picture this happening 5 times a day, across multiple team members. You're easily losing 2–3 hours a day in avoidable foot traffic and communication lag.

Why It Matters

Dealerships are high-volume, high-urgency environments. Every minute counts, especially when five or more deliveries are going out daily. That time loss leads to:

• Delays in vehicle prep or delivery

• Frustration among departments

• Lower CSI due to preventable delays

• Reduced bandwidth for upsells or customer engagement

In other words: inefficiency isn't just an inconvenience—it's a profit leak.

How to Stop the Bleed: Centralized Communication & Task Visibility

The solution isn’t to stop moving—it’s to stop needing to move just to find basic information.

With tools like our Delivery Hub, your team knows:

• The status of every delivery

• Who's responsible for what

• What’s done and what’s pending

Without needing to track someone down or walk the length of the building to ask.

By centralizing communication and making progress visible across departments, you cut down on legwork, confusion, and unnecessary interruptions—so your people can focus on doing their jobs, not chasing updates.

Every step matters. Every minute counts. In a business where volume is key and margins are tight, the best dealerships aren’t just selling cars—they're engineering efficiency.

Start small. Look at where time is wasted—and reclaim it.

Book a demo today!
get.dealerbydesign.ca/demo