Get access to highly specialist automotive leadership and management training
APD’s Education and Training Academy brings the most up-to-date Operational Leadership and Management programmes for OEMs and motor vehicle dealerships across the UK and international markets.
Covering the full spectrum of motor vehicles — cars, motorcycles and vans — APD’s Education and Training Academy offers innovative programmes to support experienced dealer managers with the skills, strategies and tools needed to improve operational performance and drive profitability. Our mission is to help automotive organisations adapt to change, perform better and capitalise on the opportunities presented by industry shifts.
Each programme is developed and delivered by a team of highly experienced automotive experts passionate about helping dealership managers influence, motivate, and inspire their teams in readiness for future change.
Our in-depth understanding of the industry’s evolving challenges and ability to show how to best respond through practical and measurable action make our programmes a sound investment for any dealership seeking to:
remove inefficiencies
improve performance
increase customer satisfaction
better staff retention
Education & Training Academy Programme Catalogue
Please fill out the form below to access our Training Programme catalogue
Built on the premise that theory and practice should be interconnected.
our specialist training courses deliver a combination of industry best practices and workable action plans. This blended approach enables delegates to implement the taught methodology and achieve performance improvements through measurable results.
In addition, we have made our training programmes fully tailored to fit every client’s individual needs. This flexibility enables companies to create a personalised training programme to include one or more courses and determine the number of delegates per course. In addition, it lets them decide on how they want the courses delivered — from large regional seminars and smaller classroom-style workshops, to one-to-one coaching sessions — in a face-to-face, online or a hybrid of the two environments.
Whether you have one or more requirements, we will take you through a detailed consultation process and recommend you a simple programme with the necessary components to suit your business’s unique needs
Our suite of training courses covers the following disciplines:
- Leadership and management training designed for dealer principles and departmental managers.
- Management development training, including financial metrics (KPIs) analysis and application, and department management.
- Understanding and optimising processes, controls and reports, supporting you to remove inefficiencies, and increase performance and profitability.
- Sales training for sales and aftersales.
- Service training, including customer handling and sales techniques for service advisors.
- APD software systems training aimed at providing user support and data interpretation.
Performance Improvement Courses
Leadership and management
A two-day course for dealer principals and department managers to enhance their leadership skills to increase their team’s and their own performance.
Delegate outcomes
- A comprehensive understanding of the concepts of leadership and management and the performance pathway.
- Apply leadership and management models to lead people more confidently and effectively.
- Best communicate with their teams by appreciating their and others' behavioural patterns.
- An insight into crucial motivational factors and how to use them to inspire greater personal achievements.
- Implement coaching tools to increase people’s performance on their job.
- Manage their time more efficiently and take ownership of their own department improvement plans.
- Employ the principles of proactive management.
- Identify the challenges in leading others and apply successful strategies to overcome them.
Effective Sales Management
A two-day course for dealer sales managers on best practice techniques to optimise sales processes and management systems and lead and motivate salespeople to increase sales and profitability.
Delegate outcomes
- Recognise the attributes required to be a successful sales manager.
- Maximise the sales funnel and manage the sales pipeline.
- Manage physical and digital sales processes more effectively.
- Leverage deal management processes for increasing profitability.
- Employ recycle management and boost customer loyalty.
- Optimise the used car market to generate more revenue.
Effective aftersales management
A two-day course for dealer aftersales, service or parts managers on how to best manage aftersales processes and systems to improve sales, profits and customer loyalty.
Delegate outcomes
- Best manage aftersales processes, customer contacts, management systems and controls.
- Generate more profit through robust processes and selling of additional products.
- Identify business opportunities with the transition to electric vehicles.
- Increased confidence and motivation to manage their teams.
Financial management and driving profitability for dealer accountants
A one-day course for dealer accountants and financial controllers on how to apply best practices in budgeting, reporting and the use of comparative tools such as OEM composite reports. They will go away with the financial knowledge they need to assist department managers in identifying areas for improvement and opportunities for growth.
Delegate outcomes
- A clear understanding of the benefits of an integrated and comprehensive budget.
- An appreciation of the important role of timely profit and loss reporting and relevant operational KPIs.
- Application of the concepts of accruals.
- An understanding of why to record stock at the lower of cost or net realisable value.
- Greater communication skills to disclose departmental and dealership financial results to line managers and dealer principals.
- Better recognition of the value of continual reporting through Daily Operating Controls.
- A clear understanding of the funding capabilities in financing current and future stocks for the working capital stability of the business.
Financial management and driving profitability for dealer principals
A two-day course for dealer principals and directors on interpreting and analysing critical financial statements and how they can utilise the financial data to drive greater performance and stability in the business.
Delegate outcomes
- A clear understanding of the financial principle of profit and why it is essential for the stability of the business.
- The ability to distinguish between Net Profit Before Tax, Return on Funds Employed, and Return on Investment and their individual role.
- Comprehensive understanding of the significance of cash flow and how to manage it.
- Detailed knowledge of the balance sheet concepts of gearing, working capital and liquidity.
- Establish the primary KPIs for the business and the actions needed to improve them.
- Recognise which KPIs have the most significant impact on profitability and cash flow.
Financial management and driving profitability for dealer aftersales managers
A one-day course for dealer aftersales, service or parts managers on how to interpret and analyse critical financial statements and utilise the financial data to increase sales and drive greater levels of performance and stability in their department.
Delegate outcomes
- Comprehensive knowledge of the structure of dealership management accounts.
- Identify key KPIs and benchmarks for each department and utilise them to drive profitability.
- Effective expense control.
- A clear understanding of the concept and importance of the various measures of service efficiency: Overall, Productive and Utilisation.
- An appreciation of the significance of the hours-per-job card and how 'selling up' can significantly improve performance.
- Develop effective EVHC processes.
- Apply procedures to increase parts sold per labour hour.
- An appreciation of the financial benefits of a well-managed trade function.
- An understanding of the concept of parts obsolescence for accurate reporting of profits.
Financial management and driving profitability for sales managers
A one-day course for dealer sales managers on interpreting and analysing critical financial statements and how they can utilise the financial data to increase sales and drive greater levels of performance and stability in their department.
Delegate outcomes
- Good knowledge of the structure of dealership management accounts. Identify key KPIs and benchmarks for each department and utilise them to drive profitability, including using a Daily Operating Control.
- Identify key KPIs and benchmarks for each department and utilise them to drive profitability, including using a Daily Operating Control.
- Effective expense control.
- Drive profitability through actions at each stage of the sales process.
- Create effective commission schemes.
- Managing the part exchange process that can affect cash flow.
- A clear understanding of the importance and implications of stock turns for new and used vehicles.
- Apply the principles of used car provisions and write-down.
- How to effectively manage stocking levels and gross profit using the Return on Used Vehicle Stock % KPI.
APD Software and Data Interpretation Courses
A suite of courses to cover in detail APD budgeting and reporting software solutions to enable you to input, extract and analyse data effectively to maximise profitability. These courses focus on:
How to use APD’s solutions effectively.
How to interpret critical data, including other third-party composite or budgeting and reporting solutions.
How to employ APD products to improve processes.
Course Catalogue
iCIS Introduction
iCIS Advanced Composite and Interpretation
ProfitPlanner+ Introduction and User Training
iCIS Interrogator User Training
Executive Insight Introduction and User Training
To learn more about how APD Education and Training Academy can help your organisation drive increased performance and profitability, call 01793 832660 or email training@apd-bm.com.
