How prepared is your dealership for the next downturn, disruption or black swan?
Your dealership may be profitable today. That doesn't necessarily mean it's prepared for tomorrow.
Created by Max ZananAuthor of Dealer Survival Guide
Profitable today is not the same as prepared for tomorrow
Every one of these has happened to dealers who thought it would not happen to them.
Vehicle sales fall 30%?
Your manufacturer cuts allocation?
Your GM leaves?
Your DMS goes down for a week?
Gross compresses another $1,000 per vehicle?
Customers stop returning to your service department?
Regulators examine your advertising and F&I processes?
Would your dealership bend, or break?
Find out50 questions. 10 critical areas. One survival score.
The assessment evaluates your dealership across ten areas. Each category is worth 10 points, for a total possible score of 100.
Financial Strength
10 ptsSales & Inventory
10 ptsFixed Operations
10 ptsF&I
10 ptsReinsurance & Wealth Creation
10 ptsCustomer Retention
10 ptsCompliance & Regulatory Risk
10 ptsTechnology & Cybersecurity
10 ptsLeadership & Talent
10 ptsCompetitive Readiness & Resilience
10 ptsThis is not a profitability test. It is a survivability test.
Good markets hide weaknesses. Bad markets expose them.
One severe vulnerability can overwhelm strengths elsewhere
A dealership can score 82 overall and still have:
- 3/10 Compliance
- 4/10 Cybersecurity
- 2/10 Financial Strength
That dealership isn't necessarily safe. Your category scores matter as much as your total score.
The Dealer Survival Score™
Area 1 of 10 / Question 1 to 5 of 50Answer honestly. Your answers are saved on this device as you go, and your results stay confidential.
Your Dealer Survival Score™
Score by risk category
Where the conversation should begin
First actions management should consider
Your strengths
Dependent on current market conditionsNot yet stress-tested
Review your results with Max Zanan
Your three lowest scores are where the conversation should begin. Book a confidential call with Max to walk through your report and decide what to fix first.
Book a call with Max
Chapter 1, free
The 50% Scenario from Dealer Survival Guide, plus the Dealer War Room exercise.
Download Chapter 1A copy of your results is on its way to your inbox.
If vehicle sales fell 50% tomorrow, what would we do Monday morning?
Forget your score for a moment and ask your leadership team. If the answer isn't clear, your dealership has work to do.
Knowing your score is only the beginning
Your confidential report identifies:
Your overall Dealer Survival Score™
Your score in all 10 risk categories
Your three largest vulnerabilities
Where you outperform
Where you depend on current market conditions
What you should fix first
Your individual results are confidential and will not be published or shared without your permission.
Get my Dealer Survival ScoreThe objective isn't to predict the next crisis. It's to be prepared when one arrives.
The Dealer Survival Score™ is based on the operating principles behind Dealer Survival Guide by Max Zanan, Amazon best-selling author of Perfect Dealership.
Good markets hide weaknesses. Bad markets expose them.
What dealers say about Max Zanan
General managers and directors who have worked with Max and read his books.
I've been working with Max for years, and our dealership has benefitted enormously from his guidance and strategies. The truth that many dealers don't want to hear is that the industry is changing fast and dealerships need to adapt or die.
Perfect Dealership is the book the auto industry needs. With every chapter, Max outlines a modern and structured view of how to run and grow a profitable, ethical, and future-facing dealership. In an industry with little formal education and few true standards, Perfect Dealership is a handbook for effective automotive management across all levels and departments. Every dealership owner and manager needs a copy.
The finance department is the backbone of a dealership. If you are going to run a clean, profitable finance department, you need quality products with consistent representation and training. Improved processes translate into higher CSI and customer retention, not to mention higher PVR. Max and his team provide my dealership and finance managers with everything we need to be successful, and they do it well!
They worked with every one of my finance managers to make sure they used the menu to present 100% of the products 100% of the time, and the results were successful. I would recommend Max Zanan to any dealer.
Max Zanan
Max Zanan has spent more than twenty-six years in automotive retail, consulting with dealers throughout North America on F&I, dealership operations and dealer participation structures. He is the founder of MZ Dealer Services and an Amazon best-selling author.
Dealer Survival Guide is his most direct book yet: a working framework for finding what could hurt your store, and fixing it while you still have options.
Also by Max Zanan
How prepared is your dealership?
About 10 minutes. Confidential. You get your score immediately, and your full report with the first actions to consider.
Take the Dealer Survival Score