General Manager Customer Service

RICH WILKINSON

Buffalo, NY 716-***-****/ *********@*****.*** https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-wilkinson-0bb99943/

GENERAL MANAGER EXECUTIVE

Accomplished and results driven leader focused on profitability and departmental cohesiveness.

Currently seeking a General Manager/Market Manager position.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Customer Service

Multiple location platform experience

Process Improvements

Employee Development

Profitability

Best place to work culture

Automotive/RV Sales

Inventory Management

Expense control

Profit and loss

Financial Statement Fluency

Hospitality experience (8 years)

General Management

Process development

Department Oversight

P and L improvement

CAREER HISTORY

EMERLING CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM – SPRINGVILLE, NY 2019-Present

GENERAL MANAGER

Function as the dealer operator managing service, parts and sales department’s.

Managed all staffing, pay plans and financials while running sales dept. to save expenses.

Handled P & L including forecasts, budgets, payroll and expenses.

Communicated with the factory regarding allocation, handled all ordering of sales inventory as well as customer CSI and concern resolution.

Handled customer issues and social media as well as used inventory procurement.

Provide training and coaching for incoming sales associates as well as internal cross training to maximize efficiency.

Managed dealership functions related to finances, compliance, partnerships, leadership, marketing, and sale transactions.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

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Increased revenue as follows: parts revenue from 250k to over 400k, sales gross from 65k to 150k and service revenue from 65k to over 80k monthly.

Reduced expenses, decreased employee turnover, increased revenue. Had to replace and train store managers, hired, and trained a customer focused team. Created a performance based, best place to work culture.

335 ON THE RIDGE – RIDGEWAY, ONTARIO 2016-Present

RESTAURANT OWNER

Opened this restaurant (Fine dining/American cuisine) in 2016

Hire and train restaurant staff of up to 40 employees at peak time focused on delivering excellence in cuisine and customer service.

Went from 600k per year at takeover to over 1.8 Million in revenue, rebranded as 335 on the ridge.

Created a dynamic social media presence with active engagement and over 3k followers.

Won best restaurant in southern Ontario and multiple rewards regarding culinary.

Opened a second location at local winery to add additional revenue and exposure.

CAMPING WORLD AND GANDER MOUNTAIN – SYRACUSE, NY

2017-2019

GENERAL MANAGER

Championed the success of an evolving and growing organization with an annual revenue budget of $60MM per year; the first store in the country to generate $1M finance revenue in a month.

Managed a staff of over 80 employees, consisting of service, parts, sales and a retail store. Averaged 55 retail units per month. 20 service bays, 7 unit showroom and 200 units new and used on the ground.

Sold RV’s and travel trailers. Represented class A,B,C driveable’s as well as travel trailers and 5th wheels.

Oversaw back-end responsibilities including inventory and procurement, partnerships with other dealerships, marketing, off site promotions, employee development, and team building initiatives.

Managed off site sales including Syracuse fair and ran and staffed 3 different displays at the Hershey RV and travel trailer show with over 50 sales consultants. Handled logistics of moving and acquiring inventory from 10k travel trailers to 350k RV’s.

Established working relationships/sponsorships with Syracuse University to maximize exposure of the brand.

Camping World of Syracuse was one of the top 15 revenue dealerships in the US and one largest volume of over 200 nationally.

Oversaw the opening of a sister location, Gander Mountain in Cicero NY. Focused on entry level towable’s and more affordable class C’s.

Recruited to enhance the efficiency, staffing, profitability and overall operation of this large dealership.

Additional Tenures and Platform experience:

General Manager / Variable Manager WEST HERR AUTOMOTIVE GROUP Buffalo, NY (2014-2017).

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Director of Operations of 4 dealership platform THE HERTRICH GROUP Easton, MD (2013-2014).

Opened Honda and Kia acquisition, as well as Managing Ford, Buick, Chevrolet and GMC.

●Managed a staff at all four locations of over 100, with sales, service and parts at all locations.

●Established a presence, and unified branding along the main eastern shore corridor.

●Established consistent sales training, new employee orientations and sharing of resources to reduce expenses.

●Maximized profit by sharing personnel, centralizing office and cross-selling between stores.

●Established a cohesive go to market for the platform focused on consistent and easy sales process, community service and reinforcing being a part of longstanding and ethical automotive group.

●Actively involved in expense control, Used vehicle acquisition and disposition.

●Streamlined focus of Used vehicles. Maximizing platform resources for quick reconditioning and pricing consistency.

●Created a cross selling incentive for sales departments to encourage cross selling and sharing of used vehicles.

●Worked with manufacturers to ensure consistent compliance and above market CSI scores ● Consistently performed above group metrics for customer satisfaction and profitability metrics.

●Trained all sales staff for consistent experience between location and instituted a new employee orientation to make a consistent onboarding experience.

General Manager WEST HERR CHEVROLET OF ORCHARD PARKWEAT Orchard Park, NY (2004-2013).

Multiple top 20 finishes nationally. 3000 unit forecast yearly. National dealer board for GM financial.

General Sales Manager DELACY FORD Elma, NY (2002-2004).

General Sales Manager / Finance Manager GAMBINO FORD, LINCOLN, TOYOTA Niagara Falls, NY

(1996-2002).

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATION

University of Buffalo

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Best Place to Work in the US 2012

Best Place to Work in Buffalo 2017 and 2020, 2023

Top 100 Chevrolet Dealerships in the US 2012

Certified Chevrolet and Stellantis

Best Restaurant Winner in Southern Ontario

Won Mark of excellence for Chevrolet 7 times

Won president's award for Ford 2x

Participated with GM financial dealer board in 2011 to establish consistent lending metrics to the dealer body with President of GM, Chevrolet and GM financial

VOLUNTEERISM

Kids Escaping Drugs

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Roswell Cancer Institute

Boys and Girls Club of WNY

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