Benchmark Automotive Advisors
Brad Coon brings 35+ years of hands-on dealership leadership to your toughest operational challenges — from fixed ops profitability to buy/sell strategy. Real operator experience. Real results.
About Brad Coon
Most consultants have read the books. Brad Coon has lived the job. For over 35 years he has worked at every level of automotive retail — eventually serving as Chief Operating Officer of one of Western New York's most respected multi-rooftop dealer groups.
In that time he has managed through recessions, market shifts, OEM mandate cycles, and now the AI transformation reshaping every corner of the dealership. He has built and turned around fixed ops departments, structured buy/sell transactions from the inside, developed leadership teams, and watched what separates the stores that thrive from the stores that just survive.
"Most dealership leaders are great at numbers or great at people. The ones who can do both — and get a team to actually execute — are rare. That's what I've spent 35 years building."
Industry Recognition
Engagement models
What We Do
Every engagement is built on operator-level expertise — the kind that only comes from spending decades inside the business, not studying it from the outside.
Ongoing advisory for dealer principals and GMs looking to improve organizational structure, accountability, and profitability. Process efficiency, pay plan design, KPI systems, and GM coaching — the full operational picture.
Learn moreService and parts is where most dealers leave serious money on the table. This specialized engagement focuses on turning underperforming service departments into profit centers — throughput, advisor productivity, ELR, parts inventory, and CSI.
Learn moreSales, F&I, and floor management — the front half of the store. Desking strategy, F&I product penetration, used vehicle reconditioning, and sales team accountability. This is where margin is made or lost every day.
Learn morePre-sale operational preparation, buyer-side due diligence, and post-acquisition integration planning. Brad has seen deals get made — and get derailed — from the inside. That perspective is what protects your investment.
Learn moreMost dealerships are using 30% of what their Dealer Management System can do. Whether you're on CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds, DealerSocket, Tekion, or considering a migration, Brad helps you unlock the data, reporting, and workflow efficiency that's already sitting inside your system — unused.
Learn moreThirty-five years of reading dealer financials builds a pattern recognition most people never develop. Brad goes line by line through your financial statement — comparing against NADA composites, identifying where gross is leaking, and translating the numbers into a clear operational action plan your team can actually execute.
Learn moreWhy Benchmark
The automotive consulting space is filled with people who have read the books but never worked a deal. That is not our background.
Brad has managed the pressure of a bad month, negotiated OEM facility demands, and sat across the table on real buy/sell transactions. Every recommendation is backed by 35 years of doing the work — not studying it.
Most dealership leaders excel at one side of the equation. Brad bridges both: identifying the profit opportunity and getting the team to actually execute the change. Without both, the best insight stays on paper.
AI is reshaping every department in the modern dealership. Understanding which people can adapt — and getting the organization to move — is now the most valuable leadership skill in automotive retail. We help you get there.
The Benchmark Brief
Practical perspective on dealership operations, fixed ops, and the market — from someone who has been inside it for 35 years.
AI is touching every department right now — service write-up, desking, parts, F&I. The question isn't whether to use it. It's whether your people can make that shift.
Most dealers think their service department is doing fine. There's one metric that almost always tells a different story — and most stores aren't tracking it the right way.
Most sellers focus on the financial statements. Buyers are looking at something else entirely — and what they find in the first two hours usually determines whether the deal gets done.
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Schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation. We'll talk through where you are, where you want to be, and whether Benchmark is the right fit. No pitch — just a real conversation from someone who has been where you are.
Reach Brad directly: brad@benchmarkautomotive.com