There's not too many times during the year that we call a time out. Well, there's usually one. Here's the dealership reset:
Accountability: How are you against your goals?
It's not just units, gross and ROs. It's about cost, effectiveness and no-bullshit reviews. Someone's feet not being held to the fire? Now's the time or else don't expect anything different come December.
Assessment: Who is helping you, who is not?
In meeting after meeting, the question should be the same for dealers to suppliers: "what have you done in the past 30 days to improve my business?". If they can't answer and back it up, you're wasting money.
Education: It's not just for sales meetings anymore
It's incredible when the entire sales staff can chirp back specs on the car they just received product training on that morning from a sales manager or the factory rep. It's another thing when a salesperson helps everyone learn something about their CRM they didn't know or shares a closing technique that got them to 25 units for 3 months running. When you stop learning, you start dying. When you refuse to learn, you need to pack your bags.
Impression: None, fleeting, building, lasting or wow?
Impressions have nothing to do with CPMs or 4-color versus black and white, although every newspaper sales rep that calls on your store will have a fit defending themselves. Impressions are all about what people think and feel about you and your business. And while it has a little something to do with the "silver bullet" that nearly everyone is talking about lately (yes, all of the experts are talking…all few of them), impressions are a lot more under your control once you realize that management actually influences nearly everything that happens at your dealership.
Half way through the year is more than enough time to evaluate a new program, see the leads you were supposed to get, increase your SEO results (if not dominate in many markets), build substantial results from email marketing, and a whole laundry list of other improvements. If you are not getting the results, cut bait. If you are, see how you can get more.
Everyone needs to do the reset. In a meeting with a dealer last week, it was dismaying to see things that weren't acceptable even five years ago still prevalent today. Apologies for using some cliches but they're so appropriate:
- You must inspect in order to expect
- Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM)
- Leaders are readers
- The hardest thing to change is the 6 inches between your ears
- It's not how hard you work, it's what you do with your time
- Dreams come a size too big, they allow us to grow
- Track, target, trim and train
- An idiot with a plan is better than a genius without one
The tragedy in life is not missing your goals, it's not starting with any. And that's even more the case when you don't check yourself before you wreck yourself. It's time to do your reset. You'll thank us later…
Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results
