Are all the folks at your dealership "Team Players"?

Thanks Bobby C. for bringing up a great "point". ( By the way, I love puns) For the entire dealership staff to focus on the same goal of financial success, all members of the staff must also be playing on the same team! How can we get management to share that goal if they are not acting like a player/coach and leading by example?????

Any ideas?????

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Permalink Reply by Agustin Vasquez Jr on August 23, 2010 at 7:38pm

Dear Abby responded to a mother once in a case where the mother needed advise on establishing a common ground with her daughter, the mother wanted to share more things with her daughter. The mother also felt that her teenage daughter was drifting away from her more and more each day.

Dear Abby responded quite sharply and wrote back "read the same books and other material." "Take some classes together if necessary."

This situation isn't any different with the appropriate material.

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on August 23, 2010 at 7:42pm

Thanks so much Agustin for your reply...Which just opens up a real great conversation...Sometimes management enrolls sales consultants in training courses which they have not taken themselves...Everything just falls apart at that point... How do we bring all the players on the same court with the same book of game plays???

Agustin Vasquez Jr said:

Dear Abby responded to a mother once in a case where the mother needed advise on establishing a common ground with her daughter, the mother wanted to share more things with her daughter. The mother also felt that her teenage daughter was drifting away from her more and more each day.

Dear Abby responded quite sharply and wrote back "read the same books and other material." "Take some classes together if necessary."

This situation isn't any different with the appropriate material.

Permalink Reply by Agustin Vasquez Jr on August 23, 2010 at 8:49pm

I believe that a person with talent can be trained to posses have the right skills. A trained person with the right processes can become great; however, a great person without processes will definately become average.

Since processes are always evolving to improve customer satisfaction, profits and other. At our dealership, we set up contests in every department to come up with the best process for everything that we did. Our goal was to improve any existing process for the better.

For example in sales, all salespersons were asked to write no more than two pages in performing the best "meet & greet" and why? All department manangers would vote on the best two page writeup of that step and the wining salesperson would be awarded a dinner for two. Every week, salespersons competed in writing on the next step to the sale and why? After about the third week the entire dealership wanted to know which salesperson won the dinner for two. Huge Buy-in!

Other departments did the same thing with a lot of success... Our process books are filled with plenty of great stuff and all participating employees have taken pride in them. Currently, new recruits don't stand a chance of deviating from any processes. Subordinates have found out that accountibility is a two way street, by showing their managers when a process is deviated.

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on August 24, 2010 at 9:19am

Augustin,

Sounds like you work for a great dealership... Being open to suggestions, opinions, and ideas from all the members of the dealership staff results in many benefits: perpetual learning, boosted employee morale, team atmosphere, and improved practices. I am so happy that you shared this with us because I am certain you are all enjoying great scores in CSI as well as enhanced profitability, which in turn makes everyone richer and happier!

Agustin Vasquez Jr said:

I believe that a person with talent can be trained to posses have the right skills. A trained person with the right processes can become great; however, a great person without processes will definately become average.

Since processes are always evolving to improve customer satisfaction, profits and other. At our dealership, we set up contests in every department to come up with the best process for everything that we did. Our goal was to improve any existing process for the better.

For example in sales, all salespersons were asked to write no more than two pages in performing the best "meet & greet" and why? All department manangers would vote on the best two page writeup of that step and the wining salesperson would be awarded a dinner for two. Every week, salespersons competed in writing on the next step to the sale and why? After about the third week the entire dealership wanted to know which salesperson won the dinner for two. Huge Buy-in!

Other departments did the same thing with a lot of success... Our process books are filled with plenty of great stuff and all participating employees have taken pride in them. Currently, new recruits don't stand a chance of deviating from any processes. Subordinates have found out that accountibility is a two way street, by showing their managers when a process is deviated.

Permalink Reply by A. J. Maida on August 24, 2010 at 10:19am

They say that certain things roll down hill...this needs to also. From ownership through management to the lot attendant. I believe the key is to give your personnel autonomy. I know in my department it is the first discussion I have with new hires. I even had the discussion with an intern I had over the Christmas break. I tell them to look up the word autonomy, that is how we work and if WE make a mistake we will deal with it. The problem is it is only in place in one two depts. in the dealership. It needs to be dealership wide.