Recently, I’ve been busy out in the field doing what I love most—rolling up my sleeves and working on-site with client-dealers, which is something I don’t have much time for in my position as director of the NCM® Institute. Recently, though, I’ve had the opportunity to work with two exceptional dealership groups who are committed to going “from good to great.”   

I know I’ve been remarkably fortunate, over my 25+ years in training and consulting, to work predominantly with dealers and managers who sincerely want to excel. In my previous position with the NCM Retail Operations Consulting division, I became specialized in helping multi-franchise, multi-rooftop dealers who are growth-oriented…and who know if they want to successfully expand their dealership portfolios, they need a high performance culture, the best processes, and the best people. These growth-oriented dealers recognize they occasionally need outside training and consulting resources to accomplish their objectives. Happily for us, some of these dealers depend on NCM Associates to provide these resources. 

Last week, I visited a very profitable three-franchise, five-rooftop group in the Northeast. The COO had read some of the Up To Speed articles on OTDB Development and Management, and he called to inquire how the strategies I recommended in the articles could be implemented within his dealership group.  I and a fellow NCM associate met with the COO, a GM, a GSM and the director of BDC operations for one full day to discuss the dealership’s goals, assess the current sales processes, identify areas for improvement, and set a strategy for 2013, with a 90-day action plan to get the team off to a solid start toward achieving those objectives. We met the following day with sales management to clearly communicate the “what, why, and how” of the strategy and to secure buy-in and set expectations. 

Next, the collective team of senior managers and retail coaches conducted meetings with the front-line sales staff to again communicate the plan and expectations, but also to assure them they would have 100% support from their managers as the new processes were implemented. I was truly impressed by the thoughtful and strategic way in which this senior management team approached the process, and I was energized by their enthusiasm to make theirs a world-class sales organization.

At our exit meeting with the group COO, I asked, “How did it go? What did you think?” and was delighted to hear him say, “You met my expectations; in fact, you exceeded my expectations!” I must say this is high praise given the level of success this dealership has achieved. But the work in the dealership to consistently execute and manage the OTDB processes they've recently learned is just beginning. I have no doubt they will be successful--and even more profitable--because of the leadership and commitment to excel I witnessed in the dealership.   

Was this a training engagement or a consulting engagement for me? Probably some of both, but while on-site consulting is no longer my focus, it is the focus for our Retail Ops team. This is the kind of work they do across the country every day for single rooftop dealerships as well as larger automotive groups. 

If you’re interested in hearing about our OTDB Development and Management program or need any type of on-site assistance, call 877.497.2363 to speak with our Retail Ops team directly.