Great Players Rarely Make Great Coaches
One of the things that I think became readily apparent when the economy hit the skids in 2008 was the fact that a lot of the people that we call managers, really aren’t. When the economy is humming along and customers are pouring into showrooms, a lot of our deficiencies as an industry are masked. As a manager, as long as we’ve got plenty of customers on the showroom floor, everyone’s happy. Unfortunately that’s not a reality in today’s environment. What sales managers are doing when they don’t have customers in the showroom is every bit as important to the success of the dealership as what they do when they have a showroom full of customers. If I walk into a dealership and I see four salespeople that have been standing around for two hours waiting for one customer, that showroom is not being effectively managed at that time. That didn’t make any sense when the economy was at its best and it certainly doesn’t make sense today. So why does this happen in showrooms across the nation? The problem is this: we tend to promote people to management that were our best salespeople not realizing that the skill-set required to be a good manager is completely different from that required to be a good salesperson.
Look at the NFL. The best coaches in NFL history weren’t the best players, but the guys who knew what to do and when. But dealerships consistently take great players and make them coaches. They’re given very little, if any, real training, and then we’re disappointed when they fail. Today’s manager must be able to manage activity to drive traffic, putting an emphasis on “how many appointments have we set up today” versus the old “how many appointments do we have coming in today?” Today is too late to focus on today. Today should’ve been taken care of yesterday and the day before.
This person must also be able to really train. So much of what is done at dealerships in the name of training is educational at best. REAL training involves role-playing and simulation. Managers today must be very process driven. So many “systems” that are implemented at dealerships tend to be short-lived because processes aren’t implemented to ensure long-term success. Without processes in place, it’s nothing but talk!
Comment
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Comment by Shannon Pierce on June 20, 2014 at 6:40pm
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I agree that the focus is on units. As I have been told for 30 years.... "Get the Units and the Gross will be there!" Support is a huge part of the salesman process. The need to be lifted up and kept up. There is no reason management should allow a salesperson to go a full week without selling a vehicle. Throw them a few lead bones or give them a house deal to get them going for the month. Attitude is 100% of the day. Good attitude, lots of sales. Bad attitude, lots of missed opportunities and missed sells. Finally, at the end of the day it boils down to this. Everyone just wants someone to care, yes... even in the car business!
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Comment by JIm Fisher on June 20, 2014 at 11:32am
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The fact is that if you are not training your people the customer is. Everytime they take an up and do not sell the vehicle, one of two things happen. Either it was someone else's fault or they feel that if they did something different, they would have sold the customer. It is when they start changing what they are doing, that they start going down hill and they need to be reassured that the process will produce results in the long run. When a salesperson asked me what he or she could have done, I remind them that 7 out of 10 people do not buy even if you do everything good. Continue doing the process and the numbers will go your way. It is the process that creates be backs, not short cuts or not giving out information to make them come back when they are ready.
That is why training is an on-going thing, not a once a week or when needed thing. There should be a morning meeting every day with the people who come in early. It should be planned, but even if it not, it reminds the salespeople and Managers that it is time to go to work.
Great advice by everyone.
Jim Fisher
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That is a great concept. I like that too. I would like to comment on the Director of Training position for dealers. It is just what it says it is.... The Director of Training directs training as well as trains. Its not that the Director of Training is the best trainer but he or she is to be the best at getting every employee at the dealership the training that he or she needs. With that said, The D.O.T. should consider gathering information for each individual employee, as well as small group training. Small group being 8 to 12 people. Individual training will build trust in within the trainer and the individual while clearing the air of all that is blocking the individual from performing at his or her best. Group training will build credibility and bring out issues within the dealership that individuals deal with on a daily basis, which helps and assists other employees with overcoming the same issues. Plus it shows employees that they are not the only ones dealing with these issues. ( I am only speaking from experience and what I am seeing in this new process. You may have another opinion and I respect that. Please enlighten me on your process if you have a difference of opinion.) The Director of Training is not a manager.... he or she is a mentor, a coach and a director. People want to have the information that makes them better. There is those that think they know everything. Those you can reach on an individual basis but it takes time. Your not trying to tell an old dog how to do new tricks or teach the old dog how to do new tricks... but what you will do is bring out the old tricks that he or she has forgotten. Doing that is an art! Once it is accomplished, everyone benefits. So you Director's of Training. Keep up the good work.... just direct the training.
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Comment by Richard Karlson on June 19, 2014 at 12:02pm
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I like the thought behind this, although in baseball, manager wear a uniform because in the early stages they were one of the best players too! Can all great players be able to coach, no... are there great players that are better at coaching... Billy Martin. Was Bill Parcell a great player, he certainly was an excellent coach... Becoming a top notch manager in today's automotive environment takes more skill than natural ability... Having a sales staff to be able to produce and a manager that can execute the close, well it is like peanut butter & Jelly, the bread makes the sandwich. So without over thinking this, compare the manager to peanut butter, salesman as the Jelly and the dealership is the bread. All three have to click on all cylinders to work... people hate shopping... make it easier by having the best oiled sales process.
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Managers need to manage, Salesman need to sell and Trainers need to TRAIN.the problem is that when dealers hire full time trainers they get to train for a short period of time. Then the dealer takes the trainer and makes him a manager and there goes the training. The managers need to have an imput on training because they are the ones that are to inspect ththe trainers effectiveness and to do that they are to hold the salesman accountable for their progress. If no progress, the manager needs to get with the trainer and communicate the effectiveness of the training.
If a sales person is not progressing it is not the trainers responsibility to hold the salesman accountable. Thats part of managing. Then the trainer will hold the salesman accountable when in the weekly One On One sessions.
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Walk the Walk! Talk the Talk! Most Managers when they are promoted from within have the hardest problems.
Majority of the people they Manager know their good, their bad and their ugly. Since we all can not be all things to all people, we must understand why that manager was promoted or where he came from and help them with their deficiencies.
It is simple. Dealers must force the Managers to do the things they don't like, The things they have to do or like get done!
Managers must get their salespeople to do the things they don't like! Once again, the salespeople will do the things they have to do and the things they like.
I was trained by an organization whose motto was: Salespeople Sell - Managers Manage - Dealers Play Golf!
I was demoted from an F&I Manager to a Lease Manager/Salesperson and then back to a Sales Manager.
When ever I was confronted by one of my cohorts about why they should do, what I didn't, I would tell them "Paper covers rock and Manager trumps Salesperson. If you have a better way, I will listen and then compare it to what we are doing. Most of the time, I never heard from them again. I worked real hard at learning how to close deals and handle objections and when I closed a deal, there were never any more questions about my procedures or qualifications.
I was lucky that I worked for a Dealers who thought training was more important then spending more money on advertising and I was provided excellent training for my self and for my salespeople. Role playing was a staple of our training. New salespeople would role play with each other in selling scenarios and interact with the desk as if they were actually with customers. In most cases, training is done while at the desk or tower while the salesperson is with an actual customer. Not the best time.
Training should be a mandatory requirement for every Manager and Salesperson on a monthly and quarterly basis. It is called forced fun, but they will get better, whether they like it or not.
I have always had training available to my Managers and Salespeople in every one of my stores. In many cases, it does not matter who the trainer is, but how the training is used and whether it is being used by everyone.
Jim Fisher
1-800-542-9340
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