How low will you go?? - Minimum acceptable standards

Does your organization have minimum acceptable standards…for your salespeople and Managers??

Standards… that are the very least amount that is acceptable…and still retain your job?

Now…every good organization has goals and aspirations…

And every good organization… has the statistics on what the benchmark numbers are and what the average numbers are…

But do they have minimum standards…that all employees must adhere to??

Let me give you a couple of examples…

Let’s say you have a Salesperson selling new and pre-owned vehicles…

Nationwide…the average amount of vehicles sold per salesperson ranges from 8 to 10 vehicles per month…

You have given this salesperson all of the training…motivation…and inspiration… you can possibly give them…

But they cannot sell more than 4 vehicles per month??

Why do organizations keep them…if they cannot perform their jobs??

Or what about a service advisor…after all…they are salespeople too…

What if they can’t meet the minimum standards of hours per repair order…or dollars per repair order…

What are the minimum amount of “upsales” that are required over a month’s period of time??

How about your management team??

What are their minimums???

Total sales??

Average gross per sale??

A percentage of increase in business??

And is there minimum acceptable Customer Satisfaction numbers…required for continued employment??

This is why an organization needs to develop…minimum acceptable standards…within the frame of their pay plans…

The minimum standards perform a couple of tasks…

Number one…it clearly states to the person…what the minimum standards are…to remain in your organization…

Number two…with the standards in place…and a constant review of the employee…there will be no surprises when we have to eventually let this person go…

Number three…the standards will not discriminate…between race…religion…or gender…it is simply the minimum amount that is acceptable over a certain period of time…

It plays no favorites… is completely black and white…and easy to understand…

The minimum standards… should be just that…the minimum that is required to remain in your organization…

It provides… just the right amount of pressure to perform…

And are clear and easy to understand…

It is very important to share all of the pertinent numbers with your people…

So that they have an understanding of how the organization has set the minimum standards…to where they are…

The employee needs to see what the industry average numbers are…and what the best of the best are able to do…the benchmark numbers…

Only by sharing and explaining…what your minimum standards are…and how the organization derived those numbers…

Can the employee then know… what the responsibilities…and requirements… of the job are…

These minimums must be reviewed on an ongoing basis…to make sure that they are fair …and timely….

Minimum acceptable Standards…isn’t it time you had them???

To see a video of this blog, please go to the following link:

Jim Kristoff Video - Minimum acceptable standards

About the Author: With 30 years in the retail Automotive Industry, from a Salesperson to a Dealer, I have a vast amount of experience in all areas of the automotive environment.

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Comment by Jim Kristoff on August 17, 2011 at 9:32am: Amen Stephanie!!!

Comment by Stephanie Young on August 17, 2011 at 9:26am: Bad ideas and worthless talents......aren't they such wonderful things? : )

Comment by Jim Kristoff on August 16, 2011 at 3:14pm: Stephanie.....I am a plethora of worthless talents......

;-)))))))))))

Comment by Stephanie Young on August 16, 2011 at 2:45pm: Jim, you are clearly going to be our talent for song writing. How do you do it, brother? How do you do it?

Comment by Jim Kristoff on August 16, 2011 at 2:20pm: The No Bar Band Aid!!!......I LOVE it!!

Singing to the "losers" in the crowd!!

Our first song can be this: (with apologies to John Cougar Mellencamp)

"Scarecrow on a wooden cross, I have no standards bar....

400 empty promises that went way below the bar...

Grew up under-performing....my standards buried in the land

When I was 25....I was a loser and didn't understand.....

Rain on the standards....moving as slow as a plow.....

I can't feed my family....and I'm certainly not proud....

And son I'm just sorry, there is no legacy for you now...

Rain on the standards....moving slow as a plow...

Rain on the standards....moving slow as a plow..."

Comment by Marsh Buice on August 16, 2011 at 2:02pm: Beautiful....I'm stretching now!

Comment by Stephanie Young on August 16, 2011 at 1:57pm: Gentlemen, I think our band has found a charity concert we can host.......The No Bar Band Aid!!! I think it fits well with our sponsorship.

Comment by Jim Kristoff on August 16, 2011 at 12:54pm: The number of stores that have NO BAR would absolutely boggle your mind!!

Comment by Stephanie Young on August 16, 2011 at 12:13pm: What? No bar? LOL Seriously, that is a sad testament for progress. How do you goal set without standards? That just boggles my mind.

Comment by Jim Kristoff on August 16, 2011 at 12:07pm: Thanks Stephanie!

All too often in the Automotive world, A dealership has NO standards at all!

Kudos to you for setting the bar and raising it.

Most of the time the problem is not setting the bar high enough and hitting it....it's setting the bar too low and making it......Some folks have NO BAR at all.....