There is an old saying carpenters use. "Measure twice, cut once."

I recently went to a Dealer to present DealerPro and our Performance Driven Training Program and guess what...I measured once and missed the cut.

I didn't miss by much. About a 1/16th of and inch or so. When you really think about it, on a small scale, 1/16th is not that much at all. It really does not seem that big a deal.

But miss by 1/16th of an inch when you are calculating something like the square footage of your home and taxes are involved and suddenly you remember things like high school algebra and can quote complex mathematical theories.

The point I am making is everyday we all say things to ourselves like "Oh, it's ok if I don't give that Customer a menu because I know that they don't buy anything" or "I'm not going to worry about that multipoint inspection. They were in just a few months ago" and we give ourselves a pass.

Why?

It's just a little bit and it won't make a difference. Right?

I flew 200o miles to present our program to a Dealer that was not prepared to see me because I failed to follow my own process. I got busy with other things and did not "measure twice, cut once." Can you guess the end result?

It's never the big disaster that kills a deal. Big disasters almost always start with small decisions that don't really seem that important when you are making them.

Deciding not to personally call this Dealer and get him on the phone even after we had talked a couple of times, did not seem that big a deal. I mean, everybody reads their email...right? And everybody can read and follow directions...can't they?

It was only a little shortcut. And it caused a huge miss.

Are your Service Advisors taking those little "shortcuts" because in their minds "it's just a little thing" and nobody will notice? Are you allowing your Service Team to circumvent, use "choice implementation" or refuse to follow processes that are in place? Are they "missing the cut?"

Take the time NOW to review everything you are doing that is working and  everything that is not working and find out why.

Grandma dropped her car off and did not get a multipoint inspection? Why?

Mr. Jones came in for a recall and was not offered a menu? Why?

Billybob the local twice a month customer came in and was not greeted properly? Why?

Silly Sally the Service Advisor did not complete and walk around on her 10 writeups today? Why?

Ms. Coffeecellphone came in and was completely taken care of and even wrote a letter to the owner about her recent service experience. Why?

It's not just about what is not being done. It also about what is being done correctly.

Find out what is being done correctly... train, show,coach, review, train, show, coach, review, lather, rinse, repeat daily for maximum results.

Do this enough and missing by just a 1/16th becomes a footnote in your Success Story.

Me, I'm back to measuring twice. I hate missing the cut. Don't you?

(send me an email with the name of a famous tv show that the title of this blog post came from and I'll get your Service Advisors signed up for a free e-learning series sponsored by DealerPro lbuchholz@dealerprotraining.com)