TRAINING

When I hired a new employee regardless if they were fresh out of high school or had 10 years dealership experience I always asked what their goals were. Some said, they wanted to become an office manager or controller and others just wanted a paycheck.

Those who aspired to be a manager wanted my job. And that is a good thing, shows initiative. My position was – Go For It. And I would teach them everything I knew. Over the years many have tried and many have succeeded. There are many controllers and office managers scattered around the country that succeeded in getting my job.

Never be afraid to “train” yourself out of a job. It won’t happen. What will happen, the “trained” will move on to greener pastures. Passing the baton and giving others an opportunity to reach their goal is a good thing.

Whether an employee is there for a paycheck or looking for bigger and better things, training and cross training the staff is paramount for an office to be efficient. Many dealerships usually have one backup person to cover lunches, sick time, vacations, etc. Depending on the job, two people might be necessary for backup coverage.

Example:

All staff should be afforded the opportunity to cashier and fill in for the switchboard/receptionist. Some don’t like cashiering or the switchboard. There are times when rules must be adhered to with no exceptions. Once a rule is established rarely should there be an exception. If an employee balks at cashiering or switchboard relief, that’s okay. Just tell the employee they no longer are needed and to gather up their personal items and have a nice life. Rest assured within five minutes the employee will return and ask what time is she scheduled to cashier or relieve the receptionist.

Training is not just showing someone how to do something, but rather why something is done a certain way and the reason for its existence. There are three steps in the training process. We will use booking a vehicle invoice as an example.

1. Step one is the mechanics, i.e. post debit to this account, credit to that account; a no-brainer - sort of a robotic thing.

2. Step two explains why the invoice is booked a certain way. Holdback is posted to a factory receivable account called holdback because the factory holds back a percentage (usually2% or 3%) of the MSRP depending on the manufacturer. The dealership is reimbursed the holdback amount by the factory quarterly.

3. Step three, is the most important, and explains the reason behind the numbers, i.e. what is holdback, why is there holdback, why is there a prep credit, why is there an advertising assessment, etc.

The “why details” gives the employee a better understanding of their job and that will make them more knowledgeable and valuable.

TRUE STORY

In 1992, the controller blew out a disc in his back and was on medical leave for six weeks. No panic, no calls to the Tick People, just business as usual. Procedures were in place; the staff was trained and everyone knew what needed to be done. With fax and phone, the statement was pulled on the third workday. The office didn’t miss a beat. Proper training will do that.

CROSS TRAINING

Every position in the general office should have at least two others that can step in and do another’s job. As an example the person who costs the deals may also have the responsibility of posting vehicle invoices. There may be a time when the deal coster is swamped with deals and also has twenty vehicle invoices to process. What is the priority? The priority is both. Easily solved, just give the vehicle invoices to the backup person, who may be the payables clerk, to post. The deals continue to be booked and the vehicle inventory is updated. It’s a priority thing. What takes precedence, posting payables or keeping the vehicle inventory current? Sometimes it’s the little things that keep the paperwork flowing that keep the data current.