Tear Down These Walls: 7 Exceptional Strategies to Double Your Customer Count

The walls are a physical barrier. The walls also represent a conceptual barrier to many. The walls, whether physical or conceptual, separate. And, that is bad! The walls act like demarcation lines that shouldn’t be crossed lest you dare enter into foreign or perhaps even enemy territory. The rules of engagement crossing into or between these walls may be an equally unfriendly encounter whether you are an employee or customer. “Stay on your side of the wall” can be a very unfriendly command, not necessarily verbally, but the look, or the no look at all; the body language of the wall telling all: “I’m busy and do not want to be disturbed by you.”

Is your dealership one that needs to “Tear Down These Walls?” You know what I mean; the walls that separate departments; the walls that separate people from people; that disconnect fellow team members; that disconnect prospects and customers from doing business with others in other departments. Oh, sure, not in your dealership, right?

The Walls of the 7 “If’s”

You have these walls firmly constructed in your dealership if:

Your dealership exists within industry average of 20% retention, or anywhere below 50%.
There are not 100% First Service Appointments set before Active Delivery of every purchased vehicle.
There are not 100% One-Team-Synergy professional edification habits and practices between Variable and Fixed after every vehicle demonstration drive.
There are not 100% One-Team-Synergy habits and practices to earn additional vehicle in household service opportunity with every vehicle demonstration.
There are not 100% next service appointment One-Team-Synergy habits and practices with every service customer.
There are not 100% vehicle inspection One-Team-Synergy habits and practices to advice, recommend and relay a complete ethical detailed “story” for additional services opportunities to be scheduled and set.
There are not 100% One-Team-Synergy Active Delivery habits and practices for relationship excellence measuring 100% retention efforts.

“Tear Down These Walls” that prevent employee’s ( Doer’s) and your dealership’s prospects and/or customers from full and complete engagement in developing One-Team-Synergy habits and practices that keep customer’s circulating from one department to another all the time --- as in 100% of the time!

Why does our industry suffer from high turnover? The best solution is: “Tear Down These Walls” within One-Team-Synergy will greatly lessen turnover. Strong team synergy will be embraced and engaged when you truly “Tear Down These Walls.” You may still not believe you have these walls foundationally set, but you do. Go through the 7 “if’s”again and ask yourself why your dealership settles for less. Why do you?

If you are willing to attest to the walls existence in your business, are you willing to tear them down?

Here are 7 Exceptional Strategies to Double Customer Count pretty darn quickly if you are willing to “Tear Down These Walls” pretty darn quickly, AND install the 7 if’s for One-Team-Synergy best practices.

7 Exceptional Strategies to Double Customer Count

Quit selling, and learn professional team synergy advising, coaching, and One-Team-Synergy skills to help them learn to buy more!
Fully support a new One-Team-Synergy business, forever eliminating the “ism’s” that built and sustain your walls:
Individualism = “What’s In It For Me”
Hedonism = If it feels good to me I’ll do it; if not I won’t
Minimalism = What is the least I can do to get by?
Quit focusing on building a business brand. Build the brand of all Doer’s in your business around the moral quest for happiness, not the world view of pleasure. Pleasure cannot be sustained beyond the activity producing it. Example: a sale with no loyalty. Happiness can and will be sustained beyond the activity producing it. Example: One-Team-Synergy earns and keeps a customer --- for life. Create, nurture and grow a happy One-Team-Synergy business life!
Exceptional “CPR to the Heart of Business” One-Team-Synergy. The heart of the healthiest business imaginable for your business is centered on: Exceptional Communication, Exceptional Processes, and Exceptional Relationships. This CPR revives and thrives a One-Team-Synergy business that has the conception of being wall-less!
Exceptional One-Team-Synergy Vehicle Demonstration CPR 100% of the time.
Exceptional One Team Synergy Vehicle Inspection CPR 100% of the time.
Exceptional One Team Synergy Active Delivery CPR 100% of the time.

NOTE: Expect that “Exceptional” is not a current reality in your business if: review Walls of the 7 “If’s” above.

We are our happiest when we are the best example of ourselves within One-Team-Synergy habits and practices offering best experiences all the time to everyone. I wish to conclude leaving you with this thought, not just what may appear to you to be a complex thought, like Doubling Customer Count, but this eye-brow raising human synergy thought:

“The deepest sadness in individual human nature is the craving to be appreciated. Nevertheless, the deepest joy in 1TeamSynergy human nature is the craving to express appreciation.”

Think about this! Ponder this! Tear down your walls and build a One-Team-Synergy business that will be standing on the firmest ground for generations to come.

May God abundantly bless you, your business, and all those who build it without walls!

Tom Wiegand, CEO, 1TeamSynergy.com, 443-910-7702

Download “Double Your Customer Count in 7 Months” book here; or go to www.1teamsynergy.com home page

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Comment by Tom Wiegand on August 17, 2012 at 10:52am: Thank you, Sir!

Comment by Brett Duprey on August 16, 2012 at 9:38pm: Very good indeed!!

Comment by Tom Wiegand on August 16, 2012 at 1:46pm: I appreciate your comment, Ernie. Thank you! You are on target. In my next article I will be releasing shortly: "The fast changing retail reality of adapt or die; which are you doing?", I share facts on the alarming consumer change going on throughout retail. If we are not changing our world for the better, we are left to accept the consequences of our inaction. Leaving up the walls or tearing them down is not so much a culture change as it is an attitude and character change --- for the consumer. There are departments now that work as teams in dealerships, so these will surely find tearing down the walls a fairly easy positive attitude change as well as a high character change. Yet, I must be clear. This will not be so much an either/or scenario for most, but a when! Dealership businesses will convert to One-Team-Synergy or they will face the wrath of consumer changing habits. Evaluating One-Team-Synergy dealership effectiveness will be scored more on "Retention-Proof" factors than by current "graded" means; more on "grading" "A Teaching Dealership" than current individual and department forced rankings. These are exciting times, Ernie; agree?

Comment by Ernie Kasprowicz on August 16, 2012 at 9:57am: A group of people all focused and committed to a common goal stand a much better chance of achieving that goal then those teams of people divided by multiple individual goals. You speak of altering our outlook, Tom, to change our accepted culture, and this is why what you profess has not occurred. It is my thought that the team needs to be "graded" and compensated as a team for change to occur. Am I close to being on target?

Comment by Tom Wiegand on August 14, 2012 at 1:41pm: Thank you Ashley. Thank you Bobby! Low customer retention and high employee turnover are co-conspirators. Attempting to fix one without the other has no supporting evidence. Now, on the other-hand, One-Team-Synergy becomes the new culture --- wait a minute --- we have a verdict! The customer finally wins! And, and: Employees operating within One-Team-Synergy finally win and stay! Whoa! A verdict where everyone wins, nobody loses, and everybody stays! Now, that's a true Win/Win/Win outcome! Let's celebrate this!

Comment by Ashley Poag on August 14, 2012 at 9:47am: Wow you touched on a few issues that dealerships struggle with. (High turnover, missed sales opportunity and miscommunication) And pointing them out with “If this is happening then that is the issue “concept is very important because so many fail to recognize the fundamental issues and how it’s affecting their probability. Great insight!

Comment by Tom Wiegand on August 13, 2012 at 9:17am: Thank you, Nancy. As always, I appreciate you! You know me well enough to know I am not out to hurt anyone, but to challenge those with 'open minds' to become their best within a One-Team-Synergy business. The only person I can ever change is me! Nevertheless, positive influence is a precursor to one, or an entire business, crossing that bridge from decision to commitment, to truly pledge to go through the processes of change to betterment that matters.

Comment by NANCY SIMMONS on August 13, 2012 at 8:52am: Nice job Tom... Thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed this and I hope many read it with an open mind!

Comment by Tom Wiegand on August 13, 2012 at 7:51am: Thank you Jeffrey and Tom. Leaders teach, coach, pull together within synergy teams. Managers manage, typically against numbers. When numbers are managers goals, and teaching and coaching secondary, mediocrity becomes standard norm of ill-perceived excellence. "We made money" becomes all that really matters. "We lost souls" is insignificant short and long-term reality compared to instant gratification of money! We become what we breed. We must conform to build many more leaders; yes or yes?

Comment by Tom Gorham on August 12, 2012 at 9:21pm: One of the best posts I've ever read. Mindful of the changes that are develping from social communication with customers, this shows that it all begins in-house. Thank you!