Do you enjoy what you do each work day? Maybe I’m a little “off,” but I enjoy the craziness of a very busy day. You know—the days where so many folks are on the lot it reminds you of a county fair. Everybody’s phones are ringing almost nonstop. There is a line at the payment window. Inside your showroom, the employees and customers are moving around like you’re in a big-city train station. When I experienced these days I always stood back for a minute and watched the action. It is like coaching a baseball team that keeps turning double plays.

The satisfaction I got from the above scene helped make the daily grind worth it. I always trained staff using a coaching style that included cross-training of personnel so there would be “depth” at every position. Our employees worked hard and understood the decisions they made every day affected how the public perceived our dealership. I tried to include as many of our people in “teachable moments” as I could. When an issue arose, everyone was brought together for an explanation of what took place and why it was good or bad for the customer (or employee) and our company. I feel that if your people understand what is happening in your store and why you want certain responses to occur, your team will be more proactive solving problems instead of just reacting to issues as they happen.

As a manager/owner of any business that deals with customers, it is important that you realize the attitude and motivation of your personnel is directly affected by your actions. Compensation is important to maintain morale, but that is only one aspect of your duty to your people. I believe that an atmosphere free of useless stress is important. Our people worked well together. We would not hire anyone without taking the team into consideration. If your people dread coming to work, then you are not getting the best performance from them. When that crazy-busy day comes and everyone is on their feet, running from one customer to the next, I want my employees’ minds on doing what is right for our dealership. Right for the dealership meant satisfying our customers while maintaining a profit.

I always made sure the employees knew that I was concerned about them. I would not over-hire, so our employees could get all the hours possible, and they knew the team needed them every day. If I saw or heard about a personal issue affecting someone, I would attempt to interject myself and make sure the employee(s) involved get to a reasonable settlement quickly so the focus at work remains on work. The gears of your “machine” have to mesh well together and this requires attention from you, even if you are helping a team member deal with a problem at home.
The days when our team was being pushed to the limit were very satisfying because our people were confident of what they were doing and why. As a manager, it’s what you do when it’s not busy that is important. Good procedures and trained people that work well together make those crazy-busy days manageable and profitable.

Gene Daughtry is an executive conference moderator, trainer and consultant for NCM Associates with specialization in sales, finance and special finance for franchised and BHPH dealership operations. To reach Gene, email gdaughtry@ncm20.com or call 913.649.7830.