Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on October 12, 2010 at 10:50am

Internal R.O.I.........Love it!
As our mutual friend Joe Brunner likes to say ROI= Return On Involvement.Those "focus groups" meetings with people in the dealership and those decisions can yield many dollars in return.If each dept was just 10% more efficient than the previous month, what would the effect to the bottom line be?.....Nothing But Net!

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on October 12, 2010 at 11:23am

Jim how can that be done at the store level without...yes I said without the use of a training comapny....did I say that out loud?
Jim Washam said:

Nancy,

What a great idea. It would be a hard one to get your arms around...but once you did...wow!! the results would be certainly be measurable.

The hard part about doing such a thing at the dealership level is the correcting what you find phase. I call this Paralysis by analysis.
How do you fix? Is someone internally available to put together a training process with measurable results? Do you go to the outside? The trick is to DO SOMETHING!!

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on October 12, 2010 at 11:23am

Thanks so much JIm for your reply... Yes...something is better than nothing! I think just gathering everyone on the same platform and involving them is key to moving forward! Team building, Tribe building, whatever you want to call it...If all the energy is focusing in the same direction, and I remember my physics correctly... the power and the distance will increase!


Jim Washam said:

Nancy,

What a great idea. It would be a hard one to get your arms around...but once you did...wow!! the results would be certainly be measurable.

The hard part about doing such a thing at the dealership level is the correcting what you find phase. I call this Paralysis by analysis.
How do you fix? Is someone internally available to put together a training process with measurable results? Do you go to the outside? The trick is to DO SOMETHING!!

Permalink Reply by Tom Wiegand on October 12, 2010 at 11:30am

I KNOW your pain! Coaching is the missing link in leadership. Too often we've pointed the finger blaming management for this condition, but this is solely a leadership condition. The benefit of coaching "The Better Way" embraces the simple, bettering the leader that exists in everyone, management included!!! Smile!

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on October 12, 2010 at 11:51am

Guess that's true...
Jim Washam said:

Craig, funny you should say that...In most cases it can't be corrected internally. You need to go to the outside. You need the help of a outside training company to come in, evaluate what you're doing right and what needs help. Someone who's turned things around before to work side by side with you. Someone who will build a process for you and help you along the way.

Craig Lockerd said:

Jim how can that be done at the store level without...yes I said without the use of a training comapny....did I say that out loud?
Jim Washam said:

Nancy,

What a great idea. It would be a hard one to get your arms around...but once you did...wow!! the results would be certainly be measurable.

The hard part about doing such a thing at the dealership level is the correcting what you find phase. I call this Paralysis by analysis.
How do you fix? Is someone internally available to put together a training process with measurable results? Do you go to the outside? The trick is to DO SOMETHING!!

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on October 12, 2010 at 11:52am

Coaching,yes coaching!
Thomas (Tom) Wiegand said:

I KNOW your pain! Coaching is the missing link in leadership. Too often we've pointed the finger blaming management for this condition, but this is solely a leadership condition. The benefit of coaching "The Better Way" embraces the simple, bettering the leader that exists in everyone, management included!!! Smile!

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on October 12, 2010 at 1:52pm

Thanks so much Dan!

What an enlightening and informative contribution! Not only did you suggest what needs to be done, you told us how to do it...That is a true leader! Absolutely wonderful portrayal of accountability and credibility by all! Sure beats everyone just looking at there DOC each day and wondering why they are not close to their projections!

Looking forward to more from you down the road! This is why I love dE!


Dan Creamer said:

Hi everybody,
Great topic Nancy and in my mind there are three parts to the answer. I firmly believe in the use of outside training on an ongoing basis as a way of increasing ability and maintaining focus. Not just for salespeople either. All of a stores management can benefit from continuous training.
The review you are suggesting should be a normal part of a weekly department head meeting that is being pushed up from a weekly departmental meeting involving front line employees and their direct reports. Once it is in place it takes about five or ten minutes once a week at the department head level and like you suggest is phenomenally helpful in terms of refining processes and increasing profits.
The third part is to have all department heads responsible for reviewing exception reports each morning to spot trends, remediate unsatisfactory results immediately and manage the activities necessary to achieve the forecasts. Service should be looking at one line RO’s and tracking each salespersons hours per RO. They should also monitor the effective labor rate and gross as a percentage of the goal on a daily basis.
Sales and Finance should be looking at deal grosses against a per model target and average gross forecast new and used. They also need to review traffic counts, write ups, demos, to’s and delivery’s against an agreed upon performance model. Penetration of finance products should be reviewed daily as well as average gross against a per product goal.
Obviously all departments should be tracking their performance against the monthly goal but the real value of looking a little deeper is the ability it gives to reverse negative trends before the month ends and everybody starts wondering why we missed the number. If the exception report is formalized by the GM and controller then every department head can just fill it in and make some notes regarding any remedial actions or atta-boys and pass it to the GM for review.
The one other thing I always did was keep a white board in my office with the daily doc laid out on it. All department heads were responsible for posting their numbers on a daily basis as they turned in their exception reports. It might sound hokey or over controlling to some but I found that it helped everybody keep their eyes on the ball and problems got identified and solved before they hit the statement.
This process also avoids the routine some stores fall into where the managers get lost in the minutia of their daily activities and never talk to each other except in passing or during a crisis. The typical store has a lot of mental horsepower available but to benefit from it, it has to be harnessed.

Permalink Reply by Craig Lockerd on October 12, 2010 at 2:02pm

...Oustanding information Dan!
NANCY SIMMONS said:

Thanks so much Dan!

What an enlightening and informative contribution! Not only did you suggest what needs to be done, you told us how to do it...That is a true leader! Absolutely wonderful portrayal of accountability and credibility by all! Sure beats everyone just looking at there DOC each day and wondering why they are not close to their projections!

Looking forward to more from you down the road! This is why I love dE!


Dan Creamer said:

Hi everybody,
Great topic Nancy and in my mind there are three parts to the answer. I firmly believe in the use of outside training on an ongoing basis as a way of increasing ability and maintaining focus. Not just for salespeople either. All of a stores management can benefit from continuous training.
The review you are suggesting should be a normal part of a weekly department head meeting that is being pushed up from a weekly departmental meeting involving front line employees and their direct reports. Once it is in place it takes about five or ten minutes once a week at the department head level and like you suggest is phenomenally helpful in terms of refining processes and increasing profits.
The third part is to have all department heads responsible for reviewing exception reports each morning to spot trends, remediate unsatisfactory results immediately and manage the activities necessary to achieve the forecasts. Service should be looking at one line RO’s and tracking each salespersons hours per RO. They should also monitor the effective labor rate and gross as a percentage of the goal on a daily basis.
Sales and Finance should be looking at deal grosses against a per model target and average gross forecast new and used. They also need to review traffic counts, write ups, demos, to’s and delivery’s against an agreed upon performance model. Penetration of finance products should be reviewed daily as well as average gross against a per product goal.
Obviously all departments should be tracking their performance against the monthly goal but the real value of looking a little deeper is the ability it gives to reverse negative trends before the month ends and everybody starts wondering why we missed the number. If the exception report is formalized by the GM and controller then every department head can just fill it in and make some notes regarding any remedial actions or atta-boys and pass it to the GM for review.
The one other thing I always did was keep a white board in my office with the daily doc laid out on it. All department heads were responsible for posting their numbers on a daily basis as they turned in their exception reports. It might sound hokey or over controlling to some but I found that it helped everybody keep their eyes on the ball and problems got identified and solved before they hit the statement.
This process also avoids the routine some stores fall into where the managers get lost in the minutia of their daily activities and never talk to each other except in passing or during a crisis. The typical store has a lot of mental horsepower available but to benefit from it, it has to be harnessed.

Permalink Reply by NANCY SIMMONS on October 25, 2010 at 8:55am

"Parts...hold please..." Most parts people are order takers and not true salespeople and have never really received the proper training, (before I throw anyone under the bus, I will give them the benefit of the doubt...) But you are so right, Jim... What a profit center with leaks that no gasket could fix!!!!


Jim Washam said:

Parts Advisors


This is not a new subject however it gets put on a back burner and every couple of year’s pops to the forefront. Yesterday a gentleman came in to install rear mud guards on his new Buick. They were special ordered by our parts department. I ask the man why only 2? He said I don’t know, I thought that’s really all I needed. I ask the Parts Manager why he only ordered two; he said that’s all the man asks for. Shoot that’s the same as a customer with 50K coming in for just an oil change. There is nothing wrong with a true parts advisor asking why just two? Most people install all 4 mud guards. They should make that recommendation.
A true Parts Advisor would not just sell a water pump but coolant, new clamps (why re-use the old ones?), ask the condition of the hoses. That’s just one way of getting a $75 sale and moving the needle to a $100+ counter ticket. These are needed item, It makes sense to the customer; you are actually doing people a favor.

Oh by the way, we ended up putting all 4 flap on.

Permalink Reply by Dennis M. Sims on October 26, 2010 at 9:55am

Nancy,

First, "great topic". I'll share my thoughts on where I think the problem exists. I believe I can say unarguably that the Retail Automotive Industry is the "least" trained Industry in the world and Management is the "least" trained of all the people in our Industry.

The deduction; Retail Automotive Sales Management Personnel are the "least" trained people in the
World!

I understand though, why they are. They're too busy "selling cars" to invest time, energy, or focus on their training, much less "Focus Groups". Being too busy "selling cars" does not allow them the time to do that dirty "T" Word; "Think".

They continue following the same old processes they've always followed, and continue expecting different results. But, why shouldn't they? Hasn't it worked all this time?

I hope someone is noticing the "tongue in my cheek" by now.

Outside Training and Consultation is absolutely necessary for improvement, but only if it comes with the directive of the Dealer and is bought into all the way down the line. Even more important than this however, is that people are held "Accountable" for learning, managing, and executing the processes that are taught them.