Many managers fail to realize when they stop growing personally, their people stop growing and the dealership stops growing right along with them. I feel the #1 mistake any manager makes is not to deeply appreciate and positively motivate the men and women that work with them. From the salesperson to the mechanics to the receptionist. A true leader lifts up and motivates everyone around them. They take their people to a higher level because they are infectious towards personal growth. I’ve learned over the years no matter how much money people make, taking time to offer them a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘I was real proud of how you handled that’ was valued at a much higher level of importance to them personally.
Sincere appreciation of your team is very important in the overall development of your team. Positive well conducted meetings, training, bonuses, recognition and deserved time off are certainly welcomed benefits. Adopt the posture that as a leader you have to realize you work for your men and women, they don’t work for you. The best leader doesn’t instruct with words, he/she teaches and coaches with actions. Get up off the desk and show your team how to sell a car, how to hold gross, and how to ask for repeats and referrals.
Solid leading edge relationship training is always a crowd pleaser and recommended for the overall success of your team and true customer development. But remember you must love your team before they love you. Before your team chooses to follow you, you have to become someone they want to follow. They choose to allow you to lead them. You do not choose to lead them even though you may have a title. Teach them the values of business and life experiences. I’ve met so many leaders who never tried to get know the people they work with. I believe a key to hiring someone is in knowing and understanding what makes them an individual and identify what they perceive as solid values. Leaders always look for that talented individual with the gift of expression. I would rather have that loyal, hardworking, desire for success salesperson that listened to everything I taught them, and emulates everything I show them. Endless ambition should be rewarded. No matter if you’re a GM, GSM, Sales Manager or Owner your goals and standards should be set high but attainable. A true leader will always inspire the uninspired but a manager emulating strong character values first then their skills is paramount to team and individual success.
Back to the all important question; how do you hold more gross profit? Teach and build relationship development selling confidence in your sales people! Program in their heads that no matter what’s going on they will ultimately be successful. One hour doesn’t make a day, one day doesn’t make a week, one week doesn’t make a month and a month doesn’t make a year. Some you win, some you lose but if they strive for success that is what they will ultimately receive. Instruct your sales people not to be afraid of customers and their inquiries. Confidence to professionally strive towards the close. Show them that the word invoice doesn’t exist anymore, and that we are a profit organization. If invoice on a car is 20000. It’s alright to ask for a menial 5% profit over cost in order to pay the employees and utilities. A 5% over cost sounds a lot better than 21000. You just picked up a 1000 in profit using that close. Customers love numbers, but they are really intrigued with percentages. NADA says 80% of people are only concerned with price when they come into a dealership to negotiate. I still like switching that to payment when possible. Everyday in a dealership is a sale. If it wasn’t we would sell every car for MSRP. Customers are essentially at an auction when they go to a dealership. But it’s up to you and your team of professionals to control the customer’s bid and ultimately either accept it, revise it or reject it. When you present figures show the price no matter how high and flip your piece of paper over and concentrate on payment. I’ve traveled all over the U.S., and seen dealerships who maintained a 2200 to 4000 front end average on all cars new and used. Always look a customer in the eye and express how great of a deal their getting even if you’re making 5000 in profit.
Holding gross profit in so many sales manager’s minds is being orchestrated at the end of the selling cycle on the TO instead of at the beginning of the customer relationship process. Again, the beginning of holding gross is initiated with proper relationship building, leadership, training , confidence, team synergy and being applied at the very first customer touch point.
Write me (chuck@impactgroupcrm.com) for some additional ideas on the importance of relationship leadership in growing your people, your store and your owner base.