How To Act Like A Master Dealer Today
Sounds like a great title, but that’s all it sounds like. With competition being so competitive down there in the big state, I would think, you would have to do something quite different to bring customers in or to keep them, since they are so hard to find. Please don’t depend of flags to save your life either! I think the term SEO is as worn out like my old Dan Pastorini rookie card. By the way doesn't SEO, mean, Sell Every Opportunity! Let me be blunt, software isn't going to save your life, it can only help and too many dealerships are leaning on it.
Well, then how does a Master Dealer act? Like any business, you need a recipe for success, one that is built on consistency and commitment, they both go hand in hand! Ray Kroc was brilliant with his recipe and so was and so was the old man named Sam at Wal Mart.
In this article I am going to give you the recipe that I have used for years in auto dealerships that is timeless and is a good as your mom’s favorite dinner, that she had stored away in her mind or on a small 3 x 5 card. Before I go on though, the hardest part of my job is getting people to follow it, everybody wants to put their own spice or flavor into it. Coca Cola doesn't change their recipe, neither does Kentucky Fried Chicken, still the same taste.
Let’s start off with Vision. Does your team know the vision of your dealership? Vision is important today, because you want to be able to sustain your business, improve your position, along with improving the people who work for you and the customers to become loyal to your dealership. Today, loyalty is about dried up in the auto industry. First off, customers have too many choices and like a bad meal, they never seem to come back, they just Yelp instead of ask for help.
Of course if your dealership has a problem with turnover of employees, then it will be tough to increase loyalty and profits. Check your hiring standards, references and track record to reduce that problem and with sales, ask for the W-2.
Recently I was training onsite and the dealership had over 600 accounts in collections and had 2 new salespeople along with one salesperson who has been there for 1 year. What kind of follow up or loyalty do you think is working there! Your customers are like Butterflies and will drift away so easily.
Every Master Dealer needs a Standard Procedure handbook so that the team knows their job description, what their expectations are, pay plans for success and consequences for those that don't follow the expected path to success. Talk is so cheap today that people are now texting which is like hide and rant isn't it? Just be truthful with people, give them a map with directions and then show, train and develop them on the way to your goals! TFE. Yes! Too Frigging Easy!
This is a major problem with several dealerships that I have visited. It seems like most dealers, start out small, sell the house, mortgage the farm, borrow money from Uncle Lou and it’s you and you. Get the building, find the cars, clean em up, get em out front, sell them, paper them, collect them, repo them and enjoy your life, gulp!
Out of desperation you hire one, then another one, then someone, then anyone. Communication is a joke, nobody knows what the heck to do, finger pointing is a common sport now and gossiping is the daily vitamin of the day. If that’s happening, then most likely, you need Standard Operating Procedures. It doesn't matter how good your building looks or the cars you have on the lot, the best teams, dealerships or business’s all have a SOP. Email me at [email protected] and I will send a free copy of a dealership SOP. Don’t you think most family run dealerships need this as well? You can’t effectively run your dealership like a weekday evening dinner!