Message from Dean Fitzpatrick, President, LHM Dealerships
It’s All About Relationships
It’s been a busy time of year for all of those
involved with the operations of Larry
H. Miller Dealerships. We’ve recently
completed multiple successful offsite tent
events in our Utah, Washington, Colorado,
and Idaho markets. We enjoyed a beautiful
day at the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Golf
Classic, where over 70 of our vendors and
business partners came together to help us
raise more than $400,000 for Larry H. Miller
Charities. We also recently concluded our
annual Larry H. Miller Dealerships Leadership
Conference. This is where all of our dealership
general managers get together for training
and collaboration. We spend time receiving
performance updates, share ideas on how to
improve, and talk about the principles upon
which the organization was founded and the
values that are so important to our mutual
success.
As I reflect on all of the recent activity, it
reminds me how important strong relationships
are to both our personal and organizational
success. Why would over 70 different
companies want to support our effort to raise
proceeds to help those in need in the various
markets in which we do business? To a great
extent, it’s because of the strong relationships
that have been developed by many of our team
members throughout the organization. There’s
a tremendous amount of need, and these
companies have a lot of options in terms of
who they can support, but they choose to help
us because of the relationships that have been
developed over time.
Why do we see continued success, not
only at the offsite sale events, but also at
the dealerships on a daily basis as we go
about doing what we do to sell new and used
vehicles, service, parts, and collision repairs?
To a great extent, it’s due to the connections
that our team members have developed with
our customer base that makes them want to
come back and do business with us time and
time again—whether it’s buying a new or used
vehicle or trusting us with necessary repairs
or maintenance for their vehicle. Again, it’s
a very competitive business, and people have
a lot of different options to choose from in
terms of taking care of their vehicle needs,
but many choose to do business with us
because of the relationships that have been
developed over time.
Why do we have our general managers
spend the time away from their families and
their respective dealership operations to come
to Utah to spend a few days in a business
conference? A big part of it is building
bridges. Employees develop relationships
with their peers who they can reach out to
after the conference is over to share ideas and
become more successful in the operation of
the business they oversee. In addition, we aim
to reinforce the values that are so important
to this organization so general managers can
teach and lead with those values when they
get back to their respective operations. When
we are successful at this, our team members
treat each other with respect and develop
strong connections with one another, which
leads to our customers being treated well and
developing strong relationships as a result.
Dean Fitzpatrick, President, LHM Dealerships
In the end, a great deal of our success,
both personally and professionally, can be
attributed to developing and nurturing strong
relationships. Relationships with our vendor
partners, customers, and most importantly
with each other. Sometimes it takes a lot of
work and a lot of patience, but the end result
is always worth the effort. As we all continue
to work toward becoming even more
successful with our various daily pursuits,
please remember the power of strong
relationships and all the positive outcomes
that are a result of those efforts. ◆
“In the end, a great deal of
our success, both personally
and professionally, can be
attributed to developing and
nurturing relationships.”
Dean Fitzpatrick
The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies
LHM Group’s Value #1—Integrity: Do the Right Thing:
In today’s digital age, the power to shape a company’s reputation
has shifted from an organization’s leadership to its employees,
customers, and anyone else who has a social media account.
It’s increasingly important that we, as a workforce, go beyond
being simply aware of our company’s mission, vision, and values.
Instead, employees should personify them and help make them
part of our corporate culture. We each own a part of the company
culture by the way we engage with coworkers, customers, and
the community. As Clark Whitworth emphasized, “These values
are just written words unless we practice them every day and
make them part of who we are.”
Discussion ideas for managers, leaders, and teams:
1. What does it mean to honor your word?
2. If you’ve made a promise or commitment
to someone but later can’t keep it, how do
you handle the situation so that you don’t
compromise your integrity/reputation?
3. How do individual actions impact the
reputation of your team or business?
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