Imagine for a moment that you are the coach of your favorite team and getting ready for a new season. You have the right players and talent to go all the way to the championship with hard work, focus, preparation and training. 2019 is going to be the year you’ll be the absolute best — the champions!
Now imagine you receive a memo from the team owner. He has decided to save time and money by cutting practices down to one day a week. After all, the team seems to be playing well, ticket sales are up and everyone is making plenty of money. As a coach, you know it doesn’t matter how much money everyone is making now; if they aren’t training and practicing consistently, they won’t be making it for long.
Of course, the team gets worse as the season rolls on. Players quit because they are making mistakes and getting beat up daily. You are constantly struggling to find new players but your losing streak does not attract the best talent. The fan base depletes tremendously and you see huge revenue losses.
You can see how ridiculous this scenario is, yet it may be happening in your dealership. How many times have you said, “We are in a rebuilding stage”? Usually, this phrase means someone dropped the ball and didn’t train consistently and build the team in the first place.
If your first instinct is that you do not need to train because you are “good enough,” you will either become stagnant or be rebuilding before the year’s end. If your first question is “how can we invest in our people so we become the best?” then 2019 can be your best year yet. The economy is good, cars are selling and our shops are full. It would be easy to become complacent, yet now is the time to not only look at your current increases but also to realize the potential for growth.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.” — Benjamin Franklin
As owners and managers, we have a responsibility to keep building and growing the business.
Most dealers and sales managers understand how critical regular training is for their sales team. Often, they start the day with an inspirational team huddle, but what about your service advisors? How much time do you spend helping your service advisors prepare for each day and every customer interaction? Have you considered that they see more clients in a day than most of your sales people see in a week? Consider this: one bad service experience can keep your clients from coming back to buy their next new car. Yet, this team is so busy that we often don’t make the time to work on skills and monitor processes on a regular basis. So how do we get this task accomplished?
Like all great coaches, you create a playbook.
First, settle on your processes. Start with the very basics such as how you want your customers greeted on the drive or phone. You may be surprised at how much even your most experienced team members need this basic training. Go through the entire check-in. Here is a brief example.
All advisors must:
• Greet guests promptly and use the store greeting
• Perform a professional walk-around
• Review each client’s history and check for recalls
• Present all recommended maintenances
• Walk guests to the waiting area and show the amenities
• Perform an active delivery
Second, once you have your playbook written, you must teach the processes and role-play regularly. I know most service personnel are not used to role-playing, but all sales trainers know it’s the only way to make sure your team can execute processes with ease.
Third, monitor your team to make sure they are using the playbook. If you see your players taking short cuts or changing the process, call them out for it. Make sure there are penalties that everyone understands. On the other side, make sure there are rewards and recognition for a job well done.
Now I would like to challenge you to reread the first three sentences of this article but eliminate the word “imagine.” You can be the coach of an excellent team and this can be your absolute best year as your team continually experiences wins and becomes the best in the business.
Ticket sales may not increase, but your ticket count will, along with your production and customer satisfaction scores. When you invest time and money into creating the best service experience in town, your clients will never consider going anywhere else for service or their next new car purchase and that is a win for everyone. Now let’s get training!
Click here to view more solutions from Kristopher Hampton and sw Service Solutions.
