Digital Dealer - June 2018 - 7

low, people don't buy in
and mentally check out of
them. While the "little bit
extra" strategy can work
with any position, I'll use
a scenario where a sales
manager is coaching his
salesperson to call more
of their customer base to
stay in touch, build relationships, re-engage them
in another car deal, and
get referrals. In fact, let's
consider an underperforming veteran salesperson
sitting on a gold mine of
sold customers over a
past decade or two but
who still only manages to
sell an average number
each month. This, in my
opinion, is one of the
most costly and infuriating
wastes of assets within a
dealership.
In this scenario, we'll
assume the salesperson
is required to make a minimum number of contacts
with their customer base
daily. You're convinced he
or she can make ten, has
the time to make ten, the
talent to make ten, and
that making ten would add
several sales and referrals
each month. But, you also
know if you approach the
veteran caretaker with
moving from six to 10
you'll be met with disbelief: incredulity, a rash of
excuses, and the possible
accusation that you're
endangering their health
by insisting on an activity
that will raise their blood
pressure, increasing the
likelihood of stroke or
heart failure. Or, even if

they do agree with the
new standard just to get
you off their back, you
know full well they're
unlikely to actually do it
for long.
But what if you had a
conversation that explained how the entire
team was faced with higher goals and expectations
this year; and, while that
no one person is expected
to increase their output
to an unreasonable level,
that everyone would need
to do their share and contribute a "little bit extra."
You then ask-don't command-if he or she thinks
that based on their vast
talent, experience, and robust customer base, they
would be able to make
one additional quality contact per day for the next
60 days. It's almost completely certain they will not
argue with this expectation, but will, in fact, be so
relieved it's so "low" that
they will quickly buy into
it and agree to do it. Then
explain to him or her that
so everyone understands
their new role and there
can be no misunderstandings, you're putting everyone's new expectations
in writing, asking them to
sign it acknowledging that
you've both agreed this is
a reasonable number, and
that he or she will be able
to retain a copy for their
records.
With this seemingly unimpressive commitment,
you're actually reaching
an agreement for nearly

a 17% increase in daily
productivity. You then reinforce the new behavior
often, thanking the team
member for 'doing their
part and keeping their
commitment.' After the 60
days you meet specifically to review this new
standard and discuss their
success, the impact it's
had, the improved results,
and then collaborate to
reach a new goal for the
next 60 days that includes
just one additional daily
contact. At this point-
especially if you can get
the person to agree that
making the one extra
daily call was a no-brainer
for them-it's logical to
step it up incrementally
more and follow the same
pattern, with every right
to expect that within the
next 60 days you will have
raised their daily productivity in this particular area
once again, and that in
a four-month period their
quality customer contact
production will have risen
33%. You can continue
this "little bit extra" method
into future 60-day periods
as well, and in doing so
will have steadily and
consistently, over time,
helped change this person's mindset to the point
that they'll be producing
twice the quality contacts
they once were - a goal
they would have scoffed
at initially.
Now here's where
this strategy really gets
valuable: remember that
Coach Bryant's principle

was that every player
would do this "little bit
extra" every time. Multiply
the impact of each person
on your team - not just
the caretakers - lifting
their level of performance.
Even if only two-thirds to
half of your team steadily
raises their performance
over time by giving a "little
bit extra," the return will
be exponential, and you'll
increase sales dramatically without having to add
headcount.
I'll close with this
thought: low expectations
presume incompetence,
and when you presume
incompetence you eventually create it. People will
live down to them. Raise
the bar, but do it intelligently, gradually, collaboratively, and consistently
over time and you can
help grow your caretakers into playmakers,
and possibly even game
changers.
DAVE ANDERSON is
President of LearnToLead,
which provides in-person
and virtual training to
many of the world's best
dealerships. Dave speaks
to dealer groups over
125 times each year and
has given seminars in 15
countries. He's written
the leadership column
for Dealer Magazine
for the past 15 years.
Dave's 13th book, "It's Not
Rocket Science: 4 Simple
Strategies for Mastering
the Art of Execution" is
now available worldwide.
For leadership tips,
follow Dave on Twitter @
DaveAnderson100. EMAIL:
dave@learntolead.com

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

JUNE 2018

7
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - June 2018
