Automotive News - September 21, 2020 - Best Practices Supplement - S31

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 | 31
K E L LY A U T O M O T I V E G R O U P, D A N V E R S , M A S S .

Stores open on Sunday is an event
With better work-life
balance, employees put
fresh focus on sales
Published in Automotive News March 2, 2020

Vince Bond Jr.
vbond@crain.com

orking on Sundays used to be
the norm for employees of Kelly Automotive Group. Now, it's a
special occasion.
The Danvers, Mass., group last July began
closing its stores on most Sundays to create a
better work-life balance for its staff. The seven
dealerships remain open on the last Sunday of
each month and during some important holiday weekends, such as Memorial Day and
Presidents Day.
So there's a different energy now on Sundays when Kelly stores are open.
"We're making that like an event. It's all
hands on deck," Brian Heney, the group's
COO, told Automotive News. "Each Sunday
can almost be like Presidents Day."
Kelly Automotive, which sells Chrysler,
Ford, Jeep, Nissan, Infiniti, Honda and Volkswagen, said it used to sell about 50 vehicles
companywide on Sundays.
But Kelly has been able to keep sales volumes steady despite being open fewer days
and maintain its position in the sales rankings
for its brands.
Heney believes his team is more focused with
the new schedule and makes sure to get the
most out of every opportunity with customers.
"The big push is the end of the month. It's
beneficial. It helps create excitement," he said.
"So when your employees get excited and
pumped up over something, that kind of carries forth."
Fridays are busy days for Kelly's salespeople
and call-center employees as they load up appointments for Saturday.
Heney said the sales and marketing strategies remain the same, although "the level of
engagement probably goes up just because
you have less time to do it, so you're forced to
make the most out of it."
When the company was weighing the decision to close on most Sundays, Heney said last
year that the list of reasons to do it outnumbered
the anticipated disadvantages. He said the decision wasn't related to a 2019 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that affects
Sunday pay for employees of dealerships and

The staffs of
Kelly Honda,
above, and
Kelly Nissan of
Lynnfield, left,
enjoy the
strategy.

other businesses who receive commissions.
The group plans to stick with the strategy,
which has been well-received by the staff.
"We have plenty of hours for everyone if they
want to work. They can work as many as they
want during the week, basically," Heney said.
Jason D'Avolio, general sales manager at
Kelly Nissan of Lynnfield, said employees having more time to enjoy life outside of the dealership "creates more of a focus while at work
and more demand to overperform."
For auto retailers, Sundays have always
been short days, when most customers
would just browse and make a decision later,
D'Avolio said. His store sold five to seven veSeven months after Kelly Automotive
Group started closing its stores on
most Sundays, employees are
enjoying more time with their families
and keeping the new schedule from
hurting sales volumes.

hicle on an average Sunday.
D'Avolio said his family makes an effort to
set up fun activities on Sundays to take advantage of the off day.
"Having that unit count in my head with
closing Sundays obviously created an initial
concern for sales objectives," he said in email.
"Much to my surprise, we noticed an immediate uptick in Monday business, and [that] kind
of made the closing of Sundays a lot less concerning from a sales perspective."
Kyle Lopez, general sales manager of Kelly
Infiniti in Danvers, said the work schedule
builds employee loyalty in a business known
for high turnover rates.
"Sundays off not only keep employees from
roaming around to see if the grass is greener,"
Lopez said, "but it also brings in prospects for
future positions."
Lopez said Monday business has increased
with the new schedule. Sundays "are back to
being a time for family, just as I always remembered it to be as a child," said Lopez, who
has a fiance and two young children. a

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