Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 7

and attitude.
„ Huddles: to provide
focus, clarity, and alignment for the next play to
be executed.
BETTER LEADERS,
BETTER MEETINGS

Regardless of how you
feel about meetings, I
contend that leaders do
their most important work
in meetings! In fact, you
can tell a lot about a leader by the quality of their
meetings-better leaders
conduct better meetings!
Meetings are critical
forums within which
leadership takes place.
And, if a leader is not
participating in a meeting,
communicating with and
influencing those they are
leading, they are not doing the work of a leader,
but rather the work of a
manager or producer. It is
not surprising that the author of Death by Meeting,
Patrick Lencioni, states
that the health of an organization is more evident
by observing its various
organizational meetings
than reviewing financial
statements. Financial
statements provide a
rearview of the road travelled, whereas meetings
provide a windshield view
of the journey ahead.
BETTER COMMUNICATION

Ask anybody what they
feel is the biggest area of
opportunity for improvement in their store and
they will invariably put
communication high on,
if not at the top of, their

list. Effective communication, however, doesn't
happen by default or in
a vacuum. I contend that
communication requires
five key ingredients to be
effective:
„ a common place/
forum,
„ intentionality,
„ consistency,
„ structure,
„ motivation.
Leaders must be
purposeful in bringing
people together on a
regular basis, and create
an environment where
good communication can
take place. Leaders need
to focus teams around
common goals, keep
the mood predominantly
positive, and instill a high
degree of trust so that
productive debate can
take place. Hence, good
communication comes
from good meetings,
which are orchestrated by
good leaders.
Conducting good
meetings is a combination
of art and science, both
of which can be learned.
Bad meetings, on the
other hand, require no
learning and little intentional action, which is why
they are all too common.
Most bad meetings
happen when people try
to combine all of the good
reasons for meetings
into a single meeting-
something Lencioni calls
"meeting soup"-or when
people gather reactively
to put out fires and when
emotions are elevated.

Instead, leaders need to
get their teams working
proactively, when emotions are under control,
and when efforts can be
directed forward rather
than in untangling the
past.
EVERYBODY BENEFITS FROM HUDDLES

I believe one of the
most important meetings, most efficient,
most beneficial, yet least
understood, and most
underutilized, is the daily
huddle.
Huddles are simple,
short, and focused
meetings that have an
incredibly high return on
investment. Yet, for some
reason, they are one of
the most ignored and
underutilized meetings in
business. Why? I think it
has something to do with
ignorance, naivety, or
even arrogance. Otherwise why would anybody
opt for a no-huddle
offense that has been
proven to be less effective
and harder to execute?
A typical football huddle
involves six key elements:
1. GATHER: Bring
everybody together;
2. INFORM: Provide
clarity around the upcoming play;
3. FOCUS: Reduce distractions, whether internal
or external, and increase
attention on the immediate task;
4. ALIGN: With everybody gathered the same
message is heard and
everyone benefits from

questions asked by others;
5. MOTIVATE: Infuse
energy and reduce energy drains;
6. BRIEFNESS: They
usually take about 10-20
seconds and nobody sits.
So, how can an automobile dealership benefit
from a huddle? Exactly
the same way a football
team does, by appropriately applying the six
elements, as follows:
1. GATHER: Bring the
team together-individual
departments or even the
whole store-in a central
and consistent place
every day-conference
room, showroom, middle
of an open area office,
middle of the shop, etc.
Consistency of time and
place is important, as
is starting on time and
everybody attending. A
small investment of time
in the daily huddle will
turn into time savings and
increased productivity
when all of the impromptu
questions that are normally asked individually
throughout the day are
saved for and brought up
at the next huddle.
2. INFORM: Keep the
team informed of what is
generally happening in
the store, cascade appropriate items from other
meetings, and ensure
clarity. Everybody likes
to be in the know, in fact,
if something is happening in the store people
will talk and rumors will

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

Continued on pg. 8

NOVEMBER 2017

7


http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - November 2017

Digital Dealer - November 2017
Contents
A Letter from the Show Director
Don’t Be a “Management Jerk” and Steps for Handling Them!
Attempting a No-Huddle Offense? How’s That Working for You?
Is a Financial Partnership in Your Future?
Fallacy
You Can't Take a Train 500 Miles on 400 Miles of Track
4 Tech Tools That Decrease Employee Turnover
Organize for 2018 – Expect Greater Efficiencies and Profitability, Fewer Surprises
Retail Warranty Reimbursement: Leveling the Playing Field
Cracking the Car Code on Selling to the #1 Buyer: Women
Professional Voice-Over Secrets!
CAMERON JOHNSON Dealer Principal, Magic City Ford Lincoln
When It Comes to Social Media... Don't Step on a Rake
The Online Shopping Experience Has Radically Changed. Your Dealership Can Reap the Benefits.
The New Car Manager's Modern Guide to Merchandising
Top 3 Information Technology (IT) Recommendations for Stability and Increased Productivity at Your Dealership
That’ll Bee $128 Forda Tech Ta Lookatit - Ouchie
Only 5 ½ Cents- Per-Mile to Maintain a $50K Machine! Wow!
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Digital Dealer - November 2017
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Cover2
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Contents
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - A Letter from the Show Director
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 3
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Don’t Be a “Management Jerk” and Steps for Handling Them!
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 5
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Attempting a No-Huddle Offense? How’s That Working for You?
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 7
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 8
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Is a Financial Partnership in Your Future?
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 10
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 11
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 12
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Fallacy
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 14
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 15
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - You Can't Take a Train 500 Miles on 400 Miles of Track
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 17
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 18
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 19
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 4 Tech Tools That Decrease Employee Turnover
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 21
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Organize for 2018 – Expect Greater Efficiencies and Profitability, Fewer Surprises
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 23
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 24
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Retail Warranty Reimbursement: Leveling the Playing Field
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Cracking the Car Code on Selling to the #1 Buyer: Women
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 27
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Professional Voice-Over Secrets!
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 29
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - CAMERON JOHNSON Dealer Principal, Magic City Ford Lincoln
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 31
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 32
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 33
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 34
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 35
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - When It Comes to Social Media... Don't Step on a Rake
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 37
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - The Online Shopping Experience Has Radically Changed. Your Dealership Can Reap the Benefits.
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 39
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - The New Car Manager's Modern Guide to Merchandising
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 41
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Top 3 Information Technology (IT) Recommendations for Stability and Increased Productivity at Your Dealership
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 43
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - That’ll Bee $128 Forda Tech Ta Lookatit - Ouchie
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 45
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Only 5 ½ Cents- Per-Mile to Maintain a $50K Machine! Wow!
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 47
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 48
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Cover3
Digital Dealer - November 2017 - Cover4
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