Digital Dealer - April 2018 - 36

F I X E D O P E R AT I O N S

Continued from pg. 34

Weak managers who
don't believe in training
now have a self-fulfilling
prophecy: "See, I told you
so. All this training gets us
nowhere; it's a waste of
time and money."
Disciple-Maker example: The manager and
the advisor attend the
training together. The
general manager and the
dealer go, also! It sends
a message that training
is important; that training
matters. There's going
to be accountability to
a standard. It's a new
day. Things are going to
change. There's a new
sheriff in town. Now when
the advisor returns from
the training, management all the way up to
ownership knows what
is required of the advisor
to succeed. Therefore,
everyone is held accountable up and down
the management chain.
What's the net result?
The sales training works
because the advisors are
held accountable. They
now have become disciple-makers who teach
and train customers,
who themselves become
disciple-makers with their
friends and family. In
other words, the service
advisor's sales presentation is so clear that not
only do the customers
buy the maintenance services, they "buy-in" to the
concept that preventive
maintenance saves them
money. This is true success. This is what you're
looking for, isn't it?
So managers, ask
yourself, "Am I a student?" (Which doesn't
make me or the dealer36

APRIL 2018

ship any money), "Am I a
Disciple?" (Which will add
a little bit to the bottom
line, but not much), or
"Am I a disciple-maker?"
(A game-changer, a guy
who is out there getting
it done and holding my
people accountable to get
it done.)
Excuses: These are
some of the most common excuses for not becoming a disciple-maker:
1. Can't afford the
time "I'm too busy. We're
short-handed."
Let's take a reality
check for just a minute. I
understand the fact that a
dealer can't attend every

everyone, thank them
for being on your team,
and to let them know you
support the processes
and techniques they are
learning.
2. Can't afford the
money "I hate to invest in
people that I don't think
will be around very long.
We have a high turn-over
rate with our advisors and
managers and we just
don't want to invest in
them."
It has been said that it
is far better to train people and have them leave
than it is to not train them
and have them stay! If
you invest in the training

DISCIPLE-MAKERS
MAKE DISCIPLES
THAT GO ON TO
MAKE DISCIPLES.
THIS IS CONTAGIOUS
MULTIPLICATION."
training event for every
department every time.
And I understand that a
service manager can't
attend every OEM technical training class that
he sends his technicians
to or every sales training
class his advisors attend.
But the more engaged
you, as a leader, are in
understanding what your
people are learning, the
more effective you'll be at
holding them accountable
to do it.
At the very least attend
one training event a
month with them. Additionally, you could commit
to being present at the
beginning of most meetings held at your dealership, simply to welcome

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

and hold them accountable to implement what
they've learned, then your
team will increase their
production and give you
a great return on investment.
3. Too lazy to do it; unmotivated "Quite frankly, I
just don't care."
(Obviously, nobody is
going to say this out loud
but this is the attitude that
many in management
have.) Their thinking goes
something like this: "I'm
just not that passionate
about it. I'm making an
average salary, I have average personnel, we have
an average dealership,
things are going along
pretty good. I just don't
want to put out the effort

to get to that next level."
In other words, what
you're doing is "good
enough" and you don't
want to invest the time,
money, energy and effort
to be great. By the way,
you know the old saying,
"the enemy of great is
good."
It's easy to get worn
out in the automotive
service business. Long
hours, customer expectations and demands,
computer issues, technicians-it can suck the life
out of the most optimistic
among us.
That's why we all need
to be energized with fresh
ideas. Just a reminder
that I'm writing to managers and leaders-you
are the folks that need
refreshing the most. Attending training seminars
with your service team
will refresh you. If nothing
else, do it for yourself.
In summary, if you're
looking for maximum
return on the time and
money you invest in having your people trained,
this is the way to get it.
Disciple-makers make
disciples that go on to
make disciples. This is
contagious multiplication.
What you be, they are
becoming! "Go ye therefore and make disciples."
CHARLIE POLSTON is an
Automotive Customer Retention and Profitability Consultant with BG Products, Inc.
Charlie has been with BG's
Fixed Operations Division
for over 36 years. He has
trained over 7,500 dealers,
managers, and technicians
- and has been a frequent
workshop leader at NADA's
annual convention. EMAIL:
cpolston@bglsi.com
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - April 2018
