Digital Dealer - December 2019 - 16

D E A L E R OP S & M ANAGEM ENT: L e a d e rshi p

By Chuck Barker
President & Founder,
Impact Marketing &
Consulting Group

Get a Jump On
Making It a Great
New Year
Flawed People
Will Flaw Your
Dealership Growth
Begin, start, commence, institute,
inaugurate, initiate. Something's refreshing and
optimistic about these
words, whether they refer to
the dawn of a new day, the
birth of a child, the prelude
of a symphony, or the first
few miles of a family
vacation. Free of problems
and full of promise, beginnings stir hope and generate an imaginative vision of
the future. They set the
stage for newness and
excitement.
Unfortunately, not
enough new beginnings
are generated in most
dealerships. Instead, it is
the same thing day in and
day out. No freshness, solid
leadership, innovation, motivation, people development
or direction. Thousands of
people show up for work in
dealerships across America
every day with their hands
ready to work but not with
their hearts in the game.
Employees exhibiting complacency, low motivation,
not feeling valued, low or no
goals are a direct reflection
of lack of leadership and/
16

DECEMEBER 2019

or corporate directives formulated to encourage and
grow people.
We should all recognize by now that there is a
direct correlation between
low CSI and attrition. CSI
must balance equally with
ESI (employee satisfaction
index) if you wish to grow
your business and develop long-term customers
and employees. Yet, there

submit buying criteria, get a
receipt, and drive away with
a new vehicle. Maybe they
exist, but I have yet to find
one. While technology is
important, we are reaching
an ugly level of compromise
when we put technology
ahead of our people and
processes. Technology
should be in place only to
facilitate and support the
actions of our people and

CSI MUST BALANCE
EQUALLY WITH
ESI (EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION INDEX) IF
YOU WISH TO GROW YOUR
BUSINESS AND DEVELOP
LONG-TERM CUSTOMERS
AND EMPLOYEES."
appears to be a growing
dull existence regarding
morale due to non-engaged
employees. Why?
One big reason is, as
a dealer told me recently,
"This business is now all
about technology." Really?
Funny, but I have yet to
see a dealership that has
a showroom where customers can walk up and
punch in the options for a
blue truck they want to buy,
get a value for their trade,

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

our good processes.
If employees are well-developed, appreciated, and
provided with proper educational tools, they become
more productive and engaged, which also, in turn,
reduces expensive attrition
costs. If your processes are
on target and upheld with a
disciplined work ethic, the
store and its team members
become stronger. Without
these, it's like if you were
to ask a service technician

to perform a head gasket
change while handing
him a crescent wrench. Instead of talking about how
big your problems are,
start talking about how big
your employee's talents
and dealership processes
are.
Do you have a detailed
three-to-five-year business plan in place, or is it
not important enough to
plan for the future success
of the store and your people? I take my hat off to
the group of dealerships
adopting the notion that
ideas are the beginning of
all great achievements for
their initiative to begin a
new and positive change.
Can you institute a
dramatic change in your
dealership? Some believe
this is only for the 'big
guys,' but think about
Google, eBay, PayPal,
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Etsy, Instagram, and
the other game-changers
of the past few years and
ask yourself how many of
them were developed by
big corporations. Zero!
When Napoleon
Bonaparte described a
leader, he said, "A leader
is a Dealer in Hope." You
give your people hope
that if they embrace the
recommended changes,
their lives will be enriched,
and they are most likely
to allow themselves to
change. Stores have to be
ready, willing, and able to
become dealers in hope
through strong leadership
if they are going to climb
the mountain's success
summit.
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Digital Dealer - December 2019

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