Developing your dealership culture. Culture sets the stage for success Behavior is a mirror of culture and leadership.What people do in your organization is a reflection of the stage  on which they perform. Leaders ser that stage , so how your people perform is a refection of your leadership.You can use this mirror of others' behavior to understand what you and your management staff should be doing differently to differentiate you and your people from the crowd. Using feedback , look at what people actually do-not at what they should be doing and how they feel about their position and work performance.To totally understand your dealerships culture  and how you are influencing your people, talk with them, get to know them really well, what their ambition is , their desires, goals, dreams and aspirations are and what their job really means to them and how you can better serve them.Leading todays employees requires a more personal touch as they want more say in what goes o...

How to balance solid management skills with One key difference between average and great managers is the word awareness. Management is about systems and controls,structures and scheduling. Think of management as the "paperwork part of your job" Leadership is about vision, motivation,direction and people development. Think of leadership as the "people-work"aspect of your job. Do you over manage and under lead?In my years of experience I found that quite a few managers overmanage and under lead  with being heavy on systems and controls , but not focused nearly enough on people development and often visionless and inspirational.The difference between a manager's and aleader mindset are,Managers that lead well spend more time charting the course, however overmanaging causes you to spend more time charting results So don't st in your office polishing the chair with your behind, "lead from the front".mnagers that lead well embrace change...

Do you feel like you are the right guy/gal than can deliver to your people what they desrve from you as the leader/coach to be successdul? I am about to show you differnent ways to conquer your dream! Are you one of those leaders who runs around all day long trying to improve everyone? Do you walk around saying  If only we could do this and only that and to make our people better? Well I've got news for you,  Until you look in the mirror and discover  in most cases it's your leadership skils are lacking and your attitude is poor. Nothing gets better till you get better.The first piece of personal responsibility as A leader/coach is self development and growth. Do you look out the window and stare , thinking why other dealerships are more successful? Do you use the blame game as your excuse? It's your inside decisions more than your outside conditions that determine your results.If your team  is just mediocre then it's because you're mediocre If...

Part 3  of Leading your people to the Promised Land   THEPLAN!  Your first step shoud be to decide what areas of responsibility of concern merit your time and energy.From a practical standpoint one of the most useful ways of assigning a priority to your allocation of resources is to develop a written, task priority checklist., listing all aspects to your area of responsibility to be better prepared. "One of life's painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn't do our homework, that we are not prepeared". ~ Merlin Olsen. Implement your plan,pay close attention to the details, there is no such thing as any unimportant detail.With regard to implementation, it's also your responsibility to establish an adaptive organizational structure to ensure that your efforts are successful., by maximizing the talent you poesess on your team.Contigency Planning, One aspect of contigency planning is, people and dealerships are creatures...

Ten Steps To Glory!  First and foremost is to understand "The Essence Of Leadership. The new "Paradigm of leadership involves a position of responsibility A-setting the vision in your dealership, by putting into place a process whereby vision can be achieved,B- The responsibility for motivating and inspiring your team in the pursuit of achieving greater goals ,C- Your responsibility for establishing a value system and an institutional culture that reflects the dealerships strategic plan for achieving that vision.  Personally my definition of being a great leader/coach is  "The ability to influence the behavior and actions of others  to achieve intended purpose. Im my opinion sound leadership is exhibited in three fundemental ways:, mentally, emotionally and physically. First in order to be a leader you must have a basic knowledge of the enviornment in which you are expected to lead in. Next you must have the passion for the work you do.Do ...

What is Leadership? Well when I sold cars prior to being promoted to managemnt/coach , The managers had one saying, MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY!  The bully tatics to pressure you and your customers to buy now. Well the new revoution of Leaders has emerged on the scene with an all new set of  fresh ideas and attitudes IN the auto industry today.  Now it's from the office , on an I- phone , the internet,  and dealer websites before they even consider visiting your dealership. All the tools they need to make a well informed decision  So how did you get promoted from the showroom to having  your name on a door? We all were committed and focused and had the attitude of gratitude,  with people in a more personalized matter.  Let's define the meaning of leadership!  Leadership is the ability to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute to the effectiveness of the dealerships ...

Automotive Digital Map  The proper implementation of digital marketing is a step by step process that begins with the understanding of how the new digital marketing economy has changed consumer behavior. Dealers must understand that consumers have at their disposal an enormous amount of information that they can research in a matter of minutes. Mobile devices and smart phones allow customers to do comparative and location based product and service analyization in minimal time frames. Customer satisfaction is no longer driven by things, it's now driven by the customer experience you create  in you dealership. Then price is no longer the motivating factor in the decison making process.So if the price is not the centerpiece of the purchasing decision just as quality of product and experience improves for the customer, quality of sale and customer loyalty will improve for the dealersip. Therefore if the mindset  amongst all employess cannot  shift...

In my last article I spoke about what a first class customer experience is and touched on two aspects , first the physical and then the emotional
In pt 2 we'll discover exactly what they are and how to put them in motion in your dealership . Let's look at the physical aspect.We all agree that great products and service are of great importance, however, they are not the only important element to consider. Your best products and service are woth nothing if if it's not available, if you aren't acccesible, and if the value don't exceed the price you're asking for it.
Great customer experiences are created by consistently exceeding customers physical and emotional expectations .
Think back to your own greatest customer experience.what took place in your mind that made it so great? As you recall it was probably a blend of both physical and emotional
expectations. Now let's look at some examples of emotional expectations. first and foremost people are solely driven by emotions . So if we ...

What is a customer experience? Let's stop a minute and really think! Think of a place you were in, picture the peoples faces in your mind, and recall how you felt during and after the experience.
Why does it takes so long? Because there are so few to remember that wowed you .Now on the other hand if I asked you to recall any bad experiences you probably could answer me in ten seconds or less RIGHT?
How is a cstomer experience made up?
Typically, people I interviewed said
I felt like they understood my wants and needs , I was treated wlike an individual with respect They actually cared about me/ family, They walked the extra mile to do evrything to help me with my purchase and lastly they made me feel like I/We were the most important people in the world.
However that's not all there is to a great customer experience we are sure that when you entered the experience you wanted a nedd to be fulfilled. You wanted to purchasse a product and a service
THIS IS WHAT I CALL THE PHYSICAL A...