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 ambitions  are, their desires, goals, dreams and aspirations are and what their job really means to them and how you can better serve them.Leading today's employees requires a more personal touch as they want more say in what goes on around them. They want to be communicated to and listened to, have their ideas and opinions listened to and considered to be implemented in the policies and procedures handbook.Great leaders have always responded with vision and flexibility to the needs of the people who follow them People want to be engaged. As a leader you need to develop an engaging work culture by doing some essential things, Create the Right Enviornment, being a role model encouraging and rewarding those who show new leadership behavior.Be open and receptive in all discussions including human values and rewarding those who demonstrate desired cultural values  This is the kind of ledership cutures that are highly productive and create high levels of internal satisfaction among your peers. Part 2 coming later today  The Development of Culture!

How to balance solid management skills  Excelling as a manager it's essential that you face reality about your own leadership style and skills. 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 non- inspirational.The difference between a manager's and a leader's 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 sit in your office polishing the chair with your behind, "lead from the front".Managers that lead well embrace change. Overmanaging causes you to pledge allegiance to the status quo.Managers with strong leadership skills lead change , they don't delegate it.Mangers that lead well are responsible to grow and stretch  people  while overmanaging causes you to maintain people . Strethching people means raising the bar high enough that you give honest feedback on performance and hold them accountable for results.. Leadership vs management:Characteristics of a manager:- Managers ensure that the work gets done, focus on day to day tasks and manage the activities of their people. Leadership characteristics are those who are more strategically focused and rather than directing employees through tasks, they inspire and motivate salespeople and other managers to drive themselves. Leaders are also very focused on change, Recognizing that continual improvement can be achieved  in their people and their activities can be a great step towards continued success.Leadership is doing the right things, management is doing things right.

 

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 different 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 to make our people better?" Well, I've got news for you, look in the mirror and discover, in most cases, it's YOUR leadership skils that are lacking and your attitude is poor. Nothing gets better until 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 you aren't continaually trying to update your leadership skils, then you have zero credibility in guiding your team on what it takes to grow.  How can you take people on a journey that you have never been on yourself? Until you sit and diagnose what exactly it is that's holding you back (which in most cases is a lack of more highly developed leadership skills), you will continue to prescribe and apply all the wrong solutions to remedy the problem. 

Remember: A Fish Rots at the Head.

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 of habit Even though they may spend a great deal of effort tryng to show you a different profile they will usually revert back to whatever tendencies they perviously exhibited in times of stress How adaptable are you?  As a skillfull leader, you must be able to respond to your circumstances as they exist- not as you would like them to be To paraphrase  this statement  S--T Happens , life don't always give you roses, you still have the obligation to yourself , your dealership, and your followers to act in a responsible fashion, by approaching each siuation with an open mind and a GET IT DONE ATTITUDE  Proper planning is the most effective way for any leader to approach the future.  Are you self- disciplined? "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing it was here first.".  ~Mark Twain , Your ability to lead is greatly affected by your moral ethic and your work ethic. and your mental ethic.Accordingly,self discipline is an indespensible asset for individuals who want to be effective leaders.Regardless of what skills you posess, you will never be able to reach your potential as a leader/coach without this essential attribute.Skillfull leaders must have the ability to FOCUS. both personally and professionally. like "Keep your eye on the prize" attitude,.Of all the factors that you have to be demanding about , being focused should always remain at the top of the list. Self discipline is the bedrock foundation on which successfull leadership is built.

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 you as a leader get out from behind your desk and chime  in with your managers and sales people, service personnel , do you engage in conversation? Do you have the passion to understand your employees needs? Do you have an open door  policy or just an open door?  As a leader /coach your goals and aspirations  must be strong enough  to sustain you and your team through the toughest of times, and believe me if your the bar is set high enough ad your goals and aspirations are worthy enough, there will be some rough sailing. Greed is good, it heightens the senses and is the most consistent of your emotions. When I was promoted to management there usually was two main ingriedeints missing from the equation, passion and accountabilty.As their new coach that was always the first  piece of buisness I adressed  I heard a term used in professional sports called "PRO-IZED" it's not to let your emotions show in order to demonstrate you are in control and you are above the emotion of the moment.The point is anything worth doing is seldom achieved without passion.   Be Values Oriented- "Try not to become the man of success, but rather become a man of value" ~Albert Einstein! In that regard how you lead and how effective you will be in the long run in your leadership efforts will ultimately be affected by whether your words and actions reflect a strong personal committment to such values as integrity, trustworthiness, honesty, loyalty and pride.These core traits constitutes what being a professional is all about.

Tomorrow e'll examine  Being prepared, be self disciplined, be knowledgeable, and performance oriented.

What is Leadership? Well, when I sold cars prior to being promoted to management/coach, the managers had one saying, MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY!  The bully tatics that 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 iPhone, 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 which they are members. There are some people in a leadership/coaching position that do not know themselves well enough to escape the DISEASE OF ME! Lack of leadeship self-knowledge results in poor systems policies and pratices which do not energize the enviornment of true hope and worth for those who are employed in your dealership. It is, as leaders have forgotten, that what is done to them, is done to oneself. The leaders aim is to build energy among those who share the same purpose and values because it represents the key to individual committment.  

Let's examine what an Onion (yes, an onion) has to do with leadership. Everything! It's a metaphor that can help you understand yourself and the leader you want to become. Think of the qualities and characteristics of an Onion! The main characteristics are its layers, its strong aroma, and its striking taste  that enhances  the flavors of other foods. Take for example- Your Value Base- what you believe, what you perceive as valuable. What vision you hold for yourself and others stems from the important "values" layer you bring to the "Moments Of Manangement". Your values  layer is independently linked to your Disposition layer-- A persona, which, shapes your leadership behavior over time.

Let's examine  Visionary Leadership:  Having a clear vision gives your team direction and inspiration and be the foundation for goal setting and action planning. Let me share with you a vision statement with different steps, 1- Get the right people on the bus, which all begins by getting the right people together and training them to be one big happy family , rowing the boat in the same direction. 2-Preparation, Most impotant step prior to executing the play, just like the NFL watching film and drilling over anbd over to perfection, you nedd to have you team paratice, drill and rehearse the plays and strategies you designed to execute . The customers you work with want to be treated with "kid gloves," so therefore provide that service each time. My rule of thumb  is for every hour of meeting time, double the time for preparation needed. 3-Set the Stage- At the start of every meeting, review the desired outcomes , agenda ,process and ground rules. 4- Create and use a process that uses full participation, openess, creativity and efficiency. 5- Communicate the vision and make it a reality, so remember a Vision is just a dream without solid goals and action plans. 

part 2  is showroom leadership among your peers.  

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 from just selling vehicles and service for strictly profit to selling the customer experience they will continue to be dominated by their competition who soley believe that customer experience is the keymotivating factor to selling vehicles and servicing them as well Neuromarketingis now begininng to take shape in the marketplace understanding that there is much truthto the old saying"A CAR PURCHASE IS STRICTLY EMOTIONAL". So therefore dealerships who successfully control their enviornment and deliver WORLD CLASS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES to their clientelle will achieve brand dominance in their own market.

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 can build true relationships with our customers, who would then become loyal to us to our product and services and to the dealership itself, WHAT POWER ! I did a survey and found that approximately 70 percent of all consumers said that emotions accounted for 50 folks, that's 50 percent of their experience . Emotions are all around us and people are full of them .Emotions are the major differentiator and are the most underestimated assets available to our buisness. They actually can be used to put color back in our grey world. What is the felling you want to leave your clients with? Do you really know? WHY NOT? iF YOU HAVEN'T DEFINED IT , HOW CAN YOUR ORGANIZATION DELIVER IT? PEOPLE BUY EMOTIONALLY AND JUSTIFY WITH LOGIC!!!!!!!!! The same applies with any emotions like having fun, satsfaction, delight, thrill, friendliness and loyalty. I am going to say that you can't have customer loyalty unless you ENGAGE WITH YOUR CUSTOMER'S EMOTIONALLY! NEXT TIME WE'LL DISCUSS CUSTOMER LOYALY AND HOW TO CREATE IT AND RETAIN IT!

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 ASPECT!!! THE WHAT ASPECT? MISTAKENLY THIS IS WHERE MOST DEALERSHIPS FOCUS ON ENTIRELY! We sell vehicles , service financial services etc. So now let's reflect back to your best ever customer experience Was it just about the delivery of the product and service? NO, It was about HOW YOU WERE DEALT WITH, AND HOW IT MADE YOU FEEL. Taking immediate delivery of your new vehicle,and maybe recieving a better price than you expected are all physical attributes and certainly will contribute to your greatest experience .What exactly were your feelings during the sales process A customers feelings is also about.......   E M O T I O N S EMOTIONS?  AHA! A great customer experience is also about stimulating a customers emotions. So now we have established there are two parts to a great customer experience one being physical and secondly being emotional.Emotions are one of the most overlooked aspects today.They exist in everyone of us and they're constant. You always feel an emotion before you can make logical sense of a situation. I ask you this, How many meetings or discussions have you attended where you have discussed the types of emotions you are going to evoke to your cuastomers? Emotions are a key differentiator. For a car company the customer is living and experiencing your brand for maybe three,four five years on longer the minute they left your dealership everytime they get in the vehicle. STAY TUNED NEXT TIME I'LL SHARE WITH YOU THE HOW TO'S TO CREATE THE PHYSICAL AND THE EMOTIONAL ASPECTS TO CREATE A WORLD CLASS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE!!