One very important thing some leaders fail to realize is that communication is the glue that holds teams together. Too often managers get so caught up in administrative tasks, reports and other duties that they tend to ignore their team. As a result, team members feel left out and ignored, perhaps even unimportant. 

And, while that same manager can send a million emails, text messages, Slack messages, and every other form of communication available using today’s digital technology, their team can still feel left out and disconnected, regardless of how many messages are sent.  

Why?  

Because being a team leader takes a personal connection -- and that takes human interaction. But today’s technology-driven world has evolved to where there is much less face-to-face interaction. The fact is that most real communication that really gets through to people involves tone of voice and body language. In fact, only approximately 7 percent of communication happens via actual words. The other 93 percent occurs through visual and auditory means. Think about how easy it is to misunderstand an email or text. How many times have you reacted to these written messages in a way that was not intended by the sender, simply because you misunderstood the meaning behind the message?  

And please do not interpret that this need to communicate gives you license to be overbearing with your management style. As a leader, there is a difference between guidance and micro-managing. Guidance requires more listening and less talking. As a leader, it’s always better to listen. I advise that you let employees do most of the talking and managers should do most of the listening. Too often the opposite occurs because the manager feels the need to impart wisdom and skills, so they don’t spend enough time listening. This prevents an employee or teammate from growing. When managers fail to listen and become micro-managers, it usually means that they have no confidence in themselves, their team, or both. They try to do everything themselves. This is a recipe for disaster.  

Another tip to consider: When studying reports, managers shouldn’t get caught in the trap of paralysis by analysis. Managers often spend so much time looking at reports, studying what HAS happened, that they completely miss what’s happening NOW and what COULD happen.  

And the next important thing is a personal touch. Leaders need to know their teams intimately. Make an effort to know them on a personal level – their families, wife and kid’s names and what’s important to them. Never expect to get something that you are unwilling to share yourself. If you use that as a gauge, you’ll always have a team that is in-touch, along with a great company culture, because everyone will be on the same page, feel valued and will be working towards the same goals.  

Managers would also be wise to ensure that all employees understand the goals. And don’t just assume that they do because some other manager perhaps told you that the employees do understand -- confirm for yourself. Asking questions is a normal part of life and a healthy, natural and good component of being a manager or an employee. Through consistent communication, managers are better able to gain and retain information in order to build on that relationship with their team.  

Don’t get me wrong; building relationships with your team takes work. But in the end, it will pay off. The key is to not just rely of your thoughts or other employee’s opinions. Always solicit feedback from different people. Get different viewpoints, as they are always varied based on who you are talking to.  

Take the time to get to know your team, communicate with them consistently and effectively and make them feel valued by showing them that you care about who they are both as an employee and on a personal level. This goes a long way towards increasing loyalty, engagement and, ultimately, productivity.  

ELEAD1ONE Partner Bill Wittenmyer shares insightful advice about the difference between average, good and great in this Freebie Friday quick tip for Automotive Dealers. 

Is your dealership divided between departments? ELEAD1ONE partner Bill Wittenmyer explains why it is and why it shouldn't be.

In this quick vlog, ELEAD1ONE partner shares the key characteristics to look for when hiring successful service advisors. Hint – the answer is probably not what you think. 

Who is the most important person in your dealership? Every time I ask this question I get different answers ranging from the dealer, to various members of management, or even that top salesperson tearing up the sales board, but very rarely – if ever – do I get the right answer.

Why? Because most don’t even think about this employee who is typically the lowest paid, perhaps youngest, and, to top it off, is quite often a part-time employee.

So, who is it? It’s your receptionist! Wait – what?? Why am I telling you that your receptionist is the most important person in your dealership?

Your receptionist is the first point of contact for many of your customers. In fact, your receptionist touches more customers than your entire dealership staff COMBINED on a day-to-day basis. Their attitude and how they handle those customers can easily influence whether customers choose your dealership to buy their vehicle, or your competition.

The receptionist can be welcoming or can irritate people and cause them to go elsewhere. Far too often their duties are carried out in a mechanical manner no different from a switchboard operator – “How may I direct your call?” -- transfer and on to the next call. Sadly, what happens with the customer after they first pick up the call matters little to many receptionists-- for the simple reason that they have already moved on to the next caller. They are just not INVESTED IN THE OUTCOME OF THE CALL!

Think about it. Have you ever called a dealership trying to reach someone only to have the receptionist transfer the call, have no one pick up, and the phone keeps ringing back to the receptionist, who just keeps transferring it back to the line that keeps ringing – never to be answered? The customer gets lost in the abyss of phone transfer hell.

The dealership most likely ends up with an irritated (and perhaps ex) customer -- or loses a sale. All because the receptionist does not make a real effort to get someone to assist the customer. All that money your dealership spent to get that customer to call in the first place, or to get their service business. You might as well have just burned it.

Here’s a freebie: Consider adding bonuses to the receptionist’s sales plan based on unit and repair order volume. All of a sudden, the receptionist is invested in the outcome of the call because any failure to ensure that customer is helped hurts his or her personal paycheck. Per NADA, dealers spend upwards of $640 to acquire a new customer… Is a $5 spiff per unit sold or completed RO really going to affect that? No! In fact, that $5 may actually save you a sale or service RO.

Take care of your receptionist and ensure that they understand the importance of taking control of every call and that every customer receives assistance. If that means the receptionist needs to page people, call their cell phones or hit a darn gong to get someone, so be it. In the end, you’ll know that your customers are being taken care of and that you’re not losing business – sales or service – simply because the customer could not get through to someone on the phone.

In this quick reality check, Bill Wittenmyer shares the importance of testing (and retesting) customer experiences to ensure that they’re solid. You’ll take away tips for inspecting experiences to align them with your marketing message and retain customers.

ELEAD1ONE partner discusses why dealers might be missing the boat when it comes to Fixed Ops customer service by tasking service advisors with the wrong responsibilities. Learn how to free up selling time for service advisors and boost appointment rates in this quick video blog.

ELEAD1ONE’s Bill Wittenmyer shares insight on how to take your service sales to the next level by using video to connect with customers, build trust and sell more repair recommendations.

When you call a business to seek assistance or information, what irritates you the most: the seemingly impossible chore of navigating phone trees to get to a live person; the options that are irrelevant to you; or the fact that, when you do get somebody, they’re the wrong person and have to transfer you?

Probably all of them! Well, the same is true for your customers. What do they experience when calling into your dealership? Do you even know?

Sadly, many dealers place far too much faith in their phone processes, people and technology. Just because your dealership has call monitoring doesn’t mean your customers are well cared for. In fact, those calls may not even be listened to -- except, perhaps, at the end of the month when a manager is scrambling for those few extra units to close the month.

Like any technology, just because you pay for it doesn’t mean it’s getting used. The fact is, if you’re not using it, you’d be better off with no automated phone system and a simple receptionist. Why? Because then your customers could at least talk to a live person.

What do you think customers do when they get irritated because they can’t talk to someone at your dealership? They hang up and call your competitor! Here’s a true story for you. Not too long ago I called into a BMW dealership in an attempt to speak to the General Manager. After countless automated transfers and a phone tree which asked me to press “1” for service etc., it took me 1 minute and 32 seconds to finally speak to a live person. And, perhaps even worse, guess what WAS NOT an option? SALES! Seriously. You would think that sales would have made the cut when configuring that phone system. Even accounting was an option!

Make it a point to inspect what you expect. I’m guessing that every dealer out there expects their phones to be answered. They also probably expect that a customer can easily navigate to the desired department and be appropriately handled once they reach a live person.

Well, the point is, you won’t know how horrible (or wonderful) your customer experience is via your phone system until you start doing one thing regularly:

Mystery shop your own store.

Place yourself in your customer’s shoes and regularly call into the dealership attempting to get different departments – and see what happens. To do this effectively, you (or a manager) should be away from the store and call in with a phone other than your cell, in order to stay truly anonymous. Employees will naturally try to answer quickly if they see that it’s you calling.

Pay attention to how many times you’re transferred; how many options you are forced to choose to get to whomever you wish to reach; and how long it takes you to speak to a live person. If it takes any longer than 30 seconds, there’s something wrong. If you get irritated, so do your customers. And that means you’re probably losing opportunities in sales and service. You can’t afford to miss any revenue or give it up to your competition.

Make sure any technology you adopt enhances the customer experience while also making your dealership more efficient. Efficiency gets thrown out the window if you’re losing customers.

There are many ways you can use technology or third party BDCs to provide your customers with a better experience. But don’t use any technology at the expense of your customer experience.

Start mystery shopping your dealership and ensure you and your management team regularly listen to calls to monitor what’s happening when customers call in. Identifying any points of customer friction, sooner rather than later, will decrease missed opportunities and, because of that, you can capture more business and revenue.

Participating dealers can now use iMR Match Funds for the ELEAD1ONE Xchange Tradeup Program

ATLANTA, GA – May 26, 2017– ELEAD1ONE today announced that General Motors has approved ELEAD1ONE Xchange for the GM Dealer Technology Assistance Program (DTAP.)

Xchange uses intelligent data and equity mining technology triggered by service drive activity and DMS sales to bridge the gap between sales, service, and marketing. It provides a comprehensive customer acquisition and retention platform that connects dealers with consumers in a smarter way to build loyal relationships, increase market share and overall profitability. All GM dealers who are part of this program can now use iMR funds for Xchange.

In 2016, General Motors also approved ELEAD1ONE as an online service schedule vendor for its dealer’s digital marketing sites, which is eligible for reimbursement through GM’s Parts iMR Program. The SERVICE1ONE Online Scheduler solution allows consumers to shop for repair services and schedule appointments anytime, anywhere.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with GM dealers with the approval of our equity mining tool Xchange. GM dealers can now intelligently target and connect with the right customers, at the right time, using equity mining tool with direct marketing products to increase retention and profitability,” stated Bill Wittenmyer, Partner with ELEAD1ONE, a division of Data Software Services, L.L.C.

With Xchange, dealers can target customers who are a) in-equity or in a likely position to get into a newer vehicle with a lower or comparable payment; b) at risk of exceeding their contracted lease mileage; c) near the end of their manufacturer warranty; d) near the end of their loan or lease term; or e) service customers driving vehicles not purchased from that dealership.

For more information call 855.995.8571, email GMSales@eleadcrm.com, or visit: www.elead-crm.com/gm-dealer-demo/

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ABOUT ELEAD1ONE

ELEAD1ONE, the benchmark in automotive software, helps dealers bridge the gap between sales, service, and marketing operations. The company’s automotive-only contact center, CRM, and service drive technologies are the foundations of their unique suite of products that drive its clients forward through strategic business advantage.  Headquartered in Georgia, ELEAD1ONE has over 1,500 employees nationwide and serves more than 8,000 dealerships across the United States and Canada, including six of the top ten dealer groups.

ELEAD1ONE continues to lead the industry standard by providing insight to the community, identifying trends, and through the continuous development of personalized retail solutions that help dealers operate more profitably. For more information, visit our Website, like us on Facebook, YouTube, or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Media Relations:
Melissa Maxey, Director of Marketing
Melissa.Maxey@eleadcrm.com

(866) 444-7923