I want to speak to the managers of departments or teams for a moment. Have you listened to your team’s vocabulary recently? Not product knowledge, but what they are saying in terms of what has to get accomplished.

We take our vocabulary for granted at times. We do not hear ourselves or understand that the words we choose will help us prioritize and accomplish tasks – or let us off the hook with excuses for not accomplishing our goals. Let me explain.

Recently I was sitting with a client who was asking me for help on how to implement a new process in his department. His team was pretty successful but he felt he was not seeing it being implemented fast enough. We discussed two things that may have impacted this lack of implementation, his training process and vocabulary.

What I discovered was that he had not followed the 8-Step Coaching Process I had recommended. His reasoning was that his team was made up of veteran employees who should be able to implement the change. He did not want them to feel like he was treating them like rookies.

I told him that following the process, even for veterans, saves time later on. Working with veterans allows you to move quicker through the process, but skipping steps is now slowing down implementation.

(Click here for my previous article giving a breakdown of the 8-Step Coaching Process)

I then brought up the topic of his vocabulary. I mentioned that I heard him telling his team, “We want to implement this change.” I stressed to him that “want to” versus “have to” is passive. It allows people to assign it a priority level based on their workloads versus what you expected. Of course, you cannot make everything a “have to” item or it loses the effect, but in this case, if this change is important, then you need stronger language to emphasize this.

Think of your team. How many times do you say, “want to” versus “have to”? Take this out of the business world for a moment and put it into your personal life. I “want to” lose 10 pounds versus I “have to” lose 10 pounds. What happens in the first instance if you do not lose the weight? Most times you tell yourself, “I will get to it” or “I will start next week” because there is not a firm reason in your mind as to why this has to happen.

Think if your doctor said you “have to” lose the weight or you will end up in the hospital. Would that make it more of a priority? “Have to” situations have higher repercussions to them. The failure to accomplish the task or initiative can have more serious effects.

So what message are you sending to your team? Are you allowing them to put things off because you have not clearly set the deadlines and communicated the importance?

What I recommend is that each day you and your team have a short list of things that have to get done. Be sure to demonstrate that effectiveness to your team when you start seeing success.

This is something you have to implement.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th

Here it is, a few weeks after New Years and some of you are very excited because you have been following your 2013 resolutions. You have a sense of accomplishment and look forward to continuing down this new road. Others have given up already and probably a 1/3 of you never set any new goals because you may think it is silly.

To those people who feel setting a goal is silly needs to understand that without an objective or goal, no change happens. Maybe you have been through this before and feel that setting goals never work. To you I say that you may want to look at how you set goals but more importantly how you set out an action plan to accomplish the goal.

To those who gave up, why did you? To you I would say that you have not invested enough in how the result will impact your life. If the goal is not worthwhile then letting it go is easy.

Instituting a change anywhere takes work. It takes effort. Anyone who tells you differently is lying.

Be careful of the phrase “time management”. That phrase gets tossed around so easily but it never goes far enough into why things need to happen or why they stop happening.

Setting a goal:

1. The goal you set has to have some repercussion if you do not attain it. Not that you will be fired or something negative happens but you have to be invested in the outcome. If you do not see the downside of not accomplishing this goal then it will be easy to stop.
2. You need to be specific in what you want to accomplish. Saying you want to be a top salesmen is not the same as you wanting to sell 50 units. The same holds true with “I want to lose 15 pounds” versus “I want to lose 15 pounds by May 1^st.”
3. Once you have a goal that you are invested in and have been specific in the goal, the next step is outlining “action steps” that you have to accomplish to get you on the path towards your goal. For instance, if you are going to sell 50 units, here are some things you may begin to work on.
   1. Review marketing materials
   2. Go through your database to create a list of the first 10 clients you will call
   3. Create a script for your sales pitch
   4. Make sure you are logging data into your CRM or tracking tool

Setting up these steps will allow you to focus on small accomplishments that bring you closer to your goal. If you do not have these steps you will end up looking at the goal of “selling 50 units” and may not know where to begin so you keep putting off action until something comes to you. Next thing you know you are way off pace.

Setting goals and focusing on small steps also allow momentum to be built so that you see small accomplishments which get you excited about each of the following steps

For those of you who are still attacking your goals from New Years, keep it up. Keep focused on what you are doing each day.

For those of you who stopped, it is not too late to rethink your goal and get back on the plan. Remember you had some initial desire for change, don’t give up.

For those of you who did not set goals, hopefully you see that all of your life is about goals and priorities and I hope this helps.

Are you launching a new product or service at NADA? 

The PCG Consulting "Spotlight Awards" recognize the top 5 most innovative products and services being launched at NADA 2013. These awards reward forward thinking vendors who continue to raise the bar in automotive digital marketing. The top product or service will be crowned with the prestigious "Best In Show" award. 

While all vendors will be considered, those who fill out an early application are guaranteed to have their product or service reviewed by a member of the PCG team at NADA 2013. All submissions are confidential and no private information will be leaked prior to the show. 

Companies that are releasing new products at NADA, should schedule a visit to your booth using this link:  2013 Spotlight Awards 

Winners will be announced on ADM on March 1, 2013 and the awards will be presented to each winning company in March. 

2012 Spotlight Award Winners

• Dealer.com, Display Advertising Platform (Best In Show)
• Dominion Dealer Solutions, Be Back Mobile App
• ADP/Cobalt, Flex Website Technology
• Phone Ninjas, PSI Coaching System
• AutoAccelerator, Mobile CRM for iOS

Who are you?

I really want to know

Who are you?

I bring this up because it still seems that businesses are heading into 2013 without any idea of how important constructing and controlling their online reputation will be in regards to their success in 2013.

Simply put, if consumers cannot find who you are and how you take care of your customers very easily online, they will go do business with someone else. It is not about your product, (unless you are the only one selling a boutique item) it is about how you conduct business.

Consumers have been trained by Amazon.com and other online retailers to look at star counts to edit choices. We are constantly using Yelp, Google+ Local, or Urban Spoon to make decisions on where to eat, shop, stay, etc.

Yet many businesses feel that this online presence of “good will” will just happen versus looking at how your company has to have a focused approach to creating the atmosphere for great service and then installing a simple process to get these happy customers to help spread the word online.

Think of it this way. You spend money on traditional advertising to get people to know your brand. This drives them online but where many businesses fail is that they do not inspect and/or cultivate what customers find about them. Customers are not just looking for your product or service, they are looking to see who you are and if you are people they want to do business with.

Read reviews and you will see less than 25% have anything to do with the product while most of them are speaking about the “process” of doing business with you.

Everything shopping experience is a two-step process. Research the product through reviews, blogs, articles, videos etc. Then the next step is locating and researching who can provide this product.

Here are some tips for your 2013 Reputation Management strategy.

Strategies: Visibility, Engagement, Incentives, and Monitoring

Tactics:

• Visibility
  • Research where you are currently showing in reviews
    • Look in Google + Local Account
    • Look at Yelp
    • Type in Search: Business Name+ Reviews
    • Create monthly list of what sites you will send customers to in order to post comments
• Work with your Website platform to make it easier to find reviews on your website. I should not have to dig into four dropdowns to find them. Display them front and center showing happy customers.
• Make sure that in your business that you have posters of your staff, Wall of Fame and other assets to show you use feedback in order to serve customers better.
• Engagement
  • Respond to all negative posts. Post short response to bring conversation offline.
  • Respond to 60% of positive reviews as well.
  • Keep responses short. Do not try to defend your business online.
  • Make sure you are using Social Media platforms for review postings
  • Create and post video testimonials from customers on website and YouTube.
  • Incentives
    • Do not give incentives to staff for reviews. It will lead them to create “one and done” accounts that Google and other platforms do not like.
    • Do not offer gifts or services to customers in order to get reviews.
    • Find creative ways to involve your team.
      • Team breaks a certain goal they get lunch
      • Top reviewer gets on Wall of Fame
      • Monitoring
        • Monitor accounts daily in order to respond accordingly
        • Track amount of reviews on all platforms monthly
        • Read competitors reviews to see how you can capitalize on their failures

Each week, reputation results should be reviewed in weekly staff meetings. If the top leadership does not make this important, it will not happen. Reviews have an impact on buyers of your products.

Happy customers love to share their experiences. Make it easy for them to do so.

If you are not willing to listen to your customers and then use this feedback to improve and market your business you will end 2013 wondering why you did not grow.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th

If I ask you how 2012 was for you and for your business, what would you say? Great? Good? Brutal?

The reason I am putting this out is that this is the time when the pundits all begin their lists of the “Best of 2012” and we somehow feel if we do not do the same, then the year does not end correctly.

Businesses will look at their balance sheet or their sales targets to decide if 2012 was a good year. Personally, we look at our goals from January 2012 and where we are now and begin the slog of judgment. Did we do well, did we miss out, and what do we do for 2013?

I want to focus for a moment on the most important thing you can utilize while sitting and reviewing the year’s results for wither your business or yourself and that would be PATIENCE.

It is very easy to make snap decisions. Whitewashing the year as good or bad just based on a few numbers or examples. Look at the whole year through the lens of the last few months. What I recommend is to sit back and take each department at a time and make a list of good and bad. Think of it as the naughty and nice list.

If you are honest, you will have items on both sides of the ledger. Remember that blame is not a good barometer for ongoing success. Make sure to take emotion out of it. Focus on process and execution as two separate issues.
In terms of management process, make sure you look at each step of the process as well as then making sure the team has been properly trained. Next look at execution. Were there any issues that impacted execution that may have been outside of the team’s control?

Lastly, just because something became a focus in month 12 does not mean people were not paying attention all year long, it may have been that the process or execution changed during the year. Make sure your inspection and results match reality.

Remember if your business is open, then something had to go right. What was it? What can you look at on your balance of success and failure to give you or the team a sense of accomplishment?

We tend to focus on many things that went wrong. We missed sales, we did not do “x” or “y”- but do you spend as much time anchoring in the things that went correctly? Building ongoing success for the next year will depend on first making sure that success will be repeated before you tear into fixing what did not work for you.

I wish everyone a very joyous end of 2012 and may 2013 be filled with success.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th

In the November issue of T&D magazine, there was an infographic discussing how some employees feel bullied at their job. Immediately the image of the playground bully came to mind, but what struck me hardest was the ways they showed how people interpreted being bullied:

• 42%: Being falsely accused of mistakes
• 39%: Being ignored
• 33%: Being constantly criticized
• 36%: Having different standards and policies for others versus themselves
• 31%: Being negatively affected by another’s negligence

I would like to focus on focus on the top two: falsely accused and ignored.

Imagine an employee walks into his manager's office with a concern. As they sit down to talk, the manager just rattles off a list of things the employee needs to do, ends with a “thank you” and that's it. Once he leaves the office, the employee is left wondering what happened.

Imagine that a manager pulls an employee into his office and begins to have a meltdown about the performance of the team on a certain project without realizing that this team no longer handles that project. And, even worse,  never goes back to apologize after realizing their mistake.

If I were to ask your staff, would they say that this is your communication style? That you have no time for discussion but instead give a list of instructions and then make the person feel uncomfortable until he leaves your office?

Could there be times where you assume a situation and blast out an email based on initial reaction without taking the time to gather all of the information or people together to discuss the situation?

Are there some people on your team that are being ignored? Just because they do not open up as easily as others should not mean that you stop asking for their input.

Simply put, people will not work for leaders who are egomaniacs for long. I know many of you are thinking of people who you think fit that term, but I think many people are using them for short term leverage for their own career, so how invested were they in the company as a whole?

Two way communication is respectful and helps build a team. Much of the danger lies in speed and emotions

Here are a few ideas that have helped me and others in the past.

•  Write the email but don’t send it. Wait thirty minutes and then reread it. I am sure you will have some edits or delete it entirely.
•  Take a walk. Write down the pros and cons of the argument or situation. Look at potential consequences of what happens on both sides.
•  Write out your feelings; get them out of your head and look for the logic of argument without the emotions.
•  Make sure you have all the right information before you explode on someone and end up destroying the morale of your workforce.

I know that at times business moves quickly. Sometimes things happen that may make your company look bad and your frustration builds up to the point of bursting. But to just lash out at your staff without all the facts cheapens your ability to lead in the future. Mistakes happen, but lack of respect will end up hurting you more in the long run.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th

Over the past few weeks, articles I have read and some recent events I have attended have been focusing on the theme of “Big Data.”

Multiple authors and speakers discussed how the need for big data was coming in many industries so that owners could manage their businesses more effectively. The comments ranged from utilizing this data in terms their website analytics to provide a better experience for their visitors.

We saw data for social engagement, customer behavior, website lead forms, and even for a customer’s total online experience.

We also heard the argument that data for data’s sake was just adding more information on an already overloaded business owner.

What to do? Who to believe?

My feeling is that data is important. But inherently there are challenges that businesses face. For instance, many industries do not have common standards as to what each metric means for their business.

In terms of a website, words like conversion, impression, click, visitor etc. can mean different things to different people. Companies can make data sound great because they are funneling it through what they want those numbers to say so they can showcase their efforts.

Big Data should take away the emotional aspect of running a business. I recently saw Billy Beane, GM of the Oakland Athletics, speak about how he would not watch the games because he did not want how he felt about a player influence decisions he may have to make based on the metrics he was using.

I agree. I have been guilty of this myself. I have heard myself make allowances for an employee’s performance because I know about their personal issues.  One of the best lessons I learned was to cover up the person’s name, look at the results, and then make my decision. Then uncover their name and see if my decision would change. Try it next time. It is enlightening.

But more importantly for me is that “Big Data” or ANY data without a process for action is a waste of time and energy.

What are you going to do with the data? How is it impacting what you are currently doing and how will this new information change your process of doing business.

If we see that more people are going to the website, do we adjust spending on some other part of your marketing? Would an increase in one department mean more staffing, training, etc.? If you see efficiencies in your distribution or delivery mechanism, are you changing the process to reflect this?

Too many companies go with the “hope” factor when change comes.

Here is a list of items you should look to address when looking at Big Data:

1. What does the data tell us?
2. What does it mean in terms of what we are currently doing?
3. Does it have any impact on process?
4. If so, what does it mean?
5. How will this be rolled out?
6. How will this be implemented?
7. What training needs to happen?
8. What accountability measures need to be put in place?
9. How will we monitor this in the future?

All of this has to happen or big data becomes a big pile of nothing on the desk of leadership.

Let me know your thoughts.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th prior to NADA. 

Everyone is taking time to reflect on their blessings and their gratitude for customers and partners in business at this time of year.

Happy Holidays!!

Wishing you the best this season!

Hope Your Days are filled with cheer!

So say all of the holiday cards that adorn our refrigerators from friends and family. Same for the ones I receive at my place of business. Your Dealership sends them to your customers and friends.

But what happens March 5^th? Or June 18^th?  Or August 11^th? Do we have the same feelings at that time? Are we grateful for our customers or business partners as we are between Thanksgiving and New Years?

My guess is yes, but we don’t show it?  Most dealerships are focused on taking care of our day to day and unless there is a birthday or anniversary, we don’t find the time to be grateful.

Customer Service is a daily thing. It is an individual event that takes place with every call or interaction. Many times we are focused on the next lead, or the next email or the next meeting that we forget to take time and finish what we are doing with care.

When you think of great customer service experiences, maybe Disney comes to mind. Or Zappos, Nordstrom’s or Apple. If you sit back and look at each interaction you get the sense that nothing changes each day. Every day has the “holiday” spirit.

So what things do we see from these leaders that maybe you can implement in your business?

1. Phone skills: One of the skills least focused on by certain companies. I wrote an article previously focusing on how the receptionist is the most important person in your dealership because they give the first impression to customers. Zappos excels in this area with their teams of employees ready to take your call. As for your employees: Do they sound happy? Do they sound professional and listen so they can resolve any questions? Or are they just moving the call through and sound like this is a painful task.
2. Getting out from behind the counter. Nordstrom’s finishes all sales by getting out from behind the counter and handing you your purchase, shaking your hand. Do your sales or F&I staff get out from behind their counter or desk or do they make people reach over it. Or worse, just point them to where they need to go or most often, give the programed “thank you while the words “next” come tumbling out.
3. More help than needed. Think of the Apple store. Swarming with people who can help. Is your business focusing on cutting staff so low that customers wander your aisles looking for help? Maybe you think the cars you have on the showroom floor is enough to keep them busy till you feel you have time to go engage. Remember that each minute someone is not waited on feels like twenty.
4. Have Fun: What is the first thing people say about Disney? It’s that their employees (or cast members) all look like they are having fun. Does all of your staff communicate a sense of enjoyment to your customers during any interaction? People like to do business with people who like what they do and show it. It relaxes us as customers and makes us feel like your team has things under control.

All of these little things have differentiated these companies in our mind. You don’t get this level of service just because it is the holiday season. You focus on it every interaction day, every transaction, every day.

If you ever find yourself having a meeting where you need to prompt your staff to “gear up” their level of customer service for the holidays, then you need to rethink your approach during the rest of the year.

Even though we are becoming a digital species, we cannot let our people skills dwindle and every day should be a holiday because your customers have chosen to do business with you.

Happy Holidays (all year round) !!

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th

Take a moment.  Close your eyes and picture what you would like your business to look like. If you could do what you want and have what you want, what would it look like? What would it smell like? Let yourself stay with this vision for a bit so that you get that sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Open your eyes, look around you and tell me what you see. Can you see things that could be? Or do you just see what is there. What is missing?

You cannot get excited about goals or the future if you are not willing to see it. Some of the best athletes picture themselves sinking the final putt or making the great shot. We as business leaders or even for ourselves we don’t give ourselves the freedom to picture our success so we know what we have to do to make it happen.

Some of you reading this may think that this is childish. Maybe even too “touchy feely.” I don’t see this as childish I see it as child-like.  Have you seen the commitment of children to their imagination? Where they see the battle ships or the enemies and fight with abandon? Do you see their excitement in possibilities? I have two young boys and they show me daily what it means to commit to your vision.

As we get older we tend to get bogged down in the “realities” of what we think we should do or what we think others will say.  What would happen if we allow ourselves to have that fun, allow ourselves to share our vision of what our business could be, paint the picture for others to share in their minds?

In the earlier exercise, I am sure there are things you could do today to inch closer to the vision. Change something in the store. Even if it is small, it moves you closer to the vision you had. How were you moving through your day in the vision? Is there something your could change in what you are currently doing?

Think of it as steps to renovating a house. You have the picture in your mind and then you set out, wall-by-wall, room-by-room until you have completed the project.

A few words of caution. Don’t get overwhelmed with what is not there. It is easy to just give up because there is many things to change but pick a few things you can implement immediately to help build momentum.

For example:

1. How did your employees look and act in your vision. If there is something different than what you see currently, point that out to them and work to hold them accountable.
2. How did your showroom or place of business etc. look in the vision? Could you straighten some things up or add a few photos or remove old times that have no use. Get your team involved in helping keep this clean, neat, and up-to-date.

One last thing I will caution you on is creating the vision for someone else. When you try to figure out how to please others and lose yourself in the process this way of setting goals will not work. It is like wearing a suit that does not fit.  When you are settled into who and what you are and create what you believe works, it is a much better starting point

So tell me, what do you see when you look at your company. What do you see that is not there? Keep smiling. It is not that far away.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing & PCG Consulting as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando February 5th - 7th

I received a call from an automotive client whom I have become close with, and he asked me to help him prepare for a speaking engagement, “seeing as you do these things,” he said.

I asked him what the event was and he said he was asked to speak on a panel as well as speak for 10 minutes on employee retention and training.

He is a very humble person in public but very intense about business. He thought he needed PowerPoint slides or something intricate but as he bounced from idea to idea I stopped him and I told him to forget about all of these “things” he felt he needed to create and just speak from the heart.

I told him he was perfect to speak on this topic. He is an involved manager. He does not run his business from behind a desk. He is out on the floor shaking hands with the customers, watching his staff, and being a part of the daily flow of work.

Secondly, as a manager he strongly believes in ongoing training. Not only does he send his staff to conferences or regional training events, he goes as well. He is right in front, ready to learn. I asked him where he got this passion from and he said it started very early in the business, going with his dad to meetings and training and he became addicted to learning all he could about his business. He is so involved now learning about Digital Marketing because he sees how things were always changing so he had to be involved.

Lastly, my automotive friend is known for treating his employees as equals. When he is at these events I see how he speaks to his people, he is learning from them as they tell him about the sessions they saw. He listens and then he asks questions, taking in what others are saying. He expects them to know their position and leans on them to offer strategy and opinions. There is not a sense of “he is the boss so I cannot disagree.”

We read so many articles about leadership and setting the correct example. Here is someone who does set the example and it is no coincidence his business is ranked #2 in sales in the United States for his brand, just missing the number one spot.

So to summarize what I see as effective leadership tips that you can employ today:

1. Get involved with the people of your business. See what is happening in all departments. Get out from behind your desk. You cannot run a business just from looking at reports or meetings.
2. Invest in training. The best companies invest in making sure their employees are trained to compete. Product knowledge, customer service, process training and the list goes on. Make sure you invest in yourself as well so you can lead properly.
3. Get rid of “Title Ego.” Everyone has a role to play on a successful team. Leadership is about structure and execution, no self-involved power trips. Listen from your front line people. They have answers to help your company succeed.

The best leaders surround themselves with people who can execute on the things they can’t and who are willing to offer their opinion.  The best retention of employees comes from investing in them both with training and respect for their performance.

You would be surprised what your employees can tell you in terms of how to improve your business.

Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer.