The first fourteen weeks of 2018 have flown by. It’s a time frame where some self-reflection is a good idea. Pull out the measuring stick and compare where you are against where you wanted to be.

Back when you flipped the calendar page from December 2017 to January 2018 (figuratively, of course, because you probably have a digital calendar) you should have set yourself goals for the upcoming quarter and year. Self-improvement doesn’t happen magically or passively – it takes a focused mind and hard work daily.

There aren’t many people, though who’ve actually accomplished this task. Loose goals have been set such as “I want to earn more than last year” or “I want to bring up my CSI survey scores.” But without written-down goals and an action plan, there will be two problems:

• You won’t have an actual target you’ve set for yourself, so how will you measure your success?
• You haven’t given yourself structured steps to get there. The chances of succeeding are slim if you haven’t given yourself a roadmap to follow.

Just DO It

Take ten minutes right now or set aside a short break after work if you can’t stop this moment. Set yourself some goals. Make it short and sweet, achievable, and precise. Don’t accept any wishy-washy hard-to-measure goals from yourself. Pinpoint accuracy.

If you’re a service advisor, there are a few ideas for self-improvement:

• Improve your CSI scores. Your manufacturer and your store will thank you immensely if you are able to improve your scores. Choose an achievable number that you can focus on for the next three months.
• Work towards a higher daily RO count. It’s a tough one simply because the RO is the starting point for a whole bunch more work. If adding ROs isn’t possible, think about…
• Averaging an extra .2 hours per work order. It’s easy to do for a few days but making it a long-term goal can be really hard.
• Bump your ELR by $3.00. It’s very doable. It’s about selling more productive work, rather than the loss leaders. Again, your manager will love you for it.

Why Get Better?

A three-year study by Middlesex University’s Institute for Work Based Learning discovered that 74 percent of employees felt they weren’t working up to their potential in their jobs. Odds are (3 out of 4, basically) that you’re one of them.

Dealerships can be slow to engage in service advisor training, and often the training provided is subpar at best. That’s because most trainers don’t have a hot clue how to do the job you do at the service desk.

But a lack in provided training and motivation is no excuse. Don’t wait for your manager or employer to send you ‘to school’, participate in boring webinars, or make you endure an afternoon with a motivational speaker. Set your own goals and get after it.

In three months, give yourself the satisfaction of achieving your goals. Worst case, you’ll be able to compare where you were, where you are, and look for answers as to why you didn’t get to your goal. But don’t be satisfied with how things are right now. Clearly, from the statistics, you aren’t satisfied with your performance anyway.