Car Motivators
Best Source for Improvement Advice - 2017-03-12
Within the sphere of influence that revolves around your career, there are many resources you may leverage for improvement. Among these resources are the people you interact with. Leveraging their input in order to find ways to improve your skills, capabilities, mindsets and attitudes, is critical to reaching your full potential.
Today, Kelley Coaching and Consulting interviews Nick Horvat, National Retail Account Executive of Sprint. Our goal: To help you determine who your number one resource for career development, and personal improvement.
Is a Sales Manager Your Best Source?
While you should tap into your leader’s experience and knowledge to grow, surprisingly, your best performance coach may not your supervisor. It's true they were able to work their way up and someone believed them good enough for the next level. Certainly, they should help to guide you and offer ways to improve.
Nick Horvat says, "When asking for feedback from your manager, be open to what you hear. You may not always get the feedback you want or expect."
There are a few reasons why you should not put all your professional development eggs in the basket of your supervisor:
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They have an agenda. Your success it their success as well. As a result, your direct supervisor generally pushes you to do what they want in order to create their version of success. Are they really seeking to understand what you want to improve?
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There may be communication barriers. Are you able to openly discuss things with them? According to a survey by Staffbay, out of 15,000 employees polled, 87% did not fully trust their boss. Without trust, true growth through coaching may be hindered. Along with lack of trust, other barriers may include; time constraints, company policies and process around training, or past negative experiences.
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They may be assuming what you need to work on. Where are they gathering data to help you improve? Are they looking at metrics that could be skewed or may not be based on reality? Information from your supervisor, along with solid coaching around improvement areas can certainly help. Yet again, most supervisors will tell you what to fix and how they think you should best fix it. Without regular observation and targeted development around specific areas of improvement, assumption based training may not generate the desired results.
Is a Third Party Trainer or Coach Your Best Source?
You will gain a lot from a third party coach. I, myself am a business coach and help company leaders from many different businesses reach their objectives. I also hire my own coach and have seen much of my success through this type of development. With a third party coach, the agenda of the supervisor doesn’t exist. In this case, the coach is generally more effective at seeking to understand and help. You should certainly have a third party coach help provide that necessary outside perspective.
Horvat says, "A third party mentor has always been a best practice I use. Someone outside your company allows for unbiased opinions which potentially brings new ideas or skills to the table."
Thus, third parties are excellent resources for performance increases in any aspect of business. However, there are several obstacles around use of a third party coach that may hinder improvement if not addressed up front. Be mindful of these two potential roadblocks:
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They may not understand your job role or businesses IQ. A great coach will learn a lot about you, what your trying to accomplish. Together you will co-create a plan to help you get there, and even hold you accountable in your plan! The part they may lack, is their ability to know the true ins-and-outs of your job role. Over time, a coach will learn this, but initially they may not be able to make suggestions that are directly related to specifics on your job. They must be skilled at facilitating your ideas into actionable plans to improve.
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They may not have seen you in action. A coach will listen to things from your perspective and generally see things through your lens. This means they also potentially share your blind spots. If this is the case, potential solutions could be missed. Roleplaying with your coach may help, but overall, real world observation and participation makes a difference.
Are Coworkers Your Best Source of Advice?
Your coworkers may offer great insight into what your doing well and what you can improve upon. After all, they get to see you in action and are often either in direct competition with you, or are part of your team. You can also observe and imitate the top performers among your peers to help yourself better succeed.
When it comes to seeking assistance from coworkers, Horvat says, "As a manager, I suggest writing down three to five people you trust and respect in your business and seek out their input on a regular basis. You will gain insight on what works for them and bounce ideas off of them before introducing change to your team."
Though your coworkers can definitely help you, there are still a few reasons your peers might not be the best performance coaches for your career development and improvement:
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They may be biased. Are they concerned you're trying to outshine them? Sometimes, coworkers can put up a guard when they fear you could outperform them. In this case, you may not receive the best advice.
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They won't hold you accountable. A supervisor or third party coach will usually help hold you accountable for your action plans and career development. Your peers are usually worried about ensuring they get their job done, and will not necessarily follow up or help hold you to your commitments for improvement.
Are Your Customers, or People You Serve Your Best Source?
This, often neglected, resource is a never ending well of information, ideas, suggestions, and accountability. The people you sell to, service or serve can be your best performance coach.
Horvat tells us, "If I had to pick one of the four choices to receive feedback from to grow my career, I would choose the customer... I know that if I'm taking what my customers tell me and applying it to my day-to-day role, I can build a business because I'm listening to what drives my business."
The people we serve are extremely important coaches for several reasons:
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Your improvement is in their best interest. As selfish as this sounds, everything people do is based on receiving a payoff. So what’s in it for them in helping you improve? If you’re in sales, the transaction will better for your buyer if you improve in your role. Thus they are willing to help you improve, (especially after the transaction). If you’re a leader, your team will be better off if you improve in your role, thus they are usually willing to help you improve. If you’re in the service industry, your growth will directly improve the services you provide for your clients, thus they are probably willing to help you.
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They have seen you in action, and have directly engaged with you. When you want to help your child work on a baseball swing, you get in the batter box with them. Review the basics, then watch them swing. As they do they swing, you point out ways for them to improve.
Observation in this way is the best way to point out areas for improvement. In the same way your clients or staff members have worked directly with you and are well aware of what they enjoyed about you. They have also witnessed your processes and behaviors, and know what you can work on.
How to Leverage Your Best Source of Career Advice
We believe those we serve are our most abundant and impactful source of information on areas to improve. Read the surveys they complete, read your online reviews, the good and the bad to learn and improve. More importantly, start off your engagements by asking them in person, upfront, to help you improve by paying attention during the interactions:
"Customer (or team member) I am always wanting to improve in my [process, management style, sales abilities] so that I may better serve you as your [manager, leader, salesperson, customer service rep]. Throughout our time together, would you be willing to pay attention to what I do best and where I can improve? Then later on, could I ask for your opinion on this to help with my performance?”
Here are some questions you can ask regularly, or after each engagement, or salesale, (whatever frequency makes sense for you and the people you ask), that will help you identify what you can do to grow in the most effective way:
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How would you describe [me, my products, my services] to your friends and family?
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What did/do you like best about my [process, sale, product, management style]?
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What did/do you like the least?
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What is one area I could change, add, or remove that would help make this better for you?
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What did I do to meet or exceed your expectations?
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Where did/do I not meet or exceed your expectations?
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Do you have any other suggestions? Or Is there anything else?
We highly suggest diversifying your performance coaching input channels by seeking out great coaching from many angles. By all means, seek input from your supervisor or those above you. Ask your peers what they think you can do better. Hire a business or career coach to help you see through a different perspective, lend support, and build on self accountability. Just remember, the people that are observing you closest and have the most to gain from your improvement are your clients, or the employees that work for you. Actively seek their input and utilize their ideas to best improve your performance.
To be included in our monthly Kelley Coaching newsletter receive support and tips on sales, management, and career development CLICK HERE.
Car Motivators
11 Reasons You Need to Make Time for 1 on 1 Coaching
The Problem
Admitting a vulnerability can be downright uncomfortable to do as a manager. One reason I often discuss these issues openly is to help other managers see these potential blind spots. Another is to display humility and focus on self improvement. Today's blog is no different: The goal in sharing this challenge is to help you, as a manager, realize the importance of having one-on-one coaching sessions with each member of your team. Also, to help you understand how these interactions will affect your employees, your company, and your career.
As a young sales manager I never had enough time to accomplish all the things I wanted to do on a daily basis. I wanted to sit down with each team member and allow time for feedback around their efforts. Ideally, I wanted to have time to discover their goals and focus on strategic business planning to achieve them. In my world this wasn’t possible. My intentions to do these things were there, but I had many reasons or excuses to not take action. I would run out of time because I was cleaning up after my employees, putting out fires, and solving problems for them. This was in addition to all the paperwork, reports, meetings, client interaction, tasks, and other activities that were required of anyone in an upper management role.
Eventually, my eyes were opened to the benefits of performance coaching. I realized how powerful the activity can be for both parties involved if done regularly and properly. I still had so much going on all the time, I couldn't squeeze in these intimate meetings with everyone on my team. I downplayed its importance because I just had to get everything else done first.
In my opinion, I was doing a mediocre job of holding myself, and my team, accountable to meet regularly. Though, as my coach put it, I was “successful in spite of myself", something else was missing. The missing factor was identified with a single sentence I read in a book. The name of the book was called, "The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results," by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. The book asked, "What's the one thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?"
The Solution
It didn’t take long for me to connect the two, coaching and focused intention. After some deliberation around this question I made a decision. If I make coaching one-on-one with my entire team my “one thing” , everything else would be easier or unnecessary". They would grow into the type of employees that could solve their own problems by thinking things through and taking ownership. My team would prevent fires from starting by developing their customer service and communication skills. They would develop business plans that would ensure they hit or exceed their goals. I would help them care for their plans long term, and be an accountability partner for them along the way. By making performance coaching my, one thing, I would improve my team, crush barriers to success, and help my company reach new heights. I made a decision, and committed to make the time for one-on-one development for myself and my team.
11 Positve Results from Our Time Spent Coaching
I started spending at least 15 plus hours each month coaching with my team. Here are some of the results, as stated by my employees themselves. These are just a few of the hundreds of remarks and coaching wins we have celebrated over the past couple years.
- Coaching Creates Confidence: "It feels great to know that I am doing the activities that will lead to my success each week." “I love being apart of the winning team!” and “It’s amazing being able to communicate effectively with my CEO. What a relief!”
- Coaching Helps Employees Grow: "I know I'm moving my career in the right direction." and “I’ve hit all my professional goals this year! I can't wait to see where I end up next year!”
- Coaching Fosters Accountability: "I did say I would do that moving forward and I didn’t this time. I own my mistake." “I give myself a ten on staying accountable for my actions this month.”
- Coaching Defines Purpose: "I used to sell for the money, now I realize there are so many more important things to sell for."
- Coaching Initiates Autonomy: "I don’t feel I need to ask you for every answer anymore, I know how to figure things out on my own and I ask myself WWSD (What Would Sean Do?).” This one got a chuckle out of me, as I have said the same thing about my coach.
- Coaching Inspires Mastery: "I am getting better at my job. The book I just read helped me improve my internet sales process. I sold 7 more units this month than my best month ever!”
- Coaching Generates Accomplishment: "I've never made this much money in my life. I'll never go back to salary work again!" and “Thank you for helping me get to this point in my career. Its truly a pleasure working with you.”
- Coaching Gives Fulfillment: "I sold 2 units today! I love my job." and “Only in this office could we have this kind of fun! I really love coming to work each day.”
- Coaching Lowers Turnover: When I spent time with my employees in a one-on-one environment, they see I care, which helps them feel appreciated. In addition, we solve problems together and make plans that help them reach their sales quotas which in turn help them hit personal financial goals. People meeting sales quotas feel more fulfilled and accomplished; thus, tend to stay on their job longer. Having less than three sales people quit, while promoting seven and hiring six in over a year at a top producing automotive dealership is quite a success story.
- Coaching Increases Sales and Profit: Our employees are stepping out of their comfort zones to do things they may have never tried alone. They know their managers are here if they need us, but they can do what they need to achieve the results they desire. All the benefits my team sees, I see. As their leader, their success is my success. I feel their victories and wins, and they are addicting!
- Coaching Lowers Leadership Stress: Since understanding and knowing each member of your team is synonymous with one-on-one coaching. Knowing what makes each member tick, and how to best motivate and inspire them takes a lot of stress off your plate. You will be able to effectively generate buy in around the activities which will help each team member be successful. Less repeating yourself or forcing your hand for action lowers your blood pressure! Maintaining a pulse on your employee's satisfaction levels also comes with coaching. This awareness can prevent costly miscommunication and frustration among your team: also lowering stress.
Did regimented one-on-one coaching free up my time?
No, it sure didn’t! The ironic part of the entire shift in mindset and action, was in having regular one-on-one coaching sessions with my entire team, it didn’t free up my time at all. It did however, change the activities I was forced to partake in. I spend less time putting out fires and answering questions that someone could self discover. I don’t need to babysit simple processes as much. I don’t need to spend time replacing people that quit anymore, since very few people we coach regularly quit.
Instead of spending my time on these activities, I’ve replaced them with working out more deals for the increased sales. I spend more time chatting with the additional customers that my sales team brings in. I recruit, hire, and train new people in order to grow and keep up with the increase in sales. I enjoy spending more time cultivating leaders for my company. I spend time sourcing and managing a larger inventory for the increased sales volume.
In the end I learned a valuable lesson. No matter what, life in business and management is going to be crazy and challenging. You're always going to be busy and will eternally have a full buffet of tasks and activities to dine on from bell-to-bell. The question is: Would you rather be proactive and spend your time doing the activities that help people grow, produce results, help your company succeed, and build a culture of employees that are drawn to their goals? Or, will you forgo the coaching and spend your time living in reactive mode? As a result you will spend more time cleaning up after mistakes, putting out fires, rebuilding after employees consistently quit, repeatedly need to fire people for under performance, push people to mediocrity, and watch your employees struggle to reach objectives, if you even know what those are with this choice. Both paths are busy, and contain some degree of stress. Either choice will require intense focused effort, and actions on your part to navigate. In contrast, one feels great and helps others, while the other may feel frustrating or even tumultuous at times. It's a a choice between focused intention and growth versus random environmental reactivity.
Take a page from my book. Make the time for regular one-on-one coaching sessions with each member of your team. Learn how to do this effectively, make the appointments and stick to them. It will change your life and your team members lives. Every time you conduct this critical activity, you will learn something and grow from it. If you refuse, at the very least hire someone to coach your individual team members. In doing so, you will spend more time doing the activities that fulfill your career, create success, and energize you.
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Car Motivators
3 Steps to I.C.E. Your Managers
Don't worry, I.C.E. is a positive thing! This month marked a huge benchmark to success for my company. For the first time in what may be our dealerships history, we promoted seven people at one time, under one roof top! To see one of my core purposes fulfilled in such a way was extremely rewarding. Consistent business from great marketing, a great product we believe in,extreme customer satisfaction, and highly motivated purpose-driven employees created the perfect storm. This storm was the need for more leadership, management and sales staff. This need could only be fulfilled in one way: a massive promotion from within! A win for the company, a win for the employees and a win for our clients.
I am proud of our accomplishment, but this article is to help you with a simple process for crafting your very own, home-grown leaders. By following this simple 3 step strategy, I.C.E. we created to build and upgrade our management team, you too can discover and grow such leadership. With a large sales staff, all with their own unique abilities, individual strengths and weaknesses, how do you decide who is the right person for the job? How do you turn good followers into leaders? Follow the three steps below to answer these very critical questions and develop your company's leadership of tomorrow, in other words Identify, Cultivate and Empower your managers.
Step 1: Identify the Potential Leaders
First, you must identify who could be potential leaders. Ask yourself, what qualities are most important for a leader in your organization? Who has the majority or all of the qualities you listed? Of the qualities the candidates are missing, can they be taught, trained or coached on these missing characteristics?
For my car dealership, we wanted the following traits:
- Understanding of the Sale Process
- Five Star Customer Satisfaction
- Clean, Correct and Timely Paperwork
- Highly Trainable and Coachable
- A Good Follower, yet Confident and Autonomous
- Selfless Service: Putting Coworkers and Company Needs First
Once we identified who had the traits above and who didn’t, it was easy to determine who deserved the opportunities presented.
Step 2: Cultivate their Leadership Skills
Before your home-grown leader is ready to take charge, it is important you train and coach them first. Coach your would-be leaders, one on one, knee to knee. By doing this you will determine why they do what they do, and what gets them out of bed in the morning. Once you discover this, you can recruit them by aligning both your efforts.
Let them know, "Steve, what I want for you most, is to reach your desired level of career satisfaction. Based on what you told me in our coaching session, more responsibility and growth is important to you. I want to help you get there and there are some new opportunities on the horizon that will open up soon. Are you open to discussing these new roles and responsibilities now and how you can best serve your company?" For more information on this type of enrollment statement, read “Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions” by Keith Rosen.
We decided to utilize our in-house Training Program I had created and written about in an article this past September, to give the potential leaders practice at training peers. This is a volunteer program and no one was required to train their peers. However, the people that wanted to be leaders, stepped up and acted like leaders. The people we had identified above took the initiative and with little or no resistance, began training their peers to great effect!
Next, we allow them to shadow the manager in the role above them so they can follow a crawl, walk, run process to taking over the role in the future. Don’t make the mistake of promoting someone, then throw their unprepared mind to the wolves. Set them up for success by cultivating their job and leadership skills.
Lastly, ensure they are comfortable in their new role prior to starting. No new position is ever 100% easy and I believe you have to stretch people's comfort zones to help them grow. However, ensure you build their confidence by testing their mettle, new skills and abilities. Are they proficient enough to do the job? Are they willing to do the job? Ask them how you may best support them in their new role. Ask their peers to show grace and understanding while they get their feet wet learning their new job.
Step 3: Empower Your New Leaders
Now that your budding, home-grown leader or leaders have been selected and carefully developed, it’s time to empower them. Let your staff know why they have been given this opportunity. This will create drive among your team members who did not get promoted this time. It will also let those team members know what expectations they may not have met in order to make the cut. This gives the unselected team members opportunity to improve and grow as well. Ensure everyone knows the expectations and job description of the new roles for each promoted staff member. People cannot meet expectations they do not know exist!
Let the promoted individuals speak in front of the team. Have them answer the following questions in front of everyone:
- How will you try to best serve your team in your new role?
- What expectations do you have of your new staff members?
- What goals will you work to accomplish in your new role?
- How can your team best support you in this?
- How open to feedback, and constructive criticism from your team members are you?
- How do you prefer to receive this feedback?
Ensure everyone knows the chain of command, pecking order and who answers to whom. Let your team know what's in it for them in these new changes. This will alleviate fear and anxiety, as well as feelings of doubt or dissatisfaction among the entire team when changes like this occur.
You too have fresh, undiscovered leadership talent starting to sprout within your organization. The next great company leader or executive could be ready for photosynthesis right under your feet. Always be looking for the traits that matter for your company's leaders in your direct reports. Once you find them, cultivate their leadership skills with training and coaching to help them grow and bud. Lastly, set them up for pure success by empowering them and enrolling your team in the changes. If you follow this three-step method, your company will be better off for it and your team will love you for it. You will make a positive change in the lives of your employees, while at the same time you will help your company grow! These are both very rewarding events for a leader, ones that you will be proud to have accomplished well into your golden years.
For FREE help on the I.C.E. (Identify, Cultivate, Empower) process, contact Sean Kelley today at KelleyCoaching.com OR via email Sean@Kelleycoaching.com Click HERE to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
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Car Motivators
Capitalizing on Tax Time Profit Starts... NOW
Have you or your dealership staff ever scratched your heads around the end of March and thought, "Where were all the tax-time buyers this year?" If you wait for March to arrive in order to prepare, you will be finished just after tax time has ended and will miss a massive opportunity. The short-lived jolt of tax-time buyers in the market will have been absorbed by the prepared dealerships. Playing your cards right for tax time means drawing from the deck early and often. The IRS will begin processing tax returns on January 24, 2017, so preparing now, is paramount. If you want your team to bring home a fantastic paycheck in spring, follow these simple steps to set your dealership up for success during this upcoming tax season.
Identify your Subprime Sales Hero!
Every lot has one! It’s the "Sales engineer," the guy or gal who will stop at nothing to help that customer who has less than stellar credit. When a customer walks on the lot and says, "I've been three places and can't get financed," this hero salesperson will not give up until their customer is driving off in their new or used car. Enroll this salesperson in being the "tax-time champion!" Let them know that the dealership is counting on them to succeed this tax season. Ignite their sense of purpose by making them aware of how many people they will be able to help this year by stepping into this role. Let them know this extra responsibility will not go unnoticed. Whatever you can to do motivate your “subprime sales hero” will help achieve results you need for your customers and dealership.
Train the Sales and F&I Departments
Start training the entire sales crew on tax time now. Ensure they all know how to read pay stubs and calculate income properly. Make sure they know what possible stipulations the banks require on subprime loans. Coach them on working with subprime customers. Ensure you think through these areas:
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Do you have a strong subprime finance process in place?
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How do you uncover, and communicate with these customers?
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When do you set expectations for financing rates and terms?
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What common objections should you be mindful of from these buyers?
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Does your team know how most subprime sales are lost?
Train your Finance departments on the banks programs. Have them consider:
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Who gives the highest advances?
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When can we use a credit union or other non subprime lender?
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Who gives bonus flats or tier bumps for lower loan to value cars?
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Which banks will waive stipulations such as pay stubs, proof of address, or trade in?
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What is each lender's minimum income requirement?
Enroll your finance department in working side by side with your "subprime hero" because they will be the rainmakers during the influx of customers. Start preparing updated inventory lists that all the people involved in subprime can access. They need to know the banks and inventory like the back of their hands. Ensure everyone understands FTC compliance rules. If you break those, you'll need a lot more than a big tax time to turn a good profit! (Click HERE for a link to the FTC site regarding privacy and compliance.)
Create an Incentive Program. To Split or not to Split the Deal?
The “subprime hero” and his finance cohorts are going to be putting in extra leg work to grind out these trickier than average sales. Make sure to make their efforts and time spent worth it! If you have a subprime department that normally splits front-end gross profit with sales people, you may have sales call reluctance when it comes to your “subprime hero” going the extra mile. Why would your hero work harder for half a deal when they can just mosey out on the car lot and get a full deal for less effort? If you are going to split the deals, I recommend putting together an incentive program based on appointments that show up with all their stipulations, sales volume, or total of cash down. Providing your subprime point person with an added incentive will ensure vested interest in execution of your plan.
Create Your Call List
Dig through records, CRM, "dead deals,", credit bureaus, and create a "call list" to ensure your subprime sales pipeline is bursting at the seams when the money starts landing. It's important you create a database of potential tax time buyers. Go through your CRM and find all the deals of the past six months that were unable to finance or left because they couldn’t get approved for the car they wanted. Dig through your "dead deals"and find the credit apps whose income is between $18,551 and $37,650 individually or $75,300 jointly. Based on the 2016 IRS Tax Brackets, these individuals are likely to receive the most in returns and also be above many banks minimum income levels. Gather as many of these phone numbers as possible and give them to your “subprime hero” to call. Craft a message that will incentivize the buyer without offending them. For example, "We are stocking up our inventory for spring time so our customers can get the car they want! We will also have special financing on site to help you get affordable payments! May I reach out to you in late January to give you a list of our special vehicles? They are on a first come first serve basis!" If your hero gets permission to follow up again later, ensure its scheduled in your stores CRM, and that these people are contacted again come tax time.
Start Stocking Inventory for Subprime! (based on what lenders you use)
There are several types of subprime inventory depending on the bank. The vast majority of the best subprime cars retail for under $14,000, have mileage under 100,000, and are less than eight years old. Of course, the more options and the bigger the vehicle, the better. If you’re a Credit Acceptance dealership then your best subprime car might be something you have under $5,000 cost and miles become almost irrelevant. The bottom line about both of these types of cars: They can be your fastest selling inventory with the lowest market days supply. Since the demand for these, already high demand cars, skyrockets in January through March you better stock more of them right now. Ensure your F&I manager is collaborating with your used car buyer for maximum impact on sourcing the right inventory. While purchasing inventory, the other factor to consider is that your time-to-market, cheaper cars often need more reconditioning. More reconditioning means more time in the service department, detail shop, or recon vendors. If you buy these cars three to four weeks before tax time hits, you will often pay too much and they may not even be front line ready when tax time rolls around. Stocking un-serviced, low cost cars can be a risky proposition, so start stocking up before the new year!
Cultivate your Relationships with Lenders Now
When it comes to a subprime loan, one of the most frustrating things a sales manager and sales person hears from their finance manager is, "They were turned down everywhere." On top of frustration for the dealership, how do you think the customer feels? As the guy or gal that runs the place, the first question out of your mouth should be, "Which banks did you call and try to overturn?" “None,” is the wrong answer! Start schmoozing the bank reps and analysts now so when tax time rolls around you receive preferential treatment. Have them to your dealership for lunch. Give them a call and treat them like a client! Build some rapport. It's even a great time to add a subprime dealer agreement or two to your toolbox. Just make sure to read those dealer agreements thoroughly and know what you're getting into.
Tip: Often when you add a new lender or sign a new dealer agreement, sometimes the new bank will try harder to buy the first few loans! Adding a few sub prime banks just before tax time is a great way to pick up a few extra deals.
Plan your Marketing Campaigns
You may have heard the cliche "the early bird catches the worm." In this case, the early dealership gets the sale. Make sure your clients know you're there to help their specific credit needs. Let them know about your "no money down" financing or the "push, pull, or tow trade-in" Create a “We forgive your credit flaws” Valentine's Day ad with a box of chocolates! Be creative, but also have a clear, consistent marketing message across all your advertising venues. Have your business development center answer the calls in line with your campaign. Update your social media sites, online comments, and anything else that the public may stumble across for the next few months. Doing this early ensures that when the time comes, you are on their radar and will get a fair shake at earning their business.
The subprime market really takes off during tax season. Your dealership can have a great head start in acquiring this extra business if you begin now. Be industrious and plan, prepare, and execute for the business coming up in the following months or find yourself in reactive mode, struggling to keep up. Capitalizing on tax time now will ensure a solid start to your new year. Play your cards right and win!
Sean Kelley #thecarbizcoach ensures sales managers and owners achieve great results through their people and CRM technology. If you are interested in building a subprime department that creates happy customers, generates massive profit, and adds a healthy new dynamic to your dealership email Sean at Sean@DriveCentric.com
#drivecoaching
#coachingthecarbusiness
#coachingexcellence
#winningcultures
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Car Motivators
Hero to Zero!
We've all heard the saying "Hero to zero" when the new month rolls around. It's often murmured when our accomplishments from last month are erased from the board, and you get the joy of starting all over again. We say, "Hero to zero!" as we brush off last months efforts and return to the grind.
I believe this phrase came about because of the all too common, "month end hangover". So many sales people leave it all on the floor, so to speak. We work so hard the last week, or last few days of the month, we wear ourselves out! It's no wonder when the first of the new month rolls around, sales often slow down for a few days. After sprinting across the finish line in a mad dash to complete the race, there isn't much energy left to stand up, and start it all over again the very next day.
As successful sales people know, every minute of every day counts. We should certainly not kick back, relax, and rest on our laurels. That’s the mentality that spawned "Hero to zero". It reminds us that we shouldn’t be tempted to pat ourselves on the back, or celebrate our success from last month. Last months completely finished after all, right? None of the success from last month carriers over into this month, correct?
Wait a minute... What if last months success still has meaning today? What could be possible if you as a sales representative, could reinvigorate your drive to sell and your motivation to make deals? What if you could hold on to that positive attitude and confidence gained from crushing those goals? What would happen if you carried that momentum into the first week of the new month?
Before you go cracking the whip on yourself, and start minimizing, or even forgetting about your recent success with the "hero to zero" mentality. For the love of God, take a minute and reward yourself for a job well done! Buy yourself or someone in your family something nice. Do yourself a favor and buy a professional back rub at a local spa. Treat yourself to your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant. Do something you’ve always wanted to do, but never give yourself the time to enjoy. This can actually pay dividends towards hitting your next months sales targets: here is how.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary "Operant Conditioning" is when "the desired behavior or increasingly closer approximations to it are followed by a rewarding or reinforcing stimulus."
What does this mean for you? This means if the desired behavior for a salesperson is reaching and exceeding goals through selling, then by giving yourself rewards or "reinforcing stimulus", you will actually condition yourself to succeed AGAIN! That’s right, you increase your chances of success, your confidence, and ability to reach and exceed your goals next month simply by rewarding yourself for a job well done! So make the conscious decision to not only feel GREAT about accomplishing your objectives, but purposely give yourself a reward for your efforts. YOU DESERVE IT!
So the next time you crush those goals, and on the first day of the new month someone tells you, "Forget about what you did last month, its over!" Or "Hero to Zero! Time to get back to work!" Ignore that advice, and instead ask yourself, "How should I reward myself for a job well done?" You deserve the treat, just like anyone else who makes an awesome accomplishment in their career or life!
At my car dealership we had a record November this year. We exceeded our lofty goal, and on top of that, smashed last years sales by over 20%. I'm going to go to work today, and I will begin the grind all over again. However, I will reward myself by giving my wife and children a fantastic Christmas this year! Also, I think I'll get myself a cool new winter coat to celebrate the success. I may even plan my December reward now, for when we as a team, exceed our new goal for the fresh month!
My question for you: How are you going to reward yourself or your team for a job well done last month, in order to condition yourself for success again this month?
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Car Motivators
Managers: Stop Butting Heads With Your Employees!
At companies all over the globe you often see frontline managers butting heads with their employees. I hear leaders and managers say it all the time, "I'm tired of babysitting my staff. Why won't my team do this? I wish my employees would just (insert productive habit here)!” Or even something as harsh as, "These employees shouldn’t be making what they make for the sub par work they do!" Employees say things like, “My boss never listens to me!” and “I’m sick of working for this *&@#%!”
OUCH! I, myself used to struggle with some of these same thoughts. Until through some hard lessons, and a little coaching, I came to some realizations that have changed the way I lead forever. In this article, I would like to share these coaching insights with you to help you better lead your team! You deserve to manage stress free and enjoy the presence and support of your direct reports without the need to fight for compliance and accountability!
If you’re a manager or leader struggling with your whole team, part of your team, or perhaps you just know someone else who could use some help in this area, please read on. Even if you are a master of self control and hold in all this anger without any sort of passive aggression, this frustration will undoubtedly cause you to reach your maximum B.S. limit and you will eventually snap!
When you unleash your frustrations on them, regardless of how you butt heads with your staff, nothing good will come of it. Your employees walk away from the conversation feeling deflated and beat down. Sure, you may feel a temporary high as you have asserted your dominance, but this buzz is quickly lost when the employee you lost your cool with continues the undesired behaviour even after your argument with them! This creates a "Groundhog Day" type effect where you relive the same frustrating moments week after week. Another even more severe potential negative outcome is if one of your valued team members quits their job due to this constant demoralizing behaviour.
How do we, as leaders, work better with our staff in a way that creates desired change in behavior and relieves us of all that anger and frustration?
First, you must understand a few things about your employees:
1. They have good intentions, and want to please you!
Chances are, your employees actually care about pleasing you. If you truly believe in others good intentions, in turn, it will bring the best intentions out of them. All people want to appear confident and proficient in their work. Screwing up and being yelled at does not benefit them. When an employee makes a mistake, doesn’t follow a process, or isn't performing how you want, they are not necessarily targeting you in an attempt to be insubordinate. Before you snap, remember the saying, "You get more with honey than you do vinegar." Ask yourself, was this an honest mistake that anyone could have made? How bad is this situation? Have I ever made a mistake similar to this? How can the punishment fit the crime?
If you're a parent raising a young child, you expect that your child will mess something up. It's a given that your kid is going to color on the walls in crayon. He may find a pair of scissors and decide to give the dog a haircut. If you're really lucky, your kid even might put a wet roll of toilet paper into the microwave for 10 minutes to dry out! Regardless of these childhood atrocities, you still love your kid unconditionally, right? You don't assume they are evil and out to get you, then send them away to boarding school! Perhaps they were trying to draw a pretty picture on the wall just for you. Just maybe your child thought the dog looked hot because he was panting and needed a haircut to cool off. Did you consider he felt bad for dropping the T.P. in the toilet bowl, and he wanted to dry it off so you wouldn't need to buy more? (You can tell my parents had a rough time raising me!) That being said, the intentions were good and the motives were pure. Love your employees like you love your kids, with unconditional care and love, and expect mistakes. Truly believe that they have the best of intentions and mean well. You will harbor a lot less anger this way. Just be there to guide them and help them learn from the errors so they don't keep “shaving the dog” their entire career.
2. Something is preventing them from behaving how you want.
If you’re butting heads with team members because they just won't do what you want them to do, many managers take the "they are lazy" stance. This is a costly assumption. In order to positively alter an employee's behavior the leader must uncover exactly WHAT limiting belief or "SCAM" is preventing them from acting. In the book, "Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions," Keith Rosen, Master Certified Coach (MCC), describes a "SCAM" as a Story, Con, Assumption, or Mindset, that employees create that prevent them from taking action in a way that will better their situation. The only way to help your stray staff members is to coach them around their "SCAM" to uncover these crippling mental barriers. In a non biased, or confrontational way ask "Why?” "What's getting in the way?" "What's preventing you from...?". These discovery questions will show you that "laziness" or "insubordination" are NOT the real problem. Once you unearth the real limiting belief you must help them see what might be possible if they changed their way of thinking or try a new approach to the situation.
For years I stood on my soapbox and preached, “Call your past customers and ask for referrals to sell more and hit your objectives!” Yet, no matter the intensity or frequency of my commands I would see very limited action taken by the sales team. Enter one-on-one coaching.
First, knowing Susan likes customers that are fun and easy to work with, enroll her in the behavioural change, “Susan, what I want for you is to bring in as many referrals in as possible, that way you need not rely on the market, economy and floor traffic your entire career. Wouldn't it be great and rewarding if you could hang out with buyers that already like you and trust you?”
“So, Susan, what's keeping you from calling your sold customers for referrals?”
Susan replied, “Well, I don't have that many to call and when I do call them, I'm scared they will be mad that I'm bothering them. I don't want to annoy my customers.”
The SCAM’s Mary had created around prospecting to her customers were that she had no one to call, a story she made up, because in reality she had over 300 customers in her sold database. The assumption she had convinced herself of, was that they would be annoyed if she called them.
“I've seen your great online reviews from your clients Susan.”, I replied, “Of your 300+ customers, how many of them really enjoyed working with you?”
“Probably at least 250 of them,” she said.
“Do you mind receiving a call from someone you really enjoy working with?” I asked.
“I suppose not, no, I don't mind.” Susan said.
I probed deeper, “How many of your customers have asked you not to call them because you were annoying them?”
She thought for a few seconds, “Well no one's really told me they were annoyed…” I could see Susan was starting to realize she hadn't really TRIED to call them yet, and her assumption was unraveling.
“So what specifically would you be comfortable saying to your most satisfied group of 250 clients, that wouldn't annoy them or bother them when you call?”
From there, Susan and I crafted a wonderful message that she could deliver to her most satisfied customer base and ask for referrals. Which she has since been doing to great effect. Susan was not lazy or insubordinate, nor was she trying to avoid selling and making money, she just needed her SCAM uncovered and addressed in a supportive way. Don’t ASSUME people are lazy or insubordinate, seek to understand the real barriers to behaviour and your life as a leader will be a lot less frustrating, and extremely fulfilling.
3. They may not understand your expectations.
Many times you're not seeing eye to eye with members of your team, it’s a simple situation of lack of clear expectations. I recommend you review expectations with any applicant before you hire them, again after you hire them, and then quarterly. You should also update your expectations as things change, because they always will. If your team member doesn’t know what you expect of them, or what you want them to do as your direct report, whose fault is it if they don’t act accordingly? It's been said many different ways by many different leaders, "People cannot live up to expectations they do not know exist."
While coaching with one of my fellow managers, “John” we came to the root of some deep-seated frustration he held with a sales representative, “Bob”. It all boiled down to expectations. John felt his expectations were continually not being met by Bob. After we both sat with Bob, clearly reviewed John’s expectations in detail, it became clear that we had a disconnect. We expected to see that Bob didn’t care, or had no concern that he had not met his objectives. However, instead, Bob clearly felt guilty once realization set in that he had let us down. Bob needed his manager's expectations refreshed because too much time had gone by since these had been covered. Bob then put together a plan to remedy his shortcomings, and has since worked hard to fix the issues. There was a weight lifted off my frustrated manager and team member’s shoulders that day. Communicating expectations makes everyone’s job easier, and will help you avoid butting heads.
4. Their proficiency may not have been tested after training.
It's easy to assume someone knows what they should be doing once they complete a training course. We provide training classes, watch our employees go through these, and just because they didn’t fall asleep during the class, we believe they must know exactly what's going on... If ONLY it were that easy! Have you ever failed to absorb something from training or do you pick up everything the first time, every time? We must test proficiency prior to turning our employees loose on the job. Simply put, if we don’t find out the training wasn’t absorbed early, we will find out the hard way later. Would you want a pilot that had not been tested for proficiency to fly you and your family across the country? Would you want a heart surgeon to operate on you after one class but without passing a test? You bet not! Test your team AFTER the training to ensure they have absorbed it or blame yourself when they falter.
One sales representative “Steve” worked at another one of our dealer groups lots for nearly a year before transferring to our store. Since he had been in the car business before, and at one of our stores, we assumed he knew how to do the proper paperwork when delivering a vehicle. After a very frustrating first month of constant paperwork mishaps costing himself, the company and his customers time and money, we decided to “test” Steve on his competence regarding delivery paperwork. We discovered that at the store where he worked before the finance department did most of the paperwork, so he didn't really understand it. Even though he had a basic knowledge of what was needed, enough to be dangerous, Steve needed training and testing prior to turning him loose. Had we tested his proficiency initially, we would have saved more than a few headaches! Was he tested at all? Sure he was, he had to “Sell his boss a car” but he sure wasn't tested on paperwork. Test your staff members on all aspects of their job, if you want to ensure they are proficient at all aspects of their job.
How to avoid your initial angry reaction and make positive lasting change.
Now let's get something straight here, I am not saying we are always going to get along with our staff. Also, no one can keep their cool 100 percent of the time. Nor am I saying to let them get away with murder. There must be a hierarchy and someone to answer to for any organization to be successful. I just want you to understand some of the problem could be on us as leaders. After all, it's our job, as the people leading the charge, to use coaching to help them correct the situation in a way that fosters a supportive, positive environment. The alternative isn't pretty, it’s a passive aggressive, cancerous environment where repeated unfavorable actions cause a boss to snap, over and over, and over and over again! This can't be good for your blood pressure, let alone career satisfaction for you and your employees.
If you’ve been managing in this manner, let me ask you a few loaded questions: Has holding in your frustration, or yelling at your team repeatedly changed anything in a positive way? What favorable results have you seen from this? Does this build trust or degrade it? Do you want sustainable growth for your team members, or a never ending cycle of new hires as you replace the people that leave you? Are you sick and tired of butting heads with your employees?
Before you start ranting and raving at your team member, or say something snide and hostile, there is a very powerful question you should ask yourself. In the book, "Triggers" by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, he asks, "Am I willing, at this time, to make the investment required, to make a positive difference on this topic?" Prior to reacting to an unfavorable situation in your environment in an unfavorable way, asking this question will allow you to slow down. Now you may cool off, and contribute to the situation as opposed to make a bad situation worse. Being willing to invest the energy to contribute to the conversation in a positive way, will be the first key in creating positive change. If you can't invest the energy at the time, then just stay quiet and cool off.
Hold your team members accountable in a supportive, positive way.
Let’s revisit our coachee’s stories. Now that we’ve clearly discussed our expectations, and have a new starting point. In the end, if Bob doesn’t follow the newly communicated expectations, then leadership follows the, "Am I willing..." question, mentioned above, before freaking out, then there will be consequences. If Susan doesn’t follow the prospecting plan we created, we will not be passive aggressive toward her. Holding in our frustration and allowing her to get away without the follow up calls will only create the problem we're trying to avoid. We now sit her down and ask again, “Now what’s preventing you from calling your customers?”. If one of our employees makes a mistake that a bit of common sense should have prevented, they will be held accountable. However, we will know they did not foster any ill will in their mistake, so there is no need to become angry with them or mistrust their intentions. If Steve continues to screw up his paperwork after his training and measurement of his competence has been completed, we will address the issue.
In each case we will follow the advice of Theodore Roosevelt when he said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Meaning, we will be polite and respectful, will not snap to anger and stress, but there will be consequences in order to hold our team members accountable. Being a manager who has the "stick", or method of accountability, prevents you from flipping out. Now as you may have inferred, using consequences does not give you permission to regress back to yelling. Instead, it should be a series of clear, direct feedbacks that escalate to more, depending on the severity. In Bob’s particular case, both parties agreed to consequences that begin with extra hours until set guidelines are met. Further offenses or failure to meet commitments would lead to monetary punishment and documented reprimand. In Susan’s case, if she doesn't want to service her existing customers, they will be distributed among other sales associates who are willing and able to call on them.
It can be as simple as a clear message to an employee that they’ve not met your expectations. This message should be delivered in person if minor, or in writing if more serious. It can be direct such as, “Bob, you agreed last month to deliver your paperwork by the 30th of each month. It is now the 5th and I still do not have your paperwork. When can I expect to have it? What got in the way? Do you need my assistance in revising your plan?” This type of feedback is still calm, collected, respectful but clearly conveys the expectation was not met.
If an offense occurs again, or the severity of the missed expectation is more grave, you should escalate the message to call for either a clear corrective action within a specific timeframe, or even a warning for termination (or termination in some instances). Just remember, this consequence should still always clearly convey the expectation, the miss of the expectation and be calm, collected and respectful.
Your employees will be better off for it, and their behavior will be conducive to your aligned efforts. Stop butting heads with your team. Put away the boxing gloves. Lead your team in the way they deserve. Believe in their best intentions, lead with a calm, collected head and coaching mentality. Create a plan for holding them accountable to your clear-cut, well communicated expectations. As a result your work environment will improve for you and your team. Your employees will gain trust in you and your turnover will drop! Best of luck to you and your team!
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Car Motivators
A Better More Effective Way of Training Your Staff
Remember all the way back to high school or college. If you were like the vast majority of students, you excelled in the subjects that interested you the most. These are probably also the same subjects that you could answer questions from other students in. You may have been so good at said subject, you could even tutor someone who wasn't as good. When you really enjoy a topic, you will utilize it more, study it more, and even be able to teach it. With this fact in mind, you can help all your employees grow faster, and become more skilled and knowledgeable than you ever thought was possible. In this article we will cover an effective way to leverage your employees best "subjects" to better train, support, and grow your staffs skills. If you follow the ideas outlined below, you as a leader, will be able to do this, with minimal time investment at no cost to your company.
Today's company leaders and managers are faced with many obstacles that may prevent training. When asked, "Why don't you conduct more training?" The same answers almost always pop up. "Not enough time!" How could you possibly dedicate 3, 5 or even 10 hours per week to training your employees? After all, you probably already work more hours than you had agreed to when you were hired. You couldn't possibly stop what your doing for that many hours a week to train your staff. I know how many directions a manager is pulled in throughout the day.
Another common problem is, "My staff won't listen, half of them are seasoned veterans who know it all!" This is a common issue, trying to get the veteran who has seen and been through it all to pay attention in training is impossible. My top performers are always to "busy" to sit through a training class. These top performers consistently meet their quotas WITHOUT training, so why would they want to pay attention in a class? The one thing any manager will agree upon is; however, that even a top performing veteran can improve and grow if they choose. Thus, if they were "open" to training, they could hypothetically sell even more, and get even better at what they do.
Money can also be a hurdle for some companies. Many fortune 500 companies will invest millions in training and coaching their executives, managers, and employees, because they know how important training and coaching programs are. However, most companies are on a tight budget and don't have these kind of financial options. Some managers want to train their staff but have NO budget, so hiring an outside company is not even an option.
Yet another challenge to regimented training that a manager may not admit too, or even be aware of, is that the sales people have heard the managers training spiel on each subject already. How many times do you read the same book? How many times do you watch the same movie? Probably not that many times, unless you really like it! I have news, they may not really like your training that much to do it over and over! (Sorry friends) Thus, to expect your employees who have been trained by you once, or twice on each topic already, to learn anything else from your repetitious training doesn't make sense. In fact, if you did any training when they were on boarded, and now expect them to sit through regimented training from you over again, learn more, enjoy it and pay attention, your being unrealistic. Some employees may even be insulted that you would ask them to sit through training on something they feel they have already been taught, or mastered, or that they have learned early in their career. Imagine forcing Bill Gates to do a Windows PC 101 class?
This article is not to say that you shouldn't train your staff due to the aforementioned hurdles that can prevent quality training. On the contrary, you should find ways to overcome these obstacles, and that's just what this article is about. Companies with ongoing regimented training see massive results, and huge gains in profit. Client satisfaction, market share, and all the other goodies that come from this type of internal growth are abundant with a great training program. So the question now becomes, "How can we implement a training program that is low cost, low time investment, and extremely effective? How can we create training everyone from rookie to veteran can engage in and grow from? How can we stick to a training program without taking the manager or the entire staff off of their duties for long periods of time?"
It was these questions that led me to think long and hard about a way to accomplish this. After much deliberation, this is what I came up with. This is the action I took to accomplish what needed to be done to help my staff grow. The short answer to these questions is, ask your staff. That's right, ask THEM! Step one, list every skill or subject your staff should be trained in or should be proficient at. Second, disseminate this list to your staff and have your employees rate themselves in each topic. I prefer a 1 - 10 scale for this. Make sure you let them know what each # means. A 1 means they need severe training in said subject, a 5 means they are proficient but could improve, and a 10 means they could easily train other people on each subject. You will find most of your veterans will give 10's in many subjects. Guess what? You just found your company trainers!
The next step in this process is to create what I call a "Training Needs Matrix". You can use google sheets or excel for this. What I do is list the employees across the top of the columns. Each row on the left has all the potential subjects for each training session. If an employee is a 10 in a subject (and if I agree with their assessment of themselves) I will give them a green box. If they rated themselves between a 1 and a 6. I will give them a yellow mark. If they have never been trained on said subject I will give them a red box. Now I will take the green box employees (the people that fancy themselves a 10) and decide who will teach each class, this is based on who I deem is the best at each subject. I enroll them in doing this by letting them know, they are getting practice at being a manager. Also by helping out the team, there will be more company growth, which will benefit them long term.
Note: If an employee gives themselves a rating on a subject that contradicts what you think about their skill level, they may need coaching around this. I recommend a 1 on 1 coaching session for any employee that believes they are much better at a topic than you do. Furthermore, employees that give themselves a 7, 8, or 9, are also encouraged to attend the training sessions but are not required to go. Again going back to paragraph one, why force someone to attend a training session that may not interest them, that they will not pay attention too or grow from? Everyone who rates themselves 1 - 6 should attend the training session for that subject.
I also must mention, it is up to YOU as the manager, to ensure your "trainers" prepare for the class, and take teaching it seriously. Also you must make sure the training classes take place when they are supposed to, because your employee trainers will not force people into a classroom or office to learn from them. Holding everyone accountable to attend the classes will be your job. That being said, all you have to do is make sure all the right people show up! The training will happen, you will be able to stay focused on steering the ship while your 1st mates conduct the classes. Your employees will hear an alternative perspective to the training topic, which will reinforce the things you have taught. This training regiment will not cost your company one dollar. Your employees have decided what they WANT training in, thus their learning will be far more effective. The seasoned veterans who "know everything" will now be teaching and teaching reinforces what they already know and builds more confidence. Confidence will help them sell more in the end and give them leadership skills they will need to get to the next level in their careers. This also grows team cohesion and stickiness, since your veterans now have a vested interest in the newer employees. Since they have helped shape them, they will actually start to care about the success of their peers. You would be surprised at all the other benefits this type of in house training program has!
In the end, most executives, owners and managers agree, training is critical to an organization's success. However, few have figured out an affordable, effective way to overcome the common obstacles that prevent quality training from taking place. They either utilize old school training methods that do not work, or simply give up training all together. I highly recommend figuring out all the topics you could train your staff on. Then asking your employees where they want and need training. Lastly leveraging your best performers to teach those who want and need training, will certainly help get you, your staff, and your company to the next level!
Sean Kelley GSM Suntrup Hyundai and Owner of KelleyCoaching.com "Helping people improve!"
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Car Motivators
Sales Managers: Shoot the Messenger, Shoot Yourself In the Foot!
If you’re a sales manager, every day your sales staff line up to bring you news of their success, failures, conquests, and exploits. Sometimes they bring great news, excitedly proclaiming,"The clients just signed, we made a deal!" High fives, words of affirmation and celebration, everyone rejoices in the success of the moment. It is simple to react in the proper way when everything is going your way.
On the contrary, there are times when the message from your sales representative is less than favorable, "Boss I can't get them to sign, they are going to walk away from the deal." Certainly, news like this can be frustrating for a sales manager. After spending so much time helping to manage the deal, then to have your sales person lose control like this? Getting angry or frustrated with your salesperson may be your first instinct; however, you need to know that your gut reaction to say something rude, sarcastic or angry, can cost you a lot more than one lost sale. So in situations like this, what is the best thing to do? How do you work to save the deal, correct the issues at hand without brow beating your employees?
Put yourself in the shoes of your salesperson. They probably wanted the sale as much if not more than you! Even top notch sales people with the best attitudes may feel down and out when the loss of a sale occurs. Do you think your sales person wanted to let you, their sales manager, down intentionally? Did they want to look bad in the eyes of their peers by losing a sale? Did they want to flush that commission down the toilet intentionally? Ask yourself this, how do YOU feel when you let your boss down? When you make a mistake, how do you want to be treated by your supervisor? More on this later, for now, bite your tongue!
First things first, attempt to save the deal. You probably need time to cool off before correcting your sales person properly. Speaking with the would be client will allow you this time. Also, more importantly, you can NOT correct your staff member and coach them if you don’t know WHY the potential buyer is backing out. At this point in the deal, you may believe you know why the customer is leaving without buying. In reality, until you ask the client, your only making an assumption. Corrective action based on emotion and assumptions? Sounds like a recipe for a frustrated sales person, who doesn't learn what they need in order to improve, as well as a loss of respect to their manager to me!
Go talk to the client or customers without your sales person present, this will allow them an easier time opening up or giving you feedback on your staff member. Ask them how their experience was right off the bat. They may give you subtle clues about what went wrong, or why they are leaving. Pay close attention to their body language. Are they actually listening and providing honest feedback or are they just running out the door? Ask permission to follow up with them, find out how and when they prefer to be contacted. This will cause them to not feel as if you are holding them hostage as well as give you a time frame on their purchase. If they don’t want you to reach out to them, something may have gone seriously wrong. If they won't provide any real reasons or objections for you to work with, ask permission to probe deeper. Something along the lines of, "Mr Customer, at the risk of sounding pushy or high pressure, may I ask you a serious question?" Once they say yes, throw it out there, "What is the ONE thing keeping you from making a decision today?" In this way you may uncover the main objection without making the client angry at you for being nosy. They did after all, give you permission to ask the question! Once you have tried your best to overcome the objections, save the sale, and you have cooled off you can move forward. Now that you know the REAL reason the customer did not buy, and your customer is not present, NOW is the time to coach and train your salesperson.
Again, don’t shoot the messenger, your employee was just relaying the clients message. This message is probably an answer to your associates presentation or the manner in which you directed the sale as the manager. You did in fact train your sales person to sell for you right? You as the manager, must accept some responsibility for what has happens in a sale, both good or bad! Let your sales person know that you are on their team, that you want them to sell too as many clients as possible because their success is your success. In this way they will not put up a defensive barrier which will limit their listening. Next, ask your sales person if THEY know why the customer had left. There is no point in "beating a dead horse." Your employee may already know the mistakes that were made, if they hit the nail on the head and tell you the correct reason the sale was lost, then kudos to them. Your next question should be, "What will you do next time to produce a better result?" Then hold them accountable for their commitment the next time they are in a similar situation so history does not repeat itself. If their "reason" for the lost sale is not the actual reason the customer left, now it's your turn to point out what they missed, the opportunity lost, and what it would mean for them if they correct the shortcoming moving forward. If as a sales manager you adopt this method of personnel development, your staff will respect you for such resolve. They will always seek to grow with you, and will believe that you really do have their backs.
In review, the short term damage to you, your client, and team member for "shooting the messenger." Are very serious and destructive. First and foremost you look insecure, weak and unconfident: all poor leadership qualities. If the customer hears what's going on you may easily offend them and will have no hope of saving the deal. Second, you do not find out what the sales associate needs actual training or coaching on, so they never get better at selling. You create a fear in your employee to approach their manager in any undesirable situation, which is when they need you the most. The next time something's going south, do you think they are going to tell you about it? Even IF you know the real reason the sale was lost, your behavior will have caused your staff member to shut down and not listen to you and improvement cannot take place.
Long term damage of shooting the messenger, is high employee turnover. The only sales people that will stick around to work with you are ones that like abuse. More unnecessary lost sales will occur, due to the assumptive corrective action that isn't solving the real gap in the salespersons behaviors, attitudes or presentation. As well as you gaining a reputation for leading by irrationality and emotion, which is not a reputation you want in a leadership role. A true test of a leader is the ability to stay cool and react appropriately, especially when things don’t go your way. Stay calm, talk to the client, and lastly coach your staff member. Always remember, if you’re a shoot the messenger type of leader, your shooting yourself in the foot!
3 Comments
Dealers Marketing Network
Sean, great insights. Wish we could clone you and your perspective to help improve communications in our industry. Issue comes from sales managers who do not have education or training in personal communications to properly deal with some of these situations.
Klamath Falls Subaru
The "instinctual" reply to this reminds me of my first employer, a hot headed SM who had a huge turnover rate. Always better to think first, speak second.
Car Motivators
Thank you Mark, and I totally agree with you. This type of communication isnt taught in school,and does not come natural to most people. Its something that takes a lot practice and a change in the way you think about human interaction to master. The sooner a manager starts putting the needs of the client and sales person first. Instead of their own "need" to blow off steam and take out their frustrations on the person bearing the bad news, the sooner they will get to the bottom of the real issue at hand, as well as have the ability to help their employee grow!
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