Let's Play Ball!!!

Wikipedia defines "Teamwork [as] the capability to comprehend and recognize the diverse strengths and abilities in a group setting and then applying them to one final solution The concept has spread from the world of sports where it is well known and accepted, to business, so much so that it is in danger of being considered by some as an empty buzzword, or a form of corporate-speak.  In the 21st century, as people are becoming more sophisticated and society is becoming more technically advanced, working as a team makes it easier to accomplish goals.  Some things cannot be accomplished by people working individually.  Larger, ambitious goals usually require that people work together with other people."

At the dealership, no one person is the stand alone vehicle delivery system.  From the moment a vehicle arrives at the dealership until it finds its home in a client garage, it is processed, handled, financed, sold and repaired by the starting lineup of your dealership.  Every employee of a dealership is one member of a larger team that relies on other members of the same team to complete a common goal….sell cars!!!!

Dealership managers should be asking themselves, “Who is on my team?”   Some of your team mates are super stars.  Some members you turn to in a crisis as your pinch hitters.  Take an assessment of your team and determine what each member brings to the team.  Make notes on your rooster.

If your roster has holes, like any good team manager, you attention needs to turn to recruiting talent.  Once you have a complete roster, create strategies on how to best utilize each team mates potential to reach your common goal….winning!!!!

Keep stats on your team to determine where there are weaknesses and strengths.  When you discover a weakness in your team, it is time for some training and repeated practice of these skills until mastery.  Spend time with your team mates to reinforce training skills and to play up to strengths to impact the overall success of your team.

Remember, in order to soar with eagles, you cannot hang out with the turkeys!

Copyright © 2014,  Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Automotive management tasked with the job of recruiting car sales people in addition to their other duties, often find themselves underachieving in terms of production.  Automotive recruiting can be a difficult task when a manager is struggling with time management and the organization it takes to be successful.

Depending on the drive to succeed, an average automotive sales staff recruiting program takes 12-15 hours per week and in more difficult markets 30-40 hours per week.  With the massive flow of information generate in car sales recruiting campaigns (candidates, resumes, applications, etc.), it is very easy to become overwhelmed.  Automotive recruiting campaigns can easily become a part time to full time job.  The job description for most automotive management requires a high level of performance on tasks outside of recruiting, making automotive recruiting difficult to balance with other duties.  So how can an automotive manager tackle this daunting task?

If you find yourself immobilized and totally ineffective, it is time to step off the recruiting campaign merry-go-round and create a daily plan with intentional focus.  Flip flopping between tasks is not only frustrating but can waste time as your change gears.  Therefore, start with a time management schedule where you block out a period of time for auto sales people recruiting.  It is easy to get distracted with other demands, but stay focused on your automotive recruiting tasks during your blocked time.  When it is not your blocked time for recruiting, stay focused on your other tasks.  Yes, it is difficult to find this time to block out when the job demands so much of your attention.  Look to place this block of time at the beginning or end of your day, when the demand for your attention is not at its peak.

During your block of time, have a written plan of all the tasks that you need to complete.  This will help you determine duration for your automotive recruiting block.  You may need to adjust your time schedule if your task list becomes too long or prioritize the tasks and move some to the next day.  At the close of each day, make a new plan for the following day, using today’s experience as your guide.  Schedule out the duration of your recruiting block and write down the specific tasks you will complete during that block of time.  Repeat this process daily until your car sales people recruiting campaign comes to an end.

When considering taking on your own automotive sales staff recruiting campaign, determine if there is adequate resources to ensure success.  Skimping on your recruiting plan and taking short cuts can become a costly mistake, even more costly than outsourcing your auto recruiting needs.   If you find yourself not having the time resources, consider outsourcing this task to one of the nation’s top automotive recruiting companies, like The Manus Group, who can assist you with building, implementing and managing a highly effective automotive sales staff recruiting program for your organization.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Part of my life was spent in Southeastern Oklahoma.  I remember teenage boys coming to the ranch dressed in their "good jeans" with a tucked-in "nice shirt" and driving their daddy's "dress truck".  The purpose was to show my aunties and uncles, that they were gentlemen and worthy of the responsibility of the social company of the young women in the family.   Then I went to Japan, I took notice of the polished professional uniform.  Even though this population of the labor force looked a bit like they were cut from the very same bolt of fabric, the lack of individualism or variety did not deter me from being overwhelmingly impressed with how extraordinary they seemed to be…they looked ready to do some serious business.

Clearly, human beings use visual cues among others to determining credibility.  Cultures have unique demographical “dress to impress" codes.  As a professional, you need to be able to determine what is acceptable in your demographic as impressive professional attire.  If your demographics are not formal business suits, then dress to impress your demographics.  When unsure, it is best to be overdressed than under-dressed.

So why should we care about our appearance?  If you walked into a bank and your teller was wearing flip-flops and a tank top, how closely would you be clutching your money?  If someone looks too casual to be serious about the business at hand, then consumers subliminally will be influenced to think they are going to be too casual to handle the serious business they bring.  And there goes credibility, walking out the door in flip flops.

Automotive recruiters represent dealerships that want to be entrusted with their consumers business.   This might seem obvious, but automotive sales staff recruiters may need to instruct perspective automotive sales people on how to dress like an individual who can be trusted with a client’s hard earned monies.  Sometimes this task is easier said than done if you really want to have an impact over a lecture.  The way to overcome this obstacle is to share this information as a story.  Start with thinking back to your last job interview and the time you spent preparing.  Then tell applicants the story of how you wore your best clothes, polished shoes and brought your refined look with you to the interview.  When you left your house, you took the first step out the door with your best foot forward.  Your clothing was screaming, "I'm serious about getting this job.  I am going to perform well when you hire me.  I am the best person for this job."

Molecules over time will return to their least excited state without external influences according to the Law of Entrophy/Disorder.   Apparently, human beings are subject to the Law of Entropy.  Given enough time, we cool off to tepid unless something keeps us motivated and energized.   Automotive management, when you notice that casual Friday starts to find its way into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; it is time to tighten up the dress code.  The first place to start is with the management, as those you manage are looking to you for cues.  Once the management team is dressed for success, you can inspire your team during your on-going automotive sales training program, to start off each day as if they are going into work for the first time with a put-together look that shouts, “I'm serious about making this sale.  I look like I am capable of handling your money.  I am going to perform above par when you buy from me."  Take note of how this changes their performance.  Nothing boosts self-confidence like knowing you look good.  Nothing boosts success like a dose of self-confidence.  Challenge them to not only dress for the job they have, but to dress for the job they want.

Look business ready and you will be business ready!

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

As an invited guest to the NAS Pensacola National Naval Aviation Museum, I had the honor of attending the “winging” of a group of young aviators.  Rear Admiral Mark Vance was the guest speaker to address this assembly of recently graduated Navy and Marine aviators with a welcome to the fleet speech.  I found myself feeling like I too was being given a “charge to order on the tip of the spear”.  The charge to order in simplified terms was to always be ready to be a leader, an important skill set for automotive management.  The Rear Admiral went on to explain the dynamics of service and leadership by relating the experience to that of a herd of sheep, something everyone can understand.

Sheep live in a world where they must believe that there is no wolf in order to maintain their carefree lifestyle.  Sheep tend to prefer popularity over individualism and therefore will often go with the flow.  They have no sense of urgency or danger.  They move through life as one large orderly mass that maintains close connections with the flock.    Their safety is left in the hands of a guardian, usually a sheepdog.  Example: A manager who is more concerned with politicking and agreeing with the boss, than being a stand of the betterment of the people he is supposed to be leading.

A wolf lurks in the shadows as an opportunistic predatory.   A wolf drives a selfish agenda using fear and intimidation to gain power and prey on the sheep. Sometimes the wolf acts alone and sometime it will form a pack of like-minded wolves.  Every action of a wolf is selfish and without concerns for any life other than its own.  The wolf fears nothing but does find the sheepdog a worthy adversary.  Example: A leader who makes demands of the people they lead, but would not be willing to make those same sacrifices or actions if they shoe were on the other foot.

The sheepdog lives a life protecting the sheep at all costs, including bodily harm.  The sheepdog’s life is that of service and devoid of selfish goals.  Sheepdogs are not popular with the sheep since a dog looks like a wolf.  Sheepdogs are also not popular with the wolves, as the wolves see them as a threat to their motives.  The sheep wish the sheepdog was more like them and the wolves wish the sheepdog would join their canine ranks.  Therefore, the life of a sheepdog is often spent in solitude.  A sheepdog never rests.  It is always on alert and ready to defend the flock.  The actions of a sheepdog are governed by integrity, service and duty.  Example: The manager who leads by example and plays the game that you don’t win at all cost, but lead at all cost.

When working with an Automotive Management Recruiter, ask them to find a sheepdog.  Effective leaders are usually sheepdogs.  There is a fine line in mastering the role of a sheepdog, as a sheepdog must understand the lifestyles of both the sheep and the wolf.  The role of an effective leader is that of a servant to those they have been charged to lead.  An effective leader protects his organization and its people from harm.  Being an effective leader is not always popular and often effective leaders find themselves ostracized from the masses.  Effective leaders are often faced with challenges that have no sense of time and therefore must always be ready to act at a moment’s notice.  Effective leaders are expected to govern themselves and their actions.  Effective leaders employ integrity over selfish agendas while doing what is right over what is best.

For those in leadership roles in your career, which are you?  The sheep that pretends to lead by being popular and going along with the flow?  A wolf that drives a selfish agenda through the use of fear and intimidation?  Or are you the sheepdog that is an always ready servant that defends without a selfish motive?

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

If the world was devoid of you, what would it be like and contrast that with if you were the whole world?  Which do you think would be the better place?

The above question was something that passed through my busy brain one night as I prepared for duty the next day at the office.  It seemed like an interesting way to keep my mind busy and off any anticipation of what the next day might bring.  As I lay in bed that night, I continued wrestling with this quandary.

If the world were devoid of me, I am not sure I would have left a huge gap in human existence.  There would be an isolated handful of humans that I have crossed paths with that might be missing out on some positive human condition influence, but the masses of this world would hardly notice my disappearance.  Big picture: my impact on the world is minuscule at best.

When I contrast that with if I was the whole world, I discovered that without the ability to interact and contribute to the lives of even a handle full of other humans, I am one lazy, boring and not highly amusing living being.  I am fully motivated to be in motion because I have humans to interact with.  It is my leadership role in management development that lends to most of my impacting the human existence. My inspiration comes from those around me.  Without them, I would just be occupying space.

The outcome of this game:  In order to make my world a better place, I need to let others inspire me, motivate me and keep me in action, but I need to not isolate my creations to just the handful of people in my life.  I need to look at making a difference one event at a time, so that it spreads beyond the borders of my immediate audience.

The light bulb came on again!  If you want to get somewhere, you need a road map.  So, I started to write my own eulogy.  Having a written document of how I wanted to be remembered, became a way of defining the pathway I now needed my life to take in order to reach my desired final destination.   In order to make this wish a reality, I began to speak it, share it and enroll others in my goals.  I had evolved from the kid who gave everyone chicken pox in third grade to the adult who has a contagious passion for living life to the fullest. We are all part of a plan; sometimes we just need a blueprint to see the big picture.

Sales Performance Training Lesson: Challenge to your staff to take on the game of “what if the world was devoid of you”.  Ask them to think about what it would be like.  Request they each write their own eulogy.  Show them that if that is how they wished to remember, that today is the day to start creating the blue print for their lives.  Inspire them to be contagious about their passions.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

It does not happen often, but sometimes I find myself bored.  This week I find myself working remotely with my toes in the sandy.  Without the distractions of the office, I am actually finding myself completing my normal task list with time to be bored.  So how does someone who is usually as busy as a bee handle boredom?  I have learned to embrace this simple and rare luxury as a gift to take a break from responsibilities and to-do lists.

My friends are sometimes startled to find me doing something other than running a three-ring circus and my mind is constantly abuzz with thought.   With all of the "noise" of everyday life, sometimes I have to get away from everything and enjoy the silence.

It might be considered lazy or even a bit taboo for someone whose life is normally so structured and scheduled, but I relish being bored.  My friends might not like it when I get bored, because they see it as abnormal for me to be out of the loop.  They have come to depend on me to take a call, help them handle a situation, answer a question, take up a last minute dinner invitation, etc. at all hours and with a smile on my face.

When I find myself bored, I flip the switch and quickly turn boredom into an opportunity to engage in some serious all about me time.  I often turn my phone on silent and disengage from my ever present social media squawk.  There are boring Sundays in which I never leave the comfort of my pjs until the alarm goes off on Monday morning.  I will spend the day lounging on around doing the things I want to do, like read a book.  I could even indulge in foods I often avoid in my diet, like chips and ice cream.  I might even take a long mid-afternoon nap.  I will let dishes pile up in the sink.  I avoid anything that might be considered a task or chore.  It is my defiant act of being irresponsible to just let the mess pile up.  I just relish in indulging in the things I normally miss out on in my hectic life.  I embrace the opportunity to soak up some rest and relaxation without a hint of guilt.

I find" turning off life" a self-serving but healthy activity. If you think about it, most healthy activities are self-serving, whether it be working out, eating healthy, getting more sleep, etc. and we don't feel guilty for them.  So why should we feel so guilty about taking a day to "turn off”, when it is really a healthy and productive activity?

I think we should encourage our staff members in their Management and Sales Performance Training to take time to turn off.  The life of a salesperson and/or sales manager can hectic and we deserve some down time to recharge and be prepared to tackle tomorrow.   We should encourage our teammates to embrace their inner bum from time to time, as part of a healthy and fit lifestyle.....no guilt necessary!!!

I am able to be irresponsible and defiant to my normal way of being, because I understand tomorrow is a new day.  Tomorrow all the messes, to-do lists and the rest of the responsibilities of my adult life will still be waiting for me.  Tomorrow, I will tackle all the chores and expected activities.  Tomorrow, I will not be bored and will be right back in the swing of my busy life.  Today, I am going to rest, relax and recharge in total boredom.    If you want to win the race, you tend to choose a fresh horse!!!

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

When a friend posted this picture on Facebook, first I laughed and thought back to those crazy college days with pranks and practical jokes involving duct tape.  Then my thoughts wandered into the humor of my adult life, where I joke about things being held together with duct tape and Popsicle sticks.

While watching the news recently, it has dawned on me there is another meaning to this photo.  We live in a global economy that is being held together by “virtual duct tape”.  Think about it!  When one culture or nation is struggling against another, or there is a devastating natural disaster or even a terrorist event; the impact is not just felt locally.  A localized event that has fingers that stretch beyond boarders can impact our global environment, universal commerce and trade relationships or even individual industries and consumers worldwide.  We all have to make adjustments because one of the pieces of the “global economy duct tape” gave way.  What happens in Asia, Europe, the Middle East or any other of our global neighbors, happens to us too!

Our highly complex global economy hums along quite nicely with all the pieces of “virtual duct tape” holding it together, but what happens when more than one piece of the “virtual duct tape” gives way?  What will happen if there is a natural disaster and a man-made disaster at the same time in two different regions of the world?  How do you think the global economy will be impacted?  I don’t believe silence will be as golden as once thought.  I think our global neighborhood could get a little loud as the pieces of “virtual duct tape” start to unravel one by one.

Remaining silent and hoping that nothing happens is a bit like planning to win the lottery without buying a ticket.  Get out your soap box!  Be a stand for your voice and let your voice be a stand for making a difference in our global neighborhood.  Your words might just be the seed that revolutionizes the way we apply “virtual duct tape” to our global economy or make “virtual duct tape” a thing of the past.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

Everyone has worked with Negative Nellie and Cantankerous Craig and seen how they can poison the waters of progress with their hater-aide.  Their less than inspiring attitude spread like a cancer through what was once an optimistic and forward moving team.  To managers and fellow peers, it is easy to identify the Nellies and Craigs and see the impact they have on team success.

There is however another team mate that can chip away at the achievement of a team.  Sometimes, Super Steve and Amazing Audrey and the egos of these all-stars can be as damaging as the negative influence of a cancerous pessimist.  Superstars are often over looked as the source of stagnation or decline in production of the team because they themselves are producers.

Every team has at least one superstar but not all super stars benefit the team.  There is a fine line between a super star that is really a champion and a prima donna.   Superstars that are prima donnas have a sense of entitlement.  Superstars that are team players are real champions who play for the team, so that the team will play for them.  Team players are contributors, while prima donnas are takers.  Team players will do what prima donnas and other members of your team will not.

There is no click it and forget it when it comes to managing a team of people.  Super stars require different lessons than Andy Average.  While under-achieving Uma needs a totally different type of attention.   The wise manager understands that personal success is wrapped up in the success of others, namely those they manage.   Management is about discovering talent and then developing each member of the team to realize their full potential.  Every day, the game is to strive to be better than yesterday's best.    In developing a team, the determination to perform at your best is seen as loyalty to the team.  When a member of the team stops striving to be better than their best, this action is seen as disloyalty to the team.  It takes every member of the team doing their job to achieve success.

Coaching a superstar is just as important as motivating and bring along the under achievers.  Just because a super star has talent does not mean they should not be managed.  Often the ego of free range superstar will come to wear on the morale of the entire team, creating a space for forward momentum to slow and even halt.  For example, if Andy Average consistently sells 12 cars per month but through Sales Performance Training has taken on the challenge and has learned to sell 14 cars, that achievement is motivating to the team.  Then there is Super Steve, who normally sells 25 cars per month.  Super Steve has become complacent and has settled for selling only 20 cars per month because he is comfortable with this minimal effort.  Even though Super Steve is selling more cars by settling than Average Andy who has shown improvement, it is the lament of Super Steve not playing full out that will be seen by the team as disloyal.  Disloyalty creates instability.

Super stars do not belong on pedestals.  All it takes is a little career rough housing and pedestals wobble and things fall off.  When a super star falls, it is not only devastating to the super star; it also creates instability for the rest of the team.  Need proof?  Just look at the number of professional athletes that have fallen off their proverbial pedestal and the affect it had on their team and fan base.

Encourage the whole team, including your superstar, to always be seeking opportunities for personal and professional growth.  Assert often that perfection is not something to achieve, it is something to always be aspiring to.  Keep moving the expectation and achievement bar with a super star and level the playing field for the whole team.  Praise a super star softly.  Build their character and not their ego with fanfare.  When the ego of a super star begins to wear on the morale of the team, remind the group that it takes the efforts of the entire team to win.  One single player, even the super star, is not a stand-alone winning machine.  An ounce of prevention is swifter than inoculating the whole team with a large dose of recovery and rebuilding.  Be the organization where people love what they do for a living, love who they work with and the rewards will far out weight the yields that pressure, stress and barking orders ever will.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.

I am a vertically enhanced female which I normally see as a benefit, except when I am trying to buy clothing.  Most of the clothing options for women do not come with a choice for inseam or length.  This often leaves me in the dressing room wondering if I can pull of this dress being too short or do these jeans look like capris or a fashion faux pas.  I am stuck in a world in which one-height-fits-all in ladies fashion.

Having been in customer service, it is hard for me to choke down being the customer without the service.  I take long deep breaths and bite my tongue, as a salesperson rolls their eyes at me for taking outfit after outfit back to the changing room and still coming out empty handed.  To that salesperson, I am just a statistic and one in which there is a diminishing ratio of time spent in service over amount of commission made.  At that moment, I am no longer a person but some retail catch phrase.

A few years ago, I was afforded the unique opportunity to attend and complete a course on being a hostage.  The focus on this training was how to increase the survivability ratio.  The training was in-depth and extensive, but if I had to boil it down to one concept that seemed to improve survivability…make yourself a real person!   It is difficult to dismiss someone you can relate to and to your captive, psychologically it is more difficult to kill someone they have a connection to.

As a perspective buyer, I refuse to be held hostage by retail nomenclature.  I am a person and deserve to be treated as such.  In order to gain this level of respect, I start off each buying experience with making myself real to the salesperson.  I use the salesperson’s name.  I treat the salesperson as my equal and with the same respect I wish to have them bestow on me.  I look for talk points on things we might have in common.  I ask questions, listen and entertain their advice.  Even if they cannot help me, I give them the opportunity to point me in another direction and thank them for their assistance.  I demonstrate to the salesperson that I am a person and a potential buyer.

If you want to be known for providing the best in customer service, flip the script!  In management and sales performance training, teach your team how to connect with prospects and avoid the pitfall of seeing a potential buyer as just another catch phrase or statistic.  When your sales and management teams are connected to someone, it is difficult to disregard their feelings because they are now seen as an equal.  A salesperson or sales manager can now relate to this person as if they stood in those very same shoes. The ability to relate must occur before the sales can be made.

Most decisions to purchase are connected to some level of emotion.  Therefore, building a relationship is the key to building trust.  If your team is vested in their emotion, they are no longer engaging in a one-size-fits-all sales process.  Being able to custom fit the sales experience to the prospect not only increases the likelihood of closing the sale, but also the potential for continued business and referrals.

Copyright © 2014, Stephanie Young All rights reserved.