Too often business growth and improvement is stalled out because the dealership is filled with the wrong people—lazy and unmotivated salespeople who can’t do much more than take an order and unskilled managers who can’t inspire the people you’ve got and aren’t any good at recruiting new talent. Ultimately the staffing problem results in infighting, resistance, and backstabbing, which makes growing the business seem impossible. Most leaders stop trying to grow and improve until after they’ve fixed their staffing problem. But this is backwards thinking and can cause your business to be forever stuck in a rut.
A Better Way To Grow
Hiring a better team would be ideal. But when that seems too hard to do, there’s no sense giving up and waiting for the situation to improve. No one ever got anywhere by sittin’ around twiddling their thumbs. Instead, set out on a mission to accomplish two things:
1) Create a purpose: Most people are bored with their jobs and feel uninspired to do any better than they are now. But most people don’t feel like they’re engaged in worthwhile work. It’s extremely unrewarding to come to work everyday to enrich the owner, enrich the manufacturer, and help ungrateful customers who demand the lowest price. But you can turn all of that around instantly. Here’s the secret—stop selling cars, start selling solutions. Realize that most people would really like a Nicer, Newer® car than they’re currently driving, but some problem is standing in their way. When you focus on solving those problems, the cars sell themselves. What’s more, solving problems is worthwhile work, and you’ll find that your employees quickly become passionate about being a trusted advisor rather than a product pusher. Passionate employees are positive employees who come to work everyday with an attitude of improvement and gratitude. Just imagine the difference this could create!
2) Increase traffic and leads: Though it may seem counterintuitive, one way to rapidly tune up your sales force is to give them a lot more customers. They have no choice but to stop being lazy. When customers are lined up every day, waiting to be helped, sales people either get excited or they get gone. There’s no opportunity to mope around and bring down morale. Additionally, it won’t take long for the news to spread around town that your store is busy. When that happens, top talent starts lining up waiting for an opportunity to sell or manage at your store. In just a few months you can transform your sales force from the doldrums to the major leagues.
Always remember: doing things the way everyone does things is a sure way to get what everyone gets. Approaching common problems from an uncommon perspective allows you to create solutions that most dealers will never experience.