You Don’t Have to Be a Salesperson to Make a Sale
The most important part of your business is making the sale. Your title, however, means little to anyone but yourself.
‘We’re Number Two! And Proud of It!’
Sure, it sounds absurd to be proud of being number two, but although most of us pay lip service to our desire to be our customers’ first choice, our actions may say otherwise. Any time you don’t make the customer your top priority, you’re tacitly agreeing not to be their top priority. You cannot truly be number one until your customers are. Being number one really is a two-way street, and it’s not an easy street. You can’t coast your way to number one – and when you get there you have to work like crazy to stay on top because you then become the target for everyone else who wants to take that title from you. If you don’t pay close attention and maintain constant vigilance you can easily backslide to number two and worse.
Easy Returns = Easy Sales
Just before I popped the top off the ECM unit, I realized that the part number on top did not match the one in the instruction manual for my chip. Rats! The instruction manual specifically pointed out that if the part number does not match for any reason, “DO NOT INSTALL THIS CHIP. YOUR CAR WILL NOT BE HAPPY.”
Which Way out of Here?
Five survival tools that will help you lead your automotive business through the concrete jungle
Odds are you’ve watched one of television’s many popular survival reality shows. You know the type: A group of people are dropped into the wilderness far from civilization with only the clothes on their backs and perhaps a few other items. Then, it’s up to them to choose a leader to help them survive until they can reach safety or their time limit is up. Along the way, viewers are amazed by the tools they fashion to make survival possible: A fire-starting bow drill made of sticks, a fishing line made of shoelaces and a thorn, a water container made from a cactus or gourd, a frying pan made from a rock, and shelters made from trees, leaves and vines or even snow, just to name a few.
Keeping Customers Happy at the Heat Farm
A manager who worked for me got so wrapped up in the sale that he would say anything to close the sale. Everything would be ready tomorrow at noon with him. No matter what it was or when you asked him, he used the noon delivery time as a crutch to sell and as a stock answer to buy time after the sale. Needless to say, his shop was blown up all the time.
For most of my career, I have walked into shops that are heat farms, where you can cut the tension with a knife – mad customers, owners pointing fingers at the manager, managers pointing fingers at employees, employees pointing their fingers back at management, one ego clashing with another. My goal some days – for real – was to just get out of there without getting beat up by an employee or a customer.
Christmas Vacations
Every year you schedule vacations for your employees. You have to rest your horses, but do you have to rest them when the shop is busy? I have found that most employees would rather take their vacation time at Christmas instead of during the summer if given the choice. I know the kids are out of school in the summer, but they are out of school at Christmas too. Why not schedule some long weekends for your employees during the busy summer months and wait until business slows down at Christmas for long vacations? It may be best for everyone.
Knowledge Isn’t Power; Execution Is!
People say knowledge is power, but it absolutely isn’t. What you do with that knowledge is what’s really important and powerful. Lots of folks have great ideas for inventions or starting businesses, but the vast majority never act on them, or if they do it’s in some half-baked manner that never brings the results they envisioned. It’s one thing to have a great idea; it’s quite another to see it through to its ultimate conclusion.
Back Off to Control Volatile Situations and Make Better Sales
Often, holding your tongue while figuring out the right responses to get you what you want is the best way. You can turn a demanding or difficult customer around, gain the respect of friends and employees, and get Aunt Sarah to understand that you’re doing what’s right for you and your family. Some might consider it a form of weakness not to jump right in to protect your honor or show a customer how far off base he is, but it can be a useful tool in getting people to realize just how wrong they might be or what’s best for them in their situation.
We’re Doing it Wrong – the World is Flat
The industry is nearing a crossroads. We’re not quite there yet, but it’s coming soon.
It’s the perfect storm: new technologies in transmissions, new buying motives and habits among vehicle owners, new media and marketing options, new competitive forces from general-repair shops and consumer-focused new-car dealers, new this, new that.
Is the Tail Wagging the Dog?
Do you know how many leads you got last week? How many were lost? How many were converted into a sale? How many units did your builder build last week? What was your average parts percentage on major repairs? If you cannot answer core questions like these, the tail is probably wagging the dog at your shop.
Controlling Parts Costs
“Are you out of your mind, Art? I’m not giving my checkbook to the builder!”
That is what I was told by an old-school owner when I was the general manager of his three transmissions shops back in the day. We were arguing back and forth trying to figure out how to get our parts costs in line, like many of you nowadays. His position was that it was, and always has been, the manager’s responsibility to control our parts costs. My position was that we should change that policy and make the rebuilder responsible for which parts we buy and make the manager responsible for selling the repair for enough to reach our parts-percentage goal. That policy change would make the manager accountable for the sales amount and the builder accountable for the parts amount. The installers worked for the builder, and all R&R parts were approved by the builder. The new policy, in effect, would have employees share accountability as a team in an effort to reach our parts-percentage goal.
Belonging – How Important Is It?
When employees feel as if they belong, they tend to give a lot more. They’re part of the cause, not separate from it. They’ll usually work to the limit of their capabilities. When they don’t feel like a member of the tribe they don’t get comfortable enough with their surroundings to be willing to give it their all. Employees who are treated like outsiders quickly get the idea that they won’t be welcome at the company very long so they work with one foot out the door and their bags always half packed.
