There is too much waiting

Waiting (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t you think there is too much waiting going on? I don’t mean the kind of waiting we do for a burger at the local drive thru or waiting for the mail to arrive.

And it’s not the other kind of waiting we do these days “plugged in” as we are.

Heck, we all know that in this “electronic” age, society is way too fast and by being so, has turned us into petulant whiner babies when it takes an extra millisecond to download the “game of the week” into our phone.

Not that kind of waiting.

It’s a different kind of waiting and it is keeping your Dealership from becoming profitable.

Did you know that we are the only species on the planet that will wait for a favorable outcome with little more than the faint a wisp of hope? It’s true.

It’s why we play the lotto. Did you buy a ticket in the recent mega-millions game…the one worth over 600 Million dollars?  Me too.

That is waiting for a favorable outcome based on hope. How did it turn out for you? Same as me?

I didn’t win either. And while this kind of “hope” might be great for the lotto, it has absolutely no business in your business.

Let me show you what I mean.

You have had or know someone who has one right now…the underperforming Service Advisor. Maybe it’s an underperforming Sales person.  Hey, dare I say it, maybe an underperforming General Manager.

Anyways, this person is working in your Dealership. And because I have a special place in my heart for Fixed Ops, let’s look at what waiting based on hope does for your underperforming Service Advisor.

Every day you come in and there he or she sits. And in your mind you picture the day that Fred or Sally suddenly “gets it.” They start following a write-up process. They begin to use a script and become experts at answering the phone and making appointments. They become expert Sales people by using the simplest of Sales processes called a “feature/benefit” presentation and start increasing their close ratio on additional service requests.

And each day nothing happens. They do not become better at anything. They continue to do the same things day in and day out.

You? You are waiting for something to happen that causes a change that results in a different outcome based on this hope.  How’s that working for you?

There is one other problem waiting for that problem to correct itself. Your Advisor does not know they need to change. I’ll bet my lotto ticket on it.

In fact, if I was in your store and I asked them how they think they are performing their duties as a Service Advisor, what do you think their answer to me would be?

If you are the Service Manager and Fred or Sally is working for you, you are living the “waiting for a favorable outcome based on hope” in your store right now.  This is akin to watching the sky for a rainbow and running to the end of it anticipating a pot of gold.

Let me ask you this. What are the odds that Fred or Sally will suddenly become the Service Advisor you want them to be merely because you are “hoping” for a change?

Your next step is one that requires Action.

Taking Action to address known deficiencies in behavior and performance will get results when hope plus waiting will not.

If Fred or Sally is working for you, do these 3 things immediately and you will have immediate results.

1^st, identify the level of performance acceptable for employment at your Dealership for a Service Advisor. Is it 1.8 HPRO with a Gross Profit Margin of 73% Labor and 41% Parts, an EFL of 85% of door rate and a CSI rating above the zone? I don’t know what it should be in your store. That’s for you to decide.

But keep in mind; whatever level of performance you decide is the minimum acceptable level of performance that only keeps them employed.

2^nd, counsel with Fred or Sally and tell them what the minimum level of performance is, what your expectations are, lay out the next steps they need to take to remain a member of your team and ask them if there is any reason they cannot meet those objectives.

3^rd, monitor and coach daily based on your personal observations, the results from the previous days performance and the overall effort they put into their duties.

This Action will guarantee a result. No question. You will get an Advisor who can and will do the job the way it is supposed to be done in your store. Whether or not it is Fred or Sally remains to be seen.

There is too much waiting going on these days and it’s the wrong kind of waiting. Take Action, set some performance levels, begin counseling your Advisors and start monitoring for results.

If after reading this you decide to not do anything and wait for something to change based on “hope”, I’ve got a used lotto ticket for sale. Send me an email.

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