F&I and Showroom, October 2013

Mad Marv His Madness admits patience isnt something that comes naturally but he recognizes how important it is when it comes to managing people By Marv Eleazer A colleague and I were recently having a discussion about the people he manages His main complaint was that he found himself having to constantly retrain his people Why do people have to constantly be reminded to do their job Why must I always check behind them he said It seems they cant master the basics and need someone pushing them every day The only thought that came to mind while listing to his rant was Welcome to management I know my friend was just venting and Im pretty sure hes heard this line more than a few times Training is a process not an event Hey its just part of our job as managers to keep drilling lessons into our people Take salespeople With all the training they receive on the sales process youd think theyd know when its the right time to get a manager involved Yet time and again weve witnessed them let a customer walk prematurely And no amount of reminders and maybe a few choice words to hammer the message home will stop them from doing it again Again thats why managers exist In fact I would venture to say the reason why people in our charge go off track is because we dont pay enough attention to their needs I mean were ultimately responsible for their ability to execute their job with precision You cant train people to do a job then retreat to your offi ce and expect them to produce After all part of being a manager is to coach the team And coaching isnt easy Its labor intensive and its never ending Its also a thankless job sometimes but 52 F I and Showroom October 2013 not always Just look at professional athletes How many of them are quick to recognize their Little League or high school coaches after theyve made it to the big show Thats because they realize how important all that repetitive training and practice was to their career Now there are those individuals who take the ball and run Its diffi cult to identify them before you set them loose to do the job But once theyre on their own its clear they take well to mentoring and soak up everything you say like a dry sponge Dont you wish everyone was like that Well the best managers know how to get the best out of their people so accept the challenge and the reality that selfstarters are rare And good luck if you think fi ring people until you have the ideal team is the answer Its not And thats because even the good ones are going to need a little handholding from time to time Perhaps a better approach would be to drill down into the problems that drive you nuts Yeah that means getting out of your offi ce and fi nding a remedy Yes I know there are dealerships out there that dont seem to have problems Their numbers are always strong they lead the 20 Group your store belongs to and they seem to do no wrong Do they just know how to hire the right people Maybe but Im going to bet its the development program they have in place thats driving their success not some magical hiring tool So how do you motivate your people Do you follow the do as I say not as I do approach If so you need to change because no one will follow your direction for very long if your professional style doesnt mirror what you preach And thats especially true during the good times You know what Im talking about The inventory is right grosses are strong customer satisfaction scores are up everyone seems to be getting along and customers are just plain happy Well even in these rare occasions dont miss the opportunity to teach and guide The most successful operations dont They understand the importance of effective leadership and that people need and want guidance Look just accept that people arent self starters that theyll need a gentle push from time to time and that its up to management to continually develop them This means constant monitoring of your peoples progress and one on one meetings to keep them on track Even your superstar needs to be on the same program He or she may need less supervision but your superstar still needs coaching I know this is pretty basic stuff but a little reminder that people need and desire structure never hurts And yes people do want structure Remember when you were being developed by your coach and the patience he or she showed Well thats the attitude you need to adopt Youll be surprised by how much more productive your people will be Hey even managers need a little reminder and a little guidance sometimes Good luck and keep closing Marv Eleazer is the F I director at Langdale Ford in Valdosta Ga E mail him at marv eleazer@ bobit com Talent Coach