Blog
Short, practical notes on running service, parts and body shop departments that customers come back to.
My Largest Lesson
One of the greatest privileges in life is doing something you love. Coaching dealerships fixed operations for improvement is truly something I love however, today I’d like to share my largest lesson with you. Understand that everyone has parts of what they do that they don’t enjoy. For me the task I don’t enjoy is…
“I don’t get no respect!”
I Don’t Get No Respect The comedian Rodney Dangerfield used this line often in his monologue getting untold millions of people to laugh. It’s much more serious when it gets down to our dealerships. Let’s look together in more detail about not getting any respect. From Your Customer If your customer believes your dealership disrespects them, I…
You Can’t Sing
You Can’t Sing I used to be a fan of American Idol. I found it interesting in the way the season series started. People would stand in line for hours and hours just to get the chance to audition for the show. Many of these individuals had no talent singing, yet believed they become rock…
Are You Overwhelmed?
Are You Overwhelmed? Life in the dealership world is hectic and many times overwhelming for the staff. The emotion of this weighs heavily on the individual with the effects going well beyond the job and into family life. Let’s look at some ways to deal with this feeling and turn it into a positive impact…
Is it Worth It?
Is it Worth It? There will be many times in life that you have to make tough decisions. In the dealership and in your personal life, making these decisions can be simplified. Notice, I didn’t say making these decisions would be easy. Let’s look at a few examples starting with our personal life. At Home…
Minding Your Business
Minding Your Business One of the characteristics I’ve seen in some people is that they enjoy seeing other people struggle. It might be a person that they know is going through a divorce or financial concern and they feel the need to talk about it to others. At times this even affects a whole industry,…
Are You Listening?
Are You Listening? One of the most important skills our dealership team needs to develop is the art of listening. I am confident all of us at one time or another had our significant other question if we were listening. Many of the times my wife has asked me that question and I answered no.…
The Two Rules
Most of us have heard about the two rules in life. Number one; don’t worry about the small stuff. Number two; it’s all small stuff. In business however, we must challenge this way of thinking. The small stuff will make the difference between a successful endeavor and complete failure. As matter of fact, we must…
The Challenge
The Challenge No matter who you are or what you do, one thing we all have in common is challenges in life. It might be your finances, your health, your family, or it may even be the workplace. Challenges never come into your life at a convenient time, and they can’t be scheduled. Your approach…
What’s Your Why?
What’s Your Why? We all need a reason to get out of bed in the morning and do what we do. For a lot of us it might be to provide for our family, while others have a greater vision or purpose. I find it interesting that those with greater vision or purpose end up…