Many dealerships attempt to solve poor sales by either replacing people or by replacing services. It’s my opinion that, in most cases, neither of these will necessarily solve your problems. People may just need training and/or supervision. Services may only need to be properly utilized.
Case in point: Internet Departments.
An Internet Manager sits down with a GSM or GM to look at why the department didn’t sell as many cars as management (or the owner) would have liked. They look at the cost per sale and the ROI of their internet services (sometimes). From this they determine that X service isn’t working for them and decide to cancel and replace it with this magical new service that will fix everything.
Here’s what they usually don’t look at:
- Are we implementing the service (and its processes) as they were designed to be?
- Are we properly working the program?
- Is there accountability for it’s implementation and use?
- Are we doing the work?
Say we’re talking about internet leads. You can’t solely base decisions on whether you’re selling cars from them if you haven’t determined that whatever process you have in place to work those leads… works.
If your employees aren’t calling the leads, I guarantee that you won’t sell any cars from them. Does that make them bad leads? Of course not!
There are two parts to any service… the tool and the work. If you haven’t analyzed both, you could be canceling the best service you have and the one which would provide you with the most ROI… if it were being used properly.
The internet departments of dealerships are the least monitored departments in most dealerships with the highest income potential.
You see, any service you subscribe to takes work. I have yet to run across any service that will magically sell cars for you without any work on your part. If it’s an internet lead, you have to make the phone calls. If it’s a video product, you have to take the videos. If it’s a consultant, you have to listen to them.
You get the idea.
Do you replace the driver if the car isn’t working properly?
Do you replace the car if the driver doesn’t know how to drive?
In the first scenario, fixing the car is the solution. In the second, you teach the driver how to drive. It could also be both.
You have to know what the problem is before you can solve it.
The next time you consider canceling a service (or replacing an employee), make sure to know what the problem is before you try to fix it.
If you don’t, you could be trading in a Ferrari.
