Seth Godin is one of my favorite bloggers and authors. In his Good is not almost as good as great post about a trip to an auto dealership, he describes his experience with frontline auto salesmen. He was not inspired to remember, return, and recommend, but he was inspired to write a blog about an experience that is a common occurrence throughout the auto industry.
A great auto dealership? Where? I don't know of one! My guess is that the percentage of dealerships that are exceptional is about 3%. A great sales team in the car business is almost non-existent because the standards for customer service in the auto industry are much lower than most consumer sales industries.
A local (east side of Seattle) high-end dealership consistently receives awards for exceptional customer service and satisfaction, yet I have yet to know someone who is happy with the dealership. Their TV spots, that have one thrilled customer after another, are typical of the industry. A lot of bragging, but reality proves them to be average at best.
I measure the quality of a sales force by the number of quality achievers that have been attracted and/or developed, and the quality of the team chemistry (esprit d'corps, camaraderie) that has been instilled in the fabric of the sales team.
In high-ticket sales, an extraordinary sales team has 90-100% achievers and an exceptional one has about 80%-90%. (It would be rare to find a car store with 50% achievers.) Team chemistry or esprit d' corps ? I know the ins and outs of the industry fairly well. I have never heard of a car store with a true (authentic) passion for excellence and/or teamwork.
Seth suggest firing half the sales line. If that would get everyones attention focused on personal and team excellence, why not? At least the staff would be paying attention to providing great service and improving their sales, service, and team skills.
I would have a meeting with the frontline staff. It would begin with my pointing out that the room is full of people with varied experiences, insights, perspectives, and intuitions regarding the auto industry. Then I would tell them I want this dealership to be the best of the best in the industry and I want to know how we are going to accomplish becoming the very best? I would ask every person, without exception, for input. What do they think should go into a mission to become the best of the best.
I've had these meetings many times with sales and customer service staffs. They energize teams because employees support, often with a strong passion, what they help create. When it comes to team excellence that is especially true because the true achievers in the group love to be a part of a business that is "something special in the industry."
Ahhh... Those poor car dealerships. I recently went through the car purchasing process (also in Seattle). I heard the same pitch over: "they don't care about making money off of me, they just want to have a satisfied customer so I tell my friends about them." We all know that's a lie - no matter how many satisfied customers a business has, it won't be around very long if they don't make money off of them. Telling me at worst a blatant lie and at best a meaningless cliche isn't a very good way to build a trusting relationship.
Posted by: Aaron Kassover | March 15, 2007 at 12:18 PM