Pub. 2018 Issue 1

12 AUTOMOBILE DEALER NEWS ILLINOIS www.illinoisdealers.com I f you are managing a sales team of any kind, there is a good chance that you have asked them to set a sales goal and turn it in by the end of the day. In the retail automotive world, this might mean you once were handed an old business card with “15 units per month” jotted down on the back. Maybe you were really in the presence of an overachiever and they accounted for the ebb and flow of retail sales: 10, 10, 12, 10, 18, etc… Since writing a goal down is the first step to achieving it, I’d say your teamwas exactly one step ahead of everyone who hadn’t gotten around to it yet. If you are a Dealer Principal or GM, you want your team to know that setting the right goal is far more important than just scribbling something on a piece of scratch paper and checking off “set goal” from your to-do list. In the above example, if this person’s best month last year was 17, their average was 11.5, and when you ask them what you can expect in the upcoming year, they tell you it would be pretty cool to average 15, it’s your job to help them understand that they don’t have a goal, they have a wish. Or, we could try a different approach. Let’s imagine that you took that same employee and truly put them on a development path. You helped them properly manage their CRM, work their sales funnel, and improve their follow up skills. With pure data, you know that this resulted in a 33% closing rate. Then, just to make sure, you looked back at unit counts for the last quarter and found 13, 14.5, & 17, respectively. Then it dawns on you. This whole time, you were so busy helping the youngster, you never noticed that they also developed the one sales skill that even the greatest trainers in the world wish they could teach, but simply can’t. No one can teach someone to carry themselves with the confidence that comes with knowing that they are a top performer, and that it’s not because they’re lucky. It’s because they are changing the course of their career. That, on top of everything else, makes it more than fair to expect this person’s “average” month to increase dramatically in the upcoming year. Given two choices, would you rather have this employee with “15 per month” stashed under their keyboard and hoping for the best? Or would you rather roll up your sleeves and develop them. Set a goal of 20, and let them know that they don’t have to stop when they get there. 25 & 30 car months are also perfectly acceptable. Then, break it down so it’s manageable. Start by making their goal to get in front of at least 60 customers each month, and count on the 33% to break 20 every month. Commit tohelping themget better at closing, managing their funnel, following up with unsold opportunities, and even throw in a small increase for starting to ask for repeat & referral business. Suddenly the “15 units per month” business card belongs in the trash, and the only question is if 20 will be enough to keep them interested, or if we should just make it 25 right away? Okay, let’s keep going. Now you have this confident sales consultant on your showfloor with a realistic, measurable goal that is based on recent history. While it does show almost double the average from last year, it’s farmore exciting than it is daunting, because you have the secret to success… A solid plan to get there. You’ve done your part Building a Dynasty: Part 1 Setting High Expectations BY MARK FISCH, ADG DISTRICT MANAGER