One of the reasons I've chosen to hang around the Auto University team is because they aren't content with collecting a paycheck in exchange for training. To a person, the team members want the dealers, managers and team members they work with to achieve successful and sustained results.

In many cases, the training results in record sales and huge increases in customer satisfaction and retention. Some of those dealers sustain their success, while others slowly begin to fall back into old behaviors. Some managers and team members are so convinced their past years of experience is good enough, that they refuse to invest time or energy into changing or improving their current processes, so they get no results at all.

So what's the difference in the dealers that succeed in effective change and those that don't?

• Decision Maker involvement - Dealers who get results and sustain results are those who's Decision Maker comes to training, gets the entire team to training and stays involved on a daily basis after the training is complete.
• Willingness to change - Successful dealers know they don't have all the answers. They listen and try new things. They try everything we recommend, because they?ve seen the results other dealers are having.
• Dedicated to managing - Managing means everything from planning to coaching processes. Successful dealers have managers who coach, encourage, and correct their team members. They hold them accountable and reward them for their positive results.
• Committed to success - No quitters here! Successful dealers stick with the new processes and see things through until they get results.

If you're a dealer who has left the management of your stores in the hands of others, be sure your managers are hands on and have the authority and drive to make change happen at your dealership. Re-evaluate your leadership and make changes at the top if necessary.

The odds for success of any new process is astronomical when decision makers are absent from the dealership or stay separated from their team members on a daily basis. "We tried that and it didn't work for us", is the mantra of the uninvolved.

Contact us for information on improving performance in every area of your dealership.