One day, when I’ve finally decided to embarrass a manager in front of his or her peers (and probably guarantee that they won’t do business with us), I’m just going to come out directly and say it:

"What does that say about you?"

At least one manager in every presentation we make says the same thing in response to our proven success: "That’s all fine, but after you leave, the results won’t stick! They never do, so why should we spend the money?"

I should just come right out and say it every time:

"What does that say about you?"

I could be a little smoother in my reply and say something like, "Thanks for the compliment! What you’re saying is that our people are better managers than you are and we appreciate that very much!"

Oh, I know you’d have a good comeback. I’m sure you’ll tell me that you’re just too busy with other "management" things to spend time on the service drive with your people. That would be equivalent to a head coach saying that he can’t be on the field with the team during the game because he needs to spend time going over the game plans for next week.

What does that say about you and your priorities?

Time spent with your staff is your priority! Helping your team do a better job with your customers is your priority!

What about the results?

After you’ve increased your hours per RO and your bottom line, reduced the stress on the drive using our appointment system, increased parts sales, and heard your customers say “Thanks for taking the time,” do you just walk back to your office and forget about what was required to get those results? Isn’t being more efficient, making more money, and satisfying more customers what your job is all about?

So next time you say you’re not satisfied because the results of the training you’ve received (from us or anyone else) isn’t continuing like it was when the consultants were there, simply look in the mirror and ask:

"What does that say about me?"