Digital Dealer - February 2018 - 15

for the store and implementing how the team is
going to hit the business
altitude the dealership
desires to reach is a
role played out by the
Leader. In today's market,
a leader's followers no
longer want to accept the
old-fashioned methodologies, full of authoritative
or bureaucratic ideas or
leaders who impose here
today... gone tomorrow
techniques. Your 'position'
does not create followers. Followers decide
to follow you. Today's
followers want leaders
with well-rooted human
values, character, integrity
and who will respect and
acknowledge the talents
and contributions given
by others. People want
leaders who can identify
and create an atmosphere of team work and
creativity as they seek to
match the best production
levels for themselves and
the dealership. Failure is
contagious but success
is infectious. Say: "I'm
proud of you." "You're a
bunch of winners." Reinforce success. You must
reward success. Expect
some failures. Remember
you're dealing with human
beings. Give the people
the latitude to learn and
watch them soar to new
heights. Your "pre-destination" check list has to
contain certain leadership
initiatives in order to gain
proper altitude for sustained flight into the new
levels of achievement.

Make certain you give
them clarity as to what
the mission is. Remember, when the shepherd
sleeps, the sheep wander.
Stay on your game, be
alert to what is going on
and be the catalyst to
inspire greatness in every
person on your team.
Again, the Directional
Leader's primary role is
to lay down a long-term
performance improvement strategy and then
with clarity, implement it
throughout the dealership.

ENGAGED
EMPLOYEES:

Most organizations

ee, and an employee who
is more likely to withstand
temptations to jump ship.
Many of us have long
suspected this connection
between an employee's
level of engagement and
the level and quality of his
or her performance. This
research laid the matter to
rest. Engaged employees
reject intimidation and
manipulation, and want
to be recognized as an
important integral part in
these changing high-flying
times. We must get them
involved and make them
a part of the design and
planning for the growth

...A MORE ENGAGED
EMPLOYEE IS ALSO
A MORE PROFITABLE
EMPLOYEE, A MORE
CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
EMPLOYEE, A MORE
MOTIVATED AND SAFER
EMPLOYEE..."
are still struggling with
this challenge --74% of
U.S. employees are not
engaged at work, as measured by various surveys
of employee engagement.
These surveys also have
clearly proven that a more
engaged employee is
also a more productive
employee. The research
proved that a more engaged employee is also a
more profitable employee,
a more customer-focused
employee, a more motivated and safer employ-

of the dealership. This
way they have a sense
of ownership of the plan
instead of just being told
what to do. We want our
employees coming to
work with their hearts and
not just their hands. When
they love coming to work
it no longer is work, it
becomes their passion for
success.
TOTAL "CUSTOMERFOCUSED" BUSINESS
STRATEGIES:

Every customer touch
point has to have the

customer's best interest
in mind. Starting with
developing customer-focused business strategies-also known as
the step we most want
to avoid, because it's all
about planning. Who has
the time and patience for
planning? Any store that
wants to be successful,
that's who.
The object of planning
customer-focused business strategies is to find
win-win opportunities with
customers. Do more that
benefits them so they'll
do more that benefits
us-like buy more from
us and stay with us. The
"customer relationship
development" planning
approach is relatively
simple. Put yourself in
your customers' shoes.
See through their eyes.
Discover what they want
and how they wish to be
treated. Even anticipate
what they don't want
yet, but will. And when
you've done that, you'll be
ready to identify the best
mutual opportunities for
your customers and your
dealership. Then, you can
prioritize these opportunities, pick the best and put
them into play. Obviously,
there's a little more to it
than that, but that's the
gist of it.
You always have to
be looking for improvements in the way you
do business vs. the way
your competition does
business. Your store

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

Continued on pg. 16
FEBRUARY 2018

15
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - February 2018
