Digital Dealer - January 2019 - 41

means you cannot be confusing. If we are going to
follow you into the future,
we need to know precisely
what the marching orders
are. It is a scary thing to
please all people, all of the
time. Therefore, to calm
our fear, we need you to
narrow our focus. Tell us
what you expect from us
and how you will be judging our progress. When
you do this with clarity, you
give us confidence in our
judgment, in our decisions,
and ultimately in our ability
to know where to look to
determine if we have fulfilled our mission. You first
have to be an accountable leader, then demand
accountability from each
person involved in the
newly improved culture in
your store.
As a leader, you must be
clear about why you and
the team are going to win.
Your job is to make people
more confident about the
future you are introducing
them to. You need to tell
them why and how they
are going to win. There
are many competitors out
there. Why will we beat
them? We will add differential in the way prospects
view and experience our
store, including through
solid new practices such
as:
 Your website presence. Does yours look like
every competitor's or is
your message engaging
the viewer? Do you aim to
just sell them cars or do
you establish a trust-based
relationship?
 How you handle

incoming phone inquiries.
Do you use new phone
techniques or old school
("sure we got it, come on
down ask for me")?
 How you follow-up
with un-sold prospects.
New school or old school
("Have you made a decision
yet?")?
 How you greet and
treat guests. New school or
old school ("Welcome to xyz
motors my name is Harry
and you are...?")?
 The content in your
text/emails responds to
internet inquiries. New

and utilizing new school
relationship development
techniques?
 Do you truly radiate
a sense of caring about
the prospects needs or
simply satisfying your own
needs?
 Do your managers attempt to develop a rapport
with a customer before he/
she gets the TO?
 Does your store look
organized and professional at work areas and the
showroom or sloppy and
unorganized?
The aforementioned

YOU FIRST HAVE TO
BE AN ACCOUNTABLE
LEADER THEN DEMAND
ACCOUNTABILITY FROM
EACH PERSON INVOLVED
IN THE NEWLY IMPROVED
CULTURE IN YOUR
STORE."
school or old school (same
old pre-fabricated reply
format)?
 Does your team
consistently display that
they work well together as
a team?
 Your appearance and
your professionalism (say
goodbye to plaid and sunglasses).
 Do you embrace the
significance of your owner
base customers? Are
enhanced phone skills used
when contacting them?
 Are your processes
seamless and customer oriented or do they drag your
guest through torturous
experiences?
 Is your language clear

are just a few of the
things consumers are now
looking for before they
ever trust you to sell them
anything. Many more differential elements go into
your store enveloping a
true relationship approach.
There are many obstacles
in your path. Why will you
overcome them? The
more clearly you can answer these questions, the
more confident your team
will be, and therefore more
resilient, more persistent,
and productive.
For a leader, it is important to disrupt routines.
Action changes behavior.
It makes people realize
that the world is going to
D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

be better because they are
doing things differently.
The future becomes clearer, and out of that clarity
comes confidence. Effective leaders do not have to
be passionate or charming.
What they must be is clear.
Clarity is the essence of
great leadership. Show
your team members where
their core strength lies,
show them which score
they should focus on and
which actions they must
take, and they will reward
you by working their hearts
out to make everyone's
future be brighter. Passion
drives success. You must
choose it or lose it.
As a leader, you must
practice over and over
what to say to describe
where you are taking your
people. After you have
found the right words, stick
with them in emails, in
sales/service and management meetings and in
general conversations with
the team.
All these small elements
of improvements, when
unified as one unit, will
take your store and its
people to the next level of
growth and success. Be
the leader you are and see
the difference it makes in
you and everyone around
you.
If you have any questions, comments or need
a little clarity, please email
me (Chuck@impactgroup
crm.com).
CHUCK BARKER is
president and founder of
Impact Marketing & Consulting Group in Virginia. EMAIL:
Chuck@impactgroupcrm.com

JANUARY 2019

41
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Digital Dealer - January 2019

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