Digital Dealer - January 2020 - 17

Process & Performance

DEALER OPS & LEADERSHIP
By
Ryan Kerrigan
Managing Director,
Kerrigan Advisors

Preparing for the Industry Ahead
Leadership training for the next generation of auto retail leaders

There is general consensus that the
auto retail industry is in for material
change in the years ahead. Many
auto retailers may not be adequately
preparing their leadership pipeline
for those changes on the horizon. For the
organizations and families who seek to
continue operating in auto retail, it's time
to start evaluating your leadership training
and the skills your leaders will require to
succeed.
Historically, auto retail's critical mass has
enabled the industry's extensive training
programs and networking groups which are
unique to our industry. In fact, I suspect few
industries can match auto retail's training
and peer sharing. By way of example, for
decades NADA has operated large educational programs aimed at all levels of the
dealership organization, commonly known
as NADA Academy.
On the peer sharing side, 20 groups
actively compare metrics and share best
practices amongst dealers - a construct
rarely seen in other industries, and yet
a staple in automotive retail. Many auto
retailers are also proud of the fact that their
leaders and prospective leaders started
"sweeping the shop floor" and have worked

January 2020

every role inside their dealership as they
rose through the ranks - understanding the
business from the bottom up. And, some
auto retail families insist that the next generation work for other auto retailers before
coming back to the family business to gain
the skills necessary to some day run their
dealer group.
These training approaches share one
thing in common: they are all intra-industry, and they focus on deep learning about
the current business model, rather than
focusing on the future business model. This
training is no doubt valuable for playing
functional roles within the company, e.g.
service managers and parts managers.
However, in an era of consolidation, tighter
margins, technology disruption and higher
financial stakes, these historical training
grounds will not prepare most of tomorrow's auto retail leaders.

Critical New Skills Supported by a
Strong Foundation of Old Skills
There is no doubt that auto retail leaders
will still have to excel in the core ways that
have always been important to our trade,
particularly the soft skills. Our leaders are
generally exceptional at motivating are

well trained in sales processes and instill
competitive, metrics-oriented cultures.
As the consumer-facing component of the
automotive industry remains, those core
competencies will continue to be critical to
success.
However, our evolving industry will also
add new leadership and management skills
that will be key to future success. Of those
new skills, I believe the following three will
prove to be the most important.
Instilling organizational culture
Technology road-mapping
Developing financial acumen
Tomorrow's leaders will have to combine
the industry know-how of their predecessors with critical skills in business strategy
and financial analysis. Many of these skills
will be obtained from outside the industry through a four-year college degree,
post-graduate programs such as an MBA,
and/or professional management experiences perhaps with a Fortune 500 corporation or a rising start-up.

Instilling Organizational Culture
Auto retail organizations are getting bigger. Slow, steady consolidation is creating
increasingly larger organizations, even at

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Digital Dealer - January 2020

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