| Automotive Life Lessons |
when I was 15 years old at my mentor’s Service Station in Whittier California, Ron Sacco’s Union 76. |
Copyright© 2008-2011 Automotive Dealers Network. All rights reserved.
| Jim Bernardi has been recognized as "The Consumate Fixed Operations Expert by Automotive Executives Worldwide". He has over 34 years of experience in Fixed Operations Recruiting, Training, Management and Marketing. He has been a contribiting author in several Automotive Magazines for many years and is the Founder and Publisher of Automotive Dealers Network. Jim continues to travel the globe educating Dealers and Manufacturers the importance of sales in Fixed Operations Management for his Training Company: AutoPro Training Solutions. When he is not training a Dealer Group or a Dealership you will find him as a Guest Speaker at many Dealer 20 Group Meetings. He offers real world solutions to Dealers and Manufacturers in over 49 countries worldwide. He is always looking to better serve the Franchised Automotive World. He continues to offer a 3 day Comprehensive Fixed Operations Performance Review to Dealers at N/C and performs these reviews personally. He can be reached at 812-325-5651 |
Jim Bernardi
Publisher/CEO Automotive Dealers Network
President/CEO AutoPro Training Solutions
President/CEO Automotive Job Finder
email: jbernardi@automotivedealersnetwork.com
and visit
Publisher/CEO Automotive Dealers Network
President/CEO AutoPro Training Solutions
President/CEO Automotive Job Finder
email: jbernardi@automotivedealersnetwork.com
and visit
 |  |  |  |  |  |
I am nearing 50 years old and have to give my appreciation to Ron. He had a way of reaching this long
haired smart a#* who really thought he was the sharpest pencil in the box. Let me tell you this; Ron knew all
too well that I wasn’t even a close second to the leftover pencil shavings. What I do remember is ‘Life
Lessons’ on a daily basis…… He instilled in all of his employees the necessity of customers purchasing
from us that very day. He was adamant that we sell the goods while we had the customer in our presence,
still in our arena and not in our competitor’s. This guy just got it and wanted to keep it. He groomed me in the
same mold and I too get it and want to keep it.
haired smart a#* who really thought he was the sharpest pencil in the box. Let me tell you this; Ron knew all
too well that I wasn’t even a close second to the leftover pencil shavings. What I do remember is ‘Life
Lessons’ on a daily basis…… He instilled in all of his employees the necessity of customers purchasing
from us that very day. He was adamant that we sell the goods while we had the customer in our presence,
still in our arena and not in our competitor’s. This guy just got it and wanted to keep it. He groomed me in the
same mold and I too get it and want to keep it.
Let’s move on from my life lessons and look at your team and their ability to turn your dealership’s training
platform into an education in Life Lessons.
Training and Education: A training workshop does very little if your team member is not as vested as the
dealer or department manager is. The idea is to show that the day spent at the workshop would increase
future productivity and sales when the employee returned to work thus paying for the day of lost productivity
and sales from being gone.
So if you want to increase productivity as well as make up for the lost productivity while they are out a day of
their job to attend a workshop, here are a few simple suggestions to train your employees on the new ideas
they liked from the educational workshop.
platform into an education in Life Lessons.
Training and Education: A training workshop does very little if your team member is not as vested as the
dealer or department manager is. The idea is to show that the day spent at the workshop would increase
future productivity and sales when the employee returned to work thus paying for the day of lost productivity
and sales from being gone.
- This is perhaps one of the biggest challenges for those who work in this field - to validate my point;
One day spent outside of the business in a workshop is worth the lost productivity for the owners and
managers of these employees who are gone for the day and will continue to increase productivity in
the future. Well, let me assure you it can't be done. The problem is that most people at the corporate
and retail level don't understand the difference between training and education.
- This discussion started for me years ago, when I was researching offsite training for automotive
dealership service and parts personnel. The complaint was that the staff would return from a "training
program" all energized and excited by the new ideas and information, but that it would wear off in a
few days and the team members were back to their old habits. They would say, "What a waste of
time and money."
- Of course it wore off! They did not train them to do anything. They educated them on some new
ideas, reviewed ideas they had forgotten and in general got them out of their job environment for a
day. These team members were excited to learn of new ideas, to review these things they had
forgotten to use and couldn't wait to return to try them out because they knew it would make their life
easier by taking better care of customers and improving their sales.
- However, when these individuals returned to their prospective job duties nobody asked them about
the workshops or cared what they learned. The most standard comment is usually, "Glad you're back,
yesterday was super busy with one man/woman short; let's get to work!"
These individuals immediately got back into their old grind and routine and subsequently, their old
habits and their same old comfort zone. They also lost their excitement to use the new ideas as well
as utilize the resources given at the workshops. The worst part is that it creates an attitude of
indifference in the employees that training is a waste of time because that is what they should have
learned from their department managers.
So if you want to increase productivity as well as make up for the lost productivity while they are out a day of
their job to attend a workshop, here are a few simple suggestions to train your employees on the new ideas
they liked from the educational workshop.
TM
Are workshops good for my Dealership?
Review with your team members after they return from the workshop you invested in. The first thing your
department manager should do is spend 15-30 minutes to find out what was taught at the workshop. Learn
about the key items that the employee wants to work on from the workshop. After each workshop I suggest
asking each employee to give you at least one idea, or goal, that they will work on when they return to their
job. Many workshop leaders do the same thing so it will be easy to know how to best reinforce the
employee's goals, or favorite ideas, after the workshop. Chances are they will bring back printed material
and a relatively easy to review what and if they learned anything
In House Training Works the Best
I know all too well that you truly want a great return on your investment. So consider not sending your team
off site and into a training workshop that has 5 breaks a day and snacks all day long. Your team needs to
know what it takes at their prospective job location. I know of a company that sells a training program that is
in Las Vegas. That’s right…Vegas. In short, if you want your team members to return to their hotels each
night drunk out of their minds and not remember squat then that’s where you send them. I have spoken to
dozens of dealers that have shared with me the waste of time and resources in doing an out-of-house
program only for the employees to return with printed material and a glare in their eyes from saying they
were in Vegas. Don’t get me wrong, I am not referring to the Digital Dealer Seminars held in Vegas, I’m
speaking of sending employees to a workshop that has a 3 day course not far from the strip.
Where are your customers going to buy or service their vehicles? They need to learn their role right in the
department in which you are paying them now. That would be your service department or showroom. I’m
simply stating the facts: Train your team right in your dealership if you expect long lasting and impact driven
results.
Here is another lesson to think of. Several times a week review the progress of how well the employee is
doing in trying to hit the goals. A good standard for setting goals is the S-M-A-R-T formula: I did not create
this; it’s just a well written formula I like to use.
Praise Progress and Improvement
This is where the real training takes place. Training is the repeating of a specific behavior with feedback
until it becomes a new behavior pattern. This can take a few weeks or longer, but it requires someone to
observe the employee using the new behavior and being given immediate feedback on results. It is no
different than a sports coach out watching the team practice and yelling out praises or corrections as plays
are being practiced until the plays are run as designed.
As the manager watches the employee in action learning the new behavior, the manager must give the
employee immediate feedback on results, praise when the behavior is done properly, correction if the
behavior is off track, always focusing on improvements.
Time is Required
Most managers will complain they don't have the time to properly coach an employee to improve behavior.
Yet somehow a manager always has time to criticize the employee's behavior when it is not as desired. A
manager will only get out of the employee what is put into helping that employee improve performance. It
takes time by the manager focusing on the employee's improvements to get those results.
Improving employee performance is easily tracked, especially when the lessons are learned in-house, this
is not by chance. The investment in an employee returning from a workshop requires the manager to take
the time to create a clear plan of action and a supportive environment for the improvements to be
integrated in the employee's work habits. The return on investment is measurable, attainable, and realistic
and a great life lesson if properly executed to each team members capabilities.
Until my next article: Happy New Year and as usual, I will look forward to reading your comments and
concerns about your dealership in the weeks to follow.
Review with your team members after they return from the workshop you invested in. The first thing your
department manager should do is spend 15-30 minutes to find out what was taught at the workshop. Learn
about the key items that the employee wants to work on from the workshop. After each workshop I suggest
asking each employee to give you at least one idea, or goal, that they will work on when they return to their
job. Many workshop leaders do the same thing so it will be easy to know how to best reinforce the
employee's goals, or favorite ideas, after the workshop. Chances are they will bring back printed material
and a relatively easy to review what and if they learned anything
In House Training Works the Best
I know all too well that you truly want a great return on your investment. So consider not sending your team
off site and into a training workshop that has 5 breaks a day and snacks all day long. Your team needs to
know what it takes at their prospective job location. I know of a company that sells a training program that is
in Las Vegas. That’s right…Vegas. In short, if you want your team members to return to their hotels each
night drunk out of their minds and not remember squat then that’s where you send them. I have spoken to
dozens of dealers that have shared with me the waste of time and resources in doing an out-of-house
program only for the employees to return with printed material and a glare in their eyes from saying they
were in Vegas. Don’t get me wrong, I am not referring to the Digital Dealer Seminars held in Vegas, I’m
speaking of sending employees to a workshop that has a 3 day course not far from the strip.
Where are your customers going to buy or service their vehicles? They need to learn their role right in the
department in which you are paying them now. That would be your service department or showroom. I’m
simply stating the facts: Train your team right in your dealership if you expect long lasting and impact driven
results.
Here is another lesson to think of. Several times a week review the progress of how well the employee is
doing in trying to hit the goals. A good standard for setting goals is the S-M-A-R-T formula: I did not create
this; it’s just a well written formula I like to use.
- S - pecific
M - easureable
A - ttainable
R - ealistic
T – rackable
Praise Progress and Improvement
This is where the real training takes place. Training is the repeating of a specific behavior with feedback
until it becomes a new behavior pattern. This can take a few weeks or longer, but it requires someone to
observe the employee using the new behavior and being given immediate feedback on results. It is no
different than a sports coach out watching the team practice and yelling out praises or corrections as plays
are being practiced until the plays are run as designed.
As the manager watches the employee in action learning the new behavior, the manager must give the
employee immediate feedback on results, praise when the behavior is done properly, correction if the
behavior is off track, always focusing on improvements.
Time is Required
Most managers will complain they don't have the time to properly coach an employee to improve behavior.
Yet somehow a manager always has time to criticize the employee's behavior when it is not as desired. A
manager will only get out of the employee what is put into helping that employee improve performance. It
takes time by the manager focusing on the employee's improvements to get those results.
- As a whole; we humans learn in steps.
- None of us are good enough to take a new behavior and execute it immediately.
Improving employee performance is easily tracked, especially when the lessons are learned in-house, this
is not by chance. The investment in an employee returning from a workshop requires the manager to take
the time to create a clear plan of action and a supportive environment for the improvements to be
integrated in the employee's work habits. The return on investment is measurable, attainable, and realistic
and a great life lesson if properly executed to each team members capabilities.
Until my next article: Happy New Year and as usual, I will look forward to reading your comments and
concerns about your dealership in the weeks to follow.
SM
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