Requirements for Operating A Successful Dealership
As a moderator of NCM 20 Groups, I work with many dealerships that range from struggling to excelling in a variety of different areas of their business. This provides me with a lot of valuable insight as to what makes a dealership successful, and what holds them back.
In a 20 Group setting, we commonly break down each of the member’s strengths and weaknesses by looking at each dealer’s performance data, which is displayed side-by-side in the composite. When a member is a strong performer, the group will ask the member what specifically they did to reach that level of performance or create the noted change of improvement.
The member will always say one of the following statements:
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“I noticed the poor performance and I made a change in management.”
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“I noticed the poor performance and I worked on creating a better process.”
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“I noticed the poor performance and I decided to focus my attention on making it better.”
On the other hand, when a member has poor performance and they are asked why they are performing poorly, the member will say one of the following statements:
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“My management is the cause of the problem”
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“I have a poor process and need to improve it.”
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“I took my focus off the department because of other concerns in the dealership.”
After years of working with dealers on their operational and financial performance, there are three factors that always breed success.
Management, Process, and Focus.
Simply stated, if you have excellent management, well-defined processes, and consistent focus on all major aspects of your business, you will succeed. The reverse is also true. If you have poor management, processes that are not documented (or even non-existent), or lack the focus needed to stay on track, your business is headed in the direction of failure. So, as you start looking at your areas of needed improvement, I would challenge you to write down your management personnel, the documented processes you will need to have in place, and how you plan to keep your team focused on achieving this new goal. Once you have these three things accounted for, you have the opportunity to find success.
In this very competitive marketplace, only the strong will survive. Starting now, be determined to be a leader of your business and demand strong management, well-written processes, and constant focus on all key performance areas.
Are you seeing expenses rise in certain areas of your dealership? Have any tips on controlling expenses in specific departments? Let us know in the comments below!