Comments on: Where Have All the Ups Gone?

By: Matt Scott

Matt Scott — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:26:02 +0000

That is a very good article. (I loved the “about the author”)

We are slowly changing management styles from this type of leader.

The authoritative leader: seldom lets others make decisions, feels he/she is the most qualified and experienced, considers his/her views to be most valid, lacks confidence in others abilities, critical of differing opinions, rarely gives recognition, is easily offended, uses others for his/her benefit, action oriented, highly comtetitive

The biggest weakness of this style is the failure to recognize the skills and abilities within other people. They are often denied opportunities to use or exhibit their skills in decision-making venues.

Yet, the greatest strength of this style is to produce action when it is needed.

To this style of Leadership:

The participative leader: team member ideas or equal with the leader, everyone’s input is considered, leader is team facilitator, leader is coach/player, frequently accepts teams ideas over own, focus is on stimulating creativity, creates culture of innovation.

We all work under some sort of the first style of leadership. But we can run our departments the second way and show everyone the strenght of this system.

By: Rob Fontano

Rob Fontano — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:26:07 +0000

Great observation! The opening to the funnel is no longer at the front door, it’s in the buyers home or office.

We recently took the plunge from dedicated 4 salesperson, 3 coordinator Internet Dept. to a 6 coordinator response and follow up system.

This has spread the “Internet Department” Culture to the desk managers that up until then didn’t understand a lot about our web presence.

The desk managers are now the point of contact through confirming appointments and greeting the appointments at the door with the ability to have an intelligent conversation about what the customer wants and needs. It hasn’t been easy, but we are making progress every day.

I love having total control over the incoming phone calls and the ability to t.o. a call before it hits the wall.

By: vancouver auto trader

vancouver auto trader — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:08:32 +0000

good article, the tools are definitley there but it can be difficult to get the online managers use the tools efficiently. if you have an internet department, you need internet savy team that are excite about new tools, and not overwhelmed with every new tool that is introduced to them.

By: Kevin Frye

Kevin Frye — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:39:48 +0000

Good info Stan. We are looking to shift our staffing towards the evenings for phone calls and live chats, and the morning folks for handling the email leads when they come in. We have lots of folks that want to talk/email/chat in the evenings (8-11 pm) after they have finished work, had dinner, put the kids to bed, etc…

By: Stan Sher

Stan Sher — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:55:12 +0000

Kevin,

Reading your post made me think. I agree with you. There is no reason to staff your store heavy on saturday unless you consistently have huge traffic in the store. In my internet department, I keep two coordinators (plus me) on saturday and 2 on sunday. My heaviest days are monday and friday. We make the most appointments and get the most calls coming in. We have to constantly look at trends and what is going on in our business. We have to change with the trend.

By: Stan Sher

Stan Sher — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:52:13 +0000

John,

Great article which discusses common sense. This is still something people are not realizing. I believe that maybe in 10 years everyone will be on the same page. I have to say that the “about the author” part is incredibly creative and very funny. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Stan

By: Craig Belowski

Craig Belowski — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:28:39 +0000

John,
Definitely my vote for best “about the author” Just sent this to our internet team, very good article.

By: Kevin Frye

Kevin Frye — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:33:27 +0000

Well said… the pattern shift I am seeing is that folks are now shopping online during work hours (on their boss’ dime… sorry) and after communicating via email or phone with the dealers they have narrowed their choices down to, they then make an appointment that fits their busy schedule (typically in the evening). Meanwhile, we make all of our phone calls before 5 pm (when our prospects give us their home phone numbers because they don’t want to get called at work and get in trouble with the boss, so we rarely reach them) and we staff our dealerships heaviest on Saturday during the day. Are we changing our schedules and approaches to accommodate our customers? (and I loved the about the author as well, lol)

By: Jerry Thibeau

Jerry Thibeau — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:05:41 +0000

Very funny and hit the nail on the head. Great article John!

By: Alex Snyder

Alex Snyder — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:59:38 +0000

Best “about the author” I’ve ever seen on DealerRefresh – ha ha!

Great article John. This will definitely make the rounds with our managers.