My New Adventure - Al West Nissan

[BillVaughnAlWestNissan]

As some of you may know, I recently decided to pursue a new opportunity. I was fortunate to find one that allowed me to get into a partnership. This new opportunity has a lot of challenges to overcome and my new role will bring a lot of components of the business that I am not familiar with and inexperienced at. I thought it might be fun to document some of that with you guys and I am hoping that it will be interesting enough that you guys might want to take part and sharing your experiences to help me grow myself and the dealership. I would like this to be a running thread for everyone to engage with and share in this experience. Hope you're all interested. Here are some day one thoughts:

I told the team that I am not bringing and hair-brained schemes or marketing ideas. We're going to focus on the basics: customer service, employee satisfaction, process and procedure, and inventory & merchandising.

I removed split deals. At my previous dealership, we created a culture where everyone just took care of each other and prioritized the guest experience. When possible, anyone on the management team (including finance) can jump and help on the deal, but if none of those people are available. just help each other. The last thing we want to do is punish people for taking time off. Additionally, the customer doesn't want to be jumping back and forth between salespeople. Split deals cause confusion and there are always details one person doesn't get translated to the next. Split deals cause communication errors and after-the-sale confusion.

I allotted the salespeople a set amount of funds that they are able to use monthly to provide the best guest experience possible. They can use those funds for whatever they want from covering surprise after-the-sales issues or just order someone DoorDash if they get held up in finance.

No chasing customers on the lot. Give them room to breath. Let them do their shopping and land on a piece of inventory. Jumping on them immediately just causes them not to stop again if they do land on the right car for them.

Ditched "when can you be here." Make sure that we have the right vehicle for their wants and needs first. Then, meet them wherever they are at in the process. Let them do as much of the transaction online as they desire.

It also turns out that making sure that rows are straight was a new concept.

Oh, and I also cleaned all of the windows myself so that they could see that I valued customer facing areas.

I would be interested to hear your other "do this first" ideas.

 

[Carsten]

I'm not a dealer so I can only talk about what I'm looking for as a customer.

If you are not going to compete on price, then knock it out of the park on service and vehicles that have been go over as much as possible.

Covid has caused that fundamental shift in purchasing patterns so I really think that people are going to be more and more split between price / digital and old fashioned service.I choose the dealer over Firestone because I wanted service and peace of mind.

Communication ... keeps marriages going!

 

[joe.pistell]

I allotted the salespeople a set amount of funds that they are able to use monthly to provide the best guest experience possible. They can use those funds for whatever they want from covering surprise after-the-sales issues or just order someone DoorDash if they get held up in finance.

oooo... there's a new sheriff in town!

Congrats to "Wild Bill" Vaughn!

 

[Richie K]

Congrats @BillVaughnAlWestNissan!

I only add that whomever is assigning leads, make sure they are doing so in a timely manner and make sure sales understands answering them in a timely manner. Also, sales needs to make sure they are reading any comments the customer writes in the leads. A customer may prefer no calls, or texts only, and it could be a turn off to the customer if sales doesn't pay attention their wishes.

I say those things because those are issues we have here where I work. The frustrating part is that I have no control over it.

Good luck, and thanks for sharing your journey!

 

[Alex Snyder]

Very much looking forward to your "diary" here on DealerRefresh. I know you're going to make that Nissan store amazing!

 

[Jon Singo]

I allotted the salespeople a set amount of funds that they are able to use monthly to provide the best guest experience possible. They can use those funds for whatever they want from covering surprise after-the-sales issues or just order someone DoorDash if they get held up in finance.

Love this. I would file this under 'marketing budget'. If you can hit a home run via customer service by doing little things while making the customer feel special, retention and referrals will follow.

Staff can feel uneasy any time there's a new sheriff in town no matter how inviting they may seem. Going the extra mile (like washing the windows yourself) shows the ability to lead by example. I'd start leading by example by performing 'extra mile' customer service acts as a point. It would show you're serious about providing an excellent experience which hopefully becomes contagious.

This isn't common in the traditional dealer space but I also like the idea of anonymous internal employee surveys. Ask what they like about their job, what they liked about previous management, and if they have any ideas to make their workplace better. There's a good chance you'll uncover some pretty easy changes to make that could afford you a ton of goodwill with the staff.

 

[BillVaughnAlWestNissan]

Congrats @BillVaughnAlWestNissan!

I only add that whomever is assigning leads, make sure they are doing so in a timely manner and make sure sales understands answering them in a timely manner. Also, sales needs to make sure they are reading any comments the customer writes in the leads. A customer may prefer no calls, or texts only, and it could be a turn off to the customer if sales doesn't pay attention their wishes.

I say those things because those are issues we have here where I work. The frustrating part is that I have no control over it.

Good luck, and thanks for sharing your journey!

100% agree on all accounts!

 

[BillVaughnAlWestNissan]

I'd start leading by example by performing 'extra mile' customer service acts as a point. It would show you're serious about providing an excellent experience which hopefully becomes contagious.

Great idea!

This isn't common in the traditional dealer space but I also like the idea of anonymous internal employee surveys. Ask what they like about their job, what they liked about previous management, and if they have any ideas to make their workplace better. There's a good chance you'll uncover some pretty easy changes to make that could afford you a ton of goodwill with the staff.

I was going to do an ESI survey, but thought a more face to face chat would be best, but now that I think of it, both would be good as there may be some things they are afraid to say in the open. I have made it very clear that I have a very wide open door policy, but I know people are afraid to test that because of course most managers blow that. I've asked them to let me prove me wrong, but we'll see.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Congratulations @BillVaughnAlWestNissan.

Looking forward to following you through the journey.

 

[Richard_Lloyd]

Great start Bill, congrats and look forward to the ride! Fun idea on this thread too! Sometimes I get caught up in the "man if I had my own store, I'd do XYZ-- I don't get it". But I know I'd be humbled quite a bit. Not to wish obstacles on you but curious on what's going to pop up. Is Nissan world much different of the get go?