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Morning Meetings

Sep 4, 2014
2
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First Name
Ralph
Long time lurker, first time poster! So at our dealership we start every morning out with a 15-25 minute meeting, and as of recent they are getting really negative. As managers we just really gripe about what were doing wrong as a team and try to get everybody on the same page, we go over trades from the day before, and we also try to talk about current programs and incentives. I feel like we need more motivation in our meetings or something educational and motivating, but I can't come up with a routine for everyday meetings that gets us off on the right foot. Any suggestions, does anybody have a routine that works well at your dealership ?
 
Ralph,

I have worked in dealerships but do not currently. For the past 15 years I have lead successful sales teams for venders in our industry. My first receommendation is to elimate the manager gripes that start off every meeting. It is OK to discuss whats wrong but I would not start that way. Start each meeting by recognizing the successes from the day before. Praise the sales team members that had a good day. Have them tell a good story about how they closed a deal. If somembody did soemthing creative to get a shopper from the phone into the dealership and then a sale, have them share those stories. As sales people we all love money and bonus's but sales people also thrive on praise and recognition. Sales people love to hear their name and how they did something good, especially in front of their piers.

After the recognition session, now is the time to discuss issues. The managers should not make this a gripe session, but bring the probelm out and ask the team for recomendations on how to fix the problem. You can guide those conversations and now your team will own the fix.

I look forward to heairng back and learning if this helped change the tone of your morning meetings.
 
Thanks Lloyd. Starting off on a positive note is a great idea. We have a really good response with customers leaving good reviews on dealer rater. So maybe ill start with those every morning, or an inspirational video. Also asking the team for their opinion on whats wrong is a great way to get them to own up. What about product knowledge ? Do you do walkaround competitions or anything like that to get your team engaged in the product?
 
Whoa Ralph! 13 months in the lurker shadows and you come out with a GREAT first post!

Have you considered asking your Vendor Partners to help you? There are surely some topical things or opportunities for improvement with specific vendors that would be great team meeting material. Ask them to show up/call in and give you one to two things that your team could do to create a little more value with their tool or program. They'll appreciate the opportunity to invest time in your store and you'll probably be surprised at some of the things they see from the outside looking in that you don't see because you are in the trenches. Tell them you aren't looking for an upsell pitch and that will cut their time very short. You probably know who the good ones are for this already, just ask them, they'll be happy to help you.

Since you mentioned it, reading reviews in your team meetings is a GREAT idea. Read the good ones and give the person that earned it a very visible pat on the back and I think you'll be surprised how many new positive reviews start flowing in for your store. You can make it a feature of your meetings by awarding the winner of the "best review of the week" award. The award shouldn't be monetary, it doesn't need to be. make it a traveling desktop ornament, a prime parking space, no lot duty in the winter, something creative like that works really well. If you create the recognition that will probably be a big enough award to drive the behavior you are looking for without cash.

Don't do it every meeting, but read the negative ones too. Ask your team what they think happened. Ask them to put themselves in the customers shoes and ask if a reasonable person might feel the same way. Brainstorm with them and ask what could we have done differently to change the perception of the customer in this situation.