When I first started selling automotive service I was always puzzled by why some customers bought and others did not. At first I thought it was that they did not need what I was selling, but the more I became a student of my position I realized that everyone who I came in contact with needed what I was selling; their car fixed. They did not get up in the morning and say “I have nothing better to do today so I’m going to take my car to the repair shop!” So when I came to realize that I was doing something to create the “no sale” customer, I started to analyze each and every sale, both yes and no. I spent a great deal of time learning about sales and the psychology of selling. Very soon it became clear to me where the issue was... it was ME! This was a harsh reality and it was darn hard to accept, but true.
I had lost slam dunk sales... they never said no till today. I made sales that I would have never have thought possible. Why? Because of my level of confidence, in myself, my product and my business.
To sell, and sell at a high level you must believe in yourself. Your confidence in the presentation of your services has a greater effect on your success rate than anything else you do! Your sales skill depends on your level of confidence. This type of confidence cannot be faked, you either believe or not, there is no in between!
So how do you gain this level of confidence and even more importantly, how do you keep this confidence? First realize that most of us did not set out to be service advisors, it was a twist of fate that put us in that position. Some of us became a Service Advisor because we were brilliant or stupid and accepted the challenge and some by default because no one else would do the job. But for whatever reason we started doing a job we had not been trained to do. Learning on the job can be a brutal teacher. Really how many times do you have to be told NO, our you’re too expensive, or you’re a crook, before you start believing it? So, most of us bring self doubt to the job, created by our upbringing or other influences we’ve had.
Now, let’s get started on building and keeping our confidence!
First and foremost, everyone lacks self confidence at some time and we need to be constantly working on improving and maintaining it. I use my morning ritual to maintain my confidence. Each day, wherever I am I start the morning out by having a good talk with myself, and yes, I said I talk to myself. I have a mini seminar, out loud, to bring the entire positive to the front of my mind. I don’t dwell on any negative(s), only the positive(s). I remind myself that I’m a great person, I’m exceptional at my job, I have an amazing family and Ii work with the best people in the world….and yes, .that’s you! So let’s start with 10 steps to build and maintain your self confidence
Believe in yourself unconditionally - you can do anything you really want to do. The key is to really want to succeed. Strive to be the very best at what you do, every day and you will reach levels you never thought possible.
Believe in what you are selling - What do you really sell? Brake pads? Alternators? Oil services? Timing belts? NO you do not sell parts or customer service or labor. In fact I believe the biggest issue we have today is that to many of you still think you are selling automotive repair, those days are long gone! Our product these days is psychological; we sell peace of mind, reliable transportation, dependability, safety and yes confidence in their transportation. If you’re just fixing the broken parts, you’re not fixing the customers real needs.
Expect to make the sale! – Ever write an estimate, look at the total and say... WOW that’s a lot of money! In reality you just helped the customer say NO to you. This type of thought process actually means you’re expecting the “NO” and the objection that generally follows. Any time you ask for the sale or even the appointment you must, with every part of your being, be expecting a YES. This one process will close more sales and appointments than anything else. I answer the phone expecting the appointment, every time. I call a customer expecting the sales, the whole sale, every time, no exceptions. The only question I should ever have when calling a customers is, how soon I can get it done. No, Ii don’t get a 100% close rate, but I will always do better than someone who calls the customer hoping for some of the sale.
See yourself closing the sale - you have to visualize success. Pro athletes play the game in their mind and see themselves winning. Why? Because if you see success you will achieve it more often. This is a must do if you want to achieve a higher level of success.
An attitude of servitude - become other peoples focus. Be helpful – put others needs before yours. Do things for the right reasons, and NEVER put money, the dollars you will be paid for the services provided, before the customer’s needs and satisfaction. A satisfied customer will spend more money easier than a first time customer who just got their car fixed. Service is the key; show consideration and patience and be empathetic. Remember that empathy can make you money while sympathy will cost you money. Be kind and courtesy to everyone, even the people that make your life difficult (I know that all of you just had a certain customer pop into you head) for it is those people who sometimes become our best customers!
Start liking yourself - the more you believe and like yourself the better confidence level you will have. Most of us have some form of “baggage” in our personal backpacks, things we have carried deep in our minds from long ago. This baggage is what is holding you back, get rid of it. This psychological weight is preventing you from reaching success. Figure out what is making you think less of yourself and get rid of it. Maybe it was a teacher, parent, sibling or a friend saying you’ll never be good at anything, calling you dumb or just saying negative things to you for a long period of time. These people obviously never saw your potential, so why give them the right to get inside your head and hold you back? Cast them off and become your best friend! Listen to only the positive people in your life, and know that you should be one of the strongest positive people in your life. Get up every morning, look into the mirror and talk positively to yourself, never allow negativity into this process, not from yourself or anyone around you!
Desire to create good things for others – whether you believe it or not, you have a huge influence on others attitudes and moods around you whether they be family, friends, employees, vendors. Think about the number of people you come in contact with each and every day and set out each day to enrich their livers and you will receive a bigger return in your life. Set out each day to improve yourself, for me, it’s that I strive to learn something new each and every day.
Look at each Issue (problem) as an opportunity – Each issue is a challenge, make every challenge an opportunity to improve your life. Take each “NO” and analyze it to make you a better service advisor. Ask yourself, what could I have done differently, what questions should I have ask, and could I have changed my response to the objection and ended up with a better outcome? In other words, review the film; look at each sale as an opportunity to do things differently. Learn from every sale, what worked, what didn’t? To be the best you have to be willing to change and improve yourself.
Have a plan - work the plan - Systems and process in the shop are what makes sales happen. Every one doing the sales process and following the same procedures will allow you to have confidence in what you are selling. Make sure you fully understand the technician’s request. Ask questions. You do not need to know how to repair cars to be a great service advisor; however you need to have an understanding of what you are selling and why. This information needs to be supplied by the technician. The systems and process will help you build a level of confidence in the information given to you. Have a plan – and stick to it!
Always be passionate about what you do! – be excited about the job, the interactions and remember that you are helping people achieve success. The energy that your passion fuels is contagious. Energy and passion can overcome a flawed plan, but a perfect plan with no passion will fail faster. Having passion is the fuel for a positive and successful life, in what ever you do!
Confidence comes from within... I cannot give it to you. Believe in yourself and others will believe in you! During this last year I have had many people write me and comment on a seminar that they attended. The most common comment is that the seminar renewed a confidence and passion in them that had been slowly disappearing. Please spend some time talking to yourself and rekindle the confidence and passion in yourself.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Succession Planning
This month we are going to task about something that makes most of us very uncomfortable… What happens to our business when something bad happens? Anytime we bring this subject up most people tune us out, because we have never given any thought to the idea that we may not going to be in business tomorrow. Part of what makes us Automotive Business owners is the personality type that we are invincible. Succession planning is something we all need to have discussed, and have a plan in place; otherwise we can burden the business and our family with debt, uncertainty and fear.
What is succession planning? The dictionary defines succession as; “the act or process of following in order or sequence.” In most cases small business owners are so concerned and involved with running the business they never get to plan for the future. In our opinion succession planning needs to be a high priority, because without a succession plan the future of the business is not defined. What areas does the succession plan help us in?
• Preparing for loss of leadership.
• Responsible planning for the future.
• Leadership development of the younger generation.
• Smooth transition of control
In most cases we have not planned the future of our business; In fact we don’t give a thought to our exit plan. We work very hard for 20 or 30 years and then in the last year or two of our careers we decide what to do with the business. We have never spoken to our family (spouse, children) about what happens to the business when we retire or if we have illness or death. We need to have a succession plan for these reasons;
• Planning the future direction of the business.
• Provide a training plan for future leaders.
• Ensure business continuity.
• Reduce tax liability.
• Provide peace of mine for your family and employees.
• Security for your family.
The facts are… we as an industry are aging and have not realized it. Consider this; the average shop owner is 53 years old, and has been in business an average of 28 years. We have spent no time planning for the future and some cases we are in poor health. Long days, short nights, high stress levels and poor eating habits have made us the poster children for heart disease and strokes. And because we live and breathe only our business, we have spent zero time planning for the future; in fact we don’t plan next week much less twenty years into the future. Our biggest potential failure is that we keep all of the business information in our head, and when this happens, if we can’t function, the business can’t function.
Some interesting facts about family small businesses…
Only 30% of family businesses survive to the second generation, and of this 30%, only half make it to the third generation.
A lot of small business owners think the sale of their business will finance their business retirement, but in most cases the business has not been staffed or structured correctly to allow for a profitable sale. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are the main point of contact to the customer and you go to sell your business, it could bring half of what it is worth. If you have a team in place and they are the main point of contact your business is more valuable. Part of a good succession plan is an exit strategy for you that is planned and not based on a major negative event.
How do I start this succession plan? As we have talked about in other seminars and articles you need a Team of professional to provide guidance in many areas. We feel we need to have a relationship with these professionals.
Accountant
Attorney (a business attorney and a succession planning attorney)
Financial Advisor
Insurance expert
Business Coach / Consultant
Now, when I talk about a relationship with these professionals, I mean we want them to be familiar with you and your business. It’s never a good idea to wait until you need one of these professionals to hire them. Interview for these positions until you find someone you’re comfortable with, and then check their references until you find the right fit for you. Once you have your professionals located, put them on retainer, or build a working relationship, so that they can jump into action as/if needed.
After you have your professionals in place, the next step is to review and assess your current employees. Identify the strengths and weakness of each employee, and understand that not every weakness means they shouldn’t be there! . Ultimately, the end result is that you are looking do develop the Team so that we feel comfortable leaving our business. If you do not have the crew now, this needs to become a priority! Once the Team is in place we need to develop processes and procedures for the day-to-day shop operations.
We need to have enough processes and procedures that will allow the Team to run the business profitably, and without you! We have seen many shops struggle to survive because the shop could not function with the owner sick or worse, out of the picture all together. Your also business needs an operational manual, a step by step manual of how to perform each job in the business. Now do we need to spell out what direction the toilet paper should roll out in this manual, well maybe, that depends on the quality of the employees you have!
Having regular meetings with your staff is an important step to having a Team that has the knowledge to make sure the business survives. These meeting should include such things as an overview of what is currently happening within the business, where the facility is on the company goals, etc. Some of these meeting should also be used to develop an emergency operation plan as well as “what if” contingencies.
Next we need to developed leadership in our employees. You want a group of decision makers as employees, not followers, and then you need to empower them to make decisions. What is empowering your employees? Simply allowing your employees to make decisions based on their experience, AND the policies & procedures for your facility. Empowering your employees also means that you aren’t micro-managing them, which in theory means you have more time for working in instead of on your business.
We also need to cross train all of the employees to be able to cover all positions in the company, even if only basically and temporarily. Remember that cross training should make your life easier in the long run as it allows you to fill a temporary position from within.
What else should you do? Get all you legal issues handled. These should include but are certainly not limited to, a properly set up, living will or trust that is set up and funded correctly. Then there is the insurance required, be sure you and the agent of your choice have your insurance coverage set up correctly, and you have all the coverage you need! Failure to have the right insurance will cost you more in the long run in most cases than you’ll save going with the least expensive insurance.
You also need to have a date for you to exit the business. Don’t get mad, you don’t have to leave, just have a plan in place so your business is ready for you to leave. There are four basic ideas for an exit plan;
• Retain ownership and manage control
• Retain ownership, but not manage control
• Sell it and hope for the best. Most repair shops are sold and the seller carries at least part of the loan. In many cases they end up with the shop back in 3 to 5 years.
• Close the shop
By being prepared, empowering your employees, making sure your business is covered, and plan on selling will protect not only your investment, but also help protect your family and the businesses extended family!
Succession Planning is available as a recorded Webinar on our web site www.esiseminars.com. We have 17 1 hour long Webinars that cover all aspects of repair shop management available. Many of the Webinars come with other resources such as spreadsheets and sample documents to help you improve your business and profitability of your shop. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your succession plan with us please send an e mail to Maylan@esiseminars.com and we’ll schedule a phone conference.
What is succession planning? The dictionary defines succession as; “the act or process of following in order or sequence.” In most cases small business owners are so concerned and involved with running the business they never get to plan for the future. In our opinion succession planning needs to be a high priority, because without a succession plan the future of the business is not defined. What areas does the succession plan help us in?
• Preparing for loss of leadership.
• Responsible planning for the future.
• Leadership development of the younger generation.
• Smooth transition of control
In most cases we have not planned the future of our business; In fact we don’t give a thought to our exit plan. We work very hard for 20 or 30 years and then in the last year or two of our careers we decide what to do with the business. We have never spoken to our family (spouse, children) about what happens to the business when we retire or if we have illness or death. We need to have a succession plan for these reasons;
• Planning the future direction of the business.
• Provide a training plan for future leaders.
• Ensure business continuity.
• Reduce tax liability.
• Provide peace of mine for your family and employees.
• Security for your family.
The facts are… we as an industry are aging and have not realized it. Consider this; the average shop owner is 53 years old, and has been in business an average of 28 years. We have spent no time planning for the future and some cases we are in poor health. Long days, short nights, high stress levels and poor eating habits have made us the poster children for heart disease and strokes. And because we live and breathe only our business, we have spent zero time planning for the future; in fact we don’t plan next week much less twenty years into the future. Our biggest potential failure is that we keep all of the business information in our head, and when this happens, if we can’t function, the business can’t function.
Some interesting facts about family small businesses…
Only 30% of family businesses survive to the second generation, and of this 30%, only half make it to the third generation.
A lot of small business owners think the sale of their business will finance their business retirement, but in most cases the business has not been staffed or structured correctly to allow for a profitable sale. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are the main point of contact to the customer and you go to sell your business, it could bring half of what it is worth. If you have a team in place and they are the main point of contact your business is more valuable. Part of a good succession plan is an exit strategy for you that is planned and not based on a major negative event.
How do I start this succession plan? As we have talked about in other seminars and articles you need a Team of professional to provide guidance in many areas. We feel we need to have a relationship with these professionals.
Accountant
Attorney (a business attorney and a succession planning attorney)
Financial Advisor
Insurance expert
Business Coach / Consultant
Now, when I talk about a relationship with these professionals, I mean we want them to be familiar with you and your business. It’s never a good idea to wait until you need one of these professionals to hire them. Interview for these positions until you find someone you’re comfortable with, and then check their references until you find the right fit for you. Once you have your professionals located, put them on retainer, or build a working relationship, so that they can jump into action as/if needed.
After you have your professionals in place, the next step is to review and assess your current employees. Identify the strengths and weakness of each employee, and understand that not every weakness means they shouldn’t be there! . Ultimately, the end result is that you are looking do develop the Team so that we feel comfortable leaving our business. If you do not have the crew now, this needs to become a priority! Once the Team is in place we need to develop processes and procedures for the day-to-day shop operations.
We need to have enough processes and procedures that will allow the Team to run the business profitably, and without you! We have seen many shops struggle to survive because the shop could not function with the owner sick or worse, out of the picture all together. Your also business needs an operational manual, a step by step manual of how to perform each job in the business. Now do we need to spell out what direction the toilet paper should roll out in this manual, well maybe, that depends on the quality of the employees you have!
Having regular meetings with your staff is an important step to having a Team that has the knowledge to make sure the business survives. These meeting should include such things as an overview of what is currently happening within the business, where the facility is on the company goals, etc. Some of these meeting should also be used to develop an emergency operation plan as well as “what if” contingencies.
Next we need to developed leadership in our employees. You want a group of decision makers as employees, not followers, and then you need to empower them to make decisions. What is empowering your employees? Simply allowing your employees to make decisions based on their experience, AND the policies & procedures for your facility. Empowering your employees also means that you aren’t micro-managing them, which in theory means you have more time for working in instead of on your business.
We also need to cross train all of the employees to be able to cover all positions in the company, even if only basically and temporarily. Remember that cross training should make your life easier in the long run as it allows you to fill a temporary position from within.
What else should you do? Get all you legal issues handled. These should include but are certainly not limited to, a properly set up, living will or trust that is set up and funded correctly. Then there is the insurance required, be sure you and the agent of your choice have your insurance coverage set up correctly, and you have all the coverage you need! Failure to have the right insurance will cost you more in the long run in most cases than you’ll save going with the least expensive insurance.
You also need to have a date for you to exit the business. Don’t get mad, you don’t have to leave, just have a plan in place so your business is ready for you to leave. There are four basic ideas for an exit plan;
• Retain ownership and manage control
• Retain ownership, but not manage control
• Sell it and hope for the best. Most repair shops are sold and the seller carries at least part of the loan. In many cases they end up with the shop back in 3 to 5 years.
• Close the shop
By being prepared, empowering your employees, making sure your business is covered, and plan on selling will protect not only your investment, but also help protect your family and the businesses extended family!
Succession Planning is available as a recorded Webinar on our web site www.esiseminars.com. We have 17 1 hour long Webinars that cover all aspects of repair shop management available. Many of the Webinars come with other resources such as spreadsheets and sample documents to help you improve your business and profitability of your shop. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your succession plan with us please send an e mail to Maylan@esiseminars.com and we’ll schedule a phone conference.
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