Where've i been

it's been a long while. i don't know if i should chalk it up to writer's block, or busy business, or elections, or holidays... but i have had a hard time putting thought to paper - er, i mean, thoughts to keyboard. i have put in some serious time shopping for a new laptop though, so maybe that will rev up the keyboard action. the end of the year always sets the stage for resolutions and i believe that is a good thing. i'm considering not using capital letters, but then i might just do it for this post. note the blog's name change from "SFE-ing" to "Setting Excellent Standards". that is my main resolution for 2009. i shall harp, as earlier indicated, on our 2 main workstreams: digital selling and customer retention and along with that will be our actual setting of standards and not just any standards, but excellent ones. i have some ideas on excellence, and standards, and processes. i hope you do too. don't think that since you haven't posted before that you cannot. please follow the link below and respond when the spirit moves you. in the meantime, i will continue to prod and poke and really try to inspire the goals of SFE which are to sell more, make more money, and create loyal customers.

4 Big Ideas

I heard Ken Schmidt of Harley-Davidson recently talking about how to do business. He of course has a great story to tell of a company just about out of business that made a come-back to heights they'd never been before or even dreamed of. I pulled 4 big ideas from his comments:

1. The Harley corporation realized that if they tried "to build the brand through corporate, we can't win. It had to happen at the dealer level." That's exciting because the correlation is obvious between Harley and GM. What happens at the customer level, in the look-me-in-the-eye level is what builds a brand.

2. Trying to sell motorcycles is a fool's errand because it isn't sensible or logical to spend $24K on a bike (vs. $8K for an import)? It isn't necessary. You've seen their billboards by the side of the highway that show a guy on his bike with the caption, "He's having fun. What are you doing?" The reason you buy a bike isn't logical, you ride it is because it's fun. They've tapped into people's emotions and continue to do that in every action they take because that's what builds loyalty and that's profitable. How much of the time are the things that we do and say logical vs. emotional? Not only Harley, but every successful business out there has figured out that emotion buys.

3. EVERY Harley is sold to someone who was talked into it by a friend, a Harley disciple. The best customer retention tool is DISCIPLES. They validate your business. Harley dealers make this easy too by creating a noticeably different environment from the time you enter the lot, to how things are arranged, to how people act and talk inside, to the constant events and activities they sponsor that create a community. Anyone can go to a Harley dealership and they will feel comfortable. We can't say that for a car dealership... people are afraid to come here, they are defensive, they are uncomfortable, they are not relaxed.

4. Take specific, real actions that make the magic happen. Don't use traditional greetings… "can I help you?", "finding everything you're looking for?", these are wasted lip service. They are dull, lifeless, predictable language of business. You've got 5 seconds to excite me, don't become everybody else, don't commoditize your business. Terms like "quality", "made in USA", "warranty" "customer satisfaction" appeal to the sense of logic. Quality is a given, it is the price of admission. People are not logical, they are not rational. They are emotional. Reach into their gut, their heart and surprise them by being noticeably different. They will feel better about themselves and then they will like you and that means $$$$$. Passion and enthusiasm are attractive – people are more attracted to this. Say no to bland.

I can hear the negative comments: "GM isn't Harley." "We don't sell motorcycles." "We can't do that." Yawn. My reply to you is BE THE ANECDOTE TO THE FEAR AND NEGATIVITY CULTURE. Don't complain about things you can't control. Dig in and decide you CAN try something different, you CAN take actions that surprise and delight your market. Why not take a field trip to a Harley dealership and see what ideas you can extract that would work for you?

Bon Apetit

I love to collect examples of icons, of people or businesses or teams that inspire excellence. Here is a story from a place I hadn't expected: restaurant chef. The person of note is Chef Douglas Keane of Cyrus near San Francisco.
This year he received a coveted spot in the Michelin Guide with TWO stars! This isn't his first award, oh no, he's no sluch; he was Esquire's Chef of the Year in 2005. Anyway, after receiving the phone call from Paris this year announcing his award he decided to reduce the number of tables in his dining room. This would ensure that with fewer patrons he could serve consistently perfect meals.
Read reviews of the eatery and you find terms like passionate, wowed, amazing, attention to detail, memorable experience, consistent, warm and friendly. So it matters not whether you liten to the "experts" at Michelin, or the masses of patrons who gladly drive 60 miles north of San Francisco for the experience, Cyrus' reputation is pristine.
Mr. Keane speaks about his desire to maintain this honor, to be worthy of the reputation that this award would suddenly bestow, even in addition to the local reputation which he had already worked to earn. His attitude after the award is uncommon and excellent as it was before. He is not satisfied with what is noteworthy today, rather he retooled his current situation to ensure that he continues to be excellent.

Workstream #2 - Digital Selling

Our second workstream for 2009 is Digital Selling. Internet business is critical. The clichés of the "invisible customer" and "shopping price" are not true. Internet shoppers are not invisible! There is no such thing as a virtual customer. We have to make EVERYbody who encounters our business delighted. What led them to us? What stories will they tell?
For 2008, GM's primary goal regarding internet leads was response time. At the beginning of the year, nationally we were answering leads within 24 hours and we have reduced that now to 12 hours. Our next goal is 95/5 which means we want 95% of our leads answered within 5 hours. Because we have made such progress on response time and our trend is still reducing, our priority in 2009 will be on the Quality of our Response. The measurement for this is to improve our national closing ratio from 12.7% to 13.7%.
Our task in 2009 is to track and increase our closing rate on our leads. What we know is that we have to be engaging, we have to answer what was asked, and we have to tell each shopper why they should buy from us. Our shoppers use the internet to shop and gather information; what they need specifically from us is not more information, but instead a counselor to help them make the buy decision.
In line with this goal is the training requirement next year for each SFE dealership to have a certified internet manager. You already need this certification to get OneSource leads, but this is just another alignment area for 2009 that it is specified.
I'll work with you on using your tools to track effectiveness and make improvements in your dealership's processes and profitability.

Workstream #1 - Customer Retention

2009 goals will be supported by two priority workstreams. They are both vital, I'm just saying number one because I am separating them into two blogs and have to start somewhere. So, anyway, here we go with Customer Retention.
The point is clear and unequivocal; keeping customers is good. The facts staring at GM are that 50% of their dealers are SFE dealers and these account for over 80% of the business. For their success, yours is required. SFE dealers are setting goals and achieving them, so that's where the focus is. GM knows if SFE is working on it, results will follow.
Our charge for customer retention is to make the most of our processes and resources to not just capture a customer, but to retain that customer. In regard to vehicle ownership, 80% of a customer's vehicle experience with you is in Service. Owners who service with you, repurchase from you and they also spend more with you everytime they spend. So it makes sense to work there.
Understanding what customers think about servicing/maintaining their vehicle will help us put our energy into making sure they choose us. A surprise to me is customer attitudes that we've captured about maintaining their vehicles. Here are the top 4:

• I'd rather pay someone to do my oil change than to do it myself
• An honest repair service is hard to find
• I just want them to fix my vehicle so I can get on with my life
• I don't have time to take my vehicle all over town, I want a one-stop shop

Check it out though, these attitudes just collected this year match up item for item to attitudes collected in 1921! We've been feeling this way and talking about this for 87 years. That means that people still have the same needs but they aren't feeling comfortable that they are being met. And by the way, meeting isn't what we're about, as Excellent dealers we are looking for ways to exceed expectations and so we'll be working on how to exceed these universally held expectations.
Right out of the gate GM is bringing a resource to SFE dealers; a Preferred Owner Loyalty Program that is web-based and turnkey from the vendor that will encourage loyalty to you - to their dealer. You'll soon receive your invitation to enroll and it's FREE to you for 12 months as an SFE dealer. Here's how it works:
You will provide each of your customer households with coded key tags that they will use to earn points/dollars toward future purchases. Every time your customer spends money at your dealership, they earn points/dollars to spend the next time they come in. You fund the accounts at the level you choose (usually 5%), preload the card with a preset amount, you can even load special deals like buy 3 tires get the fourth free. It is all tracked by the system for you so you know what's working, where each customer is in their spending, and segments them for your marketing programs. The cards are used by an entire household of vehicles only at your dealership (you can choose to include all your BAC if you have multiple points too).
I'll work with you on managing dealership-wide processes to drive the effectiveness of this tool as well as the retention mind-set with all dealership staff.

Multifocals

Ugghh! I suppose I am glad that glasses don't have lines on them anymore... total buzz-kill. Still, I know that I now have a set of multifocal glasses. And it's not a fashion statement. I think I look smart enough thank you very much without glasses. But I need just a little help with reading and working on the computer. My optician, bless her little capitalist sales-y heart, convinced me to get multifocals so I wouldn't have to take them off between reading and not reading and driving at night and I can't even remember all the benefits...
I spent the first week being sea-sick and nauseated. This week I am finally used to moving my eyes and not my head, or if I'm moving my head to close my eyes or blink for a really long time which keeps me from wanting to hurl. Now I am nursing sore spots on the side of the bridge of my nose. I KNEW I should've picked the ones with the separate nose pieces and not the formed plastic!
Anyway, what is the point of this? Oh I don't know, I think I started feeling triumphant about learning how to wear them and being glad that she talked me into them...
Here's the thing, I really felt emotionally warm and smart and confident when I made the purchase. Then I felt bad (literally). Then I felt good. Now I'm feeling hesitant, but hopeful. So if she'd made a follow-up call to me last week vs. this, she would've heard different stories. And I hope that when you follow up, you do it more than once. I recall a phone call and a letter hitting me for 6 days solid after I bought a new vehicle, but then all went silent. Hmmmm, I certainly know more how I feel about my purchase and have talked to many more people who could possibly be a referral now than when they asked for feedback when the purchase was fresh. If you want real feedback, and a larger list of referrals, call the customer a month or two out too.

2 Workstreams

I am not sure how to spell Workstream since I am sure it is not in the dictionary, and my spell check is giving me the red dot underline... maybe it should be two words. Anyway, I digress.
The point of this is to tell you that GM and SFE, now in total alignment, have 2 Workstreams for 2009: Digital Selling and Customer Retention.
It's kinda nice to have the focus and it's very nice to be aligned with GM. So, stay tuned for some detail and prognostication (hey, that's the first time I've used that word this year...) on each of them.

SFE & GM

Mark LaNeve spoke to our group last Friday and shared his thoughts about SFE's relationship to GM, where the company is headed, upcoming challenges, and his perspective on how to approach it all.
SFE is the backbone of GM's relationship with dealers. What we've seen since it's inception in 1994 is improvement, institutionalized improvement. Cadillac was in real trouble from the product side and CSI scores 10 points below Buick, yet they made up the CSI deficit in one year and never looked back.
"Refuse to lose" is the mantra from Mark illustrated by the game-winning Super Bowl catch by David Tyree. We are entering a new era where success is for the one who executes best in regard to fuel and the environment and where we realize that competition is forever. He remembered his dad's career and how his persistence and diligence are an inspiration even now, to "pack your lunch, go to work every day, and figure out a way to win."
So SFE is key to GM's strategy to survive and thrive by succeeding at the dealership level. Across the dealer body, SFE dealers have better CSI, bigger profits, and better sales effectiveness so they are the key to starting a great second century for GM.

YIPPEEE

The best news today was regarding SFE Training Requirements for 2009.
Divisional Chevrolet dealerships will no longer have to complete Chevy Truck Specialists!
Divisional BPG dealerships will no longer have to complete Retail Professionals!
Woo-hoo!
Stay tuned for more news and ideas...

Day 3

All the divisions (Chevrolet, Cadillac, BPG, Saturn, Hummer, Saab) spoke today and the clear focus from now through 2009 is in two areas: Digital Selling and Customer Retention.

Here's the background rationale:

Digital Selling

· 2007 national average response time was 52 hours, now we are under 12 hours

· 95/5 – 95% of leads responded to within 5 hours or less

· Close rate improved as response time reduced; stall in closing rate indicates need to improve on quality of response

· Customers don't need information, they need a counselor to help make a buy decision

Customer Retention

· Think DEALERSHIP retention

· Retention is a by-product of creating great customer experiences

· More service visits = more re-purchase

· Higher satisfaction = higher profit on repurchase

· Service customers are 12 times more likely to come back for customer pay

· Service customers are 3 times more likely to repurchase the same make vehicle

· Right now we retain 3 of 10 customers; 1 more of 10 would mean 360,000 more vehicle sales and $150,000 per dealer in profits

SSS Question 7: Reasons to Keep the Customer Informed

badger

Day 2 from Big D

The July dealer survey was compared to the results from the survey conducted in 2006. You were surveyed on the components of SFE in regard to your Satisfaction of the components, the Value they provide, and the Importance to your business. Additionally, you were asked to rate the components on their Impact on your Business and the Likelihood of you Recommending SFE to a non-SFE dealer (who is not a direct competitor).

Your Facilitator, the Bonus, and Research are consistently on top. 76% - 83% (differences by division) of you would recommend SFE to another dealer because of its increase in your customers' satisfaction, increase in employee awareness, improvement in employee capabilities (training), increase in sales, and business efficiencies.

The 5525 SFE dealers outperform all other GM dealers in:

· PDS/SSS scores

· Retail sales index

· Return on assets (not including SFE performance bonus)

· % customers "extremely likely to recommend" sales & service

Performance of SFE dealers in 2008 YTD:

Deliveries	-14.9%
Earned bonus Q2	25%
Earned back enrollment fee	65% - Chevrolet 83% - BPG
CSI increase (SFE vs. non-SFE)	12 – 13 points for all divisions

Data, data, data… you know I love the data. What surfaces with all of this is after all the point though, and that is what GM knows, which is that SFE is a vital component in the business strategy. SFE works to build your business and not only to survive, but to be stronger and better individual businesses.

Dallas Day One

I am at the national SFE Facilitator Learning Event this week. Try to picture a hotel swarming with me times 350... yes, it's a glorious site. It's as much fun as you imagine the political conventions were last month for the R and D delegates. The bourbon and smoke-filled rooms are only in your imagination, at least the smoke-filled rooms are. Anyway, there's business housekeeping and expectation setting and chest-beating and PowerPoint-gone mad, but for you I'm delighted to edit out the "noise"... here is a peak at SFE 2009.
What's the SAME:

• Sales Objective - Excellence is one better than prior year
  
• 2nd chance for bonus using Region Index continues
  
• Bonus categories/Payout amounts
• Year End Sweep at 100%
  
• CSI: Top Box or Index
• Enrollment Fee

What's DIFFERENT:

• 035 deliveries will be posted without delay just like all others
  
• Certified Internet Manager will be a required training component (4-part course each quarter)
• Preferred Loyalty Program free for all SFE dealers for 12 months
  

What are your leading indicators?

You're familiar with CSI and the surveys that go out to customers after purchase and service events. This is the main employee performance mechanism that many dealerships use. It can be used to view trends, but it is a lagging indicator. Successful management can't rely soley on lagging indicators; rather these should be supplements to leading indicating factors.

Let me illustrate the difference in leading and lagging indicators. Think of the cooling system in your home. Each day you set the thermostat, you may adjust it during the day and evening to maintain your comfort and then at the end of the month you receive a bill from the utility company. That bill is a lagging indicator; it shows you what you used and charges you for it. You can't change what you owe. Now if you feel that the bill is too high, you may be inclined to scold the children and holler at your wife for the next several days to leave the thermostat at 74 and not to change it. That may or may not work. If you installed a thermostat with an alarm that sounded when you began to use more kilowatts, you and your family may be encouraged as you use the power to go for a swim or eat a popsicle instead of turning down the thermostat. This type of advanced thermostat would be a leading indicator because you could make a decision as you go to use or not use more power.

So, back to our issue of employee performance. Since CSI is a lagging indicator it can only be ONE of your management tools. You've got to install a talking thermostat and that means something that you can see on a DAILY basis that supports what your monthly indicator (CSI) tells you is excellent performance. Your job then is to decide of all of the process steps listed on the survey, which items weigh most significantly on the overall customer experience. Then, how can you see on a daily basis if that is occurring to your expectations.

Please view the attachment for examples of what you can do. Meanwhile, manage performance of your department daily and those lagging indicators won't be surprises that you can't un-do.

Another Great One

Here is another fave from the eloquent Randy Pausch. He was actually quoting his football coach. I can't help but draw the correlation to our research reports...

"If you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you that means they gave up on you.
Critics tell you they still care!"

Great Quote

I just love this quote... isn't it great?

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists.
Not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worst when they despise him.
Fail to honor people; they will fail to honor you.
But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say, 'We did it ourselves'."

Lao Tzu, The Way of Life

Don't Be Dead Right

We went over on our cell phone minutes. Aarrgghh! The bill looked like two line items attributed to extra minutes for the month. I couldn't make sense of it. So I got in the car and drove over to the cell phone store and waited and waited and waited and finally got someone to look at me and I asked for help understanding my bill (which I had in my hand). I was treated to a smug retort about how I hadn't honored my contract and had gone over and how it was a really good rate and I should be happy it wasn't more. We went round and round and I was unable to understand how the two lines of charges were fair.

I went home furious, absolutely boiling mad and decided to call the help line. After all, I still didn't understand the charges. I was greeted by a delightfully open and considerate operator who showed me how the calculations were made and where the "key" was on the bill to help me see the charge levels. Ah-hah! I get it. Now it makes sense. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Here's the deal. The bill was accurate. The company was right. But the taste in my mouth is sour. Will I ever step foot into that store-front again? No, no, no. If I have a question I will call in – that's where I got what I needed. Will I recommend this phone carrier to anyone? No, no, no. I'll stay till my contract is out and then I'm out. But enough about me.

What's the point? What is the lesson from this customer service interaction? The fatal flaw of the store clerk is that he was so busy being right that he ended up being dead right. Don't be dead right. Don't be so invested in proving you are right. That means you are invested in excuses and your customers will never be loyal to you. You're making an expensive mistake when you need to prove them wrong or make them feel stupid to prove you are right.

Customers don't need Education

Here is a fantastic story about responding to customer feedback. It is about Haier (pronounced HI - er). You may not recognize this brand, it is Chinese and it is the 3rd largest producer of "white" goods (aka consumer appliances) in the world. Haier was receiving massive quantities of repair orders on their washing machines for clogged drain hoses. They investigated further and found that entire villages of customers had moved their washing machines outside next to their vegetable patches and were using them to remove dirt from their freshly picked produce. What do you think they did? Void warranties? Launch a massive customer education program? Place giant DO NOT WASH PRODUCE stickers on their machines? No, no, no, nope. They modified the filter and drainage on the machines along with a new faceplate with settings for HOT, COLD, & VEGETABLES.
Now there's a company that knows the customer is king! I predict they will become the #1 producer of white goods. I've put them on my shopping list for my next major replacement.

Save our Starbucks

Wednesday on NPR I listened to a story about Starbuck's and how the closing of some 600 stores is affecting customers. There is an actual website for customers to go to and commiserate with others and to even launch a petition drive to save "your" Starbucks. It's so fantastic to hear about such loyalty because you can count the number of companies in your own life or even globally that you are that loyal to.

How fantastic for a company to hear complaints from their customers that they are reducing their number of locations!

As a sometime Starbuckster, I will tell you that I am in love with this company because of their consistency. And I know that it doesn't have to do with personalities. It isn't because of a great manager or even great employees. The consistency of service and product is because of processes. These things do not happen by accident. They are a choice. And the choice is documented, it is measured, it is trained, it is coached, it is rewarded. It is NOT an easy thing to do but it IS a simple thing to do. You can do this when you decide to state the choice of who and what your business is and you create documented processes that communicate your expectations, measure your performance, and DAILY coach/recognize/reward performance. It will turn you into a profitable, long-lived, loyalty-getting business.

Do I Have To?

There is a Denzel Washington movie called The Great Debaters with a line that I just love where the son says to the father that he will "do the things we have to so we can do the things we want to." There is a lesson being lived there about duty and about earning your reward that is powerful and necessary. Even after we are adults and think we are past learning or earning, we find out it is a rule of the universe that we have to do some things so we can do others. And I know that instead of resisting or complaining, that knuckling under to do things even that we didn't choose but have been chosen somehow is teaching us a lesson about appreciating what we've worked for.

Birthday Cake

I watched a Tom Peters preview video, (see the link in the VIDEO list) and saw him do an example of the changing economy over time.

Essentially, his thesis (which he borrowed from a VP at Yahoo) was that our economy has moved over time from Raw Materials to Goods to Service to Experience. His example was for a birthday cake. In the 40’s mom made the cake from scratch and it cost her about $1 (raw materials economy). In the 50’s mom used a Betty Crocker cake mix and it cost her about $2 (goods economy). In the 70’s mom went to the bakery and bought the cake for about $10 (service economy). In the 90’s junior required a party at Chuck E. Cheese at about $100 (experience economy). I love the evolutionary model and how different product and service are from experience. I’m bothered though by a few nagging thoughts:

• By following the analogy sequence and timeframe, we should be about to evolve into another type of economy… what is it?
• What is the requirement for kid’s birthday parties these days?
• Do we go in a circle where we will go back to the raw materials economy next?
• Has this analogy expired?
• Have we truly moved into the experience economy when selling/servicing cars?
  
• Could we grow our business/profit by the same percentage if we moved from service to experience?
• What is the visible difference between the two, both from our perspective and from the customer's?
  
• Is there something wrong with me because I prefer to make and eat cake baked from scratch rather than any of the subsequent improvements?

Fuel Calculating

Here is a great tool for sales and service departments to use to encourage purchasing a more efficient vehicle and/or upsell a fuel injector service or filter tune up on the service drive.

Go to the Fuel Cost Calculator that the Department of Energy has on their web-site. You can quickly calculate the cost savings of one vehicle over another. Put in the current fuel cost, your car's mpg, and the amount of miles you drive a year, plus the same for the vehicle under consideration and it will show you the added cost or savings of the decision based on a current gas price. It is amazing to see the annual and five year savings in just fuel alone!

Also I think this is good when considering small things you can do to save fuel. Some families are switching vehicles. The husband who drives a lot will drive the economy vehicle and the wife who drives very little will use the Truck or SUV. We all know we should but we really take notice when we see the cumulative effect of doing it over time.

Help your customers see how small changes make big differences in their budget. Just plugging in 20 mpg vs. 21 mpg at 15,000 mile per year saves $143.00 per year at $4.00 per gallon but over 5 years the savings is over $714.00!

This information could be set up on a PC in the showroom always at the ready for customers to use, or you could print up some example sheets or posters using the calculator for your data.

World Class

Wow! Somebody on the phone actually asked me "How can I provide world-class service for you today?" Can you imagine actually saying that? I could hardly believe my ears and I felt so special. Someone actually articulated what they were trying to do and asked me to tell them what would make me delighted. I love it. I told him and he did it.
I'm adding that to my list of outstanding language (see May 20th).

Uh - huh, No Problem

Pet peeve number 32: responding to a request with "uh-huh."
Pet peeve number 31: responding to a request with "no problem."
I don't care if you call me old-fashioned, I don't care if you call me picky. It doesn't matter what you think of me personally because when I am the customer, it matters more than anything else what I think of you. I want you to be delighted to help me.
I want you to use words like

• certainly
• yes ma'am
• of course
• let me help you with that
• I'll be happy to
• it would be my pleasure

These examples come out of the mouth of engaged, interested, professionals. Don't treat me like your "bff" or your class mate. Stand out, engage and interest me. And when you talk that way, you will act that way.
The good news is, you already know how to do it, so it's not a matter of learning something, it's a matter of deciding to do it and then doing it.
More good news is that these simple details will make you extraordinary in a world who's ordinary reply is "no problem" or "uh-huh."

Recruiting Idea

Fast-Track to Automotive Careers: A Girl’s Guide is a 12-page booklet about automotive careers produced by the Girl Scouts of the USA with funding from the Department of Labor. In it, AskPatty.com founder Jody Devere says, “Dealerships want to hire more women, but they just aren’t applying for the jobs. Go visit a dealer! They hire a lot of young people and many jobs don’t require a four-year degree.” Consider inviting local Girl Scouts to your next career event, visit a troop meeting to make a career presentation or give a copy of an NADA career video, Take the Ride of Your Life or From Trucks to Bucks to a local troop.

For more information about Girl Scouts of the USA’s automotive programming, e-mail Lesley Williams at lwilliams@girlscouts.org
To order NADA’s career videos, visit www.nada.org/mecatalog

The Last Lecture

Sunday's PARADE news magazine featured the story of Randy Pausch, an IT professor at Carnegie Mellon University. I was impressed and delighted by the intellect paired with basic sensible approach to leading your life. The important word there is "leading" your life. He is very conscious and deliberate about the best approaches to life and supports it with humorous examples from his own life.
Today the quote that stands out most from the lecture is: "if you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you that means they gave up on you... critics tell you they still care." That is a mind set that truly looks at feedback as a gift and it sat me back a bit. Tomorrow another quote will stand out, or the next time I view it I will see something else, and that is why I am bookmarking the lecture to return again.
To me, he is the best kind of inspiration: nothing phony or pretentious, simply sensible, simply smart, and so very poignant knowing the back story of his personal health battle.
All of this was done during his last lecture at the university before going on sabbatical, only this sabbatical is actually permanent as he found out just the week prior to his speech (last fall) that he had terminal pancreatic cancer.
Last night, ABC aired a special with Diane Sawyer featuring Dr. Pausch. Oh, I hope you were able to see it. If not, watch for a repeat broadcast. In the meantime, here is a link to their site http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LastLecture/ with highlights of the program and the complete videos of his initial lecture. I hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to see and hear him. I can't overemphasize the value of exploring bright perspectives outside our usual path in our daily search for excellence, for a life unexamined is truly not worth living.

I Am a Professional

Steven Pressfield is best known for his book and screen play The Legend of Bagger Vance. He's been at writing for his whole life with some ups and some downs and I think his persistence in doing what he loves even if it sometimes does not win awards or hit the money jackpot makes him real and believable. His latest is called The War of Art. It sprints through what being an artist is and how to break through writer's block among other things. I am most inspired by his definition of a professional because it applies to all of us whether we consider ourselves artists or simply ordinary worker bees... Professional is the tops of any occupation. These are things to ask yourself and steel yourself to do better tomorrow than you did today:

1. We show up every day.
2. We show up no matter what.
3. We stay on the job all day.
4. We are committed over the long haul.
5. The stakes for us are high and real.
6. We work for money.
7. We do not overidentify with our jobs (we are not our job descriptions.)
8. We master the technique of our jobs.
9. We have a sense of humor about our jobs.
10. We receive praise or blame in the real world.

Contrast these to the amateur, the wannabe. It's the opposite of all of the above. Think of yourself in these terms... are you a professional? Now think of the next person you want to hire... what questions can you ask to determine if they can answer yes to all ten.

Right from the Start

How much does it cost to hire an employee? Gartner research estimates it at an average of $40,000. Harvard Business Review's study found that to lose an employee costs 60% of their annual salary. Whatever the numbers break down to, it is expensive to lose an employee once we've brought them on board, so it enhances your bottom line to hire well and maintain productive employees.
Think about all the turmoil when an employee leaves your organization. Who picks up the slack, who performs in their absence, how long before we replace them, how long before the replacement is productive, how long does the replacement stay? It's exhausting. How do you reduce the turmoil and deal with what is after all a requirement of any organization? Create a plan that works for you, works for your employees, and works for your organization. Don't keep it in your head, don't assume that everyone knows how to do it, or remembers how to do it, or is even dedicated to making sure it is effective all the way through. If it's down on paper, your odds at success are practically sure.
Here are the points to include in your plan:

1. Start Immediately. Handle policy review, benefits, forms, and drug screening before the employee's first day. Introduce the culture - everything from Casual Fridays to Company Philosophy. Be sure to include a "First Day Agenda" so new employees know what to expect.
2. Make Sure Introductions Go Both Ways. Before the start day, brief existing staff on the new hires’ background, new job descriptions and expectations for how they’ll interact. Consider appointing a mentor. Assign someone to have lunch with the new employee. Pre-plan and set up appointments for new hires to meet all colleagues.
3. Throw Out the Welcome Mat. Set up technology in advance, including computer, voice mail and email accounts. Business cards should be on hand at the new employee’s desk, along with any branded items like a pen, pad, or mug. Some companies even include non-branded items — like a book —that reflects the company’s culture or business.
4. Create Job Tips. Compile job-specific “how to” guides the new hire can use to get up to speed on specific information about the location, department, or the processes and tools they’ll use to do their new job. The guides can also include contact information for key people and core resources with a quick description of how each can help and when to call on them.
5. Learn and Improve. Create an onboarding checklist you can use and share with key staff members. That way, everything can be handled smoothly, from pre-arrival items like calling a week before the start date to offer a welcome and answer any questions, to making sure mandatory training has been completed. Plus, during the 90-day probationary period, be sure to use feedback from new hires and staff members to identify appropriate learning opportunities

Now, fill in the details for each point including an owner for the information and an accessible spot for storage. Need help? That's what I'm for... let's get to work.

Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions

Ken Blanchard's quote on feedback places the emphasis on how we receive what we hear. We all get feedback all day in a variety of ways. Somebody honks their horn at you as your car drifts into their lane, your toddler cries when you drop him at daycare, your wife kisses you when you enter the house, your customer checks the Completely Satisfied box on the survey. What separates the champions from those who just show up is what they do with the feedback they receive. Champions actually harvest feedback, they listen to it, and they make appropriate adjustments. I think the best coaching I ever got regarding feedback is to just say "thank you". Think of feedback as a gift and do what your mother taught you to do and say "thank you". Let it sink in, hear it, and then decide what to do. You don't always have to act on the spot when you get feedback, in fact the better you let yourself hear what's said, the more appropriate and long-lasting a response you can make. Receiving feedback and discerning its value is a critical step in creating a World Class life. When you can get to the point where you view ALL feedback as valuable—whether it's critical or complimentary—you're well on your way toward creating excellence. So two main things to think on today:

1. how to view all feedback as valuable
2. how to harvest meaningful feedback

Stay tuned for more tips on both…

What brings em back

Check out these figures released at NADA about the impact of the whole experience on customer's loyalty. This is the percent of customers who said that they would buy from the SAME DEALERSHIP again:

• satisfied with SALES & SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85%
• satisfied with SALES but NOT SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%
• NOT satisfied with SALES OR SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1%
• NOT satisfied with SALES but satisfied with SERVICE . . . 35%

It's remarkable to note that if a customer values the service experience, they will return to buy more! What can you do with this information? More importantly, what will your employees do differently knowing this?

More from Detroit

Here are more bits of info:
Your research reports won't be on paper this year. Everything's gonna be online in the SFE site report section. We worked with the test site and an example report to get the feel of the new research home. The customer and competitive information will be delivered separately with the customer data starting to arrive in May and the competitive arriving in July. Customer surveys are out right now to your purchase and service customers. There are some new sections to the report and some modifications were made to the existing questions to eliminate redundancy and also to add some customer after-purchase buying plans. Great stuff is on the way in a 21st century way!

Service retention and experience improvement correlate to dealership profitability and will continue to be top on our priorities. What impacts your customer's decision to remain loyal to your service drive AND recommend you are:
• Service completed in reasonable amount of time
• All repairs listed on R.O. completed
• Fixed right the first time
• Kept informed of status
Note that 3 of the 4 are within the control of the service consultant; in what they say and do. Makes you say "hmmm..."

GM Training – you may have noticed already Bronze and Silver levels now for Sales Consultants. Bronze, Silver, Gold levels will all be out next year on all job profiles. Bronze is the basic level of knowing the basics. Silver is being able to apply that knowledge and will be achieved by taking a scenario-based test. It will become a required level for Mark of Excellence bonus level. Gold is expert level. This is a recognition for professionalism of employees. Certified Internet Manager is a new role for 2008. There are 8 courses and you can test out of all the courses (they are WBT) except for the Internet Customer prerequisite.

National Stats

Check out the impact of SFE on real dealerships in real ways showing in these performance stats of SFE dealers in 2007. By division,
those earning at least ONE quarterly bonus last year,
then those that earned NO bonus,
those that grew sales Y-O-Y,
and those earning the Year End Sweep:
Buick - 80% - 20% - 31% - 27%
Pontiac - 72% - 28% - 32% - 23%
GMC - 85% - 14% - 69% - 50%
Chevrolet - 76% - 24% - 41% - 32%
Multi-Line - 81% - 19% - 56% - 40%

We Will Catch Excellence

I so love the attitude and language of Vince Lombardi and he is quoted in an article in Parade this Super Bowl Sunday in the reminiscences of Bart Starr:
“He opened the session by thanking the Packers for allowing him to be their coach,” Starr says. “That tells you something about the man. Then he quickly turned to us and said, ‘Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.’ He came right up on us, within a foot of us in the front row, and then he said, ‘I am not remotely interested in just being good.’”
LOMBARDI
How can someone talk/think that way? I mean really, do you ever talk that way? Do you know anyone who talks that way? I hope the answer is yes or becomes yes. Because what in the heck are we doing if we aren't relentlessly chasing perfection? What is the point of going through the motions, of punching the clock, of checking off a list? Blechk!
Not only famous football teams come from the bottom and make it to the top. Literally every successful business or business-person that you know of was once small. They became successful by chasing something and wanting to be better and not settling for just being good.

How to Create a Loyal Customer

I've got a dentist that I love. I bet that's the first time you've heard that comment. Let me illustrate. A year or so ago a crown on my front tooth needed to be replaced. So picture me in the waiting room thinking about how painful it was the first time, what with the multiple Novocain shots in the roof of my mouth and front of the gums. Jzheesh! Hey, look at those pretty fishes in that aquarium over there, look at the video playing with all the happy, evenly-spaced teeth people, oh look it's my turn, I've hardly been here 2 minutes.
The assistant reclines me in the chair. They've got that same video playing above me with all the services they offer and the white-teethed happy people. The assistant comes up beside me, puts on a topical anesthetic, then brings up the needle below my line of sight and tells me I might feel a slight pinch. Hmm, that's not too bad. We wait awhile to let it work. Dentist comes in cheerfully; asks if my chin feels numb, yes and my nose too feels or actually doesn't feel. We laugh. He asks me a few questions that I can say yes to (great technique). He tells me to let him know if I feel anything by raising my hand. Okay, here goes. He starts to drill and I feel it; notice my hand raising urgently. He stops immediately. We do another shot and get the same thing. He asks me if I've ever tried nitrous oxide, and I happily answer yes. He asks if I'd like it (would I like it, are you kidding me, how 'bout you pack up a bottle of that in a to go bag too). They hook me up, I breathe deeply, dang, are you sure this is legal? Anyway, I suppose they do their thing cuz pretty soon we're done, it goes without a hitch and I'm getting unhooked from the happy gas.
So, yeah, that's a great experience, they've got great drugs, they have exceptional expertise at keeping me calm and distracted, they're friendly, they let me know what to expect, etc. but wait there's more! Next time I go in they find a cavity and give me a quotation for the charge and listed as a separate line item is the nitrous oxide. They remembered! Oh glorious day, I have a cavity! When I went in for the filling, the assistant began setting up the nitrous and confirmed with me, "you want the nitrous don't you?" Again, procedure goes without a hitch. They made me comfortable at the place I least like to go. They took my mind off of the pain, they took the feeling out of my mouth. They offered me a fun way to have the procedure. They noted my situation and kept it in my file. They referred to my file for the next time. I wasn't humiliated or embarrassed about my need for more pain-numbing. I wasn't made to demand anything. They did the things that they are expert at and didn't make me have to think about it. They have my loyalty. I don't care if another place opens up across the street and offers services for half the price; I am loyal to my dentist and his staff.
So what's my point? Don't think that it's the customer's responsibility to demand a great experience or a Completely Satisfying experience. It is your responsibility to deliver that great experience and that means doing everything right, doing it cheerfully, anticipating my needs, responding, and making an atmosphere where I don't feel confused, abused, or irritated. That is your job. That is your expertise. If you don't do that you don't get my loyalty. And loyalty is a 4, loyalty is a referral, loyalty is another purchase, loyalty is more gross, loyalty keeps you in business, loyalty makes you profitable.

What do airline passengers know?

"Airlines with high customer satisfaction have two things in common: they have processes in place to ensure a consistent, positive travel experience, and they have the right people working for them, who make the flying experience a pleasurable one for their passengers"

– J.D. Powers airline survey

When I read that I had two thoughts:

1. what airline has high customer satisfaction?
2. how are airline customers different from car dealership customers?

Number 1 - The airlines that the survey was talking about are Southwest and JetBlue. Okay, okay, I have READ about these airlines and they have great reputations. Unfortunately, neither of them service Wichita so my opportunities to fly them are significantly reduced. I have flown Southwest and I did find their staff to be much different (in a good way) than those I've encountered among their competitors. I will take the word of the 10,000 passengers who ranked them as creating a pleasurable experience. I haven't had a pleasurable flying experience in 15 years, but that was back when we had TWA and I always got upgraded to first class. Here's a side note too, these are also the only consistently profitable airlines.

Number 2 – customers are customers because they are all people. So if having a pleasurable flying experience makes for satisfied customers, then having a pleasurable car buying or servicing experience makes for satisfied customers.

I of course was snagged by the whole process thing there. Maybe you don't want to go with process, you may be to cool for that. But how about snagging onto consistent, or positive, or right people, or making pleasurable experiences? Any one of those are great marching orders.

With SFE we are concerned with being profitable and being excellent businesses. So putting a focus on any of those words will create the energy necessary to ratchet up your dealership's ability to create those types of experiences.

Resolutions

I clipped something awhile back and I don’t know where I got it or who said it, but I like it nonetheless:

“Embrace change. The world changes and, mercifully, we are not the same people we once were. Our goals remind us of what we dare to wish for and will work to accomplish. They are the milestones by which we assess our growth, progress and transformations.”

It works for resolutions, or continuous improvement, or kaizen, or however you like to frame it. Not only that change is good, but setting goals is good, wishing is good, deciding what is important enough to work toward is good.

Paying Attention

I know this thing for sure; that paying attention works. There is a thing called the Hawthorne Effect. It was a research project back in 1927 at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. They started out by examining the physical and environmental influences of the workplace (e.g. brightness of lights, humidity) and later, moved into the psychological aspects (e.g. breaks, group pressure, working hours, managerial leadership).

The major finding of the study was that almost regardless of the experimental manipulation employed, the production of the workers seemed to improve. The workers were pleased to receive attention from the researchers who expressed an interest in them.

So since paying attention, and making minor changes from time to time in different ways increases productivity we oughta do it. One major bump that I always see in SFE dealerships is we are paying attention to 3 measures (retail sales, CSI, training) and when we do, we always see improvements. Our consistency, intensity, and creativity of attention determine if we have lasting affects. And those three things that are visible to GM aren't the only things worth our effort of course. Our big bang impact is much more long lasting and far reaching than this quarter's bonus. When we find ways to make paying attention our culture, then our employees notice, and our customers notice, and that translates to big wins in profitability.