EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS CRUCIAL TO MAKE YOUR DEALERSHIP STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
Recently a dealer said to me, “This would be a great business if it weren’t for customers and employees.”
I found this a little shocking that a dealer might think this way in 2015, even if the comment was somewhat tongue and cheek.
This led me to delve into the concept of satisfaction versus engagement for the people we interact with on a regular basis.
Does what our customers think of us, in any way, directly relate to how they are treated by our employees? You bet it does.
In today’s competitive arena, good employees have many options. It was not that many years ago that a dealership could burn through people and still be profitable.
That’s not possible today. The shift in demographics has not only affected our customers, but also it has equally affected our employees.
A little more than a decade ago, employee satisfaction surveys became popular, much the same way that customer satisfaction surveys became such a passion of auto dealers and brand owners three decades ago.
In 2015, employee and customer satisfaction have stepped up a notch. Satisfaction is no longer the benchmark — engagement is.
Engagement in an employee context is exemplified by your employees’ reaction to your dealership’s human resources and general management practices, and is reflected in your employee retention rates, recruitment sources and profitability. Engaged employees are those that make a direct contribution to your dealership profit.
Engaged employees are an asset to your dealership, not an expense incurred by it. Engaged employees are your best source of employee referrals.
On the customer front, engaged customers are retained customers and become spokespeople for your dealership. An engaged customer does not consider having anything done at any other dealership.
Such customers are 100 per cent loyal and, when the opportunities arise, spread the word about your dealership and how terrific it is to do business there.
In my experience, it is virtually impossible to create engaged customers without first creating an engaging environment towards your employees. In some ways the relationship is linear. Employee engagement comes first, then comes customer engagement.
I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that certain dealer groups are achieving success in top employer surveys.
Organizations such as Aon Hewitt and Great Place To Work are recognizing Canadian auto dealers that have superior employee relations.
Engaged employees go above and beyond their formal role to get things done in your dealership.
They are committed to your dealership’s success and will do whatever is asked of them, and more importantly, have the self-initiative to do whatever it takes to help others achieve your dealership’s goals.
For this to happen, employees must be empowered to act immediately to effectively deal with customers, when immediate action is called for.
But before that, empowerment is predicated upon each and every employee believing in your core customer treatment values. Training, workshops and regular reinforcement and recognition are critical elements in creating an environment for aligned empowerment.
Let’s explore an example of an engaged employee.
Tim is a salesperson in the used vehicle department at ABC Motors. At ABC Motors the service department closes sharply at 6:00 p.m., but the sales department stays open until 8:00 p.m.
Prior to closing one evening, Tim noticed a car drive gingerly onto the property with a flat tire. He approached the vehicle and spoke with the driver. He noticed two young children buckled into car seats in the back seat.
Maddy, the children’s grandmother, explained that she was driving her grandchildren home from an unplanned visit to a local medical clinic. One of her grandchildren had a fever, and she wanted to be sure that everything was okay.
Tim could have said that he was sorry the service department was closed. He could have offered to call a taxi, but with two car seats needed, he determined that was not practical. Same goes for a loaner car.
Tim took it upon himself to change the tire, and did so 20 minutes later. He then said that he would follow Maddy home to make sure she arrived safely.
Maddy lived 15 minutes in the opposite direction from Tim’s home, which was 30 minutes away on a good night, creating an hour long commute home. Even so, Tim followed Maddy home.
The next morning, Ron, the dealer principal, received a phone call from Maddy explaining what had happened and how impressed she was with his dealership.
Maddy had never done business at Ron’s store previously. Ron was delighted to hear that one of his employees would go to such lengths for a customer.
Ron booked an appointment with Maddy for later in the morning to look at all her tires from a safety standpoint, and when he got off the phone, asked the service manager to check her flat tire and repair it, if possible.
In the morning staff meeting, Ron relayed the story to the full staff and praised Tim for a job well done.
When Maddy arrived, the service advisor greeted her warmly. The long and short of it was that Maddy purchased two new tires and an alignment. She had never been treated so positively at a car dealership before.
Ron has worked hard to train his dealership staff to “behave the way he would.”
He consistently reinforces his core values, referring to them in every management and town hall meeting. Ron was good at walking the talk and, as a consequence, his employees followed his lead.
Ron believes his hiring process is at the base of his employee engagement process. He takes a long time to make a hiring decision, even for lower level positions, and believes this gives him a better than average chance of hiring the right people to fit in his dealership.
Directly flowing from Ron’s employee engagement passion is the benefit of customer engagement. Ron’s goal is to make each and every customer an advocate for his dealership.
Regardless of brand or age of vehicle, Ron wants his staff to operate with only one goal in mind: to make each and every customer an advocate for his dealership, which in turn, reflects positively on social media.
Ron believes his reputation is everything and that his employees share his core beliefs; their individual reputation is totally aligned with Ron’s and that of the dealership.
In today’s competitive world, satisfying customers is not enough. Engagement is the new goal to create lasting advocates for our dealerships. There is a direct customer correlation based on how genuinely engaged our employees are.
With about 15 per cent on average of our employees being engaged, most of us have a long way to go to realize the financial rewards from having an engaged workforce.
You’d be surprised how fast profits rise by even a five-10 per cent increase in employee engagement.
