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One of the greatest headaches of any owner or manager is a difficult employee. A difficult employee can take something you love and turn it into something you dread and make a negative impact on your other employees and customers.  So why do you have difficult employees and what can you do about it?

The problem has not been addressed.

As we work through the issues owners and managers have with difficult employees, we find that  many times the problem isn’t addressed until it becomes unbearable. When an issue arises, one of the things you should do and say is this, …Read More

January 12th is a holiday that the majority of people participate in whether they know it or not. It’s called Quitters’ Day. Yes, you read that right, you have probably participated in Quitters’ Day. This is the day when most people quit on their New Year’s Resolutions. Only 12 days in and people are done. Ouch! Statistics show that only 9 percent of people accomplish their New Year’s Resolution. That means, at some time throughout the year, 91% of people call it quits. I’ve been there and I’m sure you have too.

Write Your Goals Down

In a study done at …Read More

I often ask dealers this simple question, “How many of you have an employee handbook?” You could hear a pin drop in the room; it is so quiet.

I get it. The idea of going through pages and pages of an employee handbook sounds torturous at best. And the thought of creating one sounds even worse.

If you have been around Bob Clements International for any length of time, you know we are passionate about processes. We live and breathe them in every area of our business and encourage you to do the same in yours. Why? Because when you put processes …Read More

Do you remember being in high school?  And the time your teacher assigned the dreaded group project?  You know the ones I’m talking about. The one where it was a group grade, but only one person really did the work. They were the worst.

For me, one specific group project comes to my mind from a history class. Our assignment was to create a video depicting a historical event. We needed costumes, a script that included each team member, and we were to do a good enough job so that the rest of the class could pass a quiz on the …Read More

“Help, I need a manager!” Have you ever heard this?  Have you ever said it yourself?  Finding someone to come alongside you to help run and manage your dealership is a big deal. Any person you hire for a management position has to be a someone that you not only trust and get along with, but that your people will respect.
One common mistake that is made in the service manager role is this: A dealer is in need of a service manager and has three technicians who are 85% efficient or better.  The owner decides to take the best …Read More

When you think of the word ‘salesperson’, what comes to mind? For most people, it’s words like slick, slimy, greasy, con-artist, or snake.   I think most dealers agree that these aren’t words they want to hear when others describe their salespeople. So, how do you find salespeople for your dealership who aren’t slick, slimy or greasy?
As you think about hiring for your sales area, it’s important to understand that you need different sales roles require different types of people. I know some dealerships have salespeople working at the parts counter, some have dedicated inside salespeople and some have dedicated outside …Read More

Not just anyone can be picked off up the street and be placed at the parts counter. There is a mix of customer service, technical knowledge, sales ability, and attention to detail required to be an excellent parts person. So, when you are in need of the mystical parts person, how and where do you find them? With season upon us, there never seems like there are enough to go around.
We often talk about how, as we are looking for good employees, we need to hire low and grow. The same holds true for a parts counter sales person. As …Read More

If I were to pick the one question that people ask me the most, it would be this: “How do I find good technicians?”

It’s no secret that it is a challenge to find qualified technicians. Programs are created to train up technicians, but it seems like there are none available when you need them which, most of the time, was yesterday. So, how to do we find good technicians today?

Hire Low and Grow:

One of the fundamentals to finding any good employee is to hire low and grow. By this we mean that we encourage dealers to find a person that …Read More

When working with dealerships, I’m often asked, “How can I help my new salesperson succeed – right from the start?” Most salespeople, especially new ones, fail for one reason; they don’t produce enough daily activity to get their business up and going.  This is why I encourage owners and sales managers to make sure that the salesperson is starting out with a sales funnel that is full of customers to contact.  Whether your salespeople are new or experienced, nothing can create sales success more than a full sales funnel.  If I were starting a new salesperson, I would go into …Read More

Compensation, regardless of the position in a dealership, is always a hot topic.  How much can I afford to pay? What level of performance do I have the right to expect as an owner from my people? How do I know whether I am paying too much, or just as bad, not enough, and then risk losing my good people to a competitor?  While I could do a day-long program on compensation programs for dealerships, in this blog I want to just focus on the sales department for both inside and outside sales people.
Let’s start with those people you have …Read More