Invest in the best!

Recently I heard an American dealer on CBT News (highly recommended, daily) talk about how he dealt with staff shortages in sales and service. His solutions were creative, not new, but certainly consistent. It was actually nice to hear the vision of an owner of a large dealer company, and to see what details he focused on in sales and service. It was about KPIs based on conversions and potential: what is maximally possible, for example, instead of managing based on budget.

Invest in the Best

One of those things was ‘Invest in the Best’, a program from the Nissan importer in the US that revolves around certified Nissan salespeople. Here in the Netherlands too, we regularly see such programs, with nice monthly updates via LinkedIn from various salespeople who are certified by brand A, B or C. However, Nissan does it differently. Not everyone can be certified for the program; only the top salespeople are eligible…

So it’s about a select group of salespeople who have shown they can sell new Nissans and certified pre-owned Nissan models well. These salespeople receive an incentive program from Nissan that runs alongside the dealer’s reward system.

For every new Nissan sold, Nissan USA pays a commission to the salesperson (I don’t know exactly how that works in terms of taxes, compensation, accountability). The reason Nissan does this is to bind good salespeople to the brand. The system also has tiers: the longer you participate, the greater the reward. And the program moves with you. If you go to work at another Nissan dealer and move from Houston to Dallas, for example, you still retain your ‘Invest in the Best’ program!

Service

At the service department, the dealer could use more people. Besides the normal hygiene factors, such as a good connection with local technical schools and incentives for colleagues who bring in new employees, they work with cameras to be more than 20% more efficient.

We know from Calldrip that if you record salespeople’s conversations, most people’s behavior improves. The conversations often get better because people unconsciously know someone is listening.

Cameras

At this dealer, they work with cameras in the workshop, linked to the DMS and work order system. If the work order states that tires need to be balanced, and the camera registers after two hours that the car is still on the lift without any additional work being added to the work order, then the receptionist is alerted. This removes as much ‘waste’ as possible from the process and ensures optimal billing.

Just knowing that everything is seen and analyzed makes the mechanics work more efficiently. This way, major improvements are made, whereby the shortage of mechanics is partly compensated by working smarter and using cameras to see where you can and must work more efficiently.

What works there doesn’t have to work here

Let me be clear: not everything that works in the US works in the Netherlands. I’ve already written many articles about that. But often certain things do make you think! What is possible, and in what way can I implement ideas, processes and methods in our culture, our company and within our legislation, so that we work more efficiently and can bind our A-stars longer to us and/or our brand?