Remove the Speed Bumps from Your Business!

REMOVE THE SPEED BUMPS FROM YOUR BUSINESS / SHORTEN YOUR SALES PROCESS

In the last month I have witnessed presentations from 4 different motivational speakers. One common thread in all of their presentations has been the idea of removing the barriers to conducting business and shortening processes to make them more relative to your customers real wants and needs.

Guy Kawasaki (former Apple Enchanter) and Grant Cardone (Business Expert/Motivational Speaker) deserve credit for harping on these themes. They are both right on the money. We are and have become a society of instant gratification. Technology has given us the uncanny ability to bring people to the precise information they are looking for. Need we look any further than the success of Google for proof of this? People are used to being delivered to exactly what they want, when they want it.

In business I have always been a principled man. I was slow to evolve in some ways --- "how dare you water down a long tested process" I used to think when I'd watch my employees struggle to master every step in our sales process. I would go home after long days of training and reason that maybe some employees just didn't care, lacked the necessary discipline or didn't have the mental acumen to truly become a master at their craft. At some points I even considered that maybe poor results were due to my own inability to communicate desired outcomes and train effectively. Looking back now I realize that the failure wasn't necessarily my people, or myself --- it was a process needing to evolve in a changing world.

Every day in my business (Auto Industry) it seems the life of a sales associate gets more complicated. Compliance and new legislation seems to add a new form and process every month. The OEM's seem to always be fighting for their attention as well. Sitting here in a store I used to run (Wade Raulerson Buick GMC) I can remember countless phone calls tracking OnStar registration, Customer Satisfaction, Vehicle Delivery Quality, and Training percentages. Then you get back from the 20 group meeting and it's on to a full after-market accessories presentation after the closed sale or it's a full wander through a crowded service department. We know why these things are important but the road to accountability is complicated especially with what has become such a time consuming process.

Give time back to your people and to your customers! Simplify your operating strategy --- learn to adjust and evolve based on how your customers ACTUALLY WANT TO CONDUCT BUSINESS.

Thank you Grant & Guy. Transmission accepted and mission chartered. We are on our way!