What do you do first? 1

What do you do first when you take over a store? Do you dive into the numbers? Do you take over the desk? Do you start pushing the service manager for production? What exactly do you do first when you take a store over?

Me, I do nothing. That doesn't sound like the right thing to do does it? Nothing, really? Yep, I do nothing. Let me explain...

Look at it like this, when we discover a new species of animal that is endangered what do we do? We observe it right? We don't try and capture it to feed it. We don't try and run tests on it to see if it's dying or why it's dying, we observe it. But why do we observe it? Time is of the essence correct? Let's say you know exactly how to keep an animal alive right? Foods, shelter, and water like every other animal right? So, what are we waiting for!? Well, what kind of food does it eat? Is it an omnivore, carnivore, herbivore? We don't know yet. Why is it dying off at such a rapid rate that we have not discovered them until now? Is it drinking from a contaminated water source, is it eating a poisonous berry? We don't know because we have not observed it in its natural habitat.

Believe it or not car dealerships (any business really) are the same way. When you show up you may know how to run a store. You may know the exact processes that need to be in place. Hell, you may know the positions that need to be filled and the department that's loosing money, but you don't know why. You don't know why those positions are vacant. Maybe you have a cancer killing of the good people, you don't know. You don't know why that department is loosing money. You don't even know anyone's name in the department. How can you go into a store, apply the basics, make it profitable, and make it sustainable. You can't (PERIOD). You can make it make money for a minute, that's not hard. But, it won't self sustain. It's impossible, because the moment you walk out the door or are not watching the people it will crumble. Just like the endangered animal would have died if you tried to feed it meat when it was obviously a herbivore.

I know what you're thinking now, "OK smart guy then what do we do first exactly". I am glad you asked, we meet the people in our store who will soon be our family. Do you know that the average person spends more time at work than at home? Pretty sad right? But, it is what it is. So, how about getting to know the people you will be working FOR and WITH. Make no mistake people do not work for you. That is not a sustainable eco-system.

Think about it, what would you do for one of your coworkers if they were in trouble? If they needed help? You would try your best to help but at the end of the day that's their problem right? OK, let's switch it up a bit. What would you do if your child had a problem? You would block the sun and move mountains to fix it wouldn't you? It's because it's your child and your family. It's because your child is a part of your unit, you work for them, you work with them when they need help. There is a bond there because of the way you do those things.

Now, imagine if you treated people you work with the same (generally speaking)? What if you actually cared about what their kids names were? Their wives names? What they like to do after work? What if you took some time and actually made them human versus another body to "make things happen". Imagine what that person would do for you, do for his "family" if you provided that kind of atmosphere. Trust me when I say, you would be blown away.

TEAM. This is the most important thing in any business. Without it you are not going to make it. You have to be a TEAM a FAMILY and everyone has to feel like they are a part of it or you fail, or you loose money, or you just remain - broken. Constantly replacing people, department heads, and everyone else for that matter. The store may move along, it may make some money, hell it may even sell a bunch of cars. But it will never reach its full potential.

So, let's circle back and ask ourselves again, what do you do first?

I am going to observe. I am going to sit down and meet with EVERY SINGLE employee that works for the company from the porter to the owner. I want to know the people in my house. I want to know what they like, don't like. What motivates them to perform. I can't motivate a person if I don't know what makes them tick. I am going to learn as much as I can about everyone in the store and you know why? Because it's important. Every single one of them is important in my and my families success. They are important in their families success, their coworkers success. It's time we acted like it. If you find cancer, remove it immediately before it spreads. If you find a great person who is in the wrong position retain that person, show them their worth, and find them a spot that they do fit. Find out your TEAMs motivators. Find out who they truly are. You know what else you're gonna find? Cohesion, mutual respect, drive, desire, and before to long, a family that will kill for you and the whole of the TEAM. And when you get to this point in your store, that is when things really start changing. That is when the grosses start showing up and the wins starts taking over.

Before you can help clean someone else's house, you have to clean your own.

Checks and balances.

THIS, is what I would do first...