Not Taking Action Has Consequences

Yesterday I had the privilege of addressing a room of Service Managers and Factory Personnel. And I have to believe that everyone in that room was there to find or gather some new information that would help them take action on something that might be causing them some problems at their Dealerships.

Why would you attend if you had no hope of getting something, right? I hope that everyone one of them got something that they can use right away at their Dealership this week, something they can take action on.

And because I had a long drive home afterwards I started thinking about the consequences of not taking action.

In the Service Department the consequences really multiply quickly.

Lets take a look at John Q. Advisor.

John Q. is a underachiever at ABC Motors. His HPRO is at .9 and his Gross Profit Margin is below 70%. Now, John Q. is not necessarily a bad guy. In fact, he is a likeable and hard-working employee. He comes to work on time and believes he contributing to the overall success of the Service Department.

Johns current performance level is not acceptable. And the consequence of not taking action has verifiable results. Take a look at Johns numbers.

His current HPRO at .9 at the national labor rate of $85.00 an hour equals $76.50 in Gross Labor Sales. His Parts Gross Sales are $61.20 at a 80% parts to labor ratio which adds up to a total of $137.70 per CP Repair Order written. John has been performing at this level for 3 months.

The national average HPRO is 1.5 and by accepting Johns performance it is costing the Dealership money.

How much money?

Adding .6 at $85.00 equals $51.00 in Gross Labor Sales. Factor in the Parts Gross of $40.80 and each RO that John Q. writes is costing the Dealership $91.80 in LOST SALES! John writes an average of 220 CP ROs a month.

That is $20,196.00 per month and over a 3 month period that adds up to $60,588.00! I have to ask you, would you pay any Advisor $20,196.00 extra a month? $252,352 a year?

By not taking action, YOU ARE!

Everyday that John is not Trained and not held Accountable for his performance there is a concrete and verifiable loss. Not only a monetary loss but a performance loss that affects the whole department as well.

Why?

Accepting Johns results sends a message to everyone in the Dealership that a lack of performance is ok and that continued performance at this level is not a concern that needs to be taken care of. In fact John and every employee in the Service Department need not worry about the future. It is secure at ABC Motors.

You know what is worse? John thinks that it’s ok. Should John go to another Dealership for whatever reason, he would soon find himself out of a job, again. Why? Because Underachievers are not tolerated everywhere!

So not only is the Service Manager at ABC Motors costing the Dealership money by not Taking Action, by not Training John, by not holding John Accountable, the Service Manager is perpetuating Poor Performance and Condoning it!

Do you have a John Q. in your store?

Are you suffering the consequences of not taking action? What are you going to do about it!