Leonard Buchholz's Blog (95)

"Things" do not a great Service Experience make.

Service is an "elbow to elbow" people business. As I (we) have traveled and observed so many Dealership Service Operations, there is still one overriding factor that every Customer Service Organization must understand and adhere to. This is people business.…

Customer services
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Added by Leonard Buchholz on November 15, 2012 at 9:04am — No Comments

Want to increase Service Sales by 30%?

Lost Sales and Declined Services Customers are in many Dealerships, the largest untapped source of additional revenue. And in most cases, the Sales has been lost because of a few words and not a few dollars.

Trained Advisors Make More Sales!

Advisors…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on October 11, 2012 at 9:13am — No Comments

Techno me, Train me or Tank me...which is it?

It is an age old diametrically opposed argument. On one side, we have technology. On the other side, we have personnel.

I can't sell anything without a great Multipoint Inspection.

I can't sell anything without a professional Sales Process.

I must have both in order to be effective.

In recent years there has been a migration to technology because we…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on September 12, 2012 at 10:30am — No Comments

3 Common Mistakes Salespeople Make

The 3 Most Common Mistakes Salespeople Make That Cost The Dealership Money!

The good news: They are all Preventable! Read below for the latest in how you can prevent Lost Sales!

#1-NO INTERVIEW!

An interview is the most important part of any sales…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on July 25, 2012 at 2:18pm — No Comments

Why "Old School" Communication is the new "Class Dismissed"

Clearly there is a huge gap between what "we" (old school) managers and Leaders consider useful and proper communication, motivation and Leadership techniques and what the "new" generation responds to.

There is a choice to be made.

A. Keep doing what you've been doing and keep getting the same results while expecting a different outcome.

B. Do something…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on July 16, 2012 at 10:44am — No Comments

4 Challenging Employees and What To Do About Them

Employees are the life of any organization. We spends hours recruiting, screening and interviewing them. After we have hired them, we spend more time training, coaching and monitoring them.

And when it's all said and done, we like to think that we have contributed to the Dealership's future and had a hand in weaving the very fabric of that Dealership.

And in every Dealership…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on July 11, 2012 at 10:37am — 4 Comments

Grasshopper Pie

A traveling salesman had come to the end of a long day and was very hungry. He had not made many sales and was feeling a little frustrated with his results. He decided to stop and get something to eat and mull over his next step.

He stopped in town, parked on Main Street and looked around. He found two restaurants side by side.  Above each there was a sign.

The one on the left said “Food, more…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on June 25, 2012 at 1:29pm — 8 Comments

What 3 Components Do You Need To Succeed In The Car Biz? ASK And You Shall Receive!

That's right! There are 3 Personal Components you need to have to Succeed in the Car Biz!

ATTITUDE, SKILL SET and KNOWLEDGE!

A strong Attitude will get you through the day even though you may feel like giving up. Attitude smooths out the ups and…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on June 19, 2012 at 10:59am — No Comments

Make Your Next Coaching Session Memorable and Powerful

Every Coaching session can be effective if you follow certain steps to improve your chances of a Successful outcome.

There is one word that is critical in determining the outcomes. That word is "Specific." There is an old saying that goes like this. "The more specific you are the better your results" and…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on June 6, 2012 at 8:57am — No Comments

7 Ways To Tell If You Are Practicing Management Malpractice

  1. You cannot name your employees and refer to everyone as “Buddy” or “Chief.”
  2. You don’t know what the company’s goals are for the year and you cannot tell anyone what your goals are.
  3. Every time an employee comes to your door and knocks, you think they will ask for a raise or time off.
  4. You cannot name the last book you read that pertained to your…
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Added by Leonard Buchholz on June 3, 2012 at 10:39am — 3 Comments

The difference is paper-thin.

“The difference between genius and insanity is paper-thin.” Old Japanese proverb.

There is an inherent truth in that statement. How many times have you said to yourself “That’s crazy!” about something someone did only to find out…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on June 1, 2012 at 11:12am — No Comments

People say the darnedest things, don't they.

We hear many things in Service.

Stand on any Service Drive on any given day and you will hear Customers describe all kinds of noises related their vehicles. The variety of sounds people make describing their …

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on May 30, 2012 at 10:24am — No Comments

What's that noise on your service drive?

Have you ever blown up a balloon and then just let it go and listen to the sound it makes? If you have children or a crazy Uncle Lenny, chances are you've heard this noise before. It is so distinctive that once you've heard it, you are not likely to forget it the rest of your life.

I've heard this same noise in my head many times in the service drive right after an Advisor says something he or she shouldn't have. In our business there are many things that must happen to make sure that…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on May 23, 2012 at 6:30pm — 1 Comment

Are your advertising dollars well spent?

In fixed ops we constantly worry whether or not we are getting a return on every one of our ad dollars. Every manufacturer tracks it. Every ad vendor tracks it. And when we spend the money and don't get an immediate return, we start to fret.

Here is the rub.

Customers don't make a connection with an ad. Customers don't make a connection with an offering or a…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on May 21, 2012 at 5:28pm — 2 Comments

Want to have a big day today? Get a checkup.

“When our research tracked 20,000 new hires, 46% of them failed within 18 months. But even more surprising than the failure rate, was that when new hires failed, 89% of the time it was for attitudinal reasons and only 11% of the time for a lack of skill. The attitudinal deficits that doomed these failed hires included a lack of coachability, low levels of emotional intelligence, motivation and temperament.”  Mark Murphy, Hiring for Attitude, Forbes

In the car business , it’s all…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on May 3, 2012 at 10:36am — No Comments

Commodity or Original-part 2

Most consumers have lumped "service", whether you are a dealer or an independent repair facility, as a commodity. Which means you compete in a market with everyone else even though the market is not a level playing field.…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on April 30, 2012 at 1:30pm — No Comments

4 Deeezzz and Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning? Ya, me too. If you haven’t taken a look at your work area lately, step back and take it all in.

See that pile of papers on your desk? And those spare parts you were saving for the factory in the corner…how long have they been there? What’s up with that chair with the padding falling out? Are you saving that for someone special?

Hey, this is not limited to the Service Managers office. There are many GM’s and DP’s offices that look pretty darn close to that…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on April 24, 2012 at 10:23am — 1 Comment

There is too much waiting

Don’t you think there is too much waiting going on? I don’t mean the kind of waiting we do for a burger at the local drive thru or waiting for the mail to arrive.

And it’s not the other kind of waiting we do these days “plugged in” as we are.

Heck, we all know that in this “electronic” age, society is way too fast and by being so, has turned us into petulant…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on April 11, 2012 at 9:30am — 3 Comments

It's been 60 days.

It’s been 60 days.

You had every intention of making changes and doing something different. You had all of the information gathered and catalogued. You even made a list of all of the Managers and their responsibilities and revised their Goals based on the information and training you were about to provide them.

You were ready for Success! You had new expectations! You were ready to accomplish new Goals!

You were ready to reap the benefits of attending the NADA…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on April 6, 2012 at 9:00am — No Comments

Are you a dog in a cat world?

dog and a cat were recently having a conversation about how each other looks at the world.

They had been friends a long time and the dog had recently been promoted to the title of Service Manager of his Dealership. The cat had stopped by for a visit and to congratulate her friend on his recent promotion. And, as Managers are prone to do, they began to discuss how each run…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on April 3, 2012 at 1:53pm — 3 Comments

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