A good manager is worth there weight in GOLD.

I never realized how good my manager was until years after I left the dealership. We had short 20 minute sales meetings every day. We actually did training. We did a lot of hooting, hollering clapping and some laughs . Always positive with some cash in hand to the performers.

Not every day was peaches and cream. When I did something wrong it was brought to my attention. Many times as a rookie I wasn't allowed to take another customer that day because of the same mistakes. I quickly learned.

Ken never raised his voice and you never herd a curse word. He wouldn't allow anyone to talk that way or you were confronted quickly.

Ken took me on demos, did walk around , helped me make phone calls, and took me outside the dealership to go prospecting. Not once but several times.

It was a requirement to do all the steps of a sale every time and to have an appointment every day. When asking for help with a customer Ken would ask if we did all the steps of a sale. We did the same thing every time.

I remembered delivering 42 cars that month. Ken took me outside and put his are around me and squeezed my arm. The squeeze told us we were getting it. He said you didn't demo that car and lucked out and sold it. You keep doing that crap you are going to go backwards. Then you are going to blame economy, weather , inventory , advertising everything but you. It's going to cost you sales. I thought about it for a minute and said, ok pap I will never do that again. And I didn't.

I called Ken pap because I never saw my real dad and he was the like the best dad anyone could ever ask for. I owe the guy so much for what he showed me. I loved the guy for what he was and what he stood for. Ken Ryder was worth his weight in GOLD.

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Comment by Fran Taylor on April 29, 2012 at 12:33pm: Thank you for the kind words . Much appreciated .

Comment by NANCY SIMMONS on April 28, 2012 at 3:17pm: Fran, I have learned a lot from you...you are a genuine man who TRULY cares about helping others! Thanks!

Comment by Fran Taylor on April 28, 2012 at 2:30pm: Good advice Curtis. Thanks a million and best of luck to you my friend .

Comment by Kurtis Smith on April 23, 2012 at 8:11am: Fran,

Wisdom always comes wrapped in simple truths. Great post.

Comment by Fran Taylor on March 15, 2012 at 2:31pm: Thank you Troy. Glad you liked it.

Comment by Troy Spring on March 15, 2012 at 10:47am: God stuff Fran. Love it.

Comment by Fran Taylor on March 14, 2012 at 7:46pm: I really pay attention to managers who have it rocking and rolling. Most of the time ther are a carbon copy of Ken. Thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated.

Comment by Fran Taylor on March 13, 2012 at 1:17pm: I was a GM in Texas with 7 franchises and thought I was good. I met guys/gals that blew me away by there kindness and how they handled people with great success. It pays to be humble and I still keep learning from the great ones. Thank you Jae.

Comment by Jae Chang on March 13, 2012 at 12:58pm: Thank for a Great Share Fran. Good mentors are few and far between.

Comment by Fran Taylor on March 13, 2012 at 9:23am: It's almost a lost art leading a sales team. Not to be negative but I saw when a manager left a store the manager took over half of the sales reps with him. I believe they went with him is because he helped the team make money by being firm and teaching them how to make money. Thanks BC.