I just had a great experience at the 2010 NADA (National Automotive Dealers Association) convention in Florida.

I met many great dealers who were excited about their prospects moving into the New Year and many vendors who had some exciting new technologies and strategies for getting more people to the dealers’ stores.

I was asked many times what my company does and my response was, “Improving customer service and sales through consistent management training and employee development. We focus on everything that happens at a dealership, not just the interaction of the salespeople or what technologies are being used.”

To explain my point, I posed this question to some dealers: “Has there ever been a time when what customers saw upon coming to a dealership negatively affected their willingness to buy?”
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One of the hardest things we all face is Time Management and trying to get everything thing done.

In the workplace, it seems we never have enough time, especially whenever someone needs something from us and it always sounds like an emergency. Most of us tend to drop what we are doing and rush to get this new task done. So, we clear our schedules and devote our focus to this project – only to find out that the person who requested this did not need it right away.

The question then becomes: How do I own my own schedule?
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You just found out your boss  is being replaced with someone from outside your company. There were rumors going around that your department was under performing and upper management was looking to shake up its leadership. Once you get past the initial thought of having a new boss and what it means, you must focus on how you will present yourself to the new person in charge. Done correctly, it will cement in their mind how valuable you will be during their tenure as the leader of the department. Done incorrectly, you can kiss any promotion or upward mobility good-bye. [read more...]

In many industries, companies pride themselves on promoting managers internally. There are many benefits to grooming managers from within: They already know the systems, are comfortable in the environment, and have proven they want to work for the company. The transition for this new manager usually is faster and, in most cases, easier than bringing in someone from outside of the company.

The company’s first step often will be to put the new candidate through its management training program and review the policies, reporting structure, and duties of the new job. While all of this is very important, there is one area lacking in many training programs that must be addressed in order for the candidate to succeed.

Let’s say you just got that promotion you wanted and now, after all the congratulations, it’s time to get to work. Then you realize:

You will be managing the very people with whom you have been working.

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