Opis
Most GMs can tell you last month's numbers by heart.
Almost none can tell you the exact month their culture started slipping.
That's the part that should stop you scrolling.
Jonathan Dawson has walked into over 3,000 dealerships in his career, and he's watched the same decline play out over and over. It never looks like a decline while it's happening.
He said something really interesting...
"You either raise your people to your standards, or you will lower your standards to your people."
Not three options. Two. And most stores are living in the second one without ever choosing it on purpose.
Here's the part that got me.
A 220 car a month store doesn't become a 120 car a month store in one bad month. It happens 187. Then 182. Then 174. Every single one of those months felt fine at the time. Nobody sounded an alarm. That's exactly why it worked.
Jonathan lived this out himself. He had to write up his own top salesperson, number one for four months straight, on the last day of one month and the first day of the next.
Every instinct told him to let it slide. Don't kill the mojo. Not this week, not for him.
He did it anyway.
Because the moment you make an exception for your best person is the moment your standard stops being a standard.
If you lead a sales floor, go back and check your last 90 days. What did you let slide because the person was performing well.
That number is your warning light.
What do you think?
Full conversation with Jonathan Dawson is out now on The Dealer Playbook.
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