Cultures are nurtured, not purchased.
The dreaded moment for reporting to management has arrived. How many of us assemble a ton of nonsense on an Excel or Google Sheet the night before, expecting no one will question us? Let’s be real here. The time-honored and all-encompassing “it depends” response is already on our lips! I adore it!
Consider how many different reports, analytics, and data points we are attempting to collect from several platforms that have absolutely NO communication with one another. There are two systems: DMS and CRM. Of course, there are two different systems used for sales and service. How come there wouldn’t be just one? Way too reasonable, that.
Do all of the links include UTM Tags, speaking of CRMs, or are you just attributing that traffic to…Emoji shoulder shrug here. The website, all OEM reports, and Google Suite: Ads and Analytics are also included. The soon-to-be GA4 has NO, ZILCH, ZERO, and NADA standards at this time, and it is abhorrent and completely useless to dealers out of the box.
How many people have GA configured properly such that reporting is easy? We must not overlook our crucial Call Tracking systems, which ideally are configured for Sales, Service, and Parts and read IVR instead of real human contact and discussion. What about our chat provider(s), our digital retailing tool, which is now more accurately referred to as digital retailing tools, all of our numerous lead suppliers, all OTT/Display and/or Amazon Advertising, and any other third-party providers?
Has anyone looked at Social? Facebook problems Given how many clothing changes it facilitates each week, Quick Change Magicians is the best! As soon as you start to love a report, BAM! gone and changed! Say what? This morning, it was there. Finally, there are proprietary dashboards that need us to make sure they make sense and match what we display. I have to go take a nap, ugh.
I now ask the following inquiry…
How are you keeping each of these suppliers and coworkers—yes, there is a difference—responsible?
How would you standardize all of this data? How are you examining what you need to be anticipating?
GA is only useful to a certain extent, and who wants to spend many hours attempting to filter through all these metrics? There is a simpler method. By simply standardizing everything and everyone, regardless of the solution—mic drop—tools like Vistadash remove all uncertainty and level the playing field. This is genuine openness.
Data-Supported Innovation
It is now up to us to make sense of all this amazing data and transform it into useful information by examining what can be expected from our business partners and keeping them accountable. Following that, one may return to their business partners and have an in-depth discussion about how to enhance the process, the customer journey, who is performing and where one might perform better, as well as the real ROI. Just how do you go about doing this? Great inquiry. Let’s look at several approaches to having those important discussions.
You can now see what is working, where consumers are interacting, and potential weak points in the products—what I like to refer to as opportunities for improvement. Let’s take an example of a site where you can see that there is more engagement than the normal 50% from X provider/X tool, but they may be bragging to you about driving all of this traffic for you. Now that you are armed with information and evidence, you may converse with them in a more informed manner than before. If you utilize a platform that uses standardized measurements, you want to know how long it took to find the engagement level—a staggering 60 seconds. When you go to your vendor and bring this up, many things now occur:
Now that they are aware of your expertise, they will pay closer attention. It’s a big deal!
As a result, your interactions with your vendors become far more meaningful and reciprocal.
If you have a vendor or a business partner, you’ll find out right away!
Taking this a step further, you sometimes need to be a little bit of a detective to identify the real problem and potential leakage points. This procedure is expedited by these standardized tools. You can see that the advertising agency is doing a terrific job since the Ad Copy receives an A+ and is forwarded to the appropriate page. The problem, though, appears to be that the lead dies as soon as it gets to the dealer. Any GM or Owner is aware of the monthly costs associated with bringing these clients into the store.
How many will acknowledge when the internal process fails and are attempting to avoid solving the issue instead of trying to buy themselves out of it?
Look at the data before you add a button to your website, hire a new lead provider or product, or do anything else new. Shooting from the hip because one believes it will succeed or because it has in the past is not how businesses should be operated in the modern economy. The significance of this cannot be overstated. REALITY above emotion. What does the data show? Does the newest dazzling thing from the 20 Group really need to be in your store? You can’t purchase your way out of a faulty process, therefore look into the root of the problem, and take action from there. Process initially!
By standardizing your dealership’s data and KPIs, hours and sanity have been saved and the foundation for data has been built. What are you occupying your time with? Taking a seat and savoring a cool beverage? Nooo?! Ron Burgundy here! Let’s begin where we left off.
Culture-Supported Innovation
The foundation must be sturdy while constructing a house and pouring the concrete, right? If there was a crack in the foundation, would you continue to the following phase of the procedure? No, you would start again, tear up the foundation, and pour it again. You would never put your family’s and loved ones’ lives in jeopardy by constructing your house on a rotten or cracked foundation.
Likewise, in business. start with the building block. What are the foundational elements of your business? Who are you fundamentally as a company, and what are you doing to maintain it?
Some would refer to this as the popular buzzword “cultural.” What exactly is “cultural” is the question. People are motivated to work for you and stick with you by it. It is what your staff members are doing covertly. It encourages customers to not only buy from you but to keep coming back to you throughout the years and telling their friends about their positive experiences with your company.
Culture is ingrained in your being and cannot be changed quickly.
This cannot be faked. What do you provide for your staff? How can you guarantee their success and that they will work for you for a long time? Do you just remark, “Well, good luck…,” and toss a green pea down the deep end? I already knew it, so why shouldn’t you?”
How would you describe your long-term training? How are your yearly reviews going? Do you and the other managers merely follow up with the staff once a year to find out how they are really doing? When are these important check-ins happening—when it’s convenient for senior management or the worker? Do you frequently elicit “why” in order to learn more about your staff members and their preferences? A means to an end is money. What is the real motivation behind their desire for a pay hike or a promotion?
Is communicating important to you? Are you paying attention with the goal of understanding? Do you take the initiative and behave with empathy? Do workers understand that they are appreciated daily, monthly, and annually? Do all departments recognize their admiration?
Do your company’s perks actually represent how valuable each person is? Future workers aren’t searching your perks on Google to check whether you have ping-pong tables and sleep pods. Although they are lovely bonuses, they are only perks and not actual benefits. Are weekends and Saturdays off for your team? Is the team still on the job nonstop? What are you doing to give your staff a break so they can come back to work refreshed? Do you actually allow your employees to be “off,” or do you keep contacting them via calls, messages, and emails even while they are away? Do you honor different people on a monthly basis, or do you also acknowledge major and little accomplishments? Are you setting a good example?
Do you consistently work to improve yourself and your team? If not, you’re going nowhere. When was the last time you saw a body of still water? Was it in motion? No. Was it rotten and odorous? Yes! Was there any charm to it? No! Do you associate with folks who are smarter than you? Do you really realize how crucial it is to have a diverse workplace? Are the management team and you receptive to suggestions? The ego might be very difficult to get rid of, but those who succeed in doing so will be rewarded a hundredfold! It is a never-ending endeavor, and those who genuinely excel at it never forget that our success depends on the success of the TEAM. When an employee is content, the client or customer will always notice and gravitate toward that individual. Take on that role. Be that company.
Conclusions Regarding Innovation and Cultural Change
Now, if you have never performed an inspection on your company and are now attempting to join the “cultural” bandwagon, don’t be shocked when you discover a flooded basement, a roof that is disintegrating, wood that is rotted through with termites, and a foundation that was built with cement cracks all over it. It will probably be necessary to demolish the house and rebuild it. I must emphasize that this takes time. Be tolerant. It’s worthwhile. Baby Steps, as Bob stated! Pick up the hammer and start at the beginning.
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