Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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to implement the right structure, technology, process design and marketing tactics. a good trainer can do all of that and [create] do-it-yourself solutions for dealers at the same time." Without exception, trainers stress the need for involvement and reinforcement from the highest levels of management. "For the most successful dealers, training starts from the top down," says David lewis, founder of a Melbourne, Fla.-based consultancy. "We say, 'There are different levels of success with our program.'" lewis says that no trainer would say their success rate isn't higher when the dealer and general manager take part in training. he believes managers should be willing to participate, if only for the beneft of the staff. "Their managers are not paid to train and they're not good at it," he says. "it's about teaching them a thought process." Bennett's sentiment is shared by rich Moore, director of sales training for st. louis-based Protective asset Protection. "Dealers should expect that a trainer understands the dealer's business like a peer, rather than just a trainer," Moore says. "With that type of understanding, the trainer can not only train the people in the dealership, but help them understand why they're doing what they're doing." Terry Dortch, president of automotive compliance consultants in crystal lake, ill., emphasizes the need to remain connected once communication is established. "The dealer should expect a trainer to leave no gaps in the information being disseminated," Dortch says. "The dealer should expect that the trainer would provide some sort of method to allow the trained individuals an opportunity to review the information, whether that be through written documents or some sort of follow-up program." 3 adaptability No two dealerships are the same, and no trainer can implement the same plan at every store. john Gizzo, vice president of subprime retail strategy for atlanta-based Global lending services, crystallizes the need for fexibility in one word: "vision." "a good trainer should be able to clearly understand the vision of senior management and what that dealer expects to get out of the training," Gizzo says. "any good trainer will be able to take that dealer's vision and transfer it in such a manner that it is adopted by the participants as their own vision. When this occurs, it is truly magical." joe Webb is the founder of Dealerknows consulting in chicago. He says dealers should expect trainers to adapt their curriculum to "the elements they're given." "Dealers don't need to start from scratch," Webb says. "They just need Paul Potratz, coo of Potratz advertising in schenectady, N.y., believes the trainers themselves should also be willing to learn more. "a trainer must always be challenging himself or herself to become better," he says. "i would also like to see a trainer that implements and tests their own strategies within their own company. if the trainer is willing to spend their own money on what they feel works, then they would have my attention." 4 sensitivity aWNinc's reinicke reminds dealers that trainers must have people skills to make their lessons stick. "it is amazing how many people are out there who are so focused on their knowledge, but don't have the skills to communicate that knowledge in a way that makes learning easy and fun and not intimidating to the trainee," she says. at Dominion Dealer solutions in Norfolk, va., client implementation specialist Michelle randall says the key to effective communication is asking questions. Management and staff will have questions for the trainer, and the trainer should have a few questions of their own. 7