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How Do Your Processes Compare with NASA's?Recently I had my foreign exchange student’s father come for a holiday visit to Houston from Sweden. I made a phone call to a friend and he arranged a tour of NASA with an astronaut mission specialist. I decided I would accompany my friends. Engineering is not anywhere close to my expertise, but in a word, WOW.
PROCESS MEANS SUCCESS As I was sitting in the Space Shuttle Mock-Up listening to Dr. Charles Camarda, I was spellbound. I was caught in the moment when I saw on the latch, “10 step process for closing latch.” And then it hit me right between the eyes….I was in the middle of procedure kingdom, process heaven if you will. What struck me was the 10-step process they had for just one procedure would have to be followed precisely, or someone could die. DO WE TREAT OUR PROCESS THIS RIGOROUSLY AT THE DEALERSHIP LEVEL? And then I started thinking about all the processes involved. The locking out with a clamp twice when you went out into space, the computer systems, how to train in zero gravity, and it made our little 10 or however many step process to a sale seem relatively tiny. They had 40 computer processes alone! Let’s face it, most of our steps on a sales process are relatively the same: meet greet, demo, write up and on and on. Rather you have 5 or 10 steps, they are somewhat universal. Yet I know we have such pushback and lack of following these processes at a big number of dealerships. Remember, for the mission specialist, it is a matter of life. It stands to reason that it is our/your dealership's life that is on the line and a lack of following these processes could lead to the dealership's demise. I even see dealerships that have no real process.
FOLLOWTHROUGH MEANS SUCCESS And secondly, managers and dealers should inspect these processes to make sure they are followed. Recently a friend called and said they were putting a process in his dealership. They spent thousands of dollars for a trainer. The managers never implemented the processes because they did not hold the salespeople accountable for the steps. Yet the upper level management still thinks they now have a process. That is truly a shame. Now, does NASA have incredible resources? Of course they do. However, we are asking dealerships to do one sales process, and many of our managers and certainly the majority of our dealers make more money than many of the astronauts’, many of whom have doctorate degrees. After sitting in the captain’s seat of the space shuttle and looking at the Russian space capsule (real tiny), we went over to the Buoyancy Lab. This is a forty foot pool where the shuttle is submerged. This is as close to zero gravity that an astronaut can train. AN ASTRONAUT TRAINS EIGHT HOURS IN THE BUOYANCY POOL FOR EVERY HOUR IN SPACE. Now that’s training to the point that every move you make is a natural reflex. PLUS, when they go underwater, they have two divers accompany them and a third diver with a camera recording them to a simulated mission control. I have had a few sales forces in my career that worked that way. The process was followed, specific word tracks were given automatically for specific situations and the gross and volume flowed. Then, the major battle after time is to avoid complacency.
PROFESSIONALISM MEANS SUCCESS Here is another thing at NASA that great organizations possess. They have a uniform that is literally out of this world, a spacesuit. It is uniform and all of the astronauts wear them. Their lives and livelihood depend on this uniform. Now let’s look at a typical dealership: Let’s face it folks, at most dealerships we have taken casual Friday and pushed it to the limit. These days most dealerships I go to are fashion-challenged. And I don’t blame the guys on the front line. Many of the managers and some of the owners are the worst offenders. Ladies and gentlemen, if you could see how tacky you look with an unironed shirt and a wrinkled pair of slacks and the shirt has gravy from the lunch buffet decorating the front….well, you get the picture. I am saying your lives and livelihood also depend on you looking like a pro. I think Michael Gerber who wrote THE E MYTH REVISITED was correct when he says a business should pick out the most outrageous different uniforms that are available. Or in our case, be impeccably dressed. Owners, get with the program and have your people look like they belong. I recently went to a Chrysler Dealership in Houston, Deerbrook Forest Chrysler, and told the Dealer Principal, Dale Early, how professional his sales force looked, not to mention his lot, his display and his showroom. But it sometimes seems the rare exception today when the sales force looks that professional, and that is a shame. Let’s get with it, owners.
TIPS FOR BEING SUCCESSFUL You say your people will always push back and that you cannot always be out front. A very successful dealership I ran had a mystery shopper clause that all new salespeople would sign. We would have at least two mystery shops a month and play them at a sales meeting. The good ones would get a C-note spiff. The ones that were brain dead would be mortally embarrassed as well as given extra attention. The funny part is that they usually knew the procedure and process, but tried to take the easy way out. That usually is a recipe for disaster and the film and our constant prodding kept the people honest. They would see in time with their commission checks how well good processes work. Do you want to get your people to demo the correct route with a switch point? Have an employee stationed at the switch point with a deck of cards. The employee lets the salesperson have a draw and autographs the card. The deal cannot start without the desk seeing the autographed card. On Monday there is a poker game with the high hand winning money. Do your processes measure up to NASA’s? Probably not. But let’s get the players to train to the point that what they need to do is a reflex. Like the astronauts. To quote Michael Gerber, “People don’t stretch, they shrink to fit.” Don’t shrink away from your processes. Make them work even if it involves a little stretching.
Again, thanks to Rob Dorman and Mission Specialist Dr. Charles Camarda.
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