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5 Training Tips That Work

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By Bob Cooper of Elite

If you want to build a more profitable, successful business, here are five tips that work!

1. If your employees show little or no interest in training, then you may very well have the wrong people working with you. The superstars have a number of things in common, one of which is that they are always looking to improve. This is why the stars will always jump at the opportunity to improve their skills.

2. Whenever possible, your employees should have a vested interest in their ongoing training. If you send an employee to a $200 course, and if you pay for the class, they’re not going to be nearly as attentive as they would be if they were paying the tab, right? So do this: tell your employees that you’ll pay for half of the tuition, and then 6 months later, if they are meeting your performance goals, you’ll reimburse them for the portion they paid for.

3. Many of the top shops in America mandate that their employees complete a predetermined number of hours each year in ongoing education. If they don’t meet the mark, their pay is reduced, or there is some other form of consequence.

4. Reward those that successfully complete training courses. Beyond just financial rewards, you should recognize these employees at your shop meetings, you can provide rewards that go home to their families, and you can display any certificates they have earned. You can also acknowledge them on your website or blog.

5. Practice what you preach. As a business owner, you should lead by example by constantly developing your own skills. Not only is this good role-modeling, but it will help you keep your business skills razor sharp.

For more tips on how to create a more profitable, successful business from Elite Worldwide President Bob Cooper, visit the Elite website at www.EliteWorldwideStore.com.

Pricing, Ethics and the Reputation of Your Business

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By Bob Cooper

At Elite we know that once someone comes into your shop, you’ll do everything you can to generate a happy customer, and make a fair profit. Unfortunately, some customers will put you to the test when it comes to the prices you charge. They’ll tell you they can’t afford the recommended services, they’ll tell you they can get the same service done down the street for less, or they’ll just need you to knock a few bucks off the price. This is when you typically tell yourself that you’ve already invested a good amount of time and money to get the customer to this point in the sale, so rather than letting the customer walk, you drop your price a few bucks, and in your mind, you just saved a job. Unfortunately, what you just lost was your integrity, and the integrity of your pricing.

One of the things we teach in our sales courses is that there are a number of reasons a customer will ask you for a discount.  They may very well be in a cash crunch, and as we all know, many cultures believe that you’re foolish if you don’t haggle over the price. But there’s yet another reason as to why people will ask you for a discount, and ironically it’s the one most shop owners, and service advisors, completely overlook. What those customers are doing, is testing your integrity. Look at it like this …You hire a plumber to do a job at your house, and they quote you at $800.00. You then ask them if that’s their best price, and within a few minutes they’re telling you they’ll knock $50.00 off the price. Regardless as to whether or not you authorize the job, you’ll more than likely tell yourself that if you wouldn’t have asked, one thing is for certain: you would have paid $50.00 too much. You probably wouldn’t feel too good about that, would you? And then ask yourself this question: would you call that same plumber again? And if you did, what thought would pass through your mind when he gave you a quote on the next job he did for you? I think it’s safe to say that your confidence in the plumber, and the integrity of his pricing, would be gone.  We also know many shop owners will inflate their prices when knowing they are dealing with a negotiator, and then will provide those customers with a supposed “discount.” So do this…rather than playing a shell game with your customers that will put you out of business, apply this powerful strategy:

#1. Embrace the fact that it’s perfectly ok to offer legitimate discounts, such as senior discounts, police and fire department discounts, military discounts and promotional discounts.

#2. When a customer asks for a discount, look at their request as a buying signal. They are already sold on you and the recommended services!  They are now either simply testing you for price integrity, or they are negotiators looking to get the best deal. Since they’re already sold on you, rather than lowering your price, look at their request as an opportunity for you to build even more interest and value in your recommended service, and to resell yourself at the same time.

#3. Rather than reducing your price, offer your customer something that brings an added value.  As an example, rather than lowering your price from $800.00 to $750.00, tell the customer if they authorize the service, you’ll provide them with a voucher they can use for a complimentary oil service during their next visit.  This way you don’t cheapen the value of your existing recommendation.

#4. If you feel for whatever reason you have to provide a concession in price, you should always take something off the table in return for the price reduction. Examples would be reducing the warranty on the repair, having your tech work on the vehicle when you are not as busy, etc. In all cases, if the customer pays less, they should get less. It’s called ethics.

For more tips on how to create a more profitable, successful business from Elite Worldwide President Bob Cooper, visit the Elite website at www.EliteWorldwideStore.com.

The Four T’s of Effective Employee Management

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By Bob Cooper

If you are not getting the results you’re looking for from your employees, before you jump to any conclusions, the first thing you need to consider is the first T, which stands for Training. If your employees aren’t meeting your performance standards, then the solution may be as simple as providing them with the proper training. If training doesn’t work, then you need to move on to the second T: Transfer. You may very well have a great employee, but you may also have them in the wrong position in your company.  If training doesn’t work, and there is no other position you can transfer them to, the next step is for you to either Tolerate, or Terminate. If you decide to tolerate, the best advice I can give you is to get out a calendar, and set a deadline with the employee. Otherwise, you and your business may end up paying an extraordinary price, and when the day comes that you finally do let that employee go, you’ll be telling yourself you should have made the decision a long, long time ago.

If you’re interested in more tips on effective employee management from Elite Worldwide President Bob Cooper, visit the Elite website at www.EliteWorldwideStore.com.

The Importance of Job Descriptions

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By Bob Cooper

The people that work with you (your employees) need a number of things to do their jobs well, yet none is more important than clarity. If you “tell” your people what you expect of them, that’s a good start, but they have busy lives and busy minds, just like you. So what you need to do is prepare a written job description for each employee that clearly defines your expectations.  Much like an employee handbook, the document should address company policies like dress codes, cell phone policies, tardiness, sexual harassment policies, non-solicitation agreements, etc. In addition, you need to define the standards of the job. Once you have these documents completed, assure they are reviewed by your attorney and then give each employee two copies: one for their own record, and one to be signed and dated after they have reviewed and agreed with all components of the document.  Once you’ve reached this point of agreement, it no longer becomes a question of what you may or may not have told them. They are now responsible for abiding by each and every article in the written job description.

For more tips on how to create a more profitable, successful business from Elite Worldwide President Bob Cooper, visit the Elite website at www.EliteWorldwideStore.com.

Employees Coming in Late

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“Use my Three Strikes program with any employee behavior that needs to change, and you have my promise! You will be amazed at the results!”

When you start to see a pattern in behavioral issues; such as a tech, manager or service advisor coming in late, here are the things you need to consider:  1) If you don’t nip it in the bud it will get worse. 2) Employees need to be responsible for their own behavior. 3) They need to know why have specific policies in place. So the next time an employee starts to develop a pattern of bad behavior, such as coming in late, call them into a private environment and ask them why they were late. When they have given you their explanation, say something like this…

“Mike, I realize you’ve been late four times now this month, and let me tell you what my concerns are. First of all, if you’re not here at 7:30am, the first thought that goes through my mind is that you or someone in your family might be sick or injured, and you might need my help. My second thought is that your car may have broken down, or you may have been in an accident, and I start to wonder if I should send Larry or Frank out to look for you. To complicate things even further, when you’re not here on time, and I’m standing at the service counter, I don’t know what to tell customers who ask me if their car’s going to be ready that day. And then there’s one other thing, Mike. I just can’t find it in myself to expect everyone else here at Elite Auto Service to be here on time when you’re not. Now I know old habits are hard to break, so here’s what I’m going to do. The next time you’re late, I’ll ask you why, but it really isn’t going to matter because that one’s going to be on me. The second time you’re late, again I’ll ask you why, and that one’s going to be on me as well. But then if you’re late a third time, for whatever reason, it’s going to be a difficult day for me, Mike, because what I’ll do is call you into my office, and I’m going to give you your final paycheck. Mike, I want to be clear with you. I think the world of you, and I would love to be able to work with you for the rest of my life. You’re a star, you really are, and I don’t want to see our relationship end, so please don’t put me in a position whereas I have to let you go. Do we have an understanding, Mike?”

Now here’s why this is such an easy-to-use and powerful way to solve behavior problems. First of all, many employees will think, “Gee, what’s a few minutes?” They’ll tell themselves they often work through breaks, stay late, etc., so you can see how easy it is for them to think you’re not only nit-picking, but you’re being quite unfair. That’s why it’s critically important that you let them know it’s not the couple of minutes that you’re concerned about; rather, it’s their well-being, your customers and your other employees that you are concerned about.

I have also discovered over the years that the keepers will typically apologize, and the behavior issue goes away. The people that won’t be with you very long will typically do one of two things. They either ask you “What period of time are you talking about” for the three strikes, (which tells us they already imagine they’ll be late), or they’ll make a point to show up each day just minutes before the time they’re suppose to be at work. Now here’s the best part! This Three Strikes system takes away all of the excuses and makes the employee responsible for his or her own behavior. Just remember, when you make a promise, you have to keep it, so be ready to hand that employee their final paycheck if the behavior continues.

This article is brought to you by Elite Worldwide President Bob Cooper, who will be presenting two seminars on effective business management: The Best Pay Programs on Earth and Stop Dreaming and Start Achieving at this year’s NACE event in Las Vegas (Oct. 10-13).  If you plan on attending the event, we would be honored to see you there.

Bob Cooper

Elite Worldwide, Inc.

(800) 204-3548

www.EliteWorldwideStore.com