Shooting for the Stars
Every dealership and service department wants growth. They want more cars sold, higher service revenue, five-star reviews, and a reputation as the best in their market. Ambition is great—it’s necessary. But too often, I see teams reaching for the stars while ignoring the very ground they’re standing on.
The Foundation: Team, Culture, and Training
Here’s the truth—you can’t do the basics well without the right team, the right culture, and the right training.
Delivering a great customer experience, managing financials, and staying proactive… these aren’t just tasks. They’re daily disciplines, and disciplines are built by people. But people only rise to the level of support, training, and leadership they receive.
Strong teams create accountability. They make sure the small things don’t get missed.
Healthy culture fuels consistency. When everyone takes pride in their work, the basics aren’t a burden—they’re just how business is done.
Training drives growth. You can’t expect your team to improve without investing in their skills. Leaders often want growth in the numbers but forget that growth in performance starts with growth in people.
If leaders aren’t willing to invest in their teams—through training, coaching, and development—then expecting long-term results is unrealistic. The businesses that excel are the ones that grow their people first, knowing that team growth and business growth go hand in hand.
The Big Miss: Basics Before Brilliance
Dealers and service leaders love to talk about innovation, big targets, and ambitious strategies. But you can’t build sustainable success on shaky foundations. Here are three of the most common “basic misses” I see:
1. Neglecting the Customer Experience
It’s easy to spend big on marketing, promotions, or flashy showroom updates. But the real test is how customers feel every time they interact with you. Are they greeted warmly? Is their service process seamless? Do they leave feeling valued?
Customer experience isn’t an “extra”—it’s the foundation of trust and loyalty. If you don’t consistently deliver it, no amount of advertising will save you.
2. Not Understanding Financials
Big goals sound great, but when you ask many leaders for their true financial picture—expenses, net profit, cost per RO, effective labor rate—they often don’t have a clear answer.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Understanding your financials isn’t optional; it’s the language of business success.
3. Playing Defense Instead of Offense
Too many departments wait for problems to show up—angry customers, low technician productivity, month-end shortfalls—before reacting. The basics are about being proactive: reaching out to customers before they call you, tracking KPIs daily instead of monthly, and addressing bottlenecks before they hurt performance.
Why the Basics Matter
Think of the basics as oxygen. You don’t notice them when they’re there, but try to function without them and everything collapses.
A dealership or service department that invests in team, culture, and training—and nails the fundamentals of customer experience, financials, and proactive habits—earns the right to innovate, to take big swings, and to scale.
It’s great to shoot for the stars. But if you’re not consistent with the basics—and if your people aren’t supported with culture and training—you’ll never leave the ground. Excellence isn’t about doing everything flashy. It’s about building a strong team, creating a culture of accountability, and doing the small, simple things so well that bigger success becomes inevitable.