As a certified Business Coach I've given a lot of thought as to how the coaching concept can create better synergy in the dealership marketing arena. Actually, it's probably the best way for an owner/general manager to participate effectively in the dealership advertising process......You become the dealership's AD COACH! Rather than dictating a specific direction for creative and media, you become the facilitator.
This is going to accomplish a few things. First, it becomes an expectation that the people you involve in your marketing plans are truly involved. They come to meetings with ideas. They look at the changing marketplace. They analyze the competition, the opportunities, what's working, what's not. And then they get involved to put a game plan together that everyone can get their arms around and execute.
The second thing that happens (and probably the most important) is that YOU stop trying to be the advertising expert! As a dealer or general manager your job is not to be an advertising guru. Even if you have a PHD in marketing! Your primary job is to facilitate and coordinate the leaders around you to figure out the best way to sell and service more vehicles at a higher profit.
You are (probably) not a bookkeeping/administration expert but you know how to coach the experts in that department to produce the results you desire. You are (probably) not the best automotive technician in the business but you know how to coach the experts in that department to produce the desired results. You might be the best salesperson in the organization, but you recognize that physically selling cars is probably not the best way to spend your time. And you're probably smart enough to know that micro-managing sales won't grow your organization. Now, apply those coaching skills to one of the biggest line items of investment on your statement...advertising.
Where do you start? Send an email (you are using email right?) to all those involved in your dealership's advertising, plus select dealership associates inviting them to an advertising roundtable in which you will act as ad coach.
Explain that it means you will be facilitating the meeting that will help your dealership generate and execute a game plan that will achieve your growth/profit goals in the coming year. At this first roundtable meeting, invite your ad agency, if you have one, your advertising/marketing director, your general sales manager and all other sales managers, your director of parts and service, your office manager and anyone else you feel might be able to contribute to development of an effective ad program. Tell every single person invited that they will be expected to participate. This will not be an instructional meeting or a seminar or a training session. This is a workshop and their input will be an important part of the process.
Have a 'white board' or large paper flip chart in the room. Have a marker in your hand. Ask the question: "What do we want to accomplish with our advertising efforts in the coming year?" If there is more than 3 seconds of silence, point to the general or sales manager with a quizzical look on your face. He or she will undoubtedly say: "Sell more cars!" EXCELLENT! Write that down on the white board. "Anything else we want to accomplish with our advertising?" you ask.
Continue to write the ideas on the white board. IMPORTANT: There are no 'bad' ideas or 'silly' ideas. Encourage people to dig deep. Have someone take notes to get the ideas in writing.
Move on to the next Socratic question: "What are we doing now that is effective?" Point to someone in the room who hasn’t been participating and invite a comment. Write down the idea on the board. Ask for more. If a discussion develops, let it roll for a few moments. Just don’t let it get out of hand.
At some point, bring everyone back to the focused idea. Today, we are not going to formulate a game plan. Today we are going to be introspective. We are going to think about where we are spending our advertising dollars. What message are we sending? Who are we reaching? What do we need to do to get better? What are our opportunities in the coming year? If we are going to sell more vehicles, where will those increases come from? Are we taking advantage of missed opportunities such as free publicity, development of our internet and e-communications? Do people in our marketplace really know our unique marketing perception?
At the end of this meeting, tell everyone you'd like to transcribe the notes of the meeting, pass them out to all who attended, and schedule a second meeting for next week. Between now and then, ask each participant to spend 10-15 minutes a day thinking about the dealership's overall marketing direction and be prepared to share those thoughts at the next meeting.
It is important to have all of the key players in your dealership at these first few meetings along with the people who actually handle the advertising on a day to day basis. It's also important for your managers to know they have a role and a voice in your marketing. It's important for your advertising folks to see these people involved in the process. Suggest to all in this group that they are free to bounce ideas off one another in preparation for the next meeting.
Your second meeting is where you start to formulate a general game plan. Now we start asking about what our message needs to sound like. What media is most effective? One of your managers has just read an article on the Internet about how companies that use customer-created ads score with consumers! In that article it says those firms are seen as more creative and innovative than firms that rely on professionally created campaigns. The research says most adults believe such companies are customer-friendly (68%), creative (56%) and innovative (55%). Then another manager suggests we invite our employees and customers to make ads about us, put them up on our website and have a contest. What a fantastic idea! That's digging deep! That's thinking. That's involvement. Applause.
Someone else stands up. "Hey, why don't we upload those ads to YOUTUBE as well. Then we not only get them on our own website...we get them in front of the whole world for nothing!" BIGGER APPLAUSE!
And you, the coach are smiling. You're not doing all the talking. You're listening. You're developing the individual skills of your great team who will go on to win the big one. Like Vince Lombardi once said about the team..."The least of us is the best that he can be."
If you'd like an outline of a coaching session for an advertising workshop including important questions to ask your team, or if you would like to share some of your own 'ad-coaching' experiences, please email me at Jim@CBCAds.com.
Do you have questions or comments about this or past AdTalk articles? Feel free to email them to CBC.
This issue of AdTalk is brought to you by Research Partners. Serving dealers for nearly 20 years to help reduce advertising cost: Research Partners
