Insurance Corner

Thinking Outside the Fishbowl

By Todd Shepard, Owner Shepard & Shephard Insurance

What a great phone call!

Your prospect is on his way to the dealership to see the blue Challenger on the front line and he’s bringing his tax refund with him. What’s next? You warm it up, wash the exterior if needed, and make sure it’s standing tall. Afterall, the first impression is the most important when your prospect comes to look at a car and anything you can do to make this experience more enticing to your prospect is worth the effort. Before he shows up you take one last look, everything is perfect, right? If you are like many busy business owners, you may want to look again. Sure, the car may look like new but what about your facility? Do your efforts to present a clean car mirror your efforts to present a clean dealership that encourages your prospect to consider making their second largest (or maybe even their largest) purchase from you? If not, maybe a bit of Spring Cleaning is in order. Years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of being involved as the sales manager with a start-up dealer who built a brand-new facility. Business was growing and the day-to day-challenges of business growth, employees, and customers was taking its toll on the focus of cleanliness and organization. Although it was busy, the service department was a mess with boxes, old parts, and junk sitting around. The owner and service manager suffered from what I call “inside the fishbowl disease”, meaning they were only looking outward and had no concept of what things looked like from the customer’s perspective. I knew the owner would not sit still and listen to any constructive criticism so I decided to take some photos using different angles as to avoid signage or other tell-tale signs that this was his facility. It worked! I showed the owner the photos and he immediately began asking if this was taken at his competitor and scoffing at what a mess it was. The final photo included his business sign. It was a punch in the stomach—but within hours, the entire staff was engaged in clean-up operations. With the fishbowl disease cured and the clutter removed, this is now one of the nicest and most successful dealers in the area. As a bonus, the service department was so nice and presentable the salespeople began offering quick tours at the end of the test drive—building more confidence and gross! If increasing prospects’ confidence to buy from you and increasing the opportunity for greater gross profit are not enough incentive to seek a cure for fishbowl disease, I encourage you to consider the value of loss prevention.

Clutter, exposed and unnecessary equipment, old tires, chipped paint, rough siding, exposed wiring, old signs, and unmarked steps—these are just a few of the common causes of slips, trips, cuts and scrapes to your staff, customers and prospects, which translate directly to insurance claims and losses.

The good news is that these losses can easily be prevented just by paying attention to the cleanliness of your facility. Lower loss exposure, higher closing ratio, higher gross? Sounds like free money to me.

Not sure how to get started? It’s as easy as ABC:

Begin by taking a few

Apictures of your business using your smart phone. Don’t go looking for trouble—just snap a pic from the front and sides of the building. You’ll be amazed at what pops up when you or others view them on a computer monitor. Things we don’t see in real life magically show up in photos.

B

Create a checklist of focus areas.

C

Start cleaning and organizing—then rinse and repeat every week.

It gets easier each time, and I guarantee you’ll love the results. If you are feeling like a fish out of water creating a checklist that works, feel free to shoot an email to todd@ shepquote.com and I’ll send you a sample checklist to get started.

A regular contributor to the Front Row, Todd has worked hands-on in and with the automotive & RV industry for over three decades. visit shepquote.com or call (855) 396-0488.