John Kot has lengthy been a hands-on coach, an method he credit with facilitating worker buy-in and serving to him develop his enterprise.

“I’m coaching the employees myself,” mentioned Kot, who employs 229 individuals at eight dealerships in British Columbia. “Staff recognize that the president is doing this, moderately than somebody from the surface.” Kot mentioned his self-led coaching — an method he has taken since shopping for his first dealership 20 years in the past — enhances worker satisfaction and retention, which in flip boosts gross sales efficiency and buyer satisfaction.

At his Victoria Hyundai dealership, for instance, there was no turnover of gross sales employees in two years. Turnover at his seven different shops has been lower than 5 per cent.

“Gross sales employees really feel they’re getting developed,” Kot mentioned. “They see so most of the managers began on gross sales ground.

“Eighty per cent of our administration has been developed homegrown, with the in depth coaching, and [that] is essential to the success of the corporate. All of them have turn out to be our work household.”

Kot Auto Group relies in Kelowna, about 450 kilometres east of Vancouver. The corporate devotes three hours every week per dealership for coaching. A type of hours is performed by Kot, who rotates by way of the areas. Different periods are led by every dealership’s senior administration.

Kot’s periods are recorded and posted on a YouTube channel that’s open to the general public.

DO-IT-YOURSELF HAS RISKS

Whereas Kot has a confirmed monitor file, his coaching method shouldn’t be appropriate for each group, mentioned Robert Levesque, a Nova Scotia-based guide who has labored with automakers and dealerships for many years.

“John is likely one of the finest operators on the market,” Levesque mentioned. “This man is hands-on, and I respect all the things that he does.”

Nevertheless, any seller who depends fully on inside assets for coaching dangers lacking out on a worldwide overview of tendencies within the business. “They’re so near the bushes, they don’t see the forest anymore,” Levesque mentioned.

Generally, he mentioned, seller principals fail to acknowledge shortcomings in their very own methods.

Moderately than rely fully on “if-it’s-not-broke, don’t-fix-it” methods rooted in conventional approaches, a seller can rent an out of doors guide, who can extra simply determine shifts within the business, Levesque mentioned.

“That is probably the most harmful factor that may come to any firm,” he mentioned. “We name it paradigm paralysis.”

Kot mentioned one of the best ways to nurture growth of abilities is to share the information he has amassed over practically 4 many years. He started promoting automobiles half time at age 17 in his hometown of Weyburn, Sask., 115 kilometres southeast of Regina, and fashioned Kot Auto Group after buying his first dealership, Kelowna Hyundai, in 2011.

His classes embody not solely fundamental gross sales strategies resembling greeting methods, referrals and shutting but additionally fixed-ops and repair processes and basic matters resembling the company imaginative and prescient.

He even cites classes from his sports activities idol, NHL hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

“I’ve had an amazing response from the workers by doing this,” Kot mentioned. “They always attain out after and wish to chat extra.”

But, employees buy-in additionally hinges on Kot’s willingness to stroll the speak. “If I wish to educate somebody to be on social media, then I’ve to be on social media myself.”

Kot nonetheless finds time to get straight concerned within the gross sales course of, demonstrating to employees that he understands the challenges they face within the quickly evolving gross sales surroundings.

“I was an amazing salesperson,” Kot says in certainly one of practically 30 coaching movies on YouTube. “I’ve at all times been fairly good at constructing rapport and having the ability to shut a deal. … However the enterprise is altering.”

The shift in patrons’ expectations accelerated with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a want for touchless and distant interactions. Kot needs his dealerships to “get forward of the curve” by adopting new applied sciences as they turn out to be obtainable, he mentioned. Dealerships want to have the ability to present a seamless expertise, utilizing textual content and video to replace prospects and tablets to simplify the service course of.

Kot mentioned he does loads of self-training, mining insights from business leaders. However Levesque questioned how a CEO may discover the time to each run a dealership group and keep updated on business tendencies.

Levesque pointed to the usage of the SnapCell or BombBomb video messaging software program to ship replies to buyer inquiries. A gross sales affiliate can shortly put together a custom-made video walkaround of an in-stock automobile, exhibiting a possible buyer its options.

“When a buyer will get that reply, the response charge is multiplied by 10,” Levesque mentioned. “That dealership shouldn’t be going to provide you with that technique on their very own.”

Levesque conceded that Kot leads by instance, and that has worth. “The danger he’s dealing with,” Levesque mentioned, “is the market will shift, and his group shall be left behind.”