Poor leadership practices cost companies millions of dollars each year by negatively impacting employee productivity, staff retention, and customer satisfaction. Poor leadership can cost a company as much as 7% of its total revenues annually. A single poor leader may cost an organization an average of $126,000 each year due to lost productivity and other factors.
The thing about all this is—it’s not new. The evidence has been sitting there, probably laminated and ignored in someone’s middle-management training binder, for decades. So while it’s lovely to see more people writing about how treating employees like actual human beings improves business, I can’t help but notice how rarely anyone actually does it.
Leadership is a profitable practice
Before Kruse Control, I was managing a particular group of dealerships. We rolled out a whole “connect with your employees and customers” concept like it was a new religion—and for four glorious years, we practiced it with zeal. We didn’t just boost morale. We went from selling 60 cars a month to 200. Gross jumped by over a million dollars per month. Service and parts followed suit, more than doubling. CSI was through the roof. People actually wanted to come to work. Imagine that.
And then, of course, a large company bought the group, folded the whole thing like a cheap card table, and returned us all to our regularly scheduled programming of memos, meetings, and motivational posters featuring eagles.
Yet some still don’t want to practice it
What’s always baffled me is how dealership leaders see this stuff work—clearly, measurably, with all the spreadsheets and fanfare—and then opt out like it’s some boutique Pilates class. I mean, really, what do they have to lose? Except, you know, profit, performance, and every employee with a pulse.
After all, acting like you appreciate employees has a significantly positive impact on dealership profitability. When employees feel valued, they are more engaged, more productive, and genuinely committed to delivering exceptional service.
8 Things Extraordinary Dealers Say That Don’t Involve Yelling Across the Showroom
Running a dealership is like juggling flaming car deal jackets while someone’s toddler screams at you for a juice box. Whether you’re wrangling green-pea salespeople, a finance manager who still thinks profit is optional, or the Parts guy who speaks exclusively in part numbers, the job requires leadership. Real leadership. The kind that doesn’t come from a Zig Ziglar cassette or that guy from your 20 Group who is now a YouTube influencer.
Fortunately, the answer isn’t in another CRM workshop or a five-hour factory sales meeting. It’s communication – yes, actual words that leave your mouth and land in someone else’s ears.
I was reading an Inc.com article about things that exceptional bosses constantly tell their employees and I felt compelled to share these things as someone who’s seen both ends of the communication spectrum, and all points in between.
Here are eight things extraordinary dealership leaders say regularly to their employees. Try them. Or, if your GM still thinks sarcasm is a leadership style, maybe send them this anonymously.
1. “I have total confidence in you.”
Nothing says “I trust you” like… well, actually saying it. Micromanaging your team like they’re teenagers sneaking out after curfew does not build confidence. It builds ulcers. In you and them.
Roosevelt once said something about picking good people and then getting out of their way. I’d quote it directly, but this is a dealership management article, not a history class. Still, the point stands: hire well and let them do their job without hovering like a vulture over a fresh up.
2. “Here’s what I want us to accomplish…”
One of the biggest lies in dealerships is that everyone knows what the goal is. Spoiler alert: they don’t. Telling people to “just sell more cars” is not as helpful as you might think.
Great leaders link the day-to-day grind—phone calls, test drives, service appointments, parts deliveries – to something bigger. Like a sales target. Or surviving the next audit.
3. “What can we do better next time?”
Ah, mistakes. The fuel of progress, and also the reason your office door is always slightly ajar. Every person in the store has screwed something up, including you (gasp!).
Instead of assigning blame like you’re casting a reality show, treat errors like what they are—chances to improve. Unless it was losing the dealer plates again. Then maybe a little blame is fine.
4. “I want to play to your strengths.”
Not everyone is born to close. Some are born to fix. Others are born to make Excel spreadsheets so beautiful they bring a tear to the eye.
Trying to make a detailer into a desk manager is like asking a horse to run the finance department. It’s weird and no one wins. Find people’s strengths and let them shine, even if that means letting the guy with zero filter write your ad copy. (Hey, it works sometimes.)
5. “What’s your opinion?”
There are a few ways to get great ideas in a dealership. One is to assume you already have them all. The better one is to ask.
That porter who’s been parking cars in the summer heat for five years? He’s seen more about customer flow than your CRM vendor ever will. Ask him. Then ask everyone else. Just maybe not all at once.
6. “How can I support you?”
I know, I know. You support them by paying their salaries. But you know what’s free? Asking how you can help.
Maybe they need training. Maybe they need a printer that doesn’t jam like it’s afraid of success. Either way, showing you care goes further than ordering pizza on the last day of the month and calling it “culture.”
7. “Let me know if you have any questions.”
This isn’t just something you say while walking away. It’s something you actually mean.
Because nothing slows down productivity like someone sitting in silence, afraid to ask where the title vault is. Or worse, asking your warranty clerk. That never ends well.
8. “Good work.”
This one’s easy. When people do well, tell them. Say it. Out loud. In front of other people, if you’re feeling wild.
You don’t need a gong or a raffle or a sad little “Employee of the Month” plaque that hasn’t changed names since 2017. Just look someone in the eye and say, “Nice job.” It’s magic.
In the end, running a dealership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room or having the nicest demo. It’s about showing up, paying attention, and saying the kinds of things that make people want to come back tomorrow.
Which, in this industry, might be the highest praise of all.
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