Stop Measuring in Percentages — Start Measuring Opportunity
As you post your October financial statement and look ahead to the rest of the year, don’t limit yourself to comparing percentages — month over month or year over year. That mindset narrows your objectives and softens your commitment.
Instead, focus on what’s truly possible. What’s the opportunity in front of you for November — the kind of month they build statues about?
Start with your assets: How many sales associates, managers, and finance managers make up your variable operations team? Then dig into your CRM and DMS:
• How many opportunities did they get — inbound calls, walk-ins, digital leads, and service ROs?
• And how many did they create?
Inbound activity is farming — you’ve planted seeds through facilities, inventory, and marketing. But outbound activity is hunting, and hunting drives growth. You don’t win by waiting for crops to grow. You win by going out and creating opportunities.
Step 1: Measure the Hunt
The first metric that tells me whether my hunters are really in the field or sitting in the cabin: How many outbound phone calls, texts, and emails went out this month?
I want 100 outbound dials per day per person — salespeople, sales managers, and finance managers.
Once I have that number, I analyze quality:
• How many contacts were made?
• How long did those calls last?
If they’re one-ring hang-ups, that’s not hunting. When I see 90-second voicemails or 2–3 minute conversations, I know someone’s working.
Then I look for manager engagement. Did a manager take a live phone TO when contact was made? Are there manager notes in the CRM, not just “manager spoke to customer” written by a salesperson?
Because the phone’s objective is simple: set the appointment. Once it’s set, get it confirmed. Get it pulled forward. And if it doesn’t show, a manager TO should happen immediately. Every missed TO is a missed opportunity.
Step 2: Appointments to Sales — Execution Wins
The next step in the hunt: Of the appointments that were set and confirmed — how many showed up? And for the no-shows — how quickly did a manager call?
When appointments do show, I want to see an early T.O. on every one. Managers must engage in real time to ensure a complete process:
• Needs analysis
• Vehicle selection and walk-around
• Test drive
• Write-up and appraisal
If there’s a trade, I want full ACV the first time. No games. No “add $500 to make the deal.” A vehicle is worth what it’s worth — and I’ll verify it by market comps, history, and turn rates.
When we pencil a deal, I track timing. If a salesperson goes out and comes back in less than 20 minutes, they’re off the deal unless they came back with all the money. A short cycle means the deal wasn’t worked.
And when a second pencil is needed, it goes to the sales manager, not the salesperson — same pencil, no discounts yet. Because 25% of the time, when a manager goes in with the same first pencil, he gets all the money. Why give it away?
Step 3: Leadership in the Windshield
Here’s the real trick — this can’t be managed in the rearview mirror.
You don’t drive the Indianapolis 500 looking backward. You drive it through the windshield. The same goes for leadership.
A true leader’s place isn’t behind a desk or in an office. It’s in the showroom, on the lot, and at the sales desk, ensuring that every opportunity is maximized in real time.
That’s the difference between executive leadership that leaves early for golf and hands-on leadership that builds champions. The latter creates accountability, energy, and engagement. It transforms salespeople, managers, and F&I professionals into owners of the process — moment to moment.
Because if you’re correcting it in the rearview mirror, it’s already too late. But if you’re watching it through the windshield, you can fix it now, coach it now, and seize the opportunity now.
That’s leadership. That’s how you turn a dealership into a record-breaking machine — one opportunity, one day, one month at a time. That’s how you build teams that are champions of the hunt.
