I’ve written a lot about the ups and downs of sales and marketing execution. I don’t know that I’ve ever encountered a perfect organization but there are certainly companies that execute very well. Naturally, there are those that don’t.
When a dealer engages a consultant, it doesn’t take too much time before the dealer wants answers. And they’re serious! After the self-diagnosis and sometimes their opinion on how to fix the problem are delivered, the dealer asks this question, “So what exactly do you recommend?” The expectation today for instant results is amazing. The consultant is expected to repair immediately what the dealer hasn’t been able to do in years. The speed of business today doesn’t help. Another strong contributor that feeds this demand for immediate answers is that some dealers have the same thing happening to them. Each morning they go through a ritual where their top twenty emergencies are presented to them in the first few minutes of their day, every day. This expectation of the dealer then becomes the pace that they expect from everyone.
Like the lightning round on Jeopardy, they’ll get most of them right and a few wrong, but most dealers are used to that pace and pressure. However, right or wrong it’s not always their business reputation they’re risking in each of those decisions like it would be for the consultant, so a consultant’s recommendation should only come from careful, thorough discovery and best practices.
No matter how strong the demand for instant answers becomes, a professional consultant can’t guide the repair, even for the more common problems, until you know what “it” is.
There are times where dealers hire a consultant, but for whatever reason they aren’t forthcoming, open and honest about the true cause of their problems. Sometimes they just don’t see it, sometimes they just won’t say it, but the baffling part is, they’re the one who made the decision to hire the consultant.
Great consultants always have a bit of a psychiatrist in them and in many cases call upon that skillset to help the client come to a place where they want to help themselves. Uncovering and/or acknowledging the root cause of failure can be, in itself, an act of freedom that launches the entire company into forward successful momentum.
However, if they can’t spur honest conversation and agreement around the root cause for the problem, it can become a very expensive and exhaustive undertaking. Consulting firms are a profit organization also and if they have to continually fight the client just to get to the truth, your fees won’t go as far as they should and most likely they’ll go find someone who really wants their help.
Sometimes we find that the dealer principals themselves are the problem. They simply aren’t great at leading their company. Possibly they were a great sales rep or service tech in the past, but not so great as an owner. This fix is easy—hire a GM or VP of Sales and step aside, for the health and wellbeing of the company and its employees. The owner may go back into the position they love, while the new leader manages everything for the better.
Likewise, there are good and bad consultants. But if the biggest problem is what the dealer sees in their mirror every morning, no consultant, not even one with an “S” on their chest and a red cape on their back, can fix their issues. If they’re always right and everyone else is always wrong, or, they simply don’t listen to anyone, I promise the consultant will get the blame.
If you ignore, modify or refuse to implement a great consultant’s recommendations, you OWN the outcome! The good and bad fall on you. It’s no longer their plan you’re following, it’s YOUR PLAN. I once had a business owner tell me that my recommendations and plan failed to achieve his objectives. I told him that was impossible and he asked, “How can you say that?” I said, “It’s because you have yet to follow a single recommendation I’ve given you.” After several hours of billable conversation, he finally came to the conclusion that he had modified or altered every single recommendation I’d given him. Some things are easy to see if you’re on the outside looking in.
The typical consultant is rational and doesn’t carry the emotion or pride about the dealer’s company that they do. Sometimes things are just too close and you need an outsider to balance the view. But no matter what recommendations you receive, no one can make you do anything.
Consultants are not your employees and at times it’s hard for dealers to interact with someone they pay and yet don’t reign over. It’s probably one of the most valuable business relationships you can create, as they get to see hundreds of companies like yours and are able to bring that knowledge into their relationship with you. But you have to understand that they are not accountable to you for every move they make.
Do you have a close friend or family member who won’t go to the doctor when they’re sick? Or maybe they go to the doctor but never follow their instructions for getting better, including not taking the medicine the doctor prescribed? This describes the consultant’s world perfectly. There are a lot of sick businesses out there and yet few will take it to the doctor and there are many who engage us who simply won’t take the medicine.
Consultants don’t have to be amazingly smarter than the average dealer even though they certainly could be. Most likely, they’re just seeing multiples of what you see one of. A consultant that specializes in a vertical market gets to see hundreds of examples of people running their business who are all handling the exact same issues, problems and concerns and there is a significant value in seeing the good and bad from those relationships. Let’s face it, you probably execute some tasks way better than others and consequently there are others who perform certain tasks better than you.
Over their career, a great consultant can ultimately work with hundreds of businesses like yours, and as such, they’ll get to see greatness from many points of origin. Some dealers have the exact same problems you do and some have mastered the problem you haven’t. In this light, think of a consultant as your conduit to greatness and someone who can shorten the path to success because of their experiences with different people just like you.
A great sales and marketing consultant can be a wonderful addition to your team. Most likely you’ll be able to afford their expertise simply by shifting dollars from a failed area of your business so it shouldn’t really cost you anything in the long run. If your business’ future is unsure or you have areas of your business that are out of control, a great consultant can help you. But they can’t make you call. So if any of this describes you and your company, take the free advice of a great consultant! Call one!
