It is said that, if you don’t know where you are going, any road can take you there. There is a lot of truth in that statement. Process is your roadmap that will take you where you want to go. Without it, you may happen on some successes and fall into some failures, but it will be purely by accident, and therefore may not be able to be replicated. This is especially true with technology, and specifically CRM.

You see, it is not necessarily that the CRM has a process of its own. It is more important that you understand the needs of your business and that you apply the uniquely crafted process to address that need. In my opinion, too many people look to CRM to tell them how to run their business. Well, if there was one, unique best way, then everyone would do it that one way. Fact is, it depends on your staff, your brand, your location, your constituency and a myriad of other variables.

Many CRM’s have processes which are predefined. That is fine, as long as they are flexible enough to allow you to manipulate the product to do what you want without have to work around the program. Other products have little or no defined process. This works as well, as long as processes can be defined and adhered to within the product. Where people run into trouble is when a CRM dictates a process and cannot be deviated from, even at the Dealer’s will. This type of system will never allow you to truly grow and tweak your system to specifically address your stores needs.

Defining a process should be the work of you and your management team. Truly look at your store and identify what you do best. Do it without emotion and unsympathetically. You must define these things. Often when managers look at their stores and themselves, they will say, “we do a great job in service” or, “my used car side never holds a vehicle past 60 days” or “my grosses are the highest in the region”. The question now is why?

So what? So you never hold a car past 60 days. Is that because you are holding all the right cars, and you know the market so well that you never have to take anything to the auction? Or, is it because that is simply your policy, and you are buying and selling the same cars there? I am sure that you are thrilled that your grosses are the highest. But, how many of your customers repurchase? And, how many cars are you selling compared to your competitors?

True statistical analysis will look at the relationship of one statistic to another in diversely related areas. You may perceive that you are doing something well, but it is based on a platform of something that in innately derogatory. This is why you need to look at your organization without bias, or prejudice. Don’t be too proud of or too irritated with the what you do best until you understand the why. Once you understand the what and why of that which is best about your store, you can begin to craft the how, the process.

CRM is a tool which can significantly assist you in defining the how. It does this by give you detail on the what; what you are actually doing. That is one of the things that CRM does best. And, as you make improvements to your how, you will continue to see what your are doing improve, or at least change. This is why you should continue to tweak you process to achieve the greatest affect. This is also why you need to utilize a CRM which have adjust to your process even as it grows and evolves.

Most of what I have just discussed is nothing new to an effective dealer. And, I am sure that it should sound like common sense to everyone. But in my opinion, one of the biggest problems that I have seen in the industry is complacency. Either dealers who are satisfied with their status and make no effort to change. Or, dealers who want or even need to change, but are unwilling to make the effort to do so. Change is almost always hard. But, it often offers significant rewards. And remember, not everything needs to change.

Small changes, if necessary, are the best. Bigger ones, as required, can follow. The best way to implement a change is to have lost of little successes. Make changes that are small but noticeable, and that you will be able to identify an improvement on after a short period of time. It is like making the customer say “Yes” several times through your interaction. It primes the way to a state of mind which will be more positive and offer you a higher likelihood of an affirmative response. Show how a number of successes in a row when you make changes, and your staff will not only accept it, but they will look forward to it. They will themselves start to look for ways to make improvements.

Up to this point, we have basically discussed how to recognize what you are doing, and what you need to do to become more effective: How to identify, create and deploy your process. The key is making sure that everyone is now on the same page, they know what you want, and the follow this newly crafted premium process. Let me offer some tips on how to make sure that what you deploy is embraced by your staff.

Be involved in your process. Don’t just rely on others to determine what is best for your dealership. It is important to hear and understand how others do things. But, ultimately the decision is yours, as it should be. Make sure that your process is clear and understood by everyone involved. Write it down. Documentation of your process is imperative so that there is never any debate of what is expected.

Commit to your process. It is good to get buy-in when you deploy a process, but that is not a requirement. People generally resist change, even if they know that it will be good for them. Managers who manage by consensus are typically less effective and ultimately loose control because they have never made any demands of their staff. Take input from your staff. Hear what they have to say. Make your own decisions. Enforce the decisions you make. After a time, go back and reassess your process and your decisions and determine if you want to stay on that path. And remember, everyone makes mistakes. If something is not working, don’t be afraid to change it.

Set a baseline before you start. Identify specifically how you are doing in the areas that you feel need improvement before you engage a CRM or change CRM’s. This is a key component to defining whether the product and the process are working for you or not. IF you don’t have that information before you start, no matter how things go, you are just guessing at the success of your choice.

Make sure that the process you have chosen works with the CRM that you have chosen. There are a lot of ways to reach the same goal. The key is choosing a tool that does it the way that you need. Still, be open to change, and listen to how the companies identify their best practices. They could have insight that you may not have identified. But again, ultimately it should accommodate what you need the way that you want it done.

Set a goal. Have a well defined expectation of what is to be accomplished. Communicate that to your people so they know as well what you intend to achieve. This way you can base future decision and changes on how close you got to your goal or by how much you were able to surpass it. Remember, if you don’t know where you are going, even if you get there, you won’t even know that you are there.