Agents are expected to provide information and support for products, training, software, and, most importantly, to get results! We are expected to keep the F&I team motivated to reach their highest potential. However, after long days of dealership visits, your vehicle’s gas tank is not the only one running near empty. So who motivates the motivator when we find our tanks empty after we’ve encouraged, instructed, corrected and rewarded everyone else?
There are three efforts that are pure octane to keep your motivation tank full.
1. Read, Listen, and Learn.
Find leaders that speak to you. Buy their books, listen to their podcasts, and access their blogs. The average American reads one book each year, and it is often an online version or an audio book — meaning they will pay less attention than they would if they were reading a physical copy. Want to be 12 times more motivated that those you face each month? Read one book a month! Every year, I attend several conferences and I always leave with a few ideas that I can use right away. Reading a book every month is like attending 12 conferences every year!
When you access new information, it makes you think. Even if the information suggests ideas I disagree with, it makes me think about a better way to accomplish what they are discussing. Good or bad ideas, when confronted, make us think. The ability to motivate others demands that we have fresh information to share with them. As we read and research, we discover that information; we embrace it and become passionate about it. However, we must first develop the habit of reaching out every month for more information.
2. Access a Mentor to Be a Mentor.
A mentor’s mindset will enable you to make full use of the experiences you walk through. When I was in F&I, I looked for mentors I could learn from and who would leave me better than they found me. Those mentors enabled me to reach levels of ability that I could never reach on my own. When I made the transition to F&I training, I didn’t simply look for a position, I looked for someone that I could look up to and learn from, a mentor. Those choices have paid great dividends and will continue to do so in the future. Also, working with a mentor has made me a more skilled mentor myself.
What do Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates all have in common? They all had great mentors and they have become mentors to others. No matter how successful we become, we should always have someone we look up to, to enable us to continue to grow. Every time I spend time with a mentor, I leave motivated and inspired. My tank gets filled up!
3. Retreat to Refuel!
“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I’m not sure who really said this, but it is true. The nature of our business forces many agents onto the road for weeks at a time. You’re putting in long days and constant travel, all the while balancing multiple high-level projects. A nonstop schedule wears away at the cutting-edge energy you bring to the dealership, and if there is no effort to refill the motivation tank you become just like the competition. That can be deadly! The competitive edge we deliver to our dealer partners goes beyond the products we offer and leans more to the motivation we provide for the team to sell them. Time away is time well spent!
As general agents, we are a key part of the success of every dealer partner we work with. The motivation we provide for the frontline members of the team translates directly to the bottom line on their financial statement each month. That motivates them to continue to look to us for leadership. Motivation completes a full-circle benefit for everyone. Make sure the circle remains unbroken in your dealerships!
I look forward to seeing you on my next post. Visit
www.go-reahard.com
to learn more about how we can help you help more customers. Also, feel free to contact me. Exchanging ideas that get results is my passion!
