In business, it’s essential to make a profit. That’s the reality for any shop owner.
That’s why profit-driven sales goals are an industry norm. It’s crucial to make sure you’re hitting the goals needed to ensure your business is thriving. That’s the only way you can continue to support yourself, your employees, and your customers.
But profit-driven sales goals also have pitfalls. They can become too much of a focus and lead to unethical business practices. They might motivate an employee too much to the point they oversell, and others simply might not be motivated by these types of goals.
However, there are ways to use profit-driven sales goals to achieve the desired outcome and benefit your employees and customers while operating ethically and effectively.
Goals are Good
It’s important to have goals, and there is a reason profit-driven sales goals have become an industry norm. It’s impossible to run an effective business without focusing on profits.
While it’s necessary to keep a focus on profits and essential to have profit and sales goals, they can’t be the sole focus of your shop, says Jaron Kleber, the director of sales and business development at Repair Shop of Tomorrow.
“What we need to avoid is: Profits are the most important,” Kleber says. “Because if all we’re thinking of is profits, then we’re probably being a little unethical to our employees, we’re being a little unethical to the customer, and ultimately, that puts a bad reputation, not only for your shop but for the industry as a whole.”
Jim Saeli, a senior trainer and shop inspection manager at DRIVE, notes that it’s a fluctuating industry where costs change with regularity. That’s why it’s essential to have targets and know what number you need to hit to sustain your business.
“But (the number) doesn’t have to be the be-all and end-all,” Saeli says.
Sales goals are essential and are often positive, but it comes down to the execution of those goals. And that execution should all start by putting the customer first.
Putting Customers First
One issue that can often come into play with profit-driven sales goals is that they can take focus away from the customer when the customer should be the first focus.
Profit-driven sales goals shouldn’t lead to service advisors trying to sell the customer things they don’t want or need. They should be working with them to meet their needs.
“First and foremost, service to the customer, doing the right thing, from that, the sales goal will actually be able to be met because people want to come to the shop,” Saeli says.
Kleber notes that building relationships is important, and the sales process shouldn’t be something that’s purely transactional. Building relationships with customers is a way of building loyalty, and in turn, getting repeat business to sustain you long-term.
Kleber also says that in his mind, the financials aren’t necessarily what makes a business successful. He says the true measure of success is customer and employee satisfaction.
There’s always work that needs to be done and there’s no need to oversell, even if in the short term it might feel like a great success. But in the big picture, that type of approach can turn customers off and lead them to look elsewhere next time they need repairs.
“What you should be doing is creating a situation in your shop where I’m looking for customers for life,” Saeli says.
That starts with putting the customer first, which is also key in avoiding some of the negative outcomes that can arise from setting profit-driven sales goals.
If you’re putting the customer first, the sales will inevitably come.
Training
Avoiding those negative outcomes that can come from profit-driven sales goals all starts with training. Your team needs to understand your objectives, and you need to make sure you have the right people, the right processes, and the right culture in place.
“Having policy and procedure in place as to how customers are handled and how work is done in your shop need to be clearly defined so everybody understands what our endgame is, what our goal is, what our culture is in the shop, what we provide to the customer,” Saeli says. “Focusing on that and then everybody will be doing the right thing.”
When you have those clearly defined standards and a clearly defined culture, it all comes down to finding the right people who understand and fit your objectives. Make sure you have a sales staff that will put customers first and keep their needs in mind.
When it comes to selling, it can be as simple as presenting the repairs to the customer in the order in which they need to be done. For example, bad brakes would be essential to fix, but there could be less dire maintenance work that could be done as well. You can present that in a list to the customer and work with them to see what their needs are.
Ultimately, if you have the right people and processes and take a customer-first approach, the profit comes. And that approach will only bring your shop a positive long-term outlook.
“At the end of the day, the profits are going to be a byproduct of us doing the right thing for our customers and our employees,” Kleber says.
