The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most successful franchises in professional basketball. They’ve won five NBA Championships and have the highest regular season winning percentage in league history. With all their success, the Spurs still have the same big problem as you. Their Coach, Greg Poppovich, has instilled a culture and a mindset with the players that inspires…
Jimmy Johnson was the head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1989 through 1994. He had a reputation for being a no-nonsense, disciplinarian who was tough on his players. Falling asleep during one of his meetings was considered a “career-limiting move.” Everyone knew this. Everyone, except for a backup linebacker named John Roper. During a recent interview, Johnson…
A shop owner named “George” was meeting with his General Manager, “Ed.” Normally, they would have their Monday one on one meetings at George’s office, but this particular day was different. George decided that a field trip was in order. He took Ed out to this gorgeous field. As they walked, George pointed to the…
How do you break through a limiting belief about yourself? Reflecting on this question, reminded me of a story I read in John Maxwell’s book, The Five Levels of Leadership. Maxwell writes about of a young lawyer named Herb, who was new to the legal profession. In an effort to get up to speed, Herb studied two experienced attorneys to…
You just had ten forklift drivers respond to your State Inspectors ad. Your $$3,000 Google Adwords campaign only generated a $30 oil change. Your new “A” Technician that started on Monday still hasn’t come back from his lunch break. Each of these scenarios has one thing common. They leave you feeling frustrated. This is problematic because it’s impossible to feel…
What’s possible if you become a master of persuasion? As I ponder this question, I’m reminded of something that happened back when I was a shop manager in need of a new car. The shop was 45 minutes away from home, so I was looking for a reliable and dependable vehicle. The plan was to get…
“My tool guy says that everybody’s slow!” Said “Katie”, the service manager of a local repair shop. She was averaging $12,000 per week in sales which was a 16% decrease when compared to the previous year. Katie went on to tell me: “It’s a tough economy, and we’re in the fall season, but I’m sure things will pick up…
Are you frustrated by the decrease in car count that came with your increase in Google AdWords? Does it feel like you’re flushing money down the drain with each marketing campaign? In his book titled, Sticky Church, Larry Osborne communicates a similar frustration. Osborne is a church pastor who struggled to grow his membership. Back in 1980,…
How do you achieve a positive outcome in a negative environment? To answer this question, it helps to understand the concept of home-field advantage. In the sports world, teams that play in front of their home crowd, have a better chance of winning than the visiting road opponent. For example, in the National Football League, a…
“This tire is defective! I want to talk to the manager!” This is what I overheard at the service counter while conducting a shop visit back when I was a district manager for a national automotive chain. I won’t tell you the name of the organization, but I will say that the employees had a lot…