Creating a great auto dealership culture depends on your ability to communicate well.

Good communication requires more than the ability to answer the phone, talk with customers or send emails. To be effective, you must develop an environment where people can collaborate openly and with trust. For employees to perform at maximum efficiency, Information must flow freely across channels.

Fostering effective open communication requires understanding why it’s essential to your dealership and how management can create it.

Great auto dealership culture depends on it.

Why communication in a great auto dealership culture is essential

Everything you do in your dealership centers around communication. Dealer trades, sales contracts, and vehicle servicing depend on how well your departments communicate with customers, vendors, and especially each other. Begin improving communication throughout your dealership by focusing on your culture.

  • Stress reduction. Eight out of ten Americans have stress at work. For 25% of the population, stress at work is their number one complaint. Open communication can reduce stress levels, making work something your employees look forward to.
  • Trust and respect. Open communication builds relationships.
  • Improved job satisfaction. Employees who know that their opinions are valued feel their contributions are significant. Their work adds value.
  • Higher levels of productivity. Better communication helps employees work together and accomplish more.
  • Increased accountability and responsibility. When employees can speak openly with each other, they are more likely to complete tasks, reach goals, and help each other.

Strategies that can make a difference in how well management communicates

You can – and must — encourage open communication in several ways if you’re aiming for a great auto dealership culture. Your management team plays a critical role in setting the example for open communication.

  • Talk about goals. Schedule regular informal meetings with employees to identify goals and make plans for moving toward them. Be sure to include personal goals with professional ones.
  • Discuss issues as they happen. If something goes wrong, talk about it right away. Delaying the conversation until the employee’s next review can make the discussion seem like a “gotcha.” Employees will begin to appreciate constructive criticism because it’s not personal; it improves performance.
  • Celebrate successes immediately. Again, immediate feedback is invaluable. Your urgency in awarding recognition tells your employee how vital their work is. If you include the entire team – all departments – they’ll understand the value, too, and look forward to their own opportunities for recognition.

Transforming your dealership culture to one that values open communication isn’t something you can achieve overnight – or even in 30 days. You and your employees will have to practice. There may be some misses along the way. Consider them teachable moments and learn from them.

In time, you’ll create the great auto dealership culture your employees deserve and love – and one that recruiters will find easy to attract candidates for open and new positions.

So when you’re ready to have the recruitment team at Autopeople in your corner, give us a call at 1-800-659-9501, visit our website at www.autopeople.com or email us to discuss what Autopeople can do for you.