Becoming An Innovative Coach

Are you the coach you wish you had when you were selling cars?

We all know that it’s our job to lead, train, coach and motivate our team but it’s easier said than done.

For example, take Vince Lombardi — does his name sound familiar? Lombardi was the most innovative coach of his era who took below-average players and transformed them into one of the most successful teams in NFL history — the Green Bay Packers. Lombardi attacked challenges and motivated his players like no one else.

He said, “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing.”

Think about it: Winning is a habit.

You don’t win once in a while – you don’t do the right thing once in a while – you do them all the time.

Decades after his departure, many of Lombardi’s innovations remain the standard today. His coaching defines the concept of legacy. Lombardi did not start with an all-star team, he developed and motivated his people, earning their respect along the way.

None of us start with greatness. We mould people for greatness.

So what can we learn from Lombardi?

It’s time to shift our mindset, our skillset and become an innovative coach that your dealership needs. When was the last time you took a hard look in the mirror and asked yourself, “am I giving my salespeople 100%? Am I the coach that I needed when I was selling?”

Look it’s up to us, as coaches, to develop their true potential. As leaders, managers, coaches in a dealership, we’re rarely blessed with a perfect all-star team. It’s our job to develop that talent and maximize their potential.

Well, how do we effectively coach and develop our team? Time.

Spend more time with them and ask yourself, in the limited time that we have with our people, what are we going to do to take our team to the next level?

Your Innovative Coach Checklist:

Are you working with them to set attainable goals based on facts rather than feelings?
Are you using their goals to motivate them instead of intimidating them?
Are you helping them develop their daily productivity plans? Or hoping the CRM gives that to them every single day?
Are there clear accountability benchmarks? Or the play and the goal line keep changing for them?

In order to eliminate the end of the month fire-sell mentality that a lot of us have, we need to maximize our resources. It’s critical to spend time with our people, working with their:

Current Stats
Past tendencies
Future possibilities

Doing more with less isn’t just a concept – it’s actually the reality that we live in today. Like Lombardi, you may not have the most talented players at this time but when you dedicate yourself to spending quality time with your players and becoming the innovative coach your dealership needs, then you too can have a championship game.

“Train insane OR remain the same”