Have you ever worked for someone who had very little idea of how to operate effectively? And then the double whammy is when they don't know and don't know that they don't know ... you know?

There are really four levels of personal development:

• People who are unconscious of their competency. They are often
  called "naturals."
• Those who are conscious of their incompetency. They are referred to
  as "learners."
• Developers are those who are conscious of their competency; meaning they are good and they can identify specific success skills.
• Then there are those who don't know and don't know that they don't know. They are often referred to as, "ignorant."

What should you do if the person you work for is in that last category?

Who are these people?

• For salespeople it could be your sales manager.
• For a sales manager it could be a general manager.
• For everyone it could be the dealer principal.
• For the dealer principal it could be your banker, partner or other stakeholder, e.g. a local zoning officer.
  

The problem is how you should handle this delicate situation, because I'm relatively certain, grabbing this ignorant person by the lapels and screaming at them would create a different 3 R's; resistant, resentment and retaliation.

Here are 5 actions you can take to improve this situation.

1. Identify specific skills to improve.
   
   There's no way you can set out to fix all the ills of the ignorant manager. But you can isolate a specific skill set. For example,
   
1. Enter customer data into your customer relationship management system
2. Handling dealer trades.
3. The credit application process in your dealership.
4. Handling showroom floor traffic
5. Handling tough customer questions like, "Why should I buy from you? The dealer down the road is cheaper."
6. The unreasonableness of your business partner's goals or demands.
   
   When you isolate the specific skill you'd like to inform your manager about you dramatically improve your chances of success. Reducing the complexity of the situation will enable you to focus your efforts and experience success.
   
   When your ‘ignorant' manager starts to learn, even small skills, consciously or subconsciously they are beginning to understand that they can learn more about the business.
   

2. Ask them for process advice.
   
   First demonstrate how a particular process is working, i.e. "Here's how we currently handle credit applications."
   
   Then identify challenges. "The issue with this process is when we get busy the process falls apart and breakdown. Customers aren't happy and sales slow down."
   
   Then ask, "From your perspective, what should we do to improve the current situation?"
   
   When a manager or partner rolls up their sleeves and starts to contribute to the day to day issues they can better understand the intricacies of a certain stumbling block.
   

3. Have You Ever Been Experienced?
   
   About 18 months ago I rediscovered Jimi Hendrix (My current favorite: Axis Bold As Love). In the Jimi Hendrix song, Are You Experienced he asks the question, "Have you ever been experienced?" To which he answers, "Well I have."
   
   Some think he was talking about drugs, Jimi said it might have been a little about drugs and a little about life. But the question remains, "Is the ignorant person/manager/partner experienced?"
   
   I know a dealership manager who once worked for 3 years straight without a day off. This is a recipe for disaster. His general manager insisted on his being there. Finally he said to his manager, "Look you try for just one week to work the hours we do." The GM made it three days.
   
   I don't think a manager has to be able to do EVERYTHING that his people do, but some things you just have to experience for yourself.
   
   
4. Consider Containment.
   
   If you can't make the "ignorant" manager or partner part of the solution. Containment is a viable option. Keep them out of the most problematic situations.
   
   
5. Too Much? Magic Bus.
   
   Ok I know two lyric quotes in the same article, but I couldn't help it (sometime soon I'm going to write an instructive article using nothing but Led Zeppelin song lyrics). The rock band The Who talked about a magic bus and you should too. The advice is cliché but there's a lot of truth to it.
   
   When facing a tough situation you can either:
1. Drive the Bus, i.e. be proactive in the solution.
2. Ride the Bus: meaning put up with the behavior.
3. Get off the Bus: Go work somewhere else.

I enjoy spending time with confident people. Confidence is the sincere belief that you can improve the circumstance of others, but still have things your can learn and improve. I find spending time with confident people energizing and I always learn something.

Arrogance is thinking you have nothing else to learn (I once had a person say to me, ‘Look I know everything there is to know about the motorcycle business!' I let the absurdity of the comment hang in the air for a moment, to which they quickly backtracked, "well maybe not everything!"). I spend almost no time with people who are arrogant. It just drains too much of my energy. Perhaps you feel similarly.

I Don't Know ...

The most self-assured, centered and ego-free statement a person can ever say is, "I don't know." Practice it. When you do, others will like you more and teach you more.

And guess what? Sometimes your manager, even if you think they are ignorant, may know aspects of the business that you don't. Open communication can help. My mindset is this: "I'll tell you what I know, you tell me what you know, and then we'll both be better off."

• Channel Mike Myers from his Saturday Night Live character "the Jewish Lady" and say, "So ... how come you never call?"
  
• Lead off your e-mail or phone call with,
  
• "I was thinking about you the other day and thought we should drop you
  a line."
  
• "Just wanted to touch base to make sure you're aware of our open house (demo event, bike show, etc.)."
  
• "Now that you've had time to think about the motorcycle, we wanted to get your thoughts."
  
• "As we talked last week, I'm following up as promised."
  
• "Since we haven't heard from you we want to let you know we're still interested in your feedback on our new models. Would you like to do an evaluation ride this Tuesday?"
  

What are dealers saying about our tele-Seminars?
Our first tele-seminar, Silver-Tongued Devil: Sell More; Improve Relationships and Learn how to Always Say the Right Thing ended around noon last Friday. Before 4:00 p.m. that very day we received the following message from tele-seminar participant Chuck Kreisl, dealer principal of Calumet Harley-Davidson in Indiana.

Dear Mark and Amy,
No kidding.

Just like you said I took a couple of 2-fers and just consummated the sale of a 2009 Road King classic, along with about $700 worth of Genuine MotorClothes, and $400 worth of P & A and our new customer is thrilled.

He's picking it up tomorrow and taking the IL state riding class in early May. I'm pumped up.

You stated it, I practiced it, and they bought.

Ooh yeah I love it.

Thanks again.

Chuck Kreisl
Dealer Principal
Calumet Harley-Davidson
Munster, Indiana
__

Hi Mark,

Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know the tele-seminar
was great!!

Thanks,

Todd LeBlanc
Dealer Principal
Atlantic MotoPlex
New Brunswick, Canada
__

Hi Mark and Amy,

I very much enjoyed the webinar this morning! I think this is a very cost effective way to get important, time-sensitive, and effective information into the sales associate's hands quickly.

We had a lot of fun with it and it stimulated a good sales discussion. I asked my Sales Manager to build our next few weekly sales meetings off of the topics you discussed while it is all very fresh in our minds.

I'm looking forward to next week's class; again, great job!

Thank you,

Mitch Pheffer
General Manager
Harley-Davidson of Vallejo
Vallejo, California

Mark Rodgers - Peak Dealership Performance® Tele-Seminar
Friday April 17th
Stacking the Deck in Your Favor -
21 Ethical Actions to take Before Playing the Price Card

Are you tired of giving your profit away? Do you wish you had better approaches which would enable your customers to feel well taken care of and you to feel well compensated?

Then participate in this tele-seminar and learn how to play your hand much more effectively. Management ideas, merchandising approaches, creative offer structures, verbal responses and more!

• Tele-Seminar Length: Approximately 45 minutes
• MP3 Download e-mailed within 72 Hours of Recording
• PDF Transcription e-mailed within 7 Days of Session

Can't Attend the Live Event? No problem, enroll in one of the options and we'll e-mail you all the materials so you can learn on YOUR schedule.

LIVE Tele-seminar will be held on Friday April 17th

•   9:00 a.m. PST - Pacific Time Zone
• 11:00 a.m. CST - Central Time Zone
• 12:00 noon EST - Eastern Time Zone

Click here to sign up today!

Features, Advantages, Benefits and Proof:

A feature is, typically, a physical characteristic of a product. An advantage is what that feature enables or what it does. The benefit is what's in it for the customer. And you can always get to a benefit by using six powerful words; "what this means to you is... "

Here's an example:

The 2009 FLTR features a 96 cubic inch engine. The advantage it provides is that it produces 78.5 foot pounds worth of torque at the rear wheel. What this means to you is this product is a scream to ride.

This is a powerful way to communicate product information. Of course you can change this around into several creative approaches.

• Features, Benefits and Advantages over the competition.
  

• Benefits, Advantages and Features ... when you want to hook the customer quickly with an interesting fact.
  

And now you can make the F.A.B. approach even more powerful. How? Add a proof statement.

A proof statement is a point of justification and reinforcement. It states specifically how you know what you know.

• Your own experience.
• A third party source like a magazine or a positive customer experience.
• A finding from one of your service technicians.

Here's the example above with the proof statement added.

The 2009 FLTR features a 96 cubic inch engine. The advantage it provides is that it produces 78.5 foot pounds worth of torque at the rear wheel. What this means to you is this product is a scream to ride. I know because I put 500 miles on one last week.

Try it today and watch your customer credibility soar!

1. What if Your Manager is Incompetent?
2. Confidence vs. Arrogance
3. Great Word Tracks for Following Up
4. Next Session: Friday April 17, 2009
5. Product Communication - Try This!