Closed on weekends: Dealership puts the ‘people first’ model to the test
Weekends are typically days most dealers depend on, according to dealer principal and consultant Jonathan Dawson. But right now his dealership, Cherokee Mitsubishi, is closed on Saturdays and Sundays for sales and service. On today’s episode of Mind Your Own Business, Dawson explains how the decision to close on weekends came together.
Dawson announced the weekend closures in a Facebook post about selling zero cars over Labor Day weekend, when the store was closed for the holiday. The closures run from September through December. Come Jan. 1, the store will weigh the market, team feedback and sales numbers to decide whether to keep the schedule, change it or go back to the old one, Dawson said.
Playing the ‘what if’ game
Dawson and his managing partner and general manager, David Booth, regularly trade “what if” ideas. The point is to ask what else would have to be true for an idea to work.
“What if the way things are isn’t the only way it could be? What if the way things are is not the way it has to be?”
When Dawson floated closing on weekends, Booth initially called the idea crazy. He then told Dawson that if any store could pull it off, this one could. Dawson said the store’s first year gave it the footing to try. The sales team now generates much of its own business through referrals, repeat customers and self-sourced prospecting. Dawson cautions that a typical dealership should not copy the move.
Letting the team vote before locking in
Dawson says leaders often fail to play a decision out far enough to see the downstream effects. Before committing, the store’s executive team, including the service director, shop foreman and general sales manager, weighed in and agreed.
The full staff then voted anonymously. Dawson said leadership first explained its reasoning and the drawbacks it anticipated. During the store’s first year under Dawson, employees earned record paychecks from service, parts and sales. Leadership reminded them, he said, that the strong run could slow.
The store is committed to the change through Dec. 31. If the market, the team and the numbers indicate it was a mistake, it will pivot on Jan. 1, Dawson said. Closing every weekend means losing 104 days a year. Add vacation and holidays, and about a third of the calendar is gone in a role that depends on daily production, he said.
Trying it in your own store
Dawson says dealers should ask whether they are limiting themselves based on the way things have always been done or on the resources they believe they have. The “what if” game is one way to test those limits, he said.
He encourages dealers to spend 10 minutes playing the game with their team, a partner or a manager, and imagining how things could be different. Any change should be considered in light of its long-term effects. Dawson cautions against making a decision just because an idea sounds good in your head. The owner still has the final say, he said, but collaborating with employees and asking them big questions can help a company grow.
Dawson acknowledges the weekend closure could fall flat. But, he wants to go in with a clear conscience, he said, and he is proud that the store made the call on principle and brought its team into the process.