I met Randy Calley when I started working with Same Day Automotive—Tire Pros in March 2017. Randy is the operations manager for the six-location tire dealership in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area.
A good ‘ole country boy originally from Arkansas, Randy is super knowledgeable about anything auto/truck related. He knows the technical end of the business, and he’d been an owner/operator and master technician. He also builds custom choppers that have been featured in major magazines. And, was also a world champion fly fisherman at one point in his life. So, he’s been around the block a few times in his 60 years.
But when I was hired by Same Day Owner Danny Smith to work with his team, Randy shared how he was struggling to develop consistency throughout the six-store chain regarding how they communicate with customers on the phone and at the counter.
Since my days as a partner in Procare Automotive, a chain of 104 auto repair and tire stores, I’ve learned that we’re first all in the communication business and the personal development business, not the tire business. And second, the only time commerce happens is when the company and the customer exchange commitments, and that happens when we communicate effectively.
Together, Randy and I, with support from Danny and Same Day General Manager Dan Combs, set about training and coaching his sales and management team on how to make commitments. Randy and I approach this communication challenge like a professional sports team. We lay out the plan and the philosophy and then we practice, practice, practice.
This strategy has nothing to do with price or technical information that customers may ask for. Price is never the most important thing. A rock-solid commitment from a skilled auto repair and tire guy/gal is always the most important thing, and the move we need to make first. To make this work, you need a guy like Randy Calley on the inside. He is the walking example of commitment.
Specifically, Randy and I work on teaching Same Day employees the power of making declarations that exist in time because that’s where personal power emanates from. A great example of this from history is former President John F. Kennedy’s famous “moon” speech—his address at Rice University in Houston Texas, on the U.S. space effort. In his speech, President Kennedy declares, “We choose to go to the moon, this decade.” I always encourage students to study the moon speech carefully. Listen to Kennedy’s energy and mood and his cadence and clarity. This was not the first time he read the speech. He was polished and ready to deliver it. Listen to how he sets up his big declaration and listen to how he makes it. It’s incredibly powerful.
We teach employees how to make powerful declarations just like JFK did in his famous moon speech (which can be found on YouTube here:
https://youtu.be/TuW4oGKzVKc). By making these powerful declarations, employees invent a new future for customers in the same manner President Kennedy did for the world. A customer doesn’t want a price to fix their car, they require and need a commitment from a competent service advisor. Making commitments is simple but requires lots of practice to do well.
If you want to live a powerful life and if you want to have a powerful sales team, they must learn how to articulate their commitment not only to help customers but also for themselves. If you want to harness your own personal power, you must learn to articulate your commitment. People need to know where you stand and what they can count on from you. It’s no longer enough to dump prices; there’s no power in that. Call price and see if it will come to get you when you’re broken down on the side of the road. Nope. But you can call Randy Calley—he’s made a commitment to you. He will make it happen. He understands commitment so well that he’s become a Molloy coach.
Randy travels from store to store and when he shows up, he demonstrates to his team and provides feedback on specific sales calls. He encourages them to show up at sales trainings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Through Randy as a champion of commitment-based communication, Same Day has built a culture of practicing communication skills. Practicing this simple linguistic move, making a declaration in time, allowed the company to grow 57% in less than three years without spending a lot more on advertising.
That’s why I say, “every company needs a Randy.” A champion for commitment-based communication as a sales strategy.
Check out the rest of the February digital edition of Tire Review here.