aka:  How to explain what you do for a living without putting someone to sleep!

Obvious Career Departure

While most of my personal connections know that I changed jobs with Ford Motor Company in 2005/2006 to heal from a terrible accident and to accommodate a number of reconstructive ankle surgeries, I am often asked to explain what it is that I do. Given that several of the jobs I’ve enjoyed the most were in Network Development, it was only natural to accept the role of the U.S. Dealer Contracts Manager (a desk job) during the last major restructuring of Ford’s Marketing & Sales organization.  However, for many outside the Company, this requires explanation.

In a nutshell, market representation (aka Franchising, Network Development, Dealer Development, Dealer Contracts, etc) can be boiled down into a simple description of four key components.  In my present capacity, I have the luxury of participating in the development of each step and I have used the following outline on several occasions to explain the process. It’s not quite a 2 minute elevator pitch, but it is succinct nevertheless. In fact, I have used this description in training employees in various regions and the general office who are new to the area as well as to newly appointed dealers when I have addressed them during my tenure as a Regional Manager.  The very foundation of a successful distribution network depends on getting each of these pieces aligned.

People – Places – Power – Promise

1st – People

• First and foremost, the network plan must start with enrolling the right people.  Sales and Service of any product is based on relationships and the interaction with customers and the selection of the right partners to represent these products is the critical first step.  There are no shortcuts to establishing a solid network of individuals that are aligned in every critical facet with the vision for the brand.  The tools of Market Representation 101 which we call the Four C’s are universally applied to every evaluation of any ownership transaction for a point in the network:

Character. Standard background checks are the price of entry.  Understanding the nature and history of each candidate is essential to preventing surprises that can be costly.  In many cases, an appointment is a long term relationship protected by State laws, so the first decision is often the most important.

• These people/candidates need to provide a level of transparency in their business plans and aspirations that set a standard worthy of partnering with for the long term.  The best time to reject a partnership is before it actually starts.  History has proven that any rush to judgment will result in sub-optimal marriages in most cases.

• There is also a growing concern (given the cost of entry), about the “share of mind” that the franchiser will have in ongoing relationships.  The fact that the majority of dealers have multiple facilities/franchises means that the days of family owned and operated points (often for multiple generations) has dwindled and brands often have to compete for owner/operator attention.  Do you have the right person for this particular point…for the long haul?

2nd – Places

• Location, Location, Location.  There is nothing more important to a successful business than location.  Proximity for both Sales and Service operations is a fundamental consideration for consumers and is especially important with larger purchases like automobiles.  This requires planning and thorough analysis of the market over time.  Representation Planning is a unique discipline that analyzes purchase and registration data to determine the proper number and location of individual franchises (rooftops) to maximize sales, service and satisfaction levels.  Proximity to traffic patterns, competitive offerings, population densities and demographic patterns are critical to appropriately representing a brand over time.  As fundamentals of a market shift, it also calls for a change in representation (relocation, added points, consolidations, etc).

• Facility (Standards) – Face of the brand.  This is also a serious consideration with representation planning.  The capacity of a given facility can often make or break the success of the entity as well as achieve the proper share of industry volumes/profits.  Equally important is the look and feel of the facility.  Is it commensurate with the brand or does the facility need improvements or modification?

3rd – Power

• Network Strength (Profitability).  The power of your network starts with profitability.  Customers deserve a level of treatment that requires personal attention beyond the sales process.  The cost of this relationship is embedded in the pricing of the product, but can easily be jeopardized when a dealer is in a loss position.  A healthy and profitable dealership operation can fulfill customer expectations with ease.

• Throughput is the key driver of success.  It goes without saying that volume is the lifeblood of a business.  To some extent, every store has a certain threshold they must achieve to cover their fixed expenses and operate efficiently and profitably.  During that last significant industry downturn, many business seriously lowered their operating costs and found a new lower threshold which should bode well for the future.  Having the appropriate network footprint (number AND proximity of rooftops) helps drive the sales expectancy and therefore throughput volumes in the majority of their stores.  When dealerships have the throughput volume to operate profitably they are more likely to reinvest in those operations and continue to exceed their customer expectations.

• Customer network (social media, UIO, community relations).  The power of each dealership’s network of relationships is also worthy of investigation.  How strong is their advertising presence in their own market?  How large is their network of shoppers (website traffic, friends of social media sites, units in operation for sales OR service customers) and how close are those relationships?  Do they have engaged and enthusiastic customers that are willing to recommend them to their friends or are they simply chasing preconceived benchmarks of performance?  The Power of a given dealer (or salesperson, point, candidate) can be supported with real data and is reflective of how successful the partnership will be in the long run.

4th – Promise

• Brand Centric.  Finally, we must ask ourselves if the candidate, location or point is the right match to the brand promise we must fulfill.  While difficult to articulate and measure, everyone will agree that some ideals simply don’t go together.  Volume & Prestige while nice to contemplate can certainly work against each other.  Aligning the business plans, capabilities, capacity and investments of every point in the distribution chain is critical to delivering a consistent brand promise to customers.

• Customer Experience.  The brand is defined by the experience…or vice-versa.  The culmination of all of the above criteria (dedicated people, resources, proximity, capacity, look & feel) result in a process that either mirrors and therefore reinforces the brand or it works to destroy it.  It is nearly impossible to separate the local dealership brand from the original manufacturer brand, so it is critical to align the network with the proper expectations and standards for delivering on the promise of the brand.

• Employee Training/Certification.  This leads us to the critical component of continuous education for the entire network.  As customer behavior and expectations evolve, personnel turnover and new product introductions mandate continuously training to mirror the portfolio.  This is also supported with historic training levels for each operation.

Despite the fact that as I’ve regained full mobility I have been eager to solicit other roles & projects at Ford,  I believe market representation is at the core of any franchise/brand that utilizes a distribution channel and there is no better place to hold a position.  While state franchise laws dictate certain aspects of the relationship, the cycle and process of working with dealers is paramount to long term success.  Having played a role in the consolidation of the Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealer network (and now the sunset of Mercury) has been rewarding and has shown that improving the throughput of the network and focus on core products and processes can deliver superior results.

Creating the vision for a network built to sustain cyclical industry pressures and maximize customer satisfaction, engagement and loyalty will result in profitable growth for all.

This story of transitions, will document several transformations at once.  It is blurry and confusing in the midst of such upheaval, but I am hoping more clarity unfolds as the story develops.  In the meantime, I will simply write what comes to mind.

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I made a rather bold accusation in an earlier post that one of the terrible by-products of a massive downsizing was the loss of passion in employees.  Indeed, many lifelong loyal employees at my own Company were walked out the door (or asked to leave) in a massive restructuring that extended throughout the entire automotive industry.  The survivors of this restructuring are struggling with how to re-engage.

Even those that remain in positions of leadership feel the lack of cohesion and synergy around them.  Remnants of our old culture mixed with the birth of a new culture not yet embedded make for a confusing environment to encourage true passion in your work.

Many simply won’t re-engage.  They are aggressively pursuing other interests and it is only a matter of time before they find something that will draw their attention.

Others, however, want to stay and make Ford the best automotive company in the world.  They just don’t know what or how to mentally and EMOTIONALLY reconnect at the same level they were previously.  We shouldn’t underestimate this huge leap of faith and courage that will be required to do so.

Our HR departments are now tasked with the monumental assignment of kick starting “employee engagement”.  How much will it cost to recapture your heart?

It is not a criticism of leadership or negative commentary on the decisions that were made during a painful restructuring.  It is a simple statement of a natural human phenomena of recovery.  In a traumatic event many people enter a period of shock.  It is a self defensive reaction that takes some time and attention to resolve.

Unfortunately, the easy answer of money won’t fix the issue of lack of passion or true engagement.  Sure, we would all like to have more money…it helps compensate for a lot of other things.  But even if you gave everyone a 20% pay raise (which would be a ridiculous move for a corporation), it would be a short lived improvement in satisfaction and ultimately no impact on real engagement or passion in employees.

We have to get back to the fundamentals of what makes people tick.  It’s about each individual and their own desire to feel wanted and connected.  Restoring their sense of value can be helped with pay raises…but their sense of feeling wanted and connected takes something else.

The obvious mandate is to provide a sense of purpose for everyone.  Restoring the health of the Company, hitting profit targets, sales targets, product & service targets are all worthy goals that every member of the team can aspire to improve and know how their contributions impact those results.  I believe this is hard work but most managers are skilled in helping employees know how their department or job impacts the goals of the organization.

The more difficult task, however is encouraging true engagement (or “passion” as I call it).  Employees can easily resign themselves to simply having a job.  They may be satisfied with their job (even rate it “completely satisfied” on internal surveys), happy with their surroundings, work-life balance and generally enjoy the relationships they have in the office.  They may even acknowledge a sense of purpose in what they do and perform their jobs competitively and typically in an acceptable manner (sometimes even much better).

To some inexperienced managers (or worse, those that don’t know the difference), they could feel their department was fully engaged.  Their employee satisfaction scores look really good….they don’t have visibly unhappy people walking around…they see people having fun at the water cooler.  They may have no reason to suspect their Company is being “shorted”.

A passionate employee is more likely to be less satisfied in this environment regardless of how they answer corporate surveys.  They see more potential for themselves, their Company, their teammates, etc..  They are often frustrated with limitations, bureaucracy or micro-management.  They are incredible assets to any Company that can harness their energy and unleash them in the right environment.

Fostering passion in employees is not a skill set that is universally developed in most corporations.  In fact, a manager that has the ability to spot passion and channel it effectively is rare.  To fully succeed in a globally competitive arena however, it is a requirement.

What would make you passionate about your job?  What would it take to make you the biggest ambassador in the history of your Company?  If they made a list of the most influential employees (in the eyes of consumers) would you be on the list or do you aspire to even be considered?  It’s a question that EVERY company needs to ask if they want sustainability.

You can’t Buy passion….you can only foster it.

Arguably one of the best boss’ I’ve ever had, taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve learned professionally.  It was during an incredibly stressful period of time and he was losing a political battle being waged like nothing he had ever experienced.  If you were with or have heard of  “the Old Ford culture”  you know that what is often described as a culture of “sharp elbows” is a polite way to say one might mistake an ear biting Mike Tyson for Shirley Temple.  It was ugly to watch.

I recall seeing how low he was and how it impacted his outlook on just about everything.  It was troubling.  He was a beaten man and was visibly demoralized.

The fact of the matter was, he wasn’t in the “loop” any longer.  He was slowly and methodically being pushed out.  He was being ridiculed  and he knew it.  Of course, it was all in the name of performance.  Usually the beauty and fallacy of a myriad of performance metrics (half positive and half negative) is there are enough to paint any story you want…whenever you want.  And his managers were painting a pretty negative picture.

He orchestrated his own exit from the situation.

I met him a few months later and we discussed those last few weeks he was my boss.  His words stick with me now and are as applicable today as they were for him then.  He said “Don’t let ANYONE tell you what your value is.  That’s your job.”

It is awfully easy to let a personal spat, a performance review, a downsizing, down-grading, job reshuffling or even a negative verbal comment to make you feel like garbage.  Others (without the skill to properly lend constructive criticism or perhaps even the talent to know the value of one priority metric over another), may treat you like your value is less than you believe.  Some might even mistakenly draw conclusions based on others evaluations of your value, but that does NOT establish your true value!

March to your own drum.  Don’t let someone else set your value.  Hear their words, watch their actions, accept their decisions, apply their suggestions….but don’t let it sway your opinion of the value you hold.  They are fallible and have every right to be wrong.

We too often let others define our own success.  I love the multitude of ranks in the military, the boy scouts and most corporate structures.  It helps us have targets to shoot for and ladders to climb (metaphorically).  But it is simply a stupid stripe to your 5 year old!

One of the best stories I tell about my daughter was when she was about 10 years old.  I had just been promoted back to Detroit from Colorado.  It was a big promotion and I was thrilled and excited to tell the family.  We’ve moved 8 times, so it wasn’t like the thrill of moving did much for them.  So after giving the good news…my daughter sat quietly for a few seconds and then said

“I don’t get it.  Why do we have to move back to Detroit?!  You are gone all the time anyway….why don’t you just keep coming back here when you come home?”

She didn’t mean to bring a tear to her father…but she has that affect. If only had I listened closer.

The fact of the matter was, she could care less about my rank or job.  She only cared about what was important!

Difficult times have silver linings.  Look around.  Enjoy what really matters!  You are the ONLY one who can establish your value.

I’ve promised full transparency.

I’ve been asked by a number of people to simply post my resume on the site so it would show up with a simple word search.  Those that have asked are colleagues who have also spent years with a single employer and obviously like to compare formats and styles.  Here you go.  I haven’t updated it for the last few months.  After 25 years with a single employer, I haven’t had much practice doing so.  If you see something I’ve obviously messed up, please let me know.

Good luck.

The FINAL posting regarding the “accident” three years ago.

With this set of pre-postings, which were memorialized in this forum so that I might reference them from time to time without repeating the details, it is officially behind us.

I am thankful to God that I wasn’t taken that day and I have more time on earth.  I clearly don’t want the legacy I leave to be one of dying in a senseless boating accident at 9:18pm on a Thursday night returning from dinner with one of my dealers — working!  I want to leave a better mark on those I cherish than how fragile life really is or how quickly things can change.  Nor do I want my kids to learn lessons from my mistakes, but rather from the positive choices I make.  I want to teach them how to live long before I teach them how to die.  I want them to witness how choices beget results and that we can, in fact, influence our futures.  I want them to know they can spread happiness, goodwill and the love of God in the way we chose to interact with those around us.  I most definitely want them to realize the positive impact they can have on others and the confidence to act accordingly.

As this final chapter (of the pre-postings) comes to a close, however, it is worth summarizing a few noteworthy takeaways:

• As BAD as things seem on any given day — Know that Another Day will come.
• When friends turn out not to be friends, or when the world lets you down (or friends, employers, teammates, etc), you should look in the mirror to see what you might first want to change.
• There are far more worthy priorities in life than getting ahead–especially in a race defined by others not yourself.
• Never, Ever take your spouse, children or loved ones for granted.