By Max Materne | Contributor
Last month, I shared the DREAM framework. Five filters every idea has to pass through before you roll it to the team: Direction, Responsibility, Expectation, Accountability, Motivation.
And then I left you with a cliffhanger.
Because knowing what to change is only half the battle. The other half is how you present it without losing the room to an extreme case of the IDGAFs. (If you don’t know that acronym, Google it.)
I realized a long time ago that once I fully understand what I’m going to say, I need to spend just as much time on how I’m going to say it. That’s where the 6Is come in.
Identify. Inspire. Influence. Implement. Improve. I.
Before you pitch anything, get the room to agree the current situation isn’t working. I like to start with a good old-fashioned complaint session. “What sucks about your day?”
If I can get a service advisor to tell me he hates getting yelled at by customers, I’m going to validate that. Because it’s true. It sucks getting yelled at by anyone. With that validation comes trust. And with trust comes an open door: What makes customers angry? What could we do about it? What steps would need to be in place?
Identify isn’t about dragging your team toward what you want. It’s about amplifying the current reality they don’t want.
Once you’ve roused them with reality, hand them creative control. “What if we could do it totally different? No idea too big or too small. What would perfect look like?”
Give everyone a few minutes to write down five ideas. Then go around the room so each person shares at least one. They may suggest things you’ve already thought of. They might even describe something that’s already in their job description but they aren’t doing. Don’t get frustrated. Celebrate it. “That’s a great idea!”
Because the moment they feel ownership over an idea, it stops being your change and starts being theirs.
A manager can preach about a new CRM process for weeks and get nothing but eye rolls. But when the old-school guy on the team says, “Actually, this thing saves me 20 minutes a day,” suddenly everyone’s paying attention.
That’s influence. Peer credibility.
Remember that grumpy sales guy who won’t use the CRM? Let’s say during the Inspire phase, he mentioned that an appointment calendar with automated text reminders would help manage his time. Resist the urge to tell him you set that up six months ago. Instead say: “Great idea. Can you spearhead that for us?”
Now he’s the influencer. And adoption gets a whole lot faster if he buys in.
Talking about change is easy. Starting the work is hard. Not everyone responds to change the same way. I’ve found there are three personality types to plan for.
Grasping personalities are always down for something new. I fall into this category. People don’t usually call me “grasping,” but I hear “ADHD” a lot. We’re great with novel ideas, terrible with consistency. To keep us locked in, you need strong motivation systems. (Go back to last month’s DREAM article for that.)
Aversive personalities push back on everything. Their default is “no.” But here’s their superpower: once they commit, they stick. Making your aversive into a change influencer is one of the most powerful moves you can make. Diluted personalities are go-with-the-flow types. Great instruction followers, but not natural self-starters. What matters most here is setting crystal-clear responsibilities and expectations. (Back to DREAM again.)
That’s one framework with three different approaches.
Once change starts, the work isn’t over. It’s just beginning. Practice doesn’t make perfect. It makes progress. And if we’re striving for progress, we can never stop practicing.
Schedule training from day one and stick to it. Measure with repair order audits, sales deal recaps, process spot-checks. Weekly if not daily. Because the moment you stop inspecting what you expect, your team will stop doing what you trained.
The final “I” is you. If this change fails, it’s not your team’s fault. It’s you not explaining it clearly enough. Or not holding people accountable. Or chasing the next shiny idea before the last one had a chance to breathe.
I’m mostly talking to myself here. I’ve had plenty of “great ideas” die simply because the next one looked shinier.
[SQUIRREL!]
...what was I talking about?
Two Frameworks. One Mission.
DREAM tells you what to prepare. The 6Is tell you how to walk your team through it.
If you’re going to build the dealership of the future, it won’t happen because you had a great idea. It will happen because your team believed in it enough to change their behavior.
That starts with a DREAM. And it sticks with the 6Is.
I recently worked with two dealership sales manager candidates who appeared completely different on paper. One had over 20 years in the powersports industry, while the other had just three.
They lived 20 hours apart, grew up in entirely different environments, and took very different paths into the business.
Yet within minutes of talking to each of them, I realized they shared the same trait. A trait that frequently predicts success in this industry more effectively than experience alone: Energy.
After my first hour-long video screening calls with them (separately and confidentially, of course), I marveled at how different they were and how fortunate I felt to have them both enter my orbit on the same day.
“I must be doing something right,” I thought.
I experienced it firsthand during our virtual meeting and hoped that both hiring managers and store owners would notice and feel the energy as well. Lucky me, they did. And that’s when something clicked.
I interview about twenty-five candidates a week via video. After low-energy calls, I sometimes step away for a few minutes. I’ll get some fresh air, stretch for a moment, or pet the dog before the next conversation.
When I finish an interview with a candidate who brings genuine positive energy to the conversation, I feel more focused, more optimistic, and the pace of my day picks up immediately. It’s amazing how quickly positive energy transfers from one person to another. Energy, good or bad, is highly contagious.
After the more seasoned candidate suggested an on‑site “working” visit at my client’s dealership, he called me last Saturday after his shift.
When I asked him what the vibe was like when he first arrived, he laughed. “It was a morgue until I got there and showed them how to bring the energy up.”
He went on to explain that the day started slowly, but once he jumped in and began working with the team, momentum quickly followed. By the end of the visit, they had closed a half-dozen deals and collected a deposit on number seven.
His ability to read the environment, interpret the numbers, and coach team members on the fly didn’t surprise me. What impressed me most was how quickly he turned the energy on the sales floor by leading by example.
Recognizing qualifications on a resume has become second nature for me, but a person’s energy doesn’t always come across. That’s one of the reasons why we use video call platforms for our screening calls.
Teams mirror the energy of leadership, and customers feel it the moment they walk into your store. The atmosphere in a store can feel alive and welcoming or flat, disengaged, or, even worse, tense.
When good energy levels are high, sales teams communicate more effectively. Managers resolve issues more quickly, momentum increases, and customers are more at ease.
When bad energy is present, the opposite happens. People disengage. Conversations shorten. Customers can feel it immediately and may start to shut down.
Energy influences nearly every aspect of dealership performance: customer experience, team morale, decision‑making, and resilience when traffic slows or problems arise.
Energy is not soft leadership. It is a performance multiplier. “Energy is invisible, but everyone feels it.”
The best dealerships intentionally create environments where energy grows.
Elaborate programs or expensive initiatives are not required. In most cases, it comes down to leadership habits: encouraging professional growth, mentoring younger employees, recognizing effort and progress, and leading by example.
I’ve entered my sixth decade, and protecting my own energy has become increasingly important. Running, cycling, hiking, and strength training are now part of my routine. As we get older, maintaining muscle and mobility isn’t optional if we want to stay active, effective, and healthy.
These habits influence far more than physical health. They affect how we think, react, and lead.
When leaders bring optimism, curiosity, and enthusiasm into the workplace, that energy spreads. And the same principle applies to everyone on the team.
People often underestimate how much daily habits influence mental performance. Hydration, nutrition, sleep, and regular movement play a major role in cognitive clarity and emotional regulation. In a dealership environment where decisions happen quickly and customer interactions matter, that clarity makes a real difference.
A tired salesperson misses buying signals. A stressed manager reacts rather than responds. A fatigued technician is more likely to make mistakes.
When people take care of their health, their decision-making improves. Their patience improves. Their communication improves.
Dealerships that support healthier habits often see practical benefits as well. Employees who prioritize their health tend to miss fewer days of work. They show up more focused, more engaged, and better able to handle the demands of the job.
That brings me back to the two candidates I mentioned earlier. Their backgrounds were different. Their experience levels were different. Their paths into the industry were completely different.
But the positive energy they bring to every conversation and to their future employers is consistent, remarkable, and pleasantly contagious.
In this industry, we spend a lot of time evaluating experience, performance metrics, technical skills, and product knowledge. Those things matter.
But the leaders who consistently build winning teams understand that energy is not just a personality trait. It is a competitive advantage.
How to earn reviews, respond to criticism, and avoid letting one keyboard warrior define your brand
By Alan Miklofsky | Contributor
A single online review can feel disproportionate. One frustrated customer posts a harsh comment, and suddenly it appears that the entire business is under indictment.
In reality, reputation is cumulative. It is built over hundreds of transactions, not one. The challenge for independent retailers is managing digital perception with the same discipline applied to inventory, staffing, and pricing.
Reputation management is not defensive. It is operational.
The strongest defense against an isolated negative review is a consistent stream of authentic positive feedback. But reviews do not appear automatically. They must be earned and requested properly.
Best practices include:
Asking satisfied customers directly at checkout
Sending a short, post-purchase follow-up email with a review link
Posting signage that invites feedback
Training staff to mention reviews naturally, not aggressively
The request should feel conversational, not transactional. For example:
“If we did a good job today, we would appreciate you sharing your experience online.”
Timing matters. The request should follow a clearly positive interaction, not every transaction indiscriminately.
No reputation strategy compensates for poor service.
Retailers must monitor:
Fit accuracy and product knowledge
Return policy clarity
Checkout efficiency
Consistency in customer communication
Most negative reviews stem from operational breakdowns, not personality conflicts. When systems improve, review patterns improve.
When a negative review appears, emotional reaction is the enemy.
A disciplined response should:
Acknowledge the concern
Avoid defensiveness
Offer a path to resolution
Remain concise
Example structure:
Thank the reviewer for the feedback.
Express regret that expectations were not met.
Invite direct contact to resolve the issue.
Never argue publicly. The response is not primarily for the critic. It is for future readers evaluating the store’s professionalism.
Measured, calm responses signal leadership.
Not every negative review warrants the same weight.
There are generally three categories:
Constructive dissatisfaction based on a real service gap
Misunderstanding regarding policy or product expectations
Performative outrage designed to provoke reaction
The first two require thoughtful follow-up. The third requires restraint.
Retailers should avoid escalating public exchanges. A brief, respectful response followed by disengagement is often sufficient.
High review volume stabilizes ratings.
Retailers should aim for:
Consistent monthly review growth
A rating distribution that reflects authentic experiences
Recent feedback that signals current performance
An occasional critical review within a large pool of positive ones increases credibility. A perfect rating with minimal volume often raises skepticism.
Reputation management requires structure.
Assign responsibility for:
Weekly review monitoring
Tracking recurring complaints
Reporting trends to management
Implementing corrective action when patterns emerge
Treat reviews as operational data, not emotional triggers.
If multiple customers mention slow service on weekends, staffing models may require adjustment. Reviews become a diagnostic tool.
The most damaging mistake is overreacting to one highly visible critic.
Retailers should remember:
One review does not define brand identity
Public overreaction amplifies negative attention
Silence can sometimes be more powerful than rebuttal
Consistency wins. A store that demonstrates professionalism across dozens of responses builds resilience.
Online reviews are now part of the retail landscape. They are neither entirely fair nor entirely avoidable.
Independent retailers who approach reputation management with discipline, structure, and professionalism maintain control of their narrative. Earn reviews proactively. Respond to criticism calmly. Improve operations continuously.
When managed correctly, digital feedback strengthens credibility rather than undermining it. And no single keyboard warrior should ever outweigh a track record of consistent service excellence.
Alan Miklofsky has been a business owner for over 40 years, including operating and selling a successful retail shoe chain. He served on the board of the National Shoe Retailers Association (NSRA) from 1993 to 2022, serving two terms as Chairperson. Today, he works as a business consultant helping independent retailers strengthen operations, refine marketing strategies, and thrive in an increasingly competitive retail environment. His website is alanmiklofsky.com.