Chris Collins, Dave, and Christian explore why service managers rarely become GMs, pointing to imposter syndrome, discomfort with visibility, and the false belief that sales requires extroverted charisma. They argue sales is really about process and treating customers right, making the jump more doable than most think.
The thing that we always are trying to figure out, and you're the. The counterbalance to this, is why more of us in fixed ops don't think that we can be a general manager. And we kind of put this limiting belief on ourselves, or we don't even give the idea of full potential a seat at the table in a sense. Like, we just discount it and we kind of submit and wait for permission in the sense of being the ones leading things when we all know that fixed ops is the future, if not the current reality. But we don't see ourselves as the ones, you know, running things or pulling the strings, in a sense. And so what do you think it is that the average parts manager, the average service manager, doesn't even consider the idea that they can be a general manager or a dealer?
You know, I think personally, for me, it was that imposter syndrome that I distinctly remember the day I had the conversation with Christian about it. And fortunately, I had someone in my life that pointed it out. But I don't think the average parts manager or service manager realizes that it's easier than it looks. Right. You just have to involve yourself. You just have to be there. Like you said, I don't ask for permission. I just do the right things. And everything else falls in place to where I think people are afraid to make the decision. And maybe their leadership ahead of them doesn't allow them, or maybe the reprimands that they get, but you just do. I always did the right thing, and the rest of it paid off. So. But that imposter syndrome is the biggest thing, I think, looking back.
And so the thing about imposter syndrome that's interesting is you were getting incredible results. So you took something that was losing money. You started off as a parts manager and worked your way up, but it was losing money. And through your leadership and figuring it out, you. You created a completely different outcome for the business by. By making them profitable, which, you know, a lot of things change with that, right? Like, people are having more fun, there's, you know, less chaos, all of the things that come with. With that. And so you're getting incredible results. But even in a situation where you're doing something that most people couldn't do, which is get results and turn something.
Have that. That imposter syndrome, right?
Yeah, I don't think that ever goes away necessarily, even if you're getting big results.
Why?
I don't know. I think it's maybe somewhat of a personality trait, or for me, I'm an introvert. Right. Maybe it's, it's correlation with that in a sense.
How does an introvert feed to imposter syndrome?
How are those connected by maybe not, not putting yourself out there in that environment or that world and maybe a.
Little bit of self doubt, not wanting the attention.
Agreed.
Because I guess with the, with more responsibility comes more attention. Right.
For sure.
Definitely more visibility. The higher you go up there. Right. And the more people that are kind of looking to you. I think as an introvert you get, you're fairly comfortable in your own space. But like that going through it would be that you have to accept that you're part of other people's space too. I don't know if that's it. That's a really, it's insightful to kind of think about that and that imposter syndrome in relation to how you see yourself with other people.
Well, and also we in fixed ops, and I know this from, you know, from my experience coming from service and then working my way up, is you perceive sales to be an extrovert's game. Right. You perceive sales to be this charismatic thing where you're throwing these like Tony Robbins sales meetings and everybody's fired up and it's this thing that is completely the opposite of what you are. I know, that's how I felt. So is that a part of it too, Dave? Is like that you perceive sales to be an extroverts game?
Yeah, I would agree to that. I will say personally, I'm getting more comfortable with that side. And like you told me, it becomes, it's almost easier in a sense, but you just have to get more comfortable with it.
Yeah. So when I told you that sales was easier, you had a. I mean, nobody ever believes me when I say that, but we've had quite a few people come through Elite that have become general managers that I say that to. But can you kind of explain to the, the audience why sales is easier and just your perception of, of what that means?
I would say just like you say, you know, I'm a, you know, I'm a consumer too. And it's just really about dealing with people and teaching the right processes and doing the right thing, ultimately treating the customer right, which in, in turn makes your business really successful.
Yeah. And then on top of that, coming from fixed ops, especially if you're in our system, we have a lot of.
That carry over to sales or just the mindset of how a system works and how the customer experience is drawn out. None of that really exists in sales. Even though we assume that it does. Right. There's very little accountability in sales most of the time.
Yeah. I would say for the most part, most dealers are probably the same. You know, they just do what they do because that's what they've always done. Instead of, you know, trying new things and seeing what works and adapting to the current market. Right, Yeah.
