The military has been very influential in helping me compile useful tools for my consulting bag. I started serving in the Air Force in 1976 and I served until 2003 as a reservist. One of the most valuable lessons I ever learned was given to me at commissioned officer training school. We were instructed that the difference between success and failure was having the ability to problem solve quickly and effectively. The instructor taught us a six step systematic process to guide us in the heat of the battle. I am confident that if your managers learn and use this problem solving approach, your dealership will run more efficiently and profitably, and customer satisfaction will increase. An owner or GM will also find more time on their hands not having to resolve every little obstacle that arises.

The Six Steps of the Problem Solving Process Step 1 – Recognizing the Problem

Each day a dealership will be faced with many challenging situations that require problem solving. The first and foremost step in the problem-solving process is to recognize you have a problem. If your dealership is losing money or you can’t seem to keep good employees on a long-term basis, then you must admit you have a problem. Life is all about change; in order to change for the better, you must admit you don’t like the way things are going. In order to explain the problem-solving process in this article, we will assume a dealer named Tropical Forest RV has a problem in its Service Department. Service has not been able to bring a single dime of profit to the dealership for the last four months. This is our problem.

Step 2 – Gather Data Relative to the Problem

In the next step, we need to get data before coming up with a solution. Managers have a tendency to recognize a problem and immediately come up with a solution without first considering the facts. Tropical Forest RV has ten technicians who are paid an hourly wage. A productivity analysis reveals technicians are paid for 40 hours a week but are only producing 20 hours a week; they are not on flag time because the new Service Manager prefers straight hourly wages. The technicians don’t meet with the Service Manager on a regular basis. The Sales Manager usually gives daily assignments to the technicians because the Service Manager feels that the Sales department is more aware of what needs to be done. The Service Manager has been on the job five months now and everyone likes him because of his ‘good old boy’ attitude. There are no service writers, so technicians write up their own tickets. The dealership had a service writer, but the Service Manager did not get along with her. The owner has met with the Service Manager for the past two months reminding him that something needs to be done in the Service Department, to no avail.