I hope you fall into the category of an Exceptional Manager. While the following is just my opinion, I’ve come with these points from speaking with managers and comparing their actions (both good and bad actions – not the managers) to their financial results (both good and bad) over the past 23 years.

Exceptional Managers Pay Attention to the Assets They Control. This may not seem like the most important habit but to me, it is indicative of how well a manager knows his or her department. If managers know these numbers, then it is likely they understand most of the numbers that pertain to their department and how their numbers relate to Key Performance Indicators and higher profits.

• Sales Managers should know: How many new and used aged vehicles are on the lot and how many new vehicles are in the pipeline to their lot. They should know the day’s supply of inventory by model.

• Parts Managers should know: The dollar value of parts over 12 months old and obsolete parts. They should be involved in the parts reconciliation to the General Ledger balance at the end of the month. They should know the day’s supply of their inventory, plus the day’s supply of Active or Normal Parts Inventory. They should know how much reserve they have to return unwanted parts.

• Service & Body Shop Managers should know: How many open repair orders are over 3 days for service and 7 days for body shop. They should know how many Customers are scheduled for the upcoming days and what the show rate is. What these departments sell is time, so they should know how much time is available every day.

• Accounting Managers should know: The bank balance is reconciled daily, and there’s enough cash to cover outgoing checks. The finance contracts are paid promptly, and the vehicles on floorplan vehicles are paid off when due.

Exceptional Managers Set Goals for their Department and Employees.
But Exceptional Managers just don’t set goals; they monitor them and coach employees who are falling behind and celebrate the victorious employees. They know how their numbers are tracking and anticipate where they will finish the month. The goals are the starting points for daily discussions with their staff.

Exceptional Managers Look at the DOC Every Day.
The name says it all – Daily Operating Control. Exceptional Managers know they can’t turn their back on their numbers even for one day; it’s like turning your back on a three-year-old. If you look at a DOC, set up with enough information, you know the exact day when something requires attention. I’ve seen some DOCs that were so long I wouldn’t even use them. I’ve seen DMS Dashboards that are so convoluted managers don’t both looking at them. Because DOCs don’t cost you anything extra, spend time to create numerous, useful DOCs for different purposes and the results will be DOCs that are reviewed every day.

DOCs help you scan your expenses quickly (DOCs should expand the expenses beyond lumped expenses like variable, personnel, semi-fixed, fixed expenses). If you have sub-accounts, detail those on the DOC to save time. For example, Service Policy Expense; we recommend sub-accounts such as lot damage, missed deductibles, warranty chargebacks, etc. If the DOC shows each of these account numbers, then the day the general ledger gets hit with a warranty chargeback, the manager knows the day and can research it now! The sales advertising account is perfect for subaccounts because of the variety of advertising expenses from pay-per-click to direct mail. When the manager sees a spike in an expense she can confirm she approved it.

DOCs allow managers to monitor Gross Profit Retentions; so the day there is a drop, the manager can examine the invoices from the previous day to see what happened.
For the sales department, DOCs let you know how many deals have been posted. Then if there is a large variance between what has been sent to the office and what is posted, the manager can check out what’s going on. You see which new models are selling and which aren’t – okay not a big deal this year but sometime in the future it could be important.
The power of using DOCs is frequently dismissed – that’s why I call managers who use them, Exceptional.

Exceptional Managers “Freak Out” When They See a Loss. Okay – not actually “Freak Out” but show enough concern to look into a problem before they assume anything. Whether it’s on a DOC or the financial statement, when something doesn’t look right, the exceptional manager doesn’t make assumptions; they ask why. They don’t Assume Anything. Once you understand why an Expense was high, or the Gross Profit was low, you can do something about it.

Exceptional Managers Don’t Make Excuses. There are very few problems that there aren’t solutions to – if you make an effort. “Oh woe is me, I can’t find any Techs.” “Because of COVID ___________ (Fill in the blank.),” “The weather..,” “Everyone else had a bad sales weekend so it’s okay.”
Many problems are exacerbated because of poor planning and failure to have contingency plans should something happen. “Waah, our computers went down, so we couldn’t write any repair orders” versus “okay, here are blank repair orders, start writing.”

Don’t let excuses be a default – it’s a bad habit to get into – you’re better than that! Benjamin Franklin said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

These are just a few of the habits that help you be successful and show you are an exceptional manager. Take a moment and evaluate how you do on these crucial skills and if you think I should add more to the list – let me know!