3 Items a First-Time General Manager Needs to Focus On – Shawn Hays

On today’s show, we welcome back Your Car Guy, Shawn Hays, General Manager at Carter Myers Colonial Chevrolet in Richmond, Virginia. This is Shawn’s first time in the role of general manager and he has been with CMA for eight months. He says coming aboard during the UAW strike last fall, and now dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic has been a test of resourcefulness. However, he recommends that any other first-time managers should keep these three things in mind:

1. People: Make sure you have the right people in the right dealership role. Sit down with each employee and find out what their goals are. Find out what they would change if they had the opportunity.
2. Process: Broken processes will not allow the dealership to perform as well as it potentially could. Tweak the processes that need help and implement new ones to fill in the gaps.
3. Profits: Dealers can’t make a profit without the people and processes. CMA Chevrolet has seen its highest profits in over three years with Shawn at the helm.

Shawn and Jim also discuss CMA Chevrolet’s sales volume during COVID-19, the digital retailing options they have in place, and the five pieces of advice Shawn has for aspiring dealership managers.

In addition to his role as GM, Shawn Hays is the Co-founder of The Sales Hustlers and authored a book on personal branding called “Build Your Brand.” Shawn has also built a social following of tens of thousands and has more than half a million views on his daily sales strategies and morning motivation videos.

Did you enjoy this interview with Shawn Hays? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic with host Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.