Most dealership training focuses primarily on the numbers and stops there. The real challenge lies with the individual. To bridge this gap, The Alpha Group employs a different training approach, viewing personal growth as a key part of dealership strategy.
On this episode of Training Camp, Danelle Delgado, CEO of The Alpha Group, and Managing Partner Ted Lesiecki explain how personal growth drives sales results.
From client to managing partner
Lesiecki says he initially came to the Alpha Group as a client. Lesiecki saw Delgado speak at ASOTU CON, where she offered free training to the room. He took her up on the offer and said just one session led to changes in how his team operated. Still, he was skeptical about how training personal goals was going to help his bottom line.
"I remember calling her being like, hey, we're here to make money, like why are we working on personal goals? And she's like, watch what happens. They're going to learn how to hit a goal and then your business results come. And it happens quickly. People that were underperforming start overperforming. It's amazing." Ted Lesiecki.
Lesiecki was so impressed by the results that he decided to leave retail to work with Delgado full-time.
"We work with the top 10%, the top 10% of the driven, the ambitious, the focused on discipline, the done lying to themselves alphas," - Danelle Delgado
Everyone lies to themselves
At the center of Delgado’s approach is a belief about why people stall. She says self-deception isn’t just for weak performers; everyone does it, just at different levels.
“I think everyone lies to themselves at the level they’re comfortable with. An underperformer will say, it’s hard, the market, you don’t understand my family, my background. A high achiever will say, I’ve broken every rule and goal for myself, like every limit I ever could have, and I’ve achieved more than most, so I shouldn’t have more. That’s a lie that they tell themselves because it was comfortable,” said Delgado.
Whether the Alpha Group takes on a client comes down to one factor. Delgado says a company can only rise as high as the person leading it.
“I think companies can only rise to the level that their leader is willing to. If a company wants me to fix them and the leader is unwilling to look at themselves, that’s beta,” said Delgado.
Building a system people can’t do alone
Delgado says most people treat personal development as a solo project, and that is why it fails. They tell themselves they will get there eventually. The Alpha Group built a structure so they don’t have to rely on willpower.
The system runs on three pieces.
- Community: A network that gives people support they don’t have on their own.
- Accountability: Wins and losses are tracked weekly and daily, which most dealerships talk about but rarely execute.
- Consistency: Weekly training keeps the work moving.
The goal is to make new people feel a win fast.
“When you get someone to feel like a win, they start looking for the wins instead of looking for the losses. So we just built an ecosystem that dealers didn’t have time for,” said Delgado.
The results don’t just show up in the sales report. Delgado says the biggest payoffs show up at the individual level, where people report their lives changing.
How to get started
Delgado says The Alpha Group prefers organic relationships and does not train everyone. A speaking engagement or a meeting comes first, to see if both sides fit.
“We actually love the organic space because, believe it or not, we don’t train everyone. So we love to do a speaking engagement for you, and I see if we like you and if you like us and the truth behind the mirror,” said Delgado.
For dealers that are a fit, Delgado says they can step back and leave the training to her company. Delgado says her system is built to minimize dealer involvement. It takes about 24 hours to set up and every team member gets their own access to the app.
“The last thing you need as a dealer is more work ever, right? You already got things you can’t implement. So all you have to do is show up with a notepad and a pencil at your time every week, and that’s all the dealership needs to do,” said Delgado.
A blueprint for the whole person
The Alpha Group’s training goes past sales technique. Delgado says the program develops people across every area that shapes performance personally, professionally, financially, and spiritually.
“It took me three years to build and put into a 52-week system with 13 core principles that changed my life and allowed me to go from nowhere to somewhere that blew my mind,” said Delgado.
Once people learn the principles, Delgado says they cannot unlearn them. The training reframes how they show up every day.
For Delgado and Lesiecki, the work comes down to one idea. Grow the person, and the dealership grows with them.
