Pub. 1 2019-2020 Issue 3

These are undoubtedly unprecedented times. What are you doing, as a small business, to weather the storm? This is going to sound strange, but we are just trying to keep things as normal as possible at a time when nothing is normal. We are working to keep everybody safe and sane. The media creates fear and panic in people, so when we run into that, we talk people off the ledge, encourage them and get them back in the game. If someone gets sick, we get them tested. Other than that, we are not really doing anything special. What are you doing to support your employees? We are keeping them positive, pumped up and employed, and we are also making sure we continue to engage customers so they come in through the door or submit a lead. That’s crucial because if our employees don’t get the oppor- tunity to talk to customers, they don’t have a livelihood. We have done a lot of training and role play- ing on how to think differently and speak to customers differently. What have you learned from past experiences that is helping you navigate now? People skills. It’s important to know how to work with people, both em- ployees and customers. If you can’t communicate with people effective- ly, you’re not going to be successful — now or in the future. What effect do you think this crisis will have on the auto industry going forward? This crisis is forcing dealerships to provide customers with more transparency. That will continue going forward. But we are seeing that customers like coming into the dealership. In April, 60% of our de- liveries were home deliveries. That went to 40% in May, 25% in June, CHAIR Shannon Kominowski GETTING TO KNOW 6 Pub Yr 1 2019-2020 | Issue 3