Shawn Armorer

Your dealership will never reach consistent results without mastering the basics. Success starts with simple, non-negotiable processes: Complete control of every customer touchpoint: phone calls, walk-ins, service drive, parts counter, and leads. A strong BDC team focused on both sales and retention. A well-trained, motivated team with clear direction and a solid pay plan. Many ask how I’ve been able to lead the largest Ford, Nissan, Kia, most recently VW, and the largest Honda dealership in the world. The answer is simple: process and consistency.

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💡 Fact: Assholes buy too. And the best salespeople know how to handle them. The truth is, not every customer is sunshine and smiles. Some come in with walls up, bad moods, or chips on their shoulders. But here’s the secret: 👉 Great salespeople don’t take it personal. 👉 They stay calm, professional, and in control. 👉 They redirect the negative energy into trust and solutions. Because at the end of the day—money is money, and every deal counts. So when you run into that tough customer: • Don’t argue. Listen. • Don’t fold. Stay firm but respectful. • Don’t let them rattle you. Keep steering the process. Handle them right, and they’ll leave saying “That’s the only person I’ll buy from.” 🔥 Lesson: Even the hardest customers buy from the strongest salespeople. The question is—are you strong enough to close them? #Sales #Leadership #Mindset #CarSales

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Want to Know What’s Really Happening in Your Dealership? Start Listening to the Calls. I’ve done it — and let me tell you, it’s shocking what you’ll hear. If you’re a GM, Sales Manager, Used Car Manager, Service Director, or BDC Manager, this is your wake-up call: You need to carve out time every week to listen to your dealership’s recorded calls. I understand it’s not easy. What You’ll Hear Will Blow Your Mind: • Calls answered with no professionalism or worse, total indifference. • A 15-minute phone up with no contact info captured — no name, no number, no follow-up. • Salespeople giving vague, unconfident answers that kill trust before the customer ever shows up. • Calls never logged in the CRM. No lead. No opportunity. No accountability. • Service calls mishandled or dropped because someone put a customer on hold and never came back. Don’t Rely on Call Tracking Alerts Alone: Yes — there’s software that flags “bad” calls. That’s fine for triage, but by then, it’s already too late. Listening yourself gives you context. It gives you tone. It shows you the habits your people have built — good or bad. You’re Paying $$ to Make the Phone Ring: Dealers spend thousands every month to drive phone calls through digital ads, third-party leads, SEO, direct mail, social media — you name it. But if that call isn’t: • Answered properly, • Handled with care, and • Entered into the CRM for follow-up… …then you’re just lighting money on fire. Yes, It’s Time-Consuming. But It’s Time Well Spent. If you want to coach better… If you want to tighten your process… If you want to stop losing opportunities you never even knew about… Start listening to the calls. Make the time it’s so important. Leadership is in the follow-up.

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Sales may drive the first handshake, but Service and Parts keep the doors open. Too often, dealerships spotlight the showroom while overlooking the powerhouse partnership between Service and Parts. My humble opinion? Long after a vehicle is sold, these two departments are what keep customers coming back, paying the bills, and fueling loyalty. BUT none of this works without the right people in each role. The wrong hire in Sales can cost you a deal. The wrong hire in Service or Parts can cost you a lifetime customer. The winning dealerships of tomorrow won’t silo Sales, Service, and Parts, they’ll marry them into one seamless customer experience with the right talent driving each department forward. How? 1. Create Cross-Department Customer Journeys Sales shouldn’t end at delivery. Every buyer should be introduced to the Service Manager and Parts Team on day one. A warm handoff builds trust and sets the stage for retention (but only if each role is filled with people who know how to communicate and deliver value). 2. Implement Unified Performance Metrics Instead of only tracking units sold, track lifetime customer value across all three departments. (This only works when each department has strong hires who understand how their performance impacts the whole dealership.) 3. Bundle Value-Added Offers Across Departments Example: Pair a new car sale with discounted accessories (Parts) and the first two service visits (Service). Customers see higher value, while the dealership opens multiple revenue streams. (The right hire in each department knows how to sell these add-ons authentically.) At the end of the day, Sales might start the relationship, but Service and Parts are what deepen it. Dealerships that align ALL three departments and invest in the right people don’t just increase revenue, they create customers for life. Which is what we want, right? Dealership leaders, how intentional are you about hiring for Service and Parts compared to Sales? I’m curious to know the criteria you use to identify a high quality hire during the interview process.

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Harley-Davidson: When Wall Street Wins, Dealers Lose My inside sources at Harley-Davidson Motor Company tell me that through the end of July, 52% of HD dealers are still in the red. Let that sink in. More than half of the dealer network is operating at a loss. It’s not hard to see why. Over the past few years, Harley has aggressively ramped up its direct-to-consumer (D2C) business. On paper, that move lets the factory capture margin that would traditionally flow through the dealer network. But what corporate missed is the hidden cost: stripping away one of the most important drivers of dealer foot traffic. When customers don’t have a reason to come into the dealership, they don’t walk past new bikes. They don’t engage with the culture. They don’t experience the atmosphere that has always been a core part of relational selling. Instead, the brand becomes transactional, and transactional businesses don’t keep dealers alive. The current leadership has effectively sold out their dealer network to the suits on Wall Street. The result? A wrecking ball taken to dealer profitability. While the broader powersports industry has been attracting enthusiasts, Harley has spent the last decade chasing “business owners” — investors looking at a spreadsheet, not riders chasing a passion. Those owners won’t stick around forever. When the math doesn’t work, they’ll simply cut their losses. Rumors are already circulating that a significant number of dealers will shut their doors before year’s end. That leaves the new CEO with a monumental task. Rebuilding trust, restoring profitability, and bringing riders — and dealers — back into the fold will make scaling Mount Everest look like an afternoon hike. Harley-Davidson is still one of the most iconic names in motorcycling, but unless leadership starts rebuilding the bridge to its dealer network, that brand equity is going to continue eroding fast. #HarleyDavidson #Dealers #Powersports #Motorcycles #D2C #Leadership #Retail

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How long should you keep an employee who isn’t delivering? The answer could define your year. A dealership owner I met with recently told me about his struggle to find the right “fit” in management. He’d made a couple of wrong hires, and it showed: higher turnover, lower morale, and inconsistent performance. Now he was facing the same dilemma many leaders do: Do I give them more time to improve, or do I replace them? If you wait for them to improve… Pros: Avoids turnover disruption, gives them a chance to grow. Cons: Morale and performance may continue to suffer, risk of losing other top talent, and wasted time if nothing changes. If you replace them… Pros: Fresh leadership, better alignment with your culture, clear performance expectations. Cons: Onboarding time and the risk that the new hire isn’t a better fit. How to reduce the cons on either side: ✅ Set clear expectations and timelines for improvement. ✅Review the role to ensure responsibilities are realistic and measurable. ✅Use objective performance data and team feedback before deciding. ✅Take time for a thorough, deliberate search; don’t just “fill the seat.” ✅Work with a professional recruiter who can discreetly access a broader, vetted candidate pool to get the right cultural and operational fit. The “wait or replace” decision is never easy, but the risk and stress can be reduced with the right process and partners. What’s your take: give more time, or make the change quickly?

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My latest in today’s Toronto Star: “Canada is the most aligned strategic partner with the U.S. in defending our shared industry from subsidized Chinese automotive technology and oversupply. A true partner doesn’t just talk tough, we match and strengthen U.S. actions. Canada is the most aligned strategic partner with the U.S. in defending our shared industry from subsidized Chinese automotive technology and oversupply. A true partner doesn’t just talk tough, we match and strengthen U.S. actions. We’ve already put in place measures to block Chinese dumping of inexpensive EVs and key raw materials that match U.S. action, and we’ve tightened investment rules to protect our supply chains in ways Europe and Japan have not. When it comes to investment, Canada’s record is even clearer. Beginning in 2022, Ottawa has forced Chinese firms to divest stakes in three Canadian‑listed critical‑minerals companies and also revised its Investment Canada Act to apply extra, high‑bar national security scrutiny to foreign investments in strategic minerals, allowing large‑scale deals only in the most exceptional circumstances. Canada has since conducted dozens of national‑security reviews of foreign investment applications and has blocked, required divestitures, forced withdrawals and imposed conditions routinely. In contrast, EU measures remain uneven and member‑state enforcement is far less harmonized than Canada’s coherent, sector‑specific regime. The shift to electric vehicles makes this partnership even more critical. While the Trump administration is moving to defund electrification programs — partly because China is already far ahead in EV technology -- Canada holds a strategic advantage that the U.S. cannot ignore: we have the critical minerals that American automakers need to free themselves from Chinese supply chains.” https://lnkd.in/giHa__E6

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It all starts with the sales meetings. ✅ Trent White from Automotive Training Academy tells us about five common indirect objections and how to prevent them by shaping the process with your team before problems arise.

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