According to a 2016 report by Marketdata Enterprises Inc, dating services is a $2.5 billion business in the United States alone. Since 2001, online services have soared in popularity and now account for 70 percent of the market’s value.

Why is that?

Neuroscience reveals that the brain needs three critical elements to function properly:

• Oxygen (breathing)
• Glucose (eating)
• Connection (??)

Even though most people don’t directly associate eating and breathing with mental health, we all understand the importance of those activities. Research shows that after about six minutes without oxygen the brain begins to die. Further, most people cannot survive more than a month without food.

But what about this thing called connection? What is it and why is it so important?

According to Google, connection is defined as a relationship in which a person, thing, or idea is linked or associated with something else.

We are relational beings and we need each other more than we often realize. In fact, studies have shown that without human touch, attention, and nurturing an infant’s brain does not develop normally. Even though we become more self-sufficient as we grow this need for connection remains throughout our entire life.

Henry Cloud brings tremendous perspective of the importance and role of connection in his book The Power of the Other (click here to view a brief overview of the book). This is another one of those books that you will reference for the rest of your career. I highly recommend it.

Poor teamwork is the most commonly stated complaint in virtually every dealership. Not surprising if your people aren’t connected.

From a practical standpoint here are a three simple things you can do to create and maintain better connections in your dealership:

1. Introduce all new staff to the rest of the team on their first day. This will create a sense of belonging, increase familiarity, and enhance immediate engagement.
2. Wear name badges. Every relationship begins with a name. Many people think that name badges are only for external customers, but name badges enhance connections between staff at all levels and help not only the integration of new staff, but speed the building of relationship amongst staff. I am often amazed at how few dealership staff really know each other.
3. Have regular all staff meetings. I recommend monthly, but don’t go longer than three months. An annual Christmas party is not sufficient. Regular all-staff meetings where people can get to know each other is a great way to build connection and create the foundation for teamwork.

 

Herb Mast is a Leadership Coach and Business Consultant. He would love to assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented above. He is confident that in the process you will enjoy a 10X ROI.

Click here to schedule a free no-obligation introductory consultation.