Overheard: Setting minimum standards for service staff

"There are a handful of things that we've put in place the last few months that I believe have contributed to our success. We implemented some minimum standards at the beginning of the year for both of our advisers and our technicians.

"And they weren't outrageous requirements. If you want to rent your bay or if you want to rent the desk as a service adviser, this is the minimum we need from you. Anything above and beyond, we're going to celebrate, we're going to be happy. We did have a few people who decided they didn't want to stay on the team because they weren't willing to do the minimum. But everyone else that was hovering around that line, who just needed a little for a little push ... they had it in them.

"And so we've seen this tremendous upswing. We also really focused on daily intentional closing. A lot of times departments use that power close on a Friday or Saturday or the end of the month. We're intentional about doing it every single day. The last day of the month is just another day. We really focused hard on that the end of last year, and we were able to see that in January and then again in February; February was a record month.

"Outside of the black-and-white answer, it goes back to the people. I have some incredible leaders on our team. And I believe they understand that large vision and have bought in. And because they believe in it, it's very easy for that to translate to their teams. And so we've set these really high standards and these really high goals and we're all committed to reaching them."

— Allie Peters, vice president of service operations at Cavender Auto Group, on the "What the Fixed Ops?!" podcast hosted by Russell B. Hill and Charity Dunning.