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“...the Chicken or the Egg?”Posted 12/10/2001By John Berry There seems to be a lot of interest in training and education in our industry right now. I have seen a number of editorials and surveys come across my desk from different sources. The Automotive Management Institute (AMI) has even completed a survey in which many of you ASA members participated. (And by the way, thanks to those who responded.) The other day I was talking with one of the AMI trustees and the subject of the survey came up. He directed my attention to an interesting trend in the results. The exciting thing about the trend was that it appears to answer the age-old question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” The trend is a significant increase in the interest for management education as annual sales increase. When those surveyed were asked about interest in management education for themselves and others in their shop, the positive responses grew from 23 percent in the “up to $250,000” to a whopping 84 percent in the “$1.5 to $3 million” category. By anyone's measure, that is a number worth looking at. Probably more telling is that there was a big jump from 23 percent to 62 percent when looking at the next sales category, $250,000 to $500,000. After that, it steadily climbs to 84 percent. So what do you read from that? If annual sales is “the chicken” and education is “the egg,” which do you think came first? Your answer may depend on how much “chicken” you are making. The trustee made the convincing argument that the education egg must have come first, because the shop owner with the $1.5 to $3 million chicken had to have the egg before he got the chicken. Why would someone who already had large annual sales suddenly become interested in improving their management skills? If he or she could make it that far without education, why would they get interested in education now? The only answer that makes sense to me is that their continuing interest in education enabled them to grow their annual sales. But I have an added advantage in solving the riddle. The advantage is that over the years I have had the opportunity to discuss their businesses and successes with numerous Accredited Automotive Managers (AAMs) and other successful shop owners. I guess you could say I cheated, but I prefer to think that I did some research and got educated. Time and time again, owners and managers told me that it was management education that opened the door for breakthrough success and profits. That doesn't mean it can't happen other ways, but this is a formula with proven success. If your chicken is not growing as fast as you want or need it to, maybe you should consider getting the egg first. If you don't believe the survey, and you don't believe me, then I encourage you to contact a successful shop owner, a fellow ASA member, or an AAM and ask them. I bet they will answer the riddle the same way. After you get your annual sales “chicken” as big as you want it, let's sit down and figure out why the chicken crossed the road. That one still stumps me.
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