Any Internet professional that is worth their salt actively tracks the important metrics making their dealerships tick.  We look at the numbers and make little adjustments to the ways we do business, the technology we employ, and the people responsible.  These tweaks help grow your business.  However, there are times when you need to separate yourself from the statistics of the day and look at the big picture.

By now, you’ve been monitoring the performance of your store for the past several years.  With the abundance of internet initiatives sweeping through dealerships, the amount of trackable figures has risen and risen.  My good friend, Gilbert Chavez – Director of Operations for Automotive Avenues – always says

“The best thing about the Internet is that it’s quantifiable.  The worst thing about the internet is that it’s quantifiable.”

Basically, that means dealers have been given the ability, for the first time, to truly track the results from their advertising spends and their performance growth.   However, with so many new metrics that can be tracked (click-thrus, time on site, conversion ratios, geo-targeting keyword searches, social media R.O.E., etc), the job of the dealer has become more difficult.  More dedicated to numbers than ever.   So much so, that you may drive yourself a little batty.

If you’ve witnessed constant growth through your internet initiatives and you are doing things right, you may have hit a bit of a plateau.  Your metrics eventually level off and then seesaw a little up and a little down every month.  I beg of you… don’t suffer from analysis paralysis.  Not that a strong focus can’t get every leveled-off metric to increase slightly, but don’t dedicate all of your time to one measurement that has come to a stand-still.  Turn your attention to the end goal: A happy customer.

Metrics can’t always measure the happiness of a customer (despite CSI scores and dealership ratings).  Trust your gut, pull your eyes away from the teeter-tottering, roller-coaster ride of performance metrics (if just for a little while) and focus on some basic salesmanship and customer service training.

This way, you won’t have a coronary every time one of your numbers dips a fraction.  You’ll be too focused on the good of the store by measuring the smiles on the faces.  Analysis paralysis can cause blindness to what is truly important:  Your customers.

Do you suffer from analysis paralysis?