If you want to change anything in your store – culture, CSI, retention, you name it – start with two words: “What’s broke?”
I’ve studied leaders across sports and business who’ve made lasting change, and they all start there. “What’s broke?” isn’t negative; it’s honest. It slows you down just long enough to see what really needs fixing before you start prescribing solutions.
Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice – in medicine and in business, and when you slow down to diagnose first, you actually go faster later.
The Pattern Great Leaders Share
When Ron Wolfe took over the Green Bay Packers in 1991, he watched his team lose a close one to Atlanta. The next day he walked into the locker room and couldn’t tell if they’d won or lost. That told him everything.
He said, “Losing should hurt.”
So he went out, traded for Brett Favre, and the rest is history. Five years later: Super Bowl champions.
Different industry, same principle. Whether you’re rebuilding a football team or leading a service department, you can’t fix what you won’t define.
Why Most Dealerships Skip the First Step
In fixed ops, we love a plan. But too often, leaders jump straight into “What’s our plan?” before they ever ask the more important questions:
- What’s our mission?
- Who’s our customer?
- What does our customer value?
- How are we doing?
Peter Drucker called those “the five essential questions.” Skip them, and your plan’s built on guesswork.
Get Your Mission Right First
A mission isn’t what you do; it’s why you exist. If it can’t fit on a t-shirt, it’s too long.
Think about Apple: Think Different. It didn’t say iPhones or laptops. It said why they existed – to simplify technology and put power in the hands of the user.
At Traver Connect, our mission is Experience Matters. We start with the consumer’s experience: remove friction, make it easy, and loyalty follows. Then we focus on the dealer’s experience: listen, simplify, and help you win. Finally, we live that mission internally – among the people who build, code, and serve every day.
When your “why” is clear, decisions get easier. Every process, policy, or vendor partnership should pass through that filter. If it doesn’t align with your mission, it’s noise.
Know Who Your Real Customer is
Every business has two kinds of customers: primary and secondary.
Your primary is the one who keeps the lights on – the vehicle owner. Secondary customers (OEMs, vendors, partners) matter, but they’re not the reason you open your doors each morning.
The best stores make sure every secondary relationship supports their primary purpose. When that balance tilts, the customer feels it first.
Keep Asking What Your Customer Values – Today
Customer values evolve. What mattered three years ago may not matter now.
Take something as simple as scheduling service. Why is it still so hard? Why are customers still being told to call?
A younger customer once told me, “Remind me it’s time, tell me what it’ll cost, show me why it matters, and give me a link to book. Make it routine.”
That’s not really a tech problem. It’s a listening problem.
The fix starts with better questions:
- How long has it been this way?
- What’s it costing us?
- Who else knows about it?
That’s how you uncover the next opportunity to fix what’s broke.
Build Core Processes That Actually Get Followed
A lot of stores are over-processed and under-managed. They’ve got binders full of steps but no accountability.
Start by documenting just the handful of processes that drive 80% of your results:
- Customer scheduling
- Vehicle check-in
- Technician dispatch
- Multipoint communication
- Pickup and pay
Each should fit on a single page. Then say, “Follow the process, and make it better.” That’s freedom with direction. It’s how you scale consistency without killing innovation.
Stay Teachable and Hungry
The best leaders I know are curious. They ask “why” until they understand. They surround themselves with people who challenge them. They never assume they’ve arrived. They stay humble enough to learn from the answers.
If you keep asking “What’s broke?” in your processes, your customer experience, your culture, you’ll always find the next edge.
So here’s your challenge for the week: grab a whiteboard and write two words at the top – What’s broke?
Ask your team. Listen. Fix one thing that matters. Then do it again. That’s how you build momentum – one fix at a time.
Related Stories:
John Traver is the Founder and CEO of Traver Connect, a leading provider of performance-driven training and development solutions for automotive dealerships. Visit