EverythingOnlinePro

This is just a rant.  Please understand this is not well written, it’s just random thoughts that I wrote in my notes on my phone.

Quick summary: I started working for this company because they needed someone new with good ideas and I fit the bill.  I was very excited to start working here because it was closer to my house than any other job I had and I genuinely enjoy what I do.  Everything was great for the first few weeks when I was getting used to everything and everyone.  The sales team was awesome and very welcoming, but there were some people who I could not make a connection with, which is normal and was not a problem.  Through the months I started picking up on a few problems here and there and slowly I started to express my thoughts to the management team (I was also a part of the management team and we had meetings for managers where we could throw out new ideas and talk about things we need to talk about).  I learned that they had no process, the pay plan for my team did not make much sense(which took me 8 mos to change), and no one had written job descriptions which made it hard to hold anyone accountable.  Eventually I started to get more involved and try to change things up for the better which did not go too well.  

THINGS I HAVE NOTICED THROUGHOUT THE TIME I HAVE BEEN HERE (way more than reported here, I did not start writing things down until a few months in; things went even more south right after they hired a new GM which is when I decided to write things down)

April 28

No organization whatsoever.  Managers don’t know a lot of information, just the bare minimum to get by.  However, you are expected to know information they don’t and I am not sure how that makes sense.

Although our system is not great, we can still manage it correctly which is not being done and whenever someone suggests something they make it seem like they are all about it, but somehow it all gets thrown away because usually ideas to change things means more work, more knowledge, more involvement.

One of the managers* told me I was an expensive hire multiple times, not sure what that was about, but that was extremely unprofessional and uncomfortable.  Everyone makes unnecessary remarks that are not professional at all and usually have a deeper meaning or intent that is not a good one.

A lot of times there are no notes from managers when customers leave.  No notes from sales either, which I had mentioned multiple times to try to improve the follow up process, but I was basically told to mind my business.

There is a little group of people who have been here for many years that have caused this place to be extremely toxic and it continues to be that way because of these individuals.  New people notice it, but not much can be done about this if half the management team is involved in the games and contributes to the toxic environment.

New GM so far has been trying to elevate, fix, or improve this place, but there is so much that is broken here that he is so frustrated and does not know where to even start.

I have been genuinely trying to help everyone, but all of my ideas get shut down by this particular group of people who keep saying they want change and improvement, but still don’t change or improve anything.  I can’t help but think they just want to keep relaxing and do as little as possible and take home as much as possible.

April 29

Went to the GM to see if he had a chance to take a look at the email I had sent to all the managers on April 26.  He said no he has been dealing with a lot of things because it is the end of the month (understandable).

Yesterday, April 28, I sent out an email to all the managers about BDC requirements and if they can give me some thoughts about my requirements I have come up with.  One of the managers* responded saying we need to concentrate on levers that drive business and to keep it simple (it was a one page list of expectations and process to follow, direct clear instructions).  Correct written process and job description will make sure we know what is expected from us and we can hold ourselves accountable.  No one else had any input except J when I saw him in person he mentioned that he liked my idea.  From this I can assume that most managers don’t know too much about the process for BDC, but I am not able to actually do what I want to do with my department.

Before I went on vacation myself, the new GM and one of the managers* all agreed to change the payplan which I had emails of.  After I came back one of the managers* told me we are not doing that anymore because productivity is so low we need to concentrate on that.  In other words, because what we are doing now is not working, let’s do some more of that!  I have been trying to tell all the managers that 85 calls per day is although not too much, it takes away concentration from tasks we need to do….  No one is hearing me out, they only say they do, but no action is taken!  At this point I am not sure what to do next.  If the managers who say we want to improve keep shutting down my proposals with proof by the way, then I am not sure what there is to do.  More notes coming soon for sure!

Went to one of the managers* to let him know we have an appointment that L previously sold a vehicle to (which would have been their customer before this minute) and he said that if they have not contacted them it is not theirs….things are very fluid here, not set/written rules or expectations so it is very easy to get told you are wrong because if you were right yesterday you might not be today for the same exact thing….wild!!

May 4

Meeting went okay…I was able to get an ok to hand out BDR requirements on Tuesday.

New leads we were promised are not coming in…we are getting an average of 2-3 new car leads per day which is very sad, we are getting some used car leads, but lead providers are free subscription so they don’t come in with phone numbers or direct emails which is not the best case scenario.

Had a little sit down with one of the managers* (who was clearly under the influence of something) to go over how to do campaigns and such (I was never shown anything at all, but now they want me to do these things which is perfect, but I need to know how to do them first)

May 5

Nothing special…did my first campaign….noticed one of the managers* is very rude and unbearable when he is on the phone with someone that is trying to help

May 9

FC does not respond to emails received on time or sometimes ever

FC does not complete her non-negotiables or send in the report I had requested

FC always late

FC says ok and says she will follow the directions given to her, but never does….keeps doing whatever she wants because she is way too comfortable here and thinks she is secure because she’s been here for so long….that needs to change

I cleared all of her incomplete and undone tasks which were in the 1000s so she could start fresh, but she has not yet started completing her tasks..all the calls being made are not productive calls, but just to hit the call volume

FC who has been the “superstar” for the last 10+ years is the laziest worker I have managed!  Says ok to all the requests then does not do any of it.  She is well connected in the company so she gets away with whatever, but not on my watch not anymore!  She will not be working under me.  (update: a couple weeks later I changed the pay plan and pushed her out of my department..she ended up going to another department where they had worse issues!)

(update again, after I left the company they replaced me with some guy who was great and he quit within a few weeks….guess who is now the department manager???????????????  Fucking FC who does not like to work or understand how the process works because she has never made an effort to grow and learn….what used to work 3 years ago does not work today and I proved that to them by following my process which more than doubled her sales and still they would not let me change the process……….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

May 12

One of the managers* says there are 3 main parts of managing the BDC dept: manage reps and their performance, manage campaigns, know lead performance and such……did he ever do campaigns because when I started no one said anything at all…I looked into his performance within the last couple of years and he had left leads unanswered, emails unanswered, and overall it was piss poor performance and he has no place telling me how my department works….I have a proven track record and he does not!  I found out later that he was fired for not doing a decent job and got hired back because he is connected….unfortunately that’s how it works sometimes….big man when the new GM is not around, but when he is he is no longer such a big man….

May 13

Two salespeople cannot take the same day off, but three managers can be absent on a Saturday?  That does not make any sense at all and it makes management look bad

May 22

BDC is the main bad talking point at the moment….everyone says one thing, but it does not feel like we are pulling in the same direction … .I am fully a team player, but I don’t believe others are.

May 24

Emailed HR

I have A; M; P so far that are willing to come forward

May 25

Call scheduled

Spoke with HR and they will be looking into it

Smoking or vaping of any kind is completely against state and company policy (this was an ongoing thing that I escalated when the new GM looked me in the eyes and said “pf that’s my priority right now”

Another manager (who by the way can’t answer any questions and has to rely on sales staff to do his job) wants me to set salespeople up for equity mining tool…i don’t mind, but when you demand something that I am not responsible for I don’t react well especially when you’re the one that’s responsible for your team (my team depends on me and I take care of them)…only reason I am mentioning this is because of the attitude.

May 26

June 5

No notes are continuing on…no process, no one knows anything, but everyone is expected to know everything….

Does not matter what happened there should be notes from the manager even if they did not work a deal and customer left whatever the case may be there is no excuse for no notes

July

Fuck this place I have had enough!

The people who have been there for over 10 years preach, but when it comes to doing work they don’t want to do anything…the new GM is full of shit!  I learned that he keeps bouncing around between dealerships.  He so far has only improved one thing which was the sales process on the floor which was great, but ever since then all he does is eat in his office…every time I had a question, he did not even know how to pull up reports or use his laptop I had to guide him to the answer….

I put in my notice and left.  One of the best decisions I have made!

UPDATE

That place is still terrible!  They had hired a finance manager who came in one day and his office was taken over by a previous finance manager who had left and came back.  They fired this guy on the spot and he did not do anything wrong nor had bad performance.  This is an extremely toxic place with toxic people running it and HR department who does not give a fuck!

Multiple people have quit since I left, but all the toxic mofos are still there!