The Secret Behind The Art

The Secret Behind The Art

By

Eric M. Twiggs

Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time." - Bruce Springsteen

It was a warm Sunday afternoon, and Pablo Picasso was having lunch at an outdoor café.  A young woman approaches him with the following request: “Mr. Picasso, I'm your biggest fan! I would be honored if you would draw me a picture."

He obliges her by grabbing a napkin, drawing the sketch, and handing it back to her. "This is great!" She said. "I can't wait to show this to my kids. Thank you Mr. Picasso! To which he replied: "You’re welcome. That will be five thousand dollars." 

"Five thousand dollars? You’ve got to be kidding! That only took you five minutes." What he said next, inspired this message: "My dear that took me 50 years."   The young lady didn't know the secret behind the art. 

It's easy to underestimate the amount of time and effort required to be great. There's an absentee owner in your 20 group with a 30% net profit. Is she just lucky? There's that Team Twiggs shop in the emails who always makes the list. Is their area different?  Then there's the writer you work with who always holds margin while keeping happy customers.   Is it because she's on the better shift with nicer customers?

If you answered yes to any of my questions, you have something in common with the lady at the cafe'.  Keep reading and you will learn the secret behind the art.  

The secret behind the art is to focus more on the process than you do the event!   The event happens once, but the process is all about doing the right things over a sustained period of time. 

The reason the ATI program is a 30 month road-map, is because the process is the road that leads to your goals.  Below are two keys to mastering the secret behind the art:

Your Beliefs

In her book "Mindset", Carol Dweck illustrates the difference between a "fixed" and a "growth" mindset.  According to Dweck, someone with a fixed mindset believes their talents, and abilities are fixed traits that can't be improved.

They also feel that talent-without effort, creates success. Anyone who responds to coaching, with the words: "I can't…" or "I'm not good at…" is operating with a fixed mentality.  People with a growth mindset believe their abilities can be developed through dedication and training.

You may not be good at exit scheduling, but with dedication, you can get better. You may struggle with selling, but with training, you can improve.  If you don't like your results, revisit your beliefs.  A growth mindset will help you commit to the process.

 Your Comparisons

Don't compare you’re your backstage to someone else's front stage. For example,  I often speak with service writers who try to compare themselves to ATI instructor, Randy Somers.  They say things like: "I can't sell like Randy, he's a natural born salesman." They are comparing their backstage to his front stage. 

The front stage is the one time event they see. The backstage is the years of process, practice, and preparation that’s hidden.  What they miss is the fact that he has been teaching the class for eight years!  That's eight years of practicing and role playing combined with over thirty five years in the business.

The most accurate comparison you can make is to compare today's version of yourself with yesterday's version.  Are you getting better or going backwards?  If you are getting better every day, you have embraced the process, which is the road-map to your goals.  

Summary

If you monitor you beliefs and manage your comparisons, you will master the secret behind the art!  Hopefully, I have painted the picture to help you start the process.

Sincerely,

Eric M. Twiggs

The Accountability Coach

www.autotraining.net

PS. Are you looking for a process to improve your car count?  Email etwiggs@autotraining.net  and I will send you my enhanced 7 step marketing plan to help you master the art of attracting the right customers.