From showroom excitement to team culture, Saturdays remain the heartbeat of dealership operations
I’ve always had a soft spot for Saturdays in the car business. Early in my career, they became embedded in my concept of the “work week.” Sure, you could take a day off like Wednesday to offset it. However, in those early days, with plenty to prove and iron to move, it was more like a six-day-a-week job.
Later on, as a young manager with a BlackBerry attached to his hip, I also learned that Sunday — when the store was closed — was truly the only real day off.
Now, I want to make sure you all know I’ve evolved and bought into the current work-life balance culture. For employee engagement and retention, dealers simply cannot lean on classic retail expectations. It wasn’t healthy back then, and it certainly isn’t healthy today.
Taking the conversation back to Saturdays, I think most long-term dealership personnel will agree: They just hit different. There is an energy on Saturday that is palpable compared to the rest of the week. And that rare Saturday that also coincides with month-end is a powder keg of excitement ready to blow.
Let’s dive into why Saturdays are special in the car business, and what we can do as leaders to maximize their value.
A great deal of the Saturday energy comes from customers. For most people, Saturday has always been a day off. It’s the day to take a breath and get things done, like car shopping or servicing a vehicle.
The result of more customers arriving in the showroom is a heightened sense of urgency. It’s exciting for both your sales staff and customers to get a deal done on a busy Saturday.
When customers come in on a Saturday, there’s a better chance they’re more relaxed, less rushed, and able to focus on the task at hand. For sales, these factors can translate into a higher closing rate.
Saturdays also tend to be an ideal shopping day for customers, which means more of them find their way into our stores. If your sales consultants don’t have a stacked appointment list on Saturday, that’s something worth scrutinizing closely.
The result of more customers arriving in the showroom is a heightened sense of urgency. It’s exciting for both your sales staff and customers to get a deal done on a busy Saturday.
Saturday customers can have a slightly different impact in parts and service departments. Generally, their more relaxed nature makes for a smoother check-in and walk-around process. Their patience may be greater since they don’t have to get to work or a meeting right away. Or it may be shorter if they want to take advantage of a beautiful Saturday off.
As a general manager, I always had a strong relationship with Saturdays. Because the store was open, I wanted to be part of the action. Deals were happening, customers were coming in, and I wanted to support my team in that transactional energy.
This was especially true when I was running a small store. Often, my attendance was almost mandatory due to holidays, sick days, or some other coverage issue.
Later on, while running a much larger store during the pandemic, I found my personal energy was exhausted by Friday. I still worked most Saturdays, but my usefulness and contributions were diminished. It was during this period, as a leader in the store, that I saw an opportunity.
Essentially, I decided to pass the Saturday torch to my team. It was now their day to shine. As long as there was proper coverage, I’d make sure everyone was set up for success by the end of Friday and then take the weekend off.
Sometimes I’d still come in Saturday morning to create some positivity during the sales meeting, get a bit of office work done, pay for the pizza lunch, and then slip away while they made deals with happy customers.
Not only did it give me a couple of days to recharge before working on the business again Monday, it also showed my team that I trusted them with the highest-energy sales day of the week.
Recently, I was teaching a dealership management class at Georgian College when I overheard two students — both new GMs — chatting about how much they enjoyed being at the store on Saturdays.
A smile crossed my face, and I joined the conversation with a few great Saturday stories of my own.
