Originally Posted by orlando-lover  Oklahoma City Branch Manager Kacey Denton arrived at the 2006 Rental Managers Meeting with two suitcases and a lot of anticipation. "The buzz began building weeks before, and I had only been a manager for a few months," says Kacey. "I really had no idea what to expect."
She was one of more than 7,000 Enterprise managers from across North America and Europe who converged on Orlando this May. This year's meeting - with the theme "What Fuels Our Success?" - gathered employees to learn about the state of business, brainstorm best practices, celebrate the hard work of past months and prepare for the future.
For Kacey and other first-time attendees, these three days served as a foundation for growing their businesses for months to come.
Making her way to Orlando
A native of Kingfisher, Okla., Kacey was hired as a Management Trainee in October 2003 after graduating with a business management degree from Oklahoma State University. The ability to run her own business and drive her own success through hard work appealed to Kacey. And within her first weeks, she made it a goal to manage her own rental location, which she achieved this spring with a promotion to Branch Manager at an 80-car branch in Shawnee, a suburb of Oklahoma City.
A few weeks before the Rental Managers meeting, Kacey relocated to manage a branch in downtown Oklahoma City, a rapidly growing area thanks in part to new professional sports teams and millions of dollars in redevelopment. "We have so much opportunity, especially with corporate business," says Kacey. "But we are challenged to balance a busy work day with going out and developing the marketplace."
So Kacey looked forward to her first meeting as a chance to see how other Branch Managers approached similar situations as well as further understand how she could be more effective within her role and with her three-person team - an Assistant Manager, a Management Trainee and an Intern.
On Thursday, May 4, her flight arrived into Orlando. She received her welcome packet and settled into her hotel. And her schedule spelled out the what, when and where of the meeting - dinner Thursday night at the Orange County Convention Center, breakout sessions Friday at her hotel, general session seminars Saturday and the awards ceremony Saturday night at the Orlando World Marriott.
A meeting of awe, excitement and pride
The magnitude of this meeting became evident at dinner that night, where every attendee gathered for the meeting's open. "The tables of Enterprise employees just went on for miles," she says. After dinner, crowds fed into a room next door where the rock band Counting Crows performed for the evening. "I thought, 'How cool is this,'" says Kacey. "How many companies reward their employees like this?"
This Thursday night crowd would be a stark contrast compared with the small, dynamic groups that would meet in all-day breakouts on Friday for Kacey. The breakouts centered on customer service, employee engagement, profitability and growing the business. "I was in a room with managers from large cities, surrounding suburbs and smaller towns," she says. "And we could all share similar stories about our successes, challenges and fun - these were people who have gone through what I am going through."
What made the biggest impression on Kacey, however, was the employee engagement focus. "A manager can really determine how employees develop and grow, and can help them reach their goals. When we are engaged as a manager and can engage the employees we work with, we help move the company forward," she says. "That sounds so simple, but I probably wouldn't be here today if I hadn't had managers that engaged me. Now, I am challenged to do the same for my team."
In the general session seminar on Saturday morning, Kacey listened to company leaders provide updates on various areas of our business including North American Operations, European Operations and each segment that Daily Rental comprises. She also heard updates on Enterprise's marketing communication efforts, technology and employee development.
These updates were capped off with a state of the industry address from Chairman and CEO Andy Taylor, who spoke about defining Enterprise today and staying true to that identity. "The state of our company overall is very, very strong," said Andy. "This year, company revenue stands to amount to about $9 billion, fleet size is nearing one million and on average 80 percent of Enterprise customers are completely satisfied."
Those words impressed Kacey. "At the same time, Andy makes it clear that we are truly a part of one family," says Kacey. "I feel proud to be a part of such a close-knit company."
Saturday night became the meeting's high point. First, she was able to see Group 51 Regional Vice Presidents accept an Exceptional Achievement Award on behalf of the group. "We went crazy with applause," says Kacey. "It was cool and a little emotional to be part of that - you could sense the respect we have for each other and the work we've done."
Moments later, Enterprise Founder Jack Taylor shared his appreciation for each employee and his vision when he began the company almost 50 years ago. "It was humbling to see Jack talk about the time when Enterprise was so small that he knew the names of employees, and their spouses and children, and to then be part of that ballroom of thousands of people who represent what the company has grown into today," says Kacey.
With the meeting's end and her return trip that Sunday, Kacey flew back to Oklahoma City with a new perspective on the company she works for and new ideas to enhance the experiences of her customers and employees.
Hearing the Counting Crows in concert Thursday night and spending time in Universal Studios Friday night were great rewards, Kacey says. The meeting was also a chance to bond with her Group 51 teammates outside the day-to-day workplace. "I've gotten to know other branch managers within my region a little more on a personal level, which is invaluable now when I call a branch to help switch out cars, for example," says Kacey. "These are people I've shared some great memories with."
Summarizing the meeting experience in words is hard for Kacey. "The biggest thing for me was just seeing just how huge Enterprise is and the pride that comes from being part of such a great company, and that is what I've been sharing with my employees," she says.
Back at her branch
Kacey has brought new twists on customer service basics from breakout sessions back to her branch. A simple example would be that SWAT - an acronym for Shake, Welcome, Ask, Thank - begins with every customer at the rental branch door, shaking their hand, welcoming them, asking how Enterprise can help them and thanking them for their business.
And by making customers aware of the complete rental process when they call to make a reservation on the phone, her team can be more efficient when customers come in for the vehicle rather than walking through the process a second time, Kacey says. It is a matter of being diligent with the basics, which sometimes get overlooked, she says.
"We also now make same-day thank you calls to all insurance and body shop customers to make sure they are comfortable in their vehicles and to thank them for using Enterprise," Kacey says. "It is one more step we can take to make sure our customers are happy with us, and these small efforts have a 'wow' effect with customers."
Another idea that made its way from the meeting to her branch, is keeping a competitive environment when it comes to sales and performance goals, says Kacey, who has been working with neighboring branches to hold contests between employees.
More importantly though, Kacey says, is that she has made a renewed effort to be an effective manager with her team. This includes building trust with employees, taking sincere interest in their lives and being sensitive to their needs. "Each day I am writing tickets, washing cars and picking up customers right alongside my employees," says Kacey. "I want them to know that our branch is a team effort, and working well together had made those really busy days go so smoothly.
"One of my primary goals is to help my team get to where they want to be. I want to help my intern become a Management Trainee and my Management Trainee become a Management Assistant," says Kacey. "And for my Assistant Manager, I want to prepare him to manage his own branch and, hopefully, see him in Orlando next year for his first rental meeting."
- Rhonda Sciarra |