I’m thinking about half my readers know what a “wash out sheet” is and the other half probably don’t. For those that don’t, in the early years of the retail auto business, dealers used a “wash out sheet” to determine how much money they made on the sale of a vehicle.

Here’s the way it worked. A new car comes into your inventory. You don’t know how much money you made until all trades are sold and thus “washed out.”

Follow the sequence. A new car creates a trade; you sell the trade. You trade in another and finally sell the last one with no trade. You then calculate the total gross generated by the sale of that one new car plus all the trades.

In this case, it took 3 transactions to determine how much total money was made. You would do the same thing if you purchased a used vehicle. If there were no trades or maybe one, the washout occurs much sooner.

With the technology that dealers have today, I believe it would be prudent to track the total gross each unit brings to the table. That would include F&I, Parts, and Service Gross generated from reconditioning on each unit as well as packs and doc fees.

Your first reaction is “We’re already doing this.” But you aren’t.

You might have a vague idea of what a single unit brings to you on the front side of the business and you might even know what a unit creates from the reconditioning gross, but you don’t have any idea what the total gross is when you track it in totality going from the first sale to the last sale that was created from the first unit sold.

The washout sheet is kind of like suits and ties. Keep them around long enough and they will come back in style.

Let the washing begin.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

These are unprecedented times we’re currently going through.

Never in the history of our business have grosses and profits been as high as they are today.

Somewhere between the pandemic and the laws of supply and demand, dealers have been put in the favorable position of selling new and used units at window sticker and above.

Salespeople are saying in so many words, “Take it or leave it, because if you don’t buy it, someone else will.”

While it’s a great situation to be in, I have to caution dealers, managers, and salespeople to be careful how you say it.

Telling a complete story of “why” is a much better road to long-term success.

If you’re coming across as “take it or leave it,” you may wake up one day to discover that they took your advice and have “left you,” and ain’t coming back.

Take it or leave it. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

In 1983, against long odds, Jim Valvano led his underdog NC State Wolfpack basketball team to the NCAA basketball championship.

He’s also very much remembered for his inspirational 1993 ESPY Awards speech given just eight weeks before he died of cancer.
His motto was, “Don’t Give Up . . . Don’t Ever Give Up.” In that speech he said there are three things we should do every day:

1. Laugh.
2. Think. You should spend some time in thought.
3. Cry. You should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy.

His point was if you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day.

Matthew McConaughey won the best actor award at the Oscars in 2014. He said he needs three things in his life to survive:

1. Someone to look up to. I would also suggest you need someone to look up to. It might be God, someone in your family, business or someone who’s mentored you.

2. Someone to look forward to. In his case, and yours as well, he looks forward to his family. What do you have going on in your life that you look forward to? Is it accomplishing the next great challenge?

3. Someone to chase. He chases his hero. He said he was chasing himself in 10-year increments. That too makes sense. We all need something or someone to chase. Being in the chase makes us better.

Laughing, thinking, crying, having someone to look up to, something to look forward to and something to chase is what fuels the passion of life.

That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs.

1. Your oldest units? Do you know where they are parked? How about a plan to make them go away?

2. Your look-to-book? Don’t like that one? Ok, how about trade ratio?

3. Your most expensive units? Do you know where they are parked? Have you got a plan to make them go away?

4. What’s your wholesale to retail ratio?

5. Who owns your used car department?

6. How many turns are you getting a year?

7. Do you understand the consequences of over and under 30 days old?

8. What’s your average cost per unit in stock?

9. How many clicks does it take to get from A to B on your website?

10. How many days does it take to get a unit through recon and on the line?

11. Are you doing a trade-walk & identifying problematic units? Are you creating a unique strategy for each? 99% of the time auction purchase units are problematic. (You’re going to get burned if you don’t start paying attention.)

12. Do you have anything over 60 days? Have you asked why? Do you have a plan to make them go away?

There are lots of things you need to know. I’m just pointing out a dozen of them.

That’s all I’m gonna ask, Tommy Gibbs.

Woody Hayes’ (the legendary coach of Ohio State University) career was cut short because he punched a Clemson University player on the Ohio State sideline.

Coach Hayes once said, “Paralyze resistance with persistence.” Regardless of what you think about Coach Hayes, you have to give him credit for a very powerful statement.

Change, continuous improvement, and daily disciplines are often met with resistance. Resistance is not a generational thing, it’s just a thing. It’s a thing that’s always been present. It’s been around since the caveman.

There are always strange forces of nature at work. Resistance is the force of nature against persistence. We’ve all seen very talented people fall flat on their faces because of a lack of persistence.

Talented people will often resist having to be accountable. They like doing their own thing. The lack of discipline is a close cousin of resistance.

Persistence can be a two-edged sword. We’ve all known salespeople who drove us nuts. They bug you to death and work you until your nerves are on edge. But, the bottom line is they were persistent. Persistence wins over time and persistence will sell lots of cars.

There is always room for improvement and you should never be satisfied…and you should never let them be satisfied. Becoming satisfied leads to complacency.

To keep the “boogie man of complacency” away, you as a leader have to be persistent in all things that have been deemed to be important to the success of the organization.

It is so easy to lose persistence. Being persistent is not something you do once in a while. It is something that has to be done every minute of every day.

Discipline is the twin brother of persistence. Discipline is what carries you through the down moments; those moments when you want to throw your hands in the air and say the heck with it.

I like to think of persistence as always staying after it regardless of your current state of mind. Being highly motivated can come and go. Even when you are not feeling all that motivated you can still remain persistent.

Being persistent means having intestinal fortitude and a willingness to grind it out regardless of the obstacles that keep coming your way.

Think of obstacles as just bugs on a windshield. Persistence is the windshield wiper. Wipe ’em off and keep digging.

The enemy is resistance. Your sword is persistence. Fight the good fight.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

1. Record front grosses are being achieved
2. Those record front grosses will be hard to maintain
2. Dealerships are achieving record profits
3. Record profits won’t continue
5. Volume is down
6. Volume will continue to be down
7. You will overpay at the auctions
8. You have always overpaid at the auctions
9. You cannot give up on buying at the auctions
10. You must have a different and unique strategy for auction purchases
11. You need to have a quicker trigger on auction purchases
12. Stealing trades at the front door will be harder to do
13. The big boys are aggressively buying your customers’ cars
14. You’re going to see less and less trades showing up at your front door
15. Did I say you need a different strategy for buying at the auctions? You need a different strategy for buying at the auctions.

If you play smart, you will always have the winning hand. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

As you can imagine I get to see a lot. When you see a lot you tend to form opinions. Opinions are just that, an opinion.

Doesn’t make me right or wrong, but you have to realize I get to see so many different views that over time I can spot a zebra from a horse pretty easily.

One of the issues that constantly comes up is the PIC (Person in Charge); the dealer, general manager, owner-operator who doesn’t listen to those in the trenches when it comes to what’s working, what’s not, and what can be done to fix something.

Oftentimes it’s not just that they don’t listen, it’s that they don’t bother to ask.
Even when they do ask they won’t act on the information they have been given because they (the PIC) have been there and done that.

Sometimes they have over-analyzed the information to a point where they are convinced that whatever the thought or suggestion that was served up will not work.

In your zest to get it right have you screwed it up by not being willing to listen to others who might just have a good idea?

Experience is a powerful tool and so is the lack of it. Experience can convince you not to do something that might make you a lot of money. Inexperience can cause you to take a chance and make some money.

My father, just like your father, gave me tons of advice as a young man growing up. One of the things he said to me was “Son, you can go through life, not take many risks, and you will probably live an ok life. Or, you can go through life, take some chances and you might be rich.” Hmmm.

I think far too often in the car business, or any business for that matter, we become convinced that something can’t be done and when we do that we are no doubt right. And, we are just as right when we become convinced that something can be done. Business and life is such a head game. The better heads win.

Often times as we go up the APG (Authority Power Grid) we start to believe that due to our success we have all the answers. And as brilliant as we may be, we need to value and act on those ideas that come to us from those who are immediately dealing with the problem.

Fear is a great motivator or de-motivator. If you’re scared to roll the dice once in a while it’s going to be very hard for you ever to hit the winning numbers.

You need to listen to those under you and you need to let them try some of the things they believe will help your business. Take the handcuffs off and turn them loose once in a while. What you think doesn’t matter as much as you think.

One of my favorite techniques as a dealer was to ask the members of the management team what they needed in order to fix whatever problem they felt was getting in their way of performing to their maximum potential. My message to them was, “Tell me the problem, tell me what you think the fix is, and let’s get on with it.” I loved eliminating excuses. Now the ball is in their court. Game on!

When all the information comes from the top down in the power grid, those on the lower half of the grid become very unhappy. Unhappiness leads to frustration.

Frustration leads to throwing one’s hands up and giving up. When people give up they go through the motions and the organization never reaches its full potential. I want you to reach your full potential.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

March Madness is upon us. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you know that March Madness is the NCAA basketball tournament.

More often than not these games are won on defense and a full-court press is often a major part of a defensive strategy.

A full-court press is a basketball term that refers to a defensive style in which the defense applies man-to-man or zone defense to pressure the offensive team the entire length of the court before and after the inbound pass.

A full-court press takes a great deal of effort but can be an effective tactic.

Often when teams are behind late in a game, they will apply full-court pressure as a means of attempting to produce turnovers as well as tire opponents.

A team with less talent can beat a talented team by utilizing a full-court press for the entire game. It doesn’t take talent, but it takes a lot of heart and desire to play an “in your face” defense for the entire length of the court for a full forty minutes.

If you’re in the car business today you need to be in a full-court press. You may very well be behind in the game. Be it good or bad, in the car business every day is a full-court press day. Every minute of every day there needs to be an “in your face” approach.

I know you think you’re doing all you can, but you aren’t, there is always more. If you’ve played sports you know that is true.

How can you do more? Start by writing it down.

Make a list of all the basic things you know about this business.

Things you now do, things you used to do, and things you’ve heard that others do.

Once you make the list, make a commitment to go into a full-court press for a minimum of the next 21 days.

Why 21 days? Research has proven it takes 21 days to create a new habit. If you will focus on this list for the next 21 days good things will happen.

I’m trying to press you to take action. I’m pressing you to get after it. I’m pressing you to take stock of what you do and how you do it.

I think of every minute of my life as a full-court press. Press on. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.