I had great mentors when I first got in the car business. One of the first things I learned was that when a salesman was working a deal the whole world stopped.

Most of us are familiar with the tower or desk concept, the area where deals are worked, which can at times be like Grand Central station. It’s the nerve center. It’s the airplane control tower. It’s the emergency room and ICU all rolled into one. It’s serious business. You need to be serious.

What it’s not, is a place to socialize, but socializing does happen there. With that being the reality, the management staff has to have the discipline that all silly activity stops when a salesperson walks in the room. To this day, when I’m in a dealership and a salesperson walks in the tower I want to say, “Whatcha got?”

Sometimes they have a deal.

Sometimes they have a question.

Sometimes they need encouragement.

Sometimes they are looking for a little push.

Sometimes they are just lost.

But at all times I want them to know I care about them and I’m there to help them do business.

Maybe you should be just a little more serious. If you’re not already using the term “Whatcha got,” maybe you should.

By saying “Whatcha got,” you will get a lot. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

The first of anything is always the best. Coffee is a great example. I highly anticipate each morning the first taste of my cup of coffee.

It’s amazingly the best. Most things are like that.

The first time you kissed your wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend is far better than the smooches you’ve most recently got.

The first lick of your ice cream cone is better than the last and so on. It’s called the law of stuff tastes better at first. (Yes, I made that up.)

Used cars are that way too. Selling one in the first 10 days tastes a lot better than selling it on day 70. The biggest difference between selling a used car and getting a kiss is that selling a used car is based on math.

Kissing is based on kissing. Imagine that?

Here’s the problem:

Dealers often failed to recognize those units that need to be first, as in sold really fast.

Those will be your most problematic units such as ones you’ve buried yourself in, bad color, auction purchases, high dollar unit, etc. These are units that you do not have a favorable cost to market or days supply.

You have to accept the fact that you’re not going to make a as much gross on those as you might make on others. Never forget they serve a worthwhile purpose in your business model. There are benefits galore at turning and burning these units.

Because the pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the law of supply and demand, some of our older kisses have been really sweet.

Unfortunately some dealers have been hypnotized into thinking an old kiss is always going to be just is good as a fresh one. Maybe you’re a great kisser or maybe you just slobber a lot.

Do yourself a favor and take a look at a handful of your oldest units in stock. Ask yourself, “why are these units still here?”

The odds are good that whatever you come up with was there on day one and you ignored it.

This article isn’t mean to be a commercial for my software product, but if you had been using my life-cycle management and recon tool, the odds of you still staring at those units would be about slim and non.

If you want to improve gross profit and volume, you have to know which ones to hold and which ones to fold and never forget all kisses are not equal.

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

Peripheral Vision

I think that a large percentage of successful people played a sport or two along the way.

It’s not imperative for someone to have a sports background, but it sure does help.

Here are some reasons why you should give consideration to hiring people with a sports background:

They know how to win.

They know how to lose.

They love big moments.

They want to learn more.

They know how to compete.

They always give their best.

They understand preparation.T

hey stay focused on the basics.

They get up when knocked down.

They coach and like to be coached.

They will get down in the trenches.

They know how to run the score up.

They understand mental conditioning.

They understand physical conditioning.

They know they must maintain discipline.

They like being on the team and understand teamwork.

They have drive, determination and the will to win.

They are eager to get off the bench and into the game.

They think fast.

They react fast.

They can react on the fly.

They have great peripheral vision, thus they always know what’s going on around them.

Hire more people with a sports background, That’s all I’m gonna say,