Most of us understand the concept of muscle memory. An example of muscle memory is when you throw a ball, you don’t think about all the mechanics of doing so. Your body, mind and arm just make it happen.

“Mental muscle memory” works much the same way. Whenever we need to make any decision in our personal or business life, our brain will go into what we have stored in its “hard drive” to decide what to do.

The brain is going to go where we have the most experience and where we are the most comfortable. This dated information becomes what we rely on because it’s what we know.

I like to refer to this as actually “Bad Mental Muscle Memory.” Relying on “Bad Mental Muscle Memory” is like a drug. The more you rely on it the more you want to do it.

“Bad Mental Muscle Memory” is the future on hold. Opening up your thinking is the future on steroids. It grows and grows.

Invest more time, energy and resources in the training and development of you and your staff.

Here’s 7 ideas to help you defeat “Bad Mental Muscle Memory.”

1. Look for greatness and ideas in others. Instead of showing up to let everyone know how great you are, show up to find out how great everyone else is. You don’t have all the answers and even if you’ve had some good ones in the past, maybe it’s time to let others help you tweak them up a notch or two.

2. Set up an Executive Committee. A few years ago a good friend of mine came back into the automobile business to do some re-organizing of his group of stores. The first thing he did was to set up an Executive Committee to help guide the team toward the future. He knew that the team knew that he had a lot to get his arms around. What a brilliant move to get the team involved in the decision-making process.

3. Add some fear to your diet. Fear is a great motivator. You should be fearful of falling behind. You should be fearful of the competition getting ahead. You should be fearful of what’s around the corner. Fear will force you to get out of your box and get on with it.

4. Read and study the best. Do you know who the best are and do you understand what they do? Do you understand how they do it? Have you spent any time studying these top performers? Being a leader is like being a great football coach. To be a great football coach you have to have a great scouting report. If you’ve not studied these top players then you should.

5. Inspire those around you. You may think this is overplayed but it’s not. The more you inspire others the more it creates enthusiasm for change and growth.

6. Avoid the easy. Go after the impossible. My good friend, great author and speaker, Dave Anderson, often speaks of stretching yourself and stretching your organization. You can’t stretch if you don’t reach for the impossible. You will soon find out that what you thought was impossible is very doable. And then you will say “next.”

7. Eliminate what you think are obstacles. Sometimes it’s people, sometimes it’s stinky thinking. The only thing in life you have total control over is your thinking. If you think you can you are right. If you think you can’t you are right.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” I’m going to add to his quote. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm for change”

“Showing up” is a term that is sometimes used in sports when a player performs well, has an exceptional game, or makes ESPN’s top ten plays.

It doesn’t actually mean what it says.

Anybody can “show up.” People show up every day. Sometimes you wonder why they even bothered to show up.

Showing up and performing, excelling, kicking butt and taking names is a whole different kettle of fish.

Great players and great leaders “show up” every day for every play. The great ones don’t pick and choose which day or which game they intend to excel in. It’s ingrained in their DNA to “show up.”

They don’t say to themselves, “Hey, I like this day, I think I’ll show up.” They say, “I’m here, let’s get on with it.”

Of course, they have days when they don’t feel like giving 110%, but they dig in, they grind it out, they push through the mess and they make it happen.

The automobile business is a tough game. If you’re going to have sustained success you have got to show up every day and “get after it.”

Getting after it means guarding the processes.

Getting after it means creating high energy.

Getting after it means holding yourself and others accountable.

Getting after it means making those tough personnel decisions that you know you need to make.

Getting after it means amping up your training to be the best you can be.

Getting after it means paying attention to what’s going on around you.

Getting after it means not ignoring “the elephant” in the

room.

Here’s The Biggie:

Getting after it means removing those obstacles that keep your team from reaching their goals.

If you’ve not been showing up, maybe it’s time you did. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

The downside of absolutes is it chokes off the potential to have an acceptable exception.

Exceptions break the rule of discipline.

Exceptions soon become the norm.

When exceptions become the norm chaos breaks out. The type of chaos I’m referencing isn’t actually like a bomb going off. This chaos is slow and gradual, often not recognized, and then – whamo – there it is, its ugly face screaming at you, “What the heck happened?”

Now here’s the real deal for those of you looking to become better leaders. You can have absolutes and exceptions in the same house. They can actually hang out with each other once in a blue moon.

True leaders can use them both and chaos will never show its ugly face. Granting an exception and going back to absolutes is very doable.

The problem with leadership is that very few leaders have the skill to make effective use of them both.

Most people in leadership positions are stuck with one or the other.

At any given moment one is just as bad as the other. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I often wonder what dealers, managers, and leaders are looking at. At times it seems they are looking, but they don’t see.

Yogi Berra once said: “You can observe a lot by just watching.”

And sometimes even when they see, they don’t hold people accountable and take corrective actions.

Believe it or not, people want to be held accountable. It’s hard to hold people accountable when we haven’t set or determined what the expectations are.

Once expectations are set then we must have a way of measuring the progress. Measuring progress is probably one of the easiest things to do in the automobile business.

When the measurements are not satisfactory, we have to communicate the results and seek corrective action.

Once the corrective action plan is in place it all starts over again and at some point, there has to be, there just has to be, a consequence for failing to measure up.

And that’s where the biggest problem occurs. Not wanting to hand out the consequences is when leaders look, but don’t see.

I see it all the time. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs.

Most dealers and managers have come to understand that speed is critical when it comes to making money on used cars. If you are committed to 60 days or less (which you should be), then any days in the assigned life-cycle of a unit when it’s not available for sale is a killer. The question often comes up, “When does the clock start ticking?” Does it start with the actual day you own it, or does it start when the car goes on the lot/online? The issues that often come up are the delay in getting vehicles from auction sites and those units we can’t sell for legal reasons such as we don’t have the title as required by law in some states. There are certainly times when a needed part is delayed and/or a vehicle spends weeks in the body shop. Let me make this as clear as I possibly can. It starts the moment you own it. Period. No exceptions, no ifs, ands, or buts. If you want to trick yourself by assigning a different date once the car’s online then go ahead; it’s your store you can do what you want. But, what you can’t do is change the math. It is what it is. It’s a depreciating asset. The clock starts ticking the minute you own it. Do the math. The ROI is going south. It’s a ticking time bomb. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Great leaders have their thumb on the pulse of the organization. Without a pulse, the organization dies. If you are to improve your leadership skills, you must know the pulse of your organization.

You can only know the pulse of the organization by absorbing yourself within the daily activities and action of the business. To feel the pulse, you must feel the passion.

If you’re not feeling the passion, then your pulse may very well be dead. Maybe your pulse is dead because you’re burned out. How can you be burned out when you’ve never been on fire?

You are responsible for your own fire. I’m just trying to give you a match to get you going. Firing up your own passion will ignite your organization.

Real leaders have a pulse. Real leaders feel the pulse. Real leaders inspire a pulse.

I hope you’re on fire. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs.

Over the last few months, I’ve spent time with hundreds of dealers through zoom sessions, in-dealership workshops, 20 groups and one on one conversations.

The common theme in those conversations is that grosses are going south and the honeymoon is over.

So, the question everyone is asking is what can we do to stop the decline or better yet what can we do to improve grosses?

I’d first like to address that question with a question.

Are you giving away some units that you should not be giving away?

Historically whenever dealers have a respectable average gross profit, they have a few home runs tucked into the equation. Are you hitting any home runs?

As inventory levels improve, it’s easy to jump into the burn and turn mindset with ALL your inventory.

I’m betting you are selling some units short that you shouldn’t. You have great software tools. You have a brain. You should be able to figure out that there are certain units that you don’t need to give away.

I understand the challenge. You have a 10-day-old used car and you’re staring at a $3,000 gross, so it’s tough to say “no.” But, that might be the very car you should be making $5,000 on. A handful of these units each month can make a big difference in your average gross profit.

Another component of low grosses is the mismanagement of the life cycle of each unit.

Far too often you hold onto problematic units too long. They get deep into their life cycle and then you decide to either retail or wholesale it at a breakeven or loss because you’re feeling the “aging heat.”

If you had unloaded these problematic units earlier in the life cycle, even at a low profit, your overall average grosses would have been better. A small loss early is far better than a bigger loss later.

If you start tracking GAP (Give-away-Profit) you might discover that certain managers and/or salespeople are too quick to give up on your internet price. GAP is the difference between your internet price and your final sales price. If you’re struggling with front gross, tracking GAP might help you zero in on the culprits.

Another drag on gross profits is a lack of training.

Does your sales staff have awareness of the vehicles you have on the ground? Do they really know your inventory. How often do you do a lot walk with the entire team? 

Are they selling your awesome recon processes to your customers? Do they even know how you recon a car?

Knowledge is power. The more information your salespeople have about your product and your processes, the more your gross profit will improve.

Never forget that you make the most money on units you sell in 10 days or less. If you have a sloppy recon operation and you have units spending 7 to 14 days in recon, you’ve lost your best opportunity to make gross profit.

We all know you make your best grosses on trades and customer acquisitions. What are you doing to improve that segment of your business? Are you allowing one manager to dictate the value of your used cars? Two heads are always better than one.

Are you tracking look to book by salesperson and sales manager?

What about your trade ratio? How many units did you retail this month? How many had trades attached? Improve those numbers and you will improve your average gross profit. 

Everything I’ve shared with you here is important toward improving your used car grosses.

I’m betting my first bullet point is your number one issue.

Stop giving your good stuff away. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Over the last few months, I’ve spent time with hundreds of dealers through zoom sessions, in-dealership workshops, 20 groups and one on one conversations.

The common theme in those conversations is that grosses are going south and the honeymoon is over.

So, the question everyone is asking is what can we do to stop the decline or better yet what can we do to improve grosses?

I’d first like to address that question with a question.

Are you giving away some units that you should not be giving away?

Historically whenever dealers have a respectable average gross profit, they have a few home runs tucked into the equation. Are you hitting any home runs?

As inventory levels improve, it’s easy to jump into the burn and turn mindset with ALL your inventory.

I’m betting you are selling some units short that you shouldn’t. You have great software tools. You have a brain. You should be able to figure out that there are certain units that you don’t need to give away.

I understand the challenge. You have a 10-day-old used car and you’re staring at a $3,000 gross, so it’s tough to say “no.” But, that might be the very car you should be making $5,000 on. A handful of these units each month can make a big difference in your average gross profit.

Another component of low grosses is the mismanagement of the life cycle of each unit.

Far too often you hold onto problematic units too long. They get deep into their life cycle and then you decide to either retail or wholesale it at a breakeven or loss because you’re feeling the “aging heat.”

If you had unloaded these problematic units earlier in the life cycle, even at a low profit, your overall average grosses would have been better. A small loss early is far better than a bigger loss later.

If you start tracking GAP (Give-away-Profit) you might discover that certain managers and/or salespeople are too quick to give up on your internet price. GAP is the difference between your internet price and your final sales price. If you’re struggling with front gross, tracking GAP might help you zero in on the culprits.

Another drag on gross profits is a lack of training.

Does your sales staff have awareness of the vehicles you have on the ground? Do they really know your inventory. How often do you do a lot walk with the entire team?  

Are they selling your awesome recon processes to your customers? Do they even know how you recon a car?

Knowledge is power. The more information your salespeople have about your product and your processes, the more your gross profit will improve.

Never forget that you make the most money on units you sell in 10 days or less. If you have a sloppy recon operation and you have units spending 7 to 14 days in recon, you’ve lost your best opportunity to make gross profit.

We all know you make your best grosses on trades and customer acquisitions. What are you doing to improve that segment of your business? Are you allowing one manager to dictate the value of your used cars? Two heads are always better than one.

Are you tracking look to book by salesperson and sales manager?

What about your trade ratio? How many units did you retail this month? How many had trades attached? Improve those numbers and you will improve your average gross profit. 

Everything I’ve shared with you here is important toward improving your used car grosses.

I’m betting my first bullet point is your number one issue.

Stop giving your good stuff away. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs