Do The Care?

THIS IS DIFFICULT What’s difficult? What I’m about to say is difficult. I don’t like saying it, but it’s the truth. People lie. When they lie the impact is expensive and painful. What lie am I talking about? It’s the lie of: “Yes boss, I’m all in.”“I’m with you.”“Let’s rock this thing.”“I think you’re brilliant.”“This will take us to the promised land.” They are looking right at you shaking their head north and south on the outside, but on the inside their head is going east and west and they are thinking, “No way!” Behind the scenes they are circumventing whatever it is you’re trying to do. They don’t want the change you’re trying to implement, and they have convinced themselves that the old way is the best way. They have a hidden posse of followers that they have gathered up to help spread the negative propaganda. They will act like they are in the boat rowing with you, but at the same time they are drilling holes and letting the water seep in. They will play along with you for a period of time as if they support the idea, but plant seeds of doubt to convince you that you’ve got it wrong and that we need to go back the other way. In the end, one of two things will happen. You will listen to them and bail out of the idea. Legacy thinking wins again. Or you figure out what’s going on and send them packing. Either way it’s going to be expensive and painful for you.It would be a lot less expensive and painful if you had figured it out sooner.You’d figure it out a lot sooner if you would just pay attention. That’s all I’m gonna say, TommyOne of my favorite authors and bloggers is Seth Godin. Seth once wrote “that when staff members aren’t doing what you would like them to do it’s not due to ignorance. It’s due to the fact that they don’t care about what you care about.” Getting people to care about what you care about isn’t necessarily about having more meetings and training sessions. Of course, that activity is a part of giving people what they need to know. Knowing something and doing something is what separates the good companies from the great companies. One of the best things a leader can give to his/her organization is to set the atmosphere for a defining culture and to make sure there’s a clear understanding of the following facts: Everybody has the same product.Everybody has great prices.Everybody has technology.Everybody has trained technicians.Everybody has good selling processes.Culture is what will separate your organization from your competition. Most of the time upper management “gets it.” The breakdown occurs at the next level. Far too often we don’t get enough influence from the core staff to make a real difference. A few are talking the talk, but most aren’t walking the walk. People must “see it” in order to start to “believe it.” Your challenge is to get more of the “next level” involved, engaged, and believing they can make a difference. Until you do so, you’ll hold some nice meetings. Do some nice talking. Print some nice posters. Create some nice name badges. Feel good about yourself. But not much will change. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

One of my favorite authors and bloggers is Seth Godin. Seth once wrote “that when staff members aren’t doing what you would like them to do it’s not due to ignorance. It’s due to the fact that they don’t care about what you care about.”

Getting people to care about what you care about isn’t necessarily about having more meetings and training sessions. Of course, that activity is a part of giving people what they need to know.

Knowing something and doing something is what separates the good companies from the great companies.

One of the best things a leader can give to his/her organization is to set the atmosphere for a defining culture and to make sure there’s a clear understanding of the following facts:

Everybody has the same product.

Everybody has great prices.

Everybody has technology.

Everybody has trained technicians.

Everybody has good selling processes.

Culture is what will separate your organization from your competition.

Most of the time upper management “gets it.” The breakdown occurs at the next level. Far too often we don’t get enough influence from the core staff to make a real difference.

A few are talking the talk, but most aren’t walking the walk. People must “see it” in order to start to “believe it.”

Your challenge is to get more of the “next level” involved, engaged, and believing they can make a difference.

Until you do so, you’ll hold some nice meetings. Do some nice talking. Print some nice posters. Create some nice name badges. Feel good about yourself. But not much will change. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’ve always encouraged dealers and managers to track ROI. I’m convinced it’s a critical piece of information that everyone needs to be aware of. By doing so the bottom line will increase.

If nothing else, it makes you aware of how important speed is when it comes to making money on used cars. (Or new for that matter.)

But let’s be clear. We pay our bills, and we get paid by generating gross profit.

Lots of gross profit.

It’s not about giving all your inventory away. It is about understanding which cars you can make money on and which ones need to be turned faster.

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?

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.

The gross profit and ROI clock are ticking from the moment you own it.

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. What you can’t do is change the math.

It is what it is. It’s a depreciating asset. Your ROI and Gross Profit are going south minute-by-minute, day-by-day.

Understanding the connection between ROI and Gross Profit makes you smarter. Be smart. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I trust your good judgement.

Those are five very powerful words.

One of my favorite statements, when people come to me seeking guidance on making specific decisions, is “I trust your good judgment.”

Granted they will sometimes make decisions I might not agree with, and that’s the best part.

Why?

Because it gives me a chance to coach them in a positive way.

I don’t have to tell them they were wrong. I simply ask them if they considered coming to a different conclusion by doing whatever?

I might say next time it might be better to blah, blah, blah.

Only in a rare set of circumstances would I bust them over a decision they have made.

If you want to build a powerful team of leaders look for opportunities to say, “I trust your good judgment.”

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Your inability to move fast is a killer for your used car business. Moving fast puts you in the winner’s circle. Not moving fast puts you in the loser’s circle.

The speed of your service department has a direct impact on your ability to produce gross in the used car department. You cannot afford to wait 7 to 10 days to get unit online and on the line.

Unfortunately, many service managers haven’t been trained to understand that your used car inventory is a depreciating asset and it’s costing you money every day it’s not available for sale.

I’m not selling my workshop with this newsletter, but I always encourage dealers to include the service manager in my used car workshops.

I think in some cases service management gets caught up in the day-to-day issues with your retail customers and they don’t pay attention to what’s going on with your used cars.

They need to continuously be educated about how fast the market can change on a used car and what it does to the bottom line of the dealership.

If you want to improve your speed, then you need to take a hard look at my “Life Cycle Management” process.

“Life Cycle Management” will change your used car world forever, make you lightning-fast, eliminate wholesale losses, improve turn and gross profit.

Sometimes your people are lazy or someone they just don’t know.

Regardless of the reason, it gets back to speed being the killer and speed making you a winner. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs