Successful dealers have a different view, a different attitude, a different swagger
about them and a different way of managing accountability.
This time of the year reminds me of spring training for major league baseball.
Optimism is running high, as it should be, but in a few months, reality will start to
set in.
The stronger teams will have started to pull away and the weaker teams will be
asking themselves, “What happened, where did we go wrong?”
A number of my articles recently have been prodding you to get ready for the New
Year.
Here are a few thoughts to get you moving a little faster toward your goals and
some suggestions for changes you might need to make.
Observe-Spend a Saturday just sitting in the tower observing. Say nothing. Take
notes. Of course, you’re not going to see the true picture, but you will see enough
to give you an idea of where the loopholes are.
Ask Questions-Meet with your GSM/Sales Manager and ask him/her to review
with you what the selling process is. Better yet, prior to the meeting, ask them to
write out the selling process to bring to your meeting. Make this a regularly
scheduled activity.
Get After Them-Tell them what you observed and how far off track they are
compared to the list and the discussion you just had. Of course, first, tell them all
the things you observed that they are doing well. Do your best to end the meeting
on a positive note and create a plan of action to improve. That last sentence
would seem to be common sense and something I shouldn’t have to say. I said it
because we all need to be reminded of what’s important once in a while.
Re-Commit-Get them re-committed to what they say they are supposed to be
doing. Reviewing the processes is the single most effective way to do this. A lot of
people talk-the-talk, but very few walk-the-walk.
Re-Deploy-get them on a mission to get back on track through renewed focus,
training, disciplines and processes. Get a commitment for the training they intend
to do with the sales force over the next 30 days. Training requires an investment
of money. Invest some money.
Create Accountability-create a daily checklist to review what they are doing as
compared to what they said they were going to do. Continue to observe and
whenever it’s not right go back to step one and start over again. Your number one
job is to “Guard the Processes,” and therefore eliminate evaporation.
Raising expectations is in part about raising your level of intensity and creating
accountability within the team. Human nature being what it is, people will do what
little they have to do to get by.
I hope you’re off and running. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Let’s stop pretending people change because they “want to grow.”

No, they don’t. Most people don’t change until the pain hits a level they can’t ignore.

There’s a pain point… and then there’s a death point.

A pain point is annoying. It’s uncomfortable. It’s that little voice saying, “You should probably fix this.” And what do most people do?

They slap a Band-Aid on it and keep limping through life.

A death point is different.

That’s when the pain gets so loud, so sharp, so exhausting, you realize:

If I don’t change… this thing is going to own me.

That’s the moment people finally move.

Not when it stings.

When it suffocates.

The truth?

You don’t need to wait for the death point. You don’t need to let the pain get unbearable. You can make the change when the pain is still whispering instead of screaming.

But most folks won’t.

Most folks wait until the house is on fire before they grab a hose.

Leaders, winners, and people who actually get somewhere in life?

They act at the pain point.

Leaders, who have they eyes open and are paying attention often see the pain coming and catch it before it catches them.

Smart leaders never have to deal with the “death point.” That’s all I’m gonna say.  

People love to blame what they don’t know for holding them back.

The truth for most people is it’s what they think they know… that just isn’t true anymore.

We all carry around old beliefs, old rules, and old habits we’ve never bothered to question. That’s where the damage is done.

Ignorance is fixable.

False certainty is deadly.

The minute someone says:

• “We’ve always done it this way,” (You sometimes don’t say it, but you think it.)
• “Our customers don’t want that,”
• “That’ll never work,”

…you know growth is about to hit a wall.

The smartest people aren’t the ones who know the most.

They’re the ones who challenge themselves the most.

They constantly ask:

• “Is this still true?”
• “Where am I wrong?”
• “What needs to change?”
• “Is there a better way?”

It’s not what you don’t know that hurts you.

It’s what you do know… that just ain’t so. That’s all I’

Most of you know what a Save-a-Deal meeting is—even if you don’t use it. And it still amazes me how many dealers skip it altogether.

So… what’s Save-a-Car?

Before I answer that, let’s talk about what really happens in most dealerships when it comes to getting cars through recon. A lot of dealers have a recon tool that—at least in theory—is supposed to speed up time to the front line. And to a certain extent, it does.

But here’s the truth:

Recon tools are at their best when they help you identify bottlenecks. That’s the real key. Fix the bottlenecks, and your time to the front line improves. Ignore them, and nothing changes—no matter how good the software.

Now, there’s another major piece that gets overlooked every single day:

Accountability.

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease” was first quoted in 1870, and it’s still dead-on today.

Your Save-a-Car meeting should be held every Tuesday and Thursday. In the room: your recon/service team and your used-car management team—including the GSM and GM, depending on your structure.

This is where you ask the hard, specific questions about cars stuck in recon.

Example:

“At our meeting this past Tuesday, you said the part was being overnighted for the 2024 F-150, stock #3425. Why are we still showing that unit waiting on parts two days later?”

Save-a-Car forces clarity. It forces accountability. And it forces movement.

If you truly want to improve time to the front line, light a fire.

How?

Ask questions. Lots of questions. Every time.

That’s all I’m gonna say.