There are a lot of common problems when it comes to the used car operations for new car dealers.

But of all the problems and challenges that dealers face, the number one problem is that dealers trade or buy a unit and have a lack of “intent.”

Most would say, “Of course I have intent. I intend to sell this unit and make some money.” That makes total sense, but the problem is, it’s far too general.

That’s like saying you’re going to drive from NY to LA without a plan on how you intend to get there.

How many of you have ever heard the saying, “Every used car has to stand on its own?” If you’ve been around long enough you understand the term and can probably agree with the statement.

That being true, how can you give them all the same shelf life?

How can you not have a specific intent for each unit?

Most managers don’t think, “What’s my intent,” when a unit comes into their inventory. They paint them all with the same broad brush, which doesn’t make a lot of sense.Intent starts with the appraisal and is finalized during the trade walk, where the “final intent” is determined.

If dealership managers would look at each unit and clearly state their intent, they would have fewer inventory problems, turn would improve, and average gross, volume and ROI would go up.

I’m not going to go into the details here in this newsletter, but my life cycle management process gives you the disciplines to determine and carry out your “intent.”

My intent with this article is not to try to sell you something. My intent is to get you to think harder about what your own intent happens to be when you bring units into your inventory.That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

In sports, you often hear about how powerful momentum and intensity can be. The last two minutes of a football game will frequently determine the outcome.

You will often see players and coaches ’ greatness shine through in the most helter-skelter moments.

There’s a good chance the last two minutes of the Super Bowl this weekend will determine the outcome.
In the automobile business, the last day of the month is like the two-minute drill of a football game.

I have some “what ifs” for you:

What if you approached the 15th of the month as if it were the last day of the month?
What if you approached every Friday and Saturday as if they were the last two days of the month?
What if you approached every Wednesday and Thursday as if they were the last two days of the month?
What if you approached every Monday and Tuesday as if they were the last two days of the month?
What if you approached every day as if it were the last day of the month?
What day is it? It’s the last day of the month. It’s always the last day of the month.

The clock is ticking. You’re running out of time-outs. Pick it up. Let’s go. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

Everyone has problem cars from time to time. You know the ones I’m talking about.

The ones that want to stick around forever.

The ones you haven’t yet found a buyer for.

The ones you overpaid for and now scratching your head over.

But where did they come from? How did they all of a sudden end up on your lot? Did they just fall out of the sky?

Can you imagine how much better off you would be if you could identify problem cars on day 1 vs. day 61?

Suppose you had a strategy in place to deal with them sooner rather than later?

The number one problem I see in the industry is we just don’t pay attention.
We don’t pay attention soon enough.

By the time we realize we have a problem, it’s too late.

Take the time to do a “trade-walk” which includes all purchase units, and be blatantly honest about what you’re staring at.

Then put a strategic plan in place to deal with the more problematic units.

If you did nothing more than that, you’d have a lot fewer units falling from the sky, hitting you in the head and giving you a headache.

And, you would have a lot better bottom line. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

Joe Maddon who has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs and now with the Las Angeles Angels is a bit of a strange duck.

Some would call him eccentric and for sure an out-of-the-box thinker. He does a lot of weird and interesting things with the way he manages the team, but he’s a winner and gets the job done.

One of his themes is “Do Simple Better.” When you break our business down, more often than not what makes or breaks a dealership is the ability to “Do Simple Better.”

Here are 5 simple things that maybe you can do better.

1. Early Intervention-you can’t manage activity by staring at your computer screen. Get up move around. Look for trouble. Trouble meaning a deal is getting screwed up before it even has a chance. You can do better.

2. Improve Your Selling Processes-odds are the evaporation factor is chasing you like a base runner caught in a rundown. Pay attention. Get on it. Stop the evaporation. You can do better.

3. Don’t Short Cut Your Appraisals-Take your time. Look for a way to make it happen. Do it right. Get it right. You can do better.

4. Speed It Up-It takes too much time to get your used vehicles through service. Find the bottleneck. Fix the bottleneck. You can do better.

5. Listen More-Take someone to lunch. Someone you would never take. Listen to them. Amazing the things you might learn. You can do better.

Make your own list.

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

Maybe it does or maybe it doesn’t, but if you’re like a lot of dealerships you don’t even have a bench.

Don’t believe me? Answer this question. If you lost a key manager today, who do you have that’s ready to step in and get the job done? There you go…I didn’t think so.

Time and time again a dealer group will seek to expand, or they lose a key manager and here we go again with, “Who do you know that would like to make a change?”

What should you do to improve your bench strength?

First, identify a couple of people that have high energy levels, are good communicators and exhibit some fundamental leadership skills. Some things you can teach. Some things you can’t.

Second, create a well-defined management development program. No, not in your head, write it down. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it has to be a commitment.

If you’re going to put them in a place to succeed when their number is called, you’re going to have to invest some time and money. If you’re the GM or Dealer, then you need to invest some of your time mentoring these newfound rock stars. The more you commit to them, the greater the odds of success.

If you’re a salesperson by chance reading this, you too, need to be willing to invest in yourself. Stop sitting around crying and complaining and start investing.

Part of a management development training program should be to include these management candidates in your manager’s meetings, strategy sessions, and the monthly recap of “the numbers.”

Whenever I’ve done in dealership management training for dealers, I’ve always encouraged them that if they have someone on the sales team that they think might be a manager candidate to include them in the training. In 20 years, I can only think of a handful of times that a dealer invited a salesperson to attend the training.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right now. The best time to start growing your bench is right now.

You can’t grow if you don’t grow your team.

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

Would you like to improve your overall business model?

Want to improve customer satisfaction?

Want to reduce ongoing daily issues?

Want to improve your work environment?

One of the guiding principles of the Ritz Carlton hotel chain is, “If you get a complaint, you own the complaint.” That’s what you need to instill in every member of your team. “If you get a complaint, you own the complaint,” should become one of your core principles of leadership.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you might not have to hand it off. But, if you hand a complaint off then it’s your responsibility to follow up and make sure it’s been handled.

We often overthink things in business. Keeping things simple is always the best method. If you develop a culture of wild and crazy team members who own the complaints, life is going to be so much easier, a lot more fun, and a much larger bottom line.

You’ll have happier customers and spend a lot less time in court. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs.

If you talk to anyone that’s had a successful run, they will tell you the greatest thrill for them hasn’t been:

All the money they’ve made
All the great trips they’ve taken
All the wonderful houses they’ve owned
All the news stories about adding another business to their portfolio
All about their sales rankings in publications like Automotive News
All about all the wonderful plaques they’ve received for their civics’ activities, contributions to their community, or the awards from the franchises they represent

It’s none of those.

They will tell you the greatest thrill for them is the contributions they’ve made toward developing great leaders in and outside of their organization.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to invest in their businesses and their staff. The one thing they all know deep down inside is there is no greater investment than investing in their people.

Regardless of your position on the management totem pole, you too can invest in others by teaching, coaching, encouraging, and picking others up. When you set the example, you become the example.

When people feel like they are learning and moving forward, they always want to give you their best. When people are giving their best we all grow.

Sometimes you help people grow so much that they leave for other bigger and greater opportunities. You should smile, high-five them and give yourself a little pat on the back.

Are you investing in your team? That’s all I’m gonna ask. Tommy Gibbs.

Back in 2016 the University of Florida’s Athletic Director, Jeremy Foley retired after a forty-year career at the University of Florida.

You can well imagine the number of people Jeremy Foley has had to fire over the years.

Of course, he’s not always made the perfect decision when hiring and firing, but based on the school’s success, he’s been right far more times than he’s been wrong.

One of Foley’s sayings is, “If something needs to be done eventually, it needs to be done immediately.”

You will often find that to be a characteristic and trait of exceptional leaders. They see what needs to be done and they do it immediately.

You as a leader know there are things you eventually need to do, but for whatever reason, you keep putting it off.

You know there are people you need to eventually replace. If you know you need to eventually replace them, then you need to do it immediately.

You know you need to eventually change your pay plans. If you know you need to eventually change pay plans, then you need to do it immediately.

You know you need to set up a used vehicle buying center. If you know you need to eventually set up a used vehicle buying center, then you need to do it immediately.

You know you need to eventually get rid of packs. If you know you need to eventually get rid of them, then you need to do it immediately.

There’s a long list of things you know you need to eventually do.

If you want to be a better leader, you would do them immediately.

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

I don’t care what you know.

I care what you can teach others to do.

That’s what leaders do.

They teach it. They coach it.

It’s a wonderful thing that you have talent and great skills, but if you can’t teach it to others then your organization’s growth is limited. You limit your own growth when others aren’t growing.

I cannot tell you how many times in my career I’ve seen talented managers not be able to teach others.

Consequently, when they are not on the job, nothing much happens. Productivity goes in the tank and the company suffers.

Should the B team be blamed for not getting the job done?

No, the team leader who should be doing the teaching, coaching, and the development of the staff should be blamed.

As much as you may think you’re “IT,” you’re not. If you can’t teach “IT” then you ain’t “IT.”

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

1. Guard Against The “Peter Principle”-Don’t promote people based strictly on how they have performed in their current role. Promote them to their ability to perform in their new role. People are often promoted to their level of incompetence.

2. Guard The Processes-The team with the best and most consistent processes wins the most often.

3. Guard The Team-It really is about the team. You need team players. If they aren’t on the same team you cannot afford to keep them on the team. They will destroy morale and production.

4. Guard The Customers-When you protect your customers, you build your business and set the bar for the team to do the same. The team is watching and emulating how you deal with customer issues.

5. Guard The Vendors-You must demand the same high quality and standards from your vendors as you demand from your team. Don’t lower your standards because you’re saving a few bucks.

6. Guard The Culture-There’s nothing more important that you can do than guard your culture. You cannot afford to hire people who aren’t of the same mindset. If you make that mistake you will wake up one day and there is no culture.

7. Guard Against Legacy Thinking-Just because you’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Stop looking back. Look forward.

8. Guard Against Making The Same Mistakes-Mistakes are a part of growing, but what you cannot allow is the same mistakes happening over and over again.

9. Guard The Training-You cannot train too much. It’s not “redundant training” until the team is perfect. The team isn’t perfect.

10. Guard The Passion-Don’t let anyone steal or drain your passion and don’t be afraid to show your passion for all the above.

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