It’s Thanksgiving and time to give thanks.

If you’re like me for sure you have a lot to be thankful for. Among many things I’m thankful for are your friendship and support.

Thanksgiving also starts the closeout of the year. It centers around Black Friday and rolls through the last week of the year. Like it or not, 2022 is already here.

I’ve listed some very basic ideas you need to take into consideration that will help you finish strong and get ready for your best year ever.

A. Re-commit yourself- and your thinking towards being the very best you can be. Take stock of all those great ideas running around in your head.
Write them down and make a commitment to get them done by certain dates. Post it on the wall in several places that you will see frequently. If you have a private restroom, put it on the mirror.

The dealers and GMs with the most successful used car operations are those who have taken ownership of the used car department.

The more involved you get, the more success your dealership will have. If you’re not committed to the used car business, it’s a safe bet your team isn’t either.

B. Re-evaluate the appearance of your inventory. Let’s do a little checklist:
1. Look at your inventory online. Are they all there? Actual photos & prices posted?

2. Take a lot walk. Are the vehicles in straight lines?

3? When was the last time the entire lot was rotated?

4. Are you using angles to display your inventory?

5. Do you have hang tags? If so, do they all have hang tags?

6. Are they nasty, dirty on the outside?C. Refocus Your Disciplines-To be successful in the used car business you have to have daily/weekly/monthly disciplines that you live and breathe by.

One of those disciplines might be to do a weekly lot walk. Every car in your inventory must be touched. If it’s in service, touch it. If it’s in prep, touch it.

If it’s in the budget center, touch it.

Everybody touches it. Even if you think you have your disciplines well defined inside your head, you’d be well served to make a written list and check them off from time to time.

D. Re-Recon-Take every unit over 30 days old back through a recon process. (You’ve already missed your best window of opportunity to make gross; that would be the first 20 days.)

E. Re-Invest in yourself and your management team. Do something to gain some knowledge. Hire me, visit CarMax, or visit a dealer friend in another state that does a good job in used. Attend a workshop. Join a Twenty Group. Join a Used Car Twenty Group. Do something besides sitting there and waiting for something to happen.

F. Re-think- your management team. Do you have the right person running your used car operation?

Yes, that person may have been with you for years. Loyalty sometimes equals mediocrity. Maybe they have some great skills, but the fact is that you may not be making the best use of their talents.

I’m thankful for lots of things this holiday season and I’m especially thankful that you’ve taken the time to read my little Zingers.

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

EXPECTATIONS: Frequently in my training sessions, I’ll ask the question, “How many of you agree that you do a lousy job of holding people accountable in your business?” Without exception, they will all raise their hands.

Leaders that have figured out how to hold people accountable are the most successful when it comes to developing a culture of leaders and achieving high results.

Holding people accountable doesn’t have to be a negative experience. When people understand the expectations, they will seek to achieve those expectations, goals, objectives, culture, or however, you might want to frame it.

People tend to do the right thing when they know it’s in their best interest, not when you have to hit them over the head with a baseball bat.

Your job as a leader is to sell the team the idea that the things the organization deems to be in the best interest of the organization are actually in their best interest too.

Achieving expectations means they win, we win and we all have more success.

Easy tips:

1. Make sure everyone is reminded of the expectations. Yes, that seems elementary, but the evaporation factor is always in play. Either as a direct message or subliminally, leaders must constantly remind the troops of what’s expected and what’s important.

2. Get on it right now. Far too often when there’s a lapse in achievement, leaders let things drag on and on. The more things are allowed to slip, the more those things become a habit, and the more the expectations are lowered.

3. You don’t have to be mean to enforce expectations. People like to work in a well-run, well-disciplined organization. This isn’t about screaming and hollering at someone about their failures. It is about letting them know quickly we’re not on track; you and your team are not getting it done, whatever “getting it done” might mean to you. At some point, there must be consequences for those who cannot live up to reasonable expectations. The ultimate consequence is they get to go to work someplace else.

4. Be consistent in your actions and statements. The easiest way for expectations to fall apart is that you are all over the place. You let some things slide for some people and not for others. You cannot be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Selective enforcement with just a few people will destroy the morale and productivity of the team.

5. There are times when you need to figure out the real root of why expectations aren’t being met. What’s the real problem? Leadership sometimes will set the wrong expectations. Setting the wrong expectations is just as bad as not having any.

6. In order to hold others accountable, we too have to hold ourselves accountable. We should make it a daily practice of looking in the mirror and being honest with ourselves.

A part of holding yourself accountable is never to forget, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” The closer you become to people the more difficult you make your responsibility of holding them accountable. I’m holding you accountable. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

“The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success.” Anonymous

Have you ever noticed that when some people get behind the wheel of a car, truck, or SUV that they lose their minds? It’s not unusual to see someone driving really nutty, doing something really stupid and you pull up beside them and they look like normal people.

They don’t have two heads, fangs, or horns sticking out of their heads. 

What is it with people when they get behind the wheel of a car? They sorta lose their minds. Good people, nice people seem to go a bit postal. 

As I’ve mentioned in the past at one time I drove race cars. I always found it interesting that some of the nicest guys outside of a race car were nuts once they got in the car.

It was as if their helmets squeezed their brains until stupid flowed out. I’m not excluding myself from that equation, as I was no different from the rest when I strapped mine on. I believe it’s the power of the engine that makes them go off the deep end.

I see the same thing in business every day. Someone gets promoted and whamo, they get the “king of the hill” mentality. “I’m ‘da king, you ‘da peasants, and you will do as I say.” That type of mentality will soon be their downfall.
They have been anointed this position of power, but don’t have a clue on how to lead. Should we blame them or the person who promoted them?

One of my father’s favorite sayings is, “Be nice to people on the way to the top because you never know who you will meet on your way down.”.That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs.

As a new car dealer for over 20 years I found packs to be a useful and profitable tool to increase profits and flexibility.

My favorite as a dealer was to use the pack money to step up on trades when we needed to make a deal. We all think differently when it comes to how to make the best use of them.

I tell dealers all the time “if they are still working, stay with them.” I just question if they are working as well as some dealers think they are.

I believe that in the big picture they have outlived their usefulness. If you review the history of packs, they came about in part because managers worked from cost up. Dealers figured out that if the manager’s target for front gross was $1000, that they would hit that number if they had packs or not.

Over time packs have become their own profit center.

These theories and concepts have worked well for a long period of time. The Internet has dramatically changed the game. More and more dealers are pricing to market vs pricing based on what they have in the car.

Dealers are not working from cost up like they did in the good old days.

Salespeople have very little control over grosses, as the price has been set before the customer even shows up.

As more and more dealers move away from paying salespeople on gross it makes very little sense to add packs to your vehicles.

As my good friend Dale Pollak likes to point out, packs are nothing but a tax on your vehicle. You are taxing yourself and making it that much more difficult to be competitive.

As more and more of the likes of CarMax, Varoom, Echo Park, Texas Direct, Carvana, Penske, Auto Nation USA are cranking up the pressure to source cars and trucks, the less relevant packs (taxes) will become.

When you’re being charged full retail in service and you also have packs, you are adding additional cost to your inventory that others don’t have.

When you pack your vehicles, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Every time you go to appraise a unit, buy from the public or go to the auction, those additional charges are running around in your head and are making it that much harder to acquire inventory.

If you’re going to sell more used cars you have to be able to get more used cars. To get more used cars you have to have an acquisition advantage. Packs create a disadvantage in today’s market.

If packs are still working for you, then keep using them.

But, you should keep asking yourself if they are really working as well as you think and if they are putting you at a disadvantage in the marketplace.

I don’t hate packs, but I do hate it when we lie to ourselves.

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

Back when Jimbo Fisher, was the head football coach at FSU and had some success, he was asked how he kept his team focused on the next game. He said it’s about managing the clutter that goes on around him and the team.

Clutter for him means the media and the distractions that keep things stirred up as they go about the task of getting ready for their next opponent. Managing clutter is one of your biggest challenges as you go through your day.

There are things coming at you from left and right. At times, you feel like you are being attacked by a swarm of bees.

Your ability to swat those bees one by one will often determine your progress and results on any given day. You cannot let the clutter get you off your progressive track. The more you can do to control clutter the better.

Clutter is just a bunch of little stuff that slows you down, moves you off your center, gets you off track, discombobulates you, and messes up your entire day. You cannot let clutter control your production and performance.

Clutter is best dealt with by making sure you take a few minutes at the end of the day or first thing in the morning to map out your major tasks for that day. Swatting those little bees one by one and having an attitude of “next” will keep you on task and moving forward.

Staying on task and swatting the “clutter bees” at the same time is what separates the “bee killers” from the “killer bees.”Start swatting. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs.

“The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success.” Anonymous 

Have you ever noticed that when some people get behind the wheel of a car, truck or SUV that they lose their minds? It’s not unusual to see someone driving really nutty, doing something really stupid and you pull up beside them and they look like normal people. They don’t have two heads, fangs, or horns sticking out of their heads.  

What is it with people when they get behind the wheel of a car? They sorta lose their minds. Good people, nice people seem to go a bit postal.  As I’ve mentioned in the past at one time I drove race cars. I always found it interesting that some of the nicest guys outside of a race car were nuts once they got in the car.

It was as if their helmets squeezed their brains until stupid flowed out. I’m not excluding myself from that equation, as I was no different than the rest when I strapped mine on.  I believe it’s the power of the engine that makes them go off the deep end.

I see the same thing in business every day. Someone gets promoted and whamo, they get the “king of the hill” mentality. “I’m ‘da king, you ‘da peasants, and you will do as I say.” That type of mentality will soon be their downfall.

One of my father’s favorite sayings is, “Be nice to people on the way to the top because you never know who you will meet on your way down.”

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

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.