Being short is good. Sometimes a short answer to a question is the best answer. Just tell me what I asked you.

I don’t need you to tell me the color of the sky and the number of clouds that you saw on the day we missed the deal. I don’t need to know how smart you are.

Just give me the answer to the question I’ve asked. Leave out the rhetoric. Leave out the “who shot John.”

I read Seth Godin’s blog each day. When it’s short I read it. When it’s not, I pass.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve tried to make my newsletters shorter so maybe, just maybe you might read them. Better yet, you might pay attention.

There are times when being short is the best way to go.

All those meetings you have…make them shorter.
All those cars going thru reconditioning…make them shorter.
All those deals you’re penciling…make the process shorter.

Short is good. I’ve got nothing else to say, Tommy Gibbs

If what you’re doing isn’t working, why do you keep doing what you’re doing?

Maybe you don’t know it’s not working? Nah. Could it be you know it’s not working, but keep thinking if you stay the course that it eventually will work?

I’m all for staying the course, but how long can you stand to stay the course? The sad part of this story is there are those around you, some not even as smart as you, and they know it’s not working.

They are embarrassed for you, but they are afraid to speak up. They know you already know it’s not working, but they don’t want to make you mad by telling you something they think you already know.

Only an idiot stays the course when they know it’s the wrong course. You’re not an idiot. For gosh sakes, do the right thing and change directions.

The worst that can happen is it doesn’t work. What you’re doing ain’t working. Changing the miserable course that you are on will energize the team and when you energize the team anything is possible.

I’m energizing you. It’s working. That’s all I’m gonna say Tommy Gibbs

1. That you and your team have the most successful year in your history.
2. That you and your team understand the value of pressing your cost down.
3. That you and your team embrace becoming a stude nt of the game.
4. That you and your team turn and burn high dollar units.
5. That you and your team buy very few and selectively from the rental car companies.
6. That you and your team never miss a trade at the front door.
7. That you and your team buy more units from your customer base.
8. That you and your team utilize my “Life Cycle Management Program.”
9. That you and your team realize you don’t make money on units 30 days and older. Yep, 30 days.
10. That you and your team re-think recon cost and packs.
11. That you and your team get your vehicles in and out of recon down to 3 days or less.
12. That you and your team continue to move to “one-price” by learning how to say “no” to the customer and “yes” to selling the value of your product and your store.
13. That you and your team realize paying on gross makes no sense.
14. That you and your team pick up your intensity and make things happen.
15. That you and your team become a team.
16. That you and your team add me to your team.

That’s all I’m gonna wish, Tommy Gibbs

This should be a really good week. It will only be a really good week if you make it a good week. It’s not going to be a good week if you stay in your seat acting like a computer geek.

You can make it a good week by getting up and moving around. You should be like a bumblebee on a pollination mission. You’re here. You’re there. You’re everywhere.

You can’t just flap your little wings in place and think someone’s gonna sell a car. You have to move around.

You have to create the buzz. You have to go from being weak and meek in order to make it a good week.

I don’t like things to be all about you, but this is all about you. This week is all about you. It’s about you making things happen.

It’s about you contributing as much in a week as you sometimes do in a month. It’s not about you giving 100 or 110%. It’s about you giving 200%.

It’s not about asking others to do it. It’s about you doing it. You sometimes think you’re important. Well, you are important. You’re even more important than you think. At least this week you are.

You may have to sting a few people this week. That’s ok. Some of your team could probably use a sting or two. A little stinging pain for a whole lot of car selling gain.

This is not the week for the meek and certainly not a week for a geek. It’s the week of the bumblebees. Let the stinging begin. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

1. How’s the plan coming?
2. Have you presented the plan?
3. Has the team talked about the plan?
4. Is the team sold on the plan?
5. Have you even started on the plan?
6. What happens when the plan falls apart?
7. What’s plan B? Plan C?
8. Is it a new plan with the same tired and worn out players from last year’s team?
9. Is it time to change the head coach?
10. What about the assistants?
11. Does the plan include the same selling process from 2002?
12. Are you sold on your own plan?
13. Are you planning for the sake of planning?
14. Is your plan a pie-in-the-sky forecast and not really a plan at all?
15. Did the plan come together for you because you put a bunch of numbers on an Excel spread sheet?
16. Since you think you have a plan, do you have a strategy in place to execute the plan?

Planning is fun. It makes us feel good. Just because you feel good doesn’t mean you’ve got it right. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Have you ever been around incompetent people? Maybe you’ve actually worked with some or even worse they were your supervisors.  

Here’s the thing about incompetence. It carries the same sort of momentum that working with competent people does.

When you’re surrounded with competent people, you tend to become more competent yourself. And of course the opposite is true.

If you surround yourself with incompetent people you become incompetent and “incompetent momentum” takes over the organization. The “Peter Principle” is when someone gets promoted above their competency or ability level.

Too often in business, people get promoted based on how they have performed in another position or who they are related to. It happens all the time in the car business.

Joe, who can sell 20 cars a month, becomes a sales manager. Then Joe becomes the General Sales Manager and then we wake up one day and Joe is the GM and we ask, “How did that happen?”

Either you need to surround yourself with competent people or go someplace else that actually has competent people.

To do anything less is incompetent. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs 

Always putting out fires? Such a shame. So much time wasted. Non-productive time on those darn fires.

Think about a real fire. Most fires are started due to carelessness. The fires you fight are the same way. 

Someone is careless and thus, you get to fight the fire.

Fighting fires takes away from time that could be so much more productive. Productive building your team. Productive building your business. Productive building your bottom line. If you’re to be more productive you have to eliminate the fires.

The fires you fight are more often than not a result of someone either not knowing or not doing.

If someone doesn’t know, that’s your fault. If someone isn’t doing what they know how to do, that’s also your fault.

You’re creating your own fires. I’m thinking that’s called arson. It’s not about putting out the fires. It’s about fire prevention so that the fire alarm never goes off.

That’s not going to happen until you take responsibility for fire prevention training.

Fire prevention is about coaching and teaching your team on the “why and the how” and then setting expectations.

Anything less puts you in the fire. Enjoy the heat. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs 

University of Alabama’s head football coach, Nick Saban, is part owner of Mercedes-Benz of Birmingham and Infiniti of Birmingham in Birmingham, AL.

I don’t know what he knows about the car business but he’s a pretty darn good football coach. At this point, he’s won four national titles at two different schools, which is unheard of.

Based on the team’s current status there’s a good chance he’s going to get a shot at a fifth one.

The company’s mantra for his dealerships is, “We will trip, fall and skin our knees trying to delight our customers.”

I’m thinking that’s the kind of mantra a great football coach would have, so there’s no surprise there. What I am surprised at is that more people in business don’t
have that same mindset.

Just think of the possibilities, if you could instill that thinking in your team. Advertising expenses would go way down. CSI scores and profits would go way up.

That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Rob O’Neill is the Navy Seal who claims credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden.

In a recent interview on Fox News he discussed some of the key points to being a member of Team Seal 6.

Turns out, whether you’re hunting down enemy insurgents or running a successful business, the same principles apply.

The message can be summarized in O’Neill’s four keys to success:

1. People skills matter-“Believe it or not, as a Navy SEAL, it’s important to get along with other people. People work harder when they believe in each other and they get along.”

Tommy Says-It’s no different in your business. If you have people in your organization that don’t have good people skills, they will drag you and the team to the bottom of the pile.

2. Prepare, but don’t over-plan-“People tend to sit in a room and do nothing and say, ‘We’re going to plan and plan and plan until we have the perfect plan.’ But they’re not doing anything. We learned that the only time the perfect plan exists is in the planning room.”

Tommy Says-In business you have to stay flexible. It’s important to have a plan but don’t get married to the plan. Everything we do has a moving target. Yes, give it time to work, but be ready to adjust and move on. Don’t look back. Keep digging.

3. Take emotion out of professional decision-making-“Your initial reaction to anything is the wrong reaction. That’s true whether you’re taking fire from a mountaintop in Afghanistan, or you’re the man or woman landing a jet on an aircraft carrier on the high seas at night, or you’re the person who makes lattes at 7 a.m. on a Monday at Starbucks and there’s a line around the corner.”

Tommy Says-Far too often we let emotions, relationships and loyalty affect our decision making process. If you do what’s best for the company, in the long run you’re doing what’s best for the people in question.

4. No matter what, never quit-A message from his SEAL training instructor applies to other life challenges: “You’re about to go to war for the first time, and the enemy is all your doubts, all your fears, and everyone back home who told you you couldn’t do this. Keep your head down. Keep moving forward. No matter what, never quit.”

Tommy Says-Don’t give up. Never, ever give up. There are people who want to see you fail. Keep pushing forward and you will drive them crazy with your grit, determination and intestinal fortitude. And, in the end you win.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

If you’ve ever ridden a bus, it’s likely you stood at a bus stop waiting and looking for the bus. Even if you’ve never ridden a bus for sure you have observed others waiting for a bus.

Have you noticed how those standing at the bus stop are always looking for the bus?

For most people it’s human nature to look for the bus. The bus is more than likely going to show up, and when it does there are some things to keep in mind:

1. The bus might be running late.
2. The bus might be full.
3. The seat choices once you get on the bus might not be very good.
4. You could end up sitting beside someone you don’t know or don’t like.
5. Most buses don’t have seat belts so if it has an accident you might get hurt.
6. The bus is going to make a lot of inconvenient stops along the way.
7. If traffic is heavy the bus will not take an alternate route.
8. Riding a bus can be a very rough ride.
9. You have very little control when you’re waiting and/or riding ‘da bus.

The bottom line is waiting for a bus has lots of flaws. When it comes to your business are you waiting for the bus or are you driving your own bus?

Driving your own bus means making something happen rather than waiting for something to happen.

Far too often I observe dealers and managers sitting back and waiting to see if someone else is going to come up with the next great thing so they can board the bus and ride along.

If you happen to be the Dealer or GM I cannot imagine how you can be in the automobile business today and not be in a 20 group. How are you going to get the latest greatest ideas by sitting inside a parked bus in your driveway?

Having your own bus is one thing; going somewhere in it is another.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the Dealer, GM, Used Car Manager, Salesperson or in some other type of business; what you have to ask yourself is are you driving the bus or are you letting someone else do the driving?

As long as someone else is doing the driving the scenery is going to be very limited and your success even more so. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs