The View From The Top

You may have heard or read that after 16 months of not selling vehicles with an open recall that Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation, has now decided to change the policy.

No doubt, the recall thing has been a mess and a tough item for those in the retail automobile business to deal with. I for sure, haven’t had any great answers for solving the problem.

Accord to this ARTICLE Mike Jackson was betting on Hillary Clinton getting elected and that she would implement legislation blocking the sale of used vehicles with open recalls. What a bad 16-month bet that was.

I don’t know Mike Jackson. I’m sure he’s a very smart guy or he wouldn’t be where he is today. What I do know is that he started in the trenches and has a lot of success in our industry and I have a great deal of respect for his journey.

Forget about the lost revenues; The stress of having to deal with these unsaleable units over the last 16 months has had to have been a real bear.

It’s a tough view from the 13th floor in Ft. Lauderdale, but a much tougher view from the showroom floors around the country.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Do What You Know

Most of us know a lot more than we’re doing. If we could figure out a way to do half the stuff we know how to do, or know we should do, there’s no telling how much we could accomplish.

There are a multitude of reasons why we don’t do the things we know and most of it involves the word “fear.”

We fear it may set us back.
We fear we may fail.
We fear criticism.
We fear upsetting the apple cart.
We fear we may get it wrong.
We fear we “might” get it right.
We fear we may have to let go of stinky “legacy thinking.”

Sometimes we like “fear.” Fear is the most amazing internal excuse we could ever have. If our associates could see inside our heads and see our fears, we would be shamed into doing the things we know how to do.

You don’t need someone like me to tell you what to do, but you do need someone like me to remind you to do what you know. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Stop Hiding In The Closet

Are you running a business or a democracy?

I’m a big fan of making the team inclusive of what’s going on. I’m a big fan of educating the team. I’m a big fan of getting insight from those who are in the trenches. I’m a big fan of listening to the troops.

But, I’m not a big fan of rule by committee. Ruling by committee is an easy way to avoid accountability.

Ruling by committee allows us to blame no one when it fails. Ruling by committee is a sickness designed to allow those in charge to accept responsibility for nothing.

Ruling by committee is a way to hide in the back room. Rulling by committee is peeking through the closet door.

Step out of the closet, come into the room and be counted. If you’re ruling by committee, stop it!

You’re not running a democracy, you’re running a business. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Who Eats First?

Yep, the holiday season is here. For sure many of you will be having holiday parties, luncheons and the sort with your team members.

Isn’t it funny some of the life lessons we learn by observing along the way? There are some things you don’t actually have to be told. You see it and it registers in your mind forever.

For me one of those lessons is about who eats first. Early on in my Marine Corps days I recognized that the highest rank in the tent ate last.

I’ve always applied that discipline in my business career.

Not only is it a good practice to feed the troops first, it’s a good
practice to sit with the troops. If you’re having a function, you should encourage your leadership team to scatter and not sit together.

It’s amazing what you can learn when you observe, sit and listen. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

A Business or Democracy?

I’m a big fan of making the team inclusive of what’s going on. I’m a big fan of educating the team. I’m a big fan of getting insight from those who in the trenches. I’m a big fan of listening to the troops.

But, I’m not a big fan of rule by committee. Ruling by committee is an easy way to avoid accountability.

Ruling by committee allows us to blame no one when it fails. Ruling by committee is a sickness designed to allow those in charge to accept responsibility for nothing.

Ruling by committee is a way to hide in the back room. Ruling by committee is peeking through the closet door.

Step out of the closet, come into the room and be counted. If you’re ruling by committee, stop it! You’re not running a democracy, you’re running a business. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Are You Serious?

I had great mentors when I first got in the car business. One of the first things I learned was that when a salesman was working a deal the whole world stopped.

Most of us are familiar with the tower or desk concept, the area where deals are worked, which can at times be like Grand Central station. It’s the nerve center. It’s the airplane control tower. It’s the emergency room and ICU all rolled into one. It’s serious business. You need to be serious.

What it’s not, is a place to socialize, but socializing does happen there. With that being the reality, the management staff has to have the discipline that all silly activity stops when a sales person walks in the room. To this day, when I’m in a dealership and a sales person walks in the tower I want to say, “Whatcha got?”

Sometimes they have a deal. Sometimes they have a question. Sometimes they need encouragement. Sometimes they are

looking for a little push. Sometimes they are just lost. But at all times I want them to know I care about them and I’m there to help them do business.

Maybe you should be just a little more serious. If you’re not already using the term “Whatcha got,” maybe you should.

By saying “Whatcha got,” you will get a lot. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

You’re Not That Good

Just kidding. I’m sure you’re pretty good at what you do or you wouldn’t still be doing it.

I have a saying I’ve developed over the years and it goes like this. “You never get it right and there’s always more and something else to do.”

In a recent article in USA Today, Bill Parcells, former New York Giants coach says of Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots coach, “Sustained excellence is not something that’s easily acquired.”

So there you have it, I’m on the same thought wave as a couple of great NFL coaches.

Pause and think about it for a minute. Think about how hard “sustained excellence” is to achieve.

The word sustained: continuing for an extended period or without interruption.

The word excellence: the quality of being outstanding or extremely good.

Being able to do something day in and day out without evaporation is the single greatest challenge any leader faces.

Maintaining discipline is the key to obtaining “sustained excellence.” When you maintain discipline you have a far better chance of sustaining excellence.

Sustaining excellence doesn’t happen by osmosis. It happens when leadership creates a laser focus on all those things we know to be important.

Sharpen your laser. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Give Them What They Want

I’ve always loved complaints. I’ve always viewed complaints as an opportunity to fix something. I love fixing stuff.

When dealing with customer complaints I like to ask the customers, “What is it you want us to do to make you happy?” I try not to tell them what I’m going to do unless I already know exactly what they want.

Regardless of what they say they want, a good leadership technique is either to give them all of what they want or nothing at all.

Let’s say you have a dispute about a service bill. Always repeat what the customer has said back to them before drawing a conclusion. It’s imperative that you do so in order to ensure you fully understand the complaint and what they want you to do.

If they say they don’t think they should be charged anything and you offer up 50/50 you have just wasted your 50%.

They may very well take it, but they are still mad, they hate you and they are going to say ugly things about you and your dealership to their friends and relatives.

Give the customer everything they want or give them nothing at all.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

What You Believe

Creating new beliefs is a little bit like creating new habits. It takes 21 days to develop a new habit. An easy example to understand is diet and exercise. It can be very difficult to bust through those first 21 days. Tough, really tough to do.

What you currently believe is based on years of truth and/or propaganda. Not just propaganda from the outside, but inside your head. If you tell yourself something long enough and loud enough you will become a true believer, regardless if it’s based on facts or not.

Politicians will tell the same lie so long and loud that eventually they become convinced it’s the truth.

Having a strong belief system is very powerful on the road to success. Just keep in mind that just because you believe it doesn’t make it so.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

The Problem With Management

The problem with management is they pit one department against another and then they wonder why the team doesn’t work together. You might be saying nah, but the reality is it’s more of an “oh yeah.”

Depending on how you want to count, most dealerships have 5 departments, maybe even 6 if you want to count F&I as a department. With the exception of F&I they all operate as a separate business on the statement.

Therefore they are all expected to generate a profit. In most cases, the pay plans for those that work in each department are designed to create the maximum performance of each of those profit centers. You know, the old adage of “you get the results you pay for.”

It’s not just pay plans that create this somewhat hostile environment that many dealerships operate in. It’s a lack of leadership at the top. Leadership will often allow stupid stuff to go on that most of us would recognize as power struggles.

Frequently it is management that’s been entrenched in their positions for years and years and they aren’t about to let go of the “power.” Having power becomes more important than the team winning.

But, I have good news for you. These issues aren’t just prevalent in the automobile business. They exist in just about every business you can think of, including the government.

They don’t exist, or at least exist very long, when you have real leaders at the top.

Hope it’s not a problem for you. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs