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.

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

It’s easy to recognize how failure can break a person. What’s harder to see—and
often more dangerous—is how success can do the same. Power is the byproduct
of success.

It’s the shiny medal leaders wear when they’re given responsibility over people,
resources, or an organization. But here’s the problem: power has a way of
distorting perspective.

Many people step into leadership roles believing that power automatically grants
them influence. It doesn’t. Power might get people to comply, but it rarely gets
them to commit. And if you’ve ever been on a team, you know the difference.
Compliance looks like showing up because you “have to.” Commitment looks like
showing up ready to run through walls because you “want to.”

The leaders we admire most aren’t the ones who bark orders, push their weight
around, or hide behind a title. They’re the ones who understand that real
influence isn’t about control—it’s about connection. It’s about how they engage
with each individual team member.

It you can’t engage/communicate well with the individuals; you will never have
the skill to do so with the group.

Power used poorly creates fear, resentment, and distance. Power used well builds
trust, loyalty, and momentum.

The true test of leadership is whether the people around you feel smaller or
bigger because of your presence.

The best leaders I’ve known see their role not as an opportunity to wield power,
but as a responsibility to serve. They don’t focus on how to use people; they
focus on how to lift people. When you do that, power takes care of itself.

So, the next time you find yourself in a position of power, ask:
Am I using this to get people to comply, or to inspire them to commit?

Do people follow me because they have to, or because they want to?
Am I making those around me stronger, or weaker?

Failure tests your resilience. Success tests your character. And nothing tests
character more than the problem of power. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

1. Average gross per unit will come down. (Fix you aging problem and it will be a lot less.)
2. Customers will have more information than you ever thought possible.
3. Nice used cars will be scarce. (They have been since the beginning of time.)
4. You will struggle to make ANY gross on aged units. (Well, duh, you’re not using my Life Cycle Management process)
5. Finding salespeople who want to work the hours and be paid on gross will become even more difficult.
6. Maximizing common sense and technology will challenge you.
7. The franchises you represent will put more expenses on your side of the table.
8. The manufacturers will increase the pressure on you to hit market share.
9. You will accept aged units as a necessary evil of the automobile business.
10. Your average cost per unit in stock will go up.
11. You will become more dependent on your used car department to save your new car department.
12. The amount of water in your used car inventory will increase.
13. Your dealership will be sued because someone didn’t “just handle it.”
14. Your CPA and legal fees will go up.
15. You will waste 50% of your advertising dollars and you won’t be able to figure out which 50%.
16. F&I income will feel stress from the regulators.
17. Improving recon time for used going through your shop will be a high priority. (You will talk about but not fix it.)
18. You’ll hire managers from the outside because you haven’t developed your own people.
19. You will wholesale some used cars that you should have retailed.
20. You’ll think about hiring me, but you’ll talk yourself out of it…again.

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 

Here we go again. It’s that time of year when the question come up should you write down your inventory?

Don’t bother writing your inventory down unless of course, you’re going to commit to some serious changes.

It’s not unusual at this time of the year for dealers to write their used car inventory down, take a big hit and a deep breath, and say “OK, done, let’s move forward.”

Many dealers lack the discipline to steer away from what got them there in the first place. Therefore, in six months or so, the owners are staring at the same hot mess they tried to fix back in December.

Used car managers and dealers fall back into the same old rut because of the fear of losses they will have by taking aged units to the auctions and dumping them.

It hurts me to say this, and I know it’s going to cause a few of you to unsubscribe from my newsletters but taking units to the auction and dumping them is just plain dumb.

If you thought enough of that 60-day old unit to bring it into your inventory as a retail piece, you should have been able to find a retail buyer for it at some number. There’s a number that every unit can be retailed at.

Therein lies the problem. You won’t retail it for what it’s actually worth, yet you’re willing to wholesale it for what it’s actually worth.

Hey Einstein, which way do you think you have the greatest opportunity to recover from a unit that was probably a bad decision from jump-street? Insanity.

The instances where you have to dump a previously assigned retail piece in the wholesale market should be very few. If you’re in the retail automobile business, then retail your units.

Yes, the grosses on all that aged stuff are going to hurt you for a while. Dumping in the wholesale market will hurt you worse. If you have a lick of discipline and stay with it, you will be fine and never, ever have another unit over 60.

My Life-Cycle management process gives you the disciplines and strategies that will keep you from saying, “More write-downs, here we go again.”

I’ve never met a dealer who has figured out the 60-day concept that said, “Geez, I’d like to go back to those days when we had units over 60.” I’ve met plenty of dealers that are disgusted that they have to deal with aged units and write-downs every year.

Enjoy your write-downs. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’ve always encouraged dealers and managers to track ROI. It’s one of the most critical pieces of information you can know—and it directly impacts your bottom line.

If nothing else, tracking ROI keeps you aware of how important speed is when it comes to making money on used cars. (Or new ones, for that matter.)

My first promotion in the car business was as a used car manager. In my mind, I was determined to guard the dealership’s money as if it were my own—especially when it came to “giving away” something to take care of a customer.

Honestly, I didn’t know any better. Back in the early ’70s, CSI wasn’t even a buzzword, and nobody talked about getting a good return on used car inventory. Sure, we wanted to make gross, but ROI wasn’t part of the conversation.

Fast-forward to today—there are millions of dollars tied up in dealers’ inventories.

Every member of the management team should understand how much money is sitting there and feel the responsibility to deliver ownership a fair return on that investment.

If you had a stockbroker handling your money, wouldn’t you hold them accountable for getting you a good return?

So how can you, as a member of the management team, not feel the same weight of responsibility?

If nothing else, understand the three key numbers that go into the ROI calculation:

1. Front Gross
2. Age
3. Cost of the Unit

The sweet spot—excluding F&I—is around 110%.

If you include F&I, you need to be north of 200%

.

Want to check your ROI? Go to FixRoi.com and plug in the three numbers.

No matter how much gross you make or how much you have in the unit, the longer it sits, the worse your ROI gets.

So ask yourself—

If your stockbroker kept giving you a poor return, what would you do?

That’s all I’m gonna say.

– Tommy Gibbs

This exercise will tighten your turn, improve your gross, and boost ROI.

Here’s the deal — every day, attack your ten most expensive used units in stock.

Have your used car manager print the list daily. Get copies to every key player: BDC, Internet, F&I, Desk Manager, GSM, GM, Prep Manager, and Service Director. Everyone needs to feel the heat and urgency on these cars.

With few exceptions, these vehicles aren’t making the money they should based on your investment. They’re often the ones aging out — and the ones you end up giving away.

They’re also fighting for attention with your new car inventory — and there are fewer butts to fit those seats. The longer they sit, the uglier your grosses get.

Here’s how to fix it:

1. Service Department Priority – Make sure your Service Director knows these ten cars take priority. If one’s in the shop, it needs to get out fast.

2. Reprice Aggressively – Forget your usual pricing playbook. Price these ten cars to move — bargain basement style. The only exception? The models you consistently crush it with. Use some common sense.

3. Bonus Early, Not Late – Don’t wait until a unit hits 60 days to throw money at it. Pay the bonus early if that’s what it takes to move it. Waiting too long leads to comp creep — 22%, 25%, 30% — when you should be sitting closer to 17–20%.

Bottom line — the faster these units move, the better your grosses, your turn, and your sanity.

Keys to remember:

• Create urgency.
• Make them go away fast.
• Take your money and run.
• Put extra juice on the tough ones.

Be an attacker.

That’s all I’m gonna say.

— Tommy Gibbs