Touch is a fundamental part of human interaction that plays a vital role in the workplace and beyond.

Whether it’s a handshake, fist bump, high-five, a pat on the back, or a friendly hug, touch can help build connections and foster a sense of trust and collaboration among colleagues.

Touch is a great way to increase energy and enthusiasm.

One of the most common forms of touch in the workplace and social arena is the handshake. This simple gesture can convey a great deal of information about a person, including their level of confidence, trustworthiness, and respect for others.

A firm handshake, for example, can convey a sense of strength and confidence, while a limp one may suggest the opposite. A wimpy and un-enthusiastic handshake can drain a potentially powerful moment.

During the pandemic this sort of human touch went away. I heard some people say they were happy it did. I’m not one of those people.

My father taught me how to shake hands at a young age and I’ve found it to be one of the most powerful human interactions on the planet. Even more so when it includes a hug.

In addition to handshakes, other forms of touch can also be valuable in the workplace. A pat on the back can be a sign of encouragement and support, while a touch on the shoulder can convey empathy and concern. Even a fist bump can be a lighthearted way to show camaraderie and a shared sense of purpose.

The high-five is an exclamation point for whenever you feel the need to put it into play. It once got me out of a traffic ticket. When the officer came to the window I high fived her and all she could do was smile and move on.

The first-ever high-five appears to have happened in 1977, during a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros. After a home run, Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker high-fived his teammate.

Of course, it’s important to remember that not everyone is comfortable with physical touch, and it’s essential to respect people’s boundaries and preferences. However, for those who are open to it, touch can be a powerful tool for building relationships and enhancing teamwork.

It’s also super important that you touch all your used cars on a regular basis. They will love you for it.

In conclusion, touch is an essential aspect of human communication that can play a vital role in the workplace. It can inspire positive thinking and expand trust.

Touch reduces social anxiety and stress. Physical touch increases levels of dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters that help regulate your mood and relieve stress and anxiety. Dopamine is also known to regulate the pleasure center in your brain that can offset feelings of anxiety.

From handshakes to pats on the back, these small gestures can help build trust, foster collaboration, and create a more supportive and productive work environment. Touching your used cars will help them go away faster too.

With some caution, let the touching begin. A big high-five to you. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

What is True Grit?

True grit is the combination of:

1. Perseverance: The ability to keep going despite setbacks or difficulties.
2. Passion: A deep, enduring commitment to a long-term goal.
3. Resilience: The capacity to recover quickly from failure or adversity.

Characteristics of Gritty Individuals

1. Tenacity: They maintain focus and effort over time, even when the rewards are delayed.
2. Optimism: They believe challenges can be overcome and see failure as a stepping stone.
3. Self-Discipline: They work consistently toward their goals, often sacrificing short-term comfort.
4. Adaptability: They learn from failures and adjust their approach without losing sight of their objective.

The Importance of True Grit

• Achieving Goals: Grit is often a better predictor of success than talent or intelligence.
• Overcoming Adversity: Grit allows individuals to face challenges head-on and come out stronger.
• Building Confidence: Each small victory fueled by grit builds self-assurance and momentum.

How to Cultivate True Grit

1. Set Clear Goals: Know what you want and commit to it wholeheartedly.
2. Embrace Failure: See setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow.
3. Practice Patience: Recognize that worthwhile achievements take time and effort.
4. Strengthen Self-Belief: Develop a mindset that you can achieve anything with persistence.
5. Build Support Systems: Surround yourself with people who encourage and inspire you.

Examples of True Grit in Action

• Athletes who train for years to achieve peak performance.
• Entrepreneurs who persevere through multiple business failures to find success.
• Students who study tirelessly to excel in their chosen fields.

True grit is not about talent or luck; it is about hard work, unwavering passion, and the determination to push forward despite obstacles. By embracing these principles, anyone can develop the grit needed to achieve extraordinary things.

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

Most of us understand the concept of muscle memory. An example of muscle memory is when you throw a ball, you don’t think about all the mechanics of doing so. Your body, mind and arm just make it happen.

“Mental muscle memory” works much the same way. Whenever we need to make any decision in our personal or business life, our brain will go into what we have stored in its “hard drive” to decide what to do.

The brain is going to go where we have the most experience and where we are the most comfortable. This dated information becomes what we rely on because it’s what we know.

I like to refer to this as actually “Bad Mental Muscle Memory.” Relying on “Bad Mental Muscle Memory” is like a drug. The more you rely on it the more you want to do it.

“Bad Mental Muscle Memory” is the future on hold. Opening up your thinking is the future on steroids. It grows and grows.

Invest more time, energy and resources in the training and development of you and your staff.

Here’s 7 ideas to help you defeat “Bad Mental Muscle Memory.”

1. Look for greatness and ideas in others. Instead of showing up to let everyone know how great you are, show up to find out how great everyone else is. You don’t have all the answers and even if you’ve had some good ones in the past, maybe it’s time to let others help you tweak them up a notch or two.

2. Set up an Executive Committee. A few years ago a good friend of mine came back into the automobile business to do some re-organizing of his group of stores. The first thing he did was to set up an Executive Committee to help guide the team toward the future. He knew that the team knew that he had a lot to get his arms around. What a brilliant move to get the team involved in the decision-making process.

3. Add some fear to your diet. Fear is a great motivator. You should be fearful of falling behind. You should be fearful of the competition getting ahead. You should be fearful of what’s around the corner. Fear will force you to get out of your box and get on with it.

4. Read and study the best. Apple, Starbucks, Amazon.

CarMax. Do you understand what they do? Do you understand how they do it? Have you spent any time studying these top performers? Being a leader is like being a great football coach. To be a great football coach you have to have a great scouting report. If you’ve not studied these top players then you should.

5. Inspire those around you. You may think this is overplayed but it’s not. The more you inspire others the more it creates enthusiasm for change and growth.

6. Avoid the easy. Go after the impossible. My good friend, great author and speaker, Dave Anderson, often speaks of stretching yourself and stretching your organization. You can’t stretch if you don’t reach for the impossible. You will soon find out that what you thought was impossible is very doable. And then you will say “next.”

7. Eliminate what you think are obstacles. Sometimes it’s people, sometimes it’s stinky thinking. The only thing in life you have total control over is your thinking. If you think you can you are right. If you think you can’t you are right.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” I’m going to add to his quote. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm for change”

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’ve written about this before, but the subject is so important that I’m doing it again. It’s important stuff so keep reading.

I’m going to be discussing and commenting on what’s commonly known as the “Four Stages Of Learning” plus two others that I know you have never heard of because I made them up. I don’t know where the first four originated, I just know I stole them.

All six stages of learning apply regardless of the application. They can be applied in sports, business, social activities, and life in general.

All 6 stages of learning apply regardless of the application. They can be applied in sports, business, social activities, and life in general.

1. Unconscious incompetence-The individual does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the deficit. The individual must recognize their own incompetence, and the value of the new skill, before moving on to the next stage.

The length of time an individual spends in this stage depends on the strength of the stimulus to learn. The more time they are willing to spend learning the skill or activity the faster they move to the next stage.Example: You decide to take up golf so you go out to the driving range, whack at a few balls. 1 out of 10 you make great contact, but you have no clue what you’re doing. You know you love the feeling and you know you want some more of it so you keep returning to the driving range and/or play a few rounds of awful golf.

2. Conscious incompetence-Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, he or she does recognize the deficit, as well as the value of a new skill in addressing the deficit. The making of mistakes can be integral to the learning process at this stage. Example: After going to the driving range for a while and playing a few rounds you begin taking lessons with a golf pro and quickly realize how little you know. You observe others either at the golf course or on video, etc. and the realization of how much there is to this game starts to sink in.

3. Conscious competence-The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires concentration. It may be broken down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill. Example: More golf lessons, more golf rounds played and you are starting to understand the integral parts of the swing. You haven’t mastered the swing yet, but you are starting to strike the ball more consistently especially when you think it through.

It’s not automatic, but your skills are improving as your knowledge starts to grow. This can be the most frustrating stage of the first four. You still have to think about it. When you do your results are much better and when you don’t you want to throw your clubs in the lake.

4. Unconscious competence-The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it has become “second nature.” and can be performed easily. The individual may be able to teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned.Example: You’ve now repeated your golf swing enough times, played enough rounds, attempted enough different types of shots that you can break par or better and have reached a very competitive level. You no longer have to think about the elements of your swing, you just do it. The physical and mental muscle memory is locked in.

5. Competent Incompetence-is the most dangerous of the six. It’s when you have years of experience, know your stuff and have become convinced you have nothing else to learn. Your success has convinced you that you are “the man,” (or woman) and you are done learning. Seeking more knowledge is the last thing on your mind. What got you to where you are today is what you think is going to keep you where you are and beyond.

6. Learning to be competent-this stage never stops. It’s a life long journey that keeps life interesting and challenging. You know that learning is a journey, not a destination. (That would be you and I.)

The most successful people at any skill, business or activity are the ones who continue to do two things:

1. They keep going back to the basics.

2. They continue searching for answers even when they think they already have many of them.

What stage are you in? I’m in the “Learning To Be Competent” stage and I hope it never ends. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

One of the skills necessary to succeed in business or life for that matter is the ability to ask the right questions at the right time and be able to cut though the B.S.

Having the ability to read people is critical to your success in life and business. People do lie.

An easy clue that something isn’t right is when someone constantly tells you how great they are even when you didn’t ask. Key words here are “you didn’t ask.”

Have you ever met someone and within the first few minutes of the conversation they start telling you they are all this and that?

It’s one of those conversations where it’s all about them and nothing about you. Isn’t there a country song “I wanna talk all about me?

If someone is telling you about all his or her great accomplishments, then you should be suspicious. It’s not unusual for people to inflate how wonderful they are, but there’s a point where it goes beyond a little exaggeration into the area of lying.

As I’ve gotten older, I was a far greater football and baseball player in college than I was. (Think on that one for a minute.)

I’ve interviewed hundreds if not thousands of people in my business career.

If a person starts telling me how honest they are I’m thinking they aren’t very honest. I don’t trust you because you say you’re honest, I trust you because you’ve earned it over a period of time. (Isn’t that what happens in relationships? Trust is earned by actions and deeds.)

When someone wants to be a name-dropper by telling you all the big-name people they have hung out with and all the great things they’ve done, I would suggest you be very leery and start checking them out. If they are truly all that great, their greatness will come through and they won’t have to tell you.

I continue to be amazed at just how gullible some people are. Even people who I respect and perceive to have their lives together are easily convinced by a smooth talker. There are a lot of people in prison today who are smooth talkers. They are called con men.

You will notice that those who can “do it” don’t tell you they can “do it,” they just go “do it.”

They don’t brag or boast about it and if anything, they are humble. They show up, roll their sleeves up and get with it. The Michael Jordans of the world don’t have to talk the talk, because they can walk the walk.

When you hear all that talking, start watching their walking.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’m getting a lot of questions about inventory turn these days.

Many dealers admittedly expressing concerns about units they have let age.

Just in case you’ve gotten a little lax, I’m going to share a few bullet points that I’m confident will help you get back on track.

1. Press Your Cost Down-This is probably the simplest and most effective thing you can do to improve your business. Know what your average cost per unit is every day and do what you can to reduce it. If you are at $18,000 today, do what you can to get it to $17,500 and so on. There is no magical number.

It’s about keeping the less expensive units and making sure the more expensive ones turn fast. If you figure out how to reduce your recon cost on the cheaper units, then you’ll figure out a way to retail more. Having lower price used cars on your lot is going to becoming more and more challenging to do. Creating a great focus on this segment will pay huge dividends for you.

2. Attack the 10 Most Expensive Units in Stock-Make a list each day of your 10 most expensive units in stock. With one exception make sure they are priced really, really right. The one exception is if you know you always make money on a unit that’s on the list then use some common sense, don’t give it away.

Consider putting bonus money on those 10 units regardless of the number of days they have been in stock. Sooner rather than later. Make sure the service manager gets a copy of the list each day and create a sense of urgency to get any of those through the shop quickly.

3. Life Cycle Management-There is nothing, absolutely nothing, you can do that will improve all aspects of your used car business more than understanding my process of “Life Cycle Management.”

Think Fast, Be Fast-You are working with a depreciating asset. Yes, your inventory has gone up during these crazy times, but those days are likely to be behind us.

Everything, including decisions on what to keep and not keep has to be done fast. Pull the trigger quickly on units that you are suspicious about. Don’t hang on to them hoping and wishing something good is going to happen.Early losses are far better than late losses. If you are paying attention and recognizing problem units early in the life cycle then you will have a lot less need to take units to the auction and lose money on them at 45 or 60 days. There are certain “Trigger Points” you need to focus on during your daily “Trade Walk.” Knowing how to use EWR (Early Warning Radar) pays big dividends.

4. Lot Walk-If you do a lot walk once a week with all the members of your sales and management team then without a doubt you will sell more units. The lot walk gets your entire team to know and understand your used car inventory.

The more knowledge they have the more they sell. Don’t get confused between a lot walk and a trade walk. They are both different and they both play a major role in your success.

5. Daily Inventory Pricing-The market changes every day and so should your pricing. Sometimes you can ask more, sometimes you can ask less. You cannot and will not achieve maximum results by changing prices every 10 to 20 days. Pricing takes intense management. It’s not something you do when you get around to it. You would be far better off if someone priced the car who is not in charge of appraising and buying them.

“The Pain of Discipline or the Pain of Regret.”

Do the little things every day and you’re less likely to have much regret.

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

My Wednesday newsletters have always been about giving you information designed to help you improve your business. With the market being as crazy as it has been of late I feel compelled to serve you up a fix for all your used car woes.

That said, it’s very likely that the reason you’re on this list is that at some point along the way I’ve had the honor of speaking to your 20 Group or you heard me speak at the NADA or state convention.

If you happen to be in a 20 Group one of the things we both know is there are dealers in your 20 group who are excelling, a handful in the middle and a few others that have their struggles when it comes to used cars which creates a drain on the bottom line.

My used car processes are designed to improve your used car operation and your overall bottom line. Your bottom line and your organization will only grow but so much unless you grow your leadership team.

My processes make sense and get amazing results.

I don’t train just your used car manager, I train your entire management team including your service manager. Until you get your entire team on the same page not much is going to change. To understand what I do and how I do it watch the short video at the bottom of this email.

Do the math. Divide my fee by the number of managers and/or the number of stores in your group. It’s a no brainer and a great investment in your team, your business and your future.

If you’re good, I’ll make you great.

If you’re great, I’ll make you greater.

Improvement gets down to one or two things:

1. Not knowing.

2. Not doing.

I fix both. Give me a call. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’m thinking that even if you don’t, you probably have. We often lie to ourselves in order to justify whatever it is we’re trying to justify.

To put it another way, “You can justify anything you want to justify.”

If you want to spend a bunch of money on advertising you can figure out a way to justify it or not.

If you’re thinking about firing someone you can justify doing so or not.

If you want to add additional staff you will figure a way to talk yourself into it or not.

If you’re you think you’re making money on cars over 60 days, you can justify it even though you’re not.

Choose your lies wisely, that’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

One of the processes I learned early in my career as a new car dealer was a “Save-a-Deal” meeting.

I often bring it up in my workshops. About 75% of the people have heard of it and of that maybe 20% actually do it.

If you don’t know what it is or you’re not using it, you should learn about it and you should start using it. It’s simple and effective to do.

It’s actually what its name implies. It saves deals. It makes deals. It helps you sell more cars. It keeps the staff focused on what’s important.

Every morning the Dealer, GM or GSM should gather up all the Sales, F&I and BDC/Internet managers and review the activity and pending deals from the previous day.

Bring the up log into the meeting and talk about each up from the previous day. Assign certain tasks and follow up to specific managers who will report back with the results.

Make sure every appraisal from the previous day is reviewed, discussed, dissected from one end to the other. Look for a way to get the trade and make the deal.

Consider all options including shopping the trade and even burying yourself. Have a manager contact all the customers that you could not come to terms with and up the ante for their trade. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call from the right person and another $500 to make the deal.

The odds are your competitors aren’t following up with an additional offer. You win and it’s an easy way to improve your “look to book.” When you improve your “look to book,” you spend less time hanging out at the auctions.

I’ll guarantee you’ll make some deals. You’ll save some deals. You’ll make more money, have a happier life and momentum will build. When you built momentum, the team wins. When the team wins, they want more wins. “Save-a-Deal” meetings are all about winning.

It takes discipline to do a “Save-a-Deal” meeting every day. “The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs