A tough subject, isn’t it? The who and the how are critical to your success. Of course the smart money says you use the vAuto appraisal tool. The who is often the mystery.

Does your dealership allow anyone on the management team to appraise a unit? I realize some stores only have a manager or two, so there are variables tied to that answer.

In an ideal world you never want the same person appraising the car that’s working the deal on a car. When the same person is appraising the car that’s working the deal, that’s like throwing Brer Rabbit in the briar patch.

And then there’s always that dreaded “bump.” The question is who gets to make the bump? Again, it’s one of those variables depending on the size of the store.

In a perfect world it’s the GM or GSM. Sure, the used car manager can bump him or herself, but that’s usually due to pressure from a co-manager, which doesn’t usually work out too well.

Here’s another fundamental rule you need to keep toward the front of your brain operating gear. Never bump an appraisal to make gross profit. If you need to bump an appraisal to make a deal, that’s way different.

Putting the right money on a unit is always a challenge. Stealing units is no more the answer than burying yourself. Keep in mind that most of your inventory problems come from purchase cars not trade-ins.

If you’re going to hurt yourself you are far better off to do so with a trade than with a purchase car. At least you’ve earned a new customer and have a chance to make up income in other areas such as F&I, service, etc.

Never forget that your ability to put the right number on a unit is the key to the success of the entire dealership.

But who is to say what the right number is? Often it gets down to your ability to retail that unit. This business is not about wholesaling, it’s about retailing.

You never know if it’s the “right number” until you sell the unit.

There’s an old saying, “If I could buy them for wholesale book prices and sell them for retail book prices I’d be very rich.”

That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

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.

What it’s not is a place to socialize, but socialization 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.

If you’re not already using the term “Whatcha got,” maybe you should. By saying “Whatcha got,” you will get a lot and you will create more moments of excitement that lead to making things happen.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

The two hot topics of conversation of late, actually all of the time, have been how to find more cars and how to hire more and better people.

That same conversation occurred 20 years ago and will occur 20 years from now. The reality is that there is no simple fix to either of these problems.

If you think hiring a rock star buyer will solve your inventory problems in the end you will probably make them worse. If you think hiring an outside company to recruit, hire and train a group of new salespeople is the answer, it’s probably not going to work out that well.

These are the two toughest problems facing all automobile dealers and there is no one fix and voila it’s done.

Finding great players is a full-time, never-ending job. It’s just like being in the coaching field. Great coaches are always scouting and recruiting. If you are looking for a magical ad to put in the paper that’s going to attract your next superstar you may be waiting quite a while.

If you are looking toward the next great job fair and think you’re going to find 10 college graduates for your sales team that will carry you to the Promised Land, you are in for a very long day. It doesn’t happen. It doesn’t work that way. If you wait to hire people when “you need” them you are never going to find the people you need.

You and your assistant coaches have to be recruiting every minute of every day. You should be recruiting your customers, the sales clerk at the shoe store, your next-door neighbor, the waiter or waitress you meet at lunch or the enthusiastic hostess you met at Applebee’s.

One of the most successful General Managers I know was working at Wendy’s when he started selling cars.

I love college graduates. It’s not so much what they actually learn, but it does show they can stick to something. However, the odds of them sticking with you are not very good. Most college graduates don’t see selling cars as a “step up” in their life.

What you should be looking for is someone who feels they missed the boat and this is their big chance. Someone with a year or two of college is a great selection. They think they screwed up by not finishing school and they see what you offer as a super opportunity. And of course it they have a sports background all the better. They are used to getting knocked down and getting up.

As for finding more inventory…Hey coach it’s the same thing. It’s a constant thing. There is no one answer. If you are going to succeed in finding used car inventory you cannot leave any stone unturned. Trades, mining your customer base, online auctions, auctions, for sale by owner and any other brilliant idea you can come up with. But, none of them in and of themselves will give you the inventory you need. If you are only looking for cars when you need them you are going to end up with a lot of cars you don’t need.

When it comes to finding people and finding inventory they both require an ongoing effort by the entire management team. When you dabble in finding people and cars when you most need them, it’s like plowing a field uphill with a mule.

When you can convince your management team that we all have to look for inventory and people in multiple ways then you will at least have some control over your destiny.

It still won’t be easy, but the alternative is far more frustrating and a lot less rewarding. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

The conversations I hear today about the car business aren’t much different than the ones we had 20 years ago.

Back then, dealers were complaining about their new car inventory and the factory allocation system. They are still complaining about new car inventory and the factory allocation system.

Odd as it may seem, we often put a lot of energy and wasted effort into trying to control the things we don’t have control over and miss a real opportunity to control the things we can.

I like to compare the car business to the coaching field. Coaches never have total control over the game, but they do have control over the things they do to prepare for the game. You can take control by preparing the team.

Great coaches study the game 24/7/365. If you don’t live, eat and sleep the car business, then you will never be able to control what you can control.

Successful coaches understand that to control the game they have to teach the game. They make an investment in time and resources to ensure the team understands the plan and how best to execute it.

Your mission as a coach is to create an ongoing environment that demonstrates you are committed to training and developing your staff at all levels. “Controlling what you can control.”

Dealing with the factory can be a love/hate relationship. That’s never going to change. Mostly it’s wasted conversation.

There are so many things that you can do today to control and improve your business. Talking about your new car allocation issues isn’t one of them.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

We in the automobile business make a big deal out of processes. With very few exceptions most would agree the dealerships with the best processes make the most money.

What I find so interesting is that even though we know this to be true, our processes are often left to the interpretation of managers who may or may not even believe in the stated processes.

Frequently, the leader has the processes in his/her head and they may even be written down somewhere, but it’s not a point of focus on a daily basis. Without a doubt, processes need to be refined, coached, discussed and recommitted to each and every day.

When you apply and focus on your processes your organization becomes a powerful operating machine. When things are simple they become efficient and your profits go up.

Aside from having great people, can we agree that processes are the most powerful tool in your arsenal of improving your business? If that’s even close to being true why is there so little focus on spreading the process message?

Some questions to answer:

1. Do you have documented processes?
2. Do the members of your team know the processes as well as you do?
3. Do you sell the processes as part of daily coaching activity?
4. Do you know who the believers and non-believers are?
5. Is it time to revise your processes?
6. Is it time to have a “process revival?”
7. Is it time for you stop talking the talk and start walking the walk?

That’s all I’m going to ask, Tommy Gibbs

Joe Maddon at one time managed the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s in his first year at the helm of the Chicago Cubs. If you follow baseball you know what a storied and losing history the Cubbies have. They are currently having one of their best years ever and stand a good chance of making the playoffs.

Maddon is a bit of a strange duck. Some would call him eccentric and for sure an out of the box thinker. He does a lot of weird and interesting things with the way he manages the team.

His theme this year is “Do Simple Better.” When you break our business down, more often than not what makes or breaks a dealership is the ability to “Do Simple Better.”

Here are 5 simple things that maybe you can do better.

1. Early Intervention-you can’t manage activity by staring at your computer screen. Get up move around. Look for trouble. Trouble meaning a deal is getting screwed up before it even has a chance.

2. Improve Your Selling Processes-odds are the evaporation factor is chasing you like a base runner caught in a rundown. Pay attention. Get on it. Stop the evaporation.

3. Don’t Short Cut Your Appraisals-Take your time. Look for a way to make it happen. Do it right. Get it right.

4. Speed It Up-It takes too much time to get your used vehicles through service. Find the bottleneck. Fix the bottleneck. You can do better.

5. Listen More-Take someone to lunch. Someone you would never take. Listen to them. Amazing the things you might learn.

Make your own list.

Do simple better. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Often when I’m speaking to dealers I come across as being against packs. I’m not against packs. I’m really not. I always say if they are working for you, by all means stay with them.

I don’t have any facts to back my numbers up, but if I were guessing, I’d guess that 75% of new car dealers around the country are using hard packs, soft packs or both.

Of the dealers still using them, I’d guess that 25% are using them in such a way that they are having some success and improving their bottom line.

The other 75% are hanging on for dear life and actually hurting themselves, if for no other reason than the psychological damage it does to the sales and sales management team.

In order to do volume in used cars you need to have a “costing advantage.” By “costing advantage,” I mean what’s added to the car once you own it, which includes packs and reconditioning.

For most dealers when they pack cars they are creating just the opposite.

If you know your history, you know that the reason dealers added packs and charged full retail from the service department to the used car department was because sales managers worked from cost up.

This is no longer true, as your sales managers don’t have control over gross as they once did. That’s why dealers are more and more becoming one-price dealers and saying “no” when the customer shows up and wants a discount.

So, without saying they are a one-price dealer, many dealers are taking a tougher stand as well as changing sales people’s pay plans to match their new-found pricing and marketing strategy.

Remember, as we move more toward a one price concept, the skill and pay level of the “desk managers” will be much lower than in today’s market. There will be more effort made to sell the store and the product with less effort on “penciling the deal.”

I like packs, but only if they are working. I question whether they are working as well as some dealers think they are. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’m a baseball fan. One of the things I find interesting about baseball is after the game is over the manager of the team is required to hold a news conference and explain what happened.

Win or lose they have to talk about it to the media and people like me in the world of sports. When they win, it’s much easier. When they lose, not so much.

When they lose they try to sugar coat it a bit by talking about the things they did well. When they lose they say things like:

A. “We couldn’t get the timely hits.”
B. “Our starting pitcher had trouble locating the strike zone.”
C. “We had a couple of mental mistakes in the field.”
D. “Our bullpen let us down.”

Often the news media will press them to elaborate on this and that. Once in a while a manager will say, “We just really sucked.” Maybe not exactly like that, but that’s what they are saying.

Then they will talk about what they have to do in tomorrow’s game to get better.

Suppose you had to explain your performance today? For the week? For the month? For up to this point in the year?

What would you say?
What would you fix?
What would you change?

Suppose you had to explain it? That’s all I’m gonna ask. Tommy Gibbs

Most would agree that the automobile business is very good these days.

When business is good we often pound our chest and become lax in paying attention to some of the more important things. When you’re generating some decent profits, it’s easy to take your eye off the target.

There’s an old saying that selling cars, which equates to gross, will hide a lot of sins.

When business is good, that’s the time to amp it up. That’s the time to dial it in. That’s the time to go for the jugular.

On a daily basis you should ask yourself:

1. Are you letting certain expenses get out of line?
2. Do you have too many people?
3. Do you have too few people? Sometimes too few is just as bad as too many.
4. Have you accepted that the average gross profit that you’re getting is all the gross profit you can get?
5. Do you have the right pay plans for today’s market? For today’s sales people and sales management?
6. Have you gotten lazy about holding people accountable?
7. 50% of your advertising dollars are wasted. Do you know which 50%?
8. Are you looking under every possible rock to find used cars to sell?
9. Have your processes started to get sloppy and evaporate?
10. Are you truly engaged in the business or are you just staring at your computer?
11. Have you put training and coaching on the back-burner?

Business is good. The worm will turn. Be ready. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

I’m not always right, but I’m often right because I pay attention and I study the car business every day. I’m not a numbers genius, but there are some numbers in the car business that even I can understand and that can’t be denied.

A few months ago I introduced my readers and clients to my 30/30 spreadsheet. Dozens of dealers send me a copy of their spreadsheet at the end of each month.

As you can see from the below examples it’s very telling. If you weren’t a believer in selling units fast there’s a pretty good chance you will be if you start tracking 30/30.

Your goal each month should be to improve the percentage of units being sold in your first 30 days of ownership VS those being sold after 30 days.

Let the convincing begin. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs