Did you notice that you are getting really comfortable with having aged units around? You’ve justified in your mind that it’s ok because the selling season is finally here. Since you think that’s a brilliant plan, please let me know how the ROI turns out for you.

Did you notice that the selling processes you think your team is using, aren’t the selling processes you’re using? Some members of your management team are doing their “own thing.” If you don’t believe it, sit down individually with your sales people and ask them how each manager starts and works a deal.

Did you notice that you are no longer doing a “save-a-deal meeting” and “trade walk” each day? You’ve accepted it as fact that everybody is so busy that they don’t have time to do it. You’ll be surprised at how many more deals you will make by doing a “save-a-deal meeting.” And, how many more used cars you will end up keeping and retailing when the management team does a “trade walk.”

Did you notice that the management team doesn’t understand Life Cycle Management? Life Cycle Management starts on day one, not day 61. If you are having aged units and/or losing money on units wholesaled at the end of the life cycle it’s because they are not using “Early Warning Radar.” If you don’t think Life Cycle Management is important, go ahead and tell me the story on your oldest unit in stock. Yep, they all have a story. Had you been focused on Life Cycle Management that unit would have been gone long ago with little or no loss and maybe even a profit.

Did you notice that the sales and management team doesn’t do lot walks anymore? Did you ever wonder why your sales people don’t sell more used? It’s because they don’t know the inventory.

Did you notice you get lots of lip service on those processes you know need to be followed in all the departments? Guarding the processes is one of the most important functions of leadership.

Did you notice that the average cost per used car in stock keeps creeping up and up? The reason it’s happening is because you are not paying attention to it every day. Pressing the average cost down is a fundamental discipline. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

Did you notice you’re selling vehicles for less than what you have them posted online? That’s because the sales team isn’t sold that you have the best product at the best price. Before you can make the customer a believer you have to get the sales staff to believe. Tracking GAP will create a focus that forces you to hold more gross profit.

Did you notice that sometimes you just don’t notice? Your job as a leader is to notice what’s going on. My job is to keep reminding you.That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Believe it or not, no one has ever told me I’m too expensive after spending money with me. Of course, people inquire all the time about my training, pricing, what I do and how I do it. Often they don’t ante up.

I can only assume they think I’m too expensive or maybe they know they aren’t ready to do the things they know they should do. The same thing happens to you too.

I also happen to think your product or service is worth a lot more than you’re getting for it.

If we’re talking about your cars and trucks I’m thinking there’s a lot more value to those vehicles than you and your staff are talking about.

If we’re talking about your organization, I’m thinking there’s a lot more value to your organization than you and your staff are talking about.

If we’re talking about the talent and equipment it takes to service your vehicles, I’m thinking there’s a lot more value in your service department than you and your staff are talking about.

I’ve got over 30 years’ worth of solid leadership skills and automobile experience to share with you. No fluff, no puff…real stuff, even high tech stuff. I’ve been a student of this industry and paid the price to learn the things I want to share with you.

In your case, you’ve got millions of dollars invested and thousands of hours of talent to share with your customers. I’m thinking we both need to ask more money for the value we bring to the table.

You’re worth a lot more and so am I. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Everything you say before the word “but” is meaningless.

You might say something like “I have a great used car manager, but I can’t get him to understand why ROI is important.”

This is fun, let’s do some more:

“I have a great used car manager, but we have a lot of stuff over 60 days old.”

Oh, gosh this is awesome, let’s keep going.

“We have a great website, but our photos are awful.”

“We have prices posted on our used cars, but they don’t match the prices we have on the Internet.”

“My used car manager is a great closer, but he doesn’t understand how to price used cars.”

“Curtis is a great buyer, but makes poor buying decisions by buying too many high dollar cars.”

“My used car manager is one of the best in the business, but we’re only getting 5 turns a year.”

“We have a great service department, but we can’t get them to get used cars through the system in a timely manner.”

“My general manager is awesome, but his people skills are terrible.”

“We spend a ton of money in advertising, but we haven’t figured out what role digital plays in our business.”

“My used car manager is really tight with all the wholesalers, but we always lose money when we sell them a car.”

“Steve is one of our best managers, but he doesn’t want to change from old school thinking.”

This whole “but” thing is simply an excuse and/or a weakness as to why you are not willing to deal with the problem or issue at hand.

Ok, one last but…”Tommy Gibbs is really expensive, but he’s made me so much money I feel brilliant that I hired him.”

Gotcha! That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

For some of you this isn’t going to be pleasant. Or at least it may not be if you do what I’m going to suggest.

Regardless of your position in the dealership, owner, new car manager, BDC manager, used car manager or even if you’re not a manager, go click on your website… right now, yes right now go look at your website.

Even if you think your website looks great, I dare you to go look at it. (Don’t be chicken.)

Click on the used car section and tell me what you see. Take it a step further and scroll through a few used cars…keep scrolling…

1. How many photos per car do you see?
2. How many lousy pictures do you see?
3. How many are taken outside?
4. How many have shadows?
5. How many have a factory photo?
6. How many have no photo?
7. How many don’t have a price?

Depending on what you just looked at there’s a good chance you are saying, “What the heck are we doing? No wonder we’re not selling enough used cars. No wonder we’re not making much gross per car.”

Can we all agree that somewhere between 80 and 90% of all customers who shop for used cars look on the Internet? If that’s even close, how do you think you’re gonna drive traffic with photos that look like what you’ve just viewed? (Did you see any with snow on them?)

The concept of a photo booth has been around for years now. Progressive organizations that understand the real world have a photo booth.

You won’t come close to maximizing your sales until you maximize your exposure. You will never maximize your exposure by taking photos outside.

I’m exposing you by daring you to look at your website. If you don’t like what you see, then fix it. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

I’m gritting my teeth as I write this. I really am. Some of you are still struggling with the 60 day concept. I guess talking about 45 days isn’t going to win any friends and influence my enemies, so I’m going to just chat about 60 days.

I’m always concerned when I’m teaching a workshop that those in attendance may think when I’m talking about 60 days that I’m saying that they need to dump cars at 60, take the losses and move on.

I’m gonna scream this so get ready. I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT DUMPING A BUNCH OF CARS AT 60 AND LOSING MONEY. Will you have to dump a few at 60? Yes, but darn few. (Especially if you follow my “Life Cycle Management Process.”)

I’m taking about finding a retail buyer before we even get to 60.

Do you think keeping it past 60 is really going to help your situation? Do you thinking keeping them past 60 days is gonna help your average gross profit? Do you think you’re gonna have a great ROI after 60 days? Do you think you need to keep it because you can’t replace it? What I wanna know is, what are you thinking?

I’ll tell you what I’m thinking. I’m thinking I’m hoping that you will one day change your thinking. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

If you have children, I’m thinking it’s a safe bet to say that when they were small you always knew where they were. I would further bet that if they weren’t with you that you knew who they were with.

Not only did you know who they were with, but you knew what clothes they had on and you knew what they had to eat for their last meal. If they had a booboo on their finger you applied a band aide and checked it regularly.

I’m appalled at how many used car managers don’t actually know where their children (used cars) are, let alone know what they are wearing.

Often when I’m reviewing inventory with a used car manager I’ll ask them to tell me about certain cars in their inventory.

On some of the cars I’ll ask them where is it? They will say “It’s in the inventory.” No, I’ll say, “Where is it? Where is it parked?” Typical comments, “I’m not sure”, “I think it’s out back”, “I think it’s in the service department”, “I think it’s in clean up”, “I think someone is driving it”, “I think it’s sold.”

Grab this, grab it fast. You’re not being paid to think. You’re being paid to know. The great used car managers know where every car is every moment of its life with their store.

The great used car managers know where all their children are regardless if they have a 40 car inventory or a 400 car inventory.

They just know. You wanna know why they know? They know because they care. They know because they are great parents. They know because the more they know about where their children are, the more they can protect them.

They can protect them from the evils of the world such as becoming aged, poor ROI, and slow turn. Let the parenting begin. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

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 control.

I often 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.”

You cannot control the price of gas, the stock market or the world economy. You can control the speed by which you turn your used car inventory.

Knowing and understanding the necessity of utilizing speed to control your inventory is a major step toward controlling what you can control. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

“A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half empty or half full” question.

Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

She continued, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.” Remember to put the glass down.” Author unknown.

Used cars are the same way. The longer you hold them the more stress they create. Even your worst decision becomes lighter when you unload it early.

There are dealers around the country with a lot of stress in their used car department. Either the Dealer, the GM, the General Sales Manager or Used Car Manager has decided they can deal with the stress. Maybe they can “deal with it.” But, dealing with it at what cost?

How much money is it costing them? If you extracted the water out of your inventory and subtracted it from your bottom line, how good would you really look?

Some of you are sitting there kinda smug thinking, “Not a problem at my store, we don’t have aged units.” You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking you are darn smart and I’m really, really proud of you.

For those who aren’t feeling all smug. Enjoy your stress. You earn it one day at a time. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’m writing this from New Orleans at the NADA Convention. I was also here in 2009 and it’s a much different environment this week than it was back then. To say the dealers were depressed in 2009 is an understatement. Everything I’ve seen thus far at the convention is optimistic almost to a fault.

Many dealers are coming off an all time record profit year and optimism has never been higher. It’s easy to become complacent and have a certain amount of self-assured confidence that you are a rock star, on a roll, and you can do no wrong.

It’s a fact that dealers make the most money when they are coming off of tough times. The reason for that is pretty simple. When things are tough, dealers get back to the basics and grinding it out. As business gets better, they are in a great position to make a lot of money because they have cut all the fat out.

But the better and better business gets, dealers tend to add this and that to the expense line and get further and further away from the basics.

I know you’re a “Smart Leader” because you read my stuff. And because you’re a “Smart Leader,” you know that to get to 4 to 6% net to sales you need to continue to evaluate everything you are doing, every dime you are spending, and every process “you think” you have in place.

Are you as efficient as you can be? That’s all I’m gonna ask, Tommy Gibbs

I’m mad ’cause I don’t think you’re listening. I’m mad ’cause you ain’t paying attention. I’m mad ’cause you’re not ready. I’m mad ’cause I keep telling you and you keep ignoring my advice. Ok, so you couldn’t care less that I’m mad.

Ignore me if you will, but here’s what I know. You keep jerking around about how you’re going to fix your mess, but it’s still not done and “S Day” is just around the corner. “S Day” is March 20, the first day of spring, which is often referred to as the Spring Selling Season.

There’s still a lot of pent up demand and you’re not going to get to play the game ’cause you ain’t ready. Your people aren’t ready, your leaders aren’t ready and your inventory is still screwed up.

You and your staff have been sitting and whining with your heads stuck in the sand. This business is a contact sport and you ain’t contacting.

Can you hear me screaming? Do something…do something even if it’s wrong! I’m sorry if I’m screaming, but I see dealers around the country really “getting after it” and making a difference and I see others letting it “get after them.”

Just in case you didn’t know it, new and used car average grosses will continue to be a challenge. It’s going to take some serious leadership skills to win that battle.

The only way to win the game is to improve total gross. The only way to improve total gross is to be a great used car operator. When you become a great used car operator you sell more new. When you become a great used car operator you sell more parts & service. When you become a great used car operator you sell more used.

When you become a great used car operator, I’m not mad anymore. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs