If you’re like me you love life and the challenges it brings to the table each and every day. I always look forward to getting up in the morning and “getting after it.”

As a dealer for 20 plus years, I loved coming into the store every day and being around all the people and the energy that came with that. I always got there really early and stayed late. To me, seeing the people and the place coming to life in the morning was like a special sunrise.

Since I’ve been in the speaking, training and coaching business I primarily work alone. It can be challenging at times since I only have myself to rely on. But actually I like the idea of “staying after myself.”

It doesn’t matter if you work alone or work with 500 people you still have to “stay after yourself.” It’s a fun challenge and something you can actually get better at.

“Staying after yourself” requires planning and discipline. If my father said it once to me he’s said it a thousand times, “Plan your work and work your plan.”

Some key elements to “staying after yourself” include reading, writing, listening and forcing yourself to attend Twenty Group meetings, conventions and workshops. Those things open the mind and help you see what the possibilities might be.

I’ve become a firm believer that writing is a bigger component to success than one might think. I don’t mean that you have to be an award winning author; writing your thoughts down each day helps to open your brain up to where you’ve been and where you can go.

Writing helps you “stay after yourself.” It will help you self-evaluate your actions, your behavior and how well you are accomplishing those “continuous goals” you should be writing down.

Goal setting is critical to “staying after yourself.” Goal setting is important, but it’s even more important to understand that a goal is simply a temporary target and not the end. You have to constantly evaluate, tweak and adjust your goals so you are always moving forward.

A big part of staying after yourself is to “stay after others.” I don’t mean that in a micro-managing sense, but as a way of encouraging others.

The more you encourage others the more you are encouraging yourself.  There is nothing you can do that is more important than helping others along the way. 

It’s sometimes hard to understand the impact we can have on others with a kind word of encouragement and a pat on the back. It’s so very powerful!

My encouragement for you today is for you to remember to take some time to “stay after yourself.” That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

1. Inconsistent and Inadequate Training-Well, that’s a shocker. Sure you train; you train when the mood strikes or you do it for 30 days and then it falls apart because you’re too busy selling cars or whatever. If your sales staff isn’t polished enough to be able to justify the price then you are not going to get the desired gross; it’s just that plain and simple.  Get busy training and you’ll get more gross. (If you have a bunch of knuckleheads working with you then all the training in the world isn’t going to make a difference.)

2. Lack of Information-Many years ago when I started selling cars we all had an inventory sheet with prices, etc. As antiquated as that may seem, it’s better than most dealers do today. At the very least you should have a lot walk once a week with all managers and all sales people. The more your people know about your inventory the more your gross goes up. Duh.

3. Poor Acquisition strategy-Still shooting from the hip? Still not a believer in technology? That’s cool. Keep on doing it your way and your grosses will be anything but hot. Technology is not the only piece of the equation. Common sense has to be a part of the deal. But, common sense without technology is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the jelly. You can survive on just peanut butter but it’s a lot better when you add the jelly.

4. Not shooting the Moon-Buckets, buckets, and more buckets is not the total answer. Pushing cars into a bucket based on days in stock is like putting a square peg into a round hole.  You can’t start every car off at a specific percentage. There are some that you need to start way high. Some very low. Once in a while you gotta “shoot the moon.” Since the beginning of this business high average gross profit has been achieved by hitting a home run once in a while. You can’t hit it if you don’t take a full swing.

5. Failure to Track GAP & ROI-if you’ve been reading my material you know that GAP Stands for “Give-a-Way Profit” and ROI stands for “Return on Investment.” (I originated GAP, some smart guy like Einstein originated ROI) You say you have too much to do to keep up with GAP and ROI. Isn’t it worth an additional $500 plus per car to do so? Don’t be so lazy.

6. Not selling in Today’s Market-Your most profitable car is a 20-day car. If you are retailing a lot of cars at the 30, 45, 60 plus day mark you don’t have a chance. Speed wins; the lack of speed kills. It’s as simple as that.

7. Online delays-Lousy processes in service and recon cause a car not to get online in a timely manner. The more days it sits the more your average gross is going down. You never get to sell a true “20 day” car because it’s been hanging around in the shop for 7 to 10 days.

8. Lack of quantity and quality of photos –stop reading this. Go look at the used cars on your website. Now go to texasdirectauto.com and look at their cars. If yours don’t look as good as theirs then you don’t have a chance. CLICK HERE FOR TEXAS DIRECT.

9. No Early Warning Radar-You’re asleep at the wheel. You have to be able to spot a problem child on day one, not day 44 or day 59. Every one of your aged units has a story to go with it. That story started back on day one. You have to be smart enough to have an “Early Warning Radar” system in your arsenal. Fix your Radar system and your grosses will improve.

10. Not Committed-well, well, imagine that?  I know, I know you say you’re committed to the used car business, but are you really? Let’s see how committed you are. How many of 1 thru 9 can you say you are all over like “white on rice?”  If you can’t say 100% to all of them then you are not really committed and you’re lying to yourself and your staff. All is not lost. What better time to commit than right now?

Getting committed will take some planning, a lot of effort and hard work. There will be push back from some staff members. You really have two choices. Let your grosses keep going south, or do something about it. Fixing 1 thru 9 will go a long way towards having the best bottom line in the history of your business.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’ve stated in previous writings and workshops that you would hear a lot about "Life Cycle Management," and "Early Warning Radar" from me this year.  This article builds on that concept.

What would you think is the number one issue used car managers around the country complain about that kills their ability to do "the numbers?" Ok, you got that right, the Service Department. Let’s be more specific. Do you think they complain the most about the pricing they receive or the time it takes to get a car through? Ok, you got that one right too. It’s the time it takes to get a car in and out of the service department.

I’d say in many ways the market has become "equalized." What I mean by that is a large percentage of dealers are now using a pricing tool to manage their inventory. They know that if they price the cars "right" that the customers show up. A few years ago only a small number of dealers used a "pricing tool", thus they had the advantage. There is still an advantage to using it, especially if you do it right, but to continue to dominate your market there are some other elements you have to get an edge on.

I’m fascinated that when I’m talking to dealers and managers about their challenges that in most cases whatever the issues that they are struggling with are "fixable." Someone, usually the dealer, just needs to want to
"fix it."

Let’s all raise our hands if we can agree that "speed" is critical in today’s market? (Why are you sitting there with your hand in the air?) Good, we all "get it." We have all agreed that speed is one of the most important aspects of our used car operations. We all understand we cannot let a car sit and that getting it on line and online is extremely important.

Then tell me something.Why don’t you just go ahead and fix the service department issue? Oh, I hear ‘ya. Because we’ve always done it that way and we don’t want to rock the boat. Let me say this as nicely as I can. In today’s internet, fast paced world, if you don’t rock the boat the boat will soon sink. You can not and will not survive this business if you don’t speed your processes up.

Used Car flow in a typical Dealership:

2 days sitting before getting ticket written
 1 day before it goes into shop
 2 days in the shop
 2 days in and out of clean up
 2 days before the photos are taken and posted online.

You may be better or worse than this, but on average it takes most dealerships 7 to 10 days to get a car ready and out into the market.

The number one excuse that we get from the shop is that they are too backed up and customers come first. I understand that. I really do. When you’ve got retail customers screaming at you, then of course it’s easy to set your best customer, the used car department, to the side. Doesn’t make it right, but I get it.

That being the case you have to fix your scheduling issues in the shop. By and large most service departments are still not controlling the amount of time they have available "to sell." It’s hard to believe that customers are still being told, to just bring it in at 7:30 in the morning. So, the first step is to fix your scheduling problems.

Let’s dig deeper. What other options do you have if the shop is truly backed up and you have 10 used cars you need to get done for a big sale this weekend? Let’s pretend it’s Wednesday and there is no way the shop is going to get it done.

Super hero "the dealer" needs to show up. Here are two options:

1. Pay the technicians extra, lots of extra to stay late and finish them up. The dealer has to make this happen because the service manager won’t do it. The reason they won’t do it is the training we have given them over the years. We’ve taught them to manage "the numbers." They have been well schooled in controlling their cost of sale/labor. They have been taught they need to retain in excess of 70% of the sales number, so if they paid people extra to get your cars ready it would kill their numbers and they would be "bad managers."

I’m just wondering would the technicians be willing to stay if you paid them double time? How about $100 bonus per car that they get out of the shop completed that night. Do those numbers scare you? So let’s do some math. If you had 10 cars to get out that cost you an extra $1000. What does it cost you if those same 10 cars don’t get on line this weekend? Hmmm…

2. Let’s say that’s a real bad idea. Why would you not sublet those cars out to a jobber? Oh, that’s right I forgot. We want to keep all the revenue in house that we can and it’s against our policy to send cars out. One of the reasons a dealer gets to be the dealer is he makes the policy and he gets to break the policy. (or she, please….)

Of course we don’t want to lose the revenue and it’s not a good thing when you don’t have total control of the quality of the work, but sometimes you have to make an executive decision if you’re going to keep things moving. For me it’s far more important to get those 10 cars ready for sale this weekend than it is to sit on antiquated "company policy."

Hey "Super Hero," I didn’t say you allow just anyone to make these decisions. It’s the dealer (or maybe the General Manager) but, sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make things happen.

See, I started this article out basically saying that in most cases whatever the problem is in your store that it’s fixable. You just have to want to "fix it." Getting inventory on line fast is a very fixable issue. Speed is critical.

Realize that most dealers won’t "fix it." They will find hundreds of reasons why they can’t or won’t "do it." So, to get "the edge" all you have to do is be the exception to the rule. Making speed a priority will get you the edge.

Using software gives you an edge when you’re pricing your inventory. Your "decisions" give you an edge when it comes to getting your inventory ready for sale. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy

Pay Plans. Yikes, I said it. Oh, what the heck. Why not? I’m always being asked about pay plans. It’s one of those subjects like religion and politics.

There are as many different pay plans as there are dealerships. It’s fair to say that how much and how a manager is paid depends totally on the dealer’s philosophy of the business. More often than not the dealer’s philosophy was developed early based on what "worked" when the dealer himself (or herself) was actually manager. 

We tend to think that everyone thinks like we do, and thus if the way we were paid when we started made us successful, then it will work for others along the way. Or we think it’s worked so well for the dealership over the years so why change? Nothing could be further from the truth.

First you have to establish if you are a dealer who still wants to play the paying on gross game or are you willing to take a major leap of faith and move into the "CarMax world" of not paying on gross. This will only work if you change your way of doing business and move to one price with pricing of all cars done at the corporate or upper management level. 

Going to one price will not work if you still want to leave the job of "pricing" up to the managers in the trenches. Emotional attachment has to be removed from the pricing thought process. Only then can you move away from paying on gross and pay on salary with volume bonus plateaus.

I predict that within the next five years 15 to 20% of the dealers will move to one price and grow at the rate of 5 to 10% annually. It’s not necessarily because dealers want to, but the Internet and the cost of doing business will force them to do so.

The great advantage of one price is that it requires a lot less "desking skills" and management to run a dealership than it does when you allow negotiating. One price allows managers to do a better job of developing people and managing the daily activities of those sales associates rather than "working and chasing deals" all day long. When managers are able to manage processes, productivity goes way up.

Since the odds are pretty good you are not ready to make the leap I’m going to give you the next best concept of paying the members of your management team with gross as a part of the equation.

Let me point out that as a new car dealer for 20 plus years I was always searching for the "right plan." I was the type of new car dealer that was willing to try just about anything because I’ve always felt there had to be a better way. I fully understood that just because it worked for me, or let me say I made it work for me, that did not in any way mean it was the perfect plan.

I believe that every manager in the front of the dealership should be paid based on the same bottom line. To define that, simply add up the used car gross, the new car gross and the net F&I and you pay them all on the same number. To do anything else is counter productive in producing the maximum gross, teamwork and future growth.

However, the actual percentage they get paid is totally dependent upon them achieving monthly performance levels that are adjusted each month based on a number of factors such as inventory availability, previous performance, forecasts, and staffing levels. If you want to include a small salary, the salary levels for each manager might be different depending on a number of factors, such as responsibility, years on the job, etc.

To keep it simple, assign each manager no more than three or four levels of achievement to shoot for. This concept is designed to put maximum gross on the books and at the same time push each manager to make sure they are achieving maximum performance in their individual department.

It’s simple enough to back into by sitting down and determining how you feel about what levels of performance you find acceptable and backing into some highs and lows. If you feel 60 units a month is acceptable for your new car manager then maybe that job is worth X dollars a year. Maybe 75 units puts your thinking at XYZ dollars per year and so on. You can think about it in terms of gross or units. 

It doesn’t matter. What matters is you can back into the numbers to suit your thinking and how you feel about the job you want to get done. CLICK HERE for sample.

I need to go work on my own pay plan. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

THINKING? Wait a minute. Don’t click off this just yet. Ok, so really, how big is your thinking? How many used cars can you really sell?

 When I’m in dealerships one of the first things I ask a dealer and the members of his/her management team is how many used cars are they currently selling each month. Then I ask them based on the "market" and based on what they know about their organization what do they think their real potential might be?

 For instance it’s not unusual for a dealership selling 75 used a month to tell me they think their potential is 90 to 100. In my little brain I’m going wow, that is so amazing that you think you can jump up 25 units. Uh, not really! What I’m really thinking is you’ve got to be kidding me. You have a dealer sitting up the road from you doing 200 plus units and you think in a good month you might hit 100?

 That same dealer would tell me that I don’t understand his/her market. Really? What makes your market so different is your thinking, not your market. You’ve heard the saying that "If you think you can, you can and if you think you can’t, you can’t." You are right regardless of which way you think. Your market is so much bigger than you can ever imagine.

 When I further press the questions about the dealer up the street selling 200 units a month these are some of the comments I frequently get:

1. The dealer up the street has a lot of Inventory. Answer: Go get more Inventory.

2. The dealer up the street focuses on Auto Trader. Answer: Focus more on Auto Trader.

3. The dealer up the street has the right inventory. Answer: buy the right inventory.

4. The dealer up the street pays more money for his/her cars. Answer: start paying more for your cars.

5. The dealer up the street has better trained sales people. Answer: Do a better job of training your sales people.

6. The dealer up the street has better processes and gets his/her cars through service faster than we do. Answer: Fix the issues in your service department.

7. The dealer up the street has an awesome website. Answer: Get a better website.

Making a commitment to finding the units you need is critical to hitting the bigger numbers. It does no real good to buy into "turn baby turn" concept if you haven’t committed to finding replacement inventory. Finding that inventory means a commitment to attending auctions, buying online, and buying cars in the local market. You cannot achieve big numbers without doing all three.

If you think your market is a 25 mile radius, you are right. If you think it’s nationwide, you are right. Isn’t it time you adjusted your thinking and realized your market is so much bigger than you ever thought?

I think I’m going to help every dealer in the country improve their used car business. That’s all I’m gonna say.

With Memorial Day just around the corner here’s a great idea for you. Odds are you are saying you’ve been there and done that. Probably not the way I’m going to explain it. Depending on the state you’re in most dealers have had some success with off site tent sales.

Generally speaking you sell lots of cars, but they are a pain in so many ways. It really is kind of crazy to move to a field somewhere from your multi-million dollar facility to try to sell some cars. You spend a lot of money. Move cars all the way across town and generally get poor CSI scores from those customers who buy at a tent sale. But no one can argue the point, people do come out to buy. It’s all pretty goofy. Ok, so here’s the deal. Here’s what some Dealers do and call it a Tent Sale: They put up a tent, park cars under the tent and call it a tent sale…Duh and Not!  Ok do the following. 

 

• Once a month do an on site tent sale.  Event advertising works.
• Put the tent up as close to the road as possible. Pick the best strategic position on your lot.
• Put tables and chairs in the tent.
• Put ALL of your people in the tent.
• Everybody goes in the TENT!
• Work all deals in the TENT!
• If at all possible move your computers into the tent and do F&I in the TENT.
• Hang banners from the TENT saying “TENT SALE.”
• Promote it with Direct mail and/or with a “private invitation” only deal for Thursday before you kick off your regular ads.
• Do anything you can to make it look like a circus.
• Rent those jumping air things for kids.
• Get Port-a-Potties. (People think something special is going on when they see them. Make sure you put them close to the road.)
• Balloons and more balloons.
• Pop Corn, Sodas, Hot Dogs.
• Lots and lots of spiffs for your sales people and managers.
• Do a great kick off breakfast on Thursday for your staff. Don’t just do it for the sales staff; get as many of your employees involved as you can. (Feed everybody lunch every day of the event as well.)
• Send out memos and emails to all employees explaining in detail what’s going to be happening.
• Rope off special parking for customers. Hire an off duty police officer or security guard to direct them.
• Answer the phone XYZ Dealerhsip Tent Sale in Progress.
• Use any ideas you can think of to create attention.
• Do a fundraiser at the same time for the local little league or whatever.
• Post the event on your website.
• Do an email blast to all your customers advising them of the sale. If your CRM system is sophisticated enough make sure you tell them you need their specific trade and will pay top dollar for it during the sale.
• Giveaways generally don’t do much except cause people to show up to get their gift and leave, but having people register for a free car is a good way to get info on them when they show up. Pick out a $1000 or $2000 car and give it away.
• Along that same line, give the salesman who registers the winning ticket some sort of prize. Gift card, $200, whatever floats your boat…
• Make up a bunch of signs like real estate signs that say “Tent Sale in Progress” and put along the grass in front of the dealership.
• If you’re close to the interstate do some signs with arrows and put up close to the ramp. (Oh come on, the worse that can happen is they make you take them down.)
• Rent a chicken suit or some kind of character and have them walk up and down in front of the Dealership with a placard that says “Tent Sale in Progress.”

Look, you just have to be creative. Get some of your key people together and throw around some ideas. Event advertising works.  You won’t spend that much more money than you normally spend on a big weekend, but you will get better results. Always follow up after your Tent Sale weekend with a Big Used Car sale the following weekend with a theme of “we have to move all these trades because of the big success of last weekend’s Tent Sale.” Thus you end up with another event for the month. Ok, go do it…Tommy

Before I dig into the subject matter I’d like to state that about 80% of my readers are in the Automobile Industry and the other 20% are just great fans of my world famous concepts and ideas. They are in other businesses and totally relate in one way or another to many of the issues and solutions I share with you each week.

So when I say, "Who’s leading whom," I say that because often times when I’m in dealerships (other businesses are no different) I’m not sure who’s running the show. Even more to the point I wonder if anyone is really "running the show."

The typical dealership needs to be set up in one of two ways:

1. General Sales Manager-this person runs the sales department. All the managers in the sales department answer directly to the GSM. The GSM needs to have great leadership skills and it’s always preferred that they have been an F&I and Used Car Manager. They must have the ability to communicate with the other department heads and understand their area of responsibilities.  They should never let their egos get in the way of keeping the Dealer/GM informed as to what’s going on in the sales department. Their motto should be the Dealer/GM is never surprised.

2. General Manager/Dealer Operator-not only performs GM duties, but GSM duties as well. This situation is more prevalent in smaller stores or during those economic times when cutbacks are necessary and the GM takes on multiple responsibilities.

Notice the line that says "Needs to be set up in one of two ways." My experience is that often it’s just not being done, or if it is it’s a halfhearted effort at best.

You cannot put a group of managers together and hope they "get it" and work together as a team. You can’t "kind of sort of" say that so and so is in charge. 

The best run businesses are those in which everyone clearly knows, understands and supports the chain of command.

People support the chain of command because they have respect for the person at the top not just based on their prior performance, but because of their daily actions. Respect has to be earned everyday and is not a result of a "carry over" action from some previous accomplishments, such as he/she was a great salesman now let’s anoint them with "Sales Manager in Charge" status.

Far too often the GSM or GM does not have the skills that are actually needed to run the sales department. Then there are times when they just don’t have the desire. It’s not their cup of tea. They may have other useful skills for the organization but managing a sales force just isn’t one of them.

It could be they don’t have the training and background or their personality just isn’t a sales personality. They may have been given the position because they were a great closer, or were the next person in line to be promoted.

It’s not all that unusual for a GM to be former Parts and Service Director, Comptroller, or even a relative of the owner. They may or may not have the skills and/or training to do the job the way it needs to be done. 

That doesn’t mean they are not a great GM by normal standards, but they may not be the type of GM who can also perform the duties of a GSM.

Sometimes the person I’m talking about here is actually the owner who has taken on additional responsibilities for whatever reason. Just because someone is the owner doesn’t qualify them to run the sales operation.

So, here’s the deal. You have to put someone in charge who can do the job. I mean really do the job. It’s one of the most critical positions in the dealership.

If you have the wrong person or you are relying on the managers to work it out among themselves you will be led down a road of constant frustration, confusion, lack of direction and poor production. In the end everyone suffers, especially your bottom line.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Someone recently asked me for some advice on speaking. They own a small computer business and felt it would be beneficial to them if they could get out once in a while and speak to others about their area of expertise.

I’ve never had a class in speech giving so I have no idea what the “book” would say on how to deliver and give an effective speech. I really believe my ability to speak is deep rooted in having been a basketball and football coach in my early career.

I was the kid in school who could not stand up in front of the room and give an oral report. Heck, my written reports weren’t all that good either. Coaching gave me a chance to be in front of people and not only speak but be able to put emotion into a subject I had great passion for.

So, I’m going to share with you some street learned speaking techniques and just in case you’re not interested in giving speeches I’m going to tie good speaking skills to your business and how you can be more effective in your daily job performance.

Know Your Material

Me: Like any speaker who wants to be the best, I’m constantly studying the marketplace to keep up with what’s hot and what’s not. Sometimes I learn as much about what not to do as I do about what to do. My brain never shuts down about this business. Regardless of what I’m doing I’m always conducting a Google search within my brain on how to tweak this and that. I’m always challenging my own thinking about what’s best and where this business is going. To do anything less is unfair to those who spend their time and money to either hear me speak or read what I have written.

You: The business and technology is changing faster than most of you can keep up with. That’s why you have to continue to look for opportunities to learn and expand your thinking.  You’re cheating yourself and your team if you are not participating in Twenty Groups, State and National conventions. Always remember if you’re not moving forward then you’re moving backward. Those footsteps you hear behind you are the competition gaining on you. The only way to stay ahead is for you to continue to seek ways to stretch your thinking and imagination about what the possibilities might be.

 

Arrive Early

Me: There is never an excuse for being late or coming in under the wire. You have to prepare for the unexpected. Is the room set up right? Does the wireless Internet work? Are there any issues with the projector matching up with the laptop? Is the sound and lighting right, are there distractions I’m going to have to deal with.  Is the room set up in the best configuration to allow interaction between the audience and me?

Arriving early allows me to get my game face on and be ready for action. To me it’s a bit like the warm ups athletic teams do before the game. They are getting ready physically and mentally. I’m doing the same.

You:  Are you one of those people who get to work on time? If that’s you then you are late. Many of you are familiar with “Lombardi Time,” made famous by the great coach Vince Lombardi.  “If you’re on time you’re 15 minutes late.” The idea is to use the 15 minutes to catch your breath, collect your thoughts and plan what you want to accomplish and how you’ll go about it. Getting to work early allows you to get your game face on and be ready for anything that comes your way.

Engage The Audience

Me: Engaging the audience is critical to my success as a speaker. If I don’t already know the people in attendance, part of my mission for arriving early is to say hello to as many of them as possible as they enter the room. I like to know who people are, where they are from and if at all possible something interesting about them. Are they sports fans, have children, 2^nd generation dealer, etc. The more I know about them the more I can engage them as the session goes on and the more they are going to like me. We all want to be liked. The more they like me the more productive our meeting will be.

When I’m actually speaking I work hard to draw as many people into the presentation as I can especially those with the bigger egos and who at first may be putting up a bit of a defense mechanism. I work really hard to win over the “doubting Thomas.” (Where the heck did that term come from?) By winning them over, the rest is pretty easy. I let them help me sell the rest of the audience. The reality is any good presentation is a conversation. A good conversation requires give and take.

You-you should have a mindset to engage as many people in your organization as possible in a given day. The more people you “touch” the more productive you and they become. It doesn’t matter what position you hold in your company you will find this to be one of the smartest things you have ever done. It goes on all day long, but in a dealership, you can get a jump start by starting in the Service Department, Body Shop, moving on to Parts, then the Administrative Office and finally the Sales Department. You should learn as much as you can about all those who work around you.

There will always be some tough eggs in your organization. Those who say it can’t be done whatever it might be. Your goal should be to engage them and let them know you know they are very important to the success of your organization and you respect who they are and you need their help and support to be successful people. Remember these are the people that stir it up behind the scenes. What you want them to do is stir it up for you, not against you.

 

Respect

Me: I have tremendous respect for my audience and I never forget who they are and what they deal with every day. In most cases I have been there and done that. I kinda know what they are up against, but I kinda don’t. The picture looking from the outside in is much different than looking from the inside out. I get it.

I, like many of you, have seen speakers with huge egos who in their own way talk down to their audiences. I’ve been in an audience like that and I keep those egomaniac speakers etched in the back of my mind and make sure never to go there.  Even with the most difficult audience or individual I have the utmost respect for them and their opinions even when they may differ greatly from mine. I get respect because I give respect.

I try to keep things simple. I don’t need to serve up a lot of razzle dazzle in order to impress my audience. We, in this business often times make what we do far too complicated. Keeping it simple keeps the audience on track and helps them believe they can apply the message. The last thing I want to do as a speaker is serve up a bunch of pie in the sky.

You: Unfortunately some of the role models in the car business are egotistical wackos who have achieved perceived success by talking down and belittling others on their way to the top. Some would call them driven. I have another name for them but I won’t share.

Those types are determined to drive over anyone who gets in their way. They have little or no respect for anyone including themselves. The sad part is others around them start to emulate their actions because they think that’s the way to do it.

Life and business is pretty simple. Just treat people the way you would like to be treated and you generally can’t go wrong. Respect is earned each and every day. It’s earned by how you treat people and the value you put on them. You show no value, you get no respect.

Passion and Enthusiasm

Me: I guess when you love what you do it’s easy to do. I’m passionate about what I do. Thus, it’s easy to be enthusiastic. If you’ve heard me speak, you know I talk really fast. What you may not have noticed is that I actually have three speeds. Very fast, fast and very slow. There are times when I talk really slow and soft.

There are two ways to draw emphasis to something in a presentation. Tone it up, tone it down. 60% of my speech is fast, 20 % very fast and 20% very slow.  I tone up and I tone it down for emphasis. I make my point using both techniques.  I don’t expect people to agree with everything I say, but the one thing I want them to at least say is, the guy loves what he does.

You: If you don’t love what you’re doing then you may never be able to show enthusiasm. I often find people in the business are in it for the wrong reasons. Most of those situations are when it’s a family business and they figured they needed to be in it. I feel for you, I really do. There are so many other things you might enjoy doing, but this isn’t it.

However, if you love this business and you just are not an enthusiastic person let me suggest you “fake it, ‘till you make it.” You are just going to have to push yourself to get a bit more excited. You don’t have to “tone it up” all day long, but once in a while (20%) you gotta lay it out there and get excited.

Depend On Me

Me: I like to make the point to my audience that they can depend on me. If you call me or send me an email you’re going to get a response. You can contact me 24/7/365. The only way you will not get an immediate response from me is if I’m sleeping, speaking or with a client. If something comes up in a meeting and I say I’m going to get back to you on it then it’s a sure bet that I’m going to make it happen. If I don’t know the answer to something I will do my very best to find it out for you. If I tell you I’m going to mail you a book, then you “best be checking your mailbox cause it’s coming.”

You: You have to develop a mentality and a reputation of being a doer. Doing what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it is the one thing that builds respect, loyalty and commitment from other staff members. It also sets the tone for the way the rest of the staff behaves and acts in the workplace. They start to realize how important it is for them to follow your lead and take the same approach in their daily work habits.

Big Bang

Me: I like to end my workshops with a bit of “bang” and recap of the material I’ve covered. I do a pretty cool card trick that ties in all the things we’ve talked about during the sessions. It has a bit of razzle dazzle tied to it. I do it with great enthusiasm and passion.

You: You need to look for opportunities to have a “big bang” once in a while. Be it a celebration for a good month with lunch for the entire staff or an “All Hands On Deck,” meeting to celebrate your success. Far too often the celebration of success occurs only in the sales department. The reality is, it takes the entire team to be successful so make sure when you’re adding bang that you include the parts, service and office staff. To do anything less is nothing but banging your head against the wall.

Bang, Bang, Bang, that’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Did you notice that I didn’t write a newsletter last week? So, maybe you didn’t notice. I really wish you had. Or maybe you did? If you did I’m sorry I disappointed you, but even I have some weeks where I have trouble getting my brain in gear.

Whether you noticed or not, I’m thinking there may be some other things you’ve not noticed:

Did you notice that you are getting really comfortable with having aged units around because the market is up? I’m going to give you a pass on it right now, but if you get sloppy and let this become your new "marketing plan," you’re going to wake up in a few months and have some serious problems on your hands.

Did you notice that the selling processes you think you are using are not the selling processes you’re using? It’s very likely that the members of your management team are doing their "own thing." If you don’t believe me 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. Might want to re-think that. You’ll be surprised at how many more deals you will make and how many more used cars you will end up keeping and retailing.

Did you notice that the management team does not 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 and at little or no loss.

Did you notice that the sales and management team have not done a "lot walk" in weeks and weeks? Did you ever wonder why your sales people don’t sell more used? It’s because they don’t know the inventory. Might want to re-think that one too.

Did you notice that your used car manager is still buying cars by the seat of his/her pants? It takes strong discipline to utilize the data from vAuto, Auto Count USA and Auto Trader. "The Pain of Discipline or the Pain of Regret." You get to pick.

Did you notice you get lots of lip service on those processes you know need to be followed in all the departments in the dealership, but aren’t? Guarding the processes is one of the most important functions of management.

Did you notice you’ve got junk all over the place and the walls are dirty? No really, I’m not kidding. Often times we become oblivious to what’s around us. Open your eyes, you won’t believe what you are letting happen. Quick, go check out your restrooms. Ugh, ugh, ugh!

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 everyday. Come on, are you really focused on that number everyday? Didn’t think so.

Did you notice that your traffic is down? Well of course it is because you’ve gotten a bit cocky about the pricing of your used cars. Trust me, price drives them to the store believe whatever you want. I’m not saying you shouldn’t shoot the moon, but you have to understand that the Internet has changed the game forever.

Did you notice your grosses are down? Oh that might be up just a tad up right now, but overall they are down. That’s because the sales team is not 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? I could go on and on and make an endless list of things you might not be noticing. Your job as a leader is to notice what’s going. You can only do that by taking the blinders off.

But, just noticing stuff isn’t the real answer. Taking action and fixing stuff you notice is the key. Just remember what Mark Twain said:  "Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt."

That’s all I’m going to say. Tommy Gibbs