There are a lot of challenges in today’s automobile world.

Most of us are always looking for answers.

Could It Be?

1. Could it be that the consumer is using the Internet for the majority of their purchases and therefore is pushing you into a pricing war you would rather not be in?

2. Could it be that you are not managing your pricing correctly? Are you coming out of the gate based on a bucket concept and pricing everything at X amount under market? Are you failing to shoot the moon on a few select units for x number of days before you drop your pants?

3. Could it be the stuff you are buying is like an impossible dream? Are you buying 2015’s with 25,000 to 35,000 miles on them? Really? The only way you’re gonna sell them is to give them away, eroding more average gross profit.

4. Could it be that you and/or your team really don’t understand “Life Cycle Management” and the powerful impact it has on gross and volume?

5. Could it be that you are stocking cars that are way too expensive, so you end up competing with your new car business and selling them at little or no gross just to make them go away?

6. Could it be you are not tracking “GAP?” If you aren’t tracking GAP then how are you to know how much you’re giving away once the customer shows up?

7. Could it be your used cars spend the best days of their shelf life tied up in service and recon?

8. Could it be your presence on Auto Trader and your website is just so, so? When was the last time you looked at the photos on your website?

9. Could it be your management team isn’t really a team?

10. Could it be you have gotten too smart to do a “save-a deal” meeting every morning?

11. Could it be you let a lot of nice trades get away from you because either (A) your managers won’t step up or (B) they wholesale them because they feel the service department is ripping them off?

12. Could it be you have aged units and when you dump them they kill your overall gross?

13. Could it be the deal is screwed up before it ever gets a chance to be turned over to a manager and/or the managers just aren’t taking TOs?

14. Could it be you’re not willing to invest in your team what it will take to maximize results?

Maybe you just need to think about what it could be. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs