I can’t say that math was one of my best subjects, but I can divide by 10 real easy. At a glance, I know what the averages are for any line item expenses, sales volume, and gross profit.
What also makes October a perfect time is it sets the stage for the next year. Now is the time to start planning for 2027. Waiting until the last week in December to get your plan together is a really bad strategy.
Let me take that a step further. If you get nothing else out of this newsletter, please let this sink in. Your plan starts now. Early November. The plan goes into effect December 1st. Got it? Not January 1st. December 1st…it’s the only way you hit the ground running at full speed on January 1st.
This is the perfect time to dig in and firm up your fundamentals in all departments. This is the time to get back to basics. This is not the time to cut back on your training.
This is when you need to amp up your thinking, stretch your organization and stretch your imagination. If you don’t have a solid foundation of basic processes you will never maximize your success.
This is the time to take control of the “evaporation factor” that’s been occurring all year long. This is the time to stop the “process bleeding.”
Your long-term plan should include joining a Twenty Group and attending the NADA convention.
We all get lazy and get caught up in our daily routines. Attending these meetings gets you revitalized. It gets you outside of your daily box and opens your eyes up to what the possibilities might be. Seems like a no-brainer.
This is the time to make those plans. Teamwork is critical if you’re going to maximize your bottom line. To keep your team on the same page you have to constantly communicate to them what the expectations are and what processes they are expected to follow.
There is no “shake ‘n bake” solution. You don’t fix it and walk away. You fix it and re-fix it.
What to do?
1. Ask yourself if you can improve your processes? If you focus on revamping your processes, what effect do you think it will have on your business? It is an absolute fact that regardless of how well disciplined you are, over time your processes are going to evaporate.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to lock yourself and your management team in a room and review every detail of your selling processes. Be brutally honest with yourself. Then take the necessary action to get yourself back on track.
2. Can you improve your team? Got the wrong players? Now is the time to make the changes. Not January 1st. The changes need to be implemented December 1st!
Right now. If you already have the right team in place then it’s time to let them know what your expectations are and show them the plan and the path to achieving those expectations.
3. Don’t think of your planning as “you now having a plan.” Think of it as a “mission.” Plans can fall apart. When you’re on a mission you stay after it until you succeed and then you stay after it some more.
I’m on a mission to get you to re-think what you’re doing. I’m on a mission to get you ready. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs