On January 5, 2010 there was an article in USA Today on University of Texas’s football coach Mack Brown. He’s had tremendous success since taking over there 12 years ago. In that article it talks about a young man who spoke to the team prior to their big game against Oklahoma. The young man was 16 year old Corey Borner who was paralyzed from the neck down after he was injured while making a tackle last spring in a scrimmage at Desoto High School.
He told the Longhorns he was going to find a way to walk again, just like they were going to find a way to beat Oklahoma. After trailing at halftime, Texas won 16-13. Borner gave Coach Brown a black wrist band that reads “find a way.” Brown wears it during all games and states, “You hear our kids say all the time ‘find a way’. Corey’s moving his arms now. He has some feeling in his legs. We got it pretty good, and if he’s finding a way, we can find a way.”
You have to find a way to improve your bottom line and improve your business for 2010. There is a way. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a big market or a small market. It doesn’t matter if your economy is more depressed than other areas of the country. There is a way. Maybe the pie has gotten smaller, but you have to figure a way to get a bigger piece of the pie.
You won’t find a way by looking at the four walls in your office. You will find a way by seeking information on how to make it happen from those who are making it happen. I can’t think of any business where owners are so willing to share their success stories with others like they do in the automobile business; be it from a phone call, a 20 Group or from dealers at the NADA convention. There is a ton of information available that will help you if you would only seek it.
The most successful dealers in the country are always looking for a way to improve what they are doing. They are never satisfied. So if their motto is always “Let’s Find a Better Way” then why don’t all dealers do the same? It’s simple. They’ve lost their way because they are convinced there is no way…and that’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs