My newsletters are designed to expand your thinking, share ideas with you and from time to time stir you up a bit. Not too often but, once in a while I like to push the envelope to the edge.
Thousands of dealers, managers and people outside of the automobile business read my Newsletters every week. I am most grateful for you taking the time to do so.
Last week I wrote an article that was geared towards getting you to think more of yourself as a Coach rather than a Manager. During the course of a year I get hundreds if not thousands of very positive comments about my newsletters. Some people actually swear by them. I had a lot of great comments last week. For those of you who commented thank you very much.
Also during the course of the year I get maybe 5 or 6 comments from people who don’t like what I’ve written or just think I’m a bit nuts. I had one like that last week. His comment was “You don’t know S–T.” That was all he said. Nothing more, nothing less.
I’m thinking gosh, I always thought I knew S–T. I had a Labrador Retriever. I do know S–T because I don’t believe I ever stepped in any of his S–T. I scooped lots his of S—T off the ground so I take issue when someone says I don’t know S–T
Ok, I know he wasn’t talking about actual S—T, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted debate the fellow about how much S—T I actually know. Here’s some S—T I know to be true.
1. The automobile business is undergoing a revolution. Those who don’t make the necessary changes won’t be around five years from now.
2. The Internet will continue to put stress on your grosses.
3. If you play the Internet pricing game (which you will be forced to do) and you don’t understand how to buy the right replacement cars and trucks then you are going to get killed.
4. Research will play a bigger and bigger role on which cars & trucks you buy.
5. One Price will continue to advance on you like General Sherman on Atlanta in July 1864.
6. Since you don’t have the profit margins you once had, you will have to figure out how to staff your management and sales positions at a lower cost. (One Price keeps raising its ugly head.)
7. If you think you can survive by being a good new car dealer with a focus on fixed operations like you’ve be able to do in the past, you will be part of the past. (yippee, can you say used cars?)
8. The really smart dealers will pay attention to operations like CarMax and Texas Direct. Their business models are the way of the future and you cannot ignore it.
9. If you think you can manage people the way you did 5, 10, 15 years ago, you will soon have no one to manage. (Coaching vs Managing, see last week’s article)
10. Ignoring technology is the kiss of death.
11. Ignoring common sense is also the kiss of death.
12. Great Leaders fix it before it’s broke
So, there you go; I know lots of S–T. I know a whole bunch of other S–T, but that’s all I’m gonna say for now, Tommy Gibbs