Feels good doesn’t it? I bet it does. It was the best month for most of you in probably more than a year. Ah, and now the temptation shall return. You know the temptation to hire more staff and to spend more money on advertising. It’s understandable that some of that has to happen, but I want to remind you what you’ve been saying.

You said, never again will I let my expenses get out of control, never again will I go back to my old ways, never again will I carry inventory I don’t need, never again will I let used cars get out of control, never again will I keep people I should not keep, never again will I let ups leave without a TO, never again will I not require sales people to log all customers, never again will I not require my sales staff to follow the road to the sale, never again will I keep used cars over 45 days. So, once “again” I want to remind you of things that are “never again.”

You are sitting on an opportunity of a lifetime to make the most money you have ever made. You have made the necessary cuts. But Temptation is chasing you like a coon dog chasing a raccoon on a cold winter’s night. Temptation is the evil that will take you from a superstar to a superdud.

Some of you have gotten too lean especially in the sales department. You are still that one key person away from making it really happen. It’s not just about adding that one key person, but how you organize the rest of the team. Some of you don’t have the best players in the best positions. In some cases you are paying the wrong people way too much to do a job they can’t do in the first place. Those people need to go and/or be reassigned. I know, I know, they are good people, loyal and all that, but now is the time.

I want to create a little temptation here myself. I want to tempt you to re-think your team; to step it up a notch. There are lots of good people in the market right now that you can hire who will make a difference. You need to continue the shake up. With some restructuring of your team, you’re only one key player away from knocking ‘em dead. Temptation is a bad thing. Temptation is a good thing. Tempt yourself to go to the next level. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs