Odd as it may seem we often put a lot of energy and wasted effort into trying to control the things we don’t have control over and miss a real opportunity to control the things we can control.

I often like to compare the car business to the coaching field. Coaches never have total control over the game, but they do have control over the things they do to prepare for the game. You can take control by preparing the team.

If you are the dealer, you should think of yourself as the head coach or the team owner. If you are in management, you’re an assistant coach. If you’re the General Manager or General Sales Manager, consider yourself an offensive or defensive coordinator of a professional football team.

Great coaches study the game 24/7/365. If you don’t live, eat and sleep the car business, then you will never be able to control what you can control.

Successful coaches understand that to control the game they have to teach the game. They make an investment in time and resources to ensure the team understands the plan and how best to execute it.

Any dealer who has half a brain takes as many of his/her people as possible to training meetings and conventions. More important though, is what happens after the training sessions and meetings.

Whenever you or any manager goes to any type of meeting or training, there should be a de-briefing within 24 hours of your return to determine what you/your team learned and what you are going to put into play at your store.

The same is true for Twenty Groups (if you are not in one, you should be) and the NADA Convention. You should take as many members of your management team as possible to these functions with the purpose of bringing back real ideas to put into play.

Your mission as a coach is to create an ongoing environment that demonstrates you are committed to training and developing your staff at all levels; "Controlling what you can control."

There is no way you can become a well-rounded student of the game and compete effectively in today’s market without understanding the high tech side of the business. Making use of the right software like vAuto and tools like Auto Count USA gives you a huge advantage when it comes to controlling your inventory.

You cannot control the price of gas, the stock market or the world economy. You can control the speed by which you turn your inventory.

Knowing and understanding the necessity of controlling your inventory is a major step toward controlling what you can control. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs