Allow me a brief moment of digression and all will become clear.
My granddaddy taught me a trick that has become a business philosophy for me for decades.
“If you want your car to out run his – use High Octane”
Back when fuel injection was problematic and expensive for most engines, the performance could be quickly altered by using “ethyl” or high octane gas.
Depending on the vehicle and the carb set up it could give you 5 -10 extra ponies.
That meant when someone drove one of my cars it always seemed to perform just a little better than the next guys.
Guess who got the sale?
The premise of this entire column is to put your Dealership on High Octane – to boost its performance (your performance) and thus raise your sales/profits.
One thing has remained constant in the car business for the last 100 years – CHANGE.
Most Dealers get into habits/ruts as they go along because it is familiar and an easy way to do things – besides; it always worked in the past!
That mentality is the death knell for any Dealer. Old timers that do not adapt either die out or get out.
Now by die out, I do not mean a one way test drive to the “closing office in the sky”.
When a Dealer “dies out” his book of business goes from great to good. Then it goes from good to Ok and from Ok to “off”. From “off” it goes to “Hell-In-A-Hand-Basket”.
Please stop me if any of this sounds familiar.
Now from “Hell-In-A-Hand-Basket” it heads strait to
“Up -*hit-Creek-With-Out-A-Paddle” and once there things really start to go downhill rather quickly.
So, my question is where are YOU?
Great to Good?
Ok to Off?
Or are you headed for the creek?
Any one in this business for over 2 years knows that it has drastic cycles – up then down – up then down – up then . . .
The used car business is like no other –when it is good; life is fine.
When it is “off” things tend to get under your skin just a little quicker, you are a bit more “testy” than normal and the list goes on.
Understand that change is an integral part of any successful Dealership AND it (change) is the one thing that most Dealers resist! Hell, half of the Dealers that I know hate it!
Now let’s string all this together <–> if you really want your Dealership to be and stay successful; then you had best run it on High Octane fuel.
That may look like some drastic changes in you or your employees’ performances/habits.
That may sound like a little better training for your salespeople.
That may feel like riding out 5 hrs to go get some fresh inventory and a good price.
Something will change – it has to.
To paraphrase Ben Franklin – the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
Yet we keep buying the same cars from the same places and keep expecting better profits or quicker turns.
When you take your cars to the same mechanic and he screws them up again and again – do you go back or do you move on?
My granddaddy also taught me – “do the job right the first time” and “quality is always worth the money (still haggle the price though)”.
That means do your recon right and it won’t come back to bite you.
How are you going to take your Dealership to the next level – what is going to be the “high octane” that you engine is running on?
What are you going to do to “out perform” the competition.
What are you willing to change and are YOU willing to change?
For all intents and purposes as owners, we are our Dealerships.
If you are having a crappy month in your personal life; you can bet it will directly affect your Dealership.
This will be a challenge for a lot of you out there – High Octane is not what you are used to putting in your tank, you are used to putting in the cheap stuff .
Once you take this philosophy to heart and it becomes the way you do your business; I can almost certainly promise . . . you will grow and at a rapid pace too.
Look to this column for advice as we grow this page.
In the month of August I will be showcasing one of my clients out of Cleveland Texas.
Good Dealer and smart in business – I know you will enjoy hearing from them.
Until next time . . . keep your tanks full, your turns quick and may every deal be a three pounder!
Tom Hampton
