Who else is tired of hearing how bad it is? Horrible economy…lower sales…high gas prices…hard to find and keep good employees…HSBC and others leaving auto financing world…Leases as we know them ending…war in Iraq…presidential election….weak dollar…and blaa, blaa, blaa.
Everywhere you look and turn the doomsayers are out and about. Everyone is starting to run scared and can’t continue because of how “BAD” it is. The talks you have with other dealers are all about how tough it is. You’ve never seen it this tough. Don’t know how you are going to survive.
Well, I say –
Full Steam Ahead! What? As you hear brakes screeching to a halt! How on earth could I say
Full Steam Ahead?Because this is a great time to make money. Everyone knows that during difficult times a few people, companies or dealerships step up and take market share and become stronger. Right now
some people are making good money in real estate. Right now
some people are making good money in the stock market. Right now
some people are making good money in their business. How can that be? Everything I read talks about how bad it is.
The answer is simple:
Some people look at the situation and think about, determine, plan and take action on how to over come the situation they are in. Most people follow the herd. The herd is everyone that runs when the stock market drops. The herd is everyone getting out of real estate. The herd is most dealerships today.
Which are you? Which is your dealership?
Part of the herd or part of the
Some people?
No matter what the economy, no matter what turmoil the factories are in, no matter what the sales volume is; there are dealerships that are making money.
What’s the difference between most of the dealers (the herd) and the
Some that are actually thriving?
1.
Don’t accept defeat – don’t accept what the media, industry, factories or other sources are telling you. Now, I don’t mean to turn a deaf hear and not follow sound advice; rather I am saying the media and those in it are trained to report the negative, report the bad things and not the good things. Only you are responsible for your dealership. Only you, not the media, the factory or whatever other outside source. Do these sources impact you? Absolutely! Are they responsible if you fail? Absolutely not – you are. It is your dealership; not someone else’s!
2.
Step back and look for opportunities. Whenever a market condition changes at least one opportunity is created – often more then one. Who is the expert in fuel economy vehicles? Are you? Who is the expert at making sure your customers current vehicle is running at the top fuel efficiency? You? Who is looking to save people time, money and GAS in their search for a new vehicle? You? OR are you doing the same old things you always have – put ads in the paper about how great you vehicles are--- just like every other dealer in your town. Make sure you either have the most ads in the paper or at least the biggest ad in the paper. Is that you? Or better yet, quit advertising or cut it dramatically back because of how bad it is. Maybe that is you. There are opportunities in this market for you to make a lot of money and propel your dealership to front of the pack. Step back, go away somewhere outside the dealership and look for them. They are there!
3.
Listen to your customers. We have all these methods of getting customer feedback – especially if a new dealer – CSI, viewpoint, Quality Circle, etc. And, what are they doing for you? I dare say almost, absolutely nothing. I have managing and looked at these scores myself for many years. I know how much the factory pushes good scores, but really what do they do to make you a better dealer; to get you to change your process to be more in line with what your customer is telling you they want? When I say listen, I mean really, truly, focused listening to what your customers are telling you. What they like, what they don’t like, etc. It takes guts as a dealer to listen to a customer this way. None of us like it, but the really good ones will do it. And they will implement changes in their dealership based upon the feedback of the customers.
4.
Encourage your staff. A big mistake dealers make is talking to the employees, salespeople, etc about how bad it is. We all try to come up with new strategies and gimmicks to get more production out of the employees. Give me a break. Your employees are just trying to make a living! They don’t need to hear from you the dealer (who drives what ever car you want, has your gas paid for, your insurance, a big home, maybe two and takes really cool vacations each year), tell them how bad it is. Turn the pyramid upside down and start encouraging them. As you do, you will help them to build a fence around themselves that will not allow them to believe how bad it is. They will be encouraged and understand that their service, their product is worth something and worth something big to others. Would you rather your salespeople believe their product is worth say… $3,000 gross and approach customers that way or would you rather they believe the media about how bad it is and know in their head before they ever start the sales process that there is no way in this horrible economy with high gas prices that they can make $3,000 gross on a customer? Which would you rather?
5.
Look at what all the other dealers are doing and do the opposite! What? You all have investments in the stock market. Think about it for a moment….the really big money in the stock market is made when people are running away from the market. Deals are there for some people to pick up. Some people are buying all they can when everyone else is selling all they can. Then when the herd all start running back into the market these people who picked up the deals make a fortune. You know and understand that is how it works. The people that are making money in real estate today are those picking up very good deals right now; when everyone else is running away from it. Now, picture most dealers are part of the herd. See what they are doing and then you do something different from them. Another reason for doing something different then everyone else is that to the consumer dealerships look alike. When everything looks alike how does one decide where to go or where to make a purchase? It really doesn’t matter since everything is similar. Now, part of this problem as been the factory’s which are generally making cars look more and more alike instead of some time ago when brands were very distinctive. But, the other part is you. What have you done to make yourself and your dealership stand out from everyone else?
This isn’t the time for progressive dealers who are serious about their success to buy into all the negative hype being pushed in the media. This isn’t the time for progressive dealers who are serious about their success to listen to the dealer down the street talk about how bad it is. This is the time for the progressive serious dealer who is serious about their success to stand up and become a little different from the herd. The choice is up to you – be part of the herd or be part of the few that thrive during this time.
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