Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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over the curb / parting thoughts
Cinderella How to Make Your Mark
An 18-year former dealer principal with focus on Special Finance since 1989, Greg Goebel is CEO of Auto Dealer Monthly, LLC, the parent company of Greg Goebel Training & Consulting. He is a leading industry consultant, trainer, author and speaker serving retail automotive dealers. Contact Greg at 941.685.9629.
Greg@AutoDealerMonthly.com A
s this column is being written, March Madness is in full
bloom. It is an exciting time of year even for the most casual of basketball fans, as there are millions of people around the world who call one of the 68 schools that start the NCAA basketball tournament their alma mater.
Another reason for its popularity is that everyone likes fairy tales and every year Cinderella makes her appearance throughout the tournament. That, of course, is when a team that is unheralded and ranked low somehow knocks off a highly-ranked team – often teams – and plays its way to the Final Four. Heck, in the last two years a school that many people had never heard of – Butler – found a way to play for the national championship two years in a row!
How does that happen? How does David slay Goliath? How can teams with lesser athletes not only compete
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with but defeat the teams with better athletes? In my opinion, three things make the difference.
The first requirement is a great game plan. On defense, it takes a way to minimize the effectiveness of the other team's star(s) and put the pressure on someone else to deliver. On offense, it means finding ways to isolate play- ers for open shots inside their comfort and confidence zones. In general, find a way to maximize your assets and minimize the opponent's strengths.
The next requirement is execution. You can have the best plan in the world, but if you are not able to execute the plan, it's all for naught. The person, team or com- pany that consistently exe- cutes a great plan will nearly always win. Not only is that the case in sports, but in business as well.
Finally, the third requirement is working as a team toward a common goal. Everyone
has to work toward the goal. Having most of the team executing doesn't cut it. It also takes the role players. On basketball teams, that includes the assistants and the managers. In your dealerships, it means the assistants, porters and shuttle drivers, as well as all the management team.
When you combine these three requirements you get a team consistently executing a great game plan – that is a mighty tough thing to beat or keep down!
So how does all this relate to this month's column? Well, certainly from a dealership perspective, you may not be the biggest in your market and you may not have the largest ad budget or the most favored brand of vehi- cles. However, that certainly doesn't stop you from grabbing more than your market share. Do you make time to create a great game plan, teach your team how to execute it, and then measure and coach them to ensure it happens? If not, now is a great time to start.
Additionally, the same philosophy applies to this year's Dealers' Choice Awards winners, and in particular to some compa- nies which have not only
prevailed this year, but have done so year after year. As always, I want to congratu- late all those companies that achieved success and were named in the 2012 Dealers' Choice Awards. In particular, I want to acknowledge Ally SmartAuction, Auto- Trader.com, CNA National, Joe Verde Group, Manheim, Reynolds & Reynolds, Strategic Marketing, and United Development Systems (UDS) for their consistent long-term achievements in the Awards.
Whether you currently are one of the top teams in the business or an upstart Cinderella wanting to make your mark, remember that outstanding performance starts with the game plan and finding a way to execute the plan time and time again. If you are on top and want to stay there, you can't afford to take your eye off the ball, as you are the target. If you are the upstart, you have to create the plan, believe in it and execute. Don't miss your shot!
Until next month, Great Selling
Greg Goebel Publisher
