Dealer Plates and Real Estate Yard Signs

Maybe this is just a coincidence but it was a trip none-the-less. We spent part of a recent Sunday checking out open houses. With the real estate economy doing what it’s doing in Portland, Ore., I just had to hit the road and see for myself. I’d say the average price house we looked at was between $1.3 million to $2.7 million.

Check this out: Out of the nine houses we took a look at; six had cars in the driveway with a dealer plate on the back. No kidding! These were not the kind of houses that people trade up from if you gather my meaning. In this town, the only reason anyone would sell a house in this price range is they feel they must. If I was looking for a dose of realism, there it was.

Yet I found myself shaking my head and saying to myself, “What are these dealers thinking?” Are these dealers just gonna take it in the shorts and throw up the “for sale” sign?

“Sorry kids time to switch schools, daddy can’t sell any cars.”

These were the home of some well-known dealers in our community. They have been around longer than a couple of years, and all these houses were under two years old! I can’t tell you how much it made me want to roll up my sleeves, go to work and do something to lend a hand.

I see fear setting in and when I talk to many dealers in person. I hear them folding not fighting. We’re so busy building Tsunami shelters we’re not giving time for much else. I go back to my February article, “How The Smartest Dealerships Make The Most Money During The Worst Years,” and I think to myself, “are that many dealer’s really going to allow themselves to be the effect of their environment rather than the cause over it?”

Well in case you’re a dealer that still thinks there is money to be made, here are a couple of tidbits that I would strongly advise taking to heart.

Look at every opportunity like your hide depends on it. If someone says that chicken fat can help you sell cars you might want to pull up a chair and listen to the chicken fat pitch. The dealers in our group are on a plan. The economy and the lender squeezes have little to do with it. Find your plan.

Start recruiting! High-talented employees will be easier than ever to recruit. If you have a plan that you can sell, you can steal some great car people this year and it all comes down to people.

Know that in times like this market share always makes its biggest change of hands between competitors.

Pencil your dealership based on your goals (hopefully you have your plan). Make your budget serve your goals not your fears. That doesn’t mean don’t get prepared it just means be smart.

Separate the industry being slow from you being slow. Own the reality that market share is market share. In any given month, more vehicles are sold in the worst of markets than you have sold in your best month.

Be comfortable taking market share. Don’t laugh, you’d be surprised to know that this is a hot button for 70 percent of stagnant dealerships.

Don’t use money to manipulate the sales staff into performing better. Believe it or not money is the least-effective motivator in the world. Duty by contrast is the highest. Debate all you want and the facts are still the same. Ask anyone who has a career that puts their life at risk if they do it for the money and you’ll learn quickly that it just doesn’t stir the motivational Kool-Aid.

Leave the pay plan alone unless you’re positive it’s the right move.

Tap into your archive deals and orphan owners database like a keg at a frat house.

Effectively handle your special finance business. During down times this is an area that can make all the difference but you have to approach it the right way. It’s not a quick fix and dealers that take the shotgun approach to special finance can make a mess in a hurry. If you’re new to special finance then find a buddy, get some advice and get moving. For a list of lenders that we believe are still buying as deep as ever visit http://www.HyperdriveTech.com/LenderSqueeze.

Create your own dealer group within your Twenty Groups made up of people that have their heads screwed on straight. You are who you hang around, so look for dealers that can bring positive info to the group, take positive points away and leave the rest at home. This is not the year for mental counseling beyond what is healthy, it’s a year to put your game face on, take market share and talk about it later.

Mystery shop the competition personally.

Remember most of the dealerships that comprise your competition will be dealing with down times by over stressing the sales and management staff, which leads to anxiety, which in turn leads to poor performance. While they’re asleep at the wheel, be smarter, listen better, take your market share and then pull the For-Sale sign out of your front yard.

Only a dealer that thinks they have what it takes to win would read this to this point! If that’s you, drop me an email, I’d like to know who you are. If you’d like email me your No. 1 profit-blocking challenge or obstacle that you’re being faced with and if I can offer up some insight I’ll send it right along.

Thanks for tuning in. I hope this will help you get to your goals.