Don’t Just be in the Game: Run, Forrest, Run

The title should explain the premise of this blog. In case it doesn’t for you, it’s based on the move “Forrest Gump.” Forrest Gump did a lot of running in that movie but there was a substantial part where he runs from Coast-to-Coast three times. When asked why he ran so much, he simply said that, for no particular reason, he just felt like going on a little run. That “little run” lasted 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and two hours.

While I’ve never quite accomplished that feat in its whole, I might be on my way to getting close when all my running is combined. What makes people run? Why do they do it? I think it’s a personal passion, but it also has business applications.

Dealers are bombarded with new solutions whether they are advanced ones using AI or simply ones that enhance or add/have better features than their existing technology. The issue has always been those dealers that like running with the pack. Remember when dealers thought websites were stupid? (“Stupid is as stupid does”.) Well, eventually, they all fell in line and joined the race.

"Dealers are bombarded with new solutions whether they are advanced ones using AI or simply ones that enhance or add/have better features than their existing technology."

I remember running in the Seattle Marathon. Looking back, I thought about my experience. It’s one thing that running fast brings – and that usually means being alone. Perhaps you see a few stragglers on the opposite side of the race path but, ultimately, you’re running alone and can’t see anyone behind you. Is there anything wrong with that?

NO!

The reason that there is not anything wrong is that you either trained harder, learned better techniques or had the competitive spirit to win the race. All while watching your competition fall away.

Let’s be honest. The automotive industry is a hyper-competitive one. The same examples (albeit one fiction) apply. At the start, everyone is equal. Every dealer is waiting to start the race in a pack. Once the race starts, the pack slowly gets separated. If you find yourself at the front with nobody behind you, that doesn’t mean you slow down. It means you either keep your pace or speed up. Why? Because eventually, all the other runners (dealers), will step up their game in that particular race and you might not find it as easy to be alone anymore.

"At the start, everyone is equal."

You want to be alone, however. Why? Because that lets you know that you have an advantage over your competition. If you never stop training, adapting and adopting, you will always win the race and every one of your competitors will always be somewhere behind you.

Don’t sit on your laurels and wait until you find yourself in the pack and your competitor wins the race THEN try to improve. Always be improving with the goal to win. If you take that mindset, you’ll, at the very least, find your dealership ahead of the pack – and in a much better position to win the race. And it probably won’t take you 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and two hours to do so.