The Future is NOW!

Over the next few weeks we will be unveiling our new book The Magic Bullet. This book was written from car guys for car guys who want to advance their dealerships in the 21st century.

The Future is NOW!

There are very few men or women who can see the future. Fewer still are those who see the future and have the fortitude to take the necessary action to capitalize on their vision.

Walt Disney was one of the few. He peered into the future and saw the most incredible vision. He saw a little animated mouse, named Mickey, become the foundation of a company that would grow to be one of the largest and most impactful organizations in the world. He saw full length animation movies becoming main stream in society and though he was mocked and ridiculed by the “so called experts” for this belief, he risked everything he had to be the leader in the genre. He saw his creations coming to life in theme parks for all to visit and enjoy and his vision of a “Magic Kingdom” is still being realized over fifty years since his passing. Yes, Walt Disney was that very rare individual who had vision and based on that vision, took the necessary action to become the leader in his respective industry.

What about you? Can you see the future? Are you looking at the signs that are all around you? 

There really are three categories in which you fall into:

The first category is denial. You know that the industry is changing rapidly, but you refuse to take any action to accommodate that change. You hear about the numbers. GE Capital Retail Bank’s second annual Major Purchase Shopper Study found that 81% of car buyers research the car online prior to purchasing. An Accenture study from 2015 stated that “62% of the 10,000 customers surveyed are initiating the car buying process online.” The article also states that “75% of the respondents said, if given the opportunity, they would consider making their entire car-buying process online.” Don’t get us wrong, you aren’t in complete denial. You do have a sales force and a website for your business. You have social media pages. You think about your reputation management and might even engage in it when someone begins to slander your business or your people. You keep repeating to everyone in earshot, that you are old school and that you don’t understand all this digital “stuff.” You take the path of least resistance and pass all of this “stuff” off to mid-level management or “so called digital experts” with little to no car business experience and then you pay them tons of money to get you very limited results. You may or may not have a center for business development, but to your credit, you believe that developing business is an important factor for your dealership’s ongoing success. 

You don’t really believe you’re in denial, but the truth is, the change you refuse to do anything about, is happening right down the street in your competitor’s dealerships. Are you taking any action whatsoever to combat what your competition is doing at this very moment?  

The second category is what we call the pretenders. We know this category very well because we lived in this environment for many years in our dealerships. This is the worst category to be in and where the majority of General Sales Managers, General Managers and Owner/Operators live. 

Most of the men and women in this category have vision. They know the industry is changing rapidly and they truly want to change, but they listen to the “so-called experts.” These are the experts who tell us that they have spent millions of dollars on R&D to enable them to provide you with the best information and technology, but yet have never retailed a car and never spent any time on the lot with a customer in the cold, rain or heat. They don’t have a clue what happens at the sales desk, in a finance office, on the service drive, in a parts department or an accounting office. They wouldn’t know what a six point walk around is or where it begins and ends. They have never been through a manufacturer audit nor have they stayed at a dealership on the last day of the month to grind out 3 more deals to hit an objective or turn a good month, into a great one. 

They pretend to know our business and because we want to be at the forefront of the change and win in our respective markets, we take the call or the meeting with them. During that meeting, they pitch us their “numbers,” and tell us that their product is the best product out there and share with us how they will help us dominate our competition for only $8,000.00 or more per month. As competent, long term, experienced car people, we pretend to know that we understand exactly what they are saying. We believe them and we swallow the bait, hook, line and sinker. We call a few of their references just to check them out and determine if what they say is true. The other GSM, GM or Owner/Operator that we talk with is pretending as well. He or she pretends to really know what return they are getting for their investment and they recommend this company wholeheartedly. So we take the premium package, make the big announcement to our dealership and install the program. 

If you have a great team with strong leadership, the program might work for 90 days. If your team is weak, the program won’t last a month. It will never work, but you and your team will pretend that it is working. The company you are paying will happily continue to take your money, even though they know the program isn’t benefitting your business. 

When you finally stop pretending and call them and tell them you are cancelling the program, they will get fired up, act slightly offended, and in almost a state of disbelief, offer to do anything they can to salvage the relationship. They convince you to give them another chance by making numerous promises and telling you that they will make it better. More training, different approach, change in strategy, whatever it takes to get you to keep pretending with them. 

By now, you have a lot invested with this company so you agree to keep pretending for a little while longer. Finally, you come to your senses and say enough is enough and cancel the program. Unfortunately, over time, most of us car guys and gals will start pretending again and we will fall prey to another wolf in sheep’s clothing, who promises something they just can’t deliver. 

The third category is the realist. A realist is someone who sees things as they really are. There are very few leaders in our industry who are realists as most don’t deal in reality, but in emotion.  

We worked for over five years in our dealerships to find what is real. Over that time, we discovered the right and the wrong, the pretenders and the authorities, and what works and what doesn’t work in three critical areas of a dealership. We discovered through much trial and error what was true and what was false.

Those of you that are in the real category, we applaud you because you are the very few. Just like Walt Disney, you have seen the future and realize that the future of industry is happening right now before our very eyes. You refuse to allow the deniers, the pretenders and “so called experts” influence you with their smoke and mirrors. You see how our industry is changing and you recognize the fact that you and your dealership must change to stay viable and competitive.

We want every General Sales Manager, General Manager and Owner/Operator to move into the third category and get “real.” That is why we started The Magic Bullet and ultimately wrote this book. We know we can provide R.E.A.L. RESULTS, which is why we chose those two words as our mission statement:

Return on Investment

Experience

Application

Leadership

The Magic Bullet is a three pronged approach to achieving R.E.A.L. RESULTS in your business by utilizing real applications in a rapidly changing environment to maximize your return of investment. Over the next few chapters you will discover the three areas that we believe are critical for the ongoing and future success of your dealership. The three areas are sales, digital/online and business development and by implementing the Magic Bullet to all three of these areas, you will see tremendous, REAL RESULTS that you never thought possible for your dealership.

There is no doubt that you have heard those power words before from many partners/vendors but you have never heard those power words from two people who have faced the exact same challenges you have faced. We are just like you, a couple of car guys who started searching for the answers to the same problems you are up against in your sales department, your virtual/digital showroom and your ongoing quest to develop more opportunities for your company. We understand the pressure to get R.E.A.L. RESULTS. We know exactly what you MUST do to achieve R.E.A.L. RESULTS. We were told throughout our journey for discovery, that what we were looking for did not exist. We searched for the answers for over five years, it was a long, difficult journey, but we found those answers and now we are sharing them with you. We call it The Magic Bullet and when it is applied exactly the way we prescribe; you WILL ACHIEVE R.E.A.L. RESULTS for you and your dealership.   

See you tomorrow 

www.themagicbullet.net

325-315-6007