'Prosperity Disease' Is Back!
By Dave Anderson
You can see it in our swagger and hear it in our voices. We've had a run of banner years and it's gone straight to our headsagain. "Prosperity Disease" is back. You know, the affliction that inflates self-worth and puts egos into overdrive when things get and stay good. It's the arrogance that closes minds, inflates pride and transforms people from mortal, fire-in-the-belly entrepreneurs to fat, invincible "know-it-alls." Prosperity Disease isn't unique to our business: I've seen it infect oilmen, precious metal investors, bankers and real estate brokers as their "we'll never see another poor day" boasts turned into a deafening sucking sound. You'd think we'd remember that business is still subject to cycles. It wasn't that long ago when dealers had maxed-out credit lines, filled pawn shops with Rolexes and diamond pinkie rings, inundated the classifieds with used airplanes, yachts and vacation homes and left country club memberships un-renewed.
Prosperity Disease is spreading. You can see it in the way many dealers work harder to maintain what they have than to grow it, with how they talk more about what they've done than what they're doing or are going to do. It's evident in the way they resist change and innovation with excuses like, "I made $2,000,000 last year. I must be doing something right." No disrespect, but how hard should it be to make money in our business in this economy when the following conditions exist: lower than ever interest rates, lower than ever unemployment, higher than ever wages, better than ever factory financing and hotter than ever products? Quite frankly, if you haven't been able to make it big lately, you will never do so. Have we gotten that much better as operators, or is much of the success a result of being in the right place at the right time: smack in the middle of one of the biggest economic booms in the history of the world? That presumption might hurt a bit, but statistics support the idea. Nationally, most customer satisfaction scores remain ho-hum as ever, salesperson turnover is still as high as ever, closing ratios are as low as ever, and the average units sold per salesperson is still mediocre as ever. Hmmm.
Prosperity Disease may cause dealers to miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use today's momentum as a catalyst to reinvent their operations: to pour resources into their people like never before; make bold changes in how they market and sell; to install technology to manage traffic and retain customers; to examine their image and advertising message and determine if they need freshening; to innovate methods for delivering "Holy Toledo Batman!" service that converts customers into fan clubs and distinguishes their store from every other look-alike, sound-alike metal-hawker on the strip. But Prosperity Disease has put many people to sleep with visions of "no more poor days" dancing in their heads. It has sapped their hunger and convinced them they've "arrived." They've gotten richer-and softer, more adept at advising than listening, more prone to hesitate than innovate, more willing to celebrate than sweat.
Happily, many companies fight off Prosperity Disease. They know the best time to make tough decisions, initiate bold changes, reinvent themselves, listen, learn, risk, innovate, restructure, upgrade, hire, fire and train is when dollars are rolling in and cars are rolling out. But so many won't. They just don't get it. Their concept of reinventing their dealership is a fresh coat of paint and new potted plants. Times are too good to "stir things up." They're already "successful." Why rock the boat? After all, there's no visible crisis. The seas appear calm. These people are willing to ride risk aversion into irrelevance. If they lived in Noah's time, they'd have waited for the 39th consecutive rainy day before starting on the ark. They would have drowned. They may drown still.
I just held a meeting with the managers of our Honda store. While I'm goofing off, holding workshops around the country, my friend and cohort, John Anderson (no relation), has this group wired. The first quarter they sold 156 more Hondas than the same period last year. We've moved from #15 nationally to #8 and I can cheerfully report the attitude of our managers at this meeting in six words: "Big deal. Who cares? What's next?" At the meeting we asked: Did we make every deal and maximize gross on each car? Did we do all we could to give each customer an experience they'd sign an oath of allegiance to us for? Did everyone work at their full potential every day?" The answer to each question was "no." We're humbled. There's work to do. No "P.D." allowed. There are groups all over who are already successful but won't embrace it. We can learn how to combat P.D. by watching them. Here's a quick tour from coast to coast.
1. Bert Boeckmann at Galpin Ford. Bert is the #1 Ford dealer in the world and has been at the top level for years but he won't let his people get "P.D." He pushes himself and stretches them. I spent three days training 75 of his managers in a workshop. His was the most impressive collection of management talent I've ever seen in one room. They are dialed-in on improving their No. 1 position. Bert was in class all three days taking notes. He didn't delegate attending the class to his G.M. He didn't make excuses why he didn't have time to go. He was there, and it made all the difference.
2. Jill Green at Green Chevrolet. Jill Green's Chevy store in East Moline, Illinois makes a ton of money, but Jill doesn't have P.D. and neither do her people. Jill's top salespeople, service advisors, team leaders, lot coordinators and everyone in management attended a seminar like Bert. This group is fun, focused, friendly, works hard and has a passion for improvement. Jill was in class each day making sure P.D. doesn't infect her group. She knows they still have work to do to reach their potential.
3. AutoNation e-commerce team. Forget your preconceived notions about the company or your ideas of what corporate teams are supposed to look and act like. You'd be wrong. This group is impressive. Vice president of e-Commerce Randy Rahe has assembled a team of driven, bright go-getters who are delivering eye-popping numbers, but Randy is stretching them with bigger goals that at first seem impossible-until you get to know the group. They're already number one in e-commerce, but they could care less. They want more, lots more. No P.D. here, either.
I'm sorry to spoil the party, but happy days are not here to stay. Knowing that, what are you doing to fight off P.D. and position your dealership at the head of its class? The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining. Now is the time to build an edge by developing people, image and infrastructure. The world is moving faster than ever and when things turn, they'll turn faster than ever. Pay the price now to position yourself to be in front of the pack tomorrow or decide to coast now and settle into a slot where you'll have to play a game of "catch-up" with those who never caught P.D.-a game that could turn into a marathon, a game you may never have a chance of winning.
Dave Anderson is President of The Dave Anderson Corporation, a sales, management and leadership training concern. Dave conducts "Leading At The Next Level" workshops and publishes "Leading At The Next Level" newsletter. He is the author of Selling Above The Crowd: 365 Strategies For Sales Excellence and his Web site, www.learntolead.com has free training articles and materials updated weekly. Dave is a member of The National Speaker's Association and conducts workshops and keynotes worldwide. danderson@dealeronline.com
