Late-breaking reports suggest that the administration is seriously considering a major shift in how it treats tariffs on automakers: rather than penalizing foreign-built cars outright, it may reward domestic production via an extended “import adjustment offset.” That signal alone has huge implications — and not just for OEMs, but for suppliers,
Quarterly recap meetings have a bad reputation. Too often, they become little more than someone reading financials aloud while managers glance at their phones, waiting for it to end. At Leif Johnson Ford, we recently ran a quarterly session that was different. Yes, we reviewed the numbers, but what made
Must be detail-oriented, strategic, charismatic, data-driven, creative, and available nights and weekends. Might be time to admit the problem isn’t the people. It’s the position. Let’s fix that. If your job postings read like a dating profile for a Marvel superhero, this article’s for you. Stop
If Part One explored the individual blind spots that keep us trapped in ineffective patterns, Part Two pulled back the lens to examine the organizational forces that make these ruts even deeper. The takeaway is sobering: even when people “know better,” companies often still do the same thing over and
In Part One, we peeled back the curtain on a phenomenon that plagues dealership owners and GMs everywhere: the habit of repeating familiar strategies while hoping—often unrealistically—for different results. Despite knowing the famous definition of insanity, we still find ourselves locked into old routines. Why? Because powerful psychological
Most of us can easily recite the famous warning often attributed to Einstein: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” is the definition of insanity. In the automotive retail industry (and many others), this adage is practically folklore. Leaders and employees know it by heart – yet,
If you're a dealer principal or general manager, your ears are probably finely tuned to pick up certain sounds without even trying. Sometimes it’s the rewarding sounds—laughter echoing in the service drive, the smooth cadence of a warm call transfer, applause ringing out in the delivery
In the fast-paced world of automotive retail, communication is everything. But recently, I’ve seen a common mistake—even among seasoned dealership managers (myself included at times): letting regularly scheduled 1:1 meetings morph into performance reviews. It sounds subtle. But this confusion can damage trust, reduce employee engagement, and
Is your dealership’s pay plan still rewarding yesterday’s performance metrics? If so, it may be holding your team—and your bottom line—back. In today’s rapidly shifting automotive market, traditional compensation structures based primarily on front-end gross are becoming increasingly disconnected from what salespeople can actually influence.
Stop Pressing 1-2-3: Why the Right Person Answering the Phone Can Transform Your Dealership In today’s automotive landscape, where digital touchpoints dominate the conversation, the humble phone call remains a surprisingly critical element in customer experience. Yet too often, dealerships rely on outdated phone trees and impersonal routing systems
After 20 years in automotive retail management, I've witnessed firsthand how technology transforms our industry—sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. The current AI explosion follows a familiar pattern we've seen with previous tech waves: rush to adopt, mixed implementation results, and eventual stabilization as best
As we dig deeper into the data behind used car performance, one truth keeps resurfacing: the dealerships that consistently outperform the market don’t just have better tools—they have better systems. And more importantly, they have cultures that understand how to balance structure with flexibility. In today’s highly