Digital Dealer - June 2018 - 12

By Champ Rawls
Associate Planner,
The Rawls Group

// Ownership

Innovate & Adapt
Where we were, is
not where we are
now, and not where we
are going. Due to the
demand from the public to
look better, be faster, and
charge less; along with
the pressure of consolidation, the auto business is
a completely different
environment than what
we have encountered in
the past. Dealerships
today are multifaceted,
high-velocity, high-capital,
low-margin organizations
that are both emotionally
and financially demanding. Gone are the days of
"mom-and-pop" running
the store in their local
community. Today,
day-to-day operations
require highly motivated,

12

JUNE 2018

talented employees who
are sought after by
competitors and other
opportunities. The
competitive pressures of
manufacturers and the
advent of technology
have converted a
low-investment and
forgiving business into a
highly competitive,
capital-intensive business
with little room for error.
Historically, the car
business has provided
immense opportunity to
dealers with career opportunities for both the immediate and extended family.
Although the changing
environment creates demands for finding the right
people or increasing net
worth, if you can adapt to

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

change, the business can
continue to create exciting
opportunities along with
impressive financial
rewards.
However, any endeavor of significant
value, such as innovation and planning for the
continuation of success,
deals with changes that
will challenge you, your
successors, and key managers. The move from a
mainly "mom-and-pop"
environment to 'bigger
business' makes us ask
the question, can you predict where the industry is
going? Will autonomous
cars drive you out of
business? Will the sales
process become automated? Will corporates con-

tinue consolidation? Will
the advent of online sales
make the brick-and-mortar dealership obsolete?
This is just a short list of
the many unknowns, as
you know, aggressive
tech entrepreneurs and
their innovations are
changing the landscape
of not only how dealers
sell, but how to operate
day to day.
Furthermore, because
we know the industry is
changing at a rapid pace,
what do we need to be
teaching our successors?
Is it vital they learn the
various departments
or is it more important
for them to be focusing
on what changes could
impact your current
model and seek innovative ways to help your
business adapt? Will desk
managers be relevant?
What will the role of F&I
managers become in five
to 10 years as technology
improves and margins
decrease? How should
we structure our facilities
if more sales are happening online? Should we
structure our teams and
compensation models
differently?
The question becomes, is teaching the
ways of the past more
important than instilling
the creativity needed to
innovate and adapt to the
challenges of the future?
As you determine which
is more important, you
must be willing to address
the fact that change is
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - June 2018
