“Don’t Compete. Create.”

Are You Selling in a Blood-Red Sea or a Blue One?

In the early 2000s, professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne dropped a bombshell with their book Blue Ocean Strategy. The thesis? Stop fighting over a shrinking slice of a red ocean—churned by sharks fighting for the same customers—and go build a blue ocean, where competition is irrelevant because you created the space.

Sounds cute, right? But it’s dead serious.

buy the book here: https://a.co/d/dR7MsoW

Let’s face it: the dealership world is largely a red ocean. Everyone’s doing the same thing: same pricing tools, same incentive hooks, same “Why Buy From Us” pages. Even the "differentiators"—like VIP programs, car washes, or online checkout—are turning into industry wallpaper.

And here’s the scary part: If your dealership thinks it's different, but your customer can’t feel the difference in the first 60 seconds… you're probably just another fin in the water.

So let’s apply this to your dealership world. Not as theory. But as a blueprint.

Four Brutally Honest Questions:

1. What do we do because everyone else does it—but we don’t actually believe it adds value?
   Is it time to kill it?

2. What’s something our competitors would never dream of trying because they’re too scared, too proud, or too stuck in “the way it’s always been”?
   Is that your open lane?

3. What’s one thing our best customers rave about—but we’ve never doubled down on it because it doesn’t “scale” or doesn’t fit the CRM workflow?
   Is that your blue ocean?

4. If we could only sell cars to people who didn’t need to buy a car—how would we attract them anyway?
   Hint: That’s the customer of tomorrow.

_{Two Blue Ocean Podcast Nuggets}

 1. Acquired – “Costco” (April 2023)

Costco created a cult following not by offering better deals, but by reinventing what value felt like. Fewer choices. Low-margin loyalty. Scarcity as strategy.

Takeaway: Could your dealership shrink the menu to make buying feel smarter, not harder?

 2. Founders Podcast – “Sam Walton” (#311)

https://www.founderspodcast.com/episodes/311-sam-walton

Sam didn’t beat competitors at their game—he created a new one, aimed at rural customers ignored by others. His obsession? Serve them better than anyone else dared to.

Takeaway: What overlooked customer group could your dealership serve with irrational passion?

Dealer Action Points

 • Run a Subtraction Session: List everything you do today. Kill one thing that’s adding cost, but not creating love.

 • Host a “Customer Delight Hackathon” with your team. Spend one hour brainstorming ways to blow a customer’s mind with zero dollars.

 • Identify one fringe group—first-time buyers, weekend lake people, vintage SUV lovers—and build a no-brainer offer just for them.

(Tip: If it works, it’s your new ocean.)

Three Quotes to Swim By

“The only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition.”

– W. Chan Kim

“Playing in a new game is safer than competing in a crowded one.”

– Peter Thiel

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

– Henry Ford

The Weekly Car Stoic: March 31–April 6

Lesson: Courage in Creation

From April 3rd’s Daily Stoic reading: “Don’t be afraid to stand alone if it means standing for something right.” Marcus Aurelius, in his meditations, wrestled with the pull of the crowd. He reminded himself: “If it’s not right, don’t do it. If it’s not true, don’t say it.”

So here’s your dealership Stoic prompt:

Are you brave enough to lead your team into uncharted water—even if the crowd (and your 20 Group) says it’s foolish?

Your blue ocean won’t arrive with a conference badge or OEM program. It’ll show up when you stop copying and start creating.

See you out in the deep end.

– DealersLeaders