Dealers Leaders: What Would You Build If You Weren’t So Busy Maintaining What You’ve Got?

What Should Exist, but Doesn’t?

By: “Maddox Grayson,” NYT Bestselling Author of “Is Your Business Scared, or Sacred?”

Let’s say you just sold your store. You cashed out. Big number. Bigger than you expected. The ink is dry. The celebration was short. Because something’s nagging at you.

What if, instead of cashing out…

You had burned it down and started over?

What would you keep from your current operation?

Be honest.

What would you toss in the fire and never look back?

Would your current sales process make the cut in your imaginary next act?

Would your CRM entries look like they were written by a human or generated by a corporate ghost?

Would your BDC be staffed by people who actually want to help or just hit their outbound goals?

And about that Service Drive.

Would you design it to feel like a toll booth… or like a Tiffany store in Manhattan?

Would you keep those plastic chairs and burned coffee in the lounge, or would you treat people like they’re waiting for a flight in a first-class lounge?

These aren’t academic questions. Because while you may not be starting over, your customer is. Every. Single. Time.

Think Like a Startup or Die Like a Dinosaur

Here’s the truth: The startup across the street doesn’t have your overhead.

They don’t have your fixed ops profits.

They don’t have your legacy systems.

And that’s exactly why they’re dangerous.

They think from first principles.

You may think from “what we’ve always done.”

They ask: How would a customer buy a car today if they didn’t have to talk to a dealership at all?

You ask: How do we get them to fill out a form?

Let’s invert the question:

What would make you want to hand over your name, email, and phone number to a car dealership?

(Seriously. Think about it for 30 seconds. Then write down your honest answer.)

Now compare it to your current website.

Are you offering help, clarity, and control?

Or are you offering vague price ranges, long forms, and the promise of a follow-up call from someone they never asked for?

What Needs to Go? WHO needs to go?

Let’s just say it:

• The seven-layer handoff from BDC to sales to desk to finance?
  
  It’s a Rubik’s Cube that the customer didn’t ask to solve.
  

• The multi-point inspection no one explains but everyone’s charged for?
  
  That’s not transparency. That’s confusion.
  

• The free car wash after service that leaves tire dressing on the seats and a vacuum job that skips the back row?
  
  That’s not a perk. That’s a broken promise.
  

• “How’d you hear about us?” as the first question after walking in the door?
  
  That’s a you problem, not a them problem.
  

If you started today with zero customers and zero systems…

What would you rebuild?

Who would you hire?

What would your store feel like?

Sales and Service: One Customer, One Journey

What if your Service Drive didn’t feel like the back end of the business?

What if it was the heart?

What if your Sales Consultants spent time shadowing service advisors—and vice versa—so that every employee had a full picture of what the customer goes through?

What if the best upsell wasn’t in Finance, but in follow-through?

Imagine:

• A customer buys a car.
  

• Three days later, a welcome call comes—not from sales, but from the service manager.
  

• “We’ve pre-booked your first maintenance visit at your convenience, just as a courtesy.”
  

• Two weeks later, a branded email arrives. “Here are the top 3 tips from our lead technician to keep your vehicle running smooth this summer.”
  

• Then, a personalized check-in after six months: “How’s the ride treating you? Anything we can help with?”
  

No pitch. No pressure.

Just presence.

Your Website Isn’t a Brochure—It’s the Front Desk of a 5-Star Hotel

So why does it feel like a DMV?

Here’s your test:

If you were a mystery shopper on your own site, would you feel:

• Welcomed? (Clear options, warm language, no dead ends)
  

• In Control? (You know what happens when you click)
  

• Valued? (Your time and attention are respected)
  

• Safe? (No bait-and-switch pricing or pushy pop-ups)
  

• Guided? (A clear next step at every stage)
  

If you fail even one of those, your bounce rate is someone else’s revenue.

The Book That Doesn’t Exist (Yet)

There is no “Is Your Business Scared, or Sacred?” on bookstore shelves.

Not yet.

Because you are the author.

Every decision you make today—what to cut, what to keep, what to change—is the next page.

You’re writing it together. As a team. Or you’re just rereading yesterday’s playbook and hoping for different results.

Your Challenge This Week:

1. What three things would you eliminate from your current sales or service process if you had to start fresh tomorrow?
   

2. What three things would you keep at all costs?
   

3. What is one cross-department connection you can create this month that would make the customer journey smoother?

Let’s be clear: You don’t need a startup budget to think like a startup.

You just need the courage to question everything.

Until next week,

– The Editors of Dealers Leaders

(Featuring Maddox Grayson, who doesn’t exist… but the actions you take will.)