If your dealership is finding it challenging to get back to basics, your leadership team may want to strategically look back over the previous few years to better understand what worked, what did not work and how you can best leverage your leaders and their roles to plan for the future.

Leaders help set direction and drive results. They assemble teams and help remove barriers to success. They also mentor and coach teammates. Leaders can devise strategic roadmaps and can articulate a holistic view of the future that others may not be able to see.

The COVID-19 pandemic created many unique leadership challenges for dealerships. First, there was an immediate drop in car sales and, in turn, significant uncertainty. Then, depending on the marketplace, your dealership may have been considered an essential business and was open but not able to utilize showrooms. From an employee perspective, they may have had those concerns about getting themselves or someone close to them sick, faced difficult decisions on staffing, and struggled to get people to return to work.

As the landscape of the pandemic began to improve, expenses were driven down by low inventories, reduced employee headcount, low to no advertising costs and very low interest rates. Consumers began to spend stimulus money. Grosses increased, the industry saw incredible turn rates, F&I and Service numbers skyrocketed, and turnover went down. The outlook for dealerships improved.

However, the market has once again begun to shift. Interest rates are up, and F&I grosses, while still at a good rate, are down from their highs. Consumers are going back to their old shopping behaviors. In dealerships across America, managers are talking about getting back to basics, focusing on tactics that may have stopped during the pandemic and immediately after due to the change in the marketplace. These basics include doing walk arounds, test drives, inspecting the car when it’s delivered and phone work. While none of us could have predicted living through a global pandemic, leaders should have been able to anticipate the leveling off from this rebound at some point.

How can you help your dealership get back to basics? Part of being a leader is to look around corners and anticipate what may come next. Look into the future and develop a strategic plan to respond to the inevitable shifts in the market. Create a playbook that outlines the baseline activities that drive your business but leaves room for flexibility should the unexpected occur. Identify accountability measures to help ensure that you have insights into your performance that will help prepare your dealership for the future.