Latest / Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers / Ep.77 - Leadership Under Pressure: Making Decisions Without Perfect Information

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Ep.77 - Leadership Under Pressure: Making Decisions Without Perfect Information · Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like whether it's a new idea, a process, what goal, if you don't have buy-in from people, you have nothing.
0:09
SPEAKER_00: And it's guaranteed to fail.
0:11
SPEAKER_04: Success rate is so low.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: So lower buy-in.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: And how many people do we know around us that go and sign up for something and then put it on somebody's desk and says, hey, interesting.
0:19
SPEAKER_04: That's the majority of people, which makes it fun that we can be the opposite.
0:23
SPEAKER_04: Because it makes winning so much easier.
0:26
SPEAKER_04: Hey everyone, welcome to Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers, where we aim to share real stories about running a successful family business while working through adversity and pouring back into our community that keeps our doors open every single day.
0:40
SPEAKER_04: We're your hosts, Shelby, Matt, and Taylor, and we'll be bringing you real relevant local business advice, maybe some automotive insights that are sure to change the way you look at running a business or buying a car.
0:52
SPEAKER_04: And maybe even throw in a plug for you to do business with us here locally.
0:56
SPEAKER_04: Welcome back, episode 77, Crossroad Conversations with the Lewis Brothers.
1:00
SPEAKER_04: We're your host, Matt Shelby and Taylor, trying to bring the most relevant, the exciting, the most fun, or the most uncomfortable things that sometimes people never want to talk about.
1:08
SPEAKER_04: Today we're talking about leadership under pressure, making decisions without perfect information.
1:13
SPEAKER_04: That's funny talking about last week we talked about documentation.
1:17
SPEAKER_04: So we're going to fully break that down.
1:18
SPEAKER_04: Growth requires decisions for velocity.
1:21
SPEAKER_04: Indecisions is still a decision, and the cost of waiting can be bigger than the cost of being wrong.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so good.
1:30
SPEAKER_04: So keep that in mind.
1:30
SPEAKER_04: As always, visit us at LewisSupershore.com, Crossroad Conversations Podcast.com.
1:35
SPEAKER_04: Make sure you like, subscribe, and follow.
1:36
SPEAKER_04: Whether it be on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or however you get your podcasts, uh, Spotify, you can watch it so you can see us or you can listen to it.
1:46
SPEAKER_04: Uh, but if you'll subscribe to that every Thursday at 10 a.m., we're gonna drop that new episode.
1:51
SPEAKER_04: So we're talking about decisions that stress most leaders out.
1:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: All right, so this week, what's in the garage?
1:57
SPEAKER_00: Hey, the Grand Cherokee, which has been a top-selling SUV.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: For this year, they've added the 2.0 turbo.
2:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: That's a big deal because you get the power and you get the turbo that we've seen in a whole lot of other vehicles.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: 320 horsepower.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: You get the eight-speed transmission, and then you get all the renowned stuff that the Grand Cherokee gives you access to.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: And that's great.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: Reliability, off-road capability, and then room for the entire family.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: So those things are just hitting the lot.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: Make sure to come see them.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: We got a great selection on both the two and the three-row in the Grand Cherokee.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: You will love that 2.0 turbo once you drive it.
2:35
SPEAKER_04: All right, that's our car of the day, Grand Cherokee.
2:37
SPEAKER_04: All right, today we're talking about decisions that stress leaders out the most.
2:41
SPEAKER_04: What type of decision stresses you out the most?
2:43
SPEAKER_04: Whether it be people, money, reputation growth?
2:46
SPEAKER_02: Don't dive into that.
2:48
SPEAKER_02: Of reputation's got to be, and I that's probably high on all of our dealers.
2:52
SPEAKER_02: High on the biting list?
2:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it is.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, obviously the other aspects there, but reputation is just like we care a whole lot about because that's what we are and what we've been a part of for 80 years and what's really helped build us.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: We've had to learn to callous ourselves a little bit on that because a little bit?
3:12
SPEAKER_04: You mean a lot of it?
3:13
SPEAKER_04: A lot of it.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: I know.
3:14
SPEAKER_02: Because there's people that would the majority of people that burn us, yell at us, do everything else now, they would burn their grandmother tomorrow, like online on social media, not physically, obviously, of going through.
3:29
SPEAKER_02: But they would be able to turn around and say, hey, I love grandma, and the next day they're gonna be talking bad about grandma online.
3:36
SPEAKER_04: So let's let's break this down, right?
3:38
SPEAKER_04: In no other way are we gonna break this down.
3:40
SPEAKER_04: Matt's over here still with his political face on.
3:43
SPEAKER_04: We're gonna break this.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: I'll get her an unload, but you're good.
3:46
SPEAKER_04: So and he'll go over why this is silly or stupid, but reputation is so important.
3:53
SPEAKER_04: And what I think, why it's so important, it's our name and it's what we've been doing for 80 years.
3:58
SPEAKER_04: But even more important that's becoming my scope, we represent the ability for 275 employees to provide for their family every single day.
4:11
SPEAKER_04: And so when people were so quick, trigger happy, we had a customer the other day that bought a used car from us, the manufacturer warranty had expired.
4:22
SPEAKER_04: Completely gone.
4:23
SPEAKER_04: We offered a very basic and limited powertrain warranty, which they've almost completely expired.
4:30
SPEAKER_04: They had the opportunity to buy an extended warranty from us that would cover bumper to bumper, and they declined of that.
4:38
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
4:38
SPEAKER_04: So then they come in and we've looked at their car multiple times.
4:42
SPEAKER_04: They didn't have time for us to look deeper into this car.
4:45
SPEAKER_04: Uh and so they come in and expect of their used car that is outside of a manufacturer warranty to have a loaner car so they could continue on with what they're doing.
4:57
SPEAKER_04: And I won't go into this part because I'm gonna let Matt go into this, but uh then so wires got crossed and they had an expectation that they were entitled to a loaner car.
5:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
5:09
SPEAKER_04: There's not a warranty paying for it, we're not paying for it.
5:13
SPEAKER_04: It's it's nowhere is it written that they get a loan or car.
5:16
SPEAKER_04: And yes, or is it an unfortunate situation that there's an issue with their car?
5:20
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, but we've tried to address it multiple times, couldn't get them back in.
5:23
SPEAKER_04: So they just show up on a whim, expect a car, then they call their significant other and say, Hey, I'm here, they won't give me a loan or car.
5:33
SPEAKER_04: And so they said, I got this, and so they post it and tag everyone they know on Facebook.
5:38
SPEAKER_04: And it's this is the worst place ever.
5:41
SPEAKER_04: These people should not be in business, and they go like the worst, like the worst, like we just slaughtered 300 people and hung them from poles out front.
5:53
SPEAKER_04: They don't say that, but they're saying all these things, and so then they're tagging people.
5:57
SPEAKER_04: So then all these other trolls show up, yeah, and they're like, oh yeah, this is the worst.
6:02
SPEAKER_04: You should check out my friend over here at Beautymart.
6:05
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, there is no rel what are you talking about?
6:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:08
SPEAKER_04: And so then it gets just so bad.
6:10
SPEAKER_04: And so the customer's sitting here, their wife is doing who knows what, and they're posting and burning, just burning, tagging all these people that have nothing to do with it.
6:21
SPEAKER_04: And so then I'm talking to the salesperson, I'm like, hey, what's going on?
6:26
SPEAKER_04: I'm trying to gather facts.
6:27
SPEAKER_04: Sure, sure.
6:28
SPEAKER_04: Because we're we will not go online and rebuttal this because it's a conversation that you can never win.
6:34
SPEAKER_04: Now we want to take care of every single customer.
6:36
SPEAKER_04: And facts, we do.
6:39
SPEAKER_04: We always do.
6:40
SPEAKER_04: We did yesterday, we will tomorrow, and we have for 80 years.
6:44
SPEAKER_04: If it's right and we said we're gonna do it, we always do it.
6:47
SPEAKER_04: Like one guy was like, tried to tag me, Matt, and Taylor.
6:50
SPEAKER_04: He's like, these guys never own up to what they say they're gonna do.
6:54
SPEAKER_04: They are a joke of customer of employers, and I was like, you know, just enraged.
7:00
SPEAKER_04: And then I was like, no, delete Facebook, right?
7:04
SPEAKER_04: Delete Instagram, like, no, we I can sleep well at night knowing that we did exactly what we said we're gonna do.
7:11
SPEAKER_04: And so then the customer was here, the husband was here talking to the salesperson, and he's like, Man, I love you guys, you always take care of me.
7:18
SPEAKER_04: That's what I heard this morning.
7:20
SPEAKER_04: I love you guys, you always take care of me.
7:21
SPEAKER_04: And then the salesperson was like, Well, what's this?
7:24
SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
7:25
SPEAKER_04: It's like, that's my wife.
7:26
SPEAKER_04: Sometimes she like flies off the handle.
7:28
SPEAKER_04: It's like, well, do you need assistance?
7:31
SPEAKER_04: No one is offering assistance, right?
7:33
SPEAKER_04: The manufacturer's not, the warranty company's not.
7:36
SPEAKER_04: It's not anything that they're entitled to, but we're happy to look to see if we can go above and beyond.
7:41
SPEAKER_04: And he's like, No, it's fine, I'll figure it out.
7:43
SPEAKER_04: It's like, well, can you tell your significant other that the that the building is not on fire?
7:50
SPEAKER_04: And so does this hop happen often?
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Fortunately, it doesn't happen often.
7:55
SPEAKER_00: But when it does happen, it becomes a big deal.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: And and there there's a couple things as I have dissected this like I have many times, because it does trust me out because we do care.
8:06
unknown: Yeah.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Now now we've gotten a whole lot thicker skin because we have a life and we have our health to worry about.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, like let me just be really honest.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: But as we have pushed in marketing to make a bigger slap splash and connect with people socially.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay, on all those.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Because that's where people are at.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: That's where people are at.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: It's no different than you take a politician, you take an actor, you take a famous person or this or that, they deal with this.
8:36
SPEAKER_04: Oh, no doubt.
8:36
SPEAKER_04: We're not alone.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you if you want all the rest of the exposure, you get the other babas, you know, that are on the other side of it.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: And and how do you deal with it correctly?
8:47
SPEAKER_00: And I I was thinking this as I was internally going through it all, and I'm just gonna rapid fire through this because we don't have a ton of time.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: But when I thought about every other industry, and I thought about if your fridge goes out tomorrow, they don't bring your replacement fridge.
9:01
SPEAKER_04: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
9:01
SPEAKER_04: Well, you're right.
9:02
SPEAKER_04: So your statement was whoever created this loner car policy needs to be kicked in the teeth.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: That's what I said.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: Because I was like, somebody was trying to be creative with coming up with a loner car to try to have a competitive advantage, and they've created a monster.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
9:20
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
9:20
SPEAKER_04: So then go through.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: Because as I'm going through, even if you bought a brand new fridge yesterday, and it comes with a manufacturer warranty.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: And it comes with a manufacturer warranty.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: They'll schedule a technician to come out in a week.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: I laugh about that because I got home last time and my fridge was broken.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: I was like, And they didn't give you a loner?
9:35
SPEAKER_04: No.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: Not only did they not give him a loaner, they didn't reimburse him for his fool food that's spoiled.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Let's keep going here.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: If your electricity goes out, the electric company doesn't bring you a generator.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: Never have that.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: If your internet goes out, they don't bring you a Starlink or a hotspot.
9:50
SPEAKER_03: Never have that.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: If if your lawnmower goes out, you've got to schedule it and get it done.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: They're not paying for your yard to be mowed.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: They're not bringing you a replacement.
9:59
SPEAKER_04: What if your flight gets canceled because of weather and you have to stay the night?
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Not only do they not pay for your hotel because they point it to based upon weather, okay, they don't get you, they don't reimburse you.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: The list can go on.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not complaining, this is reality.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: There is not another industry out there that gives you a loaner vehicle.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
10:20
SPEAKER_04: Because it's a reminder, we don't build the cars, right?
10:22
SPEAKER_04: And we pick this and we're super ex happy to be a part of it.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: We are.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: And not only do we not build the cars, we're at the connection.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: And we want to fix it, contrary to beliefs.
10:34
SPEAKER_04: So if they feel like it's a brand new car, it has a consistent issue, and it's a liminol buyback.
10:38
SPEAKER_04: Do you want to do a liminol buyback?
10:40
SPEAKER_00: I want to fix it for the customer and find them a solution because if not, we get jack squashed.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: They don't.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: In fact, in fact, our company overall has an expense in excess of$25,000 per month and loaner charges that nobody pays for.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: And so and I could go on and on, but it that that's the short version.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, we give loaners, we have the expense when they qualify.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: When they qualify.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: When they qualify.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: And all we get out of it, and I know there's some people that are that are grateful, but all we get out of it, it all these people that complain, not only do they complain when they don't get a one, or you know what else they complain about?
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I brought a grand wagone ear in, you gave me a grand Cherokee.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: I brought a 250 platinum and you gave me a 250 XLT.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: I got a flatbed and you gave me a pickup.
11:37
SPEAKER_04: I need to tow my skids straight up.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, What when do you need to move your camper?
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, in July we got a trip.
11:42
SPEAKER_00: Well, sir, it's February.
11:45
SPEAKER_04: So those are all things we were we were working through.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: We kind of deep dove.
11:49
SPEAKER_04: We were making sure that we were right.
11:51
SPEAKER_04: We were.
11:52
SPEAKER_04: Are we right?
11:52
SPEAKER_04: And I don't mean are we right, do we feel good, but have we done the right thing?
11:56
SPEAKER_04: Have we offered the customer the correct service?
11:58
SPEAKER_04: Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you what I kind of identified that I went over with the guys and y'all did the same this morning is the one thing that we have to make sure of is that we all have each other's back in this business.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: That parts has services back, service has sales back, sales has F and I, F and I's got fingers.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Because as soon as you give one of these banny roosters an inch, they'll take a mile.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: So as soon as service says, Let me check with sales, they think they're gonna cover it.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: And as soon as somebody in service says, Let me check and see if I can get you a loaner, which is accurate, they think I'm getting a loaner.
12:34
SPEAKER_04: But those words are can be so vicious.
12:37
SPEAKER_04: So I guess let me wrap this a little apart so a customer can say, What the heck?
12:42
SPEAKER_04: You know, like all I would say is before you go burn somebody online, get the facts, don't uh reflect with your emotion and think you're not affecting us three.
12:56
SPEAKER_04: Like our our skin is so thick, and and you are, right?
12:59
SPEAKER_04: But and we care and and we figure it out and try not to take it home.
13:03
SPEAKER_04: You're affecting 275 because someone was like, Well, my my so-and-so is a shop manager.
13:09
SPEAKER_04: You're affecting him.
13:10
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
13:11
SPEAKER_04: When you bash that, you're affecting him.
13:12
SPEAKER_04: They might not get another customer to come in to be able to work on their car or to sell them a car, and so then they can't buy food for their family because you went on a whim.
13:24
SPEAKER_04: So just be mindful before you go just whack somebody.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: I would give the same advice that if on this podcast we were talking about how to deal with an employee, you would sit down with them one-on-one and bring it to their attention.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: The three of us are in the store every single day.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: If you truly have a concern or a service director, come sit down and talk to us.
13:45
SPEAKER_04: Most importantly.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Come sit down and talk to us.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: So I I guess to to wrap that up, we went on a little bit of a heater there.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: But is what does stress us out is the reputation, not just because of us, but because we care about our 270 employees.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: We care that they have pride where they work and what they do.
14:13
SPEAKER_02: You hit the you hit the nail on the head there that it's you can sleep at night.
14:18
SPEAKER_02: I want them to wear stuff, and then I want them, even in an industry that traditionally has a bad rep, and they do well more than any other industry, we just went over that.
14:31
SPEAKER_02: I want them to be able to say, I work at Lewis.
14:33
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
14:34
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, they're proud of it.
14:35
SPEAKER_04: You know, and so we were we were flying all day yesterday when this was happening, and we were working, we were at the auction, da-da-da.
14:43
SPEAKER_04: And uh it's like, team handle it.
14:45
SPEAKER_04: Like, team handle it.
14:46
SPEAKER_04: And it's not because we didn't want to deal with it, it's because they knew the facts, right?
14:49
SPEAKER_04: But then when we were getting on an airplane, uh a guy stopped Matt and was like, Hey, you work at Lewis?
14:54
SPEAKER_04: And Matt was like, Yeah, he's like, I'm Matt.
14:56
SPEAKER_04: You know, it didn't have the ego and this and this.
14:58
SPEAKER_04: He's like, I'm Matt, what was your name?
15:00
SPEAKER_04: And uh he's like, Oh, so and so.
15:02
SPEAKER_04: He's like, Hey, I just want to let you know I use your service department all the time and I love the guys.
15:06
SPEAKER_04: I was like, Thank you, Jesus, for 99 percent of the people.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: I I I said that and I'll I'll go I want to recap that for everybody listening, going, oh my gosh, what are these guys talking about?
15:16
SPEAKER_04: So we're just talking about the one percent.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: So we are I I'm gonna give you a 30-second recap here.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: On our on our day off that we're supposed to be with our families, we've gone, flown to the auction, worked the entire day, worked the entire night before to put our run list together, given up time with everybody so that our employees would have stuff to sell.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: We're dealing with this on the other side.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: We're just coming off of a January, okay, where we were down for a month.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: So you know what that did for profit or not.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: All right.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: And all these things are piling up in my mind, and then we've got this banny rooster.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, what are we doing with all this load and all this stress and whatever to show for it?
16:01
SPEAKER_00: And and this person is just slaying us online that has nothing to do with it.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: And God's hand steps in, yeah, and the guy on the plane at 8 45 at night, when I don't want to talk to a soul, is like, hey, yeah, I don't know you from Adam, but I just want to tell you y'all do an amazing job.
16:18
SPEAKER_04: I just laugh.
16:19
SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
16:20
SPEAKER_04: Yes.
16:21
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be all right.
16:22
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, right?
16:23
SPEAKER_04: There's 6,000 reviews that say, hey, this place is great.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: But you just gotta be it's no different than we talked about with employees.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: You gotta be reminded.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: You do.
16:33
SPEAKER_04: So, like, don't let the the one bad apple affect the whole batch.
16:38
SPEAKER_04: Right?
16:38
SPEAKER_04: So that that's super, super important there.
16:41
SPEAKER_04: All right.
16:44
SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna end my segment there.
16:45
SPEAKER_04: Quick answers only.
16:46
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
16:46
SPEAKER_04: A key employee threatens to quit mid-season.
16:49
SPEAKER_04: What do you do?
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Well, you first have a coaching session with them.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: First have a coaching session with them.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Figure out what's going on.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Just like we say anything, you sit down, you ask questions, and you listen.
16:59
SPEAKER_04: Uh Taylor, a customer's issue goes public.
17:01
SPEAKER_04: What do you do?
17:02
SPEAKER_02: You gotta address and get the facts.
17:04
SPEAKER_02: And you gotta get the facts.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: Don't necessarily respond.
17:07
SPEAKER_04: Do not respond.
17:08
SPEAKER_04: You will never win publicly.
17:09
SPEAKER_04: Now you can say, hey, message sent.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: That's the acknowledging.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: You do have to acknowledge it because everybody's trying to see if you're engaging, but you don't air it.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: Take it off the book.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: Don't do it.
17:19
SPEAKER_04: You can't tell them that they're 400 credits by score and they've never paid anybody.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: Whenever you do that, nothing else will happen for you.
17:27
SPEAKER_04: Uh a new partnership feels like exciting but unclear.
17:30
SPEAKER_04: Slow play it.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: Put them on ice.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Put them on ice.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: Because if it's going to be great today and it's really great, it'll still be great tomorrow.
17:38
SPEAKER_02: Stu.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: Love it.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: All right, Taylor, where are we going?
17:40
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
17:41
SPEAKER_02: How to decide without perfect data.
17:42
SPEAKER_02: So let's say you're rolling into any of this stuff, this happens, and you don't necessarily have all the data you need to make a decision.
17:50
SPEAKER_02: What is your decision filter if you don't have the complete data?
17:53
SPEAKER_00: You have a group of mentors that you talk to.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: If there is a lack of data and they can't provide it, you have to have some people that are trusted sources that will tell you yay or nay.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: The second part of that is you call references who have done business with them.
18:11
SPEAKER_04: You know why the first part and the second part, but the first part is so important?
18:14
SPEAKER_04: Is because that person that you call, one, they don't have a dog and fight, two, they have no emotional connection to it.
18:22
SPEAKER_04: Because more than often, you've gotten sold a sales pitch, and this is gonna save you time and make you more money and make people more efficient, reduce downtime, and get people here on time.
18:33
SPEAKER_04: You call this and like, hey, have you ever used X software?
18:35
SPEAKER_04: Have you ever used this person?
18:37
SPEAKER_04: What's your thoughts and feelings?
18:39
SPEAKER_04: They will give you an unbiased, unemotionally charged feeling about that.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: I want to give you an example of this because it just happened.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and and I've being older, I've been in the business longer, just by time.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: I've bid a lot of vehicles and we are going to buy vehicles the other night, and I told Shelby we were in our hotel room, I said, text Taylor and get him over here.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: It's 11 o'clock at night.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: We'd already worked all day, we're still in our work clothes, we'd barely eaten.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: I said, Tell him to bring his laptop and get him in here.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: Because I am getting into an area that I don't have perfect data on to make decisions for tomorrow.
19:15
SPEAKER_04: And Taylor had really good insight.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to make bad decisions.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're so the three of us would talk about that.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: And we would sit there, egos aside, and talk about should we buy this?
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Is this good?
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Is this bad?
19:30
SPEAKER_00: What about that motor?
19:32
SPEAKER_04: But but you're the owner of the business.
19:34
SPEAKER_04: You can do whatever you want.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: You empower others and collect the information.
19:40
SPEAKER_04: Set your ego aside.
19:41
SPEAKER_04: And I was in the tool, and some of these tools we hadn't used in a minute, and I was like, hey, check this spread out.
19:47
SPEAKER_04: Right?
19:48
SPEAKER_04: And if I was by myself and I was just making a decision, and I was like, no, no, no, you need the old app, you need to do this.
19:53
SPEAKER_04: I was like, you can see a spread.
19:55
SPEAKER_04: I was like, forget what the vehicle is, look and see what you pay for it versus what the market says.
19:59
SPEAKER_04: Because a lot of these vehicles, what you had to pay for versus what you should sell it for was less than a thousand dollars.
20:05
SPEAKER_04: And I was like, a thousand dollars are gonna be gone before it even leaves here.
20:09
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
20:10
SPEAKER_04: But you learn that by talking to others.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so what happened there is the three of us are sitting in there, we're all using the same tools, and Shelby's like, hey, you need to look at this spread.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, dang, I hadn't looked at that.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: Boom, I pulled it up, we're all talking about it.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: We get finished, and I'm like, hey, Shelby, you need to sort it by this.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: So it's in order.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, What?
20:26
SPEAKER_00: So you don't even that, and it's like all egos aside.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: And then Taylor's like, hey, you need to do this.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: And then three of us together have a more robust decision-making process.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:37
SPEAKER_04: So without perfect data, get around some people.
20:39
SPEAKER_04: Even if you do have perfect data, still get around some people and uh bounce those ideas off.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: Of diving and rolling into there.
20:48
SPEAKER_02: So we talked about not having the perfect data, using your filter, and trust in numbers versus gut.
20:56
SPEAKER_02: You know, we always kind of talk about that, but on the fly, a lot of times, which one of those would you go to?
21:03
SPEAKER_00: I would go to the numbers.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: When the numbers become gray, or if it becomes this or that, that's when I rely on my gut or somebody else's with experience.
21:13
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, because it like you can't just drive data without having a gut feeling.
21:17
SPEAKER_04: So you're gonna stick with the numbers to give you that direction, and then when they become gray, your gut's gonna be like, hmm.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, hang on.
21:24
SPEAKER_02: Something's off here.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: Is there a minimum amount of info that y'all need to have before reacting, before acting, before moving forward?
21:34
SPEAKER_00: It all depends upon what it is.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: But if it's if it's something where we're making a decision on a system or a bid or this or that, I need at least two.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: I need at least two.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
21:45
SPEAKER_00: And I only want three.
21:46
SPEAKER_04: You know, and that's like if you're signing up for a new software, you're solving a problem, that's one of the things I say.
21:51
SPEAKER_04: Hey, you need to at least have shop two or three references.
21:54
SPEAKER_04: So you know, of this system does this, give me two others or three others that do that.
21:59
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
22:00
SPEAKER_04: Who's the best at it, who's the cheapest at it, and who's the best value?
22:03
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
22:03
SPEAKER_04: Right.
22:04
SPEAKER_04: And so then that helps.
22:05
SPEAKER_04: So two or three, you know, are gonna give you that idea.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell I'll tell you this, I'm gonna try to tell the story quick, but I think it's important here just because about your morals, is we're going through something with our construction company the other day and there was an issue and we needed a credit back.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: And they say, Hey, will you accept a$5,500 credit back for it?
22:23
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I I don't know.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, What do you mean you don't know?
22:26
SPEAKER_00: How much do you want?
22:27
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I don't have the information there.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: They thought that I was asking for the information to try to get more out of them.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: And it might be that the information comes back that it should just be$4,000.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: And if it's$4,000, I can promise you that if somebody that's gonna be laughing on the other side saying, well, Matt should have said yes to$5,500 the other day.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: That wasn't the right thing.
22:46
SPEAKER_04: It wasn't honest.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't honest.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: And at some point in time, if it ends up being$4,000, I'm gonna tell them to do it for$4,000, not for$5,500.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: Because that's the right thing and that's the data.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: Because I know in the end it'll all play out.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
22:59
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
23:00
SPEAKER_02: And that's I I love that kind of rolls into if your process builds confidence, and then confidence builds buy-in.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: So whenever that happens and that situation, whenever you're like, whoa, no, let's research that a little bit, that really tenfold then goes over to people that you're working with of the process that is building your overall confidence there.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because then everybody in the room hears that and they see that's the expectations we've communicated.
23:27
SPEAKER_00: And then they have, like you said, confidence in it.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: Because then in when we come into a meeting, we say this, they're like, no, let me tell you what happens behind the scenes.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: I'm confident that's Yeah, and then there's no question.
23:37
SPEAKER_02: There's no question, and you move forward there.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: Hey, Mythbuster time.
23:41
SPEAKER_02: Strong leaders always know the right answer.
23:45
SPEAKER_02: We talk about this time and time again.
23:47
SPEAKER_04: That's that's false.
23:48
SPEAKER_04: Just because you're strong there doesn't mean you know the answer.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: I think we just talked about that, even on buying vehicles.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
23:54
SPEAKER_04: It means that you're committed to the process of getting to the right answer.
23:58
SPEAKER_04: Aaron Powell That's correct.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: Right?
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Even if it comes from somebody else.
24:02
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
24:03
SPEAKER_04: You're committing to the process or you're committing to the game plan to say, I want to be the best, but I'm gonna have to re-earn it today.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
24:09
SPEAKER_04: Right?
24:10
SPEAKER_04: It doesn't mean you always know the right answer.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: So next we're we're talking about communicating decisions so people buy in.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: And I love this because I feel like whether it's a new idea, a process, what goal, if you don't have buy-in from people, you have nothing.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: And it's guaranteed to fail.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
24:29
SPEAKER_04: Success rate is so low.
24:31
SPEAKER_04: So lower buy-in.
24:32
SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus, and how many people do we know around us that go and sign up for something and then put it on somebody's desk and says, hey, interesting.
24:38
SPEAKER_04: That's the majority of people, which makes it fun that we can be the opposite.
24:41
SPEAKER_04: Because it makes winning so much easier.
24:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: And that that kind of rolls in.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: I would ask the question about like, why do good decisions fail?
24:48
SPEAKER_00: Because you don't carry it out.
24:50
SPEAKER_04: You hand it off.
24:51
SPEAKER_04: Trevor Burrus, Jr.: And we talk about that, and one you become your team gets wider and the idea gets bigger, right?
24:59
SPEAKER_04: So even if I'm dead set on something, system, a process, a person, a procedure, anything from two cents all the way to$20 million, I'm like, hey, look at this real quick, give me thoughts or feelings.
25:11
SPEAKER_04: I Taylor, look at this real quick, give me thoughts and feelings.
25:13
SPEAKER_04: Now, if you don't get back with me, and I've sent it back over, then I'm gonna go ahead and make that decision.
25:18
SPEAKER_04: It's like, oh no, remember I sent that to you.
25:20
SPEAKER_04: But then we're gonna talk about it and say, hey, do you have any questions?
25:22
SPEAKER_04: Do you have any thoughts and feelings?
25:24
SPEAKER_04: It's like this and this, did you vet this?
25:25
SPEAKER_04: I'm like, yep, lowest price, best availability, shortest term, da-da-da-da.
25:29
SPEAKER_04: Like, okay, so then when there's a problem, it's our problem.
25:32
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
25:32
SPEAKER_04: And we work on it together to fix it.
25:34
SPEAKER_04: Otherwise, like, Shelby, what the heck, dude?
25:36
SPEAKER_04: You signed up for this thing, it's not working.
25:37
SPEAKER_04: It's like, I know, I gotta figure this out, right?
25:41
SPEAKER_00: You know, and and then how do you communicate the why so clearly?
25:46
SPEAKER_04: I think you ask questions and you have the people that you want to be involved ask the questions.
25:51
SPEAKER_04: And so whoever's giving the presentation or whoever's ever getting presented to you, you give them clarity of like, hey, I need your help getting the team's buy-in, and you say, Team, hey, I need your help making sure this is the right.
26:03
SPEAKER_04: So you tee them both up for the same idea.
26:06
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
26:06
SPEAKER_04: And then they they define the why.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: I tell people that are trying to sell us stuff, and I know we're on a systems kick right now, but I say, I'm very easy to sell because I tell you exactly what I'm gonna be sold on and what my issues are.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Now you got to do the rest of it.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: You know, but you're not gonna have to worry about like what do you need to address, because I'm gonna lay it out there for you.
26:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
26:27
SPEAKER_02: That why, there's two things on that I love including your team on.
26:31
SPEAKER_02: They're gonna think, they're gonna catch things that you won't necessarily catch.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: That's why you have them on there.
26:36
SPEAKER_02: But then the two things I love from them, they are gonna get buy-in whenever they're in the process of going through, but then they're also gonna have a sense of pride of, hey, Shelby wanted me to look at this.
26:48
SPEAKER_02: Hey, Matt wanted me to look at this, so I'm gonna really dive into it.
26:52
SPEAKER_02: And when I do like it, it's gonna work that much better.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay, a couple of the questions here.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: How do you include people without creating a democracy?
27:01
SPEAKER_04: Well, you have to realize who you include.
27:04
SPEAKER_04: That's true.
27:05
SPEAKER_04: We've talked about the right rooms of people, right?
27:07
SPEAKER_04: There's certain people you cannot include.
27:09
SPEAKER_04: They're just kind of the enforcers or they're the doers.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: And that's not by position code.
27:14
SPEAKER_04: No, no, no.
27:14
SPEAKER_04: That's by their personality and how they handle opportunity.
27:17
SPEAKER_04: No.
27:18
SPEAKER_04: Right?
27:18
SPEAKER_04: And then there's some people that you just don't, and there's some people that you do.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I would agree with that.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh next up is transparency without overexplaining.
27:29
SPEAKER_04: You know, I um transparency is so important.
27:33
SPEAKER_04: Sometimes I like telling stories because it's real and people listen, and it's how I teach.
27:37
SPEAKER_04: But often, more often than not, I go too long, and so I have to be careful there uh of not going too far.
27:43
SPEAKER_04: But I think it's okay to be a little bit over without completely over speaking.
27:47
SPEAKER_04: But if you overspoke a little bit but you still had transparency, you've done better than not at all.
27:52
SPEAKER_04: But you need to not get long-winded so that you completely lose out on the pal that I have.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: I think I've to to me, the North Star there has to be when you're going over and explaining it, relevance to who you're talking to and not you.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: You're the one that put it together and you could go way deep in.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: You have to keep it to what they need to see, recognize and what they could deal with.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: And read the crowd.
28:18
SPEAKER_02: And I think sometimes it's okay to lead off whenever, no different than whenever you're leading to a training meeting and you tell them what you're gonna go over.
28:24
SPEAKER_02: Whenever somebody sat down, hey, I'm gonna tell you this because this is what you need to know.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
28:29
SPEAKER_02: And we'll get into anything else in the future.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: We'll get into deeper in the future.
28:34
SPEAKER_02: So let them know we're gonna go over this today, and this is what I want you to do.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: All three of us have this training outline when we're talking about is we might have six things.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: We read the room and the feedback, and we may spend 75% of the time on item two and three and brush through the rest of it.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: Because we've read on what they're accepting, what they actually need from us.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: It's never that all 10 things get equal 10 percent.
29:02
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's that is uh really, really good at all.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: And then consistency and mess messaging.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: You know, whatever we talk about, and that's no different than when the three of us talk about a product or a process, that we're all on the same page, so the consistency coming out of our mouth is the same with all employees.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
29:22
SPEAKER_00: And then we get the buy-in from our key leaders, so together consistency, we're all beating to the same drum.
29:30
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and it's how you get a good process, and uh, it's how you get your money's worth, and it's how something actually has the opportunity to succeed.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: That's that that's so good.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: Okay, what's one decision you need to make soon and what's the right the next right step?
29:48
SPEAKER_04: Really getting deeper.
29:50
SPEAKER_04: One decision you need to make soon.
29:52
SPEAKER_04: Uh what's next, right?
29:53
SPEAKER_04: You know, this that's the decision that we get to make is what's next?
29:56
SPEAKER_04: You know, what's what's the next step in Lewis Automotive?
29:59
SPEAKER_04: And is it is it uh a new angle and opportunity?
30:02
SPEAKER_04: You know, we we gotta hire more uh technicians for our commercial truck shop, our collision center soon to be opening, um, and our reconditioned apartment.
30:10
SPEAKER_04: So that's a another decision we need to make soon is those people, those processes.
30:15
SPEAKER_04: Uh and then next step is just figuring out what's next on that, you know.
30:19
SPEAKER_04: So hiring of training and building, that that's a thing.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I would say I would echo exactly.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we we we already have our vault full of that on those next steps, and then what I mean on what the next decision.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: We've made the decisions.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: The next step is we've got to get the key people in each of those areas.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: And we've got to bring them on board so they're bought into the culture and they're ready to go there.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Hey, it's been a great one today.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: Make sure to check us out at Lewis Superstore.com and for this podcast and many others at Crossroad Conversations Podcast.com.
30:49
SPEAKER_04: Hey, if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to give it a like, share it with your friends and family.
30:54
SPEAKER_04: You can visit our website, send us the questions about what you want to know, what you want to hear, tell us about the automotive industry, family business in general.
31:01
SPEAKER_04: Who do you want to hear from?
31:03
SPEAKER_04: Send them our way, and we'll do our best to answer any questions you have.
31:06
SPEAKER_04: But make sure you tune in next time or we bring in another guest and we talk more about the automotive industry and all the great things going on within our business.