For most dealerships, times are hard. The leads have slowed down, the obstacles of financing should qualify as an Olympic sport and advertising just doesn’t work like it used to.

And the truth is that many dealers are going under. There’s going to be a lot of casualties after this one….your store included.

OR maybe not.

This current financial ‘crisis’ may really be your best blessing as a small business owner.

Sounds crazy, however here’s the deal.

Many dealers are going out of business. No doubt. It’s already happening. Your job is to be sure it’s somebody else’s business going under… not yours. And there are very real ways to do this, if you’re really serious about being among the 20% of dealers who will survive the storm.

I’m going to give you some cold, hard stats and ways to aid you in simply a moment, but let me begin by saying that if you don’t have the correct systems or processes in place, work them out now. If you have personality conflicts, deal with them today. If you don’t have a system for staying in touch with past customers and unconverted leads, get one.

If you don’t have a crystal clear answer to the query, "Why should somebody choose me over other dealers?" figure it out this weekend. If you don’t have a predictable way to get new clients into the door, at will, now is the time to do something about it. If you have floor plan issues or problems with your lenders, it's better to sort it out this month than next.

Why?

It all comes back to the timeless 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle.

If you’re not acquainted with the Pareto Principle, this rule dictates that 20% of dealerships naturally get 80% of the business. In different words, the 20% of dealers who can survive this current economic storm will do so because they make 16 times as much as those in the 80%.

And because of this capability to earn additional capital, when the market does come back (which it invariably will), they’ll be larger and higher than ever, readily positioned to eat up new shares of the auto market.

That may mean more dealers go out of business once more-but it won’t affect you if you’re among the 20%.

So what can you do to make sure your dealership quickly and easily ends up among the 20% if you’re already in, or teetering towards the 80% category?

Well here’s what dealers in the 20% group do, and what you’ll need to do if you plan to survive:

1. They’re sharpening their axe to make sure the dealership runs smoothly…

2. They’re going through extra lengths to make sure the staff is well skilled…

3. They’re getting a dense hold on the marketing engine that will drive their business over the following few years…

And most importantly, they won’t panic or talk themselves into defeat. They know individuals will still buy cars. Just not as many. They also know there’s going to be less deals to go around and they’ll do what it takes to safeguard that business.

Now, what happens if things get real unhealthy, and unemployment rises to 15% or a lot more? Well if you’re in the 80%, you'll be forced to lay off and you won’t have the required sustain employees to run your store.

BUT, if you’re in the 20%, 15% unemployment rates mean you’ll have the pick of the litter of who you would like to work at your store. It means that you’ll have the cash to dismiss your deadbeats and riff-raff and be ready to replace them with competent, skilled, hard working folks in an instant.

Therefore high unemployment rates can be a good thing…if you’re in the right group.

The 20% group will see these hard times as an opportunity.

Smart people (those in the 20%) know that now, and the months ahead are prime time to invest in stock, real estate, human capital, marketing, inventory --- and they’ll be the ones who really rake it in when the market comes back.

Thus where can you fall as it relates to the 80/20 rule?

Here’s something else that we know for sure…

1. 80% of the individuals reading this can create solely 20% of the results they have to be successful (harsh, however true)…

2. But 20% of the dealers reading can create 80% or more of the results they need to make it…and make it huge!

A small percentage of the dealers reading this right now are prepared to make marvelous progresses in the coming months, whereas the rest are destined to mediocrity.

Now here's where things get really crucial. The eighty/twenty rule repeats itself, infinitely. Which means the top 20% splits itself into eighty/twenty. Thus there’s the top 4%.

Then it happens again. 20% of the top 20% of the top 20% -- the top 0.8%. That’s where you really need to be. If we didn’t already challenge you enough to be within the top twenty…if you REALLY want to come out ahead, try to become a top 0.8% person.

Let's take a closer look at the .8% person:

Each decision is carefully made by a 0.8% person because it’s way more important than a decision made by an 80% person.

A 0.8% person knows a way to focus and slim their labors on those things that are actually crucial. Even though he might have a list of 43 things to do, he’ll hone in on the three or four that are more important than all the others combined. But the 80% people treat all things as if they’re the same, or worse, work on the forty less crucial tasks before they tackle the three or 4 that really matter! They have no sense of priority and hence they "busy work" themselves out of survival.

The 0.8% person carefully discriminates what information he will allow into his mind…what he reads, listens to, or watches on TV… who he surrounds himself with. The 80% people are "open minded" and "tolerant" to just about anyone or any idea.

The 0.8% people belongs to some kind of mastermind or "good ol’ boys" club. This can be the sort of group that can support, hold up, and go the extra mile for its members. And most of the 0.8% folks pay BIG money to be in these clubs! However again, unlike the 80% who would see it as a waste, they understand the worth and that some of the most brilliant men of all time, (i.e. Carnegie, Henry Ford, Ben Franklin) all participated in the same.

The 0.8% person is perfectly immune to disapproval from others…doesn’t care what most folks think… is not affected by pessimism on the news, from neighbors or family members. He realizes that the mass of humanity is nearly always pathetically wrong. The 80% folks…well, they’re the masses.

So, friend, what’s it gonna be for you? 80%, 20%, 4%, 0.8%? Your actions now will finally determine your fate of your future. So choose the winning team and start down the road to success-even in these tough financial times!