Emanuel Jones II became General Manager in 2016 and immediately increased profitability 90% for Legacy Ford and 120% for Legacy Hyundai.

He didn’t double sales, he doubled profitability! In one year!! 

No wonder he was named to Automotive News 40 Under 40 and has been recognized as a rising star by other organizations.

How was he able to do it?

He was in medical school before committing to the auto industry, so he’s obviously pretty smart.

Emanuel says all the right things in the Automotive News article without giving away his secret sauce.

But there’s only one way to double profitability that fast, and that’s by being more efficient with your money.

So, here’s my question, “how could a newcomer to the industry do this if the stores were well managed to begin with and what can other dealers take away from his accomplishment?”

I’d love to sit down and have a couple of beers with Emanuel and talk about how he did it, but until such a time I’m going to point out the obvious.

1.      He replaced the old General Manager.

2.      You don’t get into medical school without being smart and having a scientific mind.

3.      He found new efficiencies using tools and a mindset the old GM did have.

What can other dealers and GM’s take away from Emanuel’s accomplishments? Let’s start by asking if they can double their profitability in one year too by using the same techniques.

A very successful colleague recently wrote a blog post about a “new, smart client” of theirs that demanded an answer to this question, “What’s the return on my digital advertising investment? I know how much money I spend with Google, Bing and Facebook…prove to me the transactions and money we deposit in return for our investment.”  

I about spit up my coffee when I read that. Is this what passes for “smart” in the auto industry today?

There isn’t a CRM system in the auto industry that doesn’t give dealers a report showing them their sold leads with lead source. Oh sure, we can talk about how they’re not perfect, but that’s on the dealer too. If you have data quality problems, and you know it, and you do nothing to correct them, that’s your fault.

How is this “smart client” making their marketing and advertising decisions?

We all know the answer to that question, they’re “going with their gut.”

Going with your gut sounds romantic and manly, but it’s not a very smart way to make business decisions. Smart business people make decisions with data and facts. They know what they’re doing and if they don’t have adequate information, they get it and/or hedge their risks.

And that’s why a young newcomer was able to double profits in one year.

He replaced an old manager stuck in his ways that went with his gut.

Which brings me to the final takeaway, if dealers and GM’s don’t adopt a more scientific approach to making business decisions, they’re going to be replaced by a younger, smarter GM who does.