Last week, I asked Hunter Swift over the phone from 3000 miles away, to halt all proactive sales efforts for Dealer World. Hunter took that to social media, unbeknownst to me, and it gained a little traction and praise. Since the post, I fielded a few calls and discussed it with some friends and colleagues. I figured I would write this quick blog post that explains, in detail, why I did it, since it may make for good reading for some young and upcoming entrepreneurs.
As many know, I started this company in a very “pull myself up by my bootstraps” way. I had no capital, no clients, no software or platform, nothing really, except being good at what I do. I was lucky enough to find a dealer that gave me a chance to be their agency about 75 months ago and it has been one heck of a wild ride ever since. Dealer World was on its way!
One thing many people don’t know is that we could easily be twice the size we are now if not for my leadership. So, have I let down the company as its leader or have I succeeded? I ask myself this question often.
My son was 4 when I got divorced and started this company. I had been through it before with my daughters, working 75 hours a week and missing a good portion of them growing up to stay ahead of my bills. I respect every man and woman that works that hard and I have empathy for the sacrifices they make to give their families a good life.
When I got the chance to try it again back in 2009, I sold myself on the idea that I could build a company and raise my son as a very involved and active father all at the same time. So I set out to do so. In the meantime, my daughters were only 12 and 15, so I still had time to make up for some of what I had missed.
I feel so lucky to have pulled this off. I went into it with the attitude that I needed to make a difference in a few dealers’ lives, and that would allow me the flexibility to be home more and be an active and important part of my kids’ lives. Then, it just took off. I never really did much selling; we grew organically from reputation, a few speaking gigs and a lot of referrals. We grew so much that I think we will be named to Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Companies in America (we applied and I think we fit the bill). Fast forward to last week and another 25% growth, literally, in two weeks.
I have promised all our employees a great working environment and although it’s work, and some days it’s hard work, I think we have succeeded in our mission of personal and professional growth for all rather well. It’s important to me that our staff doesn’t get burned out because of massively rapid growth. We’re good at recruiting and filling our pipelines and have always hired early to be ahead of the game.
But last week, when we signed more business in 14 days than we ever had before, business that would have actually made for a solid 6 months or even a year, I freaked out. I freaked out because I care about our employees not getting burned out, and I care about our loyal customers, without whom I wouldn’t be writing this at all. I freaked out saying, “Okay, we got this, but my instincts tell me no more, not for a while.”
Money was not my first priority back in 2009, and I think it’s part of why I succeeded against all odds, being severely undercapitalized and with no staff. All I knew to do was to find dealers that needed help and help them with my heart and my mind. I think if money had been my motivator, I might have failed. I know I would not have the relationships I have now: the families of the dealerships, the trust of the owners who have been with us for years, the managers who thank me for our efforts. I think if money were the motivator, all those relationships would be different. The type of clients we attract became apparent a while back. Dealers transitioning to a new generation, or dealers who need help navigating this new world of business and advertising, seem to gravitate toward us. They can feel that we don’t operate just for the bottom line. They can feel and know we care.
So closing sales was a tough call for me as a leader, but an easy one for me as a human. Money is still not the motivator. The motivation is helping those who need help and to maintain the relationships that got us here as we strive to become a better company and agency everyday. Through it all, I also make sure our team feels that we care and that they are not just a number, because the number of employees is growing too.
So, as I stated, when I feel we have successfully on-boarded all our new clients, kept all our legacy clients happy, continue to offer new, relevant advice and ads that drive true leads and traffic, and the team at Dealer World tells me they are ready for more, then we will open up proactive sales efforts again. Until then, I have a lot of work to do.
Troy Spring is the owner of Dealer World, Agency 345, and co-founder of Dealer Funnel. His roots in advertising started while he managed four automotive dealerships and the large advertising budgets for the stores. The dealerships all grew under his watch. He credits much of that growth to the advertising decisions he made to drive more business to each location. He has spent the last decade perfecting what he calls the four pillars of advertising: reach, frequency, creative, and cost. He is a strong advocate of this formula. He spends much of his time sharing these concepts as a national speaker and occasional guest on podcasts.