Think of your dealership as a machine. Every machine needs gears to function, and if even one gear is broken or misaligned, the whole system grinds.
After working with dealerships for three decades, I’ve identified 7 critical gears that must all be engaged for peak performance. I call them the 7 Gears of Readiness Mindset.
When all 7 gears are turning together, execution becomes natural. Your team stops fighting themselves and starts performing at levels they didn’t think possible.
Gear 1: Going the Extra Mile
This is the foundation of everything else. Going the Extra Mile means doing more than expected, without being asked, without immediate compensation, and without complaint.
Most people do exactly what’s required, nothing more. That’s why most people get average results. The dealerships that dominate their markets have teams where Going the Extra Mile is the standard, not the exception.
In Practice: The salesperson who follows up with a handwritten note. The service advisor who walks the customer to their car. The manager who stays late to help a struggling team member prepare for tomorrow.
Gear 2: Personal Initiative
Personal Initiative means acting without being told. It’s seeing what needs to be done and doing it—not waiting for permission, not waiting for instructions, not waiting for someone else to go first.
Drifters wait to be told. Pure Non-Drifters take initiative.
In Practice: The salesperson who prospects during slow periods without being assigned leads. The F&I manager who creates a new presentation approach and tests it. The service writer who identifies a process bottleneck and proposes a solution.
Gear 3: Self-Discipline
Self-Discipline is the ability to control your own behavior, especially when you don’t feel like it. It’s doing the prospecting calls when you’d rather scroll your phone. It’s maintaining your positive attitude on the tenth “just looking” of the day.
Motivation gets you started. Self-Discipline keeps you going.
In Practice: Following the sales process with every customer, not just the ones who seem like buyers. Maintaining your schedule even when the floor is slow. Controlling your reaction when a deal falls apart.
Gear 4: Controlled Attention
Controlled Attention means focusing on what matters and ignoring what doesn’t. In a dealership environment full of distractions, ringing phones, walk-ins, coworker conversations, personal phones, the ability to focus is a superpower.
In Practice: Being fully present with each customer instead of mentally juggling three deals. Blocking time for important tasks and protecting that time. Focusing on the 20% of activities that drive 80% of results.
Gear 5: Controlled Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm without control is chaos. Control without enthusiasm is boring. Controlled Enthusiasm is energy with direction, passion channeled toward purpose.
Customers feel this. They can tell the difference between manufactured excitement and genuine belief. And genuine belief is contagious.
In Practice: Bringing energy to your product presentations because you actually believe in what you’re selling. Celebrating wins without becoming complacent. Maintaining optimism through challenging months.
Gear 6: Accurate Thought
Accurate Thought means making decisions based on facts, not assumptions. Not fear. Not hope. Facts.
Most mistakes in dealerships come from inaccurate thinking, assuming a customer can’t afford something, assuming a used car won’t sell, assuming a process won’t work because “we tried that before.”
In Practice: Presenting F&I products to 100% of customers instead of pre-judging who will buy. Basing inventory decisions on data, not gut feel. Evaluating team members on actual performance, not personal feelings.
Gear 7: Creative Vision
Creative Vision is the ability to see opportunities others miss. It’s looking at a challenge and seeing a solution. It’s imagining what your dealership could become, not just what it is.
This gear operates in your imagination, the 5% of your Brain Model where either joy or fear lives. When you’re in a Positive-State-of-Mind, Creative Vision flourishes. When you’re in fear, it shuts down.
In Practice: Finding new ways to reach customers when traditional methods slow down. Seeing potential in employees others have written off. Identifying market opportunities before competitors notice them.
When All 7 Gears Engage
Murdock Auto Group’s growth from 40 units per month to over 400 units per month didn’t happen by accident. It happened because they systematically engaged all 7 gears across their organization as they scaled from 1 store to 9 rooftops.
When one gear slipped, when Self-Discipline dropped or Controlled Attention wandered, they identified it and corrected it. That’s the discipline of a Live Ready® organization.
Which Gear Is Slipping?
Here’s a diagnostic question for you: If you could only improve one gear at your dealership right now, which would make the biggest difference?
That’s where you start.
Ready to engage all 7 gears? Our “7-Gear Dealership” Master Class series walks you through assessing and improving each gear across your organization. Register for the next session and get the complete Readiness Mindset framework.