The Remedy: Bringing Lean Thinking Out of the Factory to Transform the Entire Organization

Chapter 12. Dealers, Spielers, and Concealers

Fifteen hundred dealers remained in Taylor Motors' North American dealer network. They were angry and afraid. Just more than a year ago, we had sent sayonara letters to almost 1,800 of their colleagues; dealerships with low scores on customer satisfaction, sales effectiveness, profitability, and capitalization. We'd had no choice. Federal loans were contingent on an acceptable restructuring plan, and dealer rationalization was a big part of it.

Many dealers, still fearful of losing their franchises, had cut advertising spending, refused to order new vehicles, and concentrated on service and used vehicles. "We're doing everything to prepare in case we're not a Taylor Motors dealership a month from now," Bill Quigley told me during lunch at the Iron Horse.

Bill and his family owned the Quigley Family of Dealerships including 17 dealerships and 26 repair shops in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. I'd invited Bill to lunch to see if they'd be our pilot. Quigleys had been selling Taylor Motors' vehicles since the 1920s. Their support would go a long way.

Before the Chloe launch, I didn't know much about our dealers—only that they didn't feel like part of Taylor Motors. And, in fact, they weren't. Each dealer was a separate business entity, with its own objectives, plans, and incentives, which were often misaligned with ours. Yet to customers, our dealers were Taylor Motors. A shoddy dealership with poor layouts and cleanliness, shifty ...