Achilles Mazda. Zoom-Master.

Thoughts from my dad

2012-02-08T22:32:00.000-05:00

Now that I am older, have been running the business for a while, and have a family of my own, I reflect on things my dad used to say...and many things seem to make sense to me now.

My father had a fantastic charisma about him, and had a cache of sayings he would pull out at various appropriate times.

One I have been thinking about for the past couple of days was a saying he used to use when I did something bad as a child. From the greek translation, it went something like;

"When your devil was born, mine was already graduating from university"

Today, that seems so appropriate for some reason...

Happy New Year . . . 2012!!

2012-01-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to all our great customers, friends and families.

2011 was a tough year.

A new year signifies a new start, a clean slate, a renewal of sorts.

Let's collectively make 2012 the best one yet.

Hard to Believe

2011-11-09T19:26:00.001-05:00

Fact: It was not too long ago that the average car loan was approximately 5 years in length.

Fact: The prices of cars and trucks have not really increased all that much in the last 10 years

Fact: Of course interest rates are at an all-time low.

Fact: The average trading cycle is 3-5 years

Fact: An automobile is a depreciating commodity.

So what do I think when clients tell me they want an 84 or 96 month term, and that they will likely only keep their car for 5 years? It will be a heck of a task to get our clients out of these cars...and gone are the days of any equity.

Negative Equity!! We will then be forced to roll unpaid amounts forward to future vehicles. The cycle never ends, and it appears that we are only at the beginning.

Society currently seems to only be concerned with the here and now, and there is a complete disregard for the future when it comes to buying cars. "We will deal with this later". This is a very slippery slope, and one that banks and manufacturers should all be reluctant to play on.

$0 Down, 0% for 84 months sells cars today. We will have a generation of vehicles out there is 4-5 years that clients will be stuck with. Perhaps the manufactureres will find a creative way to deal with it at that point, but no there are no guarantees.

I have always been a big fan of leasing. Let the leasing company assume the depreciation risk on a vehicle, and only use the vehicle for the best part...the part covered under warranty. Return the car in four years, and start again. Don't buy a depreciating commodity, lease it.

Makes the best sense to me.

Check this out...

2011-09-22T18:38:00.002-04:00

Just trolling around Google, I came across this forum thread in regards to our dealership.

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?56982-Achilles-Mazda

The thread was started by a customer of ours from 8 years ago, who had such a fantastic experience with us at that time, who felt the need to tell the Mazda Forum world about how we do business....yes, all these years later.

It is interesting how some others in the thread try to cut down, or discredit the information due to its age. But the business moral here? Conduct yourself properly and ethically, and you will achieve all the word-of-mouth advertising you will ever need.

But what is truly the best part?

We always have and always will conduct ourselves this way.

Allergies are awful

2011-09-01T18:12:00.000-04:00

Seasonal allergies. Ragweed. Goldenrod. Whatever.

All I know that it makes me feel awful from late August until frost is on the ground.

Over the counter medication helps, but I get tolerant to it too quickly.

I am too much of a wuss for shots.

Therefore I suffer.

You can help your allergies with a cabin pollen filter attached to a new 2011 Mazda.

Shameless plug? Yes.

But it is my blog.

Interesting Week

2011-08-06T09:23:00.003-04:00

This surely has been an interesting week.

First of all, I want to formally welcome two new members to our staff.

Mary-Jane Yates, who is our new controlller. She brings a wealth of experience and saavy to our administration office.

Laura Sargent, who is our new business manager. A sharp young lady who is going to grow well with our organization.

And this part makes it interesting....we wish all the best of luck to Mary Dmytryshyn, our outgoing controller, who formally retired on 07/31/11. She has sold everything and is moving to Slovakia. I must say that she is one brave lady, and I can't believe she pulled it all off in the time frame she gave herself, all the while showing up to work eack and every day. She certainly put her mind to doing it and did it with ease...

Good Luck Mary. We will miss you.

Random Thought

2011-08-04T14:25:00.002-04:00

Everyone has a blog these days.

Even Us.

Not Enough Flag Waiving!

2011-07-02T16:03:00.000-04:00

I have been with Mazda for a very long time...I have been around them my entire working career, and my whole life for that matter having grown up in this business.

What I find time and again is the Mazda does certain things very well...and neither Mazda Canada nor Mazda Motor Corporation do a good job promoting it, or "waiving the flag" if you will.

Here is a prime example.
http://www.jdpower.com/news/pressRelease.aspx?ID=2011089

Mazda is fifth overall in the most recent JD Power study for initial quality. Above the industry average, ahead of some very good manufacturers, and only behind some really lofty competition.

What is more amazing, that aside from the MX-5, Mazda does not have a vehicle leader "per-se" in any other category. So to acheive such a lofty position, would indicate to me that the entire organization has quality at the forefront, not leaving any vehicle out of the equation.

Yes, I may be biased, but I would like to give credit where credit is due. Kudos to Mazda in this most recent survey.

So here I am, trying to waive the flag...Mazda engineers and builds excellent vehicles...period.

Its a New Month

2011-06-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

Happy June 1st everyone.

In greek, one would say to another, "Kalo Mina".

The weather is getting better....nice temperatures and beautiful sunshine.

That is all. Hope everyone has a great new month!

Random Car Business Observation

2011-04-02T15:50:00.000-04:00

I have been actively selling cars since I was 16....so I think that qualifies me as being able to make a general observation about the business.

We would all anticipate that a beautiful spring day like today (Sunny, 15 celsius, slight breeze) would be ideal for bringing clients out of their homes and into our collective showrooms. And it does.

Reflecting on the winter however, it always amazes me how many customers we see during massive snow storms. It is equally amazing that clients wish to test-drive new vehicles in those less than ideal conditions. Doesn't matter really....it makes me quite happy to be productive during those dreary days.

I saw this one particular vehicle on my way into work this morning, which we sold during the last snow storm in March. Awful snow outside, wet and heavy, poor visibility and driving conditions, and we sell our first MX-5 of 2011. It just does not make sense.

If this was a one-off, I would chalk it up to randomness. But it really happens more often than not.

There is no real purpose to this post. I was just thinking about it and thought I'd share it with you.

Just ask yourself...

2011-01-31T11:33:00.000-05:00

In your business, be it a car dealership, flower shop, coffee shop, photography or any other type of retail environment...can you honestly answer the following questions:

If I was a client, can I do business in my own store?

Would I send friends and family to do business here?

The goal is to be able to honestly answer these questions with a resounding YES! If the answer is no, there is work to be done...a corporate cleansing and a new attitude needs to be applied.

All memebers of your organization need to have the same questions in mind during their day-to-day activities.

Very simply. Create an environment where you yourself can do business in. It really comes down to the Golden Rule.

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T08:59:00.000-05:00

Well, 2010 is over and I must admit that this was certainly an eventful 12 months for our business and my family...but we've made it!

My staff, my family and our clients deserve a special thanks for making our transition as smooth as possible. In fact, when people ask me how it is going, I like to say that I couldn't have scripted it any better than it has actually gone.

With 2010 behind us and the New Year upon us, I just want to wish everyone a healthy and prosperous 2011!

...a little quote to ring in the New Year "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

Yeah, I quoted Aristotle. Let's all have an excellent 2011.

What really grinds my gears....

2010-11-05T09:17:00.000-04:00

Suppliers to our business.

In this relationship, we are the customer, and the suppliers are the ones "trying" to sell us their goods and services.

The amount of ineptitude and poor customer service in business-to-business offerings is staggering. We see this type of thing day-in, day-out.

Take the example of an insurance salesperson who came in to our showroom shortly after our move to Milton. Our receptionist had indicated to this individual that solicitors require an appointment to see the appropriate manager. That is our policy.

This individual proceed to leave on that occasion and ended up calling on us again on three subsequent visits, all without an appointment. On the last (and final) visit to our showroom, the insurance sales person tells our person at the front counter "I don't take direction from a receptionist" after he was told to make an appointment. She kindly asked him to leave.

Really? Are you serious? And you think this is the path to making a sale.

Buddy, not if you were the last insurance provider on this planet.

Buyer's Market you ask? We say, Indeed!

2010-09-17T09:09:00.000-04:00

I have personally been selling cars now for the better part of 17 years, and around this business since I was born.

I know this sounds like I'm a old tyme gold prospector, but in all my years around this business, I have never seen the manufacturers collectively offer incentives to the consumer like we have at this moment in 2010.

I am talking about:
- financing exceeding 5 years at 0% interest
- large cash incentives for clients purchasing with cash
- loyalty rebates for existing customers
- cash for clunkers
- first time buyers programs
- cash rewards via visa, Costco, etc in addition to other incentives
-...and these are only to name a few

So what does this exactly mean for the consumer.
a) It is an excellent time to buy a new car. Period.
b) With all these incentives on new cars, the late model used car market suffers....meaning they won't cost you as much, but conversely, don't expect as much for trade-in values on these vehicles either.
c) and the way automobiles are built today, the consumer will not make a poor choice. Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai....they are all good cars.

So what are the manufacturers really doing:
- creating artificial demand
- pulling customers ahead of the buying cycle. Enticing clients to purchase earlier than they perhaps would have
- giving the retail economy a false sense of progress.

Does it matter? Perhaps with the colder weather coming, I am being too pessimistic. But in the meantime, fill your boots and get the offers the dealers and manufacturers are providing. These deals that are too good to be true....are in fact true!

The Setting Sun

2010-06-25T22:16:00.001-04:00

So the final days are upon us. We have targeted July 2nd as our date to be open in our new dealership in Milton. It is a beautiful building, and has a fantastic location.

While the daunting task of physically moving all the stuff we need from one location to another is here, the whole transition has been a roller coaster of emotion for my family thus far.

As the sun sets on our business in Acton, I want to say that I feel privileged and proud to have continued the tradition my parents started in this community. I am proud of the fact that we were able to survive and thrive in an area that has a relatively small population....and to have done so for the better part of 34 years.

At this point, a few thanks are in order...

I want to thank my staff, who are always asked to assume more than one role. Running a smaller dealership causes you to have staff with multiple talents, and that is not always an easy thing to do. I truly feel that I have a good group of people.

I want to thank the local residents in Acton, who have supported our business over the years. Without the support, there wouldn't have been any business.

I want to thank my family, for putting up with my long hours, and standing behind all the decisions that have been made.

Most of all, I want to thank my parents...I want to thank them for teaching my the value of honesty, work ethic, personal responsibility, and for being by my side every step of the way. Having a close family has really helped us overcome many challenges.

So now that the "little-dealership-that-could" has made it to its finish line...the time for us to turn the lights off one last time is nearing. I truly hope that the local residents will remember my parents, our business, and our time in Acton. Acton will always be a special place for me.

Achilles Mazda is Moving...the inside scoop!

2010-05-11T10:06:00.002-04:00

This past week, we put out a press release formally announcing our move from Acton to Milton in the coming months.

http://bit.ly/d34MDp Press Release Information about our upcoming move to Milton! #mazda #milton

What publications did not, and could not possibly capture, is the real emotion that was involved in this decision. So I would like to take this opportunity to share some of the process in regards to how this decision came about, and how it affects my family and I.

First of all, the whole discussion surrounding the move is really a two-pronged discussion. It all started in 2006, when Mazda Canada decided to implement their image program. Such programs are commissioned by respective manufacturers and are part of a mandate for all dealerships to have similar design elements by a certain deadline. Not complying with this "program" means not having your franchise agreement renewed. For us, the deadline was (and is) July 31, 2010.

So the decision we had to make was this; a) stay in Acton and renovate our current facility, which meant spending big dollars to comply, and eventually (and quickly) having a new competitor in Milton b) move our business to Milton and continue to service the Acton, Milton, Georgetown corridor for several years to come c) not be a Mazda dealer any longer.

Quite clearly, from a self preservation perspective, our hand was forced in the direction we chose. At the time, the decision was daunting, and surrounded with many questions. However, as time has worn on, the decision has become more palatable, and the prospect of growth that Milton represents is unbelievable.

The second prong to this discussion is the actual departure from Acton. My parents settled in Acton in 1971, and from that time, we have called this town home. I was born and raised here, and from both a personal and business perspective, Acton has been tremendous to my family. Not many of the current residents in town know this, but since we opened in the 70's, our import dealership has out survived three different domestic dealerships. How? The sheer determination and hard work my parents poured into this business. And in-turn, Acton has responded and acknowledged that work ethic and honesty.

So while the move to Milton is the right move on paper, the heart has had a tough time dealing with this. I have spent more time in these four walls at 357 Queen St. than in any other place in my life. Over the next few months, the move in many respects can be simply defined as -bittersweet.

But at the end of the day, the building is just bricks and mortar. The people are really the ones who make and define an organization. As our press release states, we will be the same people, servicing the same area, from a new location. Our new location will also allow us to more efficiently serve Mazda clients from Oakville, Burlington, and Brampton.

My staff, family and I are truly excited for the move. I wish to Thank you Acton. We look forward to seeing you in Milton this summer.

Our Mission Statement

2010-04-20T20:15:00.000-04:00

I feel that it is important for each and every company to have a clearly stated mission statement, a definition if you will, for employees and clients to know the intented direction of the organization. I would like to use this medium to communicate ours as it is stated at our showroom entrance:

Achilles Mazda

The keys to our success, what sets us apart from all other dealerships

OUR VALUES

HONESTY: Truthful at all times. Knowing that we can look everyone in their eyes and know we did a good job

EMPATHY: Ability to understand another’s position

RESPECT: To show consideration or honor for another, both clients and fellow staff

INTEGRITY: Being of sound moral principle, trustworthy and sincere

WORK ETHIC: Drive and effort to meet and exceed expectations

PRIDE: Sense of Self-worth. Knowing each of us makes a difference.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

“We are only doing our job properly when we create an experience for which our clients and guests return to do business with us again”

OUR GOAL

“At Achilles Mazda, our dealership is not the biggest; our goal is to simply be the best!”

You just can't...

2010-04-05T10:12:00.000-04:00

In my humble opinion, there are a few things that you just can't "self-proclaim"...
- You can't "self-proclaim" your own knowledge
- You can't "self-proclaim" your own humor

Praise, criticism, and acknowledgement hold much more weight when they originate from an outside source or third party.

The advent of blogging, micro-blogging, and social medial has allowed more people to provide their opinion on everything imaginable, to a very wide audience, instantly.

Where am I going with this? The power of social media...I wanted to share a few examples of what people have said about us relating to our business solely based on our Twitter interaction.

"Exceptional dealers that 'get' Twitter: @AchillesMazda @GMazda @PearsonMazda Plus, "Win a 3 4 Free" at @LynchburgMazda #FollowFriday ^AB (via@mazdausa)" -this is a tweet that came up Friday April 2nd, 2010. Now @mazdausa does not know us, nor we one of their dealers directly, but they have formed the opinion that we are an exceptional dealer.

"@AchillesMazda The Social Autosphere http://bit.ly/bw8w4P (via @stradablog)" - this blog entry discusses social media interaction, and is a worth while read. Once again, we have never met @stradablog, nor we ever had any direct dealings.

These are just a couple of recent examples...but certainly beware. One wrong move or an error in judgment can produce negative feedback equal to or greater than the positive stuff. With people able to provide their opinion to a wide audience at will, businesses need to remember that good service has to happen every day, every time, without fail, no excepetions....and now you can add in-person or online to that sentiment.

Positive word-of mouth is priceless, but negative word-of-mouth certainly costs much more than that.

~~Aren't we funny?~~

PLA-WIN

2010-03-20T11:25:00.000-04:00

This one is going to be short and sweet.

The title of this entry comes from a personal license plate I often see around Acton. It has long prompted thought and this blogging medium now allows me to share with you.

In business, sports, life, etc., there is a distinct difference between playing to win, and playing to not lose. While the outcome may be the same, the approach is definitely not.

A positive attitude and outlook will go a long way. "If YOU See It In YOUR Mind, You're Going To HOLD It In YOUR HAND" - BoB Proctor

Play-2-Win.

Personal Responsibility. Lack thereof.

2010-02-22T19:26:00.000-05:00

Our blog. While from time to time I will take the opportunity to tell you how great the Mazda product is, or how wonderful our OEM organization is to work ~~for~~ with, or how fabulous our dealership is to deal with (http://www.achillesmazda.ca/), I am not looking to take on the roll of an automotive journalist. Those fine people do an excellent job without my help.

Rather, I wish to take these opportunities speak about topics that I would like to "vent" about (what really "grinds my gears"), or are near and dear to us for some specific reason.

Today, it's about personal responsibility, and the general lack of it.

Graduates of Northwood University in Midland Michigan (circa 2000) will recall a professor by the name of Dr. Dale Haywood. He was a big fan of personal responsibility and how it related to business and government (macro economics, you see). This view made him an "economic icon" and an authority on freedom and the market system. He heroically defended an idea which is so basic, but so very fragile in society today.

Ever since those days, I take the topic of personal responsibility very seriously, especially when it comes my role as a prudent business person, husband, father, co-worker, and friend.

I look for and expect personal responsibility from the people under my employ, as well as those I associate with in my life. If you cannot exhibit this specific trait, you need not apply.

What do I mean by personal responsibility? Call it accountability for one's own actions. Every action has its outcome, both good or bad. Make a mistake, own up to it, admit faults, learn from these mistakes and move on.

All too often, people put forth too much effort to skirt accountability, laying blame on someone else, making excuses for poor performance or errors. If you often find that the problems at hand are someone else's fault, you need to reassess your own accountability. This common occurrence is frustrating and even more annoying when the person deserving of blame is found out. It simplymakes everyone look bad.

The point? We are all human, and are all prone to mistakes. Learn from them, be responsible and accountable for your actions, it is OK to admit being wrong. You will find that sleeping at night will be easier if you are able to look everyone right in the eyes.

Easier said than done? It shouldn't be.

Equally Created? Not always.

2010-02-11T12:23:00.001-05:00

"...all men are created equal". A pretty powerful statement that forms the basis of laws and rights in North America.

It is human nature to then apply this "concept" to more than just human beings, and for the purpose of this blog, I am specifically referring to the world of business. Good or bad, the word "all" is how we form stereotypes..."all lawyers", "all bankers", and my favorite "all car dealers". We are not all created equally.

Despite my 33 years of age, I have been in this business my entire working life, and have actively been selling cars for 17 years now. Hooray for me that I've made it this far...but more importantly, this qualifies me to be able to speak intelligently about the "equality" of car dealers.

Being on this side of the desk when it comes to vehicle transactions, I hear all of the tactics and maneuvers dealers use to ~~coerce~~ "convince" clients into a purchase. How can people agree to buy anything this way? Because of this, I am a firm believer that a large number of car dealers are successful in spite of their actions. It drives me crazy to know that consumers choose to do business with dealers that use these types of tactics.

Ladies and gentlemen. We are all consumers. As a consumer, I would not buy *anything*, unless I have all the details...including price. In fact, I would not buy a pair of shoes if the cost was unknown, let alone an entire vehicle.

When it comes to purchasing a car, or anything for that matter:

• take some time and do your research.
• be prepared
• If it doesn't feel right, walk away
• You don't need to feel pressured in order to make a decision
• trust your instincts

Consider this. When you buy an item, you are "voting" for this item with your dollars. You are also voting for the business from where you make this purchase. You work hard for your money. Vote wisely.

So what is the point of this post? All car dealers are not equal, so please don't paint us with the same brush. Are are there some very good ones out there...absolutely. Is our dealership perfect? No. But we do try to treat each transaction (sales and service) with the following in mind....as a customer, would I be able to do business here?

Emphatically....yes.