“I Choose Not to Participate In That!”

Our Vice President of Agency Development, Marty Walsh, is becoming well-known within GWC for his quick wit and snappy comebacks.  My favorite of Marty’s golden nuggets is a response he learned years ago whenever someone complained about the tough economy:  “I choose not to participate in that!”

What a great and self-fulfilling attitude!  And it’s worth keeping top of mind as we all continue to grapple with the ongoing “Great Recession.”  In fact, more than a few of GWC’s Dealer Consultants have done just that.  In a market that on a year-to-date basis has seen used vehicle sales by Independent dealers increase by 5% (or well below the 12+% forecasts we saw at the beginning of the year), many of our Dealer Consultants have “chosen not to participate” in the doom and gloom:

·         Cindy H. has taken her sales in a market where we added several DCs up by almost 75%!

·         Becky E. has grown her “mature” market up by almost 50%!

·         Dominic L. moved into an underserved territory and has expanded it by about 45%!

·         Jim J., Ruthie S., Sal R. and Kent N. have all taken their existing markets up by 30+% this year!

I could go on and on; in fact, these high performers are among a large cadre of top sellers who are successfully demonstrating to dealers across the country that GWC’s products and people add tremendous value to their businesses.

The next time someone tells you that the economy is tough, think about our great GWC sales team, including the champs listed above, and tell them “I choose not to participate in that!”

Thanks, Steve, and Godspeed.

Steve Jobs’ passing yesterday is a reminder of our fragility and the fleeting nature of time.  Steve’s life, however, is also a reminder of how awesome it is to be alive, brimming with ideas and making the world a better place. 

As Steve’s health waned over the past few years, I found myself becoming sadder and sadder over what appeared to be the inevitable:  That we would lose an inimitable cultural icon who had touched our lives in a myriad of ways.

Stanley Bing’s column in Fortune a few weeks ago was prescient in capturing why we will miss Steve and could serve as a great eulogy:   The Bing Blog: Thanks, Steve.

On a personal level, I will never forget watching my young son fall in love with his first iPod in 2003, cradling it under his pillow each night as he went to sleep.  As a confessed music geek myself, the iPod transformed my travels by allowing me to take 25,000 of my favorite songs with me everywhere I went.  And, after forcing myself to hold off until the iPad2 came out earlier this year, I walked around for days telling everyone in earshot that I was in love with that amazing gadget.  In fact, it’s 8 months later and I’m still doing it!

What can I say?  I love Steve Jobs and Apple in a way that is hard even for me to understand.  But my life and the lives of millions of people around the world are cooler, richer and more fun than they would have been without Apple, Pixar and all the other miracles that Steve Jobs envisioned.  And for that, I can only humbly say “Thanks, Steve, and Godspeed.”

Are you a Hedgehog or a Fox?

by Rob Glander, GWC President and CEO

One of my neighbors, in the process of packing for a move to Florida, asked me if I wanted any of his business books.  I quickly grabbed his copy of “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, which I last read when it was published in 2001.  Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since this groundbreaking work came out, but the lessons it shared still ring true.

One of my favorites is Collins’ appropriation of the ancient Greek parable:  “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”  Companies that go from Good to Great understand what they can be the best in the world at and then focus single-mindedly on that.

In the midst of a continuing tough economy, it’s easy for all of us to be distracted by the day’s challenges, false hopes and fads.  Instead, we at GWC are rededicating ourselves to focusing on what we do better than anyone else:  Deliver the “No Worries.  Just Drive” service contract experience to our thousands of dealers and end customers across the U.S.

Thanks for the 10-year reminder, Jim.

Moving Day

by Rob Glander, GWC President and CEO

I’m writing this surrounded by boxes, noise and the general commotion that accompanies a move. And I couldn’t be happier.

Today, GWC is relocating to an amazing new office at 40 Coal Street in Wilkes-Barre: 18,000+ square feet of exquisitely designed (thanks, Highland Associates) space above the number one sports franchise in NE PA (the Divisional Champion Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins). It will be the 5th space we’ve occupied since our inception 16 years ago and represents another growth-driven leap ahead for GWC.

And I have to share my pride a little bit: This new office is simply beautiful. From our state-of-the art Boardroom to our 72 person training room and every workstation in between, we have invested in a facility that befits our aspirations as a company.

Even more importantly, I am proud of our people. As I see everyone scurrying around packing and cleaning up, I am reminded of how much everyone cares about this company and how engaged they are. Special thanks to Mandy, Kelli and Georgiann, who took on some of the nastiest cleanups without any prompting, just because it had to be done. And kudos to Jeff who led the cable stringing, server room setup so we will be up and ready on Monday morning.

Finally, a particular shout-out to Joe Brennan, our Vice President of Operations, who for the past year has lived and breathed this project. Joe found the space, convinced us to take on the audacious task of building it out, negotiated our many contracts, oversaw the design and basically lived onsite for several months while the renovations were being done in record time (and within budget!) Joe, we all owe you a big debt of gratitude.

These are exciting times for GWC and we’re bursting at our seams to share that excitement with our great dealers and end customers. We’re all moving confidently ahead: “No Worries. Just Drive.”