Letter From Jeram Marketing’s CEO

I just finished reading The Timekeeper, a novel by Mitch Albom. Albom has written other thought provoking books like, The Five People You Meet In Heaven and Tuesdays With Morry. This particular book fascinated me more than the others in that it was a story about “time”. Did it ever occur to you that life roamed the planet when there wasn’t a time piece? No sundial, no clocks, no digital device. I never gave that any thought until midway through the book. That made me wonder who the first person was to say, “I don’t have any time for that.” No time for...what? How often do we say that we don’t have any time? Yet, I know myself that every day there is a portion of it I waste for mostly no good reason. Hey, we all need to rest and our responsibilities dictate a portion of each day to satisfy commitments such as work and family. But, how much “time” do we just waste? Everybody should have a different answer but that answer should uncover a portion that we just let go unused. We all go shopping or out to eat regularly. Doesn’t it upset you when someone is playing with their Smartphone instead of assisting an overrun clerk or very busy member of the wait staff? Do you get angry? Maybe you even comment that if you managed the business, those things wouldn’t happen; you would train those people to be more attentive to their responsibilities—teach them to better use their time! Well, really “we’re those people”! I already admit that I don’t use all of my time wisely. I travel to a lot of dealerships in several different locations and I see hours wasted with people doing literally nothing. Often, I’ve thought “why wouldn’t you be calling someone or sending a communication in hopes of creating an appointment?” I know, you’ve heard all of this before but, really, what is the downside of calling people or sending communication in search of a potential sale that translates to a commission for the “time users”? No appointments? Well, a person can be guaranteed no appointments playing with a Smartphone, talking about yesterday’s sports results or going on Facebook to tell someone that they had a burrito for breakfast! What gets you the better result? Do you use your “dead time” to learn more about each product that you attempt to sell? Are you striving for excellence? Are you working at being a “Pro” in the F&I Office? How about role playing? Menu practicing? Making the office look more professional? We can use that time for any of the aforementioned practices or get that Smartphone out and text someone about their lunch plans or a million other insignificant one-sentence blurbs. Practice means more success; more success means more money and better performance. In the book, Father Time remarks to one of the characters, “There is a reason God limits our days.” When asked why he replies, “To make each one precious!” Let’s take that “precious” commodity and use it to better ourselves professionally and personally in 2013. Thanks for all of your efforts and cooperation with our staff. We wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous 2013.