Thirty years ago, then President Jimmy Carter delivered his infamous “National Malaise” televised speech, cautioning Americans about losing confidence, about becoming complacent.
I thought about that speech – specifically the word “malaise” – in an e-mail exchange with Alpio Barbara, owner of Redwood General Tire in Redwood City, Calif., who wrote the Letter to the Editor that appeared in our October issue.
In addition to his letter, Alpio planned to pass along some comments by other dealers regarding the new 35% tariff on China-made passenger tires. He had hoped to collect quite a few from fellow California dealers; more than 20 had been directly asked for their input.
Only one bothered to respond.
As Alpio pointed out, these guys always have time to e-mail jokes or other stuff. “Why can’t they take 10 minutes and just send us their thoughts?”
“Oh well. Again, that’s what is wrong with our industry – no one cares.”
Our National Malaise, if you will.
Most telling is part of the original e-mail sent to those dealers (by another party, not Alpio) seeking their comment:
“The independent tire dealer has very weak representation on Capitol Hill, mostly because we choose not to be vocal participants in organizations that lobby in Washington on our behalf. As a matter of fact, most tire dealers don’t belong to any organized groups. Need a little help here guys, and we will get the feedback in the hands of the people who hopefully can get the ball rolling in the direction of the independent tire dealer for once.”
I bring up this malaise issue because it dovetails into the real heart of Alpio’s letter.
Over the last decade, I’ve talked to a lot of independent dealers, guys for whom I have a lot of respect, who feel terribly short-changed and under-represented by their only national association. My ears and eyes have been on the receiving end of anger and fear and confusion and frustration. The flash point changes – from the Ford-Firestone recall to the TREAD Act to TPMS to the checkoff program to tire aging to tread depth laws to Right to Repair all the way to tire tariffs – but the song remains the same.
And it is easy to point fingers, because if there is anything going on in the background, no one knows about it. Part of the problem, I suspect, lies in communications – or the lack thereof – but that’s not the point here.
The real point is exactly this: You get the representation you settle for.
Not ‘vote for,’ not ‘pay for.’
Settle for.
What dealers fully understand is that when it comes to legislative and regulatory issues, tire dealer associations – national and state/provincial level – represent ALL tire dealers. Not just their members.
What frustrates associations is there is always a lot of bitching, but not a lot of doing, not a lot of dealers willing to step up and become involved. Few choose to join, fewer are willing to run for office, and even less step up when the battle if waged and voices need to be heard.
They are willing to settle. And maybe that’s really what needs to change. By and large, tire dealers are passionate about what they do, about their businesses, about their customers. They are also the ones on the short-end of the government/regulation stick, or the lack of cohesive industry action on major issues (like tire aging). And they are passionate complainers (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but historically bad at taking up the mantle.
Alpio, who used to be quite active with his state association, admits that today he too tends to sit back and watch events unfold. “That doesn’t mean I don’t care, it’s just that as an independent dealer I don’t really know how or what I can do to change things.”
The fact is there is no official starting line. If you don’t like what your associations are doing, step up and work for change. Go to meetings. Run for office. Work from the inside, and if you’re still not satisfied, then work from the outside.
Want an easy starting point? Take 15 minutes each day to deal with an important federal, state or local issue that impacts your business. Don’t like a proposed law? Send e-mails to your lawmakers. Or send e-mails to your fellow dealers and get them to rally to the cause. Or just pick up the phone and call your state and national association to find out what else can be done.
Just 15 minutes a day. You’ll be surprised how far that small time investment will go. And over time you’ll find that you can balance the demands of business and family with being a positive influence on our industry.
If you want change, you have to make change. If you want to stand on the sidelines, then don’t act surprised when you get plowed into. If you are willing to settle, then don’t complain. As my grandmother used to say, “Bitching never gets you anywhere.”
I remember years ago seeing a poster, with one cow staring at the backside of another cow. In large type at the bottom it said: “If you don’t like the scenery, change it.”
If you’re leading, the scenery will always be changing. If not…
