Lead or Be Left Behind: What High-Performing Dealers Do Differently

At ASOTU CON 2025, a rapid-fire panel led by Michael Cirillo, Chief of Staff at More Than Cars, brought together a group of respected operators to answer a question that has shaped more than a decade of conversations on The Dealer Playbook: what actually separates thriving dealerships from the ones that struggle to keep up?

In just under 20 minutes, Michael Cirillo guided Patrick Abad, Ryan Rohrman, and Erikka Tiffani Wells through a focused conversation on empowerment, accountability, and leadership at the store level. The pace was quick, but the ideas were consistent. High-performing dealerships are not built on process alone. They are built on leaders who trust their people, set clear expectations, and model the behavior they want repeated.

Here are five takeaways dealers can put to work right away.

Empowerment does not begin with a policy. It begins in a conversation.

Patrick Abad pointed to a simple but effective shift. Instead of correcting or overriding a decision, ask the employee to think it through: “What do you think you should have done?”

That pause changes the dynamic. It gives the team member space to reflect, take ownership, and build confidence in their own judgment. Over time, those moments stack up. People stop waiting for approval and start making decisions that move the customer experience forward.

Dealers that do this consistently create teams that act, not teams that wait.

Leaders are quick to correct mistakes. The better ones are just as intentional about recognizing what is going right.

One story from the panel captured this clearly. A customer was trading out of a well-used minivan into a new vehicle. While transferring items, the team noticed worn, sticky car seats. Someone suggested buying new ones. The store said yes.

It was a small expense. Around $100. But when the customer saw it, the reaction was emotional. That moment turned into a story shared online, retold years later, and remembered as a reason to trust that dealership.

As one panelist put it, you have to catch people doing things right and make those moments visible to the rest of the team.

When that happens, people start to understand what great actually looks like. Then they repeat it.

One of the clearest shifts discussed on stage came from Ryan Rohrman around the role of the general manager.

Too many stores still expect their GM to sit in deals. To step in at the last minute. To operate as a high-level closer.

That approach limits the entire operation.

Rohrman described a different expectation. The GM owns the business. All of it. Sales, service, parts, and every profit center. The role is not to jump into transactions but to build a team that can run them well without constant oversight.

As he put it, leaders need to work on the business, not in it.

When that shift happens, empowerment has a chance to reach every level of the store instead of stopping at the desk.

Erikka Tiffani Wells brought a practical structure to the conversation around accountability.

In her store, feedback is not occasional. It is built into the rhythm of the business. Anonymous surveys every quarter. One-on-ones every month. Clear space for people to say what is working and what is not.

But the more important piece is what happens after the feedback.

She made the point directly: “Sometimes my actions and my words don’t align.”

That level of awareness is what keeps accountability real. When leaders say they value work-life balance but never take time off, the message breaks. When they say they trust the team but stay late every night to double check everything, the message breaks.

Her team calls it out. They send her home. They hold her to the same standard she sets for them.

That kind of accountability builds trust faster than any metric ever could.

Short-term targets keep the lights on. Long-term goals shape the direction of the business.

Ryan Rohrman shared how his group approaches this with a “big, hairy, audacious goal.” Not a one-year plan. Not even a three-year plan. A ten-year target to become best-in-class across every store and every brand.

At the start, they had zero stores at that level. Years later, they are making progress, with multiple stores reaching that benchmark.

It has not been quick. It has not been easy. But that is the point.

A goal that actually stretches the organization forces better decisions, stronger culture, and a longer view of what success looks like.

The through line across the entire conversation was simple. High-performing dealerships are led by people who take responsibility for more than just results. They take responsibility for the environment those results come from.

Michael Cirillo, Chief of Staff at More Than Cars, set the tone early. The best operators are not just focused on selling cars. They are focused on helping people succeed and creating an experience that reaches beyond the transaction.

That is what turns employees into advocates. Customers into promoters. And stores into something that lasts.

ASOTU CON 2026 is already on the horizon. The ideas are not the hard part. The work is in applying them before everyone else does.