PA car dealer Gary Barbera on the importance of ‘sticking to the fundamentals’

Chances are if you’ve been in or around Philly you’re familiar with Barbera on the Boulevard, home to the Barbera Bear. Recognized by FCA as Philadelphia’s number one volume dealer in both new and pre-owned vehicles, the dealership has been consistently serving the area for over 30 years. On today’s show, we welcome Gary Barbera, Founder of Barbera’s Autoland, and Barbera Cares Division to discuss today’s inventory and chip concerns.

Barbera says this is a great time to double down on our fundamentals. He says he’s trying to be a better leader, recognizing he has to be a great employee first. He doesn’t want this time to be a blur. We should come out of it better, stronger, and more prepared than ever before. I still feel like my brother and I still have our training wheels on, says Barbera. He says he truly stays in tune with what he can change. Do with what you know works when all else fails. He says if he had a choice, he would keep a 45-days supply. He says he rather be his banker’s best friend than the zoning office.

When it comes to Barbera Care Division, someone asked Barbera, when will he stop, he answered, when the kids stop enjoying it. Although prices have increased with supplies, he made it a priority to purchase backpacks for kids to kickstart their first week of school.

I think you have to build people, says Barbera. You should find out, how well they can do in the automotive space. He thinks if you put people in a bad environment, you can make a good person bad. Barbera says people are entitled to repetition. He thinks employees come to dealers as a ‘C-‘ and it’s up to you to bring them to a ‘B’ and if they want, they can take themselves to an ‘A’. He says it’s his job to bring his friends or colleagues to a scoring position every day.

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