Route 66 Dealers Urged to Leverage Shared Strengths – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – There’s no hiding the fact that Route 66 RV Network dealers tend to be a strongly independent bunch.
But likewise, they know the power of teamwork and partnership as they try to compete with mega-dealers through the strength of shared risks and rewards with other dealers who have joined their ranks after being recommended to the board of directors.
That teamwork and overcoming challenges was a strong emphasis during Tuesday morning’s Opening Session of the 2024 Route 66 Rally at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs.
Co-founder Rob Merrill urged members not to dwell on challenges or be discouraged by obstacles that arise in their business paths. He said those who rise above become stronger through adversity.
“This is a great time to grow,” he said. “We don’t learn when we’re coasting downhill and everything is going our way. Challenges translate into opportunities.”
He also reminded members that they aren’t facing the challenges alone, thanks to the strength and value of the other network members who are on their side.
During the session he outlined a number of resources that can assist dealers, including new methods of improving fixed ops and warranty administration.
Other programs that can help dealers include a new F&I menu, digital marketing and an employee benefit plan that offers cost savings and can improve employee satisfaction through health care solutions.
But if any dealers needed some real-life encouragement in overcoming obstacles, that came during the keynote speech from Second Lt. Melissa Stockwell, who on April 15, 2004, became the first female member of the U.S. Army to lose a limb in combat.
“The lesson I began to learn that day was, ‘How do you handle an unforeseen tragedy,” she told the crowd.
Stockwell had been an ROTC student at the University of Colorado at Boulder when the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred. She said she knew her life would change when she graduated.
She was sent to active duty in Iraq commanding a small group and was riding in the back of a military vehicle with that group on patrol when an improvised explosive device went off as the vehicle entered an underpass.
She was the only one severely injured, but it wasn’t in her nature to give up on life because of the loss of her leg.
“I had choices,” she said. “I looked at myself and I thought, ‘Holy cow I’m lucky.”
During her time in recovery in the military hospital, she met people such as Tom Hanks and Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne. She also met presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
She launched the next phase of her life, which she called Melissa Stockwell 2.0, with a prosthetic leg she calls Little Leg.
Since then, she has participated in numerous Paralympic games and, rather than mourning her loss, she celebrates the day of her injury with what she calls Happy Birthday Little Leg.
“I was able to tap into the potential I always had,” she said. “You just have to start by believing in yourself.
“By choosing to live, you wake up knowing the sun will come up,” she continued. “Rise up and come into the light.”
Down to Business
To finish the session, Merrill announced the winner of the Dave Francis Distinguished Partner Award.
Merrill said Route 66 leadership was hesitant to honor Ride Digital with the award because it is a part of the network. But the advisory board insisted, and in fact voted unanimously for Ride Digital.
Merrill said that, although initially hesitant, he was gratified that the members hold Ride Digital in such high regard, as it is a program that had been requested by dealers several years ago.
Also during the session, new members were recognized including Miller’s RV in Louisiana; Royal Coach RV Sales in California; A to Z RV Center in Florida; Zabukovich RV in Colorado; Bobby Combs RV Center with locations in Arizona, Idaho and Oregon, and County Line Campers in Mississippi.
