Our country was founded under principles and ideals we expected to live by, including fairness, justice, honesty, transparency and ethical behavior.
Regardless of your political beliefs, anyone can see Lady Liberty’s scales of justice falling under the weight of character—or, shall I say, lack of character.
I see it, and I cannot keep quiet any longer.
You may wonder what the American justice system has to do with RV dealership marketing and advertising. Unfortunately, it has a great deal to do with it.
Fair justice for all, among our country’s foundational beliefs, is becoming polluted with self-interests overwhelming what is best for everyone.
The Statute of Liberty, Lady Justice, always seemed to me to be upbeat, positive and confident she would do what is fair and proper. Unfortunately, her health is under attack and her age is showing.
The attitude and lack of character attacking justice have found their way into your business, but you probably do not realize it yet. Here are a few topics we will discuss today regarding your marketing partners, leaders and vendors.
Fair is Fair
“Fair is fair” used to mean precisely that. Now, it seems that “fair is fair” means an action is OK because others are doing it or someone did it in another industry, so it must be OK.
Fairness in marketing is no longer straightforward.
Fairness has been tainted by a mentality that says, “If I feel like it’s fair to me, then it must be fair to them.” This dangerous mindset undermines core ethical business practices.
In the RV dealership world, this can lead to misleading advertisements, exaggerated claims or even false testimonials. When fairness is compromised, trust erodes and long-term relationships suffer.
For example, a vendor may exaggerate a claim about a product’s significance. This happens often, and it severely harms businesses that want to align with honest and transparent people. When marketing companies put selling above truth, they often justify it with “fair is fair.”
You should seek to do business with integrity and companies focusing on building more robust, more trusting relationships with you. Fair should be fair.
Are We Aligned?
Legal system participants will say they are there to help, but their moves have been suspicious. That statement is a flat-out shame.
When people mislead by saying their motivation is aligned with ours, they display a character deficiency. In the RV marketing world, you need to determine whether your vendors’ motivations align with yours.
I am not so sure they are.
True motivation in business should be aligned with a mission to provide genuine value to clients. However, in many cases, the drive to accumulate as many clients as possible leads to a rinse-and-repeat approach to creativity, product and execution. This approach prioritizes quantity over quality, resulting in numerous superficial engagements rather than meaningful, long-lasting relationships.
This can be particularly detrimental among RV dealerships. You are making significant investments, often with long-term financial and emotional implications. When a vendor’s motivation is purely driven by profits, service quality and customer satisfaction inevitably suffer.
Aligning motivation with genuine customer care ensures a successful partnership. When motivations truly align, a great partnership can be built. Everything starts with character.
Do What is Right
When it came to difficult decisions, my late father always asked me the gut test. “What does your gut say? Does it feel right?”
Today it seems the definition of what is right is changing to “what is right for me and only me.”
Doing the right thing should be an unwavering business principle. It should not be flexible or subject to change based on convenience or self-interest.
Among RV dealerships, trusting businesses to do what is right is paramount. Dealers today rely on marketing companies to provide accurate information, fair prices and honest advice. Businesses betray this trust when redefining “right” to suit their needs.
I strongly suggest you develop a genuine sense of doing the right things. When you observe your vendors or marketing companies not doing what is right, address it immediately.
Transparency or Spinning?
When facts are spun to misrepresent the truth, transparency and honesty has left the building.
Transparency in marketing and business practices is crucial to building trust and credibility with employees, consumers and partners.
To be transparent, you must provide clear, straightforward information consumers can easily understand and rely upon. On the other hand, spinning a situation by using big words or complicated data creates confusion. These deceptive actions should be completely unacceptable.
Unfortunately, I am seeing it more often.
This is easy to do if you want to create confusion with numbers. Instead, your marketing people should provide clear, honest information that avoids confusion and jargon.
Vendors who prioritize transparency over spin stand out as trustworthy, easy to understand, and avoid confusion by avoiding big words and complicated jargon. These qualities are increasingly rare but valuable to you.
Everyone Has the Same Goal
We all should be focused on the same goal—an ethical, honest and truth-driven justice system. I am not sure you can see that everywhere in the judicial system today.
People are motivated by several things besides justice, and I find this very scary. In business, recognizing that people are motivated by different goals is crucial.
You can see this clearly when a vendor holds a dealer to a contract despite the dealer wanting to break the deal because of poor performance. Typically, this situation arises because a company over-promised and severely under-delivered.
Take Responsibility
Taking responsibility in business means acknowledging your mistakes and actively working to rectify them.
This is not simply assigning blame.
Today, it seems all we get are selfish people with selfish interests. This character trait can lead to only one thing—a lack of accountability.
Being responsible is crucial for maintaining trust and satisfaction with dealers. Improvement is key.
Your marketing team should strive to improve each month. This proactive approach contrasts sharply with blaming others.
Some marketing aspects will work; others will not. Do not fall into the blame game. All across America, selfish accountability is closer to you than you think.
Discover True Motives
Discovering true motives may be more difficult now than it ever has been. True motives do not always align with what people pretend to represent.
Boy, do we see this today with many marketers. What they say and what they do are entirely different.
You must discern the true motives behind your marketing team’s actions and representations. Many marketers may say they champion customer interests, but their motives are purely profits.
The disconnect between what these marketers say they represent and how they genuinely act can lead to customer disillusionment and mistrust.
To me, ferreting out the problems begins with short-term or long-term contracts. When an RV dealer wants to end a contractual relationship, their so-called partners will not allow it because of their contract.
I interpret this to mean their true motive is selfish and not in the dealers’ business interest. You must be able to determine your partners’ true motives before ever signing a long-term contract.
Ethical or Justified?
Finally, we must do the ethical thing.
We can justify our actions until the cows come home, but ethics are simple.
What does your gut tell you? Does it feel right?
Make sure you check your gut every time because the problems around us and the rest of the country have come to our business. Stay on your toes.
Ron Wheeler is founder and principal at Wheeler Advertising. Ron has been a speaker at RVDA for more than 30 years and at NADA for more than 18 years.
