Maybe I’m just different…

I don’t get awed by the movies when you see some mega display of technology, an overwhelming force of machinery that’s supposed to incite some type of powerful emotion, be it fear or anything else. 

Nope, I go the other way…

Think James Bond in Skyfall, when he takes M back to the Bond estate in Scotland and defends it in the most primitive of ways. Yes, that movie is where the title of this article comes from.

Why this example? Because we are presented with the latest and greatest technology every other week, we often forget to utilize what we already have available to us. 

Because life seems as though it is always on hyperdrive, we keep seeking that quick fix, that awesome tool that’s going to make everything so much easier. Every now and then, game-changing tools hit the market and shake things up for the better. 

I will always be inspired by the awesome power and industry-standard reset that Work Truck Solutions became more than a decade ago. However, those excellent technological disruptors like Work Truck Solutions are rarer than we think.

EVERY dealer should have that tool, and properly use that technology. 

But let’s not forget the point of technology in the first place: it’s a tool for us to use to make our lives better, more efficient, take headaches away, even if it isn’t new and shiny. 

We often underutilize the powerful tech that is usually sitting in the palm of our hand. It’s time to maximize the tools we already have to improve our daily lives. Be proactive in that quest.

First, the aforementioned Work Truck Solutions: are all your vehicle listings complete? Are all your pictures posted, or at least the standard photo the company provides of that type of vehicle? How about the descriptions? Are those still being led with “This vehicle has been disinfected and sanitized to prevent Covid-19 exposure?” or worse, “Look great around town taking the kids to soccer in this F-750 Dump Body!” Do you have overlays with a phone number that goes to a general BDC instead of a commercial/fleet-ready resource?

I’ve seen multiple cases of each of those in 2025.

Here’s another, and it’s always ready to help you if you let it: your phone. Remember when we were all amazed at what a “smartphone” was capable of? They seem to have lost the “smart” appeal when we think about them now. 

Here’s a short list of all the things you can, and should, use your phone for in this industry: 

Alarms as reminders for calls, tasks, meetings, even breaks. Sometimes you miss that alert email from Outlook, but that awkward “Marimba” ringtone blaring across the office is an unmistakable focus-shifter sure to get you to switch to the next proper thing.

The notes app for checklists for all of the things you need to get done today or this week, or perhaps for a single client. Remember those “Top Tens” we wrote about in developing a means to accumulate good days? That’s become a standard operating procedure for me. Ask me to prove it the next time we shake hands.

The camera – maybe the most underrated tool of ALL: shoot video of every single chassis style and every single upfit style. Not sure what to say? Open ChatGPT or Grok and have a ball. Get creative and engaging. A minute video at each stop, keep it tight and fun. Post those videos on any of the other apps you have already: LinkedIn, Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube. We know that. Do we do it?

Here’s a better one still using that camera: selfie notes. After every single call, every single meeting, whip out your phone, go to the camera, set it on video, and mirror it so it’s on selfie mode. Take a minute or so to recap the conversation you just had in your own words and tones. Make yourself laugh. Point at the camera to challenge yourself. “Put this in your calendar, Will, you are meeting with Ken Taylor at CTT Plumbing at 11:30 on Tuesday. He likes Woody’s Barbeque and loves the nickname, ‘Coach’.” 

When you get back to the office, watch it again and act on it immediately. Keep the video, then watch it again before you go to sleep (My wife laughed at me as I typed that sentence, by the way…). Multiple studies in the last fifteen years show that we retain 20-30% more information from the day if we review it within an hour of going to sleep. Imagine for a moment if you could recall 20-30% more of the information of ANY conversation. That’s powerful. 

We have so many helpful, powerful tools in our periphery that are already enough technology to make us “dangerous” in the same spirit portrayed in Skyfall. Use them. Maximize them. 

That way, when the next industry standard-setter comes along, be it tomorrow or ten years from now, you’re ready to find out how to truly maximize that one, too.