Mulligans are for golf, not for businesses that fail to comply with government regulations intended to protect customer information.

The dictionary defines manifesto as “a declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of an individual or group to promote new ideas with prescriptive notions for carrying out changes the author believes should be made.”

Every dealer will benefit who has and abides by a compliance manifesto. Key points describe the heart, soul, hope and future the dealer has strived to build into the business and its people.

Some dealers deserve to hang a copy on the wall. They want to preserve the results of hard work. They want to continue to provide a living for their many employees and to keep the customers they’ve won through business diligence.

But in many dealers’ minds, dealership compliance merits no love, little attention and minimal respect.

Even when regulators swoop in and bad publicity, fines and even lawsuits follow, some dealers remain indifferent about compliance.

At 20 Group, NCM and other peer-practice opportunities, dealers should ask counterparts with a compliance manifesto in place if it has helped them avoid, minimize or sidestep a data breach; kept workers healthy and safe; and ensured fair and honest treatment of all consumers through compliant F&I practices.

I think I know their answer.

Regardless of personal feelings about compliance pressure that governments, regulators and public opinion place on businesses today, complying with pervailing regulations and law is a reality.

I started my compliance consulting business after spending years as a dealer and working for dealers. I noticed how various dealers thought about, responded to and complied with regulations.

Few wanted or felt they had the time to understand the many rules governing so many nooks and crannies of their business and how to respond to them. Few are familiar with the verbiage lawyers and civil servants use to author regulations.

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