Media Inquiries
Jeff Morrill
For speaking engagements, podcast guest appearances, and all other media inquiries, Please use the form at the bottom of the page.
Biography:
Jeff Morrill co-founded Planet Subaru, “your undealership,” in 1998, and built it into one of the most successful privately-held car dealerships in the United States. He later started other businesses in automotive retail, real estate, telecommunications, and insurance that generate over $100,000,000 in annual revenue. His achievements in building profitable and ethical companies have been featured in a variety of national media including USA Today, Entrepreneur Magazine, Automotive News, The Boston Globe, and others. Jeff is the author of Profit Wise: How to Make More Money in Business by Doing the Right Thing. He is donating all his royalties to charity.
Jeff is a strict vegetarian, even though people tell him it's a big missed steak to eat that way. However, he does like his puns well done. Jeff lives with his wife, Julie, outside Charlottesville, Virginia, on a mountain he refers to as “The Morrill High Ground.”
Pronunciation
Morrill like “moral high ground”
Bookseller Inquiries and permissions:
Tom Corson-Knowles
TCK Publishing
tom[at] tckpublishing [dot] com
Testimonial:
“Profit Wise is filled with much great advice from someone who has learned the lessons of business and what it takes to be successful in life. Thank you for sharing your masterpiece. Very starfully done!” —Thomas J. Doll, Subaru of America President and CEO
Excerpts:
From Chapter 1, Take the High Road to Raise the Bottom Line:
Author E.L. Doctorow said of driving in fog at night, “You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” He was referring to the art of beginning a novel, but his keen observation also applies to business and life: you can’t prepare for every possible eventuality at the beginning of a project. For most things, you just have to get started and figure it out as you go.
My brother and I opened our first company, Planet Subaru, in Massachusetts on October 2, 1998. John was thirty-two and I was twenty-six. We did not begin with any financial wealth, inherited or otherwise. We had some modest savings, and we borrowed a few hundred thousand dollars to purchase and capitalize the business. Then we borrowed a few million more to pay for all the cars. We were perilously leveraged, so we needed to achieve profitability immediately. The predecessor dealership, Norwell Subaru, had opened in April, went bankrupt in August, and lost a half million dollars in between.
From Chapter 3, Hiring:
Hire the right person even if they have no experience. Many jobs are straightforward enough that the right people can learn the fundamentals and start contributing quickly, even if they’ve never done the job before. You can’t change someone’s character, work ethic, or native intelligence, but you can develop skills. For example, the US Navy spends years training fighter pilots. But how about the personnel on aircraft carrier decks who launch the screaming jets into the air with steam catapults? Some load high explosives while others taxi the aircraft. These extremely hazardous positions require expert abilities, but the Navy qualifies sailors to perform these jobs in less than a year. These twenty-somethings play supersonic dodgeball with 30-ton war machines on a frenzied air station smaller than a football field. Remember this next time you’re tempted to run a recruiting ad that requires five years of experience and a master’s degree.
From Chapter 4, Leading the Team
Be cautious with outside executives. Former House Speaker Sam Rayburn said, “A jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a carpenter to build one.” It’s the same for your culture—the wrong hire can cause significant damage. The more authority given to a position, the more harm outside hires can do to your culture, because they have more power to screw things up. We believe in growing and promoting our own team members so we know exactly what kind of people are making the important decisions for the company. Plus, morale increases when your people see a meritocratic path to advancement. Since new hires are unknown quantities, we prefer to bring them in at entry-level positions, where we can immerse them in our ways of doing things, and then let the cream rise to the top.
Interview/Podcast Topics and Questions:
(Check out selected podcast appearances)
Tell me about the accident that led you write your book on starting and running ethical businesses.
How do you become a smooth listener instead of a smooth talker?
What do you mean when you say that hiring process should “look for soldiers instead of just people who might look good in a uniform?”
How can businesses improve their recruiting ads to attract better applicants?
Why is it never the wrong time to hire the right person?
What do you mean when you say that we live in a business culture that fetishizes metrics?
What are common mistakes that many businesses make with their most important marketing medium: their own website?
What’s the difference between accountability and punishment?
How can business owners avoid burning out?
Why do most guys have so few real friends?
What have you learned about publishing that would be helpful for listeners interested in writing their first book?
What is the single most important function of a business owner?
What do you mean when you write that people should live with “love in the model?”
Bookseller Sell Sheet:
Title: Profit Wise: How to Make More Money in Business by Doing the Right Thing
Author: Jeff Morrill
Genre: Business and Money
Price: $12.99
Pages: 95
ISBN: 978-1-63161-102-5
Publication date: 2/28/21
Synopsis: A serial ethical entrepreneur explores the relationship between high profits and pro-social business decisions, and helps readers implement these practices.
Formats available: Kindle, paperback, audio
Available at Amazon.com