Latest / CBT Live / Car Payments Head for an October Record, Mobile Service, Back to the Floor (10.23.26)

Transcript

Car Payments Head for an October Record, Mobile Service, Back to the Floor (10.23.26) · CBT Live

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Mobile service, how dealers can take the service lane directly to the customer.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: Plus, from management back to the showroom floor, why one manager made the unexpected move.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_03: All that more coming up right now on CBT Live.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much for joining us on another edition of CBT Live, right on the CBT Automotive Network.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: Today's Friday, October 23rd.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: Where's this year going, Bridget?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm joined by Bridget Martin.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Bridget Fitzpatrick, it's so nice to have you all with us today.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's crazy.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_03: October 23rd, that's nuts.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what to think about all this.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: It is amazing.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh it's the last quarter, guys.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_03: You can uh you guys gotta pour it on this last quarter.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_03: Try to make up whatever you uh fell short of for the year, right?
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: This this is the quarter.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: And we've got a great show coming up for you all today on this Friday.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Coming up, Jeremy Stevens, remote operations director of Bozard Ford Lincoln.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: He will join us with an update on how mobile service is working at his store.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: And then Paul Tomba, Tom Thompson, I think it is.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: Thompson.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: Client advisor for Motorworks in Barrington, Illinois, also known as the uh Vincierge across social media.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: He joins us live to share his journey from management back to the showroom floor.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: Can't wait to talk to him about that.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: You don't hear that very often, so no, because everybody works so hard to get to management.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: I know, right?
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: But he's got a unique twist on it.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: He's a uh internet sensation, I say a sensation.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: But uh he does some great, you know, great uh videos on social media and how much I'm a big fan of social media, right?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's something that every salesperson I think should be doing out there.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: And he does a really good job at that.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: I know, he does.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to talk to him.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: I am very excited to talk to him as well as Jeremy Stevens.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: So he's also with the Mergado Group, which as you know is one of the premier auto groups out there, um, run by Mario Mergado and and his son Mario Jr.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, good for the club.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: Two great car individuals that uh have grown so incredibly uh over the last 10 years, 15 years.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we actually got a gift recently, so I think we're gonna share the gift.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: Ah, yeah.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Our audience.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, somebody's not somebody, but Kyle Disher.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_03: Kyle Disher at Rev Dojo.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: So you can set them right to a photo of them too.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, Kyle Disher of Rev Dojo.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: His girlfriend Gigi, I think, was behind this a little bit as well.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um very nice.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: We really appreciate it.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it was taken from a photo that you had uh head up.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really cool how this doll creator um actually from my picture on uh on f on LinkedIn, I think.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Or Facebook.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: Or Facebook.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: Something like that.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, we wanted to thank Kyle for this really cool gift.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's really cool.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean it's that's right.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's like and Bridget is already sticking pins in this one when I'm not around.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, do you think that uh I said, yeah, you don't want to you might not want to leave it alone for too long.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: No, but for those of you that don't know, Kyle Disher um has come in a number of times now, and uh what he does is really cool.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: We love it when he comes in.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: He calls dealerships to find and and he puts them live right here, you know, on the show.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: And uh he'll call dealerships to and say, All right, I'm interested in a car that's on your um website and you know gives them some information and what have you, and the people will say, Oh yeah, no, we don't have that car in stock anymore.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: And he's like, Oh, all right, well, uh, I guess I'll just like look around then and they're like, Yeah, okay.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thanks for calling.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: Not a phone number, not an email, not a what other cars are you looking at, whatever, you know.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, everybody knows in the car business that the number of people that call the car dealership or come in for a specific car usually never drive out in the car that they requested or the car that they came in to look at.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's maybe like 20% of the time.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they'll come in for a specific car, they drive out in something completely different or a different color, or a different equipment, or whatever.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes they'll see something on a lot and go, well, wait a minute, what about this one?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: What about that one?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: So I it's a real eye-opener.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: We do like three or four different dealerships, and no, none of them he comes in and says, I'm gonna give a$250 um cash reward for the first person that sets an appointment with me.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_03: That's all he's looking for is somebody to say, hey, when is a good time for you to come down to the dealership and take a look at one of the 300 vehicles that we have in stock?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_03: I know you're calling on a Toyota Corolla, but we've got a whole group of other vehicles that would fit your automotive needs that fall into that same category.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_03: Nope.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: Nobody, none of them.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: And he's done it now three or four times.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_03: And he's never gotten anybody to set the appointment.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Just goes to show you.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: I know.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: You need great training, right?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: Get me started.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Kyle does that, a lot of really great companies.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: Kyle does do a good job of that, yes.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Including our sponsor of the day.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a nice little segue into the sponsor of the day.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: No Verde does it also.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Verdi Group is the industry leader for online sales training.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, content that covers every step of the sales process.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Your sales team will sell more units with better gross and greater customer satisfaction.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: Get your new hires up to speed fast, keep your entire team sharp, and sell more cars.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's what they do at Jovi.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's as simple as that.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_03: Training, training, and more training.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I do have a few news stories to get to before we talk to our guests today.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we talk about this a lot on CBT News because it is important to the industry.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: But according to a new forecast from JD Power and Global Data, new vehicle sales are expected to remain relatively flat in October, but monthly payments are continuing to climb.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: They are in October, they are now$823.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: The highest ever recorded for the month of October.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um automakers are increasing incentives to help keep buyers in the market.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Average incentives are expected to reach$3,300 per vehicle, up 13% from a year ago.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And hybrids continue to gain ground, as we know, accounting for an estimated 18.6% of retail sales.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: Hybrids, that's hence the reason Mary Barra came out and said we're going to be coming out with a lot of hybrids models, which is great news for GM dealers for sure.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: We will be on top of that to make sure everybody knows when and how that works.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe we'll bring Mary Barra in.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: If any of you dealers know Mary Barra's cell number, could you uh send that over to us?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: Because we'd love to reach out to her.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we'd love to.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: Get her on the show.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we've seen her on CNBC.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: We would love to have her on.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: We would love to have her on one day, for sure.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so this next story is kind of baffles me a little bit.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Tesla says it wants to begin selling its cybercab to customers before the end of the year.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So during the company's third quarter earnings call, Tesla's vice president of vehicle vehicle.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Don't laugh at me.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm from Virginia, and every once in a while I say vehicle.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Vehicle.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's like it's two words or something.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: Just vehicle.
• 6:56
  unknown: Okay.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: Engineering.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: He said the company hopes to begin getting cybercabs into customers' hands in 2026.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is a two-seat autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel, no pedal.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: Look at it.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: We're showing it right now.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: No, no pedals and no traditional mirrors.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: The um NHTA is currently investigating how Tesla determined that the cyber cab meets federal vehicle safety standards.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I think those standards generally require equipment like steering wheels brakes.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's a new world we live in though.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's a new world.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: We've got to update the standards.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then CEO Elon Musk says that most cybercabs are expected to remain part of Tesla's own ride hailing network.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll follow this too.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: It seems to be a little bit um premature.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_03: Why?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: You're not ready for this technology?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_03: Slow down.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_03: I just I mean, we we live in Atlanta, and our studios are here in Atlanta, and you can't well if you go down to Atlanta, as you know, uh, you know, those those vehicles are running, those taxis are running all over the place with no no driver.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying we won't be there because we will, but I'm saying by the end of the year, I mean I've seen the videos of the situation.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_03: There's we're showing them right now, there's no there's no steering wheel in them.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Or brake pedal or mirrors.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I will say that when you think about this, our our grandchildren who are ages from four to ten, um, they will probably have a car like that.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: It'd be interesting if people won't even need a driver's license.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's crazy.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here for it.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Remember you used to say, I don't know.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: Can you take me up to the uh park or take me up to the uh mall or something like that?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: We won't have any malls and we won't have any more steering wheels.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: You just say, take the car wherever you want to take it.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's dangerous.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: So finally, this this story I like.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's a little something different to share for heading into the weekend.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Ford is celebrating its Raptor Performance Trucks with a new campaign directed by Ben Affleck and featuring actor Joe Burndhal.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: The campaign takes a look at how the Raptor came to life, and it's a pretty interesting story because back in mid-2000s, a small group of Ford engineers wanted to build a production truck inspired by off-road desert racing.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: So getting the project off the ground wasn't easy for them, according to Ford's video, which they'll be, I think it airs tomorrow.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: The Raptor was canceled six times before finally getting the green light.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: The first F-150 Raptor arrived in 2010.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And today the lineup includes the F-150 Raptor, Bronco Raptor, and Ranger Raptor.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: Both Affleck and Burnthal are Raptor owners themselves.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: That's interesting.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: And it features three of the original engineers behind the truck as well in that campaign.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: So we don't yet have a video of that, of that.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: It's right there.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: But it will, I think it's like making its debut.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, we're showing it.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's probably the engineers.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: So we can't show a sound yet?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you want to?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: We can.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: Is it a 30-second clip, guys?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_03: Is it a couple of minutes?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's it's no.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_03: But we'll show it.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: It's cool.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's available on our site.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll put it on our side.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_03: By the way, not a cheap vehicle, a raptor.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: That is an exclusive.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: No, and they did they were so popular.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's an it's nice, but wow, and you can't you can't get them.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: I think they've got um like a$20,000 premium on them or something.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: Some crazy number.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Very cool.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Incredible.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_03: And but if you have one and you buy it um down in Florida at this dealership, I happen to know where they have mobile service and they'll come out and they'll fix the raptor right at your home.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: That is cool.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_03: That is really cool.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't that neat?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: So mobile service is still one of the biggest conversations in fixed ops, but how do you make it work beyond a few vans and a really good idea?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: Today we're catching up with Jeremy Stevens, who's at Bozard Ford Lincoln, uh, to talk about what's working and what's changing and what others can learn from their experience.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: These guys are the leaders in mobile service, dealerships all over the country, if not the world, look to Bozard Ford to say, how have you made this work so well with so many vehicles?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's incredible.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the show.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to the show, Jeremy.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you for having me.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: First and foremost, I want that chair that you're sitting in.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_03: That is a really cool desk chair.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what that is, but it looks pretty cool.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's one of I think it's one of those gaming chairs.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have the heated seats or massages yet, so I'm not there yet.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I think.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, welcome in.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: First and foremost, how is business at Beaux Art Ford today?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it is it is doing great.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh business is very good.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: We keep we keep growing and keep searching.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um car sales is good.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's just overall, we're in a good spot.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you are.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: You are, there's no question about it.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: And you're you're a machine down there.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's a high volume store, obviously high volume in service as well.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_03: You saw the Raptor commercial that we were showing, I'm sure.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: What did you think about that?
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: You guys have a lot?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty cool.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um that is still a popular vehicle.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if you get one, yeah, we can definitely do mobile service with it too.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: The guys love doing services on those trucks.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, for sure.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: So mobile service has been at the forefront of a lot of dealers' minds right now in terms of you know how to how to do it, what's involved in it, can you make money at it?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: Ford has leaned into it.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: You guys have really leaned into it with Ford in doing that.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: Talk to us about this sizable operation that you've built.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: How many trucks do you have in service now?
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So right now there's 47.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: And seven.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we their last one was uh detail.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: So we kind of started doing a little bit of mobile detail and just uh, you know, this and that.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that kind of turned in just doing fleets um vehicles because there's an opportunity there.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and it just keeps growing.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm looking, so I'm in involved in a lot of networking events and community stuff, and the word is still not out on the streets that mobile service even exists.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So when I'm looking at our scale and I can look at the appointments we're doing, yeah, we can still get more appointments and free our main shop up to do the bigger repairs.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: So there's endless opportunities out there.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, for sure.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, with that being a challenge, how how do you get the customers to really understand or get how do you get the word out that you have this mobile service for your clients or your customers?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: So several different ways.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, a lot of times what we had to do is kind of start internally and and educate our own employees and encourage them to do mobile service.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And we actually did a a special with them, you know, months ago that says, hey, set a mobile service up on a Saturday so you can experience the whole entire thing.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because once they start seeing that, oh man, this is nice, I can sit at my house with my kids while they change the service.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, of course, we started with our our communication center, our BDC center.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And just when when we kind of we had to start with what we can do and what we can't do.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as they said all change or recall, it's like, hey, great news, we can do that mobile, we can do that in your driveway or your place of business.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where we started getting the most momentum from just doing that little tweak right there.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's pretty cool.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: Now, with 47 vehicles out there, you must be doing service on vehicles that are outside your PMA, right?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we we sell a lot of vehicles outside our PMA.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're very we do a lot of fleet customers and stuff like that.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we're we're stretched pretty good because we got customers, you know, all over the place.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it has been availability to just keep on stretching and growing.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: What talk to us about the fleet business.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that was a big part.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_03: Last time we we spoke to you, that was a big part of your operation, and you kind of felt as though that was a a major uh driver for your growth.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it is starting to really pay off now.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: I was it got to the point where I was kind of discouraged because I was going to networking events.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: We had a a team of people going to.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: We've I'm in the sales meetings, we're all working and sharing customers, and then all of a sudden, about that six to eight months, it started trickling in, and now it's really starting to pay off big time.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, great.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: But then it also created some more opportunities with some other, you know, makes and models, not just Ford.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's it kind of branched into more of some medium duty stuff too.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's when I tell people we're just scratching at the surface, it is there's so much opportunity out there.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, people that are on the fence about it, it's like you need to just go ahead and jump on in and get it built and running.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_03: What do you hear from uh your counterparts at other dealerships that aren't yet um that haven't made the leap yet into mobile service?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: What are some of their concerns about it?
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some of their concerns is is it just a little fad, basically?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is this just like a one-time and then it sizzles off?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I get that question a lot.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: But most of the time, will it actually make money?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Is it profitable?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: And we have been able to do that.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and even, you know, I have a mastermind group that I work with, a couple other dealerships, and and they're making it work.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: It is profitable.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and plus the repeat business.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, customers are calling our technicians by name, saying, hey, I want Patrick back at my, I want just I want these people back at my house doing my service.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it I love it because it creates that relationship with the technicians.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And now I got technicians that say, hey, so-and-so customer, they're so cool.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: They did this, they got this kind of car.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: So that's great.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's awesome to see the full circle of it.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: And having said that, when you when you can build that kind of relationship, you can be almost certain that that customer is not going to jump brand or go to another dealership to buy their next car if they've got, if they're feeling that good about their service technician and or the overall mobile service concept from your dealership, right?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's that's definitely true because once you got, I always tell them, once you got this big old belt, this billboard in somebody's driveway and and the neighborhoods in Florida, you're talking three or four hundred houses, and you got people in and out to the point where our technicians have business cars because the neighbors come in there and just they're curious and they want to know, hey, can you do I have to buy Ford?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or you know, they they always ask these questions, and and it's pretty cool to see that relationship build.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and why would they buy a car from anybody else once they see that service?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: But what about all the retirees in Florida?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: Don't they still want to come by for the free donuts and the coffee in the waiting room?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: We do, we do have a couple of them that likes to you know go and meet people and just kind of talk trash back and forth.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: But then we got the other ones that that we call kind of the lawn chair customers that put a lawn chair out, just have a good conversation with them and miss them while they're working.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: I uh cut my teeth in the car business in South Florida, and I can remember the retirees would come in and not only would they sit in the customers' waiting lounge, but they'd find their way into the salespeople's office and sit down in their chairs, or or they would want to go out and talk to the technician that was working on their cars.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: That was my dad, actually.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: He was he was if you're in Winchester, Virginia, I apologize for my dad.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: It was right out of the uh, I think it's GEICO or progressive insurance commercials where it's you don't want to be your parents, you know.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_03: And uh that that's what they would be doing.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: So what are you what are you doing to my car today?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: I may do that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like my dad.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so have you been able to expand on the types of repairs that you handle?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: We have.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: So in the beginning, we just kind of started on recalls and light maintenance work, and and that's where most of everybody goes, and that's great on that piece.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: But we had a shop capacity issue a couple years ago where it took a couple weeks to get people's cars in.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we started doing a little bit more diagnostics where we're doing check engine lights, and and our thought was at least if we can get it diagnosed, then we can get it into their main shop.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: But then it's like, well, shoot, we can go ahead and do it all there because it really doesn't require a lift.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we so we started offering that, and then you know, we started we did have one tire van, and that business grew a little bit, so we added a second tire van.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And these two tire van fans are booked up, you know, pretty much throughout the whole entire week.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And last year we added uh AC, um, we put a like an AC machine on a van to start doing diagnostics and repairs on air conditioning.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, it stays booked up too.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: And and what's cool about it, everybody says you're taking work away from the main shop, but our main shop hasn't skipped a beat.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: It just creates more opportunities and you're able to get more customers in that same day or next day.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: What percentage of the jobs, if any, um, do you go out to that you can't you realize or the technician realizes, you know what, this car is going to need to come into the shop.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm not gonna be able to complete the service and we're gonna have to make an appointment for them to come into the shop.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: Or does that ever happen?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: It does happen.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh sometimes we get to the point it's like we've exhausted everything and and we just cannot get it done.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or and what we don't want to do is disassemble a car and leave it there overnight.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: So at some point, there is some times that we have to kind of you know cut it loose and have a tow truck, our tow truck or pickup and delivery get the vehicle.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if I had to guess, it may happen maybe one or two times a day, but that's out of about a you know, anywhere from eighty eighty to a hundred and some appointments.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's really wow, really not that much.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, that's incredible.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_03: How many appointments on average could one truck handle in a day?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it always there's not exact number because of the type of the jobs that we do, but if yeah, but depending on the traffic and stuff, I see on average anywhere from four to six appointments a day.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: If it's a fleet thing, I mean I think some of our guys can get 10 or 12 done in one day.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: It just kind of depends on the type of work they have.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: But on on average, we can definitely clear four or four a day.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_03: What do you think some dealers are still missing about this opportunity?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_03: Or maybe you're just getting wrong.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're overthinking a lot of it.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because it is it is different thinking.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot treat it just like your main shop because there's some variables that you can't control, like travel time.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, your parts department is a huge piece of this because they have to work in the future, so they're having to pull parts and stuff like that.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: But when you break it down, it's not as complicated.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it just they overthink it.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and and then also the financial part of it.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're thinking that you can't make money with it.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: And and why do it if you can't make money with it?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we have definitely proved everything wrong.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Proved them wrong.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about your technicians for a second.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: Do you hire specifically for mobile service techs, or are all technicians qualified for mobile service?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not all technicians should be mobile technicians because you always got that one, this kind of little rough that can fix anything, but it's a little rough.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: course with his words.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because sometimes they may say too much.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: But um but we have a we have a technic we have a Bozarts Tech Technical Institute inside our dealership that kind of works a second shift.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we do a lot of in-house training.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of our guys will come through either quick lane or they'll come out of the BTI, our technical institute through that.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: We do hire from the outside and you know a lot of the times you know instantly when you do a phone interview if you feel confident that they can speak in front of a customer.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: It shouldn't be a struggle.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: It should be easy.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of the customer customer relationship is very important on that piece of it.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and if you meet if you meet the guys and girls on our team they're very easy to talk to they're they can carry a conversation they can explain the repair without going too technical.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So they're kind of a they're kind of an all-around good technician.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: Remind me again Jeremy when someone calls in to set an appointment for service what happens then?
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: Are they then offered the social, I mean the social, the mobile service or is that something that comes from the customer or from your operator?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: So now that we've been doing it so long sometimes the customer only wants mobile service but but they'll definitely tee it up because they kind of know the now we got the experience where they know exactly what kind of service mobile can do and like the recalls we always up the date the recall list.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: So all the BDC has all the information that they have that can make a decision right there on the fly if it's a mobile service or if it's not.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: When someone comes in it sets an appointment and they come into a dealership, they come into the service drive and then the service advisor comes over usually there's a walk around or there's supposed to be a walk around presentation on that vehicle to say hey you know you need tires or we can take care of the dent or what about this or what about that.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_03: Is any of that upselling taking place when someone goes out to the house for a specific service that was requested by the consumer but yet at the end of the day there could be a lot other service done to the car?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah absolutely so our our guys kind of do the pictures where they do the walk around basically and and they start the MPI first.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: And what the technicians are responsible for all the light services like the airfield or cabin and wipers they go ahead and present it to the customer right there on the spot um or they drop in their text message to the customer.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: They have their pricing and stuff like that already on hand.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now if it's something a little bit more complex where we got to check parts and availability on stuff then that gets transferred to our service advisor and they take over that piece of it and they're always communicating.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because you always got to find that way of able to kind of communicate and keep the notes updated because you just don't have that face-to-face contact with the whole entire team.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely communication and and documenting that stuff is so important out in the field.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: I I would imagine too that that technicians become pretty decent salespeople like service advisors are because excuse me because they're a technician so right away they have that level of credibility right and and uh we're where customers might be like oh the technician thinks that I need a new whatever versus a service advisor that makes that same recommendation.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: Is there any am I into something there?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: No you are spot on the technician it is you know some of our techs are very competitive.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So they're they're always comparing I was in our huddle meeting in the morning it's like I got this I upsold this I upsold that and and and it's almost like and I and I did an on-site visit with one of my technicians and he was going over this truck and the owner came out and um he was he was going over it because he just purchased a truck he says yeah whatever this guy says I'm going to say yes because I trust him I was like see that smokes that's a lot of yeah that is a lot of trust but he built that relationship with that company and and it pretty much if he says it then it's yeah it's it's it's that's great isn't it that's that's that's gold that's just what you want right wow that that that is awesome really is yep well Jeremy Stevens remote operations director of Bozard Ford Lincoln thank you so much for giving us all this time today we really appreciate your visit with us.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely thank thank you so much for having me say hello to Mr.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: Roberts Forrest I sure will all right take care all right thanks that's so cool that that yeah you know it's it's taking the way you can take a technician like you just said and and all of a sudden they're a salesperson which typically for a long time it was like technicians are definitely not salespeople you know you want to almost keep them away you know because they'll they'll just tell like a like you kind of touched on they'll tell like it is yeah but um but that's interesting to see that I know that if a technician came to my house and said hey I think the car also needs X, Y, and Z, you'd be the same way.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like oh the technician said it.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_03: Okay I'm in.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_03: You know but it's 47 vehicles on the road that's incredible.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: And you know because we're in a community where if something pulls up across the street from us or in the cul-de-sac or whatever, we're like hey what are they doing over there?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_03: What kind of you know service are they getting done?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: We need to have that on our house right but when a mobile service for your automobile pulls up and then if it shows up at your place of work even that too you've got you know other coworkers there that's like wait I want that.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's right that's right.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: No it's great.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's great.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's pretty cool.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah yep.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: So after more than a decade in management Raul Tomsa so made a move that you don't see often so we're gonna want to talk to him about that he actually went back to selling cars which is kind of cool.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: Known as Vincierge on social media he's built an audience by sharing his perspective on the car business.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_04: Now he's back on the sales floor at Motorworks in Barrington Illinois so what's behind the move Raul thank you so much for joining us thank you so much for having me yeah that's first and foremost how's business there at Motorworks business is going great uh motorworks is a special place we have six brands under one roof which nice one of the main reasons why we why I did what I did I figure I've always got something to sell to someone right now you are we're I think we're showing or we're gonna be showing some videos here of your social media presence you do just an incredible job out there um talk talk to us about that well you know people ask me all the time where do you come up with this and I go 18 years guys eight 18 years I mean I've I've seen it all so um you know you started a few years ago you saw some of the big guys coming up and you thought to yourself man maybe I missed it right maybe I should have started this you know your Rust flip swips your Benz and bow ties yep and uh then one day I went to um uh a a a used car day over at Cars Commerce and I met a two really big creators and one of them said that uh the way they broke in was by posting a video day for 100 days straight and I said oh is that all it takes well you know uh at about the end of the 100 days we hit about 5,000 followers so wow that's great it worked that is awesome congratulations that is great work there so you did you spent years in management but you decided to get back into sales that's not a move like Jim said that you hear about every day what made you want to get back into that into the sales department well um you know how every manager myself included always says when I was on the sales floor oh yeah you know I could show you how it's done oh yeah for sure well I kind of put my money where my mouth was uh the the truth is in getting to know some of these creators um I think being you know here could I reclimb the ladder at any point sure can I be a manager again sure um I thought this might be more interesting this might be more of an interesting story brought for social media and you know you see the the problem I think a lot of times in our business is that we do think that management is reaching the top of the mountain when there are client advisors salespeople all over the country selling you know tens and tens of cars hundred cars plus a month and you know what I think their lives are probably a little bit better than somebody that can just say hey I'm a manager yay you know so I said uh what if I what if I could do that what if that's me so I had to try it.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: That's right and I agree with you that that uh management is not always what it's cracked up to be because you've got you know the the responsibility of maybe 10, 15, 20, 25 individuals underneath you and you know when the dealer gets upset about productivity or the GM, they're pouncing on your head, not the salesperson, right?
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: The salesperson is almost like a free agent out there that can kind of come and go as they want as long as they're selling vehicles.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: It seems to be an easy way to go uh as I was mentioning the other day on this very topic that if you're selling north of 20 25 cars a month you can go pick out the office you want and uh make your own schedule right so it can be a pretty good gig yeah pretty much you're absolutely right so you've built a following as Vincierge am I say am I saying that right like concierge is it a take on that every vehicle has a VIN and I'm your concierge buy sell it doesn't matter you know I've done it all I've been a finance manager and I've been a pre-owned manager at GSM so if it has to do with the car deal yeah I'm a good guy.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: So let me ask you as a former finance manager and uh and used car and you know new car manager and what have you are your managers somewhat intimidated because when you put a deal together you can pretty much structure that deal you know before it ever hits the desk.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, all right I'm gonna put this much in the trade I know when I'm working here I know what the spread is on finance.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_03: I know I mean are they either A letting you do your own deals or B kind of saying all right wait a minute Raul let me let me work this deal my own way they are and we it's a little bit different here the reason why I made this move at Motorworks is because we are actually an A to Z place.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_04: Now however I would probably be A to Z plus right uh I I can appraise a car pretty well and I can structure a deal pretty well and so for my managers they're grateful it's it's one less person that they have to you know for do do a lot more of the work for so um it it works out really great for us you know uh yeah about 95% of my deals are like here you go yeah you know that's for a manager that's a beautiful thing right I mean ultimately you'd you if you were a sales manager I would want you know 10 or 15 Rauls working under me where it makes your life that much easier.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_04: And you know what I thought maybe maybe I'd start a trend maybe more current managers would kind of I I will here I think I think more people should do this.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's probably a huge need in our business of people and you know doing this because one of the the the big things is this is very easy for me.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_04: Selling a car you know retailing an automobile again because of the reps because of the time that because I'm just some kind of car god or whatever I just you put in the reps over the years you you think an F and I you know you spend 60 80 deals a month how over 10 years how many people do you talk to right?
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah so um I I would really like to see sort of nationwide more GMs more owners kind of looking at my path and saying you know could I use a Vincierge on my sales floor?
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_04: Why did you uh come up with that name to go by on social media versus your own name I actually put in a lot of thought into this because I did think that maybe this might grow to something bigger than me.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe this could be a brand maybe I I you know early on I go I don't know if this is a new sales process is this going to be a marketing company is this gonna I don't know right okay so I I did want it to be something that what does every vehicle have and that is a VIN and what do I do is I'm like a concierge so you put it together and again my hope was that maybe this grows to something bigger than me.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah for sure you're you're very very creative on the videos that you're doing where you're uh sometimes on both sides you're the manager talking to you or you're talk to me about that because that's not your I mean you go kind of the extra level on putting those videos together.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_04: I consume a lot of social media so I try to put out something that I would want to consume.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_04: It's got to be this is partly a creative outlet for me.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_04: Okay um I know I'm not an author I'm not a writer you know what I mean but I know I I have I'm a very sarcastic person uh you know by just who I am Ryan Reynolds being probably my favorite actor and and so okay I think through humor through sarcasm sure you can sort of make points now here a lot of you know I'm I'm not a bad guy I will tell you that much you know I'm a happily married father of four I'm a deacon in my church I'm a pretty and and when I tell you the last thing I wanted in my life at 37 38 years this far into my career was to become a social media content creator is the was the billionth thing on my list.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_04: However looking at the way the world is turning yeah you know I said well if others are doing it why can't I?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_04: Sure and uh how do I teach people how do I give people an insight into what we do and uh you know you do it through humor is probably one of the better ways.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah I agree.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: So talk to us about the big following actually helping with customers and sales.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_04: Do you turn views and engagement into real business I've got an appointment later today for a gentleman that wants to order brand new 911 from me there you go from TikTok.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_04: So it it is uh there's a a term that was coined not by me but people should know you before they need you um this you know my my journey a little bit um I'm studying the algorithm and what works I thought that maybe the humor stuff I wanted the humor stuff to be the stuff that gets me the views I I guarantee you the stuff that gets two million views one million views that you've seen on there will none of them will probably get me a car deal.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_04: Those are fun though you know uh but you gotta serve the algorithm as as your master here and just so that when you do the things that are educational when you do the things that are value driven somebody's gonna actually see it.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_04: So yes it is it is part of have I gotten car deals off social media?
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: Nice nice so what advice do you have for those that are thinking about starting social media but maybe they're a little bit reluctant because whatever reason they're shy or they are afraid.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_04: Well here if you want to get past the shy thing think about this when you're filming it's just you and the camera whether it be your phone or whatever so just you got to push through that.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_04: Secondly you cannot give up after 30 60 90 days.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_04: That is up higher tier wise versus other car creatives that you know just sort of get into the space and you're not if you're if you're doing this because you think you're gonna go super viral right away and get 1000 followers right away do not be disappointed when that doesn't happen.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_04: However the the algorithm is getting smarter and smarter in serving up your content to maybe the handful of people that need to see it.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah so do not get disappointed that you're not going super viral you know do it it could be that family in your very town that sees it it's a hundred view or a thousand view video uh that drives you that customer that you need yeah boy that's that's quality of our great great advice there's no question um how many of the other salespeople in the organization are following your lead here and on social media almost none almost what almost none almost none really it would seem to me that they would see the success and leads and what have you and saying wait a minute I got to get in on this it's it's tough and not this guy's this is hard because it's tough because you know here I and I think to to be frank I think I helped the store because somebody in marketing told me this one time he says you will not get attribution for what you're doing.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_04: I guarantee you that he says there are people that will come into this place that are buying a car here because you posted something but don't actually want to deal with you because they think you're like some celebrity or whatever.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_04: They don't actually want to deal with you, right?
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_04: But he says I guarantee you you have brought business to this place.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_04: So 100% it's it's tough.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_04: It's tough to even ask people to do something like this because it is uncomfortable.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_04: However I'm glad for the support that I have from corporate I work for an amazing organization the Margado Organization where you know they're they're supportive behind me and um you know I I I do this uh for the store thing the store has done so much for me that I look at it as like I'm also returning a favor.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_04: So even though that's not my car, you know, if I don't win a car deal out of that I mean I sell cars like I said on my own.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_04: This is pretty easy right yeah um so I'm glad that the store is winning it's my like my way of giving back to our store and our and our group have you been recognized by anybody yet outside the dealership to go, oh, I follow you on social media.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_04: 100% I mean especially like Chicago I we're in Chicagoland area I I don't know if I can walk into a sales floor uh at another store and not be recognized so sure that's great.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_03: Now not every dealership is comfortable with salespeople building their own brands online you know from the confines of the dealership and saying well wait a minute you know that this could this might be a hindrance or this might in uh kind of invade our marketing and such talk to me about that is that was that a concern of the Mergados or the dealer management there that this guy's out doing his own thing but you know under our umbrella 100% and I early on I made certain things clear that here you know these are my thoughts not the thoughts of the company that I work for or the brands that I represent um one of the main things is to make sure that yes you're not doing something that's going to embarrass your store and that's a tip for everybody right so it's got to be clean.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_04: I'm a clean guy I'm never there there's certain things again out there in in the car business space of content creation and go, I would never do that.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_04: Not only though I never get away with that but like why would you ever right uh I mean there was one yesterday that I just wanted oh my gosh you know and it got four million views yeah right but I'm like I agree yeah there's some that you're just like what are they thinking putting this out there there's conversations there's conversations where it's like hey you know keep it within these guidelines and and we they they don't want to hinder my creativity right and it's just you know yeah I have guidelines so yeah I do know the Mergados we know them very well and uh they are top shelf people all the way so uh are or do they keep kind of close eye on to say hey but hey Raul reel that last one in a little bit it it was maybe early on yeah but like would I would say the last six plus months they go we're he's fine.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_04: You know they they moved they've got other other words than they yeah sure yes yeah no question no question about it.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_03: Raul Thompson client advisor for Motorworks in Barrington Illinois thank you so much for joining us today this has been great awesome best of love to you thanks so much love to do a follow-up with you awesome thanks thank you that's so cool I know you know I know it's it's so exciting to see where this industry's going with people like Raul where because we we always used to say this where if you've got a dealership and you've got like 10 or 15 salespeople how come we don't have 10 or 15 marketers out there and you know you would you bring the people in this is not when we had social media and you'd say hey you are all in the sphere of influence.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_03: You've got your kids teachers you've got your you know PTA you've got all of these different areas social clubs or maybe the Rotary club or the chamber of commerce that you're a member of or whatever the case might be you need to infiltrate all of those people and let them know where you're working in the vehicles that you sell and that you could be their automotive expert.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_03: Well social media has allowed individuals like Raul to take that you know and and just put not 10x but maybe a thousand X you know and imagine if more people at his store were doing it.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: He said that practically none were but what he's doing is bringing people in that aren't even necessarily buying from him.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's right yeah yeah at least five people from the store were doing it.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I bet those salespeople that are writing a deal and they happen to mention yeah I came in because I saw Saw that guy that's from your dealership thinking that maybe Raul's a professional spokesperson or something.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: I will follow him on social media, and that's why I'm here.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_03: That salesperson's not running over to Raul telling him, Hey, by the way, I just sold a car to somebody that came in because of your social media.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_03: Split deal, right?
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_03: At least Raul should be sitting there going, Yeah, I want half of that deal.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_03: But that's not gonna happen, you know.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_03: I know, I know.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_03: But it's exciting to be uh out there and seeing all of this taking shape.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: It is, you know.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_01: Did you have a funny video you wanted to share today?
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think I did have a funny video.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: I always have a funny video.
• 44:32
  unknown: Yeah.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_03: No, yeah, this um this is a funny video.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_03: Let's let's let's take a look at this one.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: Now that we're talking about social media.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_03: So if you've been in the business longer than a week, that has happened to you.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_03: Where you, you know, you write read the car to the used car manager, and he's like, all right, is there anything wrong with it?
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: Is it how does it run?
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I can't get out to see it, or oh, a boss runs.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god, this car, are you kidding me?
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_03: This is amazing.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_03: I need top dollar, you know, but it doesn't need anything.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_03: As one salesperson used to say to me, a detail would make the car, would screw the car up.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_03: That's how perfect this car is.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and then of course you get in the car and you're like, you gotta be kidding me.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_03: This, you know, this car smells like a rat.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: It is a rat, you know.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_03: And like that salesperson was like, turn the music back up.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right, that fixes everything.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's the car business hasn't changed.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_03: We were doing that 30 years ago.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_03: So, yeah.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: All right, so it's Friday.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: It is Friday.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a dealer of the week.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: Our dealer of the week is Mercedes-Benz Country Hills.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_01: We had Jeremy Raymaker from their team on the show yesterday, and he shared something that we wanted to recognize today.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: The dealership just held its eighth annual NICU fashion show gala, raising more than$200,000 this year.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: And this takes just about everybody at the dealership to make this happen.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: They clear out an 80-car showroom to make room for a stage, guest seating, and an entire evening of entertainment.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_01: This year's theme was the circus, complete with acrobats on stilts, contortionists, food, cocktail stations, and a silent auction.
• 46:21
  SPEAKER_01: But the people walking the runway are making this event so special alongside the designers, the fashions, the children, um, I'm sorry, the children of different ages who spent time in the NICU get to share that moment on the stage.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: The NICU nursing team works with the dealerships marketing team to bring it all together.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: And for Jeremy, this is actually personal.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: His daughter spent almost three weeks in the NICU when she was born.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: And this year, she stood up at the event and gave a speech.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_01: More than$200,000 raised in a community raised coming together to support these children and their families.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're so proud to recognize Mercedes-Benz Country Hills as our dealer of the week.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's really a cool story.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_03: That is so cool.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_03: 80 car showroom.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_03: We talked to him the other day about it.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: Right, and I'm glad he um he mentioned that um to our team that they were doing this, and um, because they certainly deserve the recognition there.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_03: No, no doubt.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_03: Must have been a proud moment for him to see that.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_03: His daughter.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you all for joining us today.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to head over to cbtnews.com for more great conversations like you saw here today.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_01: And be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get even more content delivered directly to your inbox every day.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for watching.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_03: We'll be right back here on Monday, noon on the Eastern on the East Coast, nine o'clock on the west coast for another edition of CBT Live.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_03: Go out, go get your hat trick for Saturday.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_03: You know it's out there.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_03: Don't give up after the first one.
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_03: There's two more you can get, especially if you get it early in the day.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_03: So managers help your salespeople.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_03: Salespeople do the right thing.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure you take more demo drives.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_03: Guys, you want to sell more cars?
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_03: Get your customers in the demo drive.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's my that's my message for today.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_03: That's my presence.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_01: All right, thanks, guys.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you in the back.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_04: Watch it, climb, delay, is on every dime.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_04: Take care of that crowd, work them folks get left behind.