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How Dealers Can Create New Revenue Streams with Sam Weaver · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  [upbeat music] So excited for this next interview brought to you by our friends at Force Marketing for making our coverage of this event possible. All right, we're at the CBT Fair Pricing and Compliance Summit.
• 0:10
  I'm here with Sam Weaver, dealer principal of Chevy Chase Acura. Yes. Um, you've been to ASOTU CON before, so you're kinda like one of the family.
• 0:17
  We were just talking over there, and you said you just wrote a new book, and then you gave me this card, and it's Together How We Win. Together is How We Win. Together is How We Win.
• 0:27
  Tell me about the book, 'cause you told me the premise, and I want you to tell everybody because, uh, I'm excited about it. Well, I- Once they stop ringing these bells 'cause it's time to go back in there. [laughs] Yeah.
• 0:36
  Go ahead. Well, I spent, uh, two years writing it, uh, an hour a day for two years, and it's really something that I, I believed in my entire career, which is almost 50 years in the car business.
• 0:49
  And that is we walk past opportunities every day, that we s- dealers spend millions of dollars a year, uh, on AdWords trying to bring new customers in, a- and yet we walk...
• 1:04
  We, we cast them off when they don't buy, and there's so much opportunity. To give you an, to give you an example, let's say you come into Chevy Chase Acura. We do a great job.
• 1:13
  You're looking at the MDX, but you decide you want the Mercedes. And so what does the sales department do? They go in the CRM. Lost. Man. Lost deal to Mercedes. In our market, the Mercedes buyer,
• 1:28
  70% of the time, puts PPF on their car. Bethesda Detailers, which Chevy Chase Acura owns, does PPF. The sales department didn't tell Bethesda Detailers- [sighs]...
• 1:41
  that you bought the Mercedes, and you might wanna reach out to them. So- Mm... the basis of the book is to identify the opportunities,
• 1:50
  integrate them within the operation, and the third leg of the stool, which is the most important, how do you incentivize those people to cross silos inter- uh, in, into other departments and, uh, and ge- get those additional streams of revenue within the store?
• 2:06
  So why not just implement these things at your store and focus your time on that? Why spend the time, energy, and effort to write a book? Who do you want to read this book? What do you hope happens from it?
• 2:17
  Well, I have an abundance mentality. I have always had an abundance mentality. There's plenty out there for everybody, and I would say probably 95% of them won't do it- Mm-hmm... because it requires a little extra work.
• 2:30
  Right. And, um, I go back to 2008, and I'll, I'll be quick with this story. 2008, it was exactly one month before Lehman Brothers went belly up. It was six months, uh...
• 2:45
  One month after Lehman Brothers, it was October 15th, 2008. Six months later, General Motors declares bankruptcy. I certainly wasn't exempt from that. I'm driving home, and I start hyperventilating.
• 3:00
  I didn't know what was happening. Oh, wow. And I reali- I pulled off the side of the road, and I realized this was the first time in the company's history I wasn't sure whether we were gonna make payroll that Friday.
• 3:12
  Ooh. And I said, "Get me through this, and I'll make sure I help anybody I can to make sure that they aren't on the side of the road hyperventilating." So that's kind of the- Yeah, you had a, you had a moment...
• 3:23
  genesis of the book, and among other things that I do, this is just another step in that direction. And if... Uh, and it's not just automotive. I originally wrote it automotive. Mm-hmm.
• 3:35
  Uh, a friend of mine who's a very renowned author, um, he said, "I'm gonna make a suggestion. Y- your book is really good, but it's, y- you've got a limited audience." Too narrow. Yeah.
• 3:45
  He said, "What I would do is come up with a companion business for each of your chapters that, that have similar challenges and similar opportunities."
• 3:55
  And so 10 of the 11 chapters- A companion business, like the theme of that chapter uses an illustration from that business. Yeah, like we have the car business, uh, and a hotel. Oh, I love it.
• 4:03
  I love- Uh, we have car business and a bakery. We love hospitality and automotive, yes, a- and food service, right, all the same. Car business and a hospital.
• 4:09
  And then I reached out to people that I knew in each one of those companion businesses and said, "Read these, this chapter and let me know, am I getting it right with your industry?" And I made a bunch of changes.
• 4:21
  Mm-hmm. And, um- Yeah... ended up I wanted to have the book in my hand before my 65th birthday, and two days before, I had the book in my hand. Oh, congratulations- So [laughs]... on that. I can't wait to read it.
• 4:32
  Um, is... Where can people get it? Uh, on togetherishowwewin.com, and it's free shipping. Um, I didn't put it- I learned a thing or two from Amazon, didn't you?
• 4:40
  Didn't put it on Amazon, but, uh- Togetherishowwewin.com, and I can't wait. I'm so excited now there are all the other industries in it. So what, what is, uh, on your goal list for the second half of this year?
• 4:53
  We're rounding out the halfway point. Uh, for the store, what do you wanna see accomplished, and what direction are you heading?
• 4:58
  We're, we're having a, a, a pretty good year, and, um, you know, I've always been about creating additional streams of revenue. I opened up Bethesda Detailers, Bethesda Auto Works, Bethesda Key and Fob. Um,
• 5:12
  I'm missing something else that we have. I love it. So many businesses. A- and those- You got to check the LLC registrations...
• 5:16
  those additional streams of revenue, and, and I on purpose didn't put Acura in the name- That's right... because it would be very, very- Narrow, yeah... narrow. I'm sensing a theme here.
• 5:25
  [laughs] And, um, so when our industry is going like this, our business doesn't have the big- The big dip. Dip. Right. And it's because of those additional streams of revenue for all the drivers, and that's sorta...
• 5:41
  You'll, you'll pick up that theme in the book. It's, it's for all drivers regardless of make and model because everybody's driving a car- That's right...
• 5:48
  whether you sold 'em or not, but they may end up in your service department or your detail department- Or need a key fob... or your parts department. That's right. Exactly. Sam, thanks for being generous- Sure...
• 5:56
  with your time. Thanks for being, uh, willing to invest in the industry and, and in other people so they don't have that same experience. What an amazing story. I can't wait to read it.
• 6:04
  You can get it at togetherishowwewin.com. This is Sam Weaver of Chevy Chase Acura. Thanks. Thank you.