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Why NYC Is Suing CarGurus and CarMax Is Buying From Dealers · Automotive Informants

• Chris J. Martinez: All right, welcome back. This is Automotive Informance. I appreciate Zach, you you're back today, which is great as always. But we've got a really special guest. and Marion, you know, I've been following you for quite some time now. And when I see some of those videos, when you how you communicate, how you articulate, going in through your presentations, talking to your team, I see a lot of it, some of the stuff that you're you're doing when you some some of the these companies are interviewing you. you you do really well. You carry yourself well. True professional. always admire that about people in this business because, you know, a lot of times salespeople, you know, you can see how they carry themselves and and you are definitely one of those individuals that admire how you how you carry yourself. You're a true true professional. So Marion, if if you could introduce yourself to everyone in in the audience and and Tell it a little bit about yourself. Marion Cain III: just basically I'm I'm I'm a leader, I'm a steward, I I serve my people, I serve my my clients, I serve my customers, and most importantly I serve my staff. And I just always have the mindset that if I do the right thing by him, By but by God, I can sell a car. You don't have to lie to people, you don't have to cheat to people, you don't have to be deceptive. You have to be a hundred percent true and just create a relationship and create a connection. And when you create that connection, that's what bonds you, you know, and stuff for life, and that's what transcends the sale. They actually feel like they have a friend, they have an ally. So that's what that's what I preach, and that's what I teach. And so that's why my training company is called Ace. It's about attract, connect, and empathize. And I think empathy is really what's losing, what's lost right now, and that even transcends. Transcends AI because when you can feel your customer's pain, you can feel their pain in your heart, you made that connection. You've transcended all the objections. So that's just what I what I teach in a nutshell. And the reason why I post a lot online and I encourage everyone else to post and stuff online is resumes are dead. Resumes are dead now. Right now, you can look and you can see who that person is, but you can see historically. Who that person is. It's just like it's just like the reviews. And that's what people want. They want the authenticity and they wanna be able to make the quick decisions, but they don't wanna feel bad about it. And that's the one thing that social media, internet and different stuff like that, making reviews and writing and connecting, going to conferences, and people get to know the real you. Chris J. Martinez: No, I d it it really is. I mean, you'd be surprised, and I I know you're not surprised, but you know, individuals would be surprised how much th people actually connect with you even more so on a deeper level. And that's that's why I I I personally try to post and and get you know, the the the brand out there just because it's it's important, especially in today's age, you know, if you if you're not, you know, out there it's it's like it's it's not as easy to get in front of those those people out there. And I think what what you do and how you're you're teaching your staff people the industry needs more of that, you know, and I see I do see a lot of people teaching more so in social media and trying to do the social selling and trying to get, you know, out there outside of just sending pictures of customers that are are buying, actually going through and doing different types of walk arounds and actually just talking to people in general. I've seen a lot of success with a lot of people. How are you doing that with your staff today? Think we we lost you, Marion. Marion Cain III: Joa, Joa, my connection. My connection is bad. Please put the booster on. The booster. I need the connection is bad. Chris J. Martinez: I think y w we got you. You're you're there. You're back. Marion Cain III: Okay. Chris J. Martinez: I don't know if you caught that last part. Marion Cain III: Sorry, put the booster on. Thank you, I'm good. Sorry guys. Chris J. Martinez: No worries, no no no, it's Zach Fritz: Good. Chris J. Martinez: all good. Zach Fritz: Yeah, while we're waiting Chris J. Martinez: Okay. Zach Fritz: on that, I can kind of jump in talking about, you know, I really love that mission of focusing on the connection because I think especially today in such a digital world where, you know, transparency is key, I think people really do lack that connection. So the more you can build out with customers, I think the more success you're gonna find. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, and you've done a great job with it too, Zach. Like some of the things that you're doing Zach Fritz: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: on YouTube. I mean, you got what, eleven thousand plus subscribers now and you you get a lot of good Zach Fritz: Yeah, we're Chris J. Martinez: content. Zach Fritz: yeah, we're like thirteen K now. yeah, we're like yeah, it it's Chris J. Martinez: Thirteen K now, good job. Yeah, that's great job. Zach Fritz: it's ridiculous. Like the past week it jumped up to, you know, I think we're like two hundred and twenty five thousand views this month or something last time I checked and it's probably jumped since then. And it it's Chris J. Martinez: Great job. Zach Fritz: amazing to build the audience and, you know, kind of speak to that connection where people do feel like they know you through a camera, they know you through what you do online and that is a very big reflection and I think a greater, you know, talking point than just a resume. Like nobody reads resumes these days. Everybody throws it through a filter or through AI and just says, up, good person or bad person. Like are they qualified? Versus how do they interact? What is that intrapersonal experience like? Chris J. Martinez: Maria, the Marion Cain III: And quick quick story, guys. Like I'm I'm sitting here talking to my wife. She's she helps me with everything, right? But Chris J. Martinez: That's awesome. Zach Fritz: Love it. Marion Cain III: The the thing that really that really drives the whole point home and I always remember it when I see her is that that's how I met that's the beginning of how I met my wife. I actually was going to a large event, right, in New York City, and I got there early and the person that was throwing the event, I went out to breakfast with them, and he was just he was like just posting like breakfast and us talking and us interacting and he tagged me in the photo in the story. And so she was looking at it beforehand to kind of see if she was gonna go or if she wasn't gonna go. And she was flipping through the story, saw my tag, touched, clicked it, saw my profile, kind of looked at it for a second, then kept going and got dressed. Later on, I'm talking about there's all these people here. She was there with her people, I was there with my people, but we already had, she already had a connection, a thought of like who I was. You know, we Zach Fritz: Uh-huh. Marion Cain III: barely talked, kind of exchanged information. Now we got kids in a 401k. You know what I mean? And it's it's Chris J. Martinez: Ha ha ha. Marion Cain III: it's it's It's a whole process, and that what's that's what people don't understand right now about technology. It's just about leaving the little breadcrumbs. And all those little breadcrumbs aggregate into a into a relationship. Because when you have that herd mentality, that's what this problem is happening right now. And I want us to get to talking about some of these these features, the whole third-party lead situation is is is dying because it's a race to the bottom. Right? So you're pouring the money Zach Fritz: Mm. Marion Cain III: in, it's a race to the bottom. However, when you have that connection on the social media and you stay connected with your staff, and your staff stays connected with their customers and they see them as they're growing throughout their journey. When it's time for them to buy a car, you've already built all the equity and the relationship Zach Fritz: Mm-hmm. Marion Cain III: because they've seen you every day. It's about showing up when the people need you, not when you want them. And you paid for it, you know? It's a difference Zach Fritz: Yeah. Marion Cain III: and it it requires a shift in thinking. Chris J. Martinez: No, you're right. You know, it's it's funny, you you talk about the technology pieces of it and there's an interesting article and we'll just roll right into it. This Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: one specific one was America's Carmart. And and the reason why I bring up the tech you when you said technology, just click to this specific thing 'cause I just literally they're they're in potent a potential chapter eleven sale talk, according Marion Cain III: Mm. Chris J. Martinez: to Bloomberg, right? So they're I mean, and I don't know if a lot of people know what America's Car Mart is. Big used car company that had a hundred and forty stores at one point. Now they have like I don't know, ninety. They lost like, Zach Fritz: Yeah, they Chris J. Martinez: you know, a big chunk of their s they closed down a bunch of them this year. and they've been trying to get funding to help, you know, carry a lot of this, you know, debt and stuff that they're doing. But what I I looked at them yesterday or day before, I think it was yesterday, and I'm looking at I I well, I was like, here is well what does their their their website look like? I went on my mobile and I'm trying to shop for a used car and I it it asked me for my zip code. And so then I put my zip code in there and I could not I I promise you, I could not get to see a vehicle. I was like, so here's one problem. I mean, if they could just make it easier to shop for a vehicle. They actually might not need any funding. They could probably sell themselves into a profit and just and crush it. But if it was e hard for me, and I'm a pretty tech savvy guy, I would say, and I'm looking and try and I I said, Well, maybe it's just my phone. I got ATT, it's terrible. No, it wasn't. So, what do you think guys think about this? Marion, what does this do? in for the used car business, is this signs of some kind of other thing? considering tricolor went out. is this, you know, like there's some people talking l a lot more doom and gloom. What does this say? Marion Cain III: i it just shows a real disconnect between the C suite and the customer experience. that's just number one. So just go to list success leaves clues. What's working? Amazon one click. Why does Amazon one click work? It's a frictionless, seamless experience. It allows them to make a snap decision. It allows them to move further down the pro the process, the pipeline. That even brings up bigger situations because websites, people aren't even going to websites and stuff anymore. You know what I mean? It's going to L AI, it's going to all those different levels. But when they get there, they don't want all the friction. And they're going to stop and they're going to go somewhere where there is there's less friction because they don't have the time. It's about economy of time. So it it's it's looking at the whole process. There's so many different people that sit there and they don't understand exactly why things aren't selling and the answer's right in front of their face. Chris J. Martinez: No, I th I agree. You know, Zach, you had an interesting angle on that. W you wanna elaborate on that one? Zach Fritz: Yes. So according to an inside source with ACM, they are in a position where they have been trying to get bought out, and they're getting offers that are not exceeding 50 cents on the dollar, which is pretty brutal for them. But it's also I can speak to them because we were in conversation to have a working relationship. And they're locked into all these contracts with you know distributors, which everybody's kind of going away from. So that's pretty big impediment, in my opinion. But then you look at tri-color going under, the pressure on ACM came because tri-color went under, and then therefore none of these banks would start extending lines of credit to America's CarMart because the business model is the same. My greater concern becomes. If somebody with a hundred and forty or now ninety rooftops, whatever they're sitting at today, I'm not quite sure, can't get funding, then what happens to all these singular rooftops who their business model is the same, which was the justification we heard from the tricolor situation. Chris J. Martinez: Well, you know, so li I think about A a lot of things, you know, for specifically to subprime market. So one, America's Car Mart, I don't know who you know, how they're they've get fund their deals. Is it a more of a buy here, pay here? Is it, you know, one specific bank, kinda like drive time and what they did with Bridgecrest, or Carvana for that matter. But you know, I you know, I don't know if this means you know, you're looking at it from the front lines, Marion, and s and I've talked to some several of my stores throughout the last couple of weeks and you're seeing a a lot more of that credit tightness. Is that something that's really one of the major causes of what's going on in that that sector, or is that you think that's just, you know, poor management? Marion Cain III: 100% poor management. There's a butt for every seat, but if you can't find the the entrance, how can you go through the door? It's it's like judging the quality of a restaurant and people don't know how to don't know where it's located at. You know, you you have to get people there first. And that's really the problem is that people are focusing on the wrong aspects. You have to look at a business from the beginning to the end, the whole experience, and get the customer there. Once you get them there, how are you gonna treat them? How because they obviously have the inventory, they have the means to buy the person. Car for them. There's a means for them to buy it, but the people aren't connecting with them. And as Zach was saying, probably right now their goals aren't aligning. If they're really thinking about the sell, they're not thinking about the customer and profitability. I'm more concerned and I feel sad for the people that are working there, that have families, that have people to support, that have that's their livelihood, and they're not part of the bigger, the goal in the picture. And that's kind of the one thing that happens a lot in the car industry: is that you don't know when there's a buy-sell. when there's an acquisition, you just know that your son needs braces, your kid needs to get to school, your your wife needs health care. And and those those are the things that like, you know, trouble me when I when I read these things. And it's all about focusing on the on the on the right thing is doing right by the people that work there. And then they'll get the means out. They'll make sure people connect with them. I don't know if that's obvious, but when I read it, that was the main thing that touched me about the whole process. Because obviously something going Chris J. Martinez: No, that's that's spot on. I think you know, a lot of times we look at s a lot of these headlines and articles and what's happening in in the the market today and you know, un forget to realize like there's people behind all that and there's a lot of families that are being affected and you know, what does this mean to I I imagine if there's someone that's working there today, what do they feel like? is am I gonna have a job tomorrow? And how many employees does that, you know, affect, you know, technicians, salespeople, office, all everybody. Like it's you know, it's it's definitely not the the easiest. But you know, you know, I I feel like they they may be able to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Who knows? my you know, go ahead. Marion Cain III: But but it the whole thing about it is you you and I have both been we've all been part of buy sells. We've also been part of situations where people have sold. And you can't serve two masters in that situation. You can't have something on a I used to I used to work at Price Waterhouse. I have an accounting background. So you can't sit there and have a balance sheet that's attractive, with less advertising, less less overhead, less staffing, less stuff, and then also have at the same time a profitable business. You know what I mean? You're trying to serve, you're trying to serve. Two masters at the same time, you're wondering why it's not profitable. So you do have the people there, but they know the advertising has been cut. They know that, you know what I mean, they're they don't see as much inventory coming through. They know they're cutting corners on the recon. You know what I mean? And so all those things they don't understand, trend like equal them having a problem at the day one store level. You know what I mean? Does that make sense, guys? Chris J. Martinez: Well yeah, it and the b well the biggest challenge that I'm seeing or I'm thinking about is what happens to those employees when they lose that reassurance that they're gonna have a job tomorrow. Are they gonna start looking and do they jump ship? And then your top Marion Cain III: yeah. Chris J. Martinez: performers are the ones that usually can get jobs pretty quickly. You Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: know what I'm saying? So those are the ones that Zach Fritz: Mm. Chris J. Martinez: and what is a top performer do when they leave? It affects your bottom line because business goes backwards even even further faster. You know what I'm saying? Marion Cain III: But but what do you think guys, what do you think about that whole model in general? Like the kind of the race to the bottom, the the cheapest car to the to the masses. Do do you do you really see do you really see that being viable? You know what I mean? Being able to go up to Chris J. Martinez: Well, you know, I'm glad you brought that up because that rolls can roll right into New York City suing car gurus. And that is and the reason let me just tell you what that is. Let me just pull it up. So car gurus, they always you know, talk about a great deal. So if you've if sh if people have shopped at car gurus, they it tells you, hey, this is a fair deal, good deal, great deal, which whichever one of those things, right? The problem is New York City and actually was pulling s some of the data off of Car Edge and Car Edge it was their research on, you know, their negotiations where a customer might find a good deal or great deal at one dealer in New York City, go in to buy that car and then they get hit with a twenty five hundred dollar addendum. And so now that great deal doesn't really look so great because they got these added fees where had they gone to another store, it might have been thousand dollars more online, but it would have been a fifteen hundred dollar better deal if they had just gone over there first. What do you think about that? Marion Cain III: is that's a lot that's a lot to unpack. It's a lot to unpack. Because it's it's the one of the situations is you're incentivizing bad behavior. You know, you pay the you pay the money. Yeah, it's a race to the bottom. Chris J. Martinez: Well, 'cause you I mean it's like the race to the bottom. So they encourage race to the bottom and then let's move the number around and say, hey, look, we're gonna add this number over here. Marion Cain III: I and then it it's truthfully you you look at the whole situation, that's why it comes back to the experience, because you're dealing with all different types of customers. Is truthfully that customer that's gonna drive five hundred extra miles to save a thousand dollars, is that really what they're going for? At the end of the day, when people are trying to buy a car, they just don't want to look dumb. You know what I mean? They just don't want to regret their decision. They just don't want to feel like they've been taken advantage of. So if you know that that is the inherent view, that's the behavior that they're gonna feel. And then when you walk in, the first thing you do is they're gonna feel like they're being taken advantage of. They're being feel they're a fool. That's sitting the trigger off 100%. And that's when they're calling their lawyer. You know what I mean? Every single time. So we're incentivizing and creating the behavior that we don't want. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah. I mean this this is like a real story of the like the negative impact of the race to the bottom because they're like, Well, how can I get make that money somewhere else? And then they create this other, you know, form of revenue to them, but then they're not disclosing it. But now with FTC rulings on reinforcing that rule, there's gonna be a lot of fallout from that, I think. Zach? Zach Fritz: I it's I've never been more glad that I don't currently own a dealership. So it's a good thing. The this presents almost this, I don't want to say it's a doom loop, but it almost is in some ways, where, Marion, to your point, it is focusing on that experience and bringing that element that nobody else can. That's the only differentiator at the end of the day, because if we all are chasing the same bottom dollar price, if Everything is transparent. I mean, hell, there's a whole industry of people now whose job is to find and negotiate the best deal without all the add-ons like PPF and ceramic and window tint or whatever. So I think that's going to continue to drive it down. You're gonna see these lawsuits. The FTC is cracking down. And so everybody's yes, they're going to race to the bottom. So how do you create that extra value in the customer experience? How do you build that trust? How do you get that customer to drive that extra 500 miles to your dealership to buy a car from you? Not just buy a car, but from you. Marion Cain III: So so that all of it ties together in terms of the some a lot of dealers are demonizing social media, you know, and I can also understand why they get away from social media because you mentioned Car Edge. Car Edge, Delivered, a couple of those other folks. I I I love capitalism. I have no problem people providing services to different folks because I realize that we live our our life, we can become very myopic. I grew up in the city, and so I grew up in Boston and I lived in New York. And you kind of think that okay, there's car dealerships on every corner, there's big access everywhere. But I've also visited middle America where it's like two, three hours to get to certain places that they don't have all the different resources. you go to Mississippi, you can't, you know, in Alabama, if you want to get a Bentley, you gotta go to Atlanta. You know what I mean? You you just you can't, they don't have the access and stuff there. So I understand that those services, providing those to people are good. However, when you have a lot of stuff on social media, bringing up D. demonizing the dealership, demonizing salespeople, demonizing the process, and then using that as their means to advertise. That creates that distrust. And the reason why I'm bringing all this stuff together is because when you have you have these individuals, it's it you need to have both things at the dealership. You need to have the third party leads where they're talking about but then also at the same time you need to be able to have the people look at the dealership and see the people there, right? And then also the salespeople need to be creating Relationships with the customers that have been there, that have come through there, and they see them, they see their life, they see them evolve over through the years. And at that point, it's not just about the race to that bottom number, the good price. They want to say, you know what, I want to come see Zach first. I want to come see Chris first, right? And that's the differentiator between the good, the great, and the in the in the whatever. You know what I mean? It's it's it's I just think that they're asking the wrong questions. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah, no, I I I don't I I think you're you're right. I think some of these these brokers, they do a a really good job demonizing, but it when Yeah. Zach Fritz: Can't say brokers though, they get mad about that. Marion Cain III: Yeah, they are broken. There's no problem with that. Chris J. Martinez: But when you see yeah, but when you see but when you see the some of these conversations these guys have, like It's not I think people can make their own assumption or or like listen because they're listen they got these people on on recording. They're recording them and they're telling they're saying all these really crazy things and it's not just that they're making them look bad, they're the people on the other side of that conversation are also making the dealer body look bad too. You know what I'm saying? Because they're saying some crazy things to these guys. I don't know if you've seen some of these things. They've got go pretty viral milli millions of views. I'm watching some of these things and they're asking like basic questions and and then these these people on the other side are just, you know, just laying into them and just saying some off the wall stuff. And there was one I I listened to where the guy's trying to justify his his market adjustment without Marion Cain III: Mm. Chris J. Martinez: it being disclosed online. And then he flips and tells him, Look, FTC, you're supposed to put that online. Like, hey, have a market adjustment, but put this online because now we're just basically wasting my time having this conversation because I we'd have ne we'd have just skipped you. We'd have never even reached out to you because you're showing MSRP and not this market adjustment. And so Those are the things that I think they are bringing to light and this is where kind of h why this car guru lawsuit is, you know, making the rounds online right now simply because it's it's a glaring, you know, issue that has been happening recently and why these the FTC's, you know, made more noise of it recently. and I think it's really because of what some of these people are doing. I mean, you're you're the guys at Car Edge, you see what they're doing. I mean, you're talking millions of views from these guys. Like it's it's unreal. And it's not like one one time. It's a bunch of different conversations that you look at and you're like, wow, this yes, they're doing a good job promoting, you know, that negative part, but it's also the people on the other side of those conversations that making us all look kind of bad too. You know what I'm saying? Marion Cain III: Yeah, I I I I love this profession. I love what I do. I I'm not I'm not ashamed of what I do. I tell everyone. But Chris J. Martinez: Amen. Marion Cain III: also you have to understand too that there's a reason why there's a high level of divorce rate in the car industry. Because the way car salesmen and stuff they're demonized. It's not like saying my husband's a surgeon. You know, I mean it's it's it's a certain situation. You have that disconnect and also the time away. It's a surgeons spend a lot of time away, a lot of other things put a lot of time away, but we have a much higher divorce rate 'cause it's just like, Hey, you're a car salesman. You know? Chris J. Martinez: Well you well here's a here's a study. A study I I I someone told me this when I first started in the car business. He said, Chris, people are are would rather be burned alive than to go shop for a car. I mean, that was a statistic, right? Like there was like a big statistic. And he showed it to me Marion Cain III: Wow. Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: and I was just like, you know, it opened my eyes like thinking, okay, now that you know that, everybody doesn't matter what you just gotta make sure you treat people right. And I I think your your approach on how you communicate and what you do online, it's that's really I mean, how you can just be genuine. Marion Cain III: Well it it's about it's about the luxury touch points inside the dealership, but also how you present yourself on the telephone, on the first greeting, on video, on social media. It's all an aggregate. And Chris, like how do you feel about it? Because when I see these videos, you're actually one of the first people I think about because you have the training. You have the processes, you have the steps. Like, I'm so like you the thing I love about, I can say 100%, and it's like you've been given a gift to apart this to the masses, is you don't understand how much gatekeeping there is out in the industry. How much they make feeling a manager and the position and what they do is a secret. So you gotta understand, like when a person comes into a dealership, if you had to go buy an iPad and you have $200 iPad and they say, hey, hold on, I gotta go talk to my manager, and they run in the back and then they come. Back and then the man and so the sales the customer doesn't even understand the salesperson's as in the dark as you are, and that's the model. However, by reading the Rainmaker. And by giving the Rainmaker, I give it to my sales staff, I give it to everyone. It takes the the veil off, and everybody can understand what the process is. They understand what's going on. There's not a smoke in mirrors type situation, and it becomes a collaborative connection. You know what I mean? And that's what the change is. And so the bringing this all the way back to the the car gurus aspect and the numbers, we all know being in the business, 80% of the people don't buy the car they come in to look for. So it's not even like you're doing that kind of stuff. It's really about creating Zach Fritz: Like. Marion Cain III: that experience, connecting with the person fast, connecting with that individual. They want to come see you. You give them the price, you give them the experience, you give them the show. That's what they'll pay for. That's what they'll drive for. Because they're not even buying that. They're not even gonna buy that car. So that's when you realize that that's like it's just bewildering to me. I don't know what you guys think. Chris J. Martinez: I agree with you. Zach, you you had something though. Zach Fritz: I just feel, you know, whenever I first saw it, I was like, you know, hell yeah, this is great, you know, calling out the dealerships. But I think the more I watch it, the more you've got to realize, just as that salesperson is in the dark, the salesperson who's answering that phone is clearly not the superstar out there on the lot that is selling cars all day. So therefore, what do you expect whenever you call them? What do you expect whenever a dealership is more focused on instead of adding addendums to cars? Therefore, they don't mark up cars because they're trying to justify the SEO person they keep on retainer to keep their website up to date now that they have to list Marion Cain III: Yes, yes. Zach Fritz: every single car. So if they're instead prioritizing that customer experience and putting their money into that, you then vilify them for not updating their website or putting the lowest guy on the totem pole in the dealership on the phone. And I just it's it's expectations. So at what point do dealers then just say, well, then screw it, we're just gonna list. What cars we carry, what brands, and the average MSRP online, come in and see for yourself. That's the solution. Chris J. Martinez: Well, you well, here's the challenge there. So OEMs are already doing that with the new cars, right? So y they're like, here's map pricing. You can't advertise below this number. And then so now you gotta go in and try to negotiate, you know, below that number or you know, there's other steps to to get it. But when I think about these customers specifically I'm I think about, you know, it when I see those conversations that happen online, and when I think about the managers on the other side, because a lot of times they're not just talking to salespeople, they're actually talking directly to the manager. And when I think about what's going on through that guy's mind, it's clearly a lack of training. They were probably the best salesperson and they just made them the manager. And then it kinda ended there. Like there's never been real training outside of just the real world experience that they've been working on for the last couple of years. Because some of these statements that some of these guys are saying on record is just not accurate. And I I think through that, and I'm that that's why I, you know, I I was fortunate enough to learn a lot of my training and real world experience through Carmax when Marion Cain III: Mm. Chris J. Martinez: I started in the business in 2003. And what I really always, you know, attribute a lot of my success is because they to become a general manager, you actually had to go, there was an individual development plan that they gave us and you had to go to service and sit there for six months. You had to Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: go to acquisitions and purchasing, you had to go to the business office and spend time and there was so much training that I got for the six years that I was there. And it was amazing. Like had I not had all of that experience. I would have never been able to see that process throughout. and obviously when I started there's only thirty locations and now there's a couple hundred, right? So before I left they it went from thirty to a hundred. So I had an opportunity to work at and open five stores, work across the country, look at different opportunities with them and seeing how you know the process as a you know, younger s professional in the business and it's it people just don't have that training. Like I was fortunate enough to have that training. People don't and that's why oftentimes I write books because it's something that I think, well, you know, I think this is something super important that people should know and let's write it out. And, you know, 'cause I have managers that I've had to train over years and I'm like, well, let me make it easier for them. and that's, you know, why we why I do it, but thinking about what these People are saying on the other side of those conversations on these car edge videos, it's it's unreal, you know, and no Marion Cain III: Well but Chris J. Martinez: one's stopping them. Marion Cain III: But also you have to understand that one thing that social media has done is given a voice to the masses. And so you have these weapons of mass influence, right? That are out there. So smaller, you have to understand that every person that comes through, you have to treat like they're the most important person. It's not a cliche because it will expand. But what happens is, like I said, is everyone they have to remove the mystery in the cloud in the dealership because everyone's interests and goals have to be aligned. Because we all know. What really is what happening? What's happening is that that car has hit a 45-day turn. That car is at 90 days, right? It's about to hit the manager's pay plan, right? They need to dump that joker before the end. They need to dump the joker before the end of the month, or they're gonna be sat there, they're gonna have a meeting and they're gonna call out all the age units, and everybody's gonna be upset because that's cutting their. There's so many different things, layers that go on to it. And the BBC and the salesperson that's getting hammered at none, no, they don't have no clue. You know, they don't know that that car has sat in we bought it wrong and it's been sitting in recon, it's been sitting in the service department for for for three months, you know, out of the 90 days, and they're trying to get Chris J. Martinez: Yeah. Marion Cain III: it up and they're trying to cover up for mistakes. There's a lot of different things that are happening, right? And so the key thing about it is is the best thing you can do, is like I said, is training, training, training. Is you have your Chris J. Martinez: Amen. Marion Cain III: people come in, you build the value. I love addendums. You reason why I'm telling you I love addendums because I walk out. and we s our crew sells the addendum so great they don't wanna they can't they don't wanna buy a car without it. You know what I mean? They're like Chris J. Martinez: Yeah, and addendums aren't bad. Like you know, in Texas, these window tint, I mean, why would you not want window tint in Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: all the vehicles? You know what I'm saying? Like there's some really good products that Marion Cain III: Right. Chris J. Martinez: are on these addendums and there's a reason for because hey, look, most of the people that we found don't want their windows tinted 'cause you're in Texas. I mean, nobody wants no car without window tint. So Marion Cain III: Right. Chris J. Martinez: yeah, no, I I I'm I'm I agree with you. Marion Cain III: Well i it's i i if you go buy a luxury vehicle, you go buy a McLaren, even you're gonna go buy Nelly's cars, these Mercedes and the VM they have the white interior. You want the interior protection. You know what I mean? You want Chris J. Martinez: Hundred percent. Marion Cain III: the XT. You're down here in the sun. Have you seen what they do to these cars? It's not fluff. But the problem is, is when they ask the customer, okay, what's what's nitrivale? What's nitrogen in the tires? And the customer and the salesperson is like, Chris J. Martinez: Yeah. Marion Cain III: is it actually really on it? that's what we all lose as an industry. And it's our fault. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah, and you know, the first time I really appreciated nitrogen, let me tell you. I was on a my demo for years, right? And I I left my Toyota store and I was going to sell my software company. this was 2018, right? And so I left the store and I had to go buy my own car for the Marion Cain III: Can you pause that? Chris J. Martinez: first time in a while. And so I'm driving this vehicle, and what's funny is the first winter. Marion Cain III: Is he frozen? Okay. Zach Fritz: I don't know. I think his connection might have dropped out. That's what I was checking on. I'm like, did my Wi Fi go? Chris J. Martinez: like the the tire pressure light comes on and I'm like, what's going on? Like I couldn't believe it. And so y I had a real good appreciation for that and it's pretty amazing. Zach Fritz: well in the meantime we can kind of talk about addendums because that's a fun one. I mean, I completely agree with what you're saying when it comes to addendums, they're a great thing to have. And a lot of people don't realize if you go aftermarket on that window 10 and say, I don't want to pay the dealership for it, then you're just going to a shop outside of the dealership, and if they drip window down and get into the window regulator, that voids your warranty. So Marion Cain III: Yeah. Zach Fritz: there's kind of a catch twenty-two there on who's going to be liable for it. Marion Cain III: Hun hundred percent. Like I Zach Fritz: Who's gonna hold take care of it? Marion Cain III: I I'm very strong in the BMW world. And you know, when you have those you have the the shades and stuff in the back, the people apply it wrong. Not only does it rip it, it it gets experience. But here's the key thing we have to understand is that the our customers, they're not experts at buying cars. This is something they do every three years. They're experts at accountants, they're experts at being a doctor, they're experts in the log legal field. They just need to feel like they have the trust and they have the guy and that they're getting the value. When value exceeds cost, people buy. And that's what it's about. It's about creating that value stack. But what's messing up and that people aren't understanding is they always talk about the value of the car, the manufacturer, and the dealership, but right now the number one value factor is you. The salesperson, the being connection. You know what I mean? Zach Fritz: It's the service. It's the value of the Yeah. Marion Cain III: So and that and that's that's that's what you need to create. And it needs to be and it's not just about your words, your articulation. It's about how you carry yourself, what you're wearing, what you talk about, your environment, the experience when they walk in the door. You know what I mean? It's just it's the whole it's the whole setup. Chris J. Martinez: Amen. Marion Cain III: They want the show. They want the show. And it's the bottom line is that like AI is not gonna take all these things away. See all these gloom and doom posts, it's not going to take all the things away. It's like saying because there's ATMs, no one's going to the teller. That's not true. Right. They just choose to do that type of business. But it's a lot of people want to go in the branch. We go in the branch. We're going to take care of it. Calculators didn't kill math. Okay. They made they made it more accessible. You know what I mean? It's like these are different things that Chris J. Martinez: Amen. Yeah, absolutely. Marion Cain III: what they're doing is they're shrinking the the the thing and they're actually allowing the people to have more connection to get more things done. And it's just about making that person walk away. If they it's about the recommendation. Because if they're going to recommend you, you did a great job. You know what I mean? If you're not getting recommendations, you're not getting referrals, you're not getting repeat business, that's the real metric to saying how your folks are going. But it's it's it's Zach Fritz: Hundred percent. Marion Cain III: it's it's the whole thing about the whole car gurus and the whole situation and race the money. I tell my staff all the time, it's it's it just depends on what your goals are. It really does. Because if you're sitting there, you want to have the best price in a 500 mile radius, right? It depends on what your goals are. Because you will get the customer that's gonna drive 500 miles for your best price, but you'll never Get service, you're never getting repeat business, you're gonna continue to do a race to the bottom, right? Personally, I'd rather instead of getting 10 customers that are coming from far away, I'd rather get five that all go to the same, that all have the same soccer group. You know what I mean? That all work at the same business. You know what I mean? Because all those people in my brand, in that parking lot, that creates the exponential firestorm. That creates more business. Zach Fritz: Absolutely. Chris J. Martinez: Amen. Marion Cain III: So those are the things that really as an operator and as a manager, you have to really think about in terms of the third-party leads. They're not wrong. They're there for their purpose. You know what I mean? And they can't be your sole strategy. And a lot of people are scrambling. That's the sole strategy. You know it is. Chris J. Martinez: It is. And that it's amazing until the next shiny object though, right? Because they'll get this one Zach Fritz: Yes. Chris J. Martinez: shiny object. Let me cancel that. Let me go to the next one. Let me Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: do this. And and just constantly, you know, a revolving door around different products. And before you know it, they've got a hundred products and they don't even know which one's working or what's doing what. You know, but you did make make a statement specifically on the turn. And there's one last story that I kind of wanted to talk. about and and get your opinion on. So CarMax has been around for a long time. They have max offer, which when customers try to get you to, you know, match the CarMax price on the trade appraisal and you as a manager looking at that four thousand dollars too much trade appraisal and you're like, I can't compete with that, they're allowing you to buy that car as with and and match the CarMax price and then just sell it to CarMax. And Also also I've seen some dealers where it maybe some old age units that they end up just selling it, appraising it and having it go through the max offer thing. So this last quarter it was up fifty percent or fifty three percent year over year, and they wholesaled or they purchased f over forty seven thousand vehicles directly from dealerships. What do you think about that strategy? And is it something that you use at your store? Marion Cain III: It it's the whole theme of our conversation today is aligning Chris J. Martinez: Mm-hmm. Marion Cain III: goals. Because truthfully, what it comes down to is that that is a retailable unit, but you're worried about keeping your job. You're worried about how this is gonna look on the balance sheet. and it doesn't and it becomes less about serving the customer, it becomes about explaining your position. You know what I mean? So the key thing about they can sit there and overpay for it because they didn't have to do the research, the advertising. They didn't have to sit there, stand in line, hold their hand up at the auction, they didn't have to do the walk. You did all the work for them. So of course they'll sit there and okay, yeah, you want to bring it to me. You know what I mean? I don't have to worry about all these other ancillary ancillary expenses on top of it. But it it's it's one of those situations where if if it fits your business model but also fits your position of where you're at, I can understand why a manager or a GM or some under fire would do it because they don't want to be held they don't want to be held accountable for that number. Chris J. Martinez: You know, I'll tell you just from my my experience, every time someone's ever had a CarMax offer, Carvana offer, I didn't care what it was, I was buying that car. Like customer would show it to Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: me and say, perfect, let's do we'll match it. We're in. Let's do it. And to the point where I even had one salesperson, this this happened a couple of years ago, and I even put it on video on on Facebook at one point, where the customer somehow convinced themselves to sell their trade into Carvana. And they had Carvana come pick up the vehicle at my dealership. And I just so happened to get there. and I walk outside and I go, So why is this Carvana thing out here? And I asked the manager and they're like, I don't know. And I was like, Okay, so I talked to the salesperson, what happened? Well, you know, they just said they wanted to sell it to Car to Carvana and and you didn't tell them that we can buy the car too? And The salesperson said, Well, I d I didn't think about it. And I looked at the manager and I'm like, looking at the salesperson, I'm like, Well, why don't you do this? Why don't you just go outside? Let's tell the customer that we're gonna give them five hundred dollars more than Carvana if they just keep let us keep the car here. Walked outside, bought the car, and and we turned around and sold that car pretty quickly. And it was like one of those retail units that once the salespeople, I'm glad they were there when that happened. I'm glad the manager was there when it happened because I was able to show them, look. This is retail merchant. If they want it, why wouldn't we want it? And so and and then on the flip side of it, I've had max offer at my one of my stores. And just because, you know, admins, you know, CarMAX bought admins, they were part of the max offer program. And so I said, well, let's let's see what it looks like, right? 'Cause I was I'm always curious to see what these other programs look like. And there was a vehicle that it was like just a regular little rogue. had decent miles, but you could go out and buy them at auction every day of the week. It was like one of those cars that just wasn't a unicorn. It was not something unique. We had like 10 of them. You know, it was one of those cars, right? And they had like offered like seven thousand dollars more than like clean retail. And I looked at this and I said, man, I may have to sell one to CarMax. Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: I was like I I couldn't believe it. I was like, I looked at all the bo I had my managers, everybody, let's double check this thing. There's no way or no rhyme or reason why. And guess what ended up happening? So we went ahead and, you know, I we matched the price and then they tried to like renegotiate. Like, hey, look, it it wasn't, you know, there was some thing, you know, some issues here, and like, no, no, no. This was a hard appraisal. This wasn't like some online you know, appraisal, we made sure of it. So they eventually we had to push them to make sure they honored that deal, but they they even they didn't want the deal. So you know what I'm saying? Like I could see things like that, but I I don't know. Have you had any experience with any of that? Marion Cain III: Well I I'll tell you honestly, it it's one of those situations where Like I said, sometimes it's if it doesn't make sense, you don't have to be a hero. You know, you go through the process. But I will tell you honestly, it all has to do with the setup. Like we're just thinking about the end result, but a lot of things went wrong along along that process. I'm just gonna tell you a hundred percent honestly. You can say that it's just we all just both know if we know that the person's trade, they feel like it's more valuable before you start cutting and start doing different stuff. Just you know what I mean? It's just common sense. You just over a lot you give more money for the trade, basic stuff like that. It's a lot of it has to do Communication and understanding what that person's hot buttons are. When you add in the tax savings, you add in all the different stuff like that, that's all about communication, it's all about how it's gone across. When it's when it's a very thin margin and they still choose to go outside, I'm more looking at the salesperson and my crew because we didn't make the people feel comfortable, we didn't make them feel like this can be a win-win situation. You know what I mean? Like they it get to a certain point where everybody understands capitalism, everybody understands the whole process. But when they're willing, they don't put a value on their time and they're like, I'll go through all these extra steps just so I can, you know, they want to have a story. That that that means a lot about how you came across. But also, it also comes down to our processes. I've seen times where the car wasn't booked out correctly. Well, the salesperson never even went out and looked at it. The manager never went out, booked that, booked it out, saw it had a premium package, saw that it had you know, it had the you know navigation, had the entertainment, rear entertainment system, had the reader cool seats. A lot of times it it is a book out problem. You know what I mean? And you don't see the whole value, and they got that stuff down packed because they have a process. So there's a lot of different nuances to it, but I do see it as it's it's a it's a lazy. Sometimes I see people are just like, yeah, yeah, just like if they want to give a better offer, cool. I got that tick on the board where they lost a retailed unit and they lost the build the ability to to enhance their own inventory. Chris J. Martinez: Well think of I mean I we'll get your opinion on it, Zach, but real quick before you you do think about it. They bought three hundred and or two hundred and sixty-two thousand vehicles directly from consumers this last quarter, and they bought forty seven thousand from the from dealerships. So I mean that's that's a big number. Zach Fritz: It's interesting to me because I look at it from a few angles, you know, especially with diving into some of the figures behind CarMax and knowing some of what's going on internally, it makes you wonder: are they hedging inventory here? Are they, because I know we have like a whole pole star sell-off that's coming because of the you know banning of them because of Chinese components? That's gonna happen, they'll flood the market. Then you've also got Carmax, who is now starting to make more money on the Calf side, so CarMax Auto Finance, they're making more money riding the loans because now they're focusing more on tier two, tier three borrowers and pushing more of that. I don't want to call it like bad debt, but more risky debt. So with this new CEO, is that a strategy they're trying to implement and just try to play a volume game against Carvana, who's got Edessa and has also partnered up with Cox. So then it it makes you wonder from that perspective. Or is this something where they are then then gonna say, well, we bought these cars for more than they're actually worth, so therefore now we have this, you know, money that we've lost. And is that now justification because of the current lawsuit that's ongoing with their pension plan to say, Hey, we don't have the money anyways, we lost it. So just kind of things to think about. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah, you know, for me, I don't think I mean these forty-seven I mean, that's a lot of vehicles, right? I mean, the average Zach Fritz: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: new a used car dealer or new car franchise probably sells fifty to a hundred used cars a month, right? And so you think about forty seven thousand, there's a lot of dealers that are selling cars directly to So and I don't know if it's just the cars that customers say Hey, you know, I got this appraisal at CarMax or what percentage of are the ones that are the old age vehicles that they're just turning around and trying to sell because they gotta just stick to a turn and they gotta get rid of some of these vehicles. Marion Cain III: And Chris, Carmax they have their own captive, correct? Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: They do. It's Carmax Auto Finance. but they that's their prime prime bank and they have been starting to do some more subprime, but their primary banks are Bank of America and then their other banks that they use are like Wells Fargo, Capital One. So they still have like a pretty good selection of, you know, like Santander and other other lenders, but their captive Zach Fritz: Chase. Chris J. Martinez: is is definitely Carmax Auto Finance, but it's not so much how like Carvana does. Like Carvana's their captive is like Bridgecrest and they eighty percent of those deals or something like that goes to them or I I don't I don't know what the the mix is, but I I think I read that somewhere that that's primarily who funds their loans. Marion Cain III: The reason why I bring that up is is that it seems to me that the Carmax, they're stepping up on those more expensive units. To me, that's from my my experience. That's what they're seeing, that though Zach Fritz: Mm. Marion Cain III: they're stepping up on those ones that it's just like, okay, they're newer, the values are like, you know, they're like, yeah, I'll take I'll raise my I'll do it. And Chris J. Martinez: Well, here's something that most people don't know about CarMax. And here's the thing. They can lenders lend loan them off of whatever they put on their window sticker. So they Marion Cain III: Mm. Chris J. Martinez: rent will loan off what their retail is. So give you example. So if you have Capital One check for CarMax, if you ever read those Capital One checks, it says NADA for the ri regular dealerships, it's JD Power. plus you know twenty percent. So clean trade plus twenty percent, that's their advance. CarMax, it'll show fifteen percent above CarMax MSRP. So you think about so whatever that MSRP is that CarMax puts on their window, they'll they'll loan off of that plus fifteen Marion Cain III: Mm. Chris J. Martinez: percent. So that MSRP could be, you know, thousands above the JD power trade in value. that's twenty percent over trading value for a regular dealership. So their advances are and the reason their justification is because their portfolio ha you know, work like handles better. Like it doesn't there's not as many losses and things like that. And that's why you'll see those it like those loan aren't the same. And they're, you know, they probably say, well, they c you know, make these super diamond level type things. You know, Capital One, if you sell like thirty cars or book thirty deals, you get on a different level. Well, for CarMax versus a traditional dealer, those two lending criteria are not the same. And that's how their com biggest competitive advantage is they can put the price of any car and all their lenders will blown off of that window sticker. Marion Cain III: And and and also it we're actually just looking at things on such a a macro level. If we bring it down to the micro, looking at from an ownership dealership standpoint, the amount of money they're keeping dealer owned warranty, the amount of mo money they're being able to put offshore and not get taxed, things where we're not even seeing stuff that we don't have to worry about having a commissionable gross type situation that they don't have to worry about that we're not you know, they're they're seeing the profit of, but we don't like necessarily see that on the balance sheet. You know what I mean? All those different things create like okay. You're gonna give me a unit, I don't have to go find it. It makes sense. However, Zach Fritz: Mm-hmm. Marion Cain III: however, I also just want to make sure that it's not just the decisions are driven from fear in terms of the management standpoint of like, you know, it's a great idea until you step up and then they're like, why did you take this unit? It's like that brings us back to our first conversation about car gurus in pricing. You know what I mean? It's like those are the two conversations that go hand in hand. and I'm glad we talked about it because like it brings it full circle. That's why one creates the other. Zach Fritz: Mm-hmm. Chris J. Martinez: Yep. No, it's this has been a lot of this has been a lot of fun. I feel like we could keep going on for because there's still a couple other topics I wanted to discuss, but we're already at the top of the hour. and so before we go, I always like ask the question, you know, based on everything we talked about today, what should dealers you know, look out for what could they do to apply, how they can they apply it in their business to date and and is this just a lot of noise or is this there's some real tactical things that you could do to to improve. Zach, before we get Marion, what what what is your take? Yes, Zach Fritz: You wanna go first? Chris J. Martinez: sir. Zach Fritz: I think the biggest thing that we've seen today, especially with everything we talked about from car gurus back to CarMac swallowing up inventory from dealers, is it does come back down to that customer experience. I think, Marion, one of the things you hit on that, you know, at least I read into from this perspective is I think of the days where people used to talk about their car salesman. People used to talk about the experience at their dealership and say, hey, my dealership's great, go there. Now we don't see that. Now the conversation is shifted more towards. I got a great deal here. Hey, these people worked with me, or you know, I got a you approved for a great loan here. It's not as much about the experience. And I think that's something that needs to come back because if the experience outshines everything else and provides the value, then it's no longer a conversation about the raise to the bottom. It's no longer a conversation of, well, yeah, we don't have any cars in inventory because CarMac swallowed them up. It's now, hey, like we can afford to take those cars on. in inventory and not sell them to CarMax because we have the clientele coming back to our dealership to buy. And I think that's the message today is it's all about that experience. What about you, Marion? Marion Cain III: 100%. I I I'm we have to move away from the objection-based you know, I'm not trying to bash Grant Cardone, Andy Elliott, kind of in your face Zach Fritz: Right. Marion Cain III: type type sales training, and get to more of a consultative type doctor, surgeon, really like integrative experience, you know, with the person. You're sitting down, you don't you put them on the right car, you give them the amazing experience. It does not become a fight of back and forth about The price, it becomes about value. So I cheat so much about credit-based closing. I love these different platforms that are using AI to make it available for you to very quickly concisely make a connection, help the person see their history. Companies like Select Fi, right? They print the you you can print it out, and when you see the way the person has spent their money and you see how they spent in the past, you can see what their priorities are, you can see how they think. And at the same time, a lot of times there is a psychological disconnect between what the person wants and what they need, what they say and what they do. And you're able to elegantly bring all those things together without offending the person and create a path for them, not only for them to buy the perfect car from you right now, but also help improve their credit. Help them buy a home, help them expand their business, help them to get the car for their kid and all this stuff without having to hurt their pocketbook. You don't know how many times I've looked at someone's credit, gone through it, and then after I sold them a car, we have great feelings. I sit there and say, you know, you got 11% on your other car in the house. How about I get this thing flipped over for you and get you 3% or 0%? Boom, two car deals, two trades, just off of looking at the person's credit. Going through and the finance, I tell my finance guys all the time, look at how much they've paid for their car payments in the past. One of those columns better be that price. Because past behavior is indicative of what? Future results. They've done it before, they can do it now. You're sitting there walking Zach Fritz: Mm-hmm. Marion Cain III: the whole the whole situation. It's like, and when you bring it up, and I'm not saying use credit as a dossier to sit there and get, you know, dox the person and all this other stuff. I'm talking about using all the tools that you have to create a relationship quickly on demand in front of the individual. So at that point, you you don't, it doesn't matter what the delivered carriage and different stuff. say about the car sleazy sales, you're not that guy. You're a whole different animal. You're a whole different Zach Fritz: Mm-hmm. Marion Cain III: beast, but you're the same person. And so it's like you're providing that whole quality, that experience. And that's what people come back to, and that's what they recommend. So that's the new level of car sales that I know is out there, and that's what people want. The luxury touch points and the cons, the consultation, and the education. So it's it's it's it's it's it's available, it's possible, it's being done. And the people that are doing it, they're succeeding, they're just not telling everybody. Chris J. Martinez: You know, I think you you know, I think a lot of people should they they get into this training or this mindset of the close and things like that. And and I think you touched on that, Marion. And I think that like you're right, based on what you Zach said and and Marion, you know, that experience really you have to play at a a higher level than just the, you know, catalog salesperson, the clothes, like when you look at these types of salespeople and professionals that I look at, they're not so much as trying to understand their craft and and really try to take care of the consumer at a level that you know, if they're coming in, I mean the average new car now is fifty grand, right? Plus. And so it's not like it's some like ine inexpens but even the people that are are buying a ten, fifteen thousand dollar vehicle if you've can find them, you st it's still a big expense, big level of of of of cost to these to people that you need to be providing that service. And I think everything that I've we've discussed today, you know, from you know, these the car gurus getting sued and the These viral videos that are happening, the s the training, all of it, purchasing even from these other like companies like CarMax and stuff. I think as long as you're providing that service and performing at that level and of providing that service, like That's where you need to be. If you play in that game, you know, you're not it's not a race to the bottom. It's not like, hey, look, let's, you know, give something away just to make a deal. It's hey, let's see how we can take care of the customer and and have that relationship. And I think most people You know, when they get into training, they or get into the sales game, they learn a process and then but oftentimes managers aren't really focused on, hey, let's let's talk about that relationship, that experience that you need to and they should spend more time on that than they should on the close, because if you take care of them in the beginning, it's there is no objection, like, hey, I've answered everything. Like there's hey, let's just move to the next step. Zach Fritz: Yeah, I think it it goes towards, you know, every time I've ever gone into a dealership I get handed a business card or, you know, hey let me tap But that used to mean something. You know, I think customers come into a dealership and everybody talks about educating the consumer, you know, telling them what they need. That comes more from a mentor mindset and being a matchmaker for them. You know, not only, you know, hey, what can you afford? Let me match to that, but what do you actually need? How can I curate that experience and make it better for you? And I think a lot of people have missed that. And it's just like you said, Chris, with it changes the game, I think it Takes you away from the kitty table where everybody's, you know, watched an Andy Elliott video online and said, Sell a car, your wife should leave you and everybody's, you know, hates you. That that that is the mentality. Like Marion Cain III: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah. Well y you know. Well, you know, I I've I've looked at a lot of his training. He's and not to b like he's done like if you listen to some of his other stuff, like the ones that are clickbait ish, like there there's there's you know, those are just to get the views, but when you look at some of the training, he's actually done a really good job. But Zach Fritz: Yeah. Chris J. Martinez: I think that we're just so focused on the close a lot of times that people just aren't focused on that real process of what what is a relationship look like and they turn into this catalog sales professional by you know, getting online and showing all these screens instead of going outside and you know asking those questions, talking to them, and then showing them the actual vehicles that you have available. And that's that's where I feel like there's that disconnect and and dealers just need to get back to that basic. Spend more time training the the investment there will take you a lot further than just that revolving door of this tur constant turnover and automotive. So yeah go ahead before we Marion Cain III: It's it's it's the the the it's the la the lost art of the discovery process. The discovery is huge. So like you if you're walking in, you're coming to see a cardiologist, you sit there, you tell them your symptoms, you tell what what's happened, and literally when it gets to the point of surgery, it's it's something that you recognize, you know, you understand. There's no convincing, they're not coming to you telling you what that no, because they recognize that you've established yourself as a council as a doctor, you've listened to them. And then you've made a decision based on what they've said. And those are the tools. That's the next level. Not bashing those individuals that have done things in the past, but we have to evolve. Like it's everything has changed. If you see how Alex Hermozzi, he's on the internet, he's fantastic. I've known him, seen him through the years. We've had similar mentors on the outside. And they, what he recognized faster than everyone else is knowledge is free. Knowledge is free now. So he was the first one that came out and said, you know what? All this stuff you used to have to pay coaching for. And he paid six figures of coaching because I know his coaches. He just went and got all that coaching stuff and I said, I'm going to give it all out for free. Because he first realized that knowledge is free. But what's not free now is transformation. And when you come into that dealership and I help you to understand that this vehicle is a transformation, this is going to help you to get where you're at right here to where you want to go in the future and in them beyond, that is the new selling. Not sitting there coming up with the Benjamin Franklin clothes, the objection clothes, is your wife, is you, you know, you have any other decision makers, all that other stuff. You're spending six figures and you're married, you you need this, is this it's nonsense. You know what I mean? Like it's just common sense stuff. And I'm just trying to tell you, that stuff is done. It's old. And the problem is, is that we've already invested so much into that type of training, you're scared to sit there and learn the new stuff. We gotta wake up. Zach Fritz: Exactly. And I think the gauge really for people to see if they're actually starting to do this or being focused on the right things is at the end of selling somebody a car, whenever that car's, you know, got the bow on it and you've taken the photo, you should be at a point where you're reminding that customer, hey, it is time to go and take your new car. You know, you can't just hang out here with me. That's probably a sign of a really good relationship and a good experience. Chris J. Martinez: No, you're right. This has been this has been a lot of good value, great, great conversations. I I truly believe we could keep going for several more hours because it's just good Zach Fritz: We should. Chris J. Martinez: good information. But go Marion Cain III: but Chris, Chris, before you go Chris J. Martinez: ahead. Marion Cain III: Before you go, I do want to say one thing. I'm not against the delivered model. I'm not against the car edge folks, none of those guys. Chris J. Martinez: Yeah. Marion Cain III: There's a space for everybody. You understand what I mean? I always try to make Chris J. Martinez: Yeah yeah yeah. Marion Cain III: sure I'm very like, you know, collaborative and there's there's a there's a means for everybody. But you've worked in luxury just like me. I've sat across from billionaires that want to still come to the dealership and sit across from somebody. The feel of the wheel seals the deal every single time. But there's other people that just Chris J. Martinez: Amen. Marion Cain III: don't have the time. time you can't there's a market for everybody. You don't have to be right. You don't have to be wrong. I just feel like that that's that's what sells, that's what gets clicks, is, is, is the is the is is the car crash. So but it behooves us as dealers and on the ground to know what they're saying though and to know what the customers and stuff are saying as well and for us to adapt. Chris J. Martinez: Absolutely. Amen to that. Well, this has been great. As always, please make sure that you like, share, and tell everybody about automotive informants. Marion, before we leave, where can people find you? Marion Cain III: You can f follow follow me, find me anywhere, Instagram, YouTube. I'm trying to be on every platform. And what I truly believe and say is that if any of you guys need any help, you're stuck, you don't have the training, you don't have the help, you don't know how many people reach out to me, DM me. I'll stop, spend the time and help you just because I'm so appreciative of of people like Chris when I needed the help, I didn't have the trainers, I didn't have the teachers. I go Online and I prayed about it, and then boom, the book was there. You know what I mean? And it's like that kind of stuff with the small hinges that swing big doors. And I truly believe that God helps and works through me. And I want to be able to work through helping to continue to keep working in me to help other folks out there. So I I think your family is important, your kids are important, your future is important. If you don't have the help, you don't have the resources. I'll be there. I'll I'll be there to help. I want to, and a part of it, truthfully, Chris, is the time and the effort. That like you put in. And it's like it's amazing to me how many people don't have your book. You know what I mean? Books. You know what I mean? Chris J. Martinez: Yeah, yeah. Marion Cain III: That that are fantastic out there. Yourself, Max Zenon. It's there's stuff out there. They're really good materials and stuff that are out there. I'm talking about high-level stuff that really pulls the, not just pulls it, it it helps you to provide better service to people. And I appreciate that. Chris J. Martinez: No, I appreciate that. Now, thank you for that. Zach, it's always great to chat with you and how we do things. But everyone, thank you for your time. Please again share, like, subscribe. Until next time.