Latest / Auto Collabs / Unlocking Potential In The Auto Industry by Mentorship and Training with Jack Pearson

Transcript

Unlocking Potential In The Auto Industry by Mentorship and Training with Jack Pearson · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  You ever have a feeling of deja vu? [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. [laughs] Right before The Matrix- [laughs]... an agent comes to get me, absolutely. It's been a while, though. [laughs] Yeah.
• 0:16
  But you're feeling deja vu. You can't just say that- Um-... and not say anything after it. Yeah. I mean, um- Unless you say, "Have you ever had the feeling of deja vu?" Right? There's the joke. Ba-da-tch. Yeah.
• 0:25
  [laughs] Got 'em. Got 'em. [laughs] But it's not funny. Once you're explaining, you're losing. Yes, that's true. Uh, today's- I feel like deja vu is just the life of an entrepreneur because we- [laughs]...
• 0:38
  get up early, we sit at our desk all day, then we go home, eat dinner, find ourselves in bed, dream about being at work- [laughs]...
• 0:47
  where our brain speaks to us all night about, th- you know, walks us through the meetings we had that day. And then before you know it, we're right back at our desk again.
• 0:54
  Well, I thought you were gonna say, we wake up in the morning, get some breakfast, walk into the office, pull back that little, like, it's like a shoe on the end of a wooden stick, and it's spring-loaded, and you pull it back, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.
• 1:06
  [laughs] And then you stand in front of it in your most... [laughs] And then it just, like, hits you between the legs, and then you just do it again the next day. [laughs] That's my version of deja vu.
• 1:15
  I'm not Jerry a monk. It doesn't help- Oh... that we all wear the same clothes every single day, too, so it just feels like we- Well, that makes it easier... yeah. Hey. That does make it easier.
• 1:23
  That's how I know I'm working. You open my closet- [laughs]... and it's a bunch of black shirts and black jeans. Ah. Yep. So it simply just- I know. I know, it's okay.
• 1:31
  I'm excited that today's conversation is the first one with our, uh, 40 under 40, right? We have a number of these lined up, and today's- Yep... the first one. This one's gonna be great. All right?
• 1:39
  We got Jack Pearson, um, coming in hot from across the pond. If you don't know- That's right... you know now. And you'll know as soon as you hear the accent. Um, so, uh, hope you enjoy this conversation with us.
• 1:48
  And one of Automotive News' 40 under 40, Jack Pearson. [upbeat music] Jack, thank you so much for joining us on the show today. It's a pleasure to have you here. Oh, no. Happy, happy to be here.
• 2:01
  Been following you guys for a while, and, you know, appreciate what you guys have done since, uh, since the crazy COVID years. Yes, indeed, indeed. Oh, thank you. Yeah.
• 2:07
  Well, first of all, uh, I know you've gotten this a lot, but I want to again, on behalf of ASOTU, congratulate you on your 40 under 40. Um, it's not, not an easy thing to accomplish.
• 2:17
  And, uh, tell us about when you found out. Uh, found out, I was actually coming back from, uh, Arizona. I was on, uh, doing an Andy Elliott training course there, and I'd just landed back in, um, into Chicago O'Hare.
• 2:29
  Checked my email, and it says, "Hey, a reporter's gonna contact you. You've been nominated, and, um, y- you wanna accept it?" And, and just go through there.
• 2:36
  So the next week or so, I was struggling to come up with things about how to maybe make, make me sound somewhat intelligent. [laughs] But, um, it's crazy.
• 2:44
  Um, you know, I've been in the car business 12 years, but it's a strange feeling 'cause I also feel like I've got so much more to do.
• 2:51
  So I'm, like, trying to be grateful and happy, but also letting everyone know I'm not the finished product. I'm not, I, I'm not even close to being, um, hitting what I wanna do in the next six years, so.
• 3:02
  I mean, spoken like someone who is truly immersed in a training and development mindset, right? Yeah. Yeah. You've never really arrived. You're always- Yeah... preparing. You gotta be- Yeah...
• 3:12
  the challenger, not the champion. Ugh, I love it. You know- [laughs]... I, I have a little bit of a beef with the industry, and maybe this is every industry. Because there's a 40 under 40.
• 3:22
  We were talking about this, Kyle, a little yesterday. [laughs] What's the next thing you can win? The Lifetime Achievement Award, right? Like, when you're in a wheelchair- [laughs]... and on your way out.
• 3:30
  [laughs] Yeah, I don't know. There, there's really nothing else in between there. So, like, once you cross 40- There's no hall of fame. There's no- Which I have crossed 40. Yeah. Kyle hasn't yet.
• 3:39
  He's still got, he's still got- [laughs]... got a couple swings left. But there's nothing at that point. [laughs] There you go. That's right. I don't know how we're gonna fix that. All right.
• 3:46
  So take it, take us back- [laughs]... because you said you've been in auto for 12 years. And, and, uh, you, you've got a c- a bit of an accent, if the people can't tell.
• 3:54
  [laughs] Take us back to, uh, to the journey to, uh, to, to auto. Like, where did that- Strange... where did that come out of? Yeah, s- strange. So I came to, came to America in 2008.
• 4:05
  Um, I was lucky enough to, uh, go to University of Dayton in Ohio, get a soccer scholarship there. So went there for four years, and just, just loved life.
• 4:13
  Um, knew I, knew I'd end up living, working, um, in America after that. Um, a lot of people complain about living in America, but it's, it, it's just amazing.
• 4:21
  I just, I just love life, and super passionate, uh, to, to be here in America. Um, moved to Des Moines, Iowa. That's where my wife, uh, was from.
• 4:31
  And I was gonna get into, uh, soccer- I was about to say, yeah, the only way that you go to, move to Des Moines, Iowa from the Midwest is because of, of a girl, right? [laughs] Right. [laughs] That's it. Yep. Yep.
• 4:42
  Um, so moved there, and then the, I was gonna start coaching, trying to find a little college to go coach soccer at. And, um, turned up at team meeting.
• 4:50
  I was, uh, playing soccer for a team there, and this guy turns up in a Range Rover. He's also English, and so I was like, "Hey, uh, so w- what do you do?" He's all, "I sell cars."
• 4:59
  He goes, "Oh, the, the Americans love the accent. Like, you gotta get in. You gotta give it a go." [laughs] And, um- That's true. [laughs] I was like, "Ah, the..." And he's like, "Dude, you gotta come in."
• 5:08
  What I didn't realize at the time, he was kinda working his referral pay plan. Um, so- Oh, yeah... I, I don't know how authentic he was about really trying to get me on board.
• 5:17
  But went down to, um, company called Willis Automotive. They've got seven different new car lines. Great reputation in the area. Got in and, um, interviewed, and started selling Cadillacs. Loved it.
• 5:29
  Didn't know anything, what I was doing, um, really.
• 5:32
  But after about two and a half y- half years, worked my way up to be a Cadillac sales manager, which was strange, 'cause I'm only 24 at the time, and my team was double my age. So strange dynamic there.
• 5:43
  And, um, worked my way up- For sure. Especially a high line like, especially a brand like Cadillac. Strange, yeah. I mean- Right? Your sales staff is going to be older. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the- [laughs]...
• 5:53
  the, the floor traffic stopped at, like, 4:00 in the afternoon, 'cause, uh, you know, the Cadillac buyers back then, they had to go home. It's bedtime, right?
• 5:59
  [laughs] It's dinner and bed.Yeah Gotta go watch Price is Right. Yep. [laughs] Yep. So it was, uh, it was strange, but just, just loved, loved the industry. Um, loved the training and development aspect and there's...
• 6:12
  You know, one thing about being, being in America, there's always something else to go after.
• 6:17
  You know, you do something, everyone's like, "Good job," but there's always someone else who you can speak to, someone else to mentor you, and just, just try and go a little bit bigger.
• 6:25
  And there's, and there's, you know, if you're, if you're hardworking, there's always someone to push you up as well. Yeah. That's what I like. So.
• 6:31
  Now, go back because, uh, well, first of all, we could spend, like, a whole nother half an hour on just soccer. Um, we'll try not to do that. [laughs] Uh- It's all right.
• 6:41
  I talk enough about the Philadelphia Eagles on other shows that Kyle- That's fair. That's fair... when we get, when we get soccer time, I'm okay with it.
• 6:47
  [laughs] But I, you know, I, I think especially in sales environments, and maybe I'm biased because I grew up in, in playing sports, but I think especially in sales environments, the history of having played a sport really is extremely relatable, right?
• 7:07
  From the coaching and mentoring, from the co- competitive nature. Like you just said, you know, there's always, like, that next step, that next goal. Yep. What achievement can I hit?
• 7:16
  Um, were there, are there key things that you can point to in, like, your childhood or maybe even playing collegiate soccer that have led to your expertise in sales engagements? Yeah, for sure.
• 7:31
  The, probably the biggest thing is as a student athlete, um, for four years, you're always busy. Like, whether- Mm-hmm. Yeah...
• 7:37
  you're getting out of bed at 6:00 in the morning, you've got, you know, weights, lifting at 7:00. Then you've got practice, then you've got six hours of classes, then you've got study tables, team meetings, whatever.
• 7:48
  So when I...
• 7:49
  I think a lot of people struggle to get into the real world, especially my, our generation, you know, we have a bad reputation, but being a student athlete and, um, being busy 10, 12 hours a day, y- you can go into a job at, you know, I'd always get to work early.
• 8:05
  I'd stay late, put my hand up to help. Um, don- don't go out to eat for lunch. You bring your own lunch there. You know, um, just little things. The time management really helped me.
• 8:15
  And then probably the biggest thing is in, in this industry, you face a ton of adversity, and there's not much training or preparation for that as well. I mean, you get told no all the time. Mm-hmm. Um, all the time.
• 8:26
  Yeah. And, and, and just like any sport, you're not gonna win all the time. You're not gonna be, always be the fastest, the fittest, the best. Like, there's gonna be a lot of other people out there- Mm-hmm...
• 8:35
  um, that are better than you. And so to have that experience of just going through a ton of adversity, um... And e- e- even today, when we hire someone on new, it's not really what they're good at.
• 8:44
  It's like, "Okay, you- you- you're good enough to be sitting here right now. L- l- We know that, but what are you like when, um, you know, the stuff hits the fan? Like, how do you overcome adversity?" Stuff like that.
• 8:55
  So I think that, that helps us, especially in this industry.
• 8:58
  You had a, when you answered, like, the pre-podcast questionnaire, you said there are a ton of average people in the industry that haven't had their potential unlocked. Yeah. T- tell us about your mentality toward that.
• 9:10
  Well, d... I, I'll answer it t- two different ways. So my, my coach at Dayton, he used to say 95% of people are average.
• 9:17
  And it, it sounds quite hard, and, but really no one ever, uh, people don't really push themselves unless they've, one, got the inner drive, or two, they're in an environment to do that. Um, a- and I'm- Right...
• 9:29
  I really believe that.
• 9:30
  And then w- if you wanna be in the top 5%, if you get there in some environment, are you then going and putting yourself in a better environment and trying to look for that top 5% of a better environment?
• 9:42
  Um, you know, those people who do that, I, I think have really successful careers in automotive. Um, but the other thing that's happened the last two or three years is, is the market got so good.
• 9:52
  The market got so much better than really what we deserve.
• 9:56
  And now you, and now you're seeing a ton of people cut back, you know, changing pay plans, um, cutting back on marketing, not expanding, um, uh, 'cause they, they, they have no idea what happened.
• 10:09
  And, and really they got a massive boost without going through any adversity. So a- as things have changed a little bit now, they're going backwards.
• 10:17
  And I think the better dealers, the, the better people, um, are, are, are just taking advantage of it and just keep going. So what are the things when you- Yeah...
• 10:27
  when you hire, when you look at other teams, when you inherit teams, what are the elements you're looking for in an average person that kind of, like, make a little light bulb go off in your head from a training and development side?
• 10:39
  What are the things that indicate an average person has it in them to be above average? That's a- It's, yeah, it's, it's a hard question. So the- [laughs] It is.
• 10:51
  But I mean, like, if- Has the, has the average- That's why we're asking you. [laughs] Yeah. Has the average person ever really asked for help?
• 10:57
  Um, you know, to give you an example, we made a, a really great hire four years ago. Um, he's on my team. Um, his name's Lewis. He was at a busy Toyota store, but he was selling about 15 cars a month.
• 11:10
  But he was just, he was just kind of average there. He'd never really been pushed, um, 'cause no one had, one, had ever helped him to, and no one, and he'd never really strived for better.
• 11:20
  Um, can't remember what happened. It changed his life, but he, he, he wanted a different direction. So I just asked him if he had a mentor. He didn't really have a mentor.
• 11:29
  Um, asked him what some of his dreams were, and then we just went really deep into those questions. Like, "Well, tell me about your kids. Tell me about what type of life you wanna have.
• 11:36
  Tell me about the dream car you wanna have," and do that. And then I think he saw, "You know what? I have a little bit more potential." And then I just have to, then you just have to get it out of him.
• 11:45
  So we invest in training and development, and then after two years, he's my number one guy now 'cause he had- Yeah... the skill set and we just, um, unlocked that inner drive that he had.
• 11:55
  Um, but it's just deep layer questions and just seeing if anyone's ever put themselves in, in an environment where they're not gonna be the best or it's not easy.
• 12:04
  You know, I, I thinkI'm gonna maybe rephrase your, like, your coaches. 95 per- percent of people settle for average. But everybody some- well, okay, I won't go everybody.
• 12:19
  I'll say the majority of that 95% at some point in their life had a desire to be in the 5%, right? Sure, yeah. They wore the jersey of the person that they idolize.
• 12:31
  They, you know, they, they, they changed their perspective or they, or they, or they, they tried to be something that they thought that they weren't. And at- Mm...
• 12:40
  and at some point along the way, there was a life event or a thing that said, "Nah, just, you're just not gonna be that." Yeah. Right? And what you just said is like the, uh, a mentoring role, uh, i- in someone's life,
• 12:58
  you know, uh, at some therapeutic level allows them to rediscover that five per- that being a five percenter is possible. Yeah. Right? For sure. And that's... Man, I f- shoot, that was, for me, Aaron Hill, right?
• 13:15
  That was the guy that kind of drew that out of me. I was like a, you know, nine to 12 sales, you know, car a month guy, and then Aaron was like, he did the same thing.
• 13:25
  [laughs] I, I love how you said, like, "What do you wanna buy? Who's your family?" Yeah. "What do you wanna do?" Like, what are all these things that deep down- You start going down the layers. [laughs] Yeah.
• 13:33
  You start going down the layers into your why, and it's like you start to expose those things, and all of a sudden someone gets reinvigorated to be a part of the 5%. And I think that, like, uh, just to, to
• 13:47
  go deeper in that, and maybe you can comment on this, is I think that our industry says a lot that we wanna do training and developing,
• 13:56
  but what we maybe miss is that training and developing requires mentorship as a prerequisite. Oh, for sure. And, a- and they have to be able to look up to you as well. So w- what,
• 14:11
  what I was telling Lewis, I, I would tell him my dreams as well. And I'm like, "Lewis, I, I kinda need you to help. Uh, uh, our values and our goals align.
• 14:21
  Like, if I hit, help you hit your goals, you're gonna help me hit mine as well." Mm. And that's part of the mentorship as well. So what are you most excited about right now?
• 14:31
  So, um, your position, you're at a JLR store right outside Chicago. Yep. And what are your aspirations? Like, what, what's your position and your role right now enveloping? And, like, where do you want it to be?
• 14:42
  Like, do you wanna own a store one day? Where, where are your goals? So ri- right now, I love life. I've got a great job.
• 14:49
  I'm what they call the center manager, which is, for some reason, the British way of saying g- general manager. Um- I was gonna say, it s- it seemed very British. Yeah. [laughs] Like, the center manager.
• 14:57
  I was like- Well-... that feels like a soccer thing. Yeah. A- and we, and we spell it wrong as well. Um- Centre. You know, it- Yeah... it's with an R-E at the end instead of E-R. Yeah.
• 15:05
  Um, but I- So they do it, they do it in your store. They spell it that way. Like, they bring it across the pond. Yeah. And they- Yeah. Oh, I like that, though. I like that, though. Yeah.
• 15:12
  [laughs] Um, so my main responsibilities is leading the variable operations of the site.
• 15:18
  Um, I'm also kind of the director for customer experience, and that's with service as well, just making sure everyone's happy and, and looking at different processes in here.
• 15:26
  But the, the majority of my responsibility is just hit, uh, making sure the variable operations run smoothly and, and we keep growing the business. Um- Yeah... the, the next six months I'm super pumped up for.
• 15:38
  You know, during COVID, we literally had no cars to sell.
• 15:41
  And I know everyone says, "Oh, inventory was down," but we ran a sales meeting, and we went over the inventory, and we had 10 new cars on the ground, and we showed our inventory pipeline of there will be zero new cars delivered in the next 90 days at the store.
• 15:56
  Oh, my goodness. And they, they kinda knew, but then- [laughs]... I'm like, "I gotta, I gotta address the elephant in the room. Like, we, we're gonna have no new cars for 90 days, guys. Uh, but it's gonna be okay.
• 16:06
  Like, it, it's fine. I'm not worried about it." I was kinda sweating bullets here, but I'm like, "It, it's gonna be okay. We, we're gonna figure it out." Um, we massively expanded our used car operation.
• 16:17
  You know, we, we're probably one of the only stores in the country that sold four, four used cars to every new. Um, it, and that, and that six months it was probably more.
• 16:25
  I mean, we sold four new cars one month, which was just... It, it's absolutely pathetic, but w- we didn't have any new cars to sell, so we- Right... sold four new cars, and we sold 65 used.
• 16:35
  Um, so the next six months we've actually got inventory. We have about a 45-day supply of cars on the ground. And, and we've got- Hey, now... we've got killer cars.
• 16:43
  I mean, Land Rover's just done, and Jaguar's done such a good job. I mean, we absolutely love our product. We're super passionate about it. Um, and we're gonna...
• 16:52
  Now, a customer comes in, if we don't have something available on the ground, they're out 90 days to get a car. Uh, before we were giving crappy customer experiences. "We have no idea when the car's gonna be here.
• 17:05
  We're gonna have no idea if that sound system's gonna be available. Um, we don't think we're gonna be able to get your car within a year. It might be a year, it might be three years. We don't know." Wow. Um- Golly...
• 17:16
  and, and now it's like, "Hey, you wanna come in and spend $100,000 in your store? We're gonna give you an amazing experience, and we're gonna get that car here within 90 days for you." Funny thing about that.
• 17:25
  It's amazing. Why do people, why do people choose, like, the, the Land Rover experience over, like, a Mercedes experience? Because the highline buyer, right, like, they have a certain mindset.
• 17:34
  Why are people walking in your store? There's a lot of, there's a lot of choice. There's a lot of nice, um, luxury SUVs. Now I- I'll tell you from the Range Rover point of view.
• 17:43
  So in Land Rover you've got basically three families of cars. You've got the Defender family, which is utilitarian, adventurous car. Discovery, which is a little bit more family focused.
• 17:52
  You've got the Range Rover, which the nameplate, you say Range Rover, it, it means a little bit more to people. Mm-hmm. The Range Rover is really a celebration of someone's success, and it might be,
• 18:03
  it might be a nurse who's worked their rear end off over the last three years during COVID, um-They haven't made much money in their life.
• 18:12
  Now they're making a little bit more, and they can now afford a 60, 70, $80,000 car. That's this Range Rover on the front.
• 18:18
  And it's, "Hey, I, I've kind of arrived, and I'm looking for the experience to go along with it as well." Mm-hmm. And it's our job to match up.
• 18:25
  Um, you know, th- they've had this car on a vision board maybe for 10 years, and it's, it's our job to help them celebrate that success and deliver them an amazing experience along with that car. Um- I like that.
• 18:37
  It's our job to help them- It's, it's almost-- Yeah... celebrate their success. It's, it's, like, you're providing an existential moment in their life potentially, right?
• 18:45
  That, that this is like- It massively appeals to people. Yeah. It's massively appeals. Yeah. So- So wh- when you think about that, like, what are the unique things that you feel
• 18:54
  are a part of not just, like, you know, being a progressive car dealer in general- Yeah... but delivering that particular thing that they, that, that someone entering that type of purchase process needs or wants, right?
• 19:12
  That they might not get anywhere else. So there... Yeah, there, there's a few tangible things you can do t- towards the end of the process. You can bring in a bottle of rosé, you can b- bring in flowers in.
• 19:20
  But if you really start at, start the journey, customer comes in, we have what's called a CNA during our sales, sales process, customer needs analysis. Eh, everyone's kind of got one, maybe you've got a written one down.
• 19:32
  But on our, uh, customer needs analysis, we've got a big circle in, in the middle, and it says, "What is the goal of the customer?" And it's our job to help them make a decision.
• 19:42
  And if they come in, they say, "Hey, I'm looking for a Range Rover Sport," a lot of dealers will say, "Great. What's the stock number? Do you... Have you seen it online? Great. Let me go grab the keys.
• 19:50
  I'll, I'll be right back." Mm. W- we have probably five or six different questions we like to answer. It's like, "Hey, you, you probably didn't just step in the dealership today to get a Range Rover.
• 19:59
  Like, what, what's happened in your life? T- tell me a little bit more about it." Instead of asking if they want a cup of coffee or a bottle of water, it's, "Hey, what, what Americano can we get you? What cappuccino?
• 20:09
  What, what type of latte do... We, we want to know- Talking our language now. Yeah. [laughs] And, um, yeah, I'm a coffee snob, so, like, all my sales staff is, is trained to be a coffee snob as well.
• 20:18
  [laughs] There, you and... Yeah. Amazing. We're gonna get along real well. So I have Paul Lamoun in Chicago. Yeah. [laughs] We got a soccer guy. [laughs] We got coffee. Coffee snob. Yeah. We got... It's over. It's done.
• 20:28
  And w- we wanna find out why, you know. Is this, how long you've been thinking about it? What's special? Where are you going out to celebrate tonight?
• 20:34
  And then once we know the real purpose, um, then we can adjust our sales process on it. And, and sometimes it's not always the customer's in the market today. We're gonna find out why.
• 20:44
  But w- we also, by asking those deep level questions, w- we're able to generate a lot more rapport with the customer, and it becomes more of a relationship.
• 20:55
  And then by, after, after about five minutes of conversation, we're thanking them for doing business with us when they haven't even signed anything yet. Like, we're, "Hey-" Mm. Mm...
• 21:01
  "thank you for choosing Jaguar Land Rover South Shore to help you with this Range Rover.
• 21:05
  Like, we take this really, really seriously, and, you know, part of our job are to help, you know, successful people or, you know, great customers like yourself w- with this purchase."
• 21:16
  So we, we try to start with the relationship, and then we do a lot of different tangible things towards the end. Just add a little bit of icing on the cake.
• 21:22
  I mean, we, we actually interviewed a salesperson last week, and they were asking, you know, "Does your dealership do anything different?" Et cetera. And I said, "Well,
• 21:32
  we have a, we have a lady in the showroom right now that is a realtor, but she just started her own Pilates studio about a year ago, and she's been really successful."
• 21:41
  And I said, "The sales lady who's working with her is Laura." And I was like, "Laura should know this."
• 21:46
  And as she's going into the delivery, um, delivery bay to pick up a car, we put a sign up for someone's name congratulating them on the purchase.
• 21:54
  If we know anything that's really important to that person, we'll try and highlight that in the delivery.
• 21:58
  So I said to this person we're interviewing for a, for a sales position, I said, "I'm gonna guess that Laura has a picture of this lady's logo on this congratulations sign." And I was like, "I'm 99% certain,
• 22:11
  you know, but I would still put myself out there." [laughs] And sure enough, I walked out with this person who's interviewing for, for a sales position, and she saw this logo on there.
• 22:19
  And, uh, th- that just made me feel pretty warm because I'm like, "That's what we do." Come on. You nailed it. We just make this personal. Yeah. Come on. And this lady's, you know, she's crying.
• 22:28
  "I've worked so hard to get this Pilates studio going up. You've recognized that. You know, w- you, you guys celebrate, uh, female entrepreneurship." I mean, it was just like- Yeah... good job.
• 22:38
  We, we've got that customer for life. I mean- Right. Bottom line. It's over And that wasn't expensive. That cost you, like, $0. You're already printing a thing. But we... But Laura- Intentionality...
• 22:46
  yeah, my, my sales lady, she just went through so many different layers of the question to get there in the relationship. Um- Mm-hmm... so w- we do things like that.
• 22:53
  I mean, I, I- Have you read "Unreasonable Hospitality"? Yeah. [laughs] The Wontherer book? Okay. He's gonna dig it out. Yeah. It's right back there. I gotta believe it. [laughs] That this dude is all in, right? Yeah.
• 23:02
  Pop, Pop 12. [laughs] Yeah. There you go. I love it. Yeah. This is like that, that, like, that reeks of, uh, in a good way- Mm... of dream weaving, of just, like, being so intentional with a person.
• 23:16
  And this is what's crazy, like, yeah, we're talking about it in the, in the construct of luxury dealership- Yeah... luxury experience. Like Paul just said, that didn't...
• 23:26
  That cost, like, less than half a penny of ink- Yeah... right? Yeah. But changed the perspective of this person on your business- Yeah... forever. It's c- it's critical. It's incredible. Yeah.
• 23:39
  And that takes training to recognize, to understand, to make sure the process is, is cr- crafted in a way that allows that to be exposed- Mm... through the sales, you know, and, and, and the purchase journey.
• 23:51
  So kudos to you- Yeah... uh, for leading your team that way. [laughs] Yeah.
• 23:55
  Um, well, hey, uh, Jack, we can see why, uh, people have selected and, and, and the people have spoken, uh, in, in you leading your team and, and being nominated a- as this 40 under 40. So kudos on that. Awesome.
• 24:08
  I can't wait to see what you do next, 'cause I, I feel like I'm gonna need, uh, t- someone to, like, start vlogging what happens in your store, 'cause it, it seems like that's gonna be su- uh, you know, s- something recognizable in our industry.
• 24:21
  Uh, but thanks for spending a, a little bit of time today here with us on Auto Collapse. No, I, I, I really appreciate it. Appreciate you guys' passion for the industry. I, I hope, you know, you guys keep exploding.
• 24:30
  Uh, it's, it's cool to see how many passionate people come onUm, and vibe with you guys, 'cause that, that, that's what our industry needs. Unfortunately, we don't have the best, um, reputation.
• 24:41
  You know, it's, it's a fun, outgoing, passionate industry. And, um, I, I think, I think, you know, people like yourselves are starting to change that a bit. You're changing it one bit at a time.
• 24:50
  [laughs] [upbeat music] Of course there's a soccer connection. You just said that. Guys, I was so happy in that moment. We couldn't tell. I was like, "Okay, okay, I'll just, I'll, I'll only talk about it for a minute.
• 25:04
  We'll move on past this scenario." Mm-hmm. The soccer thing always gets me excited. And if you're watching the video- Well, stop pretending that you didn't talk about it eight minutes before we started the podcast.
• 25:12
  That is true. That is true. But, but granted- We tried to get that out of the way... in all fairness, if the person's a Philly fan, you, I, you allow me the same courtesy of- Yeah...
• 25:19
  eight minutes of irrelevant to you conversation prior to starting. And if anybody ever s- to, you know, like went to Niagara Falls and stepped foot in Canada- [laughs]... we make, we make fun of s- Michael Cirillo, so.
• 25:28
  That's not true. There it is. Michael- It just is what it is. Yeah. Michael Cirillo makes fun of Canada more than any A- American can make fun of Canada. It's kinda true. Yeah. That is true.
• 25:36
  Well, the other thing that I, I think, well, one, we obviously, Will Guidara, unreasonable hospitality, this idea of what does a purchase, a service process look like that uniquely cares for the individual beyond just, "This is the process that we put everyone through," but it's the process that we put everyone through so that we can expose the things that allow us to go above and beyond, right?
• 26:01
  And that it's so expected in his culture that he would be able to bring someone to the showroom and look across the showroom and be like, "I bet you anything this is going on."
• 26:11
  And then to go inspect it and know that the little thing, the little card, had a unique thing for that customer in that moment- Yeah... that was, for all intents and purposes, free. You just had to be aware.
• 26:24
  I mean, MC, you're, you're about to be part of opening a dealership that is stating to be all about customer experience. We'll see- Yeah... if you really mean it. Oh, yeah. [laughs] Is it gonna happen? But you know what?
• 26:36
  Like, when you really think about it, the last, the last three cars that I've purchased, and, and this is gonna sound crazy. Some people are gonna gnash their teeth. The last three cars I've purchased,
• 26:50
  nobody at the dealership thanked me. Oh. It was always like a- Just a stapler. Just give me-... "All right, guys. Enjoy your new ride. Ha ha ha ha ha." Right? It was always one of those. [laughs] Nobody thanked me. Wow.
• 27:06
  Like the old, sincere- We live in a day and age where we're so ahead of ourselves- Yeah...
• 27:09
  we're so overthinking, that the basis of a better customer experience could look like a genuine handshake, look in the eyes, and say, "Hey, thank you so much for choosing us. We know there's a lot of options out there.
• 27:22
  It means the world to me." Yeah. "And I sincerely appreciate you." Yeah. Dang. I don't know how we're gonna end this episode. That's all it takes.
• 27:29
  I think we should thank, I feel like now we should thank people for listening to this podcast. We should. Thank you. Yeah. You have more options in podcasts than people do in cars. Let's just put it that way.
• 27:39
  That's right. So we wanna thank you on behalf of Kyle Montzer, Michael Cirillo, the whole ASOTU team, by the way, our producer, Nathan. I feel like we need to go down the list now.
• 27:47
  We work really hard to put this stuff on so you can watch it. So thank you for watching and listening. We'll see you next time on Auto Collapse.
• 27:55
  Sign up for our free and fun to read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U dot com.
• 28:08
  If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
• 28:17
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collapse. Welcome to Auto Collapse. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet.