Ken Rodgers
Majestic Drive | Chambersburg, Pa. 17201

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General Manager-Leader-Coach
Known For Building Highly
Successful Automobile Dealerships
From Under-Performing Operations
To Whom It May Concern,
I am seeking a long-term position to operate and develop a dealership or group of dealerships into a top performer in Market
Share, CSI, Net Profit and volume Used Cars.
My history is building highly successful automobile operations from under-performing dealerships. The New York Times best
seller, "Selling To The Affluent" by Dr. James Stanley, devotes a chapter to the impact of my Winning Dealership Culture,
Processes, Systems, Marketing "Brand", and "Wow" Customer Experience, that made the BMW store # 1 in the Southeast.
Among those who will attest to my character and high performance history include former Lexus Western General Manager and
current Toyota VP George Christoff, Jim Rapp, Toyota Regional Executive/ son-in-law of Toyota Vice Chairman Bob McCurry;
and JM&A VP’s Bob Fisher, Mike Casey, and Jim Mueller.
I believe there is a Science of Winning.
My Formula for Success in building Top Performing stores has these core principles:
(1) Grow excited, well-coached people giving a "Wow" customer experience
(2) Blur the line between customer and friend through Fast & Easy Car Buying
(3) Design "Winning Culture" processes and systems
My application of these principles has resulted in:
(1) The Southeast's #1 BMW dealership; often Nation's #1
(2) The Southeast's #1 Nissan dealership; Nation's #7
(3) One of the Nation's top 10 Ford dealerships
(4) A Toyota dealership about to be terminated that became one of Toyota's success stories for market share, csi,
net profit and used car volume.
I am a disciplined, hands-on coach, teacher and team builder. No skeletons. Real deal. I have a strong work ethic and high will
to win. I grow people. I teach them to become successful. Most people will never reach their full potential without someone else
believing in them, defining a Vision, providing a new destination and road map, and driving them to new heights of performance.
It's always all about people. You can pay them to perform but you can't pay them to excel. For people to excel, they require a
New Beginning. They need to start believing in the success they can have. I replace their old limiting beliefs with new belief
systems. And I teach them my Formula For Success, with its Selling System, Processes, Philosophy, and Fast & Easy Car
Buying, that had caught the attention of legendary Toyota Vice Chairman, Bob McCurry. He saw my Formula For Success as a
new business model for Toyota dealerships, increasing dealership customer retention and replacing impersonal, over-aggressive
tactics.
I use Positive Unconscious Thinking to impact and influence our customers’ perceptions of us. I use Thought Leadership to
inspire and lift our people to new heights of confidence and performance. My father was a science teacher and basketball coach
whose team won a Kentucky High School State Basketball Championship. My upbringing was centered around achieving high
performance in classrooms and in every facet of life outside of classrooms. At an early age I was taught that team success
requires well-coached people, high skill development, and the leadership of someone who is committed and cares.
I am married and have 4 sons. I am a Pre-Med/ BS graduate of the University of Cincinnati. While in college I bought used
cars from private individuals, then reconditioned and resold them. I learned used car buying and reconditioning skills from
my grandfather who was one of Cincinnati's first large used car dealers. After graduation I joined General Motors, which had
recruited me when I was a sophomore for their Executive Management Training Program.
I am very strong in used car operations, always building clean, controlled, volume used car departments. I am well versed in
fixed operations and customer retention. Effective marketing and brand creation are specialties of mine. I am ahead of the curve
in Internet. And the Formula For Success that I created is driven by management-intensive systems and process. I am confident
that my leadership and communication skills, my ability to coach and teach, and my dedication to processes, can:
(1) Protect The Assets - the reputation, people, cash, inventories, receivables, contracts-in-transit, and factory relations; and (2)
Grow The Business - skill level and commitment of the employees, market share, customer satisfaction, and net profit.
Sincerely,
Ken Rodgers
Ken Rodgers 1645 Majestic Drive | Chambersburg, Pa. 17201 | 571-292-6433 | kdr1200@gmail.com
Education:
Pre-Med/ BS Graduate of the University of Cincinnati.
While in college I bought used cars from private individuals, then reconditioned and resold them. I learned used car buying and
reconditioning skills from my grandfather who was one of Cincinnati's first large, independent used car dealers. After graduation I
joined General Motors, which had begun recruiting me when I was a college sophomore for their Executive Training Program.
Family:
I am married and have four sons who have each created top performing operations:
1) Trey manages three Washington DC Mazda stores, one being a Nation’s top 10 store
2) Kurt is Internet Director of a large Washington DC Cadillac store
3) Cameron manages an AutoNation Land Rover store in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, that is ranked #5 in the Nation
4) Scott created a Washington DC automobile dealership marketing/ advertising firm specializing in internet, social media, TV
production and direct mail, that now has hundreds of dealership clients nationwide, including the Penske stores.
Dealership Business Model:
In creating top performing dealerships, I focus first on influencing the customer's Positive Unconscious Thinking.
Of the 20 million messages the brain receives each minute, it is aware of only about 40 pieces per minute. The difference between
the 20 million and the 40 constitutes Unconscious Thinking. The Unconscious sends powerful, emotional and influential signals.
Most of the choices we make and the things we do every day are through Unconscious Thinking. It is where we all live. It is why
psychologists say we are hard-wired to make a like or don't like decision within 15 seconds of meeting someone or something new.
The way people perceive us and our dealership is through Unconscious Thinking and is shaped by a whole variety of influences,
both positive and negative, that they and we are not even aware of. Therefore, the starting point in my Formula For Success is
controlling the first impression customers have of us: our people and our dealership atmosphere.
We create a warm, friendly and relaxed dealership atmosphere. Well-dressed, friendly greeters welcome customers at the door,
personally introducing them to waiting salespeople and then logging them with management. Greeters also offer the personal
touch of refreshments and even coloring books, toys, milk and cookies or pbj sandwiches for hungry, antsy kids. My sales
managers also introduce themselves to customers once they’re seated. From a vantage point, the sales managers observe the
customers’ body-language-responses to our Fast & Easy Car Buying processes, so, if necessary, they can quickly intervene to
re-explain and eliminate any confusion. I prefer to hire clean-cut "green" salespeople such as waiters and waitresses who are
working for tips in hotels and restaurants by pleasing people with great service. I dress the women in business attire, bringing in
an expert in to advise them on hair, make-up, and clothing. I dress the men in white shirts only, ties, pressed dress slacks, shined
dress shoes, and suits or blazers instead of wind-breakers. I teach them grooming and courtesies. I teach the Word-Tracks of
our "Philosophy" and Fast & Easy Car Buying to our salespeople, greeters and the entire dealership management team, front
and back. Salespeople and sales managers must believe in how we do business, memorize our word-tracks, and be able to
convincingly present it to me and the entire staff, before they are permitted to present it to customers.
Philosophy is our Silver Bullet, the bedrock and first step of our Selling System. It explains how we’re different from the dealer
down the street or across town. Fast & Easy Car Buying is our marketing Brand and defines how we do business. Presenting
Philosophy is how we immediately put customers at ease, influencing their Unconscious Thinking to begin to positively compare
this new experience to what they had experienced the "Last Time They Bought A Car". This is their Unconscious working in
a Positive way for us. We want customers to replay that old tape in their heads, to re-live the pain of the Psychic Wound they
suffered from poor past car buying experiences. It is only when our salespeople and managers master this huge first step of our
Selling System that I teach them the rest of the Selling System. By producing a "Wow" customer experience, we are developing
a lasting relationship that blurs the line between customer and friend, makes our customers come back for more, and makes them
want to tell everyone they know about us. My processes are management-intensive and they support our Vision of becoming
known as the Disney/ Ritz-Carlton of car buying experiences.
Career History:
● Consultant to Troubled Dealerships
2009 - Present
Design and teach processes to Protect the Assets, Build Market Share and Net Profit. Train people.
● General Manager of Select Under-Performing Toyota Dealerships at Insistence of Toyota
Vice-Chairman