[Photo: Used North - Edmond, Oklahoma - 2004 ]

When I worked at Bob Howard Auto Group from 2004 to 2008, it was like dog years in regard to learning, as there were two new car managers and two used car managers under every rooftop and our Internet Department represented all 14 new car brands. So you can imagine picking up the phone and helping a customer with any kind of vehicle you can imagine from a new Denali to a used 150k-mile Honda Civic that might not have air conditioning to a Chevrolet Corvette. No matter the vehicle, the process was the same. 

I have yet to find a more ideal Internet department set up. We had 22 cradle to grave salespeople, an assistant manager and an eCommerce Director. The sales team answered the phones and answered all the Internet leads for any of the 17 new and used rooftops. We had office space in an old accounting department with cubicles in a montage of rooms, above the service department at Used North. We couldn't see any vehicles from our offices as we had no windows, the only intercom that came into our office was from Pontiac GMC and Used North, we were the only ones with a CRM, the lot used a paper log only, the CRM did not print out forms, only customer information. All the lots had similar forms but many varied and they all had their own names printed on them. Each new car brand had varying paperwork and requirements. Each lot had their own service team and detail department and we had to secure appointments at any one of the following locations: 

1. Used North
2. Pontiac, GMC, Buick New
3. Dodge Chrysler Jeep New
4. Dodge Used
5. Toyota New and Used
6. Chevy New
7. Chevy Used
8. Acura New
9. Honda and Acura Used
10. Honda New
11. Nissan New and Used
12. Smicklas Chevrolet New
13. Smicklas Chevrolet Used
14. Downtown Ford New
15. Downtown Ford Used
16. Downtown Lincoln Mercury New
17. Lincoln Mercury New and Used

We communicated with the customer quickly! We gathered information while building a relationship, we logged everything in the CRM. We called the sales manager on site and reviewed the customer’s situation. The manager gave us vehicle info and Internet pricing. We then emailed the customer our Internet price and called them to review the offer. Customers submitted credit applications and the finance directors would run credit and would advise us how to handle the deal. Get stips or they can buy whatever they want, get them in here! 

We sent photos and text, emailed window stickers and sales tax information, helped get their insurance switched over and took credit card deposits and sold to out of state customers via Fed Ex, etc. We drove cars out of state and picked up trade ins on farms and delivered trucks to ranches and oil fields. We delivered Lincoln Town cars to old business men who refused to go to a car dealership and we signed contracts at kitchen tables. We emailed pictures of the customer with their new car BEFORE FACEBOOK existed! This was nearly 11 years ago! Eleven years ago we were giving pricing in an email and still today some managers say that is a new concept. It’s not a new concept!

We ultimately set appointments at any one of the new or used car stores and went there to meet our customer. We had to know their trade in, so we could see them pulling up so the guys on the lot didn't up them. We had to confirm appointments, otherwise, we were just hanging around the lot for no reason. We had to get the car ready to test drive and have it pulled up and keys in hand so that no one else sold your car! This was the best way to avoid any skating! Confirm the appointment, have the car ready and pulled up and know the trade in. This is not a new idea!

I started putting my picture in emails so that customers would recognize me, as “Criss” could easily be a guy’s name and I wanted to make sure when the customer arrived at the dealership that they knew what I looked like. I would often ask what color shirt they were wearing or what they looked like and people were very accommodating as they wanted to work with me as well. After all, I had been their concierge and friend thus far.

As my career advanced, it became interesting to me those salespeople who get skated when they worked in a position where there is just one store and just one brand and one management team. My colleagues and I had to manage our time and appointments at 17 different new and used car rooftops with 36 sales managers, several general managers and even more finance managers and directors and represent 14 new car brands.

We were loyal to the deal, not to the brand. We sold based on customer needs. The rules where that if we showed up on the lot with a customer, we could not leave the dealership without the customer meeting the manager. AND if they customer ended up in finance at any of the dealerships, we were not allowed to bring them to another lot.

While the managers each had their own style and reasons for being who they were and had varying backgrounds, the advice I received from the men who managed the stores was consistent (there were no female managers.) The only female in any position outside of sales was at Smicklas Chevrolet in finance, Kara Hudson. 

I started writing an article about how we have some new processes brought to us by technology, some things remain the same as they did 11 years ago at Bob Howard.

1). Always T.O your customer. Always. David Shear 
2). Never leave your money alone. Chris Hale
3). Always go on the test drive with your customer. Bob Howard Toyota
4). Always put offers in writing and get the customer’s signature on the offer to present to the manager. (A famous manager Bob Howard Honda new cars) "I will buy this car today......" 
5). Never bring the customer into the manager’s office. Bobby Masterson and the manager at Bob Howard Chevy
6). Follow up every call with an email and text. Rory N Emilie Golden
7). Check the vehicle and have it ready before your appointment arrives. George at Smicklas
8). Finance managers receipt money. Michael Day
9). Always put a plate on the vehicle, complete a BVA form and get a copy of the customer's insurance card.
10). Get all your customers’ stips so your deals get funded. 
Billy Altstatt

The one I taught myself and pass along to others, “Treat every day like it was the last day of the month and you need to hit your bonus!"

I can only image how much more powerful our team at Group 1 Bob Howard Internet Sale would be if we had the technology of today back then! We had to write out the VIN by hand on every single purchase document! We had to write out the We Owe manually. Today our CRMs are so much more efficient! And websites are more powerful and full of content. But, we were emailing, sending pictures, giving price quotes, chatting, texting and setting appointments for higher closing ratios in 2004 and the same rules apply today! Technology has brought us enhancements and made it more efficient, but the rules are still the same!

[Photo below: 2004 - this was one of my signature photos in my email]