By Chris Ramey, September 10, 2013

Set the way-back machine to July, 1990. It is my second full month in the car business, and I am as green as they come but have still managed to out sell all but a few of the top sales people. Our store in Sunnyvale, California sells Pontiacs, GMC trucks and Honda’s and not knowing anything, I picked Pontiac as my main sell line because… well, I thought they looked cool. As I said… green! As I pass by the General Manager’s (GM) office, I hear a heated discussion involving our sales manager and the General Sales Manager (GSM), refereed by the stores GM. I had learned to avoid the GM because he had a nasty habit of using every discussion or argument as a chance to enlighten you with his wisdom. Those little life lessons could cover half a shift and like I said, I needed all the time there was to sell Pontiacs. As I tried to walk briskly past the open door, my GM noticed me all but sprinting past and called out, “Mr. Ramey, could you step inside my office, Please?”

Caught…! I followed instructions and sat next to my two bosses and faced the GM. He held up a small orange book that I had seen once or twice on the lot but really didn’t know too much about. “Have you seen this NADA book, Chris?” he asked.

“No, Sir.”, I responded, hoping to maybe skirt around the issue some by claiming ignorance.

My sales manager and GSM quickly started up the heated discussion again before the GM could ask another question. It seems they were incredibly indignant that the publishers of said book were listing invoices of all the new cars of that year. I watched two grown men complain and yell like children about the egregious dishonor these books were inflicting upon us and the car industry as a whole. The GM allowed their rhetoric to continue for a few minutes then put up his hand. “Chris… You’re new to the car business… a fact to be sure… if someone was to come in to the store with the knowledge from this book, what would you do?” I paused though I knew immediately what my answer would be…

“I’d write them up, boss,” I quipped. Always the best answer back then!

My GSM was a little annoyed. I was now part of the discussion but knew it was life lesson time for all of us. The GSM queried, “Chris, do you think it’s right for another company to be able to give this information out… to give our cost’s to our customers?”

I responded, “Well, I really don’t know why a lot of our customers come into the store… no one, I’ve noticed, likes coming in to buy a car. I’m guessing they buy those books to help get a better deal.” Then it happened. I made a distinct direction change from these two veteran managers and my career. “If that book makes my customer feel more comfortable and allows me a shot at earning their business because he or she feels ready and confident in their deal… I’d buy them all a NADA book! ” The last comment earned me a very long silence, but the GM was smiling.

“Thank you, Mr. Ramey… Go sell a car!” He waved me out before the other two could tear me apart as they seemed ready to do. “Wait Chris… Take this with you,” was my GM’s parting comment. And with that, he threw me the NADA book. Life lesson learned.

I tell that story from 23 years ago to those who hide behind excuses for why they can’t or haven’t figured out a way to evolve as our industry must. In 1990, it was NADA books. In 1995 it was Autotown that introduced a new way of buying cars for Internet users. At that time, some people said that the Internet was “just a fad.” Forward thinkers postulated that the Internet would shortly put us all out of business… Not the case, folks. In fact, it probably saved our industry, and for those who embraced the Internet and evolved with it, they have the sales and profits to show for it. Of course, there will always be those who are resistant to change.

I use TrueCar as the ultimate example today of what I dealt with over the last 20 years. TrueCar is a relatively new company that provides information to consumers that will better their comfort level with our industry. This is a company that invests in their idea of what the market wants… not ours. This is a company that will succeed or fail based on how good their knowledge is of our industry and where they fit in. The customers decide… not TrueCar and not the dealers that use TrueCar as a “straw man” to explain their own weakness and lack of forward thinking. It’s truly ridiculous to blame a company for designing an environment to better serve our customers in a way we decided they didn’t need. I think we’re figuring it out now how wrong we were.

For those that hate TrueCar for “killing” the market… where have you been that last 20 years? It’s not TrueCar you hate. It’s the change they and other companies like them represent. This is a tired and sorry continuation of gripes we all faced before. If you don’t believe in a business model, don’t use it. As capitalist’s, we should understand that the market will decide everything. If TrueCar builds a better mouse trap… go get some cheese and get ready! If they don’t, someone else will and they may not be as friendly.

All are welcome to have at me. I don’t work for TrueCar and am more than happy to discuss all idea’s that further our industry and our customer’s needs.

Chris Ramey
Fleet Operations Director
Dirito Inc
chrisramey@dirito.com