TransUnion is a company that tracks credit data. Here, they’re sharing a report about how many new auto loans are being started and whether car shoppers are getting approved at different credit levels.
“Auto loan originations” just means new car loans being started. If this number drops, it usually means fewer people are taking out financing to buy cars.
Concept
tariff driven pull forward of 2025 demand borrowed from this year
It means some people may have bought cars earlier than planned because of tariff-related uncertainty. That can make demand look strong now, but weaker later when those earlier purchases are done.
Risk tiers are how lenders sort borrowers based on how risky they think the loan is. If the numbers are worse across more tiers, it can mean more people are struggling to qualify or afford payments.
“Seven” here doesn’t clearly point to a specific car—it sounds like part of a financing or data discussion. The podcast is talking about how lending is getting harder for some buyers. That can affect what people can afford, even if the cars themselves don’t change.
Super prime borrowers are people with excellent credit. If even they’re feeling pressure, it usually means car payments are getting harder to manage for a wider group of buyers.
Subprime borrowers are people with lower credit scores. Lenders often charge them more or approve them with tougher terms, so they can be hit harder when expenses rise.
OEM just means the actual car brand/manufacturer. “Earnings” are the company’s profit and financial results, which help show whether the business is doing well or struggling.
Toyota is the carmaker being used as an example. They’re expected to report earnings showing profit is down compared to the prior year, which can signal stress in the auto industry.
Operating profit is a measure of how much money the company makes from its main business after paying regular operating costs. It’s a useful “how healthy is the business” number.
OEM profit pressure is when the car company feels financial pressure to keep making money. To respond, they may change pricing and promotions, and that can affect what dealers can sell cars for.
Incentive spend is the promotional money car companies use to lower the price or encourage buyers. If the company is under pressure, it may change how much discounting it’s willing to do.
An employee pricing campaign is when a car company offers special discounts to its employees. It can change how much people expect to pay, and it can affect what incentives dealers need to move cars.
Ford is the car company behind the discount program being discussed. When Ford changes pricing or incentives, it can affect what dealers can sell cars for and how quickly they move inventory.
Lincoln is Ford’s luxury-car brand. The program includes Lincoln models too, so the discount could affect sales and pricing for those higher-end vehicles as well.
Concept
aged 25 models
“Aged” models are cars that have been sitting on the lot for a while. If a dealer doesn’t have many older cars, it’s harder to use special pricing plans to move that inventory.
Ken Ganley Automotive Group is a company that owns and operates multiple car dealerships. In this segment, they bought a Mazda store and rebranded it, which can affect how that dealership runs and competes locally.
Grand Motor Cars Group is a company that owns dealerships. Here, it’s involved in buying a Hyundai store in Georgia and renaming it.
Company
CDG Bicell tracker
They mention a tracking website they use for dealership/auto-industry updates. It’s basically a dashboard you can check for the data they’re talking about.
M&A means companies combining or one company buying another. In car dealerships, it often shows up when bigger dealership groups buy smaller groups or individual stores.
Here, “acquisitions” means buying other dealership locations. The big challenge is getting everything ready—people, processes, and support—before the new store opens under your ownership.
“Scaling the stores” refers to growing the number of dealership locations and expanding the organization to support them. The discussion highlights that growth isn’t just physical expansion—it also requires adding corporate staff and building consistent processes.
“Corporate staff” means the team at the dealership group’s headquarters that helps all the stores. When you buy new stores, you need enough corporate support to help them run well.
“Moving into metros” means shifting dealership strategy from smaller rural markets to larger metropolitan areas. The hosts note that metro stores involve more complexity and different economics, including different pricing and deal structures.
Concept
multiples
“Multiples” are a way of pricing a business using a ratio—basically how much you pay compared to how it earns money. The episode suggests those ratios can be higher or different in metro areas.
“Price points” here refers to the typical pricing levels in the market—both for vehicles sold and for dealership valuation in acquisitions. The hosts connect metro markets to different price points, implying different customer demand and deal economics.
Company
Reynolds contract
A “Reynolds contract” refers to a specific dealership agreement with Reynolds (likely a vendor providing dealership services or systems). The discussion frames it like an ongoing fee that wasn’t being used, creating a recurring cost.
An “unutilized bill” is a recurring charge for something the business isn’t actively using. In dealership operations, this often shows up as subscription/service fees or vendor agreements that continue even after the value isn’t realized.
“Blue sky” here means something they thought might be beneficial in the future, but it wasn’t actually delivering value. They’re saying they paid for it anyway.
“Net to sales” is a way to measure how much profit a store makes compared to how much it sells. They’re saying their store’s profit is strong—around 8% last month.
Market share means how much of the overall car sales in an area a dealer group controls. The speaker is saying that as they sell more, they have more bargaining power with suppliers.
Cox Automotive is a big company that sells software and services to car dealers. Here, the dealer owner is saying Cox didn’t solve problems the way they wanted, so they reduced Cox products.
Mannheim is an auction where car dealers buy vehicles for their lots. The speaker is saying it’s hard to escape and that dealers often feel like they’re not winning.
A dealer franchise agreement is the official contract that lets a dealership sell a car brand. The comment suggests that once you’ve proven you can operate successfully, it’s easier to get approval for more locations.
F&I means Finance and Insurance. It’s the part of a dealership that helps you get the loan and may also sell extra products like service plans. The way they pay their F&I staff can change how they run those deals.
Company
VimQ
VimQ sounds like a software tool the dealership uses. The host says it connects with other systems so their process is “streamlined” across multiple stores.
They’re talking about Nissan as the car brand they’re focusing on right now. The point is that Nissan has been selling better lately, and they’re offering deals that can make the cars cheaper to buy.
“Stackable” means you might be able to combine more than one discount or incentive at the same time. Whether you can stack them depends on the offer rules for that specific car.
They’re talking about common car-buying deals: 0% financing and rebates. These can lower what you pay, but you usually have to qualify and the fine print can change the real savings.
The Toyota RAV4 is a small SUV made for everyday driving and family use. Some versions cost a lot more than the base model, so you may hear prices approaching $50,000. It’s a popular vehicle, so it often shows up in sales and pricing discussions.
Topic
buy, buy, sell watch
They’re describing a strategy for growing the dealership business. It means they’re always looking at which stores to buy and which to sell as they expand.
A “blockbuster deal” here refers to a very large acquisition agreement—described as being under contract to buy “a whole automotive group.” In dealership terms, this usually means a major multi-store purchase that can rapidly change the store count and market footprint.
A “turnaround” means a company is trying to fix problems and get back to doing well. In this conversation, it’s about changing decisions so sales improve.
They’re talking about the Jeep Cherokee and how the company rolled out or adjusted it too slowly. The takeaway is that when a manufacturer listens and times changes better, sales can improve.
They’re talking about a popular engine option (“Hemi”) in Ram trucks. When that engine was taken away, sales fell, and when it returned, sales jumped—so customers really cared about it.
Retained earnings are money the business keeps from its profits. “Compound over time” means that money gets reinvested, and growth can build on itself year after year.
This is the name of an investor/fund that helped pay for dealership acquisitions. The host says it worked alongside Nissan, with each party covering different parts of the financing.
Accredited investors are people or groups that qualify under financial rules to invest in certain private deals. The fund is saying it needs that type of investor to participate.
A holding company is like a parent company that owns parts of other businesses. Here, it’s being used to organize who owns what percentage of the dealership group and the investment fund.
This is a type of ownership in a fund where the investor gets paid first, based on the deal terms. It’s meant to reduce risk for those investors compared with regular owners.
Dilute means your slice of ownership gets smaller when new money is added. They’re saying they don’t want to bring in more investors and shrink current owners’ shares.
Interest rates are what you pay for borrowing money. When rates are high, loans cost more—so the speaker says their approach helped them avoid stressful debt.
They’re talking about buying another dealership group or set of stores (an acquisition) involving McGrath. Deals like this usually have paperwork and approvals before everything is finalized.
Even when a dealership deal is agreed to, the state may require extra approvals. The speaker is saying Illinois had extra rules that made the process harder and less predictable.
They’re using Elgin (a Chicago-area suburb) as an example of how dealership business changes by location. The point is that city/suburban markets can be more expensive and competitive than rural ones.
Term
advertising dollars
They mean the money spent on marketing. Their point is that in a big-city market, marketing is more expensive, so the same amount of money doesn’t go as far.
KVB is being used as an example of an outside company that provides tools. The point is: they don’t want to keep paying a third party if they can build the tools themselves.
“Curb buying” means the dealership buys cars directly from customers instead of waiting for cars to show up through other channels. The goal is to make it easier for customers to sell to them.
Carvana is a well-known online used-car seller. Here, they’re being used as the example of a company that’s taking customers away from traditional dealers.
This is likely “Kelley Blue Book,” which is a guide for what cars are worth. The speaker is saying some software may or may not pull that pricing information.
“Non-negotiables” are specific performance requirements the organization treats as mandatory rather than optional goals. In a dealership context, they’re often tied to daily activities (like appointment setting) that drive sales outcomes.
A “confirmed appointment” is a scheduled customer visit that has been verified (typically via phone/text/email) so the dealership expects the customer to show up. In sales operations, confirmed appointments are used as a leading indicator for how many opportunities the store will have to sell vehicles.
Podium is a software tool dealerships use to talk to customers. It helps organize messages and calls so the dealership can respond faster and more consistently.
“F&I gross” means the money the dealership makes from the finance-and-add-ons side of the deal. It’s the number managers use to judge how well the F&I team is doing.
“Total product penetration” means how many customers buy the add-ons offered during the finance process. Higher penetration usually means more add-on sales per deal.
“Service contract penetration” means how often customers say yes to an extended warranty/service plan. If more customers buy it, the dealership makes more money from those plans.
Term
finance pvr
“Finance PVR” is a way to measure how much money the finance department makes per vehicle deal. It helps dealerships compare how well different stores or periods are doing.
Term
bsc
“BSC” looks like a shorthand scorecard number the dealership uses with finance results. The exact meaning isn’t spelled out in this clip, so it may be a store-specific metric.
Term
year to date
Year to date just means “since the beginning of this year.” It’s used to track how things are going so far.
Brand
stilanis
The host is mentioning a brand that’s harder to sell right now. The point is that their improved add-on sales help them handle that challenge.
Brand
generator motors
This sounds like a misheard “General Motors” reference. They’re basically saying their main brand lineup is from that group, plus a couple other brands.
Traffic here means how many people are around to potentially buy cars. If there aren’t many people, the dealership has to work harder to attract customers.
F&I products are the extra plans and protections sold after the car sale, usually by the finance manager. They can add cost to the deal but also cover repairs or losses.
Term
auditing
Auditing here means checking the dealership’s process to make sure the finance team is doing what they’re supposed to do. It’s a way to catch missed steps.
A menu audit is a check to make sure the finance person offers all the add-on protection options. It helps prevent missed opportunities to sell those plans.
VSC stands for a Vehicle Service Contract. It’s like an extended warranty that helps pay for certain repairs after the original warranty runs out. Dealers like it because it can be a steady, profitable add-on.
Term
customer service retention
Customer service retention means getting customers to keep using the dealership for maintenance and repairs. If a warranty-style product covers repairs, it can encourage customers to return for service.
Term
menu 100 pay plan
“Menu 100 pay plan” sounds like a specific way the dealership sets up bonuses for the finance team. It likely ties pay to hitting certain targets and selling certain add-ons, but the exact meaning depends on the dealership’s system.
Front gross is the money the dealer makes on the car’s sale price itself. If a store shifts too much profit to the “back end,” it can mean the front-end deal is less healthy or less sustainable.
Back end is the extra money a dealer makes after the car sale, often from add-ons and finance products. Dealers try to balance it with the profit they make on the car price itself.
Guaranteed gross means the dealer expects to make that profit for sure from the car deal itself. The speaker is saying it’s risky to count on add-ons alone to make up the difference.
In dealerships, “F&I” is the finance-and-add-ons part of the sale (like loans and extras). “Comp” means pay—so “F&I comp” is how that team gets paid, usually based on how much profit they bring in.
A “talent pipeline” is just the process a company uses to find people, train them, and move them into better roles. Here, they’re talking about how pay and structure affect where good employees come from.
This segment discusses hiring and staffing decisions for sales managers, which can affect how stores run day-to-day and how teams execute the dealership’s compensation and performance strategy.
They’re pointing out a Chevrolet dealership in Indianapolis. It’s a brand-specific store, which can affect what vehicles they sell and how the team is set up.
They’re saying small dealerships can be tougher to manage than large ones. With fewer customers and fewer people, it’s harder to keep everything running smoothly.
Concept
desk managers
A “desk manager” is a manager who helps run the sales process behind the scenes—making sure deals get put together and finalized correctly. Their job is usually tied to the dealership’s deal numbers, not just greeting customers.
A “draw” is like getting paid ahead of time based on expected future sales. If you don’t make enough commission later, you may have to make up the difference.
Concept
sales manager pay plan
A “sales manager pay plan” is how the dealership decides how sales managers get paid. It can be adjusted to reward different parts of the deal, like pushing more profitable finance add-ons.
Dealers often pay employees partly with commission. “Variable gross” is basically the part of the deal’s profit that can go up or down depending on the numbers of that specific sale.
Phone transfers are when you call a dealership and they move you to another person or department. Too many transfers can mean you wait longer or get bounced around.
CDK is a company that makes software dealerships use to run things like scheduling and service. When someone cites a “CDK stat,” they mean a benchmark pulled from that software ecosystem.
A “service BDC” (Business Development Center) is a call-handling team/process that routes inbound service calls, helps schedule appointments, and transfers callers to the right department. The goal is to reduce missed calls and improve scheduling speed.
“Triage the call” means quickly sorting inbound calls by need and urgency, then routing them to the correct department or person. In dealership phone systems, it’s used to prevent misrouting and reduce time-to-schedule.
Voicemail is what you get when nobody answers your call and you leave a recorded message. They’re saying they want a better option than just sending people to voicemail.
They’re talking about how long customers have to wait on the phone before someone answers. The longer the wait, the more likely customers get upset and don’t get their problem handled.
Service advisors are the people you talk to at the dealership when you need service. They help set up the repair and keep you updated, including answering questions by phone.
Concept
AI
They mean using artificial intelligence to help run parts of the dealership—like handling customer calls or messages. They’re saying they’re testing it first so it doesn’t cause problems.
Company
Mia
“Mia” is mentioned as a company that some listeners may recognize in the dealership-tech space, but the transcript doesn’t provide enough detail to confirm what it refers to. It’s described as having strengths in certain areas and being part of a broader “holistic approach” to solving dealership problems.
Term
inbound their text
“Inbound text” refers to customer messages that come to the dealership through texting channels. In sales and service, inbound texting is part of lead-response workflows—speed and consistency of replies can strongly affect whether a customer books an appointment.
“Outbound calling” is when the dealership proactively contacts leads or customers by phone, rather than waiting for them to call in. It’s commonly used for follow-ups, appointment setting, and re-engaging shoppers who haven’t responded yet.
A phone tree is the automated menu you hear when you call a business. It’s supposed to route you to the right place, but if it’s confusing or slow it can make people give up.
“Drop rate” here is basically how often callers don’t get through—either the call is missed or disconnected before someone answers. Dealers track it because it’s tied to lost leads.
They’re talking about what it takes to run a dealership after you buy it. The idea is you can’t just open the doors—you have to set up the right systems and rules so the manufacturer is satisfied.
CRM is a computer system dealerships use to keep track of customers and leads. It helps sales teams remember who they contacted and what happened next.
A dialer system is a tool that helps call agents place calls faster and stay on a steady call schedule. It can automatically line up the next person to call.
“Follow-up game” just means how good the dealership is at reaching out again after the first contact. If they follow up quickly and consistently, more people end up booking appointments.
Sales managers are the people who run the dealership’s sales team. They make sure sales reps are working the leads and following the process.
Concept
checks and balances
This means the dealership uses systems to double-check that people are doing the right things. It’s like having regular reviews so nothing important gets skipped.
Car inventory is just the cars the dealership has available to sell. If they don’t have the right cars (or enough of them), it can hurt sales and profits.
LIVE
We're doing better as a result of social media presence.
It doesn't do those three things, then it's on the chopping block.
It's in return on investment discussion.
Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Daily Dealer Live. I'm your host, Sam
Dark, and thanks for choosing to be here this Monday, May the 4th. May the 4th. Isn't there
some sort of a holiday? We'll allow that to sink its way into the chat. Big show today. Two dealers
who are scaling fast in very different ways. Kyle Coleman just closed his first acquisition
in Illinois. McGrath Nissan in Elgin, Illinois, and is putting his 12 rooftop by July goal
to the test. Then Scott Farr from P4 Automotive returns to tell us how that three to nine sprint
is holding up what he changed about FNI, pay plans, and why he's obsessed with fixing the
dealership phone problem, plus a deep dive in the round table. When the lender pulls back,
who's really going to feel it first? Drop a comment. Tell us where you're tuning in from.
Your comments contribute to today's show. We'll bring them in live for those who are watching
live. Let's get into it. But first today's auto industry headlines. All right. First up today,
TransUnion's Q1 credit industry insights report shows auto loan originations. They dropped 1%
in Q4, 25, coming in at 6.2 million new accounts, still running 10% below Q4 2019 levels across
all risk tiers. And the culprit in question, well, it's the tariff driven pull forward of 2025
demand borrowed from this year. TransUnion's auto lead set early 2026 data points to the softness
continuing with even super prime borrowers starting to strain under higher monthly payments
and subprime consumers who are already stretched by gas prices,
insurance, and maintenance costs potentially holding off on trading in or buying all together.
Interesting data point from TransUnion. On the OEM earnings front, Toyota is expected to report
its fourth consecutive quarter of year over year profit declines when it releases Q1 results.
Analysts project operating profit of about 813 billion yen. That's about 5.2 billion U.S. dollars.
That's down 27% from a year ago, which would bring full year operating profit to a three-year low.
The ongoing Iran conflict is only adding to the pressure with Japanese suppliers watching
hard to substitute inputs like NAFTA derived products and aluminum closely.
Materials that analysts say typically take about six months to filter through the automaker costs.
For dealers, none of this hits the floor immediately, but sustained OEM profit pressure
tends to eventually show up in pricing, posture, incentive spend, and production decisions. So
we'll keep you updated on all of that, including the Strait of Hormuz and what's going on there.
Keeping with the OEM news today, Ford last week launched a new employee pricing campaign this
week called American Value for American Values running through July 6th and covering most 2025
and 2026 Ford and Lincoln models at Ford employee pricing. It mirrors a similar program Ford ran
last year during the reciprocal tariff announcement and it lands against a backdrop where 74% of
Americans say buying a new car, well, it's too expensive. And the national gas average is sitting
at $4.39. The only thing is the dealer reaction is mixed. One GM told CDG news the timing feels
off for stores that stayed lean. Most dealers who are moving inventory don't have many aged 25
models sitting around to offer at a plan pricing. Her read, this program works better for Ford than
it does for franchises worth watching how traffic and conversion trends over the next few weeks.
And finally, two deals to close on. Ken Ganley Automotive Group picked up its first mod of
franchise closing on Mazda of Kent in Northeastern Ohio on April 27th now renamed Ken Ganley Mazda.
The acquisition was a years in the making neighbor deal, given that Ganley owns the Toyota store
next door and had been periodically reaching out to the sellers for a couple of years telling them
to call when they're ready. Meanwhile in Georgia, Rummy Bullard of Grand Motor Cars Group closed on
Shot and Kirk Hyundai of Canton on April 16th, renaming it Grand Hyundai of Canton. His first
franchised Hyundai store, that's about 45 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia. The deal started with a
cold call from Bullard to his advisor saying, hey, I want to buy that store even though it wasn't
for sale. His advisor reached out anyway and Bullard owns it now. His broker noted it's their
busiest year yet with 12 deals expected by July 1st. For more information on all the CDG
Bicell activity, you can go to our CDG Bicell tracker. We love our tracker at CDGBicell.com for
more information on this and other M&A across the year. And that's a wrap on today's auto industry
headlines. All right, now we go to the chat. Happy Star Wars Day says our own Michelle.
Happy anniversary of the meeting of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce in Manchester, England,
starting the partnership of Rolls Royce. Patrick Block always brings us the good points.
Yoga cars, may the fourth be with you. Star Wars, may the fourth be with you. I got it,
and I love it. That's fun. Guess what else is coming up anniversary wise?
Tomorrow marks one year of Daily Deal Alive coming at you three times a week, Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, 1 p.m. Eastern. And we have a special episode coming up Wednesday. We're going
to highlight members of the CDG team, give you a behind the scenes look at the Daily Deal Alive,
how this comes together. And you'll meet team members from, I'm going to throw it out here,
Jay Law, Hannah, Michelle. You're going to meet every Cole. You're going to meet a lot of the
different team members on Wednesday's show. So that promises to be one you don't want to miss.
And then this Friday, we've got Tiago from Nissan, which we're excited about. But
that jumps right past today's show. We've got an incredible lineup today. Let's jump into our first
conversation with Kyle Coleman, president and CEO of Coleman Auto Group.
Kyle, welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me. Really, look forward to the show today.
It's fun to have you back. You and I have a connection based on our shared geography here,
and we talked even before your first time here on Daily Dealer. Can you believe it's been a year
of Daily Deal Alive every week, three times a week? It's great. You know, you guys keep me up
today with all my weekly news and things that's happening in the industry. I love it. Well,
speaking of weekly news, Kyle, tell us for our audience that doesn't know you. Who are you? Where
are you? And how's biz this May of 2026? Yeah. So like you said, I'm Kyle Coleman, president,
CEO of the Coleman Automotive Group. Actually, this is our founder month. So two years ago on May
the 9th, May 9th of 2024, I founded the group and bought my first two stores. And it was kind of
serendipity. As of last Friday or last Thursday, we closed on our seventh location. Congrats. We've
had a busy two years. Last year was especially busy, five acquisitions in 12 months. So
five and 12 is a big lift for anyone. But for a smaller organization, culturally, that's tough
to sustain. Give us, before I want to go back to what your goal was, and we'll talk about that in a
minute. But now that you've had a year away from that, what was the biggest obstacle to creating
culture with that big of an acquisition growing? Yeah, there's a lot of moving pieces with
acquisitions, I'm sure, as you are well aware. What we found is we were scaling the stores
and as well as scaling people within the stores, but is also trying to keep up with our corporate
staff. These acquisitions take so much prep time. On average, we were doing them in about 75 to 90
days, each one of the acquisitions, which takes a lot. But I was fortunate enough to hire an
incredible COO. So she was able to take some of that burden off my shoulders, so that I could
focus on the acquisitions while she's focused on that. But it's really just making sure that you
have the team in place before you walk in. Because if you're not in that position, it
definitely makes day one a way different day one. Let's just say that. Yeah.
All right. So let's talk acquisitions. Last time you sat across from Yossi in the podcast, you said,
hey, look, I'm going to be to 12 rooftops by July 4th, which by the way, 2026 would be a big lift
for anyone. We're 60 days out from that now. Where do you stand today? So we currently have seven
stores. So we're a little off on acquisitions. And we did change our strategy. That was the biggest
change. Originally, when I founded the group, we were buying small rural stores. And then,
over the past 12 months, one of the biggest strategy changes has been moving into metros.
As you know, Sam, metro stores, a lot more pieces go into those plays than some of those
smallers, plus the multiples and price points are dramatically different. So that's been one
of the biggest change. But we've been a lot more choosy on the acquisitions. There are a lot of
stores out there for sale for first time buyers and first time dealers or someone wanting to
scale right now. But just making sure that it fit, one of the other changes is that we're choosing
certain markets that we want to be in. Because I could walk in and buy a store in a good size
market. But if every one of those other stores are owned by a conglomerate, it's not going to get
me much ability to scale. That was one of the other big changes is that making sure the metros
and the markets that we're moving in still have opportunity for us to grow in those markets.
What was the market reality that caused you to say we want to be in metros,
as opposed to rural, outlying communities? It really came down to, so we've done a great job
of hiring and scaling, even in some of these smaller markets. But people, it is a more difficult
decision to talk someone into moving into a town of 10,000 people when they're a superstar. And
sometimes it's not just about the pay, because I put our pay plans up against any organization
as far as what percentage of comp and things like that. But when you're talking to a husband
or a wife, and they're saying, hey, we want to move our kids, it really gets into those
conversations. We've found that that is more difficult. Where, hey, it's a lot easier to recruit
when you're saying, hey, this store sits within 25 miles of 4 million people.
Interesting. So recruitment is the primary target for that. So last time you were on,
you talked about how you had inherited a Reynolds contract with the Nissan store you
bought, and you were paying 120 grand a year for a system, and you weren't using that. Give us an
update on that. Is that still the case? Does that still go as an unutilized bill? It is an
unutilized bill, unfortunately. We just looked at it as it's an additional blue sky that we were
paying for the store. We paid a very low multiple. It was an underperforming store, so it wasn't,
you know, not funny enough. That's our most profitable store. I mean, it makes a very good
margin these days. I think last month it was almost 8% net to sales. So for us,
that's for a Nissan store, I think I put that in the top. But yeah, I mean, it's definitely
painful every single month to pay $10,000 a month for something that adds zero value to our core.
Yeah, that is fascinating. So as you grow, are there partnerships as it relates to tech and
software that you're leaning into more, and are there those that you're leaning away from based
on your experiences you grow? So as a single point or two or three points, you have less leverage.
When you grow to 20, 30, 40 points, you have more leverage with vendors. And I just curious,
as you grow and as you get more market share, are those relationships guiding any of the
decisions you're making today in 2026? Yeah, no question. That's a great question from our
standpoint. I mean, we've definitely changed up quite a bit of our vendor partnerships over the
last six to seven months. For us, we're looking for partners that work well together and integrate
well together. Realistically, the 800-pound gorilla, so to speak, that's Cox Automotive,
we've pretty much cut every partnership, including Vauto. We recently partnered with
Venq, which has been a great partnership for us. But we just feel that we're looking for
partners that are willing to play nice in the sandbox. And unfortunately, Cox doesn't do that
sometimes the best. What we found is, unfortunately, a lot of times when there are issues with Cox,
their solution was, hey, can we give you credits to your bill next month? And for me,
I'm not looking for... I had no problem paying the bill. I wanted the product to work. So don't
give me money, fix the issue. And we just found that that wasn't happening. So we've pretty much
cut down. We only have one Cox product left in our entire organization that's an advertising product.
What about Mannheim auction? That's tough to get away from completely.
No, we really don't do a ton with Mannheim in our group. Unfortunately, if you're buying
from the auction right now, you're pretty much losing. I hate to say it. There's no winner.
The only winner at Mannheim is Mannheim itself. I don't see any dealers jumping for joy when
they're having to buy cars from them. A few comments come in from the text. Igor K says,
the hardest parts to get approved on your first dealer franchise agreement after the first one,
new dealer franchise agreement approvals get easier and easier. You've probably seen that a
little bit. You have more leverage as you prove yourself out. Yoga Cars comes in and says, hey,
speaking of that Reynolds deal, what DMS does the Nissan store use today, your most profitable store?
Yes, we're techie on across our entire organization. So anytime we buy a new acquisition,
walk in day one, we are full techie on live. So in which they work great with our other
drive centric and VimQ, their integrated partner. So we're fully streamlined across our group.
Yeah. So you have Ford, Chevy, GMC Christ CDJR and Nissan. And your first points were Nissan.
Talk to us a little bit about Nissan. We've got Tiago coming on the show Friday. What are you
seeing in Nissan that many others are missing in 2026? Oh, I'm extremely excited with Nissan. We
just closed on our third Nissan deal, two being in metros and one being in a more rural market.
And what I found is that I feel like they're the true comeback story. I mean, last quarter
up 9% in sales across the industry. I mean, you've seen Toyota down in sales and one of the
few manufacturers that was up in sales was Nissan. I mean, who would have thought that 12 months ago,
right? Not only that, I mean, profitability wise, I mean, like I said, I mean, all of our stores
are profitable and making good money. I feel like Nissan is really focused on the important
things over the last 12 months. And let's not forget to mention that they're an affordable brand
right now. They have seven models under $30,000, including SUVs, and they're still
promoting, you know, 0% and rebates, you know, stackable things, which most manufacturers are.
I mean, you know, some of the big brands that everybody's paying 8 to 10 for still in this
current market, you know, they're not affordable for brands. They're a premium mid brand, I would
say nowadays. I mean, Toyota Honda, I mean, that made them such a powerhouse. I mean, you're seeing,
you know, a RAV4, you know, some of them are up to $50,000. I mean, that's a affordability crisis
that we keep hearing across the industry. So do you continue to look for Nissan opportunities?
Is that on your buy, buy, sell watch? No, I'm not afraid. Let's just say that. Of course,
we're looking to streamline across our industry, we're looking to consolidate and look at a ton
of different brands work. But right now, I mean, we do have a blockbuster deal that we're under
contract. I won't say too much. But let's just say we're buying a whole automotive group.
Oh, okay. You know, that won't take us to 12 by our goal. But by the end of September,
that'll put us at double digits 10. But they're the right 10 stores, right? You know, sometimes
you can grow grow certain ways the right way, the wrong way, we're focused on making sure it's done
the right way. So benchmark Nissan to Stellantis, which has also been in the news is having some
challenges. What could Stellantis learn in their turnaround that Nissan has figured out?
I would say, you know, I feel like they moved a little slow, you know, with the Cherokee,
you know, the Cherokee, I mean, since those have hit the ground for us at our two CDJR stores,
we've seen great success and sales have started to go up. I feel like that maybe they moved a
little slow on some of the listening to their dealers and to what the market was asking for.
I mean, think about it. You know, a year and a half ago, at gunpoint, they said, hey, we're getting
rid of the Hemi. You know, that didn't turn out too well. I mean, we sales drop dramatically
across our two locations. And now, the second that they bring back the Hemi, the Hemi Ram Sales
is up, you know, 20%. I think it was last quarter. So I mean, that's, that's what we're seeing is,
is when they listen to the dealer body, when they listen to the customer base manufacturers and the
dealers win together. All right, let's transition to your business, the Coleman Prime Fund. You've
talked about that on the podcast on this show. It was built so retained earnings compound over time.
And the intent was you need, you need to raise less capital per deal. How, how did the acquisition
you made, how did the acquisition you just made get financed? And how is that flywheel actually
working today? Yeah, so the partnership has been incredible. So that five, five dealerships and
partnership with Prime Dealer Equity Fund, the Coleman, Coleman Prime Duo, so to speak. So that
acquisition was funded with Nissan. So they did the real estate for us on this last deal.
And then all the capital was provided by the fund. So that way that we're not
worried about, you know, taking on too much excess debt so that we can allow the entity of self while
we're rebuilding it and getting the team up and running, it thrive and give it full, full wings.
So yeah, I mean, the fund partnership has been great, you know, so to speak. And I mean,
they're helping us with this next. You know, we, we did just recently get a
commitment from a pretty exciting, let's just call them a family house or house, a house fund or,
you know, but they're, they're working at partnering with us and they believe in our
long term strategic goal of 40 dealerships in the next seven years. And they're financially
committed to help us grow to that point, which is exciting, you know, to kind of be
christened as, you know, hey, every, everything that we've said that we're going to do that they
believe and want to partner with us for that. Yeah. Describe for us how the Prime Fund works
again for those that didn't see it last time. Yeah. So effectively, Ralph Marcuselli, our fund
manager, founded the Prime Dealer Equity Fund with its sole purpose is to help Coleman Automotive
Group grow to our 40 goal. So we look for accredited investors to invest into the fund, which then we
have a holding company, so to speak that, you know, Coleman Automotive owns a percentage of and the
fund owns a percentage of and then the people that are investing in that have a preferred equity
stake. So I don't get to take any profits from the company until Coleman Automotive gets no
profits until the fund is paid back fully. And then it goes to an equal partnership, you know,
split at that point. So and as you work to achieve the 40 rooftop, do you intend to decelerate
fund usage to finance deals future as you as you start to generate more cash or will that continue
to be a primary part of your strategy? Yeah, so that's a great question, Sam. So our next acquisition,
the automotive group that we're currently under contract to buy, it is our last, it is our last
raising of funds. So we're currently after this fund raise that we do right now, we are closing
the fund, because we don't want to, yeah, we'll be sustained based off of all of our models. Plus,
we don't want to dilute anybody anymore, right? You know, the fact is, is we've proven that the
recipe works. We've been highly successful and very profitable across all of our dealerships in the
fund, which has allowed us to to scale at the speeds that we are. But also it's allowed for,
you know, the organization not to have to take on unburdened and stressful debt,
and especially with interest rates where they're currently at. So it's really been a great strategy
and it's allowed us to really do it in a different way than most people are doing in the industry.
So moving on a little bit to operations, you've said in the past that every deal dies 10 times
before it closes. What was the moment in the McGrath acquisition where you almost walked or was
there one? You know, I will say that it's gotten a little easier. You know, I don't feel like I
have to beg as much, you know, people when you're when you've got credibility. Yeah, that's right.
You know, I'd say that at this point, banks are fighting to get on the team with us more than
the other way. You know, we partner with Nissan, Nissan Financial Nemac has been an incredible
partner with us. You know, we've bought three stores in less than a year with Nissan. So,
you know, they believe in us. And of course, they've seen what we've done with these stores.
But, you know, it definitely has gotten easier. There were a couple times in this deal that,
you know, were stressful points. But mainly, it was dealing with some of the regulatory stuff in
Illinois. You know, I will, which is a different beast. I feel like I had to hire an attorney for
the attorney and then they had people that were working with us along the way to get the regulatory
stuff. I feel like that was more of the unknowns for us on this deal. Yeah. So speaking of that,
it's a Chicago suburb, Elgin, where you are. What aside from the approvals and some of the
not politics, but just hoops you had to jump through, what have been some other major differences
of that Chicago suburb versus your other more rural markets? Yeah, I would say that you're
competing for the customers, a lot of the same customers, and it costs a little bit more, right?
The entry point into the market, you know, advertising dollars don't cope quite as far
in a Chicago, you know, market versus, you know, a rural market. So, you know, that I would say
the biggest change, you know, we partnered with Mud Advertising across our whole organization.
So we feel really good about our advertising strategy there. But I would say that it's just
your dollar doesn't go quite as far in Chicago as it does, you know, in rural Iowa.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is true. As you're looking at the organization operationally,
is there any tool that you're excited about right now to help leverage your growth? Is there a tool
in use car acquisition, in finance, and any one of the other departments that has really scaled
your ability to grow? Yeah, I would feel at the first of the year, we switched to VINQ. And I
would say that that's probably been one of the biggest game changers that just I feel like as
someone that was with the auto, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever say that I'm
not going to be with the auto. I was always I'd get calls from those guys and be like, no way, no
way, no way. And I remember sitting on the call with one of their founders, and I'm texting my
COO and I'm like, are we about to switch? You know, and she was like, I think we are. And you
know, it's just definitely a unique thing. But one of the things I like about it is
they grow, they build out, you know, some of your acquisition side of tools, you know, they
instead of having to pay for a third party like KVB or something like that, they're building that
our website out that's, you know, Coleman acquisitions, you know, that's just included in
their platform that's really upped our curb buying, which we all know when we buy from customers,
you know, we win, you know, we're, we're trying to stop, you know, Carvana from this monster
takeover of, you know, acquisitions from customers. And the only way we're going to do that is getting
all dealers on board with, you know, getting in out there that we want to buy your car and we want
to pay you top dollar. So I think in VinQ, you don't have access, it seems we report on this to
to MMR, you don't have access to Kelly Blua. Has that been a crutch or do you have access to it?
Maybe that's old information. So yeah, so it was only gone for a few days. Evidently,
their, their, their agreement, the attorneys figured it out. I'm not 100%. It got fixed. Yeah,
it got fixed. Yeah, we have, you know, when I was happy to see that, but at the end of the day,
I would as positive as we feel about the tool, we were nobody in our company was panicking when
we got that news. It was, you know, business as usual of how we're doing things.
So you're bullish right now in a time of rising interest rates, inflation, straight-to-horror
moves, you look at the political landscape right now, and there are truly challenges to retail
as we hit the mid-year mark of 2026. What concerns you most between now and the end of the year?
What are you doing to overcome those issues or that concern?
You know, I, I was, I grew up in the 2006 through 2008 era when the car business was
actually difficult. I'm sure you know about those times. So, you know, I don't get too concerned
about the, what's happening, you know, because I've been through tough times and I've been through,
you know, incredible times during COVID. You know, so what I would say right now,
the biggest thing is, I mean, we had a call this morning, it's just about leadership within the
organization making tough decisions. I mean, sometimes, you know, we worry about, we get caught
up on one singular decision instead of looking at the whole piece. So for us, it's just making sure
that our leaders within our stores are making good daily decisions. And, you know, really,
it's accountability. I mean, I, that's, you know, everybody talks about accountability across the
industry. But I would say, you know, I asked my GMs this morning, I said, Hey, on a daily basis,
be honest. I said, I was like, I know the answer. I was like, but I want you to answer the question
for me. I was like, on a daily basis, if your people are there for eight hours, how many hours of
the day are your salespeople actually working? And, you know, and then I said, same thing for
your leaders, your other leaders, your finance managers, your sales managers. And, you know,
the fact of the matter is we're winning. And most of them answered me honestly at less than 50%
of the day. And I said, I was like, so if you're telling me your store is kicking butt and winning
and making incredible profits right now, and you're telling me you put it, your people are putting
in less than 50% effort, what happens when you get to 60 and 70 and 80? That's the questions
that we're asking on a daily basis. So what was your call to action in that meeting at 50%? How
across the organization, we've talked about our minimum standards. Right. And the problem is,
is that when you say minimum standards, it all it easily becomes the benchmark,
unfortunately for a lot of people. So what we've we've changed it to is we're talking
about non-negotiables, you know, 15, confirmed appointments a day is a non-negotiable if you
can't have 15 confirmed appointments a day, as you know, at some of our stores, like, unfortunately,
I just don't know if you can work for us, you know, we want people that want to win on our team
And we'll pay you to help us win. You know, that that's the big takeaway is we're changing our verbiage and how we're saying it across the organization is moving forward
It's not minimum standards. It's it's not negotiables to work is hey
Do you want to win and do you want to help your team win and grow leaders?
Yeah, well Kyle Coleman presidency of Coleman automotive group. It's been great catching up with you learning about
Your uh your recent acquisition and the future
We'd love to have you actually back on the show to announce this acquisition once it happens
You say maybe uh late summer uh somewhere in that ballpark. We need to have you back
I'd love to I'd love to announce this one. This one's going to be a big one
All right, we'll have you back. Uh, we're going to put you in the green room
We'll have you back for the round table at the very end after we interview with scott. So kyle
Thanks for being on daily deal alive and sharing your perspectives
All right, let's talk podium
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Dot com forge slash car dealership guy or you can scan the qr code
To the side of the box or if you're watching this post live
You can go in and check the comments in the podcast and you can go there as well
So props to podium for uh supporting that cool segment
We just had with kyle colman a lot of great comments coming in from the chat eager k says very cool keep growing kyle
And then i love lauren kline comes in and says what is 60 70 and 80 work day?
Like that. What does that look like? Maybe we'll ask that kyle when he comes back into the round table
Paul solzman says great way to build a dealer group from an acorn to an oak with some great systems
And man has kyle grown that group quickly. It's fun to watch. It's fun to be a part of
We have so many great owner operators that have scaled from one roof top to multiple
During their time in this past year even on
And we've been able to watch and report on it as part of daily deal live
All right, let's transition next up today scott far coo and partner of p4 automotive scott welcome to the show
Yeah, hey, what's happening sam. How are you? It's good to have you back as well. Thanks for uh, thanks for being here
For those that don't know you tell us who you are what you do and then how's biz this may 2026
Yeah, uh scott far and the coo
Head of the operations for p4 automotive group recently rebranded as the leo auto group
My partner leo porto loopy is the is the driver and the grower of all this
I just I got here last summer to to help him with a couple acquisitions and to nurture what we're doing, but um
Yeah, uh business in may
Well, let's not talk about the first and second. It wasn't a fantastic weekend
But I would say I got to give I want my group to get a shout out. I don't know any other
Group certainly in our area that outperformed their march with april and we did we crushed our march
um, I wouldn't say crushed but
Never in our business is an april bigger than march and we were across the board
nine out of nine
Okay, all right, let's pull that thread before we go into some of these other questions
What's one thing that you did in april that helped you out punt march that others could learn from?
um, you know, I think it just kept going from march, honestly, we um
We had a good january. So we had some momentum. Obviously. We bought the acquisitions these two new acquisitions in the indian apples market
Um in november. So november is clunky and we're jumping through hoops trying to figure out
What keys on locked doors, right? Yeah. Yeah, December was kind of riding the ship putting people in place
Making sure technology was connected that all came to fruition. We had a nice january and then I think maybe we thought that we
were
You know masters of the universe because we fell on our face and had the worst february
We could have probably ever had so we regrouped with some
Uncomfortable behind closed doors conversations. We all had to look at ourselves and decide we what we wanted to be kind of like
What kyle just said we we put some non-negotiables in place march one
And I think april
really was just um
We we put it all together based on what we put together in march
So we didn't do anything spectacular or different. We didn't change our strategy
We know exactly who we are and where we're going what we want to do and how we want to get there
um, so consistency
Which probably you've you've got some fans in the in the chat just jordan cox says scott far is a king
Let's go scott far sells cars. So you got a little bit of a promotion. You got a fan club there going on
So last time you were here to that point scott
Your group had just gone from three to nine stores and you'd done it in 18 months
Um, and so and then you had this big acquisition in november
Yeah, as you've grown. I want to ask the same question we asked kyle
How have you defended culture and what has been one of the biggest learning lessons as you've grown so quickly?
In in keeping that culture and keeping a focus on execution with so much noise
Acquisition is not easy
Yeah, um, we don't have enough time to talk about everything that we've learned during this but um, I would say
You know me joining the group. I mean just with the most ultimate vulnerability
I could have is I came into something that leo had been building for the last 10 years
And I had to spend and this is really hard for me to do
Anybody that knows me will know um
I had to sit back and watch and observe and learn what was going on here
So I could so I could then do my job by gathering the best parts of what was already here
And then you know, there was a spark and this was just I had to be the gasoline on the spark to do that so
um
I can take like very I mean maybe a percent or two of of claim to any of the success
What he already had in place and the direction he was going was fantastic
Bunch of really good people that had been here for a long time. I've not been a part of a group
It's had so many long-term people
And I don't want I don't want this to sound wrong, but they hadn't achieved
Like magnitudes of success. They've been winning
But it wasn't like they weren't state leaders in any store or anything like that
But these folks that had been here had been on the grind were prideful for the flag
Like they just they wanted to be a part of of what p4 had
um
I was able to with the new acquisitions bring some new people from outside of the organization obviously
In and what that allowed us to do and these two new stores
Was kind of redefined where the group had been
Yeah, and then just started like mesh it all together and we're still doing that
We're we're certainly not where we want to be but I would say
Even with the butt kicking we took in february. We've had four months. We're up year to date a lot
good
in volume gross
I mean
Pardon me across the board and every measurable. All right. Let's talk specifics and some of the things you've been up to
Working on to improve performance across the group. So you flagged f and i pay plans as a recent focus
Walk us through what you changed and why did you do it? What was broken?
And what is the new structure reward scott? So the the previous pay plan was
a really ridiculously high percent top of total f and i gross generated
And the only kicker for a bonus was total product penetration
So I've just come from a group
Um
That I understand the value of service contract penetration and how that can just drive and fuel so much growth
Um in an organization. Um a previous group. We did a ton of you know, like
I guess family
Participating contest and trips and stuff to where and a lot of that was funded
I would say all of it was funded from packs on service contracts
So I learned how to drive that number and the reality is if you're presenting a service contract to every single customer
That comes through the box
Regardless of the sales person that says they're not going to buy anything or the desk that says
Oh, just spin the deal and get them up if you do a full menu presentation on every deal
You're just going to sell more cars or they're sort of sell more products. So
um
Our pay plan wasn't set that way
I don't know that i'm
Real good at many things in this business, but what I at least understand
I don't know if i'm good, but I at least understand how to drive an f and i number
Yeah, um, and we were I did I did throw some numbers together
If I combined 2024 and 2025
Through november of 25 before the pay plan changed
This group ran 1764 finance pvr all in and 40.13 bsc
Okay, so we changed pay plans half the stores in december the rest
Went on january 1st
year to date
We are at 25 39 as a group and 58.4 percent service contract penetration
Wow, I mean that that allows you to buy some deals when you have some tougher brands like stilanis right now
It's it's tough for it hasn't been the hottest deal out there
You know, we're mainly generator motors, but we have a Nissan store a Hyundai store
um, and
We're also not in markets where we're where we have a ton of traffic columbus indiana might have 60 000 people
Now there's 150 if you certainly could include the surrounding areas of those surrounding areas can drive 25 minutes north to indianapolis
So we've got to be competitive. So is that 50 bsc pen?
Is that all units all in or is it new only?
That was probably the most significant change where I had some of my finance managers decided they didn't like me right away
But now they like because the pigs extra pay now
But we would exclude and as this car. So if somebody came in about a 3500 dollar
250 000 mile as his car beater off the back of the lot
That didn't go in our finance number and today I just told you
Every deal if we deliver it and it's a retail deal every deal counts
All right, I think you got everybody sitting up straight at almost 60 percent
Yes, sir. Give us one thing you did
I mean pay plan obviously, but what was another thing you did to help go from the 30s to nearly 60 percent
We are auditing. We do a menu audit every single week
Okay, and the reality is now I have luckily my team has stepped up. I haven't had to do this
But I've said it
Um, if you can't present 100 percent of menu to 100 percent of the deliveries
Then you are 100 not going to be a part of what we're doing. Yeah. Yeah, unfortunately. I hate being that frank
As a matter of fact, but it's non-negotiable. It's a non-negotiable
The vsc is the thing that keeps on giving I think that's the most important product in the entire arsenal that
Drives the biggest reward value to the customer service retention
Everything right?
All right, so I think we're getting that so menu 100 pay plan anything else for us on that
I'm digging deep because I think this is good. No, so um
Honestly, the people that were here when I got here in august
It's the same people other than folks that we've added
I haven't we have not got rid of anybody nobody left when the pay plan changes and some of those are really tough conversations
We've got some really high performers that didn't understand why we needed to change the pay plan
we did
and we were
Just blunt that this is what we're doing and this is the new direction
This is going to help us move our volume
And I'm hoping that my team is seeing that we are selling more cars
Because we have that flexibility now not everything is listened. It's not all rainbows and unicorns
We are now i'm fighting the battle in some areas that well our front gross has gone sideways
Because we're putting it all in the back. That's unhealthy. We don't want that
We want the guaranteed gross of the front. Um, but we're working through those things, but would I take a $250 lower
Front end gross to have a seven or eight hundred dollar higher back end and run that risk of the guaranteed gross versus are we padding pay plans?
I will you would I'm willing to do that
So speaking speaking of the pay plan piece last time you were on you talked about how the sales manager was your
Hardest hire it was your toughest hire in 2025
Partly because we talked to f and i pay plans f and i pay so well
Does restructuring that f and i comp is that has that changed the talent pipeline for you?
Is it made it easier on the sales manager and kind of reshifted the focus or what is changing the f and i comp done?
to the sales manager hire
so
We are a collection of
Smaller stores with the exception of two what I would say we have one metro store
Which is this leo chevy of indianapolis and then our stoop's buick gmc store in muncie has been a juggernaut in the state
You know for years
Prior to even us owning it but again leo and our partner over there henry fallis just
Rocket fuel man and they you know in the in the city of muncie, which is more of a village than a city
You know they're just consistently putting up big numbers and volume and stuff so
um
These two stores
We actually have structured differently than the remaining stores. I identified pretty early that in columbus indiana
And lebanon indiana. It's going to be pretty tough. You know lebanon has 16 000 people in it
We sold 97 cars their last month 52 new chevy and gmcs
Wow
So it was incredible performance by that team
But what I realized quickly and then smaller stores and I think anybody watching this in our business
And sam you for sure know
Smaller stores are a hell of a lot harder to run than big stores
Yeah, they just are and then you know to kyle's point. He was buying a bunch of rural stores
You start having these stores in smaller communities and trying to drive talent there and stuff to do
So you got to get really creative and it's not just a matter of overpaying
It's I mean because of comp still has to line up. So what we did
In columbus and and what we're doing right now in lebanon is we went to a hybrid setup
To where
I don't have sales managers and finance managers. We have okay sales managers
So you can enrich it a little bit more by being one one does all right desks finance
Manager, yeah, salesman customer walks in sales manager said, you know identifies the customer walks out
Does their emi meet and greet?
Walks the salesperson and the customer through purchasing the car if you're involved
Hopefully as a manager desk guy you've already got rapport with the people
Yep, and now when it's time to go and present a menu after you've already went all in on your deal
Now you can re any have the people re any and some would say
Some of the mentors that I ran this theory thought behind like well
You know if that guy's already got him to close at the highest dollar
How do they then put a new hat on and get him to move? Well?
I didn't have an answer but it's working. So but what that does is how long's that been in place for scott
Since first of the year we did we kind of did all of this when I changed finance plan
I changed sales managers paid plan. I took desk managers that were
Struggling to cover draw or getting small bonuses and we were you know monthly like giving them little
bonuses just to keep them happy
um
And it wasn't because they weren't performing these are all good people they like they can perform but
Math is math and it's undefeated and there's only so much to copy pay out on an undercar store
So what we did was we we dumbed the sales manager pay plan down
Put a put an aggressive finance pay in place. So now everybody's pay plan has two portions
They're all paid on total variable gross, but it's a smaller sales manager copies
And then they the seven I aren't my target is 70 percent of the manager's comp comes from what they kill in finance
Hmm that's smart. Yeah, and we're running somewhere in that mid 60s
You know it's a 70 percent right now. So
I will tell you that uh that the vsc pen is is a great testament to that which will flow all the way through into
Retention all the way through the department. So props to you for hoping so we're up and fixed too. So you get some good things going
One area I want to hit before you go into the round table with kyle
You've you you were talking about how you were building a system around phone transfers and hold times
And I think the scenario you'd laid out you talked about service drop off no call back for transfers dead end
It's painfully relatable. I think to everybody in automotive right now
In fact the cdk stat that I keep coming back to is the average hold time in service is nine minutes
Which is insane every time I say it people say that can't possibly be true. You look behind the curtains. It is true
Um, what what are you actually doing to fix that problem?
So I'm probably going to give a shameless plug here
To a vendor that I have any a partner not a vendor a partner that I haven't actually even signed with but
We're pretty confident. We're going to but we started
So we have a different system. We have a centralized communication center that's headed up
by a team of
Essentially receptionists, but they do so much more they schedule
Any if you call into one of our stores it goes to the call a communication center
If you're calling the schedule service, they will schedule for you right there
So it's sort of a service bdc, but it's not then if you say I need to speak with somebody in sales
They'll sort of triage the call make sure they get it to the right location the right department
Um short of calling and saying hey, I need to speak with scott far and they just you know call comes straight to me
The call so the communication center really triages everything and it's great
Except we have a lot of other technologies plugged into the phone system
So there's delays and everything now this you got to think big picture here this
Every few seconds where there's a delay or the whisper or the this or that it's all drives me nuts
Is anybody just think if anybody is ever called direct tv?
Yeah, and like it's the worst. It's the worst
So we don't want that we don't want to be the direct tv of automotive
So we started looking at technologies that we thought could eliminate some of these connectors to our phone system
And accomplish the same thing like capturing the phone number
Um recording the phone call from the beginning
Um ensuring a smooth transfer and if an answer call doesn't get answered rather than going to a voicemail
That it bounces back if that's what we wanted to do
Um, so anyways, there's no no problems that everybody else doesn't have
We just want to make it better and as we're growing and it's going to get better. I mean our call center
16 members we take about 20,000 calls a month
Um incoming and that's a lot for six people
We don't do anything really great after hours. We don't really have a solution for that. Um, nobody's leaving a voicemail
I'm really shocked by your number nine minutes like
I'm personally I'm not holding on the phone for nine minutes to talk. No. Yeah, it's not my number either
By the way, it's industry. I hope none of our stores have that same
But I mean like no nobody's going to wait that long but if you think about it in service
The customer wants to get that car back out. They've got a problem
There's probably more of a reason for a customer to hold for nine minutes because they need their stuff fixed
They need their stuff back
But but I you know I long ago to it it was on the podcast long ago
And they said the the time a customer asked to call you in service you've lost right?
We've got to get better at communication and outreach to customers
Not only avoid the nine-minute wait time period but get proactive at reaching out so that the customer doesn't have to make that
Call in the first place
Fair start. I don't think that the advisors our service advisors certainly don't want to not answer the phone. No, no
They're calling up. They're casting somebody out. They're talking to another customer standing in front of my cab somebody waiting like
They're the the capacity to answer the call isn't always there. So I would say
You know, we're probably behind the eight ball on AI, but we're slow walking it
For the right reasons. I don't we don't want to just jump into anything because I would tell you there's some
What was the tool you're about to say that I missed it. Did I miss it?
Yeah, I haven't I haven't said it yet because we've tested a lot
We've all right through a lot of demos and we went a ton for us personally
What what we are looking for is more than just somebody to take care of service or somebody that can take care of
We also would like some outbound calls. We like this. So I would say
Mia
MIA
Yeah, yeah, one of their founders is named scott trailer. Yeah, these guys have been
I mean at the top of the pecking order and every check that we're trying to do
their product and sophistication
um
The voice itself is so non robotic. It's it's about as smooth as you and I talking
Um, it's just kind of head and shoulders above
Everything else and there are some great ones out there. So why haven't you signed it yet?
What's holding you back?
Well, it was sunday
Okay, we just we just kind of
We just fresh you've lost our leverage by the way now unless they can't you know, this is a non sponsored segment
So yeah, all right
He can't take it back now, but um, and I wouldn't want him to I would tell you it's it's extremely fair financially
Um, you know the availability that they've showed us
Um in wanting to grow in our business the plug-in and how it works
There's just now most of these companies are I think
They're all going to do a really good job right way better than any of us to do on our own
No doubt. Um, and there's some out there that are probably better in certain areas than Mia. There are
But for us the holistic approach to what we're trying to solve
um, their receptionist
tool their outbound calling
Uh, they're inbound their text. That's just the entire full suite of what they do. They're reporting their dashboard. All of it is, um
It it's just their winner. We're pretty bullish on it. I think it's gonna be it's gonna be a great deal
All right, mic drop on that scott farceo and partner of p4 automotive
Thanks for being on the show to share your perspectives
We're going to put you in the green room and then bring you back in our special round table of kai kyle colman at the very end
So scott, thanks for being on the show today. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you
Some great comments in the text chat eager k says, how's the follow-up game? Actually, we'll ask this one as part of the round table
Um yoga car says I can't imagine that hold number is accurate nine minutes. It is it's crazy
You wouldn't believe it until you actually start looking at some of the hold times most people who would wait that long
Lauren Klein says nine minutes is eight minutes too long. It may even be eight minutes 30 seconds too long
Um, and then eager k says two minutes or less is where the industry needs to be on hold time
So all right, let's transition into our round table back to kyle colman president ceo of colman automotive group
And scott farceo and partner of p4 automotive. Welcome back gentlemen
Thank you. Thank you
Kyle, how's your hold time by the way? What what do you think about hold sales service any issues there on the phones?
Yeah, so we have our phone tree set up a little differently. So we initially we
Identified that we were at like a 30 drop rate. So that's what we're seeing happening
So we rolled it to where if someone doesn't answer it rings all phones in the depending department
So that uh, you know because if someone calls in for a specific advisor and they're with a customer
we found that um, maybe
Especially with our techie on
dms
Realistically anybody in the service department can help them because it's so easy to access that customer file to see what's going on
So we just changed up our phone tree and that that's definitely seen seen a dramatic drop in our dropped calls
What was the check that you did kyle where you realized that you had a drop call problem?
What was the audit internally you did?
well crazy enough
I the manufacturer is the one that brought it up
Uh, so they they audit uh that some of that stuff and we got you know, and that's one of the things when you're buying these stores
So quickly it's you're so many things that you have to have in place
Um, so now now of course we have checks and balances for that process anytime we require a new store
But yeah, that was the manufacturer actually brought it to our attention
And then we audited across the rest of our group and we seen that it was some of our stores were better
Some of our stores were worse
But yeah, we were about that a group average about a 30 drop rate just because of customers not being answered quick enough
Um, but yeah, we're we're down to about 12 which is still
You know 11 higher than I would want but uh, you know at the end of the day
I mean that's we're feeling you know really good about that
All right a question from the chat eager k comes in says how's the follow-up game at your dealer groups for unsold customers?
And for those who have already bought what's your strategy in that world? We'll start with you scott
Yeah, um, I don't know for any better than anyone and um, I don't know that
I personally would ever be super super thrilled and say we've got this whooped and we're great at it and we're 100 percent
We're bulletproof. Um, I do believe
Because we're small enough and very intentional about our activity. I do believe that we're probably ahead of the curve
Um between um, we have our in-house bdc. We call them the a team. Yeah, um, that's awesome. And uh, they are
wildly effective with
The amount of output that they do um, they don't work out of our crm. They work out of a dialer system
So as soon as they're as soon as they hang up a call the next call just comes onto their screen
They don't get to go in and read notes and see that salesman a
Has tried calling these people 15 times in every answer
They just go right to the next call like every 90 seconds a new call is loaded on their screen
But then 90 seconds of ending or so I would say that our follow-up game is probably
I probably don't give it enough credit
But uh, I think they do I think they do a really good job
But I just know I'm a ultimate competitor. So, you know, kyle said he was at 12 drop call and that's 11 too better
I'm thinking that's about 12 percent, right? That's 12 percent
Too high and I know what he meant by that. So our response on that
Yeah, I mean, you know, no, you're right. I mean the 12 percent, you know, unfortunately, there's gonna there's gonna be some blood
You know, what that, you know, we're dealing we're in a people industry, you know
So I don't want to be unrealistic to our expectations
Uh, you know for anybody on the team or you know people, you know coming to board
But you know at the same time like we're looking for people to performance
But as far as our internal process
I mean we we have
About six months ago. We brought somebody onto our corporate staff that her entire job
Is to send out multiple times a day where our daily
lead to visit and lead to engage
Sets how we've handled whether uh, a video has been sent to all leads from the morning report to the afternoon report
Because we require 100 video and if you don't then your your store is not in the green. So I promise you like
Now, of course, we're still growing and kind of our rule and expectation is if you are our sales managers aren't managing our sales people
Then unfortunately that task refalls onto the manager's tasks
And so then they have a report that's sent out daily to see how our managers performed basically for not accounting their
Sales people accountable. So we have a lot of checks and balances internally to manage those processes
to make sure that we're uh, you know
You know not missing anything so to speak and by by no means are we uh, you know the gold standard
But you know, it's definitely something that's not only is it daily?
It's a multiple times a day
Are we putting this in front of our people to make sure that this is a focus? Love it. All right
Last question is we wrap up here because we've only got 60 seconds left
Both of you in 10 seconds or less. What's the most underrated risk? Dealers aren't talking about
As we approach the back half of 26. We'll start with you kyle and then end with you scott
uh
Use car inventory and where you're buying. Yes, man. You are right about that. Yeah
scott
Your people if you're not in touch with your people and what's going on with your people
Um and growing them intentionally
Good luck. All right. So actually I lied. I'm going to do one more question
Most important metric that you look at every single day that helps you drive your operations as you work
To coordinate collaborate multiple rooftops across multiple states, uh, kyle
Net to sales net to sales scott
I mean, of course that he's he nailed it net to sales, but I I also look I that's the easy answer
I would say uh answer b would be um overall volume
Versus objective
I love it. Well, kyle call colman scott far. Thank you both for being on daily deal alive and hopefully you tune into our uh
One year anniversary episode uh tomorrow our wednesday rather 1 p.m. Eastern. Thank you both for being on the show
Thanks. Thanks sam. Thanks cal
All right, and thanks to you for watching this episode of daily deal live
Remember, we're live this wednesday 1 p.m. Eastern. We're going to stream with the entire cart dealership guy
team providing you a behind the scenes look at how this the this
Show is put on three times a week. Uh, thanks for watching for today daily deal live
And we break down the biggest moves in the car business as they happen
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About this episode
Kyle Coleman walks through a rapid expansion playbook that moved his group from rural rooftops into metro markets, pushed store count to seven, and set up a final fund raise before closing the fund. He also talks through vendor resets, Illinois regulatory hurdles, and operational fixes like VINQ and tighter call handling. Scott Pharr then shifts to F&I, showing how a new pay plan and stricter menu standards drove a sharp jump in service contract penetration, while both guests keep circling back to phone response, follow-up, and net to sales.
Today's show features:
- Kyle Coleman, President & CEO of Coleman Automotive Group
- Scott Pharr, COO & Partner of P4 Automotive
This episode is brought to you by:
Podium – the AI platform trusted by one in three dealerships. Podium helps dealers consolidate sales, service, messaging, and voice into one connected system that actually runs the work. If your AI isn’t driving real outcomes, it’s time to take a closer look at https://www.podium.com/car-dealership-guy
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