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Miller on Alleged Breach, O'Hara on Chicago Market, Davila on Buying Used Cars | Daily Dealer Live
Miller on Alleged Breach, O'Hara on Chicago Market, Davila on Buying Used Cars | Daily Dealer Live
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About this episode
A deep dive into the current automotive landscape reveals significant shifts in consumer behavior and dealership strategies. With average new car prices soaring, many buyers are turning to used vehicles and seeking longer loan terms. Experts discuss the implications of a recent data breach at 700 Credit, emphasizing the importance of data security for dealerships. Guests Brad Miller from Comply Auto and Will O'Hara from Ziggler Auto Group share insights on managing inventory, leveraging AI in car sales, and enhancing customer experiences through innovative practices like video engagement and gamification. The episode highlights the need for dealerships to adapt to changing market conditions while maintaining strong operational fundamentals.
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Technical
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Term
average new car price
"First up today with average new car price transactions hovering around $50,000, Americans are changing how they buy vehicles."
The average new car price is what most people pay when buying a new car. Right now, it's about $50,000, which shows that cars are getting more expensive.
The average new car price refers to the typical transaction price that consumers pay for new vehicles, which can vary based on make, model, and market conditions. As of now, this price is around $50,000, indicating a trend towards more expensive vehicles in the market.
Term
loan terms
"Downsizing, shifting to use, stretching loan terms, or holding out for deals as affordability tightens."
Loan terms are the details of a loan, like how long you have to pay it back and how much interest you will pay. For cars, longer loan terms can mean smaller monthly payments but more total cost in the end.
Loan terms refer to the conditions and duration of a loan agreement, including the interest rate, repayment period, and monthly payment amounts. In the automotive industry, longer loan terms can make monthly payments more manageable but may result in paying more interest over time.
Concept
affordability
"Downsizing, shifting to use, stretching loan terms, or holding out for deals as affordability tightens."
Affordability means how easy or hard it is for people to buy cars based on their income and the prices of cars. When cars are more expensive, people have to think harder about how they can afford them.
Affordability in the automotive context refers to the ability of consumers to purchase vehicles without financial strain. Factors affecting affordability include income levels, vehicle prices, loan terms, and economic conditions. As prices rise, many consumers are reevaluating their purchasing strategies.
Term
discounts
"And dealers are responding by stacking more discounts on the hood, even as lower-income buyers fall behind on loans at record rates."
Discounts are price cuts that car dealers offer to make cars cheaper for buyers. They can help people afford cars when prices are high or when fewer people are buying.
Discounts in the automotive industry refer to reductions in the price of vehicles offered by dealers to encourage sales. These can take the form of cash rebates, special financing rates, or promotional offers, particularly during times of economic uncertainty or decreased consumer spending.
Brand
BMW
"...including BMW,..."
BMW is a car brand from Germany that makes luxury cars. They are known for their stylish designs and good performance.
BMW is a German automotive brand known for its luxury vehicles and performance-oriented cars. The brand is recognized for its engineering excellence and sporty driving dynamics.
Car
Jeep Recon
"as fast as possible and recon as fast as possible because that clock is ticking"
The Jeep Recon is a new electric vehicle made for off-roading, which means it can handle rough trails and tough conditions. It's part of Jeep's effort to create environmentally friendly cars while still being fun to drive in nature.
The Jeep Recon is an all-electric off-road vehicle that embodies Jeep's commitment to adventure and sustainability. Designed for rugged terrains, it aims to deliver the classic Jeep experience while incorporating modern electric vehicle technology, making it a topic of interest as the automotive industry shifts towards electrification.
Brand
GMC
"...because it's you know a different brand you know should I have a GMC here"
GMC is a car brand that makes trucks and SUVs. They are part of General Motors, which is a big company that owns several car brands.
GMC is a division of General Motors that focuses on trucks and utility vehicles. Known for their ruggedness and capability, GMC vehicles often share platforms with Chevrolet but are marketed as more premium.
Term
Apple CarPlay
"...so let's set your car up with the car play...the apple car play..."
Apple CarPlay lets you use your iPhone in the car. You can see your apps and maps on the car screen, making it easier to use your phone while driving.
Apple CarPlay is a feature that allows iPhone users to connect their devices to their car's infotainment system, providing access to apps, navigation, and music directly from the car's display.
Term
Android Auto
"...or the android auto..."
Android Auto lets you connect your Android phone to your car. You can see your apps and maps on the car screen, making it safer to use your phone while driving.
Android Auto is similar to Apple CarPlay but designed for Android devices, allowing users to access apps and features from their smartphones through their car's infotainment system.
Car
Ford Mustang
"hey you cannot buy this Mustang but here are four vehicles"
The Ford Mustang is a popular sports car that has been around for a long time. It's known for being fast and stylish, making it a favorite among car enthusiasts and a symbol of American automotive culture.
The Ford Mustang is an iconic American muscle car that has been in production since 1964. Known for its powerful performance and distinctive design, the Mustang represents a significant part of automotive history and American culture, often discussed for its influence on the sports car segment.
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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 welcome to this space where all automotive comes together to learn,
to share, to execute.
Thanks for choosing to be here this third day of December, and today we're breaking news
about the 700-credit hack.
What does it mean to automotive?
Well, we're in it.
But first, let's dive into today's industry headlines.
First up today with average new car price transactions hovering around $50,000,
Americans are changing how they buy vehicles.
Downsizing, shifting to use, stretching loan terms, or holding out for deals as affordability
tightens.
And dealers are responding by stacking more discounts on the hood, even as lower-income
buyers fall behind on loans at record rates, and shoppers spend less per purchase than
they did a year ago.
Quote, people are asking, how do I afford this?
People are asking, how do I afford this?
Shocking, there are people who are in debt and living paycheck to paycheck.
Texas dealer Robert Peltier told the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, some retails are holding their ground by leaning into buyers who can still spend,
especially in full-size pickups, which posted 3.7% growth year over year in Q3,
and by relying more on fixed ops, now up to 13.2% of dealership income.
But the bigger picture is clear, new vehicle volume is hitting a pressure point.
More shoppers are recalculating budgets, lenders are tightening around the edges,
and dealers are increasingly forced to find ways to bridge that affordability gap.
Next up today, CDK's Global Ease of Purchase scorecard cratered in November,
dropping from 85% to 66% month over month.
That's the lowest reading since CDK started tracking customer sentiment more than three
years ago.
But the biggest shift was in inventory access, although that slipped too.
Fewer shoppers found the exact car they wanted.
Pricing talks were significantly tougher as well.
However, the real breakdown was trade-ins.
The ease of negotiating trade value hit a record low 45%.
That's a massive drop from 66% in October.
Still, almost all buyers, 98%, to be sure,
prefer buying from a dealership, 98% from a dealership, brick and mortar.
And the dealers who eliminate wasted time while building real pricing trusts can
stop these pain points from snowballing.
Next up today, according to a new CarGuru survey of 3,000 recent car buyers and sellers,
digital tools, particularly AI, are taking over the early stages of the purchasing journey.
More specifically, 80% of shoppers are now open to using AI to help them buy a vehicle.
And the top uses for AI and car shopping include comparing vehicles, that's 44%.
Finding listings, that's 40% and summarizing car reviews at 39%.
But even with that shift, dealerships once again remain the preferred place
to close that deal, with 61% of shoppers saying they'll visit two or more stores in 2025.
What's the bottom line here?
Well, AI adds another layer to the shopping experience.
But at the end of the day, consumers are just walking in more informed,
more prepared, and they're expecting that smoother experience.
And last up today, as teased at the very top of the show, a data breach at 700 credit,
one of the auto industry's largest credit reporting and identity verification providers,
is leaving millions of customers exposed.
On or around October 25th, the company was, quote,
alerted to suspicious activity coming from the company's proprietary web-based application,
according to internal company documents shared with CDG news.
Turns out threat actors had copied vital customer data, including social security numbers,
and in the process compromised more than 5 million customer records.
What's next?
700 credit is sending out notifications and offering 12 to 24 months of free credit
monitoring.
But the company is also advising dealers to consult legal counsel about their own reporting
obligations.
Fascinating conversation, particularly in lieu of last year's CDK outage.
So for context on this, let's jump straight to the company and the team that broke this news,
in part, CEO of Comply Auto, Brad Miller, welcome to the show.
And Yuli, let's talk the CDK credit outage.
Brad, welcome to the show.
Thank you.
Thanks for having me, and yeah, even you got the mix up, right?
I mean, so we have a CDK PTSD here, I know, but it's got some echoes of what happened last year,
both in terms of scale and scope.
But there are important differences.
We put out some guidance to our customers and to the industry at large,
sort of letting folks know that this had happened.
And frankly, to date, we're pretty pleased with 700 credits response.
I mean, look, this can happen to any company.
Let's just be realistic.
It's all about the communication.
It's about the response.
It's about the taking the steps that you need to do to protect your dealer customers.
And they seem to be doing that so far.
So Brad, let's back up a little bit.
First of all, tell us who you are and what your role is at Comply Auto.
So we get some context.
You're an authority figure, and you're someone who has quite a bit of knowledge on privacy
and data laws in the United States.
You've helped craft a lot of it.
Yeah.
So I'm the CEO of Comply Auto.
Comply Auto is a dealer specific compliance company.
So we work with over 10,000 dealers in the country on a variety of compliance issues
from privacy and data security to FNI, Advertising Compliance, EHS and Safety,
and more HR workforce and other things.
So we work with dealers all over the country.
I came to Comply Auto about a year and a half ago.
I had spent 16 years at NADA.
So most recently, as Chief Regulatory Counsel there, I was a lawyer at NADA for a year.
So I worked on privacy issues for dealers writ large.
I worked with the OEMs on data sharing agreements.
I worked with the FTC specifically on the safeguards rule
and on other things like the cars rule that was turned over last year.
So yeah, a lot of background with this space, state data breach laws,
state privacy laws, or something I've been working on for 20-plus years.
So I'm glad to be doing it now at Comply Auto.
So whenever you hear of a breach, like we've been notified about with
regard to the 700 credit breach, you start to think of Tier Point CDK or Equifax
or any one of these other breaches.
Tell us what you're understanding about what happened at 700 credit is.
What happened?
Well, it's one of the problems.
And let's be frank, it's always a bit of a haze at first, right?
I'm sure that there have been in the throws, as you've noted,
it was reported that this occurred as it was discovered in October.
And there are indications that it was occurring as long as a few months before that, right?
So it takes a while to discover it.
Once you've discovered it, the first thing is to stop it.
And then you have to do an investigation to see if you can determine what happened.
And there have been some bits and pieces.
There were some reports that perhaps it was related to a breach suffered
by one of 700 credit subcontractors, one of their vendors.
And then they got in through an API access on the back end.
So again, the early reports tend to be a little tough to confirm.
But the key for dealers is to understand, yes, now we've confirmed this has happened.
So now the duties as a dealer get triggered.
And that's what dealers need to know.
So they're a vendor to many auto groups and auto dealerships.
Given that vendor has had a breach, what is a dealer's responsibility in light of this breach?
Yeah, look, it is one of the sort of lesser understood, but frankly, realities of our world,
dealers are the regulated entities with respect to this information.
It's just the way it is.
Whether it's under GLB, whether it's under state data breach laws,
there's a whole variety of these reasons.
Dealers as the, whether it's the custodians, the controllers, the owners,
the licensors of this data, they ultimately are the ones that have
responsibility for notifying customers in the event of a breach.
So let me step back.
The basic paradigm is if there's a breach, there's duties under both federal and state law.
The federal law is a relatively new obligation.
And it's under the FTC safeguards rule.
And it basically says that you have to notify the FTC of the fact you've had the breach.
Now, interestingly enough, the FTC put this rule out specifically, they stated this,
it's not implied, specifically to allow them to enforce the safeguards rule against the people
reporting the breach, right?
So it's kind of crazy if you report on yourself so they can enforce the law against you.
But that's the federal FTC obligation.
And then every state in the union has their own data breach law.
And that's the part that gets complicated because they're very, they're different,
they have different thresholds, different definitions.
But broadly speaking, they say, look, if there's been a breach,
you have to tell the customers affected, hey, we've got a problem so that they can go out and
put a freeze on their credit, put a front alert on their credit,
something to protect themselves so their identity is not so on.
So the dealer has to make sure this happens.
So what if the vendor says, hey, we own this, we understand we made the mistake
or we're the victim of the hack, we're going to meet those obligations.
We're going to inform the FTC and we're going to make that report back to the customers.
Does that absolve the dealer from responsibility to make notification?
It could.
It could.
And importantly here, I will tell you, for those who don't know, NADA just announced yesterday
that they work with 700 credit and the FTC directly and the FTC has agreed
that 700 credit will notify the FTC on behalf of all their customers.
And the FTC has said we accept that, right?
That's good.
So your question's a good one, but it depends.
In this case, NADA's good efforts, 700 credit's good efforts,
they work together with the FTC.
And frankly, the FTC doesn't want 18,000 reports, right?
They want one report.
Now remember, the report's going to list all the dealers affected.
And it's going to go on a public-facing website.
So there's going to be a record out there of the dealers.
That's an obligation.
That was part of the announcement.
But NADA has made it clear that the FTC reporting requirement,
they've been able to handle.
Now the state is a little bit of a different question.
Is that what you mean?
Sorry.
Is that what you mean that this is going to vary state by state?
Your local dealer should look into the local laws to see if they need to also
inform the customer base.
Yes and no.
The nuances really are what's the threshold for notifying them.
For example, some states it's 500 more customers.
Some it's one or more, right?
Some states you have to tell the customer,
but you also have to notify the state attorney general, right?
Some states you have to also tell the credit reporting agency.
So like for example, California has a specific form you have to use to get the notice, right?
So my caution to dealers is, Seminole Credit has said,
I've seen communications from them
that where they're promising to make these notifications under the state law,
I would urge dealers just to say, hey look,
that's good that you're doing that and you should,
but please confirm for me that you've met the requirements under my specific state law
because they do vary.
Does an email and a communication,
does that meet that requirement of saying, hey, we've got it?
I mean that gives you some sort of plausible deniability anyway,
if there's an issue I would suppose later, no?
It's a good question.
And some states say yes, some states say no,
some say it's okay if they gave you the information electronically,
you can send it electronically.
So it's a great example of something that varies state by state
and that's why it's a little tough to have blanket statements,
but I won't say the blanket statement I understand the 700 Credit has said,
they are going to at least make the effort to comply with these state laws.
Now again, it's complicated to do, but I hope they do it.
So great question online from Yoga Cars.
Yoga Cars says wondering if 700 Credit hack has something to do with the prior CDK hack
since they were or are CDK owned, I believe.
I'm not sure that they are owned.
I don't know that that's true.
I know that CDK and 700 had a relationship at some point.
Thoughts on that?
Yeah, I have no indications of that that I'm aware of.
We can go off as public reports, right?
CDK was sort of a threat actor that affected their network directly.
There was a ransomware effort that ultimately was paid in that situation.
We'd seen some early press reports in this situation
that there was also a ransomware effort that was not resolved.
And so some information got posted in the dark web.
And that's kind of where we first heard of this.
Then we heard about the class actions that always follow here against 700 Credit
and then of course the confirmation from 700 Credit itself.
So 700 Credit has said, they've given an explanation.
It's a little like I said, it's sort of the fall of the war
when you're sort of figuring this stuff out.
But they said they believe it came in this instance
through a third party vendor they had used and through the API they were using.
So stepping back a little bit, thinking about vendor relationships
that dealers have with vendors.
So dealers collect a ton of data and that data has to be secured.
And in the old world, many dealers might say, hey, you know what?
It's up to that vendor.
It's on them.
If there's a breach, it's on them.
If there's a leak, how should dealers be thinking
about third party risks right now given, I mean,
is it still okay to offload that liability to vendors
or is it something we need to think about differently now?
Look, there's a regulatory answer and a sort of a lawyer answer.
The lawyer in me says, look, get indemnified regardless.
Because if it's their fault, you should have some sort of protection
and that's a contractual issue.
The legal answer is dealers are the ones who are responsible.
In fact, it's very, very clear under both state data breach laws
and federal laws like the safeguard rule is the clearest example
where they say, look, you as the regulator,
that's why I started by saying dealers are the regulated entity.
They're the ones with the illegal obligation.
You can use the states and the federal government
said you can use the service provider to help you, right?
But if you do, you've got to make sure you're vetting them
to make sure that you've done your due diligence on the front end,
that you've got contract clauses with them
that protect you and protect consumers and that you're following up.
So and that brings an important issue.
For dealers, we mentioned the notice issue, right,
to the FTC and to the consumers and the AGs.
There's also a safeguards rule issue here.
If you have not already, I would encourage you to make sure
that you've got an updated risk assessment from 700 credit.
And that's your safeguards obligations
as their service provider of yours.
You know, we obviously help our customers do that,
but if you're not a complied out customer for some reason,
go make sure you've got an updated risk assessment
with an updated data processing agreement.
You need special addendums under state privacy law.
So there's all sorts of contractual things
that you need to be doing this specifically to say,
hey, this service provider and every other,
you're going to make sure that you protect them.
If there's a problem you cooperate with me,
you know, you do the things you need to do.
And so the agreements that you're referencing there,
because that was going to be my next question,
from a dealer perspective and a GM perspective,
coming out of this news,
what are three things that I should do
as a dealer or a GM
to make sure that my relationships
with my vendors are locked down?
So one is that privacy agreement, right?
And then the other is the data share agreement.
Yeah, it's just to be clear, it's there.
And I don't want to get too far in the weeds.
This is a different story.
It's a safeguard rule.
But basically you need an agreement that says,
you are my service provider,
you're going to protect the data
the same way I do another safeguard rule, right?
Then you also have to go to them and say,
I need to give me some basic information
about the way you protect data
so that I can show that I've met my obligations
under the safeguard rule to vet you, right?
This is not today's problem,
but the other issue under the safeguard rule
that's important not to forget is
when this is over in the next few months,
you also need to make sure that you've gone
into your own safeguards program and said,
hey, look, we had this issue with one of our vendors.
What have we done to make sure that we've followed up,
that let's say they had a glaring issue,
that they fixed it,
or that this is not going to happen again,
or that we've been assured that the risks are
at a level that we can accept
for our own safeguarding of the customer data.
So it's, you know, unfortunately,
it's not just a notice issue.
You've got to go do a little work after the fact, too.
Yeah, so document it in one shape, form, or another.
And, you know, you mentioned the comply auto.
Comply auto is a widely accepted program out in automotive.
And there's a part on your website
where you can go, you can log it,
you can log the notice,
and then you can indicate what you've done to prevent it.
And I would assume that there are other similar programs
to comply auto that do very similar things.
Nothing, nothing compares to our, you know,
I, you know, look, in all seriousness,
we do have some proprietary tools.
I'll tell you, we actually have a wizard in our software
where you can go and detect under your state law
how you met the threshold for notice.
It will help you prevent the notice.
I mean, that's a very difficult thing to do.
When I was in private practice many years ago,
I worked on these things for private customers.
It's a big lift to go on there
and understand these 50 state laws, right?
We've done that kind of thing for you.
But specifically, to your point, it's a great question.
Go in and check and see, hey,
do I have an updated risk assessment from this vendor?
We've got flags and things.
And you can send requests because you need that, right?
To be protected as the dealer, like I said,
remember the paradigm, you're the ones responsible.
They understand you can use service providers
and service provider can have the problem.
You got to make sure you've done something
to prove that you did your due diligence
and followed up on this with your service provider
as the responsible party.
Yeah. A lot of this work that you're talking about,
it's almost a full-time job
because you're talking about stepping back again
from the 700 issue.
You're talking about analyzing every relationship
you have in the dealership
where you're providing an interchange
of data and information,
which it's a ton of different companies
that we do business with in automotive.
It seems like this dedicated compliance
or cybersecurity officer, it is truly a full-time job.
What would you say to the dealer today
in light of what's happened who may say,
hey, you know what, I don't think it really
is a full-time job.
I'm going to give it to my controller
or my office manager to do kind of as a part-time function.
Well, I will tell you, when I was at NAD,
I spent several years going around the country
talking to dealer groups
about the safeguards role when I was coming.
And I would tell them about the complicated issues
and I would hand by saying, look,
get started on the vendor management
because that's going to be the biggest pain
part of this process
because the average dealer, it varies,
but we did a study at NAD.
It was something like 45 different third parties
that you're engaged with, the average dealer is.
So to manage that process,
to get them to amend contracts,
to understand what their assessment profile is,
huge, right?
One of the reasons I'm here
is because complied with does that for dealers, right?
That is one of the major functions
that we serve for dealers in our software.
But you're right, it is a very complicated issue
to get with.
And again, I will say the other nice thing
about the fact that we have the scope and scale
that we do, from a vendor perspective is,
think about a vendor
who's getting 18,000 of these requests, right?
They can come to Comply Auto, do it once
and do it for all 10,000 or customers,
which makes their life a little easier too.
And it's 700 credit that it didn't partner with that.
And that's what I was going to ask,
has 700 credit done that?
Have they gone through that process with Comply Auto?
They have.
They have.
And then again, I don't want to
either disparage or compare them,
but they've been very, you know,
they've done what they needed to do.
Now, again, don't just take what Brad Miller said,
still go in your system
and make sure you've got an updated form in there.
Because literally all the dealer has to do
is sort of counter sign the agreement.
We've made it simple for you,
but you still want to take that check,
double check it.
Whether this is going to be an issue for dealer,
I think is potentially a reach,
but you want to be protected, right?
You don't want to be affected
unless it wasn't your fault.
So let's step back for just one moment
before we wrap up this conversation,
because I think the other thing,
maybe dealers are thinking about,
a credit company, that's kind of a given.
You're going to share information with them
so they can pull credit bureaus
and provide monitoring and do all the things.
So a company like 700 getting access
to customer data is a no-brainer.
And it's something that, you know,
whether you're with them
or someone else, that's going to happen.
What's terrifying right now
in automotive is AI
and all the AI companies
that are popping up all over the place.
How should a dealer today
be thinking about all these new AI technologies
with companies that aren't specialized in automotive
but are popping up with solutions?
And where should you share
and where should you not share
customer data and information
in this world of AI?
Really, Cal, yeah, that's a big question.
So yeah, this has been a perennial problem.
20 years ago, it was the DMS
and what was being sucked out of the DMS.
And we moved on to the CRM.
And frankly, today, I will tell you,
websites are the next frontier
of where this information is being shared.
And I encourage dealers to look into that.
But in terms of AI, look,
there are some controls that you can have.
Now, whether you need,
I mean, you should ask the same question
with companies that provide AI services
you do with anyone else.
Do they really need this information
to provide the service?
Right? That's the threshold question.
And what information do they need?
Provide them that and no more
and get them to sign a contract
saying that's all they're going to take
and all they're going to use it for.
Right? That's what they're responsible.
Third party of any kind will do,
AI or not.
There's some additional considerations with AI
in the sense that you have to be careful
that the data you provide
or they have access to
is not used to train models.
Right? And that actually is a
something that should be controlled
and controllable
and a question you should ask.
Right? In other words,
I'm sharing this information
to make my services as a dealer
I give to my customers better.
That doesn't mean you take that
and then let this large language model
or some other proprietary model you have
take my data and train off of it.
Right? Because then you've lost control
of it very quickly
and you and you frankly have given
value way that you don't need to do.
So the good news is that's it's more
and more of a of a top of mind
issue and it should be something
that's not new.
But if you're a dealer,
that's one of the questions I'd ask.
I say, look, we don't want our data
used to be used to train the model
and it shouldn't be.
So that's what that's one
that's one additional issue.
I go ahead.
It's interesting because AI,
it's it can be a little fuzzy
to dealers how much data it gets
access to or not.
Right?
By its very nature,
it's combing through things,
trying to figure out things
and try to anticipate things.
But you're saying you can you
can engage with those vendors
and tell what it can
and can't access.
Yeah, I mean, look, we offer
one of our most recent products
for deal check AI is a very powerful tool.
We engage with a lot of the companies
out there and we have taken steps
to ensure that they don't use
any of the data that runs
through their systems to train
their models.
Right? That's that's that's the key.
Right?
They're very hungry for this
information.
You know, it's not a lot more
about how it works.
Yeah.
It's controllable.
That's good.
Yeah.
OK.
Well, Brad Miller, CEO of Compliato.
It's it's been incredible
having you on.
You guys have really broken the
story in so many ways
and leading the front on
how to address it.
And really, this is a great
opportunity for dealers to just
think about how they're
protecting data
and what their policies
and procedures are
and just kind of button up
things.
You know, even if this isn't a
super significant breach,
one way or another, it's a great
opportunity to clean things up.
As we leave, I want to ask you
one question we've asked many
guests.
Chat GPT, you're a general
manager.
How much can you just put in
there for an easy quick answer
to a problem?
Is it OK to upload stuff?
Hey, look, I'll tell you,
if you're not using AI in
your job, you know,
you're not trying.
I mean, let's just be reality.
But let me, in all seriousness,
my lawyer, the lawyer in me,
in the dealer world,
there's two ways,
two places you have to be careful.
Are you using it to make decisions?
Are you using it in sort of
financing decisions?
If you are, you're venturing
into a world
and that may happen more
than you realize, you know,
whether it's who do I offer
this rebate to,
you know, how am I determining
who I offer it to, whatever it
might be.
There's lots of use cases.
The regulators, the plaintiffs
are getting very excited
about that kind of thing
because there can be
implications that you don't
realize from the perspective.
So, yeah, look, use it.
Don't fool people into
thinking they're talking to a
person when it's an AI.
Because they don't like that either.
But if it's rebates, financing,
or employment,
use extra caution.
That's my lawyer answer.
Yeah.
All right.
So, as you go,
just a couple comments from you,
yoga cars,
dealers generally sending
coded data to AI when it comes.
That from yoga cars.
Lauren Klein,
would you recommend dealers
build their own AI
rather than use outsourced
to keep their data safe?
That's a great question.
Yeah.
I mean, build your own AI.
I mean, look, it's,
yes.
Remember, AI gets to be
a little bit of a fuzzy term, right?
We're talking about using the
large language model tools
that are available, right?
You know, get with someone
who understands that.
You know, if you're using it,
certainly if you're using a
vendor, you need someone
that not only understands that,
but is actually controlling it,
right? I mean,
hallucinations are real.
It is not foolproof.
Just literally just throwing it
into the LLM is not going
to give you anything
that really is ready.
Useful.
But someone who knows
what they're doing
with expertise
and sort of guide the power
of the AI.
Think of AI as a really
powerful tool.
It's got to be guided
and used with someone
who knows what they're doing
in terms of guidelines, right?
That's the sense you're talking about.
So if you want to build
your own, that's fine.
But you've got to be careful.
You know, it's not a small
lift to make sure that
you're doing the right
is going to give you
something that really is.
Yeah.
Well, Brad Miller,
thanks for being on the show.
And we look forward to
having you back in the future.
Hopefully not for this
same topic.
Right.
We'd like to have you
back again.
Thank you.
All right.
Well, thanks for having me.
Take care, Yolm.
Thanks, Brad.
See you.
Yuli, interesting.
Yeah, what's your take?
Scary, man.
It's scary.
But it always comes back
to the same thing, right?
Dealers are responsible.
So it's walking
that razor's edge.
Just an incredible business.
And that's why shows
like this are so important.
They're walking that
knife's edge
between profitability
and doomsday.
Well, and I don't think
you have to walk an edge.
I think it's a great
opportunity.
It serves as a great
reminder to just button
it all up.
Make sure you've got
those agreements in place.
Make sure you know
who you're doing
business with,
how they're utilizing the data.
Make sure you've got
restrictions in place
so that they're not using it
in ways that would expose
you beyond what you're
comfortable with.
And then make sure
that you certify them
every single year
that, hey, they're handling
it in the correct way.
And so far, it seems
like 700 credit
as a company has done
a great job.
We'd love to have them
on the show, by the way,
to give response
in a little bit of context.
And, you know,
as much pain
is certainly
they're going through
in the moment
trying to deal
with all this.
There will be
some great takeaways
for automotive
much like CDK did.
I think CDK provided
a lot of context
and background.
Paul Solzman,
another fantastic guest
to comply,
is a great organization.
And speaking
of great organizations,
Julie,
let's talk about
cars.com, shall we?
So today's episode,
including this context
on the outage,
is brought to you by
cars.com,
the number one
most recognized
marketplace brand,
helping your dealership
show up and stand out
to the most valuable
car shopping audience.
Props to cars.com.
You can scan
the QR code there
to learn
more information on them
or you can
click the link
in the show notes
if you're watching
the podcast
after our live broadcast.
But thanks cars.com
for sponsoring the content
including
the commentary just now
from comply auto
and props to comply auto too
for coming on
sharing things as well.
So we got a lot of
good perspectives.
Let's go straight into
our next guest
someone I know
who's near and dear
to my own auto group
general manager
at Ziggler auto group.
He's got multiple
rooftops
including BMW,
Nissan
and infinity
in Orland park.
He's a VP
and general manager
at Ziggler auto group
Will O'Hara
Will, welcome to the show.
What's up guys?
Thanks for having me
happy to be on.
Welcome.
Thanks for being here.
Will, what's your take
on on data security
in this world?
I mean, it's interesting
you we go from
CDK into 700 credit
and some of the other things.
It's just a good reminder
to button things up.
Yeah, Will.
Yeah, you're exactly
writing in
Brad put it perfectly.
Like you need to
check everything
that you're doing.
You got to check
every box
because if you don't
there's a lot of stuff
you can get exposed
right now
and you got to go out there
and button it up
because if you don't
you don't know
you're walking
the knife's edge
to some degree.
So go in and inspect
before you get hit
and make sure you got
the right process
and procedures in place.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Well, so Will
for those who don't know
you tell us a little bit
about how biz is
that's our first
question we always ask
and then tell a little bit
about yourself
and what you do.
Yeah.
So I've been with
the Ziggler Auto Group
12 years now.
General Manager,
BMW Infinity Nissan
here in Olin Park
and then a couple more stores
up in Lincoln Wood
Cadillac, Buick GMC
and yeah.
It's been
November was a
interesting one.
I think the hard part
for the finish
was Black Friday
was snowed out
in the Midwest.
Anybody that's out
in the Midwest
that got
over a foot of snow
here in Chicago
made it a little bit
of tough sledding
out here
to have a big close.
But it's definitely
we're in an environment
that is
I would say
you're in this
K shaped economy
where
it's very brand specific.
You got hot brands.
You got brands
that are on the weaker side.
And it really comes down
to having the right
team in place,
having the right
processes and procedures
and those who
stand out
do the right things
will end up being
successful in any
marketplace.
So let's ask that question
to your point.
Many entities
including cars.com
and Cox Automotive
have reported that
retail traffic
has softened recently
in the last week or so.
Will, when
the retail market
tightens unexpectedly
from your perspective,
what's the first lever
a GM can pull
today right now
in December of 2025
to generate
friend and momentum
without throwing
the gross out the window?
Yeah. So we're
there's a couple things.
I mean, the first is
you got to make sure
you know,
depending on your brand
you have the right
inventory
and that you manage it well.
If you have the right
cars and you have the right
inventory management process
the grosses are going to be
better.
If you're sticking around
with older age inventory
that's obviously
going to hurt you
in times of softening demand.
So making sure that
you're properly managing
your inventory
and then your processes
make sure dialed in
on every single lead
that's coming in
and make sure that
you're capturing
every customer
that comes on the door.
Those are things
you can do
providing a good experience
and making sure
the customer
like you just said
some of these
satisfaction ratings
that we have
for customers.
You got to provide
a good experience
and make sure the customer
is getting taken care of
and the customers
will find out
and they'll find you
and that's when
you saw them in the car.
All right.
So talk to us
about used vehicles
and used acquisitions.
So that's something
you know
and you do pretty well.
We had Cox's
interim chief economist
on the show
a couple of shows ago
and he actually said
look Q1 2026
is going to be
strong with used cars.
It's okay to
and I'm paraphrasing
he'd kill me
if I paraphrase this way.
It's okay to relax
some of the turn
discipline
in order to
you know
in order to
stock up used cars.
What's your thought
on that
and what's the
discipline you exercise
on used car
inventory today?
So here's the thing
you need to have
a first and foremost
a good inventory
management process
on used cars.
You need to run
a tight process
and try to
turn your lot
as fast as you can.
Now used car prices
have been stable
relatively all year.
And the one thing
that I see
to maybe
counter that argument
would be
I just looked
you know
if you look at some of the data
new car day supply
is running close to 90.
So as that happens
in a
manufacturers are going to
continue to put
special interest rates
out there.
They're going to add
incentive spending
and typically that does
feed into the
used car market.
So you got to be
a little bit cautious
on what you're buying.
Be specific
be tactful
make sure you're
filling voids
in your inventory
that you need cars.
Don't just buy
cars to buy cars
but on the other side of that
the best place to go buy
cars right now
is in your service department.
If you're not in your service
department looking for
inventory
that you can capitalize on
there's
great cars coming
through the door
every single day.
What's your process
to acquire
used cars
in service?
So our service process
mean one thing we do
we use obviously
automotive mastermind
that we've used
for quite a while
and we look at that process
and you know
every night
we get a
a list of
of cars that have
high rankings for
stuff we're looking for
or they're in a position
that they could maybe get
out of the car
based on maybe the
lease mileage
or they're out of warranty
etc.
So we try to target
those customers
and make sure that we give them
you know a quote
an offer
and those are the cars
that you want to buy.
You want to buy
cars at the curb
you do not want to go
to the auction
to buy cars necessarily
because
those are the ones
that have been picked over
and you have fees
and etc.
So if you want to be
successful and you use
car business
go find
cars on the street
and get everything
you can at the curb.
Do you
do you
we've had this conversation
with many on the show
do you have some sort of
a number in mind
where
acquiring from service
versus at the auction
like are you able to
quantify the impact
to that difference
and are you willing to
pay a little more
for those in service
as a result of them
being higher quality.
I would say that
if you're not paying up
for your service cars
or the cars
you're buying at the curb
you're making a mistake
because typically
if they've service
the car with you
and you've done a good job
at maintaining that customer
hopefully it's a nice car
a quality car
maybe without an accident
etc.
And that's the car
that you want to get
you should be willing
to pay more for
if you're paying more
for a car at an auction
versus a car
in your own service drive
I think that's a mistake
so if you're going to
step up on
on any vehicle
you should be stepping up
for a loyal customer
and somebody that's
in your service drive.
So will your stores
consistently outperforming
the marketplaces
do most similar stores
especially in midwest
winter conditions
when many dealers
see a slowdown
you mentioned Black Friday
you mentioned
there was actually a
one-day record
snowfall in the
chicagoland forever
in November
ever
all history
which is crazy
what operational discipline
or GM behavior
separates you
on a day like that
from other stores
that others could
learn from Will
Yeah I mean as
my team will tell you
I'm probably one of the
most aggressive guys
in the room
and putting deals together
I don't want anybody
getting out the door
I want to make sure that we
make every single deal
that makes sense
and you just got to be
aggressive in the marketplace
and if it's snowing
like I'm telling people
hey it's a snow sale
come on in
and we'll make the best deal
if you can get here safely
like
you know
we're going to make sure
that we make the best deal
for you
so
you know
and give you a great
experience
that's really what it's about
so you guys
times
go ahead
No I was going to ask
if you guys have
me six by sixes
for those snow days
but I have a curiosity
you know we talk about
you have to have
use car discipline
right
everyone that's listening
to the show
understands that
any top operator
wants that
can you drill into
specifically
what are you looking for
in your use car department
like
what's your
what's your inventory mix
what's your turn time
you know like
where are you holding
yourself accountable
if I'm listening to this show
and I want to increase
my use car department
my profitability
where am I
Yeah
I would say the biggest
things that people
don't look at
probably in use cars
is they don't look
at market day supply enough
on what inventory
they're stocking
and then how they're pricing
that car day one
so if you
I guess if you unpack it
first thing is most important
is you need to get the car
time to line
and in online
as fast as possible
and recon as fast as possible
because that clock is ticking
especially if you're in
any environment
where use car prices
could fluctuate
or even go down
you want to turn that car
faster
so my philosophy is
if I'm in a stable market
prices obviously
will be more consistent
if I'm in a declining market
I'm more of aggressive
of a buyer
because every day that I can buy a car
the next day
the following day
if prices are declining
I'm getting them cheaper
than the guy that has
the car that's 90 days old
so when I look at our process
like
if you can turn your lot
12 times a year
you're doing a great job
you're going to feed your service department
you're going to keep your
age inventory low
but you know
I would say
you know we try to run
I don't like anything over 90 days
you know some groups are at 60 days
we try to be
as aggressive as possible
but you really need to look at
how you price the car day one
how you market that car day one
and make sure that it's on point
because if you're not
and you're priced way out of the market
that car is going to sit for 30-45 days
and then you're going to drop the price
and you're not going to turn it
and miss the trade
and everything else
so that cycle slows way down
So Will, Lauren Klein asks online
are there any cars you stay away from
on the used car
in the used car market
is there anything you're staying away from right now Will?
You know I would say that
probably right now is the EV
market is fluctuated a lot
you know I don't know
listen there's no specific inventory
that I would stay away from
unless it's a problem brand
or something that I know is going to have issues
maybe one brand that I've seen
just in our survey from my experience
that I've had issues with used cars
in reliability is Maserati
so I try to stay away from those cars
on the retail side
because they've been kind of a nightmare for me
but you know outside of that
if you're getting a quality car
you know my kind of rules are this
if it's cosmetically looking good
if it's relatively good service shape
and it doesn't have an accident
and it wasn't a smoker car
those are cars I want to retail
you know I don't like to retail smoker cars
you know if they got multiple accidents
or something severe
I typically try to wholesale them
or we get out of those cars
those aren't a retail product
for the Ziggler Group anyways
and we try to move on
you know if it's something that
is quality that we can
we know is service
and looks good and we can make a car
those are the cars that we want to retail
so what are you doing on day 90
you had mentioned 90s you're cut off
yeah so typically
you know we
the way our pricing strategy is for
for my stores
we're aggressive enough
that we typically don't get that
that we don't get to that point
and if we do you know
of course you're going to have
one or two or three of those that get to 90
and typically what we do in our group
is you know I try to refresh those cars
at one of our other Ziggler stores
and try to look at maybe it's a product
that needs to be at one of our other stores
because it's you know a different brand
you know should I have a GMC here
stocked in at BMW where
I could put that car at our GMC store
that's probably going to do
do better and turn faster
or vice versa the other way around
so we try to move the inventory around
you know inside a 90 days
and try to refresh it
at one of our different Ziggler stores
and give it a new look
because as the thing goes
you know a salesperson
at one store they might say
hey that car's 90 days
but you put one of those cars
at a different store
and that car's fresh to them
they don't know that it was aged
so that's just a process
that I have inside my stores
that we stick to it
yoga car says online at 90
it becomes the GM's demo
Igor Igor says my aging policy
is also in 90 days
and it's going to auction
I love the GM demo comment
so it's interesting
you mentioned the increasing supply
on new cars right now
which the industry is seeing
across the country
and as a result of that increasing supply
to your point
OEMs are definitely turning up the heat
on incentive stair steps
to finish the year
as a GM as a VP
how are you coaching your team
to balance that chasing stair step
versus maintaining strong retail fundamentals
that protect gross and morale
yeah I think it's two fold
one is you need to have
you need to have the volume right
and you need to hit those numbers
because it's probably important
to the dealer profitability
the second thing is one area
we can't focus on
which is obviously close to you Sam
is really hone in on your FNI process
and make sure that that process is dialed in
and if you can do that
you can still be able to move the volume
and hit your goal
and hit your number
and still be able to
make good profit
and keep the store profitable
so the other thing is too
just to follow up on that
is we're in a
like I said
we're in a K shaped type economy
where the high end
you look at luxury
you look at
the higher end brands
that are continuing to do
pretty well I would say
and then you look at some of the other brands
that have struggled
and I think the big thing is
the consumer on the lower end
is struggled a little bit
you look at
some of the data points
you know on the negative side
which you would say
subprime auto loan delinquencies
are up at 30 year highs
okay
so that's kind of a red flag to me
right
credit card delinquencies
at 14 year highs
you got
mortgage foreclosures
you over here in October
were up 20%
so you kind of got
some cracks in the economy
and you got to say
where am I going to focus on
focus on the good pieces of retail
that you can
make sure you're providing
the best service to the customer
and make sure you're putting
your customers in the right cars
I've seen it
over my career
so many times
customer comes in
they're probably on too much car
you know help your customer
make the right financial decision
for them
put them in a good payment
where they can come back
in two or three or four years
and get another car from you
where they're not
$30,000 upside down
or something like that
you want to put the customer
in a good financial position
so another couple great comments
online
from a guy named
Bill O'Hara
this guy is really smart
I wonder who that
possibly could be
no relation
not a lot of
not a lot of people will
may realize
your second generation
your dad had a Chrysler store
began
yeah
came to the Ziggler Auto Group
he now leads the team
the JLR
in Schomburg
and you're there at BMW
you guys compete
you know
I'm gonna give you a little bit
of a softball
as we get towards the end
of wrapping here
because
we're always looking for
the very best
at Team Ziggler
and I think people in automotive
want to be part of a winning team
and
being decisive
being certain
kind of having an opinion
about what's coming
which you have
all of that
is important to winning
in the marketplace
what do you look for
in new team members
you started the call
or you started the show today
talking about the right people
in the right role
what do you look for
in new team members
and what are you trying to add
to your teams now
in terms of talent
in the Chicagoland
yeah
I mean
the big thing for us Sam
I'm a big guy
about attitude
and if I have the right attitude
I can train
you know
everybody to do
to have the skill set
but I want to hire the people
that are
you know
that are positive
that see it
and you know
you know
that have that
that mindset
that they want to run
and be aggressive
and
and sell
and
and do
you know
do well for our customers
those are the people
you want our team
you want the people
that got the firepower
and you want the people
on your team
that
that believe in
in the same things
that you do
and if we
you know
the business can be
very simple
you take care of your customer
on the sales
and you take care
of your customer
and service
and everything else
just falls into place
so
you hire the right team
with the right attitude
and make sure that
you know
they fit our
fundamentals
and
and
principles
and mission statement
the Ziggler Auto Group
and you know
the rest of it
the works itself out
and
and
that's why we have a great team
Lauren Klein agrees
execution
of the basics
yeah Lauren Klein
agrees with you
online
attitude is
everything
one last question
that I promise we're done
but I got to ask this one
so
we had the
the chief economist on
as I mentioned
with Cox
and he mentioned
tax season this year
is going to be a double
benefit
due to the change
in
with the big beautiful bill
change in
tax brackets
not a lot of people
have altered their deductions
they're going to get a bigger
tax refund than they thought
how should GM's
think about preparing
for tax season
right now
as we go into December
of 2025
well
you got a couple things
the tax
the tax piece is
a portion that could provide
a lift obviously
in the spring
depending on what those
those refunds look like
I believe
the data shows that the
average consumer will receive
somewhere around $750
dollars additional
over and above last year
towards
towards their tax refund
the other part of it's going to be
really important as we go forward
is what happens with interest rates
on the long end of the
interest rate curve
and the Fed
likely will cut
next week
when they have the meeting
the one thing we did get today
was the ADP
employment report
for November
and we did have a loss of
32,000 jobs
and that was in the small
business sector
so
or the bulk of it
I should say was
so that probably solidifies
a rate cut next week
and then if you look forward
at the Fed fund futures
and you say where interest rate
is going to be in a year
it's likely we see Fed funds
probably a hundred basis points
lower from here
going into December of 26
is kind of where
the market is paced for right now
so
the big thing is
there's rate cuts coming
the one thing that concerns me is
I did look at
you know some of the
the delinquency data
and then you start looking at
you know some of the
student loan data
the delinquencies are rising
so
what is that credit profile
I think this is really important
what is the credit profile
of the customer look like
over the next 6 to 12 months
how is their credit score
affected because of these items
and even if
interest rates come down
how does that change
affordability
because
if rates come down
on the Fed fund side
but credit profiles to
to your rate
it may be a net
zero
you know what I'm saying
yeah
so what's your prediction
how do you connect
those dots will
so I think
I think for
being in the spring
would I be
I think you need to be nimble
you need to be
tactful on your inventory
and your processes
you know am I out
and I'm going to say
I'm going to go guns
ablaze and unused cars
probably that's not the camp
for me
I'm going to be a little bit
more tactful
on what I'm buying
and how I'm buying
and I'm going to watch how
interest rates move
and I'm going to watch
the credit markets
and see
what that looks like
because if there is a
deterioration
regardless of the tax refunds
just because your customer
is getting the refund
doesn't mean they'll
have the credit profile
to
support purchasing an auto
anyways
with with
debt up
and in delinquencies
on the rise
so
I kind of keep an eye on that
and I try to
put a macro picture
behind it
but the good side is
you know just to
follow up is
gas prices are
four or five year lows
right now
at three dollars
and eleven cents
we haven't had that
since May of 21
so there are some
definite tailwinds
to the economy
as we go forward
into 26
well O'Hara VP
Chicago land
Ziggler Auto Group
thanks for being
on the show and sharing
your perspectives
and
it's great to have you
absolutely
thanks for having me guys
I appreciate being on
thanks
I don't know
I'm getting excited
about next year
you put all these
little pieces together
you know
you can take the
negative approach
you can take the
positive approach
but it just feels
like although
there are some headwinds
to Will's point
there's a lot of
good things that are
culminating
and I do think
the difference
between winning
towards the end of
this year
and first part of next
is all about
discipline
as an operator
it's
being in full control
it's always
this story
your news
but yeah
it's all the same stuff
right Julie
and how do you
communicate that
right
because I kept wanting
to say
we'll come
January first
there's gonna be a lot of
but we're still in December
and we still gotta make
a month out of
this month
and make it a great
well you
so it's like
and a big month
especially if you
were impacted
by the weather
the last week
or so of
of November
all right
January will be
January
variable operations
director
at the steel auto group
welcome to the show
hey guys
thanks for having me
Roy welcome
thanks for being
and it's
it's been awesome
just to sit back
and and
listen to the
conversation
that have been
been happening
a lot of interesting stuff
I'm excited to jump
into it with you guys
we're
we're getting a little
long-winded here
late in the show
but you know
we gotta ask
your Roy
first thanks for
coming on
we gotta ask
our signature question
how's biz
and while you let us
know about business
tell us
you know who you are
and what do you do
man businesses
is good
it's
I love this market
I'm born and raised
I'm a Texan by heart
I spent the last year
year and a half
in the east coast
and in
Pennsylvania
Maryland
and
West Virginia
so to take some
takeaways and stuff
I learned
I don't have to deal
with all the snow
out here
but
most though
yeah
I stepped on
as variable operations
director here
at steel auto
we've got eight stores
in Texas
I've been
with the group
for a couple of months
now I made the
transition back here
I've got about 17 years
in
in automotive retail
but a good near
and near friend of mine
Patrick Brown jumped on
as vice president
of us operations
for us
and he presented me
with this opportunity
and before jumping on
we kind of look
at the landscape
of the stores
eight stores
all the way
across Texas
we've got a big footprint
in central
central Texas
a lot of rule markets
a lot of
I don't want to say
underperforming stores
but stores that
had a lot of
room for improvement
and
based on the conversation
you guys have been having
today
we're dealing
with a lot of that
one of the things
that kept popping up
to my mind though
was
something I try to teach
these guys
my leaders
my general managers
and managers
in the auto group
control your
controllables man
the markets going to change
things are happening
at a rapid rate
especially
right now
all you can do
is control your
controllables
and what does that mean
for our operators
one of the biggest
things
that we can control
is the experience
that we're given
our guests
right
you talk about
used cars
talk about interest rates
you talk about
I mean these things
can become
overwhelming
if you just
open the fire hose
and let your operators
drink from it
what we try to do
is break down
to the simplest form
and say okay
at the end of the day
our job
is to help
solve these
customers problems
right
and I try to do it
a couple of ways
can we give them
the feeling of transparency
can we make them
feel like
we're not taking advantage of
we're very up front
we're very open
we give them
honest
we deal with integrity
we give them real numbers
real values
and then secondly
can I make it easy
right
can I make it
is it a convening experience
right
and then the last part
right there
is that word experience
can I make it something
that's fun
we just did a
one of my biggest things
is sending out challenges
to
kind of bring that attitude
up right
to foster
that culture
that we want
so we sent on a challenge
here recently
that said okay
we're gonna do test drive
karaoke with ourselves people
whoever can send
the most videos
you know
jammed out
their favorite song
with a customer
on the test drive
is gonna win $100
we give them a
actually I'll come up
with the winner
on
what's the video tech
you're using for that Roy
say that again
what's the video technology
you're using
video
go video
okay
that's cool
who won
we'll find out Friday
we'll find out Friday
so
how many videos
are being created
as a result of that
initiative
that's pretty cool
it's
you've seen a significant spike
in videos because of it
now we also have
I'll be transparent
we have a steal advantage
addendum on our vehicles
okay
just like every other
dealership that does so
you find a little bit
of resistance at first
so my my fix for that
was before we did
this test drive
karaoke video challenge
we did a steal addendum
challenge
I want a video of you
presenting the addendum
and as a corporate office
we voted on
the winner
one of our guys
at our Hyundai store
at our Kyle store
in our Hyundai store
and Kyle won that challenge
because of the way he presented
so
we're trying
I love the idea
of competing on that
and by the way
at Ziggler Auto Group
we love to compete
that way on that sort of thing
so you need to give me
the rules for it
maybe we do like
steal auto group
versus Ziggler Auto Group
we can get Will
and his team
we'll all compete on that
I think that the idea is
well I like it
I like it
bro you gotta send us
that video too
when you do get the winner
you should email us
that video
maybe we can throw it up on the show
definitely
I got a question
obviously we're talking a lot
high level
we're we're drilling to
as much detail as we can
but
from your point
you know
what are your
non-negotiable metrics
you expect your managers
to inspect daily
and not just
you know
reporting to you
for reporting sake
no no
so everything
the word of the year
has been intentional
right
everything we do
since the
the moment we start our day
to the moment
we and has to be intentional
I manage my day
in quarters
and one of the things
that we make
our managers do
is get super involved
in the activities
and the KPIs
and the attitudes
and everything that we're
asking for from
ourselves people
I think it's a clarity thing
you don't know
this job is very easy for us
to get
lost in the day to day
it's very easy for us
especially for time management
skills aren't there
so from a management standpoint
I asked them to
break the days down
into quarters
and four times a day
we're going in
it's very quick
we're doing a quick
check in to see
where are we
out on our KPIs
calls, text, emails
social media posts
videos
appointments
and then we're asking
our managers to match
those activities
one of the metrics
that we go off of
and I'd love to take credit
for it
but I got to give this one
up to our VP Patrick
200% videos
to appointments
set
we want to see a 200
and from our management staff
we want to see
200% video sent
based on how many appointments
are set for that day
so what's that look like
from your managers then
you're asking
your managers to back up
the salesperson
with a video
for an appointment
yes so
salesperson sets an appointment
manager has
and we want it
within the first 30 minutes
you set the appointment
a manager's going to send
a confirmation video
thanking them
introducing themselves
and then of course
after the appointment
we're either going to do
a thanks for your visit
or a why did we miss you
so what's the impact of that
what's been the
proactive impact
you're seeing the
the stores that are doing it
like consistently
you're seeing a significant increase
and not only set
but the shown ratios
that's cool
that's huge
can I just
bring a few of these comments here
eager case says
I love that
getting customers on board
and having fun with them
while you're softening
the customer up to the selling experience
I had
great idea
it's always fun to compete
and then
Colby Joyner
Roy's quarter times
are a game changer
really
I can ask
I guess with the
the car karaoke
or the test drive karaoke
maybe I missed that
when you said it
who's singing
is it the salesperson
or is it the customer
or is it both
both
we want to engage them
in a way where
one you have
so much tech
in your cars
these days
to me
if it's
again
we talk about the experience
when I demo a vehicle
I want myself's person
to have that sense of ownership
with the customer experience
so let's set your car
up with the car play
the apple car play
or the android auto
whatever it is
let's set it up
let's get your music going
and then
we're gonna engage them with those
those
so
even a
a phone call
right to the management staff
saying hey
we're on a test drive
so I
as we wrap up here
I have a proposal
for our daily dealer live audience
I don't know who will be a
taker on this
but
I think like
where this is going
karaoke
karaoke
competition between auto groups
we have every auto group
that wants to compete
submit their best video
and we get Yossi
the car dealership guy back on
for a special round table episode
and we have the top
four sales people
from the top auto groups
we do a round table
Roy would you be on for that
and you can be one of the judges
we'll bring it back
so
I'll get your cell phone number
after this
you and I can communicate
on the rules and all that
but we'll get that out there
through our
our newsletter deal
but
I think
you know we talk a lot
at our auto group
especially during cold weather days
and days where
it's tougher to communicate
with customers
the importance of video
and I'll tell you
there's something intuitively
tough
unless we show it as GM's
and we show this VP's
how to do it
there's something intuitively
tough about just
doing that simple thing
and yet we know in sales
and in service Roy
it makes all the difference
so you're in right
you have to
you have to lead with that
servant's heart right
so
I traveled with a media bag
full of lovelier mics
stable I
I mean you name it
because I'm gonna be in the
front lines as
you know a platform guy
I'm in there with them
shooting video making
content
looking silly
you show them
you ease them
you're bringing
get comfortable
get uncomfortable
I mean at the end of the day
this is car sales
I gotta
are you
having the
the guests
share it to social media
because that's also kind of
like a game changer
that's the plan
organic content
for the stores themselves
so that we can put it out there
and then also of course
getting the
the guests themselves to share it
it's the five
degrees of Kevin Bacon right
like we want to influence
it's like two degrees
in the car business
yeah there you go
we want to influence
their circle of influence
and show them
hey it's fun
it doesn't have to be mundane
buying a car
you can have a little fun with it
all right well I think
we're in for this special episode
anybody that wants to get in
come into the comments
eager case
says any dealer
principle or gm
or gsm
take a lesson here
this guy's on the ball
with the follow-ups
and focusing on those simple
things to kind of
gamify this business
make it fun
and create a
competitive data set
so Roy
one question
maybe we'll extend
a little bit of time here
what's one thing you're
thinking about
in December
and even Q1 2026
that concerns you
that you're looking to solve for
in business
over the next few months
so actually this has been a
top of
top of conversation
for for our leadership group
and and what my next agenda
is trying to influence
our leaders
into understanding that
and and it's a
it's a trick word control
right
some people look at control
and think it's a
it's a bad thing
or we're trying to
overdo it from the the quarter
times that can be
a sense of control
when you're trying to control
yourselves people
when you're trying to
micro manage them
in reality
I'm trying to just give them
a recipe for success
now going into the end of the
year and into Q1
I think control is going to
have to be valid and even
more and and and
and our our control efforts
are going to have to go to
the selection process
of a car deal
right with all these
variables and intangibles
happening
we have really good
qualified managers and leaders
at these stores
that need to influence
the control part
because
we don't know
to wills
uh a point
we don't know what the credit
profiles are going to look like
we don't know what the
use care market's going to
look like
we don't know
what I saw the statistics
you put up at the beginning
trade values
harder for us to come
an agreement on
these things are at play
so I think that slowing the
process down
getting leadership involved
and influencing the
selection part
let's look at
what the customers
wants and needs are
let's look at what their
problems are
and let's how can we as a
dealer solve them
how do you slow it down though
when so much of the data is
showing the customer
desire to speed it up
how do you do that
and still respect the
customer journey
you have to slow down to
speed up in my opinion
I I I look at a visit time
of 90 minutes
that's ideally what I'd love
to have right
a 90 minute visit time
that means that we
leverage the tools
so when when a lead comes
in we're going to
leverage our digital retail
tool we're going to
leverage video we're going
to leverage all these things
to work as much of the process
as we can
we're not afraid to give
numbers we're not afraid to
work with cardio
when you look at it
even your people that start
and in a digital retail tool
like 75 to 80 percent of them
still finish traditionally
in the brick and mortar
they just want you have to
leverage Colby's going to
laugh at this one
but we call it their
click and mortar and our
brick and mortar
we treat them the same way
right but we're going to
start with that click
and mortar experience
now if it's a fresh up
and they walk through the
door I'm going to go a
little bit old school
but I'm going to sit down
get a needs analysis
a really good assessment
and I'm going to figure out
how do I especially with
stores like us
if you have multiple stores
within a 30 or 45 minute
radius you have a ton of
vehicles to choose from
right you should leverage
that so you're not
confined to what's on
your campus
then I need to really
pay attention to this
needs analysis
I need to figure out
how can I solve this
customer's problem
and if I slow down there
it'll speed up the
rest of the process
so is there a preferred
dr tool digital
retailing tool
that you're using
and then how do you
how do you message
that disconnect
between the digital
retailing tool
and a manual needs
analysis tool on the
showroom floor
in today's world
so my favorite
digital retail tool
is by now
I'm a huge car now
fan tim cox
and bob lanham
and them
are near and dear
friends of mine
I've used their tools
forever
but everything that
we do from our
website every cta
everything is pushed into
conversation
so it either goes to the chat
to car now
or it goes to our
buy now tool
so that we can have it
hire engaged customer
hire engaged lead
so real time
real responses
is what we push there
now when
I push my managers
to be engaged
in the buy now
screens
and tool itself
because I want them
to leave these conversations
if somebody's in my
buy now tool
we're going to engage
with it
we're going to attempt
to take that
conversation
into a video chat
if we can
or a phone call conversation
so that we can then
take the information
that we got from
the buy now
deal
and then influence
like I said
the selection piece
if we need to
now one of the things
that I think
that carvana
did really well
and what I'm trying to take
from that
if you've ever gone
through the carvana
experience
they are really good
at giving you options
especially if you don't
qualify for the car
yeah
you might have
inquired on this
you might have started
your deal on it
but by the time it got
to credit
and decision
it gave you a really good
array of options
hey you cannot buy this
Mustang
but here are four vehicles
you can purchase
and so
where we have the limitations
with the software
I want to make sure
that our managers
jump in
and bridge that
that gap
so
Lauren Klein
asking online
what DR tool
are you using
to hit that 90-minute
goal
you shared with us
it's the car now tool
is it a realistic goal
using that tool
to hit that 90-minute
goal
I mean you mentioned
slowing down to speed up
does it
does slowing down
that way
allow you to
meet that 90-minute metric
it can
and you're talking about
an average
you're talking about
an average
now we're not there
with steel yet
I've done it in the past
with some of my other stores
we've done actually
a 90-minute
high to FNI challenge
right
and the high to FNI was
from the time
that you walk into the store
to the time I present paperwork
final documents and paperwork
the way we did that though
is we really leaned into
getting as much of it
done through our DR tool
as we could
before the visit even started
yeah
yeah
it's fun how
you're gamifying
so many elements of this
when you say the
90-minute high to FNI
you're setting a stopwatch
you're setting a clock
and you're really
you talk about
slowing down
which I believe about
right Yuli
that's intentional
right
but it's also
you're speeding it up
by being intentional
right
and by doing all the steps
right and making sure everyone's
trained well
on the different steps
so
it's preparation
it's getting the team
up to snuff on it
and making sure that you
the thing that I like about it too
is it's going to expose some of
the gaps in your processes
and you can't be afraid
you have to
you have to foster a culture
where people aren't afraid to fail
we want to know
so you get better
yeah
eager cape
pays you some props
I love this guy's positivity
and his approach to every deal
I'd hire this guy
without any issues
hired
so it looks like you got
but we're not going to let that
happen
because we need our karaoke
competition to happen
there you go
maybe we can get co-video
or a car now
or somebody to sponsor it
but
that's the part
I'm excited about
as we walk away
from today's conversation
Roy DeVila
Variable Operations Director
at Steel Auto Group
heck of a lot of fun
talking to you today
about things you're doing
to increase productivity
and the bottom line
at the Steel Auto Group
so thanks for being on the
show
and thanks for having me
I appreciate it
I'll walk you back for the
round table
it's on
I'm doing it
let's go
I'll record do it
all right
so Yuli
are you in for this
this karaoke
hell yeah
come on
I'm the cheerleader
with those videos
you and I
you got to bring the
stash back
you got to bring the beer
back
I can sing
like the best of them
right
and I think he's
onto something there
right
like videos do connect
we've learned that
not only on the variable
side
but in fixed ops with text
I mean you could almost
bring
technicians into that
competition
and I think we could have
just a heck of a lot of fun
with that type of a
that type of competition
so
great
great conversation today
and
interesting to
start with something crazy
like the 700 outage
although it is
or not outage
a breach
data breach
but it is interesting
how in everything
that happens in automotive
there is opportunity
right
and always
that is a great opportunity
to just tighten up
your processes
right
he said it right
this is
we should be thankful
for these problems
because they do create
opportunities
that we can solve
and
will make us more successful
yeah
all right
so anybody out there
who's in for the competition
we'll have some information
out there about how to join
but
I'm dead serious we're on
I think Ziggler Auto Group
we're gonna take this one
we are gonna take this one
so
all right Yuli
thanks for being here today
man
what a fun show
thank you
yeah great show
yeah
and to our loyal listening
audience
thanks for joining
daily dealer live
where we break down the biggest
moves
in the car business
as they happen
so
don't forget
we're live here
every Monday
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and we'll be back again
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so if this is your world
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so you never ever miss a beat
and we'll see you next
episode everybody
thanks for being here
thanks guys
you
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