0:00
/
0:00
Solutionaries Rising: Norma Williamson's Journey in the Automotive Industry
Solutionaries Rising: Norma Williamson's Journey in the Automotive Industry
0:00
0:00
0:00
0:00
About this episode
Norma Williamson shares her inspiring journey from intern to a key player in the automotive industry. Growing up in a family deeply rooted in car sales, she discusses how her upbringing shaped her passion for helping others and her career choices. The conversation highlights the importance of faith, intentional leadership, and continuous growth within the industry. Norma emphasizes the need for dealerships to adapt and embrace technology while maintaining a focus on community and relationships. Her insights on servant leadership and the evolving landscape of automotive sales provide a fresh perspective on what it means to thrive in this fast-paced environment.
Solutionaries Rising: Norma Williamson's Journey in the Automotive Industry
Welcome to the Car Guy Coffee Podcast. Kickstart your day the right way and join us as we tap into the brightest minds and most passionate voices across the automotive world to bring you the education, motivation, and inspiration you need to thrive. From the showroom floor to the service lane, prepare to Upshift and Uplift your perspective.
In this episode, hosts Lennartz and Lou Ramirez sit down with Norma Williamson, a rising star in the automotive industry and a Dealer Relations Manager at Automotive Mastermind. Norma discusses her journey from growing up in an automotive family to joining the industry, her path through various roles, and her current position at Automotive Mastermind. She emphasizes the importance of faith, intentional leadership, continuous growth, and the role of technology and predictive analytics in modern dealerships. Join us as we discuss personal and professional growth, the evolving dynamics of the automotive industry, and the importance of love, faith, and intentionality in leadership.
📲Stream it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
Welcome to the Car Guy Coffee Podcast. Kickstart your day the right way and join us as we tap into the brightest minds and most passionate voices across the automotive world to bring you the education, motivation, and inspiration you need to thrive. From the showroom floor to the service lane, prepare to Upshift and Uplift your perspective.
In this episode, hosts Lennartz and Lou Ramirez sit down with Norma Williamson, a rising star in the automotive industry and a Dealer Relations Manager at Automotive Mastermind. Norma discusses her journey from growing up in an automotive family to joining the industry, her path through various roles, and her current position at Automotive Mastermind. She emphasizes the importance of faith, intentional leadership, continuous growth, and the role of technology and predictive analytics in modern dealerships. Join us as we discuss personal and professional growth, the evolving dynamics of the automotive industry, and the importance of love, faith, and intentionality in leadership.
📲Stream it. Share it. Let's Brew.
Don’t forget to share and subscribe!
carguycoffee.com
certifiedsolutionaries.com
Filter:
|
Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Company
GMC
"...who owns a Ford and Chevy GMC store. And after graduating from high school,..."
GMC is a brand that makes mostly trucks and SUVs. It is part of General Motors and is known for making tough and reliable vehicles that are great for work and everyday use.
GMC is a division of General Motors that primarily focuses on trucks and SUVs. Known for its rugged vehicles, GMC has a reputation for offering premium features and capabilities, appealing to both commercial and personal use.
Company
Ford
"...who owns a Ford and Chevy GMC store. And after graduating from high school,..."
Ford is a well-known car company in the United States that makes many types of vehicles, like trucks and cars. It was started by Henry Ford over a hundred years ago and is famous for making cars more affordable and accessible.
Ford is a major American automotive manufacturer known for producing a wide range of vehicles, including trucks, SUVs, and cars. Founded by Henry Ford in 1903, the company is famous for revolutionizing the automobile industry with assembly line production.
Company
Chevrolet
"...who owns a Ford and Chevy GMC store. And after graduating from high school,..."
Chevrolet, often called Chevy, is a popular car brand in America that makes many different kinds of vehicles, from cars to trucks. It has been around for over a hundred years and is known for its wide range of models.
Chevrolet, commonly referred to as Chevy, is a division of General Motors that produces a variety of vehicles, including cars, trucks, and SUVs. Established in 1911, it has become one of the best-selling automotive brands in the United States.
Select text to request an explanation
Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast.
This brew has been brought to you by CertifiedSolutionaries.
And if you want to consume more brews or want more information
about how to build your brand on our podcast
and want to see how you can sponsor the brew,
go to CarGuyCoffee.com.
Let's brew!
Do us a favor, everybody, and get live.
We're gonna encourage Fred to go ahead
and turn it onto his phone, turn it onto your phone
so you can hear what we're talking about
and get ready to welcome to the show the one,
the only, Norma Wilkinson.
Welcome to the party.
Hello, I'm glad to be here.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
We are really excited that you're here
and pumped up to get this conversation cooking.
Let's see, we got a few people that are in the party too.
Fred, give a little welcome to Norma.
Hello, what's going on, Norma?
It's good to hear you.
I finally can hear everything.
It's a pleasure to have you on the show.
Had great conversation right before.
Somehow, out of nowhere, just everything disappeared on me.
So I'm glad that I'm back up.
I don't know if it was me.
Lou, I don't know if it was you maybe.
Your mic might have been out
because I'm hearing I can't hear anything that's going on.
But go back to what we have to say.
We do have a great solution here.
Somebody that is bringing some flavor to the house today
and I can't wait to learn more about you,
a rising star from intern to doing big things, right?
Trying to see if you even like this industry
to loving this industry.
I can't wait to learn more about how you love this industry
and why you love this industry.
But it all starts with saying yes.
I gotta ask that question.
We asked a lot of people this question on a five liner,
but I wanna ask this to you.
What made you choose the automotive industry?
Funny you ask.
So I grew up in it.
My dad is a independent dealer back home in Laredo, Texas
with a partner who owns a Ford and Chevy GMC store.
And after graduating from high school,
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do as a career,
but I knew I wanted to help others and serve others.
And so my dad found out about Northwood
at a Mannheim auction and was like,
hey, Miha, if you wanna learn a little bit from me,
maybe go to school and check out if automotive is for you.
And then every summer,
you can come back and work with me
and I'll teach you the business from the ground up.
And then that way you can see if this is truly for you.
And just growing up in the business,
I saw how it was able to provide for my family.
I'm one of seven kids total from the same parents.
And so come from a big family
and the business has been so good to my family
and the people surrounded by the people
that were there at the dealership.
I always say there's no other people
like car business people.
And so that's how I got into the business
and I learned to love it
is the fact of the matter of just growing up in it
and figuring out that this was for me.
And ultimately I've learned that it has similar characteristics
as some sports that I've played all throughout my childhood.
That's true.
And something that Fred and I've been speaking about
for a little while now
about how this actually is so much inside of our field,
a game that we're really great at
and we get paid quite a bit to do
and have the time of our lives as we do it
much like a professional athlete.
And for so long inside of this business
there's been different challenges
to how we view ourselves as professionals.
But dang it, we pro
and I'm proud to be pro inside of the car game.
I'm thankful to be pro inside of the car game
and I'm thankful for the people
that we've been able to be connected to
and build relationships inside of the car game.
There's so much value that is to be said
inside of all of us being able to
be our full selves inside of this industry.
And I'm so thankful that this is a place
where we're able to find that
and then find the people that actually
want to cheer us on,
actually want what's good for us
and actually are wanting to see us get ahead.
And we're just so thankful that
we've been consistently trying to build a platform
for people to be able to
so into the rest of the community
some of the good seeds
and some of the good vibes really
that they have to enhance everybody else's
pursuit to be their best.
And Norma, we get the chance
to see so many different people
just in their strides,
trying to go to that next level,
trying to reach to the next level
and to getting you over to Automotive Mastermind.
What was it that ultimately made you
really want to make the leap over there?
That's another great question.
Once graduating from Northwood,
I joined Group One Automotive
and the manager training program.
So I worked in service parts,
body shop, sales, finance,
a little bit of everything starting as a porter.
Ultimately, my goal was to run a store one day.
And due to the fact of the matter is
I wanted to make an impact
around the community, around the people.
You make it a great place to work at
for anyone and everybody.
But I'm not in control, God's in control.
And so I learned that real quick,
real young ultimately became a pre-owned manager
at a Ford store prior to joining Mastermind.
And I learned that, like I said, I'm not in control.
I made the leap of faith
due to the fact that I started a family.
And so I am a mother now.
And so I have two little boys
that I have an opportunity to raise.
So ultimately Mastermind was a great fit
for me at this time in my journey.
And so I'm very grateful
because I also get to work alongside a lot of great people
and on the tech side,
along with obviously a lot of people in the retail side
from so many different dealerships.
So I'm still rockin' and rollin', serving others.
The same thing, same, different, but same ultimately.
Same, but different, but same.
Right, yeah, I love that.
Great way to say that.
But it is, no matter what,
you fall in love with everything you do both ways.
And I love that you're retail first,
that you were coming up wanting to run your own store
and you were going your path and you said,
it's on God's time.
And there is a great time for that.
And it's gonna be really a blessing when it does happen
or whichever path you end up taking.
I was like, you know what, actually?
And what you're doing is you're taking the faith
and you're believing in that faith
and taking that faith.
You think you became a mother to two young boys.
That's amazing.
That's a blessing to them two boys, but to you.
As parents, Lou and I can tell you,
and I know for sure,
being the parent was the blessing.
It totally was.
Changed me as a person.
As much as I was able to influence my child,
what he did for me, I could never pay back.
And that's a beautiful thing to be able to do.
And you're gonna,
that changes you in so many different ways.
I love your journey.
I love hearing your story that you were used car manager
trying to make that happen.
That's strong.
I can't wait to get deeper in a conversation
about that a little bit,
but we make decisions along the way.
You go from intern to strategic partner now, right?
And it's crazy how that all works out.
That's a powerful rise
when it comes into what we're doing.
And you're just, you're still young.
You still got so much coming ahead of you.
Well, what key moments or decisions
that you made during your journey
that have helped you get to where you are
and become the leader that you are now?
Okay, so decisions wise to become a leader.
I would say,
I would say following my faith
is one of the biggest things
that really every single day
that really has helped me along the way.
So being surrounded by people
that believe in the same faith
and can obviously cheer you on,
as you said, is very important, right?
When you find good people in your life,
you wanna stick to them
and hold on to them super tight
because they're gonna be the ones
to help you just as you help them, right?
But ultimately, I would say
just serving others every single day
and making sure that you understand
that we're on this earth for a reason
and we're not here to make it harder for people.
And so if there's a way where we can help
and in any way I can help anyone
in anything and everything,
I'm gonna do my very best to just try to help it
live easier than harder, if that makes sense.
It does, but I just gotta say,
I heard what you said there at the end
is I didn't come here to make things harder on people.
I wanna make it easier on people.
If that was everybody's mission,
how great would this world be?
At the basis of all we do,
we could just be servant
and make everyone's life better around us.
That is, that's ultimate love.
I appreciate that.
I appreciate you sharing that.
And yes, we got a LinkedIn user that says amen and amen.
That is right.
Amen to that.
Speaking of amen, speaking of yes
and speaking of let it be,
let's go ahead and take that walk down over here
because at the end of the day,
we are nothing unless we are connected
to the master's mind
and being who it is that we are.
It's very important that we do lean into
what it is that we believe and live it out,
not just have it as a sprinkle
or as a condiment onto the main event in the meal,
but as the subject of the meal.
Understanding that's where the meal came from per se.
There has been a shift inside of automotive.
We've seen it.
I don't know if there was a particular paradigm shift
moment that we can put our finger on
to say, hey, it was right here.
All of a sudden the third grade awakening
happened inside of automotive.
But I believe that for some reason in my heart of hearts
that in the sales world
that is where the third grade awakening is emerging from.
The greatest speakers and the greatest sales professionals
of them all are beginning to learn
how to compel people with the gospel, with truth
and with love that brings encouragement
to people to be fully who it is that they are.
Now we are completely convinced
that you being fully who you are is true glory to God
because that's how he made you, right?
He inscribed certain things into your DNA to come about
and we're starting to see that come
about in many different people
finding and discovering themselves in it.
But what have you seen on your side
of this industry beginning to embrace faith
and speaking about faith
because it used to be one thing that was very taboo
and now you see more people that are brave
about speaking it even in the face of sometimes being,
being, I don't know, vulnerable to cancel culture.
Yeah, what I've seen and I deal with
about 20 dealerships around DFW, right?
What I've seen is I think a lot of people
are everyday going, the industry in itself
is so fast paced, right?
And so you're constantly on the go-go.
What I've seen is that the next generation
doesn't necessarily want that.
And I've been learning and just observing and teaching
with what Mastermind has to provide services
to the dealership, right?
But ultimately challenging people to slow down
and ignore the noise because with what I'm doing
in the dealership level
with everything being fast paced
the slowing down is what's helping people wake up
and challenging them to just take it one day at a time
whether it be the habits that they're doing
within the dealership and then that way ultimately
whatever goals they have at play for the month
it's due to the daily habits
that they're doing every single day.
Oh, wow.
Okay, okay, daily habits are important.
Daily habits are key, especially having a conversation
which you first love, right?
Being able to make sure
that you make that connection early in the day
that set that forward for you for the rest.
It does definitely change the way you think of people
when you start to think of what the creator thinks
of that person first
even when they're not necessarily showing you
their best face.
I will tell you this, everybody that I meet, right?
Not everybody is the nicest person on this planet
and it's okay.
But yeah, but I will tell you this
and everybody that I meet
I'm gonna find something that I love about them
and that's how I try to lead whenever I'm in store
because I don't know what that person's going through
on a daily basis.
I don't wanna throw them off the edge, right?
That's not my intention.
That's not why I'm here.
Again, making it easier, not harder for people.
Love that.
And that's a powerful way of living
and we have to remind ourselves of that sometimes.
Sometimes you wanna go for somebody like, get out my way
but my heart always knows what's right and what's wrong, right?
And the right thing sometimes is something
we have to sit back and breathe for a moment, right?
Take our time and that's part of growth in our lives.
One thing that we know and I've heard about you
is that you're all about continuous growth
and you're always about driving,
trying to find the next thing
that takes you to the next level
from being working in a dealership
from bottom to top, right?
Trying to get your work your way up there
continuing growth.
Then coming and taking this opportunity
and raising a family at the same time
continual growth and raising a family
is always continual growth.
That's the blessing of children, right?
But at the same time,
these things work inside dealerships, real time.
So for you, real time inside of a dealership,
what does that mantra of continuous growth,
how does that bring advantage to a dealer per se?
And really, how can you get other people inside
and around you to take that same type of mindset?
Yeah, great question.
So when I go into the dealership
and being a dealer relations manager
with Automotive Mastermind,
one of the primary things is just focusing on the why.
Why did they partner with us?
Reminding them since the beginning,
why did they partner with us?
And shout out to my director
for giving us that insight
and just making sure we lead with the why
because we gotta make sure
that we keep that top of mind
and everything that we do.
And so just talking through that
and then understanding their goals for the quarter
and then breaking them down month
to make sure it aligns
with what they're trying to achieve.
And so when I'm going in there
and consulting with the dealership,
it's not about me,
it's not about Mastermind,
it's about them.
Ultimately, just getting down
to the nitty-gritty of it of strategy,
implementing strategy
and then not recreating a process.
It's more of figuring out
where we fit in their process
because we don't need to reinvent the wheel.
There's no need.
It's just trying to figure out
what they're already doing
and making small, right?
I think a continuous improvement mentality,
making small adjustments
that maybe will make a bigger impact
for the overall partnership.
And so looking into that and dialing in
whatever needs they need,
we're there that way we can help them ultimately win, right?
Yeah.
Which is the goal, right?
Is to help them win, right?
It's not winning the account,
it's not winning the new relationship,
it's getting the win for them.
And that's what it does,
whether it's a customer
that's purchasing a vehicle
or serving the dealer
that's making all of that occur for the market.
A Solutionary operates with these core values.
For those of you that don't know,
a Solutionary does have five core values.
The first one is love.
The second one is faith.
The next one is honor.
Then you have to be adaptable and consistent.
Those five core values inherently
is what it takes to be a Solutionary
or what we say at the core is a Solutionary.
But no matter who it is that becomes one
has to adapt to the surrounding
and to the mission of their company.
Whether it is somebody that serves the industry
or somebody that serves the customer,
it's very important that decisions are made
from that particular point.
And the ability to remain adaptable
is one that is definitely something
that is shown to the seasoned car guys
and car gals of this business
because we have taken so many different shifts.
Jennifer is jumping in, excited to see you back, Jen.
And she says the one and only normal Williamson,
representing automotive mastermind, yes, she is.
And she is a Solutionary
and we're talking about Solutionaries rising
but being able to have core values and core belief,
how does that help to actually help you navigate
where it is that you're trying to go
even when things seem a little bit shaky
and seem a little bit weird?
How much easier is it for you to navigate
through crazy waters
knowing that you at least have your North Star?
Yes, every single day, just living by faith.
That's gonna be helping me every single day.
I would say with having God in my life,
there's some sort of peace, right?
In you, there should be some sort of peace, right?
But ultimately at the end of the day,
things that are meant to be are meant to be.
If they don't go my way, that's not my way.
So just taking and walking it day by day
and whatever comes my way, I'll tackle it the day of
and if it goes great, if not, it is what it is.
It's part of the journey, right?
And ultimately, hopefully I'm not the same person
I am today in the next 10 years,
because ultimately whatever these things
that are coming through in my life or anybody's life,
it's just to help us grow.
So true, I don't know about you, Fred,
but if I run into a mug of coffee that I leave aside
or I forget about going through the day, I like,
and it didn't get the attention that it was supposed to get,
I don't wanna throw it out.
Why?
I don't like wasting coffee.
I don't like wasting anything
that I knew actually took a whole lot of work to get
and dang it, where the car got a coffee crew,
we don't waste coffee around these parts.
No.
So that means we'll close you?
Yes.
We'll close you.
We'll close you.
We'll close you.
So I put me and Lou against maybe two team crew ever
and we'll see what's up.
Bring them, bring them.
No doubt.
But at the end of the day, I don't wanna waste it.
And then none of the things that we seem
to not get the attention or get the love
at the right time, or maybe it gets cold,
some of our dreams, some of our desires,
some of the things that we want,
maybe they even get a little bit lukewarm.
Sometimes it just takes the opportunity for us to take it,
put it back inside of the fire for a little bit,
put it back inside of something to heat it back up
and then replenish it, revive it, bring it back,
because it shouldn't be wasted.
Even the bad stuff doesn't get wasted.
All things work together for our good.
And when I look,
that God does not waste the things
that happen inside of our life.
If anything, those are a lot of the times,
the things that are really shaping our life
and creating us.
There's a lot of lessons that are learned through scars.
And those scars are also evidence of where we've healed.
And because of that,
we get the chance to help other people triumph,
help other people grow to that next level.
I know that you love to see success for other people.
With that, you probably have a great mentor, mentee
type of relationship going on.
But where is it that you normally go outside
we understand your faith, we're with you there
and definitely know you go to the source
and he's lining it all up for you
to get whatever resources you need.
But where do you usually,
where do you go in other directions
to be able to find people to pour into your life
to continue giving you something to give to others?
Yeah, so I would give a lot of that credit
to my parents, my husband,
my mother-in-law and father-in-law,
my children, right?
So it's love, right?
They pour love.
So ultimately, I don't know other ways to live
other than showing love to others.
So again, pouring love to others every single day
to help along the way,
because I don't know their journey, right?
All the time, some may share,
some may not at the end of the day.
I would say I would have to recognize
love shown from my parents,
love shown from my husband,
my children and my mother-in-law and father-in-law.
That's all I want, I can't.
It's a lot of honor there.
I love that, and I love that.
And I would say my siblings too,
because I have to say my siblings too.
You got to, right?
My mother-in-law.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah.
Tough love.
They showed me tough love.
They will and they'll keep showing you tough love
and that's beautiful, right?
We need that in our life.
We need all those accountability,
love people in our grass
that just absolutely love us.
Family will do that for us.
Love is big.
And along the way, right?
You have your work family.
So I will give a shout out to Mastermind
because of the culture.
It's similar love to how I was raised.
And so I feel like I have been able
to be my authentic self there,
due to the fact that they have love within the culture.
And I hope that my dealer partners
and everybody I meet feels the same way
in regard to whenever they deal
with any type of mastermind, personnel, partner,
that they feel the same thing when we're dealing with them,
while we're there in store.
I promise you, your clients feel exactly that way.
There's no doubt that you make sure of it
by the actions that you take.
And I'm sure that you've seen this industry.
You've been seeing it grow.
You've been through it, right?
You've been on two sides of the fence, right?
In a lot of ways.
And so you have a really cool perspective
on what you see the future look like.
You've been in major auto group.
You've been with the automotive mastermind now.
What excites you the most about
where the industry is heading right now?
And how can solutionaries like us and you
and us rising ones out there stay ahead of the curve?
Yes, so the industry is changing so fast.
It has been changing so much.
One of the things, huh?
So much, it's crazy.
It's gonna continue to change, right?
Change is the only thing in life that's constant.
And one of the things that I'm looking forward to
is seeing leadership continuously rise.
One of the things that I've seen
from before COVID to COVID to where we at today,
leadership is improving every single day.
And I think us as solutionaries,
one of the things is we need to highlight
what's going on with that
and continuously relay it back to the marketplace,
to people, and then making sure every single day
that we are continuously helping with that change.
And so what I have been seeing is all of this
on social media, on the day to day live,
the next generation coming in,
they wanna help be that change
of maybe they didn't have any leaders
that showed some sort of love to them,
not necessarily repeating the cycle, but changing it.
And so that way, ultimate lead
for the next generation of lead,
that's what I'm looking forward to
is seeing them actually take the time
to get to know people, understand the why,
and leave from the front lines
because that's what I've been seeing lately.
So I'm looking forward to seeing that more and more.
And then the technology side, right?
It's incredible to see all the technology
that's coming out, again, making it easier for people,
not making it harder on this earth, right?
And so the technology, implementing it
into the dealership and seeing what works, what doesn't,
what can we improve on
by do seeing all the challenges that are coming up,
the integrations between companies,
because ultimately the integrations and partnerships
that we see these companies joining together
because dealers are empowering these companies.
Typically you hear a lot of companies
are empowering dealerships.
I see it the other way around.
I would challenge that statement and say,
dealers are empowering companies.
They want better products.
They want better people to deal with.
They want to be the best.
They want to be the best.
And I don't blame them.
And so I am excited for that,
for the technology side
and seeing it improve every single day
for the sake of the industry as a whole.
That's awesome.
Great, great stuff.
Getting to the tech and getting to the integrations,
what is on the horizon
as we are on the second half of the year of 2025?
A lot of things have been exciting
as we've gone through the year,
but goodness folks, we are past the halfway point
and there's a lot that's brewing.
And before you know it,
we're going to be back at the NADA convention
where everybody's hustling and bustling,
Super Bowl background, all that stuff is happening.
But what is right now some of the most exciting stuff
that's on the horizon
considering technical upgrades or integrations,
but what's popping with Automotive Mastermind
that people need to know about?
I will tell you this.
And I'm pretty sure Erin mentioned it on the podcast,
but at the end of the day,
we're trying to improve sales efficiency
for every single salesperson on 18.
And so again, aligning with not making it harder
for people making it easier.
And so there are some things coming down the line
that I'm not sure, Jennifer is not on the call,
that I'm not sure I can, I cannot say.
At the end of the day,
just know that there are so many great things.
And I would challenge dealers,
I'm challenging dealers, to listen, to learn.
Listen, to learn.
And I say this respectfully
as someone just speaking on behalf of the industry
and just seeing the next generation,
listen to learn because there's a lot of things
in this world that we don't know what we don't know,
but listening and then finding what kind of questions
you may have to follow up
with whatever products people are sharing with them
because there's a lot of products out there,
so much noise, we talked about that.
But slowing down and you listen to learn
is one of the challenges that I love.
I think a lot of people in this industry
and what I see going on at times
because we're so constantly moving so fast,
people are not slowing down to listen to learn
and they may miss out on active listening
to see how what great changes could come about
if you partner with certain people.
And technology, that's what I leave you with.
That's a great tip.
That's a great tip for any dealer out there,
for any business entrepreneur.
When you're doing things, really think about it,
take your time and make it special for you.
But it's not about speed anymore.
It's about really taking your time
and it's actually to me luxury.
Like that's a luxury way of living,
luxurious way of living I should say.
And we want to continue to do that.
And I like that.
You're preaching some really good stuff
to people out there.
I love how you implore these dealers
to challenge them to take it to the next level
by just listening, actively listening and learning
and seek first to understand, then to be understood.
And that's some good Stephen Covey stuff.
Lou and I love preaching at everywhere we go.
Any salesperson who's dealt with Lou and I know that.
We talk about that because we have to remind ourselves
every single day that too, right?
It's important that we do that.
And it's powerful and it really is.
And if you learn to be that way, be a servant leader.
You learn to really take risks in life
but also make calculated risks.
Do it the right way, but really do the math behind it.
Figure out where you want to be.
I got to ask one last question about automotive mastermind.
Of course.
I got to ask because we love them.
We love everything that we've seen,
watching them grow and they're not stopping.
They're always, if you want to talk about
the kings of integration, you guys are it.
What has been one of the biggest success stories
that you could think of?
They may be one that may,
it doesn't have to be the biggest success story
but one that just warms your heart up.
One that you really know is love.
Like something that came about
because a dealer partnered up with you all
and it changed the way that their projection was going.
Yes, I can't, I would say I can't show names
but I will tell you this.
There's a dealership out there that is,
I love all my dealerships.
So before anybody calls me out on this,
I love everybody at my dealerships.
They know that but this particular dealer,
Q1 was challenging for them, right?
They weren't where they wanted to be.
Processes weren't necessarily there.
And so one of the things what we did was slow down,
dialed into the strategy of what is going out
to loyalty clients.
And again, it's the day to day that we get lost in, right?
So slowing down, getting down to the new degree of strategy.
So let's figure this out, strategy.
All right, where you guys want to be
at the end of the quarter.
All right, what do we need to do
every single day to get there?
Okay, great.
Ultimately, leadership stepped up so well.
The intentionality of the day to day habits
changed within the dealership
where after Q2 ended, they were hitting
the numbers they wanted to hit.
They were so happy.
The team, the culture had changed so much
due to the fact of the matter is intentional leadership.
It warmed my heart learning and seeing.
And as a partner, you might find this a little weird,
maybe not, there's people already doing this.
I'm really big on texting and just reaching out
to see how stores are doing because I truly do care
and checking in on individual salespeople,
teams, leadership.
I don't say management.
I say leadership when I'm in store
which throws people off salespeople.
I love it.
I love that you say that.
That's leadership.
I'm like, yes, leadership.
It's a solutionary way all day.
So leadership stepping up,
it warmed my heart seeing them step up
and being there for their team.
When their sales staff needed help
on taking turns they were there.
If the sales staff needed help on setting the appointment,
because we can't get the customer in, they call it.
And so mastermind helped them do that,
but lining up the strategy so that way
at the end of the quarter, we're not asking what happened.
They did something about it, but since the beginning, right?
Planning, setting goals, executing every single day
with the habits and with the processes
that they put at play, right?
We work together on collaborating on that.
And then it's not my idea, it's their idea.
And then ultimately, no for real.
I know.
I love that answer, that's exactly right.
People get in the way of that and it's like,
no really, we wanna place ourselves in a position
that makes people think of the answer.
Maybe we're putting the answer option in front of them,
which is good.
This is sometimes what we should do,
especially if we're helping to lead or consult.
But it does have to be their idea, right?
And at the end of the day,
that they're more adopting of the way going forward
if it is and if it feels that way as well.
But just because we put solutions out in front of them
doesn't mean that we're making decisions for them.
We just help them make the right decision.
And if it is their idea, great.
If we present the option for them and they select it, great.
But it should totally be their idea on any avenue of sales.
Yeah, and the data doesn't line, right?
And so ultimately, when you compare Q1
and Q2 results for this dealership,
man, the cost per sale, the profitability,
the amount of sales, mastermind attribution,
you call it influence sales.
But, because we don't sell cars,
we are a marketing and data company.
And so-
The dealership sells the cars, right?
Exactly.
So we're just creating traffic into the dealership, right?
That's it.
The cherry on top is the team using it.
That's the cherry on top.
So at the end of the day, comparing the results,
you can see the results there.
I love it.
But it's because leadership led with being intentional.
So intentional leadership is so important.
And that was truly, I was so happy to see that due to the fact,
that's how it should be.
And I'm hoping for the future
that this next generation does lead with intentionality
because it, and this is a store that's led
by a young rising star as well.
Let's go.
Let's, rising solutionaries everywhere doing big things.
They say the fish rots from the head down, folks.
And it takes the leader to keep that fish fresh,
to keep that body, keep moving
this way that we can be the best that we could possibly be.
I love you talked about incremental growth.
Really, 1% a day,
you're gonna do more than 1% most days.
But if you just did one,
it's that's something positive for that day, right?
Something more than you did the day before.
I love that you talked about leadership inside the store.
And when leaderships take the role and they take Pete
and they actually look at the analytics,
like literally you guys have predictive analytics for them.
Here, this is what it looks like.
This is what it's gonna be if you do this.
Yeah, exactly.
That's what you all do.
I love predictive analytics.
Yeah, data doesn't lie at all.
They don't.
Yeah, and like I said, data doesn't lie.
Mastermind has incredible data.
We're owned by S&P Global.
We're part of their mobility sector.
And under, yeah, but just understanding
the fact of the matter is aligning with what they come
with the dealerships want to do,
helping them get to where they want to be.
And then ultimately having the data
to showcase what we are doing.
That's some incredible things.
And I'm so grateful to be a part of this
because like I said, great company,
you guys know that great culture, great people.
And I'm hoping that everybody understands
and listens to learn, to understand exactly
that mastermind is here as a marketing and data company.
Boom.
And they have you.
And when you keep saying people,
you are those people, right?
And without people like you out there doing things
like this, having that type of heart of servant,
having that type of heart of listening first type stuff,
doing all the right stuff, giving people what they need
and giving them opportunity to learn from that
and cheering them on.
I love that you message daily.
There are so many really good points, folks.
I hope you are watching this show and taking notes
on how to really be a good strategic partner
for your people.
If you're in the vendor sector
and you're looking to make sure that you're,
that you don't lose retention,
that you don't have high churn
when it comes to your clientele.
That's what it takes.
If you just let it sit there,
let it sit it and forget it type stuff,
they're gonna fall apart and not on purpose.
They're gonna forget that you're even there
and then they're not gonna think that you even care.
People don't care till they know you care.
So make sure you show them you care,
do little things like that,
catch it before it could become something.
You know, when you get ahead of the game
and you're in there, they'll speak to you freely.
They'll be like, Hey, look, it's working.
It's not doing what you said it was gonna do
or maybe they're just not doing
what they think they're doing.
And that's why you have to team up and get together
and give them real data.
And that's what you all do.
And I appreciate you for that.
And I appreciate that Automotive Mastermind
has such an amazing rising solutionary like you, Norma,
just crushing it out there,
bringing such grace in class as a mother,
as a wife, as a daughter, as a car gal,
crushing it in the industry.
So excited to have you on the show today.
It's been a great conversation.
Thank you.
No, I'm thankful to be here.
So again, thank you to Jennifer
for giving me the opportunity as well.
Thank you for saying yes.
And ultimately, thank you to everybody
that at the end of the day I've met,
everybody has made an impact in my life
and I'm a sponge.
So I can learn a little bit from everybody,
but from how I was raised,
going to Northwood, Group One, Mastermind,
just incredible people all throughout my life.
So I'm very grateful.
That's awesome.
We are grateful to you and folks,
we are at the end of this cup of Car Guy Coffee,
which has actually been a brew of car gal coffee.
And we're so thankful that Norma is taking the time
to spend with us today.
Cheers, cheers to you.
Cheers to you, Fred.
Fantastic.
Glad that we got through some of the technicals.
Folks, things happen,
but no matter what ends up happening,
we gotta make sure that as solutionaries,
we keep our eyes focused.
I love that you were talking about leadership today
and we do believe that you need to be fit to lead.
That's focused, intentional and transformational.
And with that, we do have F-bombs
that do help out with that particular type of growing.
And that is to forgive, to focus and to fly
so we can keep growing all the time.
Automotive Mastermind is an incredible company
that folks, you need to reach out to.
If you don't know what they do,
well, you have no excuse because you can book a demo
and it doesn't cost you anything,
but a little bit of time
to get into this Automotive Mastermind.
We are excited to be brewing
with each and every one of you.
Fred Lenarch, the sub-prime hero is here with us
and he has been brewing solutions.
And I'm so thankful that he made it back onto the show.
I was scared that we were gonna have to float this
without your voice,
but I'm so thankful that we got you on here.
The crazy part wasn't even my voice.
That was on your side.
It was your mic was out.
The beautiful part is everything worked out
and we had a solutionary in here
who didn't even flinch on it.
She was like, yeah, okay, we'll just keep it moving.
Folks, if you wanna get ahold of Norma,
here's her email address
and Williamson at AutomotiveMastermind.com.
She's willing to answer any questions
and get you in touch with whoever you need to be
in touch with.
That is what the masterminds about.
They're helping you mastermind the next level.
Thanks for your store, for your business
and for your people.
Great job today.
Appreciate you, Norma.
But yeah, we do drop F-bombs before
that don't offend the moms.
Apologize, this won't offend you though,
because it's your mama too, right?
And these are the F-bombs that help you keep growing
and that's to forgive, focus and fly.
And there's a dance moves that come with it, Norma.
If you watched any of our shows,
you know what they are.
We're gonna wipe off the weight of unforgiveness.
We're gonna get focused.
We're gonna fly together on a count of three
and we're gonna forgive, focus, fly.
All right, Lou, count it off, bro.
One, two, three.
Forgive.
Forgive.
Focus.
Focus.
Fly.
And keep growing.
Keep growing.
Thank you, Norma, for taking some time
to hang with us today.
And for each and every one of you
that have been paying attention to the podcast
and have been encouraged,
make sure that you blow her up
whether you've been watching this on YouTube.
You, YouTube-ians, have been watching us today
and we appreciate you being out there.
But if you've been watching this on Facebook, Instagram,
if you've been watching this on LinkedIn
or anywhere inside of the podcast world,
you've been listening.
Thank you so much.
On X, yep, we out there.
So folks, make sure that you do listen a little bit more
to what it is that these solutionaries are saying
because there's a lot of solutionaries rising.
They drop some incredible stuff
inside of these short segments
that we get the chance to just get a little bit
in our cup of their wisdom and experiences
and we get to share it with you.
You can go to CarGuyCoffee.com to get some more of it
and find out about what some of our sponsors
are brewing out there for the solutions needed
inside of the automotive world.
Tim, we appreciate you
because yes, Norma did do an excellent job.
I think that's somebody that she knows well.
Love you.
Love you.
Love you.
That's awesome, man.
Let's go.
We need to go in, Tim.
Got some brownie points.
Amazing job, Norma, I love it.
Fantastic job, Norma.
These are some,
there's so much love being thrown at you.
I got to say.
A lot of love.
D-Mag.
Got to say, what's up?
You know, they say dropping diamonds out here.
She dropped tons of gems.
Like, I hope everybody was listening.
If you didn't, you could always watch this on the replay.
Take notes, folks.
Throw your A.I. on it, let it download it
and then you say, give me the best part of it.
It's going to give you a list of tons of stuff
that Norma just dropped for all of us
to be able to take, pour in our cups and sip on it.
I love this brew today.
This was a special brew.
We didn't percolate problems.
We brewed solutions all because we had somebody
that we love having on the show today.
Because we don't,
we're looking for something really amazing.
We're on a quest to brew with the best.
And we are so blessed
that we got to do that with you today.
Thank you, Norma.
Thank you again, everybody out there.
Drop those coffee cup emojis, reach out to Norma.
If you want a little pick me up
because I know she knows how to do that
and give you that encouragement that you need.
And we have received that today.
Thank you for pouring inside of our cup.
For all those listeners out there,
I am Lou Ramirez, the Car Guy.
And now for our subprime hero.
Moving Brewing Solutions and the Car Guy Coffee Podcast.
For the first time, no one.
The only Norma
Later, everybody.
We out.
Request an explanation for:
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars