Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] It's Saturday morning, and you got, once again, Nathan Southwick and Jordan Cox in your ears today filling in for Kyle and Paul. 0:09 We got some great stories, but first, let's talk about some things that are going on in automotive dealer retail with people. Man, like- Yeah... 0:17 doing the intro is a little harder than it, like, the second time around, isn't it? I know. 0:21 [laughs] That's, that's the thing, is once you, once you nail it the first time, doing it the second time is kind of hard, isn't it? [laughs] Right. Right. Yeah. Confidence is a, is a deceiver, bro. That's right. 0:31 [laughs] It's the deceiver. It's the, it's the confidence that you kind of set too high almost, right? 0:37 Well, guys, thanks so much for joining us today on this, uh, Saturday morning kind of, like, highlight of what's going on in automotive retail with people. 0:44 It's cool, and we get to start the day off right and on Saturday talking about that. And Nathan, man, like, what a, what a great time to start the... Get, what a great way to start your day on a Saturday. 0:54 I mean, I love it. If... Saturday's a really cool around Autosoft because it really is focused on sort of our mantra, which is love people more than you love cars. That's right. 1:05 So if you get our email that day, it features just, like... Nor- normally our email, and, and Chris writes our emails, so you can correct me if I'm wrong about this. 1:12 But normally our email's like a lot of news, a lot of insights. Saturdays, we call it the recharge. It's a little bit of a breath of fresh air. 1:18 It's a little bit like, um, we take a, take time and get to know somebody in the, in the automotive space, a dealer, someone who's working in, in the dirt every single day, getting the stuff done. 1:29 Um, and then you've got this, this podcast, right, which is all about how dealers are impacting their community, all the ways they're giving back. 1:35 So it's just, like, a nice breath of fresh air, a way to, like, sort of, at the end of the week, you know... 1:42 I, I don't know about you, but for me, sometimes the end of the week can be tough because you've, you've carried a bunch. And this is just- For sure... 1:49 a great little breath of fresh air to remember this is why we do what we do. Mm. That's right. For sure. That's right. 1:55 And just bringing those dealer spotlight stories to people who are trying to go out and have one of the biggest days of the week on a Saturday, it's really cool to do that. 2:02 So we got Chris Reeves in the house, head writer for Automotive Trade Union. Hey. Thanks for joining us, Chris. Yeah. Thanks for having me again. I, uh, I really like, 2:10 I, uh, telling, telling these stories is probably my favorite part of doing this job. 2:17 You know, like Nathan was kind of saying, I, I like to, I like to say that, like, a so to really positions itself as ears and eyes for the a- for the people in automotive who, who think of themselves more as a community than an industry, right? 2:32 Mm-hmm. That's right. So like, all through the week, we're, we're pointing, we're grabbing, we're, we're, we're sharing, we're, we're boiling down, we're summarizing. 2:40 You know, we're trying to find ways to keep people as equipped with information as they can be all week. 2:45 And then on Saturday, we get to kind of turn that lens around and look at the people and celebrate with the people and encourage, you know, the people who, who we have chosen to stand with. 2:57 Um, we get to show them what, you know, what their cousins across the country are doing, you know what I mean? [laughs] That's right. That's cool. And I love it. It's a good time. 3:05 Yeah, it's just cool to be able to spotlight that and show what's really happening in local communities. And also, hopefully it inspires oth- others to do the same. 3:13 So like, Chris, this week you've had probably a ton of great stories you've gone through. Mm. What you got to share with us? Like, who's, who's doing something exciting this week? Yeah, yeah. 3:20 So luckily, luckily this is a really, a really simple one, and I feel like it's, it, it requires no, um, like, second ex- explanation because everybody knows what it's like to feel cold. And, and- Mm... 3:35 this is the time of the year when dealers are turning their attention to kids who, who need coats, man. Like, I'm sure we've all been a kid who said, "It, it's not that cold yet. I'm gonna go ahead and go to school." 3:46 And then halfway through the day you're like, "I wish I had my coat." That, that happened to me this week, so it's not just kids. [laughs] [laughs] That's right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh, so you know, 3:55 unfortunately, for a, a portion of our children in our country, you know, um, that's just, that's just something they grin and bear, you know? Like, they, they don't have the cash to go get a coat. 4:07 They don't have a support system there to be sure their needs are being met, um, beyond, you know, the, the very basic, you know, a full, a full belly and, and a roof, you know? 4:17 So it's fantastic when a dealer, a- and I say this often, but it's fantastic to me when a dealer says, "You know who I'm gonna support? Somebody who can't buy a car for 10 years at least." Mm. You know? 4:29 Like, it shows that they're observing, they're seeing, they're caring about the needs of- Yeah... the people in their community like it's their own needs. 4:39 Um, 'cause I promise you, nobody in the dealership is letting their own kid go to school without an appropriate coat. Right. Oh, for sure. 4:45 When they, when they treat their community like those kids matter, too, man, that's, that's it. That is it. So it's, it's... Yeah, it's like one thing... Sorry to cut you off, but it's- Whoop... you said something there. 4:55 It's like, it's one thing to say, "I love the people who will buy my cars more than cars." It's another thing to say, "I love the people who may never buy my cars more than cars." Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 5:06 Yeah, man, that's, that's the, that's the best way to say it. I'm gonna borrow that next time. [laughs] Um, but anyway, t- there's some specifics that I'd love to share. So, um- Yeah, please... 5:15 Sioka, yeah, the Sioka family of dealerships, they're out in Philadelphia and, and may- you know, some neighboring communities as well, I'm sure. Um, I don't have the full list of their locations. 5:26 They're, they're all over, they're all over, like, Pennsylvania. They're, they're- Yeah, yeah. Ex- exactly. Yeah. I, I've been to Pennsylvania a few times in my life, and I know the name of maybe two towns there. 5:35 [laughs] So to, to, to hide my ignorance, I'll just say they're out that-a-way. 5:41 Um, but yeah, they, they've partnered with, like, the Philadelphia, uh, Dealer Association through a, a foundation called Auto Dealers Caring for Kids. 5:49 Um, and they've, through, you know, through that foundation they have partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown. Yeah. And so far, um, career long, they've given away 625,000 coats. How cool. Did you hear that? 6:05 That's a lot of coats. [laughs] That's, that's so cool. It's crazy. Um, it's, yeah, it's fanta- I mean, that's like-I, I, I like to visualize things, you know. 6:13 I really like doing weird math and I, and I feel like 6,000, s- s- 625,000 coats, like I feel like that's gotta be a Walmart full. And I can visualize how big a Walmart is. That's right. 6:27 [laughs] Like that's, that's probably a Walmart full of coats. That, that's probably, that's the way I want our listeners right now to visualize how many coats that is. [laughs] Man. Um, yeah. 6:37 I think- That's a lot of kids, too. N- now when you visualize... That's a lot of kids, but when you visualize that, is that like packed wall to wall, floor to ceiling, or is that like just on hangers? 6:45 I, you know, I think it's just a big pile. You remember that scene in- Like a ball pit [laughs] from Chuck E. Cheese. Yeah. 6:50 [laughs] You remember that scene in that Batman movie where he's got the money stacked up and he burns it? [laughs] I feel like it's, it's that but with coats. Yeah. Yeah. 7:00 I, I wanna say, uh, this year alone, 50,000 of those coats have been collected. Jordan, did- How cool... I think you were telling me you saw this story, too. Did, did you say it was 50,000 this year? Yeah. 7:09 So a part of, uh, the Auto Dealer Association of Greater Philadelphia, um, a part of their New Coat program, they did 50,000 just this year. And Ceoka, obviously they were a big part of that. So how cool- Mm... 7:20 that they get to not only like invest in their community, but like help kids in a meaningful way. There's- Mm. There's like no... 7:27 Okay, so like maybe, maybe saving like a, a, a, a, a mother and, and their kid is like the height of being a hero. [laughs] But like that step two is like giving back to kids in your community, right? 7:40 [laughs] I love, now I, now I'm, now I'm thinking of like the her- hero Olympics and how can we rate all these different, uh- That's right. [laughs]... heroic actions, you know? [laughs] Yeah. But it's cool. 7:52 Again, like when you, when you give back to your community, and Chris, you said it best, is that those families, those kids, they're not gonna buy a car from that, that, that automotive retailer for a long time. 8:07 That's playing the long game there. Mm. Especially when you know that you're helping those kids grow to become some of the future leaders- Mm... within that area. Um, and I mean, look at, look at that. 8:19 You look at mentorship, you look at giving back to them in physical ways like coats. Um, it's just about building community around that. Nathan, what are your thoughts? Yeah. 8:27 I mean, I'd, I'd say, I'd say, sort of echo what you say with, with a little bit of a tweak, right? Like I don't think these dealers even necessarily have the long game in mind. Mm. Sure. Right? Right. 8:41 The, sure, the, it may come back and get them like a car sold in 15, 20, 30 years. But I don't think they're thinking about that. I don't think, I think they're doing it... 8:51 I, I don't think, I know they're doing it because of the genuine care they have for the people around them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's when they're really caring about their community and really pushing that forward. 9:02 But, but you're right is that they go in and they're not thinking about the 30-day cycle that- Mm... most people are in. They're not trying to figure out how to sell more cars right now. 9:12 They're really thinking about, "How do we give back to our community in a meaningful way?" So how cool. Yeah. Man, Chris, so thanks for sharing that with us this morning. Yeah. 9:18 And thanks for kinda kicking this Saturday off to a really great way. So what do you think, Nathan? Is that a great way to wrap this, this episode? [laughs] I think we should get out. Oh, man. Let's do it. 9:28 [laughs] Everybody, thanks for joining us today on this great Saturday morning. Thanks for listening to how other dealers give back to their community. We hope that inspires you. 9:36 Go out, sell some cars, and help somebody. [upbeat music]
