Transcript 0:00 This is In The Dirt with ASOTU. [car revving] All right, we are here at the Automotive News Retail Forum, where the 40 Under 40 nominees and winners were just announced and put on stage and then took a photo. 0:14 And I'm here with Joe. Uh, Joe, and remind me what group you're with, Joe. I, I'm with American Motors Group. Awesome. So, uh, Joe and I met actually back at Driving Sales, what, a couple years ago at this point. Yes. 0:26 And, um, Joe, you have... One of the big things that you've been really working at over the past few years is kind of this transformation of the dealership. Like, tell the story. 0:36 You literally went into a paper room and started chucking paper, right? Yeah, yeah. Funny. So I'm a big fan of the digital retail. I'm a big fan of, of digital experiences. I'm a big fan of the, of the Amazon experience. 0:48 And so, uh, we went to this entirely, like, paperless transformation, where we removed, you know, repair orders, we removed dispatching, we removed signature. 0:58 We removed all of this stuff and gave this this completely seamless, uh, paperless process, right? From start to finish. 1:05 I mean, we've gotten so advanced in our proc- our paperless system, that at some of our dealers, actually, uh, yeah, some of our dealers, uh, we are able to do express checkout, where you can pay online, get your key, just much like an Amazon locker. 1:19 You never have to even see somebody to pay, pick up your car, and just take off. It, it's, it's phenomenal. It, it's, it's been amazing. That's really fun. 1:27 So, uh, what, what were, like, some of the biggest challenges that you had to approach, both with your team, with processes, with technology, as you've made this transition and starting to get really smooth with it? 1:38 So different challenges at different locations. Uh, some of our northern California stores adopted a little bit easier, 'cause they're in the heart of Silicon Valley. 1:47 Um, some of the other stores not so much, but everybody adopted in its own right. Like, everybody moved. And when I say not so much, it wasn't that, "Hey," nobody did it. 1:59 It was maybe it took a week or two longer for everybody to embrace the technology. But as you move forward in this whole digital environment, it... Just in life, right? Like, it's, now it's to become expected. 2:10 Like, we can't... The traditional dealer used to make it just a pain to do business with. 2:14 It used to make it difficult, and there were pain points of, like, "Okay, I would have to wait, take a number, you know, I, I have to now stand in line to do here," and, and you're basically going through this process. 2:27 Now you get to control your own experience. You get to say, "Hey, uh, I don't need to see anybody. I know what my car needs. I've got this." You've buil- built full transparency throughout everything, right? 2:38 From your BDC to your, your agents, to the technicians. The customers, they've got this full transparency that you can't, you, you can't take away. Customers love it. Yeah, that's awesome. 2:49 So, uh, you've done so much of the work that a lot of dealers are kind of early adopting right now. For you, what's the next challenge that you're tackling? Is it with people? Is it with process? Is it with technology? 2:59 Especially as you're at NADA, are you looking forward to this year, what are the challenges that you're approaching as an organization? So we've got that paperless and digital process down very well. 3:10 I think the challenge that we're gonna have is how do we reinvent what's already great, you know? Like- Yeah... you've, you've got a process that's, that's perfect, that's there. 3:19 Now, what do we offer our customers next year? And that, that's where I'm here at NADA, like, where can we take the next digital, digital... or, like, where, where can we grow digitally in our footprint? That's awesome. 3:30 Now, personally, for you, like, what, what's your next year look like? 3:33 Like, I know everybody gets into business, and we talk a lot about auto, but what, what's exciting on your horizon, like, personally, for the next year? What are you doing cool? Whether it's in business or not. 3:43 Okay, so, uh, working on my pilot's license. I'm about to be 40 in March, uh, and so really close to getting that. And it has been my, my lifelong goal to be a pilot. 3:53 So I, I, like, my midlife crisis, if you will, is to become a pilot. Uh, so I've been growing that. You know, I've got a nine-year-old, a six-year-old, watching them grow up, and baseball, soccer, sports. It, I, it... 4:05 Life, wife, the whole bit. It's just, it, it's, it's fun. It's encompassing. The next year, business-wise, we're... My group is in a gr- uh, i- in a position of growth right now. Um, 4:18 who knows where the wind takes us, right? Yeah. That's awesome. It, it, it's, it's good. 4:21 Well, hey, look, we'll wrap this up, but bet when you get your pilot's license and we can come up, we're doing this out in the plane. We'll do this again. We'll do this again, Kyle. It was awesome. All right. 4:29 It was awesome. It was a pleasure. Pleasure seeing you. Thank you so much, yeah. I'll talk to you later. Thank you for listening to In The Dirt with ASOTU. 4:34 We love the automotive industry and the people who make it run day in and day out. We would love to connect with you more through our daily dose of fun, a free email that you can sign up for at asotu.com. 4:45 That's A-S-O-T-U dot com. We put our heart and soul into it every day. Thanks again for listening. Join us next time for more conversations In The Dirt with ASOTU. [upbeat music]
