LA | Open Road | April 2019 by NIADA

LOUISIANA INDEPENDENT AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION | APRIL /MAY 2019

OPEN

ROAD

LAKE CHARLES AUTO AUCTION SPONSORS 15 NEW MEMBERS FOR THE LIADA AT ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DRIVE!

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

ROBERT

INSIDE

07..............................................LIADA Convention 08....................................... The “Wow” is Worth it 09................ Make Phone Tag a Thing of the Past 10................................NIADA Government Report 12..................................... Intelligent Interviewing 18.................................. Finding Good Cheap Cars

ADVERTISERS INDEX

BacklotCars..................................................... IBC LA’s 1st Choice AA............................................IFC Manheim............................................................. 11 NextGear Capital.......................................... 12-13 vAuto.................................................. Back Cover Warrantech.......................................................... 3

WHAT’S NEW

CONVENTION R E G I S T R AT I O N O N L I N E Registration for the 73rd annual NIADA | NABD Convention & Expo is now online! You don’t want to miss this industry-leading mega-conference! The event is June 17-20 at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Learn more and register today at www. niadaconvention.com.

OFFICE

For information on how to become a member please contact Emily LeBlanc Domangue: louisianaiada@gmail.com or 225-313-9131. PO Box 1876 Prairieville, LA 70769

NIADA HEADQUARTERS

NATIONAL INDEPENDENT AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION WWW.NIADA.COM • WWW.NIADA.TV 2521 BROWN BLVD. • ARLINGTON, TX 76006-5203 PHONE (817) 640-3838

For advertising information contact: Troy Graff (800) 682-3837 or troy@niada.com. The Open Road is published bimonthly by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association Services Corporation, 2521 Brown Blvd., Arlington, TX 76006-5203. Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, TX and at additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NIADA State Publications, 2521 Brown Blvd., Arlington, TX 760065203. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Road or NIADA. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as members of NIADA, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured. Copyright ©2019 by NIADA Services, Inc.

STATE MAGAZINE MGR./SALES Troy Graff • troy@niada.com EDITORS Jacinda Timmerman • jacinda@niada.com Andy Friedlander • andy@niada.com MAGAZINE LAYOUT Christy Haynes • christy@niada.com PRINTING Nieman Printing

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PERRY

LIADA wants to recognize Robert Perry, better known as “Big Shot Bob,” for his outstanding service as an LIADA board member. Bob has served on our board since 2015. Currently serving his second year as president, Bob has also served as secretary and vice president. Bob grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. He is a former collegiate golfer and has a passion for social media marketing. Currently residing in Monroe, Louisiana, Bob works for one of the nation’s largest wholesale distributors, GiveMeTheVin.com. When Bob isn’t buying and selling cars, he enjoys spending his free time with his beautiful girlfriend, Lauren Dantzler.

BOARD MEMBERS PRESIDENT Robert Perry Doug Perry Wholesale Cars 311 N. 4th St. Monroe, LA robertperry2010@yahoo.com 318-372-7322 VICE PRESIDENT Rudy Martinez Ponce Imports Inc. 6060 Florida Blvd Baton Rouge, LA 70806 225-927-4346 rudymp@cox.net EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Emily Domangue Louisiana Independent Auto Dealers Association PO Box 1876 Prairieville, LA 70769 Emily@liadaboard.com 225-313-9131 SECRETARY Matt Chiasson Greater Shreveport Bossier Auto Auction 1315 Grimmett Dr. Shreveport LA 71107 mattautoauction@att.net 318-221-3362 TREASURER Daniel Guinn Quinn Auction Company, Inc. 1635 Thibodeaux Rd. Jennings, LA 70546 daniel@guinnauctions.com 337-368-7713

President Emeritus J.L. Richard P O Box 481 Carencro, LA 70520 jlrichard@carencro.org 337-258-2272

Kevin Reeves Dixieland Autoplex 15600 Florida Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70819 kevin@dixielandautoplex.com 225-248-6519

Chuck Hill Lake Charles Auto Auction 2435 E. Broad St. Lake Charles, LA 70601 225-313-0018 chuck@lcautoauction.com

Walter Warren Tint City Auto 1410 W. Thomas St. Hammond LA 70401 tintcity1972@yahoo.com 985-969-0940

Jacob Warren Louisiana 1st Choice Auto Auction 18310 Woodscale Road Hammond, LA 70401 jacob@lafcaa.com 985-345-3302

Kendall Fontenot Ultimate Autoplex 8240 Florida Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70806 kendall@ultimateautoplex.com 225-389-6301

Jeff Hernandez Airline Automart LLC 4520 Airline Hwy Baton Rouge, LA 70805 225-357-1597 airlineautomart@yahoo.com Scott Rabeaux Rabeaux Auto Sales 6882 Johnson St. Lafayette, LA 70593 337-991-9100 srabeaux@yahoo.com Eric Stroderd Don’s Automotive Group 7227 Johnston Street Lafayette, LA 70503 337-288-7842 eric@donswholesale.com

Kevin Rembert Mannheim New Orleans 61077 St. Tammany Ave. Slidell, LA 70460 kevin.rembert@coxautoinc.com 985-643-2061

ASSOCIATION NEWS

BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

KENDALL

FONTENOT

LIADA would like to introduce our newest board member, Kendall Fontenot. Kendall is a 31-year-old entrepreneur. His goal early in life was to achieve wealth, retire with his family and live in financial freedom. Perhaps he met that goal a little earlier than expected. Fontenot owns one of the largest minority-owned Buy Here-Pay Here dealerships in the state of Louisiana. He has been spawning businesses since the tender age of seven, with his first foray into entrepreneurship in the second grade. “At age seven, I started selling pencils at school,” Kendall said. “Then at age 10 I started selling candy at school. I expanded to the Internet three years later, selling tennis shoes and

throwback jerseys online. Fontenot found his future at the age of 17. “I started a car audio business and was selling car audio, rims and tires, and other car accessories,” he said. “Then a year later I got licensed and started selling cars out of the newspaper from my mother’s home.” By the age of 24, Kendall was able to achieve his goal of financial freedom by starting a Buy HerePay Here dealership – Ultimate Autoplex. Now known as “King Kendall - the King of Credit,” he has over 600 accounts and multiple locations. Fontenot is honored to join the LIADA board and looks forward to helping the association grow and better serve independent dealers.

SAFETY WATCH

AUDI RECALLS SEDANS FOR ELECTRICAL ISSUES

AUXILIARY HEATER ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Volkswagen Group of America Inc. is recalling 845 2015-16 Audi A6 Sedans and 2015 Audi A7 vehicles. The auxiliary heater electrical connector on these vehicles may have been incorrectly inserted into the auxiliary heater, possibly resulting in increased electrical resistance.

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the auxiliary heater connector, replacing the auxiliary heater and connector, as necessary, free of charge. Volkswagen’s number for this recall is 82C1.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS |

By Emily Domangue

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

EDUCATIONAL

MOMENT

Greetings, car dealers! As I travel the state of Louisiana visiting with our members, I have found many car dealers are not aware the Office of Motor Vehicles requires each dealer to submit a “Monthly Report of Vehicles Sold or Leased.” As you can see in the example, this is a very simple report that many DMS systems are capable of populating and printing for you. However, handwritten reports are acceptable.

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This report is required to be notarized and submitted to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, Office of Motor Vehicles, by the 20th of every month regardless of whether a vehicle was sold. That means even if you did not sell a vehicle you are still required to submit a report stating, “No sale.” If you have not submitted this report in the past, the LIADA board members and I would like to strongly encourage you to begin

doing so immediately to avoid costly fines. Of course, if you have any questions about this report please feel free to give me a call at 225-313-9131. Send reports to the following address: Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections, Office of Motor Vehicles Attention: Motor Vehicle Audit Unit PO Box 64886 Baton Rouge, LA 70896

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MANAGEMENT MATTERS | By Dave Anderson

THE “WOW” IS WORTH IT! CREATE

BETTER

EXPERIENCES

In his book Never By Chance, Joe Calloway said, “A brand is defined as a trademark or distinctive name, reputation, or capability that identifies and differentiates a product or service from the competition, for better or for worse.” Every company has a brand. That’s not the question. Does your brand positively differentiate you or render you to commodity status? Does it elevate or diminish the value people see in doing business with you? To delve deeper, a brand isn’t primarily about your logo, jingle, or creative graphics. These things may explain or reinforce your brand, but they aren’t your brand. Nor is building a powerful brand for your dealership accomplished through big ad budgets and slick promotional campaigns. Building a powerful brand happens when you create a culture that supports consistently creating “wow” customer experiences, and by hiring and training the right people at all levels within your organization capable of consistently delivering said experiences. Focus more on the “reputation, or capability that identifies and differentiates you from the competition” aspect of the brand than on a logo, trademark, or distinctive name to communicate it. As a leader, it’s your job to make sure this gets done daily, and that chasing greater excellence in this regard is a priority for every team member. Here are some supporting thoughts and strategies to help refine your focus on intentionally building and leveraging the power of your brand. · T he bottom line is your brand is defined by customer experiences. You may declare what your brand is, but a customer defines it based on his or her experience with your company or product. In short, whatever a customer thinks about when they hear your dealership mentioned – which will be based on either a personal experience or one they’ve heard about from others – is your brand. You can say what you want about who you are, but your customers believe what they experience – and that is your brand. · I n case the prior point wasn’t clear enough, let me rephrase it slightly: Nothing is more important than customer experience when it comes to brand management. If you want to improve the strength of your brand, you must elevate the quality of the experiences you’re creating for both team members and customers. That starts

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with hiring the right people at the outset, setting clear expectations for the experiences you want created (experiential standards) and training team members to deliver that experience while holding them accountable for doing so. · A key to customer experience is consistency of performance. The more consistently great the experience is between departments, the stronger the brand. The greater variation you have between departments concerning the customer experience, or between your various locations, the weaker the brand. One bad apple in this regard will afflict the whole batch. · T he best answer to the question, “Who on our team would create the most outstanding customer experience?” is “Any of them!” If you can’t give that answer, you have work to do, and lots of it. · T he best way to influence a great customer experience is to create a great employee experience! Rest assured, if your team members aren’t having a “wow” experience working for you they’re not as likely to create similar experiences for your customers. Incidentally, micromanagers, oppressive work schedules, lack of training, hiring recklessly, inconsistent management, hypocritical leaders, tenured non-performers and more all drain the “wow” out of the workplace for team members. · K eep in mind that even team members who are far removed from direct customer contact have a “ripple effect” impact on the customer experience. This is because of the effect they have on other employees. Naturally, if a co-worker is negative, incompetent, corrupt and indifferent, he or she will diminish the experience of teammates, causing frustration and lower morale – all of which has the potential to trickle down and affect the experience a teammate is trying to create for a customer. There’s much more to say about building your brand, but since the focus of this piece is on perfecting the customer experience, take some time with key team members to honestly evaluate these questions and address the answers you’re unhappy with: · A re the processes and protocols we have in place designed to just meet a customer’s expectations, or are they intentionally designed to get the “wow?” In either case, how can we do better? · D o we have variation in the customer

experience between departments or locations? If so, why is that? How do we fix it? · H ow often do we talk about getting the “wow” in meetings, during one-on-one coaching sessions, in the interview process, and during onboarding periods? Since you can help change a culture by changing the conversation, what more can we do to shine a brighter light on this key responsibility for each team member? · D o we realize our frontline team members (porters, sales associates, service advisors, receptionists and the like) have more daily opportunities to create a customer experience than the management team since they come into contact with more customers? How much training have they had on creating “wow” experiences? What training could we implement to improve the customer experience, starting with the onboarding of new associates? · D o we have experiential standards for our organization that clearly define guidelines for the things we will always do – and never do – with a customer or when speaking with a customer? Are all departments and locations on the same page with these standards? If not, how and when do we fix it? · D o you know how your experience is significantly different and better from those your competitor delivers – from meet and greet, to customer touch points, to your various processes, to the language you use, to follow up, to communication protocols for service, to what they do while waiting to get into F&I, and the like? If your answers aren’t many and compelling, you’ve got more work to do. If this seems like a lot of work, that’s because it is a lot of work. I never said building a great brand through “wow” customer experiences is easy. But I can assure you it is worth it. And if your people and dealership are continually in price battles to be the cheapest so you can get the deal, there’s a better way: create improved experiences and the price becomes less relevant. People pay more for better experiences, and they return for more and tell others to do likewise. Believe me, whatever it costs you in time, training, or dollars to build a “wow” brand, when all is said and done, the “wow” is worth it. Dave Anderson, “Mr. Accountability,” is a leading international speaker on personal and corporate performance improvement. He is also the author of 14 books and host of the podcast, The Game Changer Life.

MARKETING MATTERS

| By Christopher Leedom

MAKE PHONE TAG A THING OF THE PAST OPTIMIZE COMMUNICATION WITH SMS

How many of you are frustrated by the volume of voicemail – both left and received – during the average workday? Whether it is for sales, service or collections, your staff leaves dozens, if not hundreds, of voicemails every day. It has probably become one of the biggest drains of productivity and labor – though nevertheless necessary – until now. Do I have you scratching your head a bit? First, let me issue a challenge. Identify one employee in your dealership or finance company that interacts with your customer base on a daily basis – for instance, a salesperson, collector or service advisor. Next, identify 20 customers you need to communicate with that particular day. If you are a working with a collector, pick 20 accounts that just became delinquent. If you are in sales, pick 20 customers that need follow up. Take 10 of these customers and send them an SMS message initiating communication with them. Sales, service, or collections – it doesn’t matter. Call the other 10 customers, leaving a voicemail initiating communication if you don’t reach them. By the time you get done calling the 10 “phone call” customers, chances are 50 percent

ACCELERATE |

of the SMS customers will have already texted you back! Why? Because 93 percent of SMS messages are read within 10 minutes and a return text is usually sent within 20 minutes. How does that compare to the voicemails? It’s no contest. You probably will connect with two or maybe three of the outbound phone calls and will likely leave seven or eight voicemails. I have observed this exercise with countless operations. Our organization has worked with thousands of dealers and finance companies over the past 20 years. When we started Textmaxx Pro four years ago, I could not have predicted the impact on productivity. We see it not just in the auto space, but across virtually every industry we serve. In today’s world everyone returns an SMS message well before returning a voicemail. There are countless studies that prove this. So how do you optimize your SMS messaging strategy? First, think of it the same as your phone system. You need a tool that is proprietary and resident to your business that will serve your SMS communication needs, and ensure compliance. I hear too many dealers say, “My employees are really good at texting – they use their

personal phones.” I cringe. Think about it, would you utilize your salesperson’s personal phone number when advertising on the web or in television commercials? Would you give each employee a copy of their entire CRM activity when they leave your dealership to work elsewhere? That is precisely what you are doing if you do not have a product that allows you to store, monitor and control all SMS activity. It doesn’t matter whether it is sales or collections. You need to retain and control those conversations for a host of reasons, not the least of which is compliance – but that is a topic for an entire article itself. If you want to eliminate – or at least greatly reduce – the wasted time and effort of phone tag, implement a well thought out customer contact strategy where SMS communication is your first form of communication. You will be amazed at the impact it will have on employee productivity. It is an incredibly effective way to communicate with your customers. In my opinion, it is even more effective in collections or service, where you already have a relationship with the customer. Studies show SMS messaging to be the preferred method of communication of most customers, across virtually every demographic. It is hands down the most efficient mode for just about every conversation. Chris Leedom is the CEO and founder of the Leedom Group. The Leedom Group includes Textmaxx Pro, a complete SMS messaging solution for small to medium businesses with a custom design for the automotive industry. You may reach Chris at chris@leedomgroup.com.

By GWC Warranty

IS YOUR REPUTATION IN GOOD HANDS?

CHOOSE YOUR SERVICE CONTRACT PROVIDER WISELY

Unfortunately in the used car business, your reputation after the sale can sometimes be out of your hands. Once that aspect of your business is out of your control, you need to be sure it’s protected in the hands of someone you trust. If you’ve been in the business long enough, you know that despite the best reconditioning and the best inventory selection, you’re bound to run into vehicles that encounter issues after the sale. When this happens, it’s your reputation on the line. How these fragile situations are handled can have long-lasting impacts on your reputation in your market. Partnering with a service contract provider that has the tools in place to take care of your customers the way you’d want them treated is perhaps the most important thing you could do to protect your reputation when your customer’s experience is out of your control. That’s why you need to know some specifics about what your service contract provider has to offer so you can be sure your customers are in good hands after they drive off your lot. Coverage Lookup A simple online coverage lookup tool is a great way for customers to learn details about their contract on a moment’s notice. Whether it’s start or end mileage, expiration dates, component coverage or a look at the contract itself, having this in place helps customers know exactly how they’re covered.

Find a Shop A customer’s nightmare is a mechanical breakdown far away from home. A nationwide network of service facilities is one thing but being able to easily find a shop in an unfamiliar area is another. This online application takes the worry out of an out-of-town breakdown. Quick Answers These days, consumers demand answers, and they demand them quickly and on their terms. Having a service contract provider that allows customers to submit questions via online forms, live chat or social media gives customers multiple options, so they can get answers in whatever way suits their busy schedules. Good Reviews Online reviews in today’s automotive industry are vital to success. The same goes for service contract providers. Stick to trusted sites like Google (sometimes hidden in the maps section), Facebook, or Consumer Affairs and look beyond just star ratings. While overall ratings are important on the surface, looking at how often a service contract responds and the frequency with which customers leave reviews will give you a sense of how that provider cares for your customers. WWW.LOUISIANAIADA.COM APRIL/MAY 2019 OPEN ROAD

NIADA Region II vice president Michael Darrow (left) with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. t

WASHINGTON UPDATE | By Shaun Petersen

GOVERNMENT REPORT

t Texas IADA executive director

Jeff Martin (left) and NIADA’s Shaun Petersen (second from right) met with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Henry Cuellar.

t NIADA and used car industry leaders visited Capitol Hill for a series of meetings with legislators and key committee staff.

Latest Government Issues & Activity

NIADA is your voice in Washington D.C., advocating for independent dealers, the used vehicle industry and small business. Here’s a look at the latest news and NIADA efforts regarding legislative, regulatory, PAC and grass roots activities. PAC NIADA met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), on Feb. 21 in San Antonio, Texas. The meeting was arranged by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a longtime friend of the independent used vehicle industry and a featured speaker at the NIADA National Policy Conference in 2016. Texas IADA executive director Jeff Martin and I attended the event, which also included Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). The group was small, allowing us an ample opportunity to speak to all three legislators about the used vehicle industry and explain NIADA’s positions on some of the issues affecting it. Five days later, members of NIADA’s executive committee, legislative committee and Buy Here-Pay Here commission traveled to Washington for a series of Congressional meetings, sponsored by PassTime. It began Feb. 26 with an event for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that drew more than a dozen senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). We were able to speak with all of them about our industry and our issues. The next day we met with freshman legislators as well as new committee chairs and ranking members of the 116th Congress and discussed issues expected to be considered during the next two years, including recalls, CFPB reform, privacy issues and tariffs. The NIADA group met with the members of the House Financial Services, Energy and Commerce, and Transportation committees, and the Senate Banking and Commerce committees.

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REGULATORY More than 7 million people were at least 90 days delinquent on their car payment at the end of 2018 – an all-time high and more than a million more than in 2010 – according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data. The New York Fed called that number, based on data from Equifax, “surprising” considering the strong and growing economy and shrinking unemployment. But in a post on the Liberty Street Economics blog, Fed economists Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Joelle Scally and Wilbert van der Klaauw pointed out there are more delinquencies than ever before in part because there are more total borrowers than ever before. More than 89 million people now have some form of auto financing, the most on record since the Fed and Equifax began compiling that data in 1999, with a total balance of $1.27 trillion, another record. “With growth in auto loan participation, there are now more subprime auto loan borrowers than ever, and thus a larger group of borrowers at high risk of delinquency,” they explained. And they noted the quality of borrowers is trending upward, saying, “2018’s strength in auto loans was primarily driven by those originated by the most creditworthy individuals, while originations to those with scores below 720 have leveled off, albeit at high volumes.” The large volume of loans, they said, caused a “quality shift,” as borrowers with credit scores better than 760 accounted for 30 percent of the outstanding debt. Only 22 percent was originated to subprime borrowers. “These percentages would suggest the overall auto loan stock is the highest quality we have observed since our data began,” they said.

LEGISLATIVE Executives from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion were called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee, which is considering changes to the credit reporting system. The committee noted it has been 15 years since the issue of credit reporting has undergone “comprehensive reform” at the federal level, and cited Equifax’s massive 2017 cybersecurity breach in asserting “there are numerous shortcomings with the current system that need to be addressed.” In his testimony, TransUnion president and CEO James Peck said the U.S. economy provides more “quick and straightforward access to credit” than any in the world, and he offered the committee six ways the credit reporting process could be improved, calling for more timely updates of critical credit events, establishing new standards for reporting student loan data, increasing the number of Americans able to access credit, helping improve scores and access to credit innovations, protecting Social Security numbers and enhancing financial education. GRASS ROOTS A report by New Jersey’s State Commission of Investigation alleging widespread wrongdoing by “predatory” used car dealers has spawned a pair of bills in the state legislature aimed at tightening regulations in the industry. The report focused primarily on “multi-dealer locations” – locations that provide an address for “dealers” who do not have a lot or who operate in other states. The report described them as fronts for shady operators to obtain a dealer license. Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, the bills’ primary sponsor, said the report showed “the New Jersey used car industry – specifically the multi-dealer locations – is rife with fraud and deceit and in some cases unlawful activity.” One of the bills would prohibit “as is” sales in the state, increase the limitations of the implied warranty on used cars and require dealers to offer contract cancellation options. The other would transfer licensing and enforcement power from the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission to the Department of Consumer Affairs in the attorney general’s office. Shaun Petersen is NIADA’s senior vice president of legal and government affairs.

INTELLIGENT INTERVIEWING PRODUCES INTELLIGENT HIRES

MANAGEMENT MATTERS | By Don Jasensky

SAY

GOODBYE

HIRING

Automotive Personnel, LLC has been recruiting top personnel for 30 years. No one has ever asked our firm to “find someone average.” Employers are always seeking high performing employees. Thirty years of professional recruitment has taught us the best indicator of future performance is past performance. To help identify the high performers we learned to ask “intelligent interviewing questions” to help determine a candidate’s past job performance and their ability to thrive with our client. Coupled with proof of accomplishments and thorough reference checking, intelligent, probing questions of the candidate will help you determine if your

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MISTAKES

candidate has the experience, attributes and skills you are looking for. It can also help you eliminate hiring mistakes. I want to show you actual questions we use every day in our practice and encourage you to learn how to prepare a list of questions that will help you get a much better understanding of your candidate and help you eliminate hiring mistakes. Let me share two recent examples and show you our techniques. CASE STUDY – Collection Manager Search Situation: We were searching for a winning collection manager because our client’s collections department was underperforming and continuing a costly downward trend. The client decided no one in the company could

step up to this role, so they needed to look outside for a stronger collection manager. We prepared a list of “intelligent interviewing questions” designed to help better understand the interviewees’ experiences, abilities and limitations. I want you to think this way and prepare a list of functional questions that will help you assess the candidates you are interviewing. During the interview, we explained the situation to each interviewee: “Here is our problem …” then asked the following: •D o you think you could fix this problem? •H ave you had a similar situation in your career? •T ell us how you handled it.

WE PREPARED A LIST OF “INTELLIGENT INTERVIEWING QUESTIONS” DESIGNED TO HELP BETTER UNDERSTAND THE INTERVIEWEES’ EXPERIENCES, ABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS. •W hat metrics would you use to assess our problem? •W hat information would you need from us to prepare for your first day of work? •W alk us through your training process. •S hare your “From-To results.” •T ell us your methods to hold your collectors accountable for their production. •T ell us what your first few days here would look like. Of course we asked a lot more questions than these, but with just these questions, both you and the interviewee will know if you are interviewing the right candidate! This is what I mean by preparing intelligent questions that will yield the information you need to make an intelligent hire. CASE STUDY - Sales Manager Search Here are some questions we are using for a sales manager search for an automotive dealership: •W hat are the performance measurements for your position? •T ell us how you are doing. •S o you ___ (increased sales by 30 percent in 12 months). That’s terrific. Can you walk us through how you accomplished so much change so quickly? •W hat were the biggest obstacles you ran into? •H ow did you overcome them? •W hat lessons did you learn? •S how me - Can you confirm those

accomplishments? Sales sheets? Documentation to support this? (Do not miss the show me part!) •C an we confirm this with your past supervisor? •D o you think you could duplicate this success in our position? “Let me tell you more about our opportunity… This sales staff is underperforming. They have 10 sales personnel – two are good, four are average, and four are underperforming.” •H ave you been in a similar position? •T ell us how you handled it. •W hat is your process for evaluating a sales rep? •H ow do you determine if a sales rep needs more coaching – time to develop – additional help from us or to be fired? •T ell us how you plan to earn the respect of our sales staff. •W hat information will you need from us to evaluate our sales staff? •T ell us what your first week will look like here. As you can see from this line of questioning, we are taking the time to learn about each candidate’s job performance and how they think. This will help you visualize how a candidate will fit into your position and company! Our firm fills many “C-Level” roles with automotive finance companies, F&I providers, warranty providers and automotive software

companies. We follow this same process of asking intelligent questions that will help us understand if the candidate is the right fit. Believe me, when you are interviewing experienced presidents, CEOs, COOs, or CFOs, they all sound great and they all have terrific backgrounds. However, that does not mean they are the right fit. A COO from a large company might be way out of place going to a much smaller company that lacks the same staff support, access to capital, and brand recognition. Another COO from a large company may strongly desire being in a smaller company with less structure and a faster pace. This is not in a resume. You have to learn to ask the right questions. Tip: Great candidates can be just as nervous in interviews as weak candidates. Judge them by depth, intelligence and thoroughness of their answers. Did they listen to your question and endeavor to answer it or did they dance around it? Can they prove it? I teach executives and managers that “going with your gut” only produces consistently intelligent hires when backed by the hard work of intelligent interviewing and reference checking. Donald Jasensky is president of Automotive Personnel, LLC, a personnel search firm for subprime automotive companies and BHPH dealers. Contact him at Don@ AutomotivePersonnel.Careers.

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LIADA AUCTION MEMBERS ADESA Shreveport 7666 Greenwood Road Shreveport, LA 71119 318-938-4400 Phone 318-938-7623 Fax www.adesa.com Sale Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Lake Charles Auto Auction 2435 E Broad Street Lake Charles, LA 70601 337-433-8664 Phone 337-436-7197 Fax www.pedersenandpedersen.com Sale Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Alexandria Auto Auction 515 N 3rd Street Alexandria, LA 71301 318-484-9672 Phone 318-484-9699 Fax www.alexandriaauction.com Sale Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Louisiana’s 1st Choice AA 18310 Woodscale Road Hammond, LA 70401 985-345-3302 Phone 985-343-5735 Fax www.lafcaa.com Sale Tuesday at 8:45 a.m.

America’s Auto Auction Baton Rouge 3960 Blount Road Baton Rouge, La 70807 225 778 3737 www.americasautoauction.com Sale Thursday

Long Beach Auto Auction 8494 County Farm Road Long Beach, MS 39560 228-452-2030 Phone 228-452-9588 Fax www.lbautoauction.com Sale Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

America’s Auto Auction Houston 1826 Almeda Genoa Rd. Houston, TX 77047 281-819-3600

Manheim Lafayette 1611 St. Mary Street Scott, LA 70583 1-337-237-5620 Phone Sale Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

Bayou State Auctions, LLC 134 ½ Galbert Rd Lafayette, LA 70506 337-289-9191 Sale Tuesdays at 5:30pm

Manheim Mississippi 7510 U S Highway 49 Hattiesburg, MS 39402 601-268-7550 Phone 601-579-7202 Fax www.manheim.com Sale Thursday at 9 a.m.

Brown’s Auction Co. 6249 Hwy 190 Manheim New Orleans Eunice, La 70535 61077 St. Tammany Phone: 337-457-4919 Slidell, LA 70460 www.brownsauction.com 985-643-2061 Phone Sale is quarterly (call for more 985-643-2122 Fax information). www.manheim.com Sale Wednesday at 9 a.m. Dealer’s Auto Auction 1657 Old Whitfield Road Mike McTurner Dealers Jackson/Pearl, MS 39208 136 Gregory Drive 601-956-2700 Phone Monroe, LA 71202 601-956-5603 Fax 318-343-8200 Phone www.midsouthaa.com 318-343-8259 Fax Sale Tuesday at 9 a.m. www.dealersautoauction monroe.com Greater Shreveport-Bossier Sale Tuesday at 10 a.m. 8000 Highway 80 Shreveport, LA 71119 Oak View Auto Auction P O Box 29590 13451 Florida Blvd Shreveport, LA 71149 Baton Rouge, LA 70815 Phone: 318-221-3362 225-272-5139 Phone www.gsbautoauction.com 225-272-5314 Fax Sale Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. www.oakviewautoauction.com Sale Friday at 10 a.m. Insurance Auto Auction 29000 Frost Road Z66 Auto Auction Livingston, LA 70754 66 N Mingo 225-686-9197 Phone Tulsa, OK 74116 225-686-8197 Fax Phone: 918-794-0660 www.iaai.com www.z66aa.com Sale Monday at 9 a.m. Sale Friday at 11:30 a.m.

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privileges. ($400.00 yearly dues.)

Membership ($400.00 yearly dues.)

*Auction Discount Coupon Books worth $4,050.00 available to LIADA members. Coupons can be redeemed at the following participation auctions.

P.O. Box 13751 Alexandria, LA 71315

LIADA DEALER SERVICE PROVIDERS FINANCES ADVERTISING First Consumers Financial, LLC Auto Sweet Bob Chedville Christopher Lentz bob@fcfcarloan.com lenny@autosweet.com 14580 Florida Blvd. 3240 W. Henderson Rd. Baton Rouge, LA 70819 Columbus OH 43220 Phone: 225-272-9009 Phone: 614-448-9089 Nationwide Acceptance ATTORNEY Martin Less Tureau & Tureau, APLC mless@nac-loans.com Ralph Tureau & Steven Tureau 3435 N Cicero Ave. steven@tureaulawfirm.com Chicago IL 60641 12320 Hwy 44 Suite 3C Phone: 800-622-7605 Gonzales, LA 70737 Preferred Loans LLC Phone: 225-647-8529 Shana Quick Fax: 225 647-8530 preferloans@eatel.net 12241 Roddy Rd. AUTO PARTS Gonzales, LA 70737 AutoZone Phone: 225-644-0304 Derlyn Odom Fax: 225-644-6862 deryln.odom@autozone.com 6517 airline why Reynolds & Reynolds/AppOne Metairie LA, 70003 Michael Riley 228-990-5669 michaelriley@reyrey.com 4150 2nd St. South Suite 550 Pull A Part St. Cloud MN 56303 Toby Thompson Phone: 877-277-6631 X 57628 Baton Rouge, LA 70814 Phone: 225-247-9160 Westlake Financial Services Rob Wilson BODY SHOP 4751 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 100 Custom Colors Los Angeles, CA 90010 Pete McKnight--Billy Rapp dealers@westlakefinancial.com customautocolors@gmail.com www.westlakefinancial.com 11550 Cloverland Ave. Phone: 888-8YES-YES Baton Rouge, LA 70809 Phone: 225-752-5947 FLOOR PLAN Fax: 225-752-5940 AFC Tim Ormiston BUSINESS SERVICES Davenport Business Services LLC 1610 A St. Mary St. Scott, La. 70583 David Davenport david@davenportbusinessservices.com timothy.ormiston@autofinance.com www.Afcdealer.com 14 Concord Place Phone: 337-593-8992 Gulfport, MS 39507 Phone: 228-547-9219 AFC Michael Meyers CREDIT CARD SERVICES Michael.Meyers@autofinance.com Applied Merchant 18310 Woodscale Rd. Jeff Gallo Hammond La. 70401 jgallo@appliedmerchant.com Phone: 877-739-0218 26775 Malibu Hills Rd. Automotive Finance Corporation Calabasas, CA 91301 Cassie Lasley Phone: 800-236-2179 106 Village St. Suite 1 DEALER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Slidell, La 70458 Office: 985-288-6431 Dealer Market Exchange Cell: 504-235-4264 Holly Jonsson Cassie.Lasley@AutoFinance.com holly@dmx.io www.AFCDealer.com B5 Calle Tabonuco Guaynabo PR 968 CarBucks Floor Plan Phone: 970-749-0851 Brandon Ziebarth www.usecarbucks.com Frazer Computing Inc. 381 Halton Road help@frazer.com Greenville, SC 29607 P.O. Box 569 Phone: 225-819-6747 Canton, NY 13617 Phone: 1-888-963-5369 NextGear Capital Fax: 1-888-963-3366 Stuart LaBauve slabauve@nextgearcapital.com DEALER SUPPLIES / FORMS Phone: 225-620-1660 My Dealer Supply Company Fax: 866-550-8694 Eric Stroderd ericstroderd@mydealersupply.com GLASS/WINDSHIELD 311 A West University Babin’s Auto Glass Inc. Lafayette, LA 70506 Brent Babin Phone: 877-427-1238 babinsautoglass@eatel.net 13283 Airline Hwy. Romano Promotions LLC Gonzales, La 70737 Megan Romano Phone: 225-647-1369 megan@romanopromo.com 42062 Gardens Blvd GPS Hammond, LA 70403 Position Plus GPS Phone: 985-634-8274 Andy Seckinger DETAILING aseckinger@spireon.com 950 Market St. Jose Upholstery Shreveport, LA 71107 Jose Delgado 563-581-7693 4776 Fairfields Ave. Baton Rouge, La 70802 Phone:225-316-4575 M M Topshelf Detailing & Recon Lonnie McCauley lmccauley@eatel.net 4452 Jeffery Dr. Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Phone: 225-603-4600 Fax: 225-622-5994s

INSURANCE & BONDS

Affordable Insurance Solutions Janis Fallaw agentj0912@aol.com 751 Hwy 51 Madison, MS 39110 Phone: 601-856-9447 Carmouche Insurance Inc. 516 N. Burnside Ave Gonzales, LA. Phone: 225-647-8552 Charles Carmouche charles@carmoucheinsurance.com Crossland Insurance Agency Andrew Arceri andrew@crosslandins.com 1101 Hwy 90 E. New Iberia, LA 70560 Phone: 337-367-6035 Dwight W. Andrus Insurance Bonnie Dozier bbd@andrus.com P.O. Box 60970 Lafayette, LA 70598 Phone: 337-981-7300 Insurance & Bonds, LLC John Sonnier 9131 Interline Ave. #10-B Baton Rouge, LA 70809 Jsonnier60@gmail.com Phone: 225-922-3700 International Sureties, Ltd. 701 Poydras Street, Suite 420 New Orleans, Louisiana 70139 Phone: (504) 581-6441 Fax: (504) 581-1876 internationalsureties.com S. Brown Associates 150 River Rd. M3 Montville, NJ Phone: 973-270-2270 US Agencies Low Cost Insurance Sharon Miller Sharon.Miller@confiegroup.com 440 Third St. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Phone: 225-615-0957 Fax: 225-987-5144 US Agencies Low Cost Insurance Kenneth Champagne kchampagne@usagencies.com 440 Third St. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Phone: 225-408-8492 Fax: 225-987-5144

TIRES

WARRANTY

Cooper Tire and Rubber Company AUL Corp Michael Wertz Shelton Green mtwertz@coopertire.com Shelton@sadrinc.com 820 Rivers CreekLn. 704 Hickory Ave. Little Elm, TX 75068 New Orleans, LA 70183 Phone: 567-525-2765 Phone: 504-722-8123 CTR Warranty, LLC TITLE – NOTARY Ken Rugg Dealertrack Registration 319 North 3rd St. and Titling Services Monroe, LA 71201 Processed by Auto Title Express Phone: 318-323-6385 Amy Casey 3445 Causeway Blvd Suite 103 Ferrell Dealer Services Metairie, LA 70002 18016 Shadow Creek Ave. 7 locations throughout Louisiana! Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Go.dealertrack.com/LA Phone: 225-978-5111 Contact Sales: 888.346.3087 fspruell@gmail.com Express OMV GCWS, LLC Brooke Barnett Rock Brunet Phone: 225-243-6925 rockbrunet@gmail.com 485 Florida Blvd. 101 Shumard Dr. Denham Springs LA 70726 Lafayette LA 70508 Phone: 337-258-2998 LeBlanc Auto Title Company 1116 E. Cornerview St. GWC Warranty Gonzales, LA 70737 James W. Hester Phone: 225-644-4591 jhester@gwcwarranty.com Fax: 225-644-8207 40 Coal St. hopeleblanc@eatel.net Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 Phone: 225-771-9766 TOWING & RECOVERY Protective Solution LLC Smart Tow Rick Cole Kevin Rembert rcmarketingllc@me.com 3045 Rosenwald Rd. 4211 Sterlington Rd. Baton Rouge, LA 70807 Monroe, LA 71203 kevinpremert@yahoo.com Phone: 877-697-2533 Phone: 225-356-3002 Fax: 225-356-3222 PWI Sharon Coleman TRANSPORTATION sharon@warrantys.com Masney Auto Transport Inc. PO Box 278 Greg Hedges Orwigsburg, PA 17961 page@masney.com Phone: 800-548-1121 831 Maguire Rd. Ocoee FL 34761 Southern Auto Dealer Resources 704 Hickory Ave. Phone: 407-877-8882 Harahan, LA 70123 VEHICLE HISTORY Shelton Green sheltongreen3@aol.com Carfax Phone: 504-466-88002 Kathy Collins kathycollins@carfax.com Phone: 703-934-2664 5860 Trinity Pkwy Centreville, VA 20120

MARKETING

Interactive Financial Marketing Group Travis Weisleder dealerinfo@interactivefmg.com 1509 West Main St. Richmond, VA 23220 Phone: 804-225-1880 PAINT TOUCHUP & INTERIOR REPAIR

MasterMatch Eddie Krueger eddielsufan@yahoo.com 1104 Pine St. Suite A Monroe LA 71207 Phone: 318-322-2886 SECURITY SYSTEMS

Integrity Audio Visual LLC Steve Clay Steve@Integrity-av.com 39089 South Angel Court Gonzales, LA 70737 225-235-1528 RENTAL CAR

Enterprise Rental Car 3545 N 1-10 Service Rd., Ste. 101 Metairie, LA 70002 Phone: 504-454-1717 RENT TO OWN

Seadra Inc. John Garner john@seadraonline.com 10555 Lake Forrest Blvd. New Orleans LA 70127 Phone: 504-241-0211

WWW.LOUISIANAIADA.COM APRIL/MAY 2019 OPEN ROAD

MARKET PERSPECTIVE | By Doug Hadden

FINDING GOOD CHEAP CARS

PART

NEW

TECHNOLOGY

In the first installment of this three-part series, we looked at how to take advantage of upstream online auctions. Upstream is just a fancy way of saying “before the vehicle is shipped to physical auction.” We focused on OLOCs (One-Owner, Low-Mileage, Off-lease Cars) and learned how to acquire affordable cars your customers want, without having to go to a physical auction. In the second installment, we looked at buying real-time in multiple lanes, at multiple auctions, right from your desktop, laptop or phone! Since these articles, I have received a lot of great feedback and even trained some folks on how to buy cars live online – including easily accessible options like ADESA’s simulcast platform that allows dealers to bid virtually, in real time, on cars in the lane. One dealer said, “I may never go to a physical auction again.” Another dealer I worked with loves going to the physical auction. After training, he was standing in the auction lane bidding on cars as they drove through while also on his phone – bidding on cars at the same auction, at the same time, but in different lanes, and even checking proxy bids on cars at other auctions. Technology is opening new doors of opportunity for dealers, giving them a competitive edge like no other. This month we will look at new technology that is changing the way we buy and sell wholesale vehicles. When I owned my pre-owned lot many, many years ago, besides attending two local auctions every week, I spent every Monday morning stopping at Starbucks buying coffee and pastries I would take to my favorite used car manager who ran a large new car franchise. I usually arrived at the store as soon as the service department opened the front gates so I could look at and book out all the weekend trades before the UCM arrived. I would list what I wanted to pay for each car and what it needed for reconditioning on my yellow pad, head to his office and wait. We would grind out prices and two or three hours later I would call some drivers and get my new inventory to reconditioning. Not only did I have to get up at the crack of dawn, pay too much for a couple of rundown cars to get the ones I wanted (the old “package deal”), but I also burnt half a day away from my lot. Needless to say, this wasn’t a very efficient use of my time or inventory dollars. Fast forward to last week. I’m sitting at lunch with a friend who owns a small preowned lot, talking about how hard it is to find good cheap cars. His phone gives off

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a chirp. He quickly taps his phone, scrolls through a couple of screens, pounds out some numbers on his phone calculator, taps his phone one more time and gets back to our conversation. What was he doing? He was bidding on a car that was traded in at a new car franchise less than two hours ago. That’s right, sitting at lunch bidding on fresh trades and in the time it took to eat his burger, he owned the car! There are a few companies in this stillgrowing, dealerto-dealer digital auction space. I’m most familiar with ADESA’s sister company TradeRev, a mobile app that sends notifications to your phone as new car franchise dealers launch cars to a 45-minute on-demand, digital auction. You can view multiple photos, watch videos and even listen to the engine run. Settings allow you to customize your experience, enabling you to create alerts for only the types of cars you want – so you spend less time looking and more time buying. Think about the efficiencies this technology brings to the industry. With built-in artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can find the right car at the right price, in a transparent and fair process, all in about an hour. You can have funding, titling and transport pre-arranged in the app so when you win a car it quickly appears on your lot. And what about the seller? We know the longer you keep a car in stock the less gross you get – the dreaded “lot rot” is real. Even when you hit a home run on an aged unit, if you do the math on a profit-per-day basis, the ROI is weak at best. What would wholesaling a trade the same day it’s brought into inventory do for the average inventory turn time? It’s a win-win for both buyer and seller! The industry is changing, but so is the technology we use to run our operations. If you have not embraced buying cars upstream, live online from your PC, laptop or phone, or the newest app-driven one-hour, on-demand auction, you may want to rethink your business plan.

I’m not saying you can’t continue doing what you’re doing now and be profitable. I’m saying there is technology out there that can and will help you be more efficient – which leads to higher profits with less effort. Mastering these new, high-tech systems and apps is so easy there is no reason not to give them a try. I’ll even help you get started. Email me at Doug.Hadden@ADESA.com and I will set up some time for training you on one or all of the new technologies discussed in these articles. Once you get comfortable using the new tech, not only will you be more efficient and profitable, you may also have time left over to do other things you haven’t been able to do, like spending more time with family and friends! Until next time – have fun and sell cars! Doug Hadden is executive director of dealer consulting services for ADESA Auctions Inc. He can be reached at Doug. Hadden@adesa.com.

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