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December 12, 2024 13 mins
Brad Sowers joined the Jim Butler Auto Group back in 2003, after deciding the family business that his wife’s father had so carefully built was where he wanted to invest his time and expertise. As a former technology sales and marketing executive, Brad entered the dealership business with a unique perspective on automobile sales – one where technology could improve both the customer experience and internal company processes. He understood that when a dealership combines the ease and efficiency of state-of-the-art technology with world class customer service and happy employees, both the customer and the dealer are set up for success. That philosophy continues to pay off.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Say, Louis CEOs, you should know this is very important.
You should know Brad sours from Jim Butler Auto Group.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello, Brad, Hello, nice to meet you.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Nice to meet you. Of course everybody seems to know
about Jim Butler Auto Group. What do you do?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
So I'm CEO of Jim Butler Auto Group. So I'm
the owner and a dealer of the auto group itself
and been in the business for twenty one years now.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
With Jim Butler or with Jim Butler. Wow.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Actually married Jim Butler's oldest daughter thirty six years ago
and got into the business twenty one years ago when
we bought the Chevy store from Jim Nice.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
I grew up from a Chevy family, so fantastic.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
And then I went to Kia and they all just
about to owned me.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
We love both.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, you know, I got to turn in my car.
But so do you get to drive a bunch of
different cars? I have to ask?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
I do I get to drive every car that I've
ever dreamed of? So right now I drive a Maserati Ooh,
very nice. I have a lot of fun with it.
It's a comfortable, fat car, probably too fast for me,
but I love it.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
How many, I'm sure it's a lot. How many Saint
Louis people do you think you employ?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
You know, well, we have four hundred and sixty employees.
So we have eleven franchises, six different locations throughout Missouri. Obviously,
we have the largest Chevy store in well, the top
fifteen in the nation actually here and in the top
twenty of the nation of Kia stores as well, so
we've been growing quite a bit. We join, when I

(01:28):
join and bought the Chevrolet store twenty one years ago,
was about a seventy million dollars organization. We've expanded it
this year. I think we'll hit over six hundred and
sixty million dollars in revenues. So we sell sixteen thousand
vehicles a year. And so we're small compared to some
of the other big dealership models here in town, but

(01:48):
we're usually number one in every brand that we offer.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
I like that there's something small and yet beg at
the same time. And I've heard nothing but great things
about Jim Butler. Where are locations, by the way.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
So here in the same Lewis area. Obviously, we have
the Maserati and Alfa Romeo, and what we call Jim
Butler Luxury, which is on Hanley Road in Maplewood. That's
probably one of our newer sites. We have Fiat in
an outlet used car in chris Wood. We have Jim
Butler Kia which is out in Chesterfield and it's probably
our fastest growing brand. We became number one last year

(02:21):
here in town and we're in the top fifteen in
the nation today as well. So and then the Big Store,
which is the Chevrolet Store. It's been in the top
fifty for fifteen years. And believe it or not, we've
been the number one Chevy volume dealer for fifteen years
here in the Saint Louis marketplace, and we've expanded dramatically
year over year.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
If you could come up with a reason or even
a mission statement for Jim Butler, what would it be.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Obviously, people make a big difference. We hire great people,
have great team members, great partners. People in the organization
make a big difference because in this business transparency. We
believe in two thousand percent. So we love the educated consumer.
We provide all the data, the websites, everything you want
to know about a car purchasing experience or a service

(03:08):
experience for cars we have online and help our consumers
make that decision. So the transparency aspect makes us different,
I believe, And so it allows the consumer to come
in make a quick decision and being able because ninety
nine percent of the time, everyone's on their couch watching
whatever they're watching, and if they're looking for a new car,

(03:30):
they're doing their research. What am I looking for? What
are the features that I must have, or what is
the payment level that I must have? All those together,
we really throw it into the consumer's hands and provide
all that data to them, and that makes us very
different compared to most dealerships in the marketplace.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
I also would have to say that people that go, Okay,
I'm afraid to go to a dealership. I don't want
to be pushed into buying anything. It sounds like you're
not like that at all or not.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
So we like to follow the transaction, you know, from
start to finish, to make sure the consumer is comfortable.
So you know, when you when you open the door
and you say I'm interested in this particular brand or product.
We have a business development center team answers all your
questions either through chat or online if you wanted to,

(04:21):
or through email. In text as well. And ninety percent
of our customers pretty much know the answer when they
walk in the door and they're here for a delivery,
right and we're just preparing the vehicle for their delivery,
and you know, to us, that's important. And the other
ten percent there's a lot of issues out there, from
title issues to my grandma gave me this car, you know,

(04:44):
ten years ago and I never changed the title, but
now I want to trade it in. That's a little
more difficult. It can take some time, you know, through
this process, but we do very well in that marketplace
as well.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
What's nice is that you take care of that so
that when you go to Jim Butler any of the
Jim Butler dealerships, you walk in there and it can
be the experience it should be. You should be excited
to get a car. It is exciting, whether it's a
used car, new car. It's like I'm getting in a.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
Car, a new car for you, Yes, even if it's
a pre owned vehicle, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
And so if Jim Butler can take care of the
yucky stuff and then you can enjoy the experience. I
love that.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
It's been a great experience for me. I didn't come
from the car business, I didn't grow up in it.
So where you're able to take some of the philosophy
of the high tech world that I came from and
move it into this marketplace and enabled us to educate
the consumer and then put the processes in place that
makes it easy for them on post sale issues that

(05:40):
are there from service and support, whether it's on Star
from GM or you connect on the CDJR. Side. We
have two of those stores in mid Missouri as well,
so it's been a great, great experience and a lot
of growth.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Do you I know you talk a lot about the
local and community. Do you do things philanthropically with Jim Butler?

Speaker 2 (06:03):
We do. In fact, we're very committed to the local marketplace.
My wife Michelle's on the board at the boys Greater
Saint Louis Boys and Girls Club and on the board
with the MUNI as well. Two areas that we invest
quite a bit of time on our partners, Far Fetch

(06:23):
Studios being one of them, helps us with the golf
tournament that we do for charity wise, for the Greater
Saint Louis Boys and Girls Club, we've raised almost five
and a half million dollars doing that for the boys clubs,
so fantastic quietly, which I respect. Frankly, we're not out
there pitching it every day, but we do do quite
a bit in that particular marketplace. Pink Ribbon Good which

(06:47):
is a new organization that's really in the last few years.
We donated a vehicle to them. If you don't know
who they are, you can look them up.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
I just interviewed because I'm very involved with that, so
thank you for doing that.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
They give rides, you know, to to women and men
that are going through cancer treatments that need the ride.
Valdeia's Keys we also support as well, and that those
are that's a group that gives recliners to women that
are experiencing breast surgery or cancer. So, you know, having

(07:23):
the recliner at home as you're recovering is kind of
a little niche product that's there. But we gave them
a Silverado to make sure they can deliver it on
time and for that marketplace.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
So that's beautiful.

Speaker 2 (07:36):
Yeah, So we you know, obviously, we feel it's important
to give back to the community. Our teams like this
holiday season, we actually do a every holiday season we
do Operation Food Search really to donate and give from
money on every particular car deal to obviously food that

(07:56):
we have collection centers at every dealership and making sure
people that need the food get the food. And the
operation Food Search is really a great charity. They are
so so I think, you know, I feel like we
do a lot. I'm sure you know, there's other things
we can do, and there's you know, we try to
really look at individual groups and making sure the impact

(08:19):
is there. You know, we like to make sure that
when we're writing a check or our customers are helping
us write a check, that we know the impact that's
going to have for our local community.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
And definitely with the ones that you're talking about, especially
Pink Grobbing Good Good is amazing. I had just lost
my sister and my mother last year to breast cancer.
So thank you for what you do. It's a really
really great thing. It's very it's a smaller people don't
know about them, so you're quietly helping them out. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
It's really it was really a surprising organization that that
we came into contact with, and it's been it's been
very rewarding for us because not only so, what's interesting
is that we've had customers that have actually used their services.
So when the customer understands the two connections are like,
oh my goodness, you know, and they become customers for life.

(09:12):
And I think that makes a big difference.

Speaker 1 (09:14):
This is why you go to Jim Butler and not
like Carvana, which I tell people all the time. You know,
they go because my car's paid off, of like hmm,
I need to trade it in, And I say, you know,
you don't get that personal touch, you don't get the
real you know, they can give you numbers, it's not
the real thing.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
In my opinion, Well, I appreciate that. I think, you know,
there's differences obviously, and we feel like because we're part
of the community, we have a definite level of responsibility
to that community, not just from a charitable giving, but
just to make sure our business practices are perfect because
you get reviewed every day in this world, right so,

(09:52):
and the way we earn business is not only advertising,
of course, but it's by our customers telling other customers.
And still today seventy percent of our business is with
families that have bought vehicles from Jim Butler's organization, whether
it's a jeep, they bought or a Kiya or a
Chevrolet or a Maserati. They all have gone through and

(10:15):
their kids, their grandkids have all bought the vehicles through.
So it's a big net that we put out and
it's really paid off very well making sure we take
care of those customers.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
You just said it right there. Seventy percent are people
that stay for years. That tells you how good Jim
Butler the company is, I hope so definitely proud of
the company. So if somebody wants to get a car,
first place they should go to.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Is Jim Butler Autogroup dot com.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Piece of cake.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
They can get to every site, every bit of research
that's need if they want to talk about should I
lease a car or buy a car? What's the miles
per gallon on the car, what are the feature sets
on a car? That website can help you with any
direction and you want to look.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
At that's fantastic And if people are struggling financially, is
there help for that in that sense?

Speaker 2 (11:06):
So we do so. About thirty percent of our business
is what we call fresh Star business, and fresh start
is basically saying to a customer that we will help
you get into the vehicle not necessarily the one you
have to have today, or you have a choice. Let's
say you want a Tahoe, but you look at your
credit and you say, oh, I couldn't afford that right now,

(11:27):
or I can't get approved for that. If you come
to us in our fresh Start program and we have
a STL Fresh Start and Jim Butler fresh Start, Mid
America Fresh Star, we have multiple websites for that, but
you can even go to the Autogroup website, go to
Jim Butler fresh Start. It'll help help you determine what

(11:48):
payment you could afford and where you can get approved.
And then after six months we'll review with you and say, okay,
you did great, you made your car payments, your credit
scores jumped up. Let's get you into this vehicle, and
then hopefully twelve months later the same process and hopefully
two years later the same process. But it's about building
and creating a fresh start on your credit. Because we

(12:11):
always say, you know, bad things happen to good people.
There's divorce, there's medical bills that happen, there's all kinds
of issues, job loss as an example. Those things happen.
So the question is you don't want to get yourself
into trouble by going to a buy here, pay here,
as an example, and saying, how do I pay you know,
huge amount of interest and then then you can't make

(12:33):
that payment, or the car doesn't work or you know.
Our job as a Fresh Start division is to take
that consumer from disaster mode to someplace in the future
that's very positive for him.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
And helping their credit as well.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
It does if we follow the guidelines. Sometimes it's on
the customer, and of course we have to, you know,
follow the process and it works extremely well.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Well, thank you for that. That's see, that's new I
not know about. It's news to me, so that's a
wonderful thing to know about. Thank you again. It is
Jim Butler. You know the name very well. Brad Sours,
thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
Great well, thank you so much for having me.
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