Quick Talk Special: The Best of Matt Lewis

Get ready for an insights-packed Quick Talk from Episode 53 with Matt Lewis!

Discover the art of balancing business acumen with genuine care as Matt Lewis of Lewis Automotive Group shares his insights with us. Tune in to learn how prioritizing employee well-being can transform customer experiences and drive success. Matt offers a fresh perspective on managing activities over results, drawing analogies from the sports world to illustrate the power of consistent, positive actions. Get inspired by his innovative approach to challenges, such as offering guaranteed pay to employees during a company move, which underscores his commitment to a supportive work environment.

In our conversation, Matt opens up about the mental toughness required to scale a business and succeed in both business and athletic pursuits. With a knack for psychology in sales, he emphasizes the importance of trust and rapport, and the mindset shift needed to not depend on a single sale. We also shed light on the multifaceted roles small business owners juggle, from HR duties to janitorial tasks, and the resilience needed to excel. Whether you're an entrepreneur or simply fascinated by business, this episode promises a treasure trove of wisdom and inspiration from one of the brightest minds in the field.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Big talk about small business I love it Got one of my
favorite business people herewith me today, Someone I can't
say enough good about.
Every time I talk with him Ilearn something new and I have a
tremendous respect for this guyand his name is Matt Lewis of

(00:22):
Lewis Automotive Group.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Man, I'm really excited to be on this show and
just talk business.
It's fun.
Anytime you know, we can justsit down and talk about what's
going on in Northwest Arkansas.
How are we progressingbusiness-wise?
And I always gain something too, every time you and I talk.
I've stole this from JohnMaxwell a long time ago and he's
got a famous quote.
It says people don't care howmuch you know until they know
how much you care.

(00:44):
Famous quote it says peopledon't care how much you know
until they know how much youcare.
And one of the ways to do thatis show them how you're invested
on making them successful.
Internal customer Internalcustomer If you don't take care
of that employee first, how doyou expect them to take care of
your external customer, which isyour actual customer?

Speaker 1 (01:00):
You know, he said something very interesting and
the subtlety of it wasn't loston me and that is managing the
activities versus the results,because you get the results if
you do the activities right.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
You really do.
You know, and if we're talkingsports analogies too, they're
focusing on positive yardage,they're focusing on the time of
possession, and the scoreboardis just a reflection of those
activities.
When we looked at that downtimeof a week, we said we can hire
a moving company to help us andeverybody can just have extra

(01:36):
PTO time, right?
Or let's look at the amount wewere going to spend there and
why don't I offer to myemployees let's just guarantee
their pay based upon their last90 days worth of average pay,
and they can help us move.
That's progressive.
It's more than just you and I'vehad this conversation, but it's
more than just selling cars,absolutely, um, you know, since

(01:56):
we've moved and I'm sure we'llget into that, but since we've
moved, you know our scale ofemployee level we're right now
sitting just below 240.
I think it was 237.
As far as employees go, it's abig payroll brother it is.
It is, you know, it's kind oflike there could be a big reward
there, but you also have a bigresponsibility, um, you know.
So our business is scaling andit's exciting, you know it's.

(02:18):
It's put us in some somechallenging areas as well, which
is good.
You know, every once in a whileyou got to get a little
uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
You push yourself, you all, I mean between your
athletic pursuits and yourbusiness pursuits.
You are a guy who's constantlygoing for more and I love that
about you.
So much of it is mental.
It's like you know.
At the same time, back onselling, I was always taught
like you don't need any one sale.

(02:47):
If you think you need that sale, you may want that sale, but
you don't need it.
If they're not going to be theone, somebody else is going to
be.
That's right.
You've got to have thatmentality.
If that one doesn't work out,somebody else is going to come
through the door and the nextone is that's so important.
It's a psychological game now.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Somebody won't give you the green light until they
answer those questions.
You already hit them.
Do I know you, do I like youand can I trust you?
So, mentally, every customerwill ask those three questions
before they feel confident to goforward with you.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Look, I've never been a big fan of the Ford Edge.
I'll be honest with you, matt.
But that car sitting there inthat showroom with that light on
it and that beautiful bluecolor I looked at that.
I said you know what that thinglooks, really cool.
Can I see myself driving that?
You know what I?

Speaker 2 (03:44):
mean Small business.
Let me tell you what happenshere because I've been there is
you're wearing all the hatsRight.
You're the advertising person,you're HR, you're payroll,
you're the inspector, you're QC,you're in charge of hiring,
firing motivated, you're thejanitor, the bill collector,
bill collector.

(04:05):
You're all of it sure.
So what I encourage people todo and this sounds crazy, but
you'll get a multiplier here yougot to step back.
Yeah, you got to step back.
Whatever it is, you need tostep back and, even if it's just
for an afternoon free ofdistractions, put a podcast on
and start listening it.
Don't do it in your business.
If you want to go on a hike, ifyou want to go out to the lake,
whatever- you want to doBecause you'll be interrupted.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
Otherwise You'll be interrupted.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Plus all this stuff surrounds you and you're
thinking about what do I got todo next?
You've got some of my mostvaluable time is if I step back
and I get around those people.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Eric and I were talking about this last week.
It's just the discipline thatany business owner needs to take
.
Discipline is so, so critical.
It is lacking in the majorityof companies, I'm afraid to say,
because the people that runthem aren't disciplined.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
The good news for y'all that do want to be
consistent and disciplined it'seasier to win.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
It is Make the odds stacked in your favor.
Big talk about small business.
I love it.