March 13, 2025 • 44 mins
Step inside the energetic world of Lewis Automotive's Ultimate Challenge, where the excitement and culture on the showroom floor directly impact the customer experience. Broadcasting live from the Bronco showroom, the Lewis Brothers—Matt, Shelby, and Taylor—are giving listeners a behind-the-scenes look at what makes their annual March sales event so special.
The numbers tell part of the story: by Day 11, they've already moved 179 vehicles toward their goal of 555. But the real magic lies in how this momentum transforms both the dealership atmosphere and the deals customers can access. Multiple team members share how the Ultimate Challenge leverages the sheer volume of business to secure better financing terms from banks and credit unions—advantages simply unavailable during normal months.
"In 2020, with the pandemic and limited vehicle availability, many people got into situations they didn't want to be in," explains Anthony Rowers, one sales professional. "This undoes most of that." With discounts up to $20,000, interest rates as low as 0%, and no payments for 90 days, the event creates opportunities for customers to escape unfavorable financial situations while upgrading to newer vehicles.
The Lewis team's willingness to think outside the box appears in their "crazy trades" approach—accepting everything from farm animals to household items to make deals happen. As Taylor puts it, "It's old school horse trading," finding solutions rather than roadblocks when negotiating comes to an impasse.
Beyond the deals, the atmosphere itself becomes a celebration with taco trucks, coffee bars, race car simulators, and even axe throwing in the parking lot. The professionals who've been through multiple Ultimate Challenges—some dating back to 1999—describe how the infectious energy creates a different kind of car buying experience where customers genuinely enjoy the process.
Whether you're in the market for a new vehicle or simply curious about what makes Lewis Automotive's culture unique, stop by any of their locations in Fayetteville, Springdale, or Farmington to experience the Ultimate Challenge firsthand. As we say at Lewis: "555 must be sold, no matter what it takes."
Feel the dynamic energy of the Lewis Brothers as they deliver real stories and lessons that keep local businesses on their toes, and share how experiences in the community inspire them to keep on driving.
Check out all our great episodes at CrossroadConversationsPodcast.com!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The fun that we have in the showroom floor, whether I
see Anthony over there and I'mpicking on Anthony or I'm
picking on Scott Jones, which isalways more fun.
But that culture and that thingthat we do, that carries over
to the customer experience.
And when the customers come onthe lot and they see how much
fun we're having, they see theexcitement and you're telling
them.
You know they say, well, I'mnot hungry, I don't need to go
(00:21):
out there, yeah, come on with me, we're going to go get a couple
of tacos.
And it just builds theexcitement.
Customers see that and theytell each other about it.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome back to Crossroad Conversations with the
Lewis Brothers, matt, shelbyand Taylor reporting live from
Lewis Ford in Fayetteville.
We're talking UltimateChallenge, week 2.
Totally mixing this whole thingup, we went from the studio
brought studio, brought livehere to the wooden table to the
(00:48):
wooden table here in the Broncoshowroom to kind of give you an
idea of what's going on.
Yep, the John Maddenplay-by-play how it's going.
So just in case you werecurious and I know you are, it's
day 11.
As the calendar falls, that'snot selling days, but day 11.
We're at 179 sold.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So you're telling me you track these daily activities
and you're giving us an update.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, and the whole team knows that big
scoreboard.
Update Each person.
How many have we sold so far?
179 vehicles sold across thered carpet.
Part of the ultimate challengeUp to $20,000 off.
Ultimate amount for the trading.
Hand-off rates as low as 0%, nopayments for 90 days.
All the good stuff.
The commotion is full speedahead.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
And we're going to have some guests on this show
today that here in a minutewe'll start bringing them on so
you can hear from them.
You hear from the LewisBrothers all the time about, hey
, what's going on, here's whyyou should take action and about
our culture, and you'll neverdo business having more fun than
you do with us, so on and soforth.
If you didn't get last week'sepisode, make sure to go to
Crossroad Conversations or onyour favorite device, whether
(01:50):
that's Spotify or Apple,wherever you're listening to
podcasts, or it could be onFacebook, where we are right now
.
Check that out from last week.
So you kind of get behind thescenes on where the ultimate
challenge come from.
How did we get there?
Why we do this?
Yeah, you know what I mean.
So with that, we know you'veheard from us a bunch.
We want to bring on our firstguest this morning.
He's going to help us give alittle bit of behind the scenes
(02:13):
what Ultimate Challenge means,and all the fun and all the
excitement about what's going on.
What do we?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
got here, hey, Freddie welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Here we go.
Hey, Freddie, so you've beenthrough a couple ultimate
challenges.
About how many do you thinkyou've been through?
About 12.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
12 of them, 12 of them.
Yeah, starting from what?
2010?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
2010.
So Freddie's been with us for awhile and has helped us out in
any situation, every positionthat we've asked him to, and
absolutely done an amazing jobat it, thanks.
But he's been here, for he'sbeen here longer than 12 years,
but 12 ultimate challenges to gothrough, and what do you see
from?
Let's talk internally first.
(02:53):
From an employee standpoint,how does it feel different?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
than a normal month.
It's just, it's the momentum,it's getting into the sales
season.
It's really just kind ofgetting the guys fired up.
You see them moving around alot more.
More people are out, nicerweather, big discounts, big
savings, so that kind of getsthe whole market churning.
Sure, it's a whole lot ofexcitement.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
So we talk about it a bunch on the podcast, about how
we start internally first withthat culture.
You know, for everybodylistening out here, does that
feel the same?
Does it feel different?
Do we rally inside before thecustomer gets here?
Speaker 4 (03:31):
We have a huge rally on Mondays, fridays and then
just about every day of the week.
But what's crazy is we havethat all year long, so we can
always kind of rally and pump upthe guys, but when the ultimate
challenge hits, it's anotherlevel.
Is it different Speakers?
I mean, it goes to the top.
We do.
You know all the promotions,all the lights, all the music
(03:55):
and you think that's you know100%, but somehow we bring it to
150%.
We rented more speakers?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
How did this happen?
Yeah, of course there's alwaysmore speakers.
Yeah, yeah, Matt went andrented some more sub-work drinks
.
Those were tugs.
What did Saturday start out?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
like I was just getting here, it was crazy.
We got a 110-foot gorilla andyou walk in.
There's energy drinkseverywhere.
There's donuts everywhere.
Before we get back to theactual meeting in the park the
coffee truck.
The coffee truck was out here.
We had ice cream.
We got taco trucks today.
Actual meeting in the parkright, just go get the coffee
truck.
Coffee truck was out here.
We had what ice cream?
Oh yeah, we got taco truckstoday.
(04:28):
And, uh-huh, race car simulator.
Yeah, yeah it's next level.
Yeah, we had axe throwing in theparking lot with one.
That's crazy, I'll tell anyone.
So that's just the start of it.
Like what's cool is where we'reat right now, where we get the
momentum built already and nowwe're figuring out how to keep
that thing churning.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
That's really exciting.
So that is from the, that'sfrom the side of the internal
employees.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe consumer.
Obviously, our sales hats on.
We're trying to sell 555vehicles Now, right now.
You know you're in the financedepartment and just and just
killing it there.
But from a customer standpoint,they're like how am I going to
(05:12):
get a better rate, how am Igoing to get a better buy, a
better deal on the financingportion during ultimate
challenge and I know I've heardyou talk about it before, but
that's leverage.
You take endless business andthen you talk to the banks, you
use leverage.
Walk them, walk them throughthat yeah, you've got to think.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
We know normally we're doing 300 cards a month.
This month we start out.
We get our reps excited aboutit.
We have our reps calling us hey, are you guys doing the
ultimate challenge this year?
Yeah, we are you guys excited?
Yeah, we're gonna stay late tohelp your dealership and
specifically get these dealsbought.
You know we're gonna go from300 cars to 555 cars, probably
closer to 650.
(05:46):
Yeah, you're talking about thebankrupts.
Yeah, absolutely.
Our bankrupts are calling ussaying, hey, we're going to stay
late to help you guys, which iscrazy.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So if somebody out there is going, okay, great, but
you guys are selling cars,you're just giving me a bunch of
words and reasons to come in.
That's not necessarily thetruth, because let's say, you
need a little bit extra, carryon a deal.
Maybe you got to get sales taxin, maybe somebody listening out
there is upside down in theirvehicle, but you had just sent
that bank five deals that wereperfect deals that they're gonna
(06:18):
help us out on number six.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Yeah, they're gonna say, hey, listen, thank you for
sending us those deals, becauseyou sent, sent us those deals.
We're going to help you out onthis one.
So the consumer is going toactually get a little bit better
position on their car.
They're going to be able to getthe loan done and they're going
to leave here in a new car witha red carpet picture.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Because then if they tried to go to the bank by
themselves, they're not going tobe able to leverage off all
that business.
Correct, they're One, oneperson.
That makes a lot of sense, andthat's why we wanted to bring it
up.
It's really where the rubbermeets the road on.
You're leveraging off to beable to get people a better deal
in financing too, and a lot oftimes Shelby talked about we've
got the $20,000 off, we've gotthe $199 payment and the
(06:58):
ultimate amount for your trade,but the financing is a big deal
too.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's what puts the rubber to the road we always
talk about.
There's three people.
Then it's the customer, it'sthe dealership making the
ultimate deal, and then it's thebank.
It's the bank Right, we have toget all those people on the
same page to say yes, and sothat's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
You bet.
You bet, if a customer has notbeen here yet, maybe any of the
12 years, maybe they just movedhere and they're hearing about
Ultimate Challenge, like I'm notreally sure what it is, but
every time I turn on the TV, theradio, drive down the road or
open up my email, somethingabout Ultimate Challenge is
there, which means we're doingour job.
(07:39):
You know, as far as marketing,when they come, how would it
feel different, culture-wise,when they're looking at a car?
You know what would theatmosphere kind of walk somebody
through on, how it would feeldifferent than just a normal car
dealership?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
what's the the coolest part is our vip
experience.
Whenever you get to thedealership, within five minutes
you're going to be on a testdrive if you've already picked
out a car.
If you haven't picked out a car, we're going to sit down with
you and do a customer interview.
We're going to get you dialedin because we've got over 1200
cars out here.
Okay, you can walk that lot forsix hours and not find the
right car, but what our guys aretrained to do is they're to sit
(08:08):
down with you, figure out whatyour wants and needs are and
they're going to dial it intothree to five cars for you and
then we're going to go look atthose cars and we'll have you in
and out in under 90 minutes.
By doing it to help them.
Oh man, that's a huge benefit.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Everybody talks about time and time being a big deal
For sure, so sure.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
All right.
So ultimate challenge We've gotFreddie's.
Take Anything you want to leavethe listeners with of hey, why
buy or what's?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
good or what's different.
I think you just have to see itto believe it.
You just have to stop by, evenif you're not in the market for
a car.
Come see what's going on,because it gets pretty wild, you
bet.
I love that.
Well, I love that.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Well, freddie, thanks for joining us this morning.
Go sign some more people up.
Go, yeah, let's go.
We'll be to our next guest herein just a little bit, but
before we go into that, shelby,we've got a big deal coming up
tomorrow because it's Wednesday,and on Wednesday we've got a
big offer.
We've been talking aboutselling cars.
This is for servicing your car.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Servicing your car, and this was an idea to to bring
people on it's $50 off oilchange.
Now, on my side of the screenon your side of the screen, by
the way raise your hands.
Who needs to change oil intheir car?
That's everyone, right, that'severyone needs to change oil in
their car.
And when is a better time toget the complete, full
inspection and make sure thatyou save the money?
So, on Wednesdays, save $50 offan oil change, and I'm just
(09:22):
telling you that.
That's going on all over ourlocations, yeah, so whether you
you take a car up to springdale,if it's at the ford store fable
or the cdjr store fabletomorrow, it's 50 off, no
appointment needed.
Okay, and we've extra staffed,okay, and we've told them say
yes, just the same thing as acar deal, say yes to the deal,
say yes to the old change, um.
(09:43):
So everyone's going to thinkcome early.
But also I want to give you aninside.
I tell them it's inside traderinformation and we track this
constantly that if you will comein between the one o'clock and
the three o'clock, that's goingto be your shortest wait time,
which is going to be like littleto no wait time and they're
going to show you the vipwaiting area.
(10:04):
They're going to get you acompany coffee and they're going
to be like little to no waittime and they're going to show
you the vip waiting area.
They're going to get youcompany coffee and they're going
to get you in and out in notime.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
So what you're telling everybody is like, hey,
here's the big offer.
But some people go in theirmind like anytime somebody's got
a crazy offer, I see that longline or or tents to camp out in.
You're trying to tell them howto take advantage of the offer
at the right time.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
This is like the Facebook group for the Harbor
Freight discount and I'm showingyou how to stack with the US
General 72 inch Double stackSign up for the member's reward.
So you have to stack it, so youget the big money off, but you
also don't have to wait a longtime.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
That makes complete sense.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
So make sure you stop by, and that's only on
Wednesdays, and that's only onWednesdays, and that's only
during Ultimate Challenge.
So don't wait.
You probably are past due onyour oil change, so you've got
to get here and get your oilchanged.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Okay, we've got our next guest up.
He's a fan, mr Steve Aldama.
Steve's been with the companyfor a long time and this isn't
your first Ultimate Challenge,is it?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
It is not my first.
I'll tell you how far I go backthe first contest where I won a
TV.
It took five people to load theTV.
That's how big the TV was.
Man, you're old.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, it's old and what size was the TV?
For my friends it was probablyabout a 19-inch, but it was a
color.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
All the knobs were attached.
I was hooked up the knobs, theknobs, the knobs.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
People may not understand.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Talk about how much we've grown.
That was at the old schoolbutcher block, that's at the
butcher block.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Yogi Hamilton was the auctioneer.
The auctioneer, yeah, scottHamilton about that one Yogi was
the auctioneer Long time ago.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
So last episode last week, we kind of gave you a
little bit of behind the scenesand the history of Ultimate
Challenge and where it came from.
We started talking about and ifyou didn't hear it, go back and
listen that we used to havethis large used car sale over at
the fairgrounds that we put onand out of the fairgrounds.
That's where the UltimateChallenge, that's where it
started and I'm pretty sure youwere here at the inaugural first
(12:05):
ultimate challenge.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
So in the summer of 99, that was my first ultimate
challenge.
They had all these goals thatyou, they, laid out for you.
And I remember that firstThursday it was a blur.
They told you what it was goingto be like, but it was a blur.
It was fast moving.
You, you what it was going tobe like, but it was a blur.
Okay, it was fast moving.
You had people looking for keys, moving cars, customers
(12:29):
everywhere, the excitement, theculture.
Your grandfather was movingboats and four wheelers around.
They were in the wrong spot.
It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And speaking of and Freddie talked about our sales
meetings, but this isn'tsomething we just came up with.
Tell us about a fairgrounds,saturday morning sales meeting.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Well, it was an every morning sales meeting.
I think during that salesmeeting Mr Tom had newspaper ads
from other competitors.
All right, who?
Mr Tom is our grandfather.
So Mr Tom is leading the salesmeeting and he says I hear such
and such has got Tauruses forthis and he shreds the paper.
(13:08):
He just tears them up.
Tears them up, it's old schoolnewspaper.
Oh, we're tearing it up.
Then he brings up the oldschool Star Shopper.
The Star Shopper has such andsuch for you know, chevy this
hype.
And he gets the meeting going.
Your dad, I mean it'sincredible.
What was going on.
The atmosphere, I mean, justlike now we're talking old
(13:30):
school hot dogs at thefairgrounds, but even today
we've got the taco trucks outhere.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Oh, taco trucks, Absolutely.
Hey, I can remember Shelbystarted talking about stats when
we started this live today,about how many cars we sold back
during the the fairgrounds,which was pre-ultimate challenge
.
If we we went the stats all theway down to how many hot dogs
and cookies did we handle?
Oh, you know, if you want tomeasure something to prove, you
know you must look at the yeah,yeah.
(13:57):
So you've talked quite a bitabout, you know, the excitement
internally.
You talked a little bit aboutthe auction, which is is an
internal thing.
How do you relate us havingmore fun internally with all
this to a better customerexperience?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Well, it all comes down to the customer experience.
And I think the customerexperience is even based on the
culture that's created here on adaily basis.
Because the fun that we have inthe showroom floor whether I
see Anthony over there and I'mpicking on Anthony or I'm
picking on Scott Jones, which isalways more fun but that
culture and that, that thingthat we do, that carries over to
(14:31):
the customer experience.
And when the customers come onthe lot and they see how much
fun we're having, they see theexcitement and you're telling
them.
You know.
They say, well, I'm not hungry,I don't need to go out there,
come on with me, we're gonna goget a couple of tacos.
And it's just, it just buildsthe excitement.
Customers see that and theytell each other about it, the
crowd mentality.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
You're so right like people have the FOMO of not
wanting to miss out and Ipromise you you are missing out
if you're not part of it.
But you're so right there oflike people will line up and
then people are just like well,what's going on over there?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
yeah, what's that?
Yeah, that's what it's allabout.
Is the what's going on overthere?
You may not be interested atall in a vehicle and next thing
you know you're getting in one,going on a test drive, and
you're telling yourself what amI doing?
And then the customer last week, as he's signing papers, says I
can't believe I'm doing this.
And he just got into theexcitement and the culture.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And culture and you know the, the old adage.
You know we made up an offer,he couldn't refuse.
I mean, it was true and thatand that's.
That's a thing of like, andeach day has to stand on its own
.
We've talked about that andthat's our, our.
Our message to our managers is,like you, sit down with the
customer and find a number thatmakes sense to them.
Absolutely, you do not get upuntil you guys shake hands and
make a deal, and it's happenedyeah, it's happening.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
It's happening.
It's happening because of theexperience, the culture, the
years of experience I don't knowof anybody else in Northwest
Arkansas that can come close toover 75 years of a family
business, a family-run business.
Somebody asked me justyesterday are the Lewis's really
here, Sir?
They're here all the time.
They won't leave.
I mean Shelby's.
(16:06):
He's wearing out this towel infront of my office and he's just
up and down the stairs, Matt,all the time.
They're always here.
They're part of the culture,they're part of the experience.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I think that's big and I think you told a story a
minute ago and that's a commonstory you'd hear on repeat.
If we were interviewingcustomers right now.
They would say hey, I heardabout this ultimate challenge.
I didn't a hundred percentgrasp what that really meant and
we told her, them talking aboutthe big Discounts and the
amount for your trade and thefinancing and the low rates, all
that type stuff.
And then they're like well, I,we would kind of feel like we're
(16:35):
missing out if we didn't go atleast check it out.
So they get here and then theydrive and they find something
like man, this would really benice.
And then they start thinkingabout things like Ford that just
came out with 90 days till, nopayments and spring break's
coming up in a couple weeks andyour car needs tires.
And you're like okay, I couldspend $1,500, $2,000 on tires or
(16:57):
I could take that $700 a monthpayment.
Yes, I put it back in my pocketfor March, for April and for
May.
I now have $2,100 back in mypocket.
I walked away with a sweet deal, all right, with new tires
ready to go.
That's just a small glimpse ofwhat people find.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
That's a small glimpse of what people find
every day and it's the traditionof the ultimate challenge the
stickers on the windows.
People see those stickers.
I had somebody tell me a coupledays ago.
You know y'all are doing thatagain, so they remember it from
years ago.
Oh yeah, and they see thestickers now and they see the
billboards out and they see theexcitement building and it's the
(17:33):
sale season, so he brings themin and they have to check it out
.
You know sale season, so hebrings them in and they have to
check it out.
You know, yesterday we had acustomer that traded in two
vehicles for one and he again,he was just getting some service
work done.
Great opportunity.
Of course we need trade-ins allthe time and we took uh, we
took the customer on a testdrive and he became very
interested and next thing, youknow, he's in the finance
department and he's signingpapers.
(17:55):
So it's a it's a success forboth parties.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
And that's really good.
Anything else you want to letthe listeners out there know
about Ultimate Challenge, or youknow they should come see you
Now.
They're going to find you inthe finance office.
I'll be in the finance officeSign their paperwork.
I already went into a littlebit detail, but I guess I'll ask
just one last question.
From your point of view, in thefinancing, what do you get
(18:18):
banks to do, maybe in the monthof March, that they wouldn't do
in February or April, for thecustomer's benefit?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Well, I think, like a customer, I think the
representatives from eachindividual bank, they get
excited when they see ourexcitement and they see the
atmosphere that's created.
I was talking to one of ourreps I won't say which one, but
I was talking to one of our repslast night at 930 and trying to
help me with some paperworkfinished up and I was calling
him from my house and I don'tthink he takes that phone call
(18:46):
if it's not the ultimatechallenge, correct?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, I mean, he's there.
He's always said I'm here tohelp you, I'm here to help you.
Well, now the rubber 30 atnight and he picks up the phone
and says, hey, how's the salegoing?
So he's there to pick it up.
Leverage the excitement, thenumber of people that you're
sending the quality customersthat you're seeing to each
individual bank.
They get excited about it.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Absolutely, they really do.
They really do.
I think that's a big deal too.
When you talk about that, youknow we talk about internally,
where you also have this secondlayer of what's called
internally, of all your vendorsyou do business with.
So once you get on the phoneletting all those analysts know
whether they've been through anultimate challenge or not,
you're prepping them.
So for all the business ownersout there, everybody's got to be
(19:27):
on the same page your internalteam and then all your vendors
at the same time, because we'vegot to hit on all cylinders to
sell 55.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
You do, and whether it's ABC Credit Union or ABC
Bank, they're here to help youall the time.
They are you bet.
Any final comments?
Nope, no comments.
This is Taco Tuesday.
It is Taco Tuesday, coach time.
Here we go.
Are you buying?
Huh, are you buying?
I just put it on my tab, let'sgo.
I'm getting it right now,that's good.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Thank you, guests to come in.
One of the things we need totalk about with Ultimate
Challenge is crazy trades, crazytrades.
We could tell we're not goingto go into them all, but we
could tell story after story.
That's part of the fun andexcitement of maybe when you
just can't quite get there on adeal but you find something
crazy.
Y'all think about a story to goover with us.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I love going way back .
Speaker 2 (20:15):
What about the crate right in front of the sales desk
that had animals in it?
Oh, yes, there were ducks, yes.
So we're trying to put a dealtogether, and so the question
always comes when we're tryingto get to a number their number,
our number, or whether it befinance from the bank's number
and we say, what else do youhave to trade?
And we're not generally talkingabout stuff of VIN numbers at
(20:36):
that point.
What we're not generallytalking about, stuff of VIN
numbers at that point, whatwe're talking about, is crazy
trade.
So this person traded in someaverage tractor supply ducks,
yes, and it was a value of$1,500 or $2,000 to the deal of
some ducks that then end up atmom and dad's house.
Oh yeah, we got them.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Yeah, they go out to the farm.
So it's anything.
And it's going past.
Like you said, anyone else isgoing to tangibly look at a
motorcycle, a car, an automobile, a trailer, something like that
.
But it's getting past that.
It's like, hey, what do you haveof value?
And really getting involvedthere saying, hey, I want to
help you make this deal, I wantto help it make sense to you,
(21:15):
what else do you have have?
And then it's another avenuefor us to share our fun
atmosphere, no different than usdressing up on cancun friday,
having taco tuesday, food truckfriday, saturday.
It's a different avenue andit's letting the customer know,
hey, we're willing to go thisextra step, this extra step to
be able to put somethingtogether.
(21:35):
You have a trade that you canthink of that just really stands
out, the the funniest thing.
And you hit this and I laughabout it.
All of them either end up atour parents' house or our
uncle's house and Matt, well,back in the day they traded for
a goat and I always laugh aboutthis, but somehow it got angry
and may have knocked the slidingglass window out of Uncle
(21:59):
Tommy's house.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Oh yeah, and you said that maybe it's solid
reflection yeah.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
We always give our friends a hard time.
We traded for ducks, we tradedfor horses, we traded for horses
that have gotten loose, thathave we've had to get back in
there, that they all just lookat us and shake their heads.
But we've learned it from themand we always call it old school
horse trading and that'sexactly what it is I'm talking
(22:26):
about a leaf blower that's blownup a golf club with a head
missing off of it.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yes, Anything of value to get it going.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I think all those things and what we're doing
there again is the excitementinternally.
And if you've been around uslong enough, you know we're
solution based and we're lookingfor a reason.
You got to think about, likewhen somebody's buying the
second largest purchase of theirlife, which would be a car, and
we get to a point and it's kindof gridlocked on like hey, I'll
give this, I'll sell it forthis, and like you're at an
(22:55):
impasse, I'm what to do next.
That's where the crazy tradecomes in, for a couple reasons.
One, you're looking for asolution.
Number two, you're just tryingto break the tension, to get
back into that habit, absolutelyJust finding a way to say yes.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
That's what it is.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Okay, our next guest up.
We're excited to have him here.
Mr Anthony, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Thank you fellas.
Well, you guys might knowthat's the preacher.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Yes, Thanks for stopping in here.
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
Appreciate y'all having me.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Now, is this the first Ultimate Challenge you've
been through?
Speaker 6 (23:24):
No, my first Ultimate Challenge was 2017.
Okay, and I had a good run ofthat.
And then, a matter of fact,before you guys announced it
again, on the news sales, I waslike man.
I wish you would have beenaround for ultimate challenge.
(23:45):
And then here we go.
We didn't tell anybody, right?
No, absolutely it was just.
It was a great shock and wefeel very blessed to have it
back so if you had customers,obviously you have.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
But I'm just asking in ultimate challenge is that
when you get with a customer orget with the desk, does the deal
feel different?
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Absolutely.
It feels a hundred percentdifferent.
We, you know, I guess, as a asa customer, me on the inside, I
just really feel like we'redoing everything that we can
possibly do to better yoursituation, to put you in what
you want, in a great atmosphere.
And I would be safe to say thatall of my customers have really
(24:25):
become my friends and they mayhave started out angry because
of other experiences but by thetime it's said and done, you
know this really changes yourattitude about buying a vehicle.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
They kind of tell you hey, this feels different, this
is not what I expected fromwhen I bought five years ago or
three years ago from anotherdealership.
Right, and that's of course howwe do business.
It is.
But does the customer have walkus through what you've seen?
Okay, no fluff here.
What you've seen?
Does the customer really havean advantage as far as
negotiating and getting a betterdeal during March?
(24:59):
And if the answer is yes, whyis that?
Speaker 6 (25:03):
The answer is yes and it just kicks off selling
season.
I think, as far as a companygoes, you know we all have
numbers to hit.
We're wanting to have lifelongcustomers, not just one sale.
So we don't look at itnecessarily as just an
individual car deal.
We want to have your family,your friends, your service,
(25:25):
everything else, and in March Imean it is as good as it gets to
come and find, especially theinventory we have.
We're going to do everything wecan possibly do, not that we
don't in the other months, doeverything we can possibly do
now that we don't in the othermonths.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
The march is just special.
We have 555 cars to sell.
It kind of unravels one.
People would ask about it.
They're like, hey, you're doingthat again.
Right, what's your number?
How many you sold?
Uh, and then you get people whoare not in the market to buy
cars.
And we've talked about it,right, like they know, the
inside is like I'm gonna get areally good deal.
But they say, hey, I'm not.
I'm not in the market, but justtell me, here's what I'm paying
(26:02):
, here's what I'm driving.
Can you better that?
Do you have customers like that?
Speaker 6 (26:04):
100%.
Let's just be real.
In 2020, with the pandemic thatwent on and the limited
availability of any vehicles, alot of people got in a situation
they didn't want to be in.
This undoes most of that.
That makes sense and a lot ofmy customers that I've sold
(26:25):
already.
You know they were not in agreat situation but come
ultimate challenge, they'regoing to get a better interest
rate.
If they were upside down, we'regoing to eat that up.
By having you know Ford isallowing us to have deals money
off.
You can undo a bad situation inMarch and put you in a great
situation for the future.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Hey, let's talk about selection here because we talk
about you know, obviously we'reshouting it, it's on our posters
the ultimate selection, andI'll lead you into this.
But just since first of March,for all the listeners out there.
So from March 1st to the 11th,we have acquired an additional
118 pre-owned vehicles.
(27:06):
That doesn't even take intoaccount some of the other
pre-owns that we bought from ourdifferent holding lots in our
network, but 118 that we'vegotten from fresh trade-ins that
were local trades or that webought locally, and I think
that's important.
So you can share with us howyou translate that to a customer
that if they come on the lottoday, or if they came on last
(27:27):
week and didn't find what theywant, hey, we could be trading
for it right now, or tomorrow100%.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
And the beauty of here at Lewis Automotive is none
of our used vehicles come fromany auctions.
Everything is a fresh trade, orwe buy and then it goes through
service and then I tell themour guys don't get paid unless
they find something they want tofix.
So we're looking to dosomething there and our
inventory rolls over about everytwo weeks so I can get you any
(27:55):
vehicle you want.
If you have the patience, we'regoing to get it and you can be
trusted it's going to have aLewis guarantee.
With that Lewis guarantee noone else offers a three-year
36,000-mile warranty on avehicle that's already had
50,000 miles on it.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
So when does that warranty start?
Let's say, I'm looking at avehicle that's got 75,000 miles
on it.
When does that three-yearwarranty start?
Speaker 6 (28:16):
the day that you sign up and drive off, you're going
to get a three-year, 36,000 milepowertrain warranty.
No one can touch that.
How about a hundred thousandmile car man?
Exactly, yeah, I'm going togive you a six, six, six, six.
So you're you have.
You have something here that noone else will offer.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
so, anthony, how many cars is it?
Would you say?
March is your biggest month ofthe year.
Yes, yes, okay, what's yourmost you've sold in the year?
41.
41.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
That's the last two marches, you by yourself, by
myself, with the help of, ofcourse, you guys.
Good job, 41 cars, yeah, gotcha.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
And 41 people would not have said yes if they didn't
get bigger discounts amount fortheir trade.
We did work with a financingcompany.
The whole equation has to bethere.
It's different selling fivecars and 40 cars.
To be scalable like that,you've got to have some true
benefits.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
You have to, and I think that's where the whole
team comes in.
So it's a huge month and ifyou're looking to upgrade to put
yourself in a better situation,just come by and get a free hot
dog.
Can you even watch a car wash?
You come, ask for the preacher,I'll wash your car.
Hey, what's?
Speaker 1 (29:24):
your phone number.
How do they get a hold of youso?
Speaker 6 (29:25):
479-466-6785.
That is my direct number andmost people know me here as the
preacher.
I pastor a local church for 30years and certainly be glad to
show you a red carpet experience.
And you're here at theFayetteville location.
I'm here at the Fayettevillelocation, but I can sell from
(29:46):
any location you get a hold ofme.
You see something at FarmingtonSpringdale, wherever you call
the preacher, come and ask forme and I'll take care of you.
Love that Good deal.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Thanks, preacher, come and ask for me and I'll
take care of you.
Love that Good deal.
Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for coming in, the oneand only.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Preacher hey, and we thought it would be fun today to
bring to you guys out theresome of the insiders.
Join in.
Next week We'll have a wholefresh new set to be able to give
their opinion of what's goingon.
But as we wrap this one up,we've got to talk a little bit
about celebrating, and we docelebrate.
We celebrate wins every singleday and then at the end of this
(30:22):
month when we exceed 555, we'llcelebrate again.
But the timing has to becorrect on that celebrating.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Most importantly so, we're always tracking the KPIs.
This month is very importantthat you don't miss a deal or a
day, or each person has theequal load, and so that's
something that we work on eachday, and so if you come through
here, you might see a saleschart, you might see a number
update on the board, you mightsee handouts that have color on
(30:51):
them, and it's helping usconstantly celebrate those wins
to say, hey, you hit yourSaturday number, you hit your
daily travel goal yes in service.
Here's where you track andhere's where you're at and
here's what this gets you inparts.
Hey, we need a little bit morehere.
Uh, you don't want to celebratetoo early, but that's why we
cut it up from like of anthony'snumber of 40, we know that his
(31:12):
travel rate needs to be 1.7 to 2cars per day of his working
days, you bet, and so we'llcelebrate each day win with him.
Yes, you know, so that we canhelp celebrate.
But we're not saying woo-woo,you got there.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Coast the rest of the way we love to translate things
over to sports.
I'm going to have to go tobasketball because football
season's over, okay, so we'llsee how good I am at talking
about basketball.
Yeah, let's, but it's nodifferent.
When the crowd startscelebrating, you know, when a
player hits a three-pointer, orthey're at the free throw line
shooting some foul shots andthey hit those, they celebrate,
but they're not storming thecourt yet we haven't won the
(31:46):
game.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
No, you have to wait until it's done.
You do.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm going to go back over, eventhough it's not football, and
you can do this in basketball aswell.
A coach's aspect is where wereally look at it of and steve
always helps us remind us thisbut it's no different than a
player comes off and it doesn'tmatter if they've just ran the
full court, did a layup, theyhit a three-point shot or they
just ran a touchdown for thefull length of the field the
(32:10):
player comes off, the coach patshim on the butt and he sets him
up to do the next play.
That's right.
He doesn't stop the whole andwe know this is a long month and
, yeah, we're excited, but ourjob is to be able to set them
back up.
Keep them going, keep thesuccess coming.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
So I think you know, if you think about terms of fire
, if we're lighting a fire ormomentum inside somebody, you
don't just sit there and watchthe fire until it burns out.
You're like, oh, that was agood fire, you take that part,
that success, like Taylor'stalking about, that becomes your
foundation then to grow formore momentum and you throw some
more fuel on it.
Oh yes, you know, you putanother log on it.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
You don't want that fire to go out when you can see
a process or a person is workingreally good, things are jiving
well.
You know they're communicatingwell with the customers.
And the customers can relate.
Yes, you know, putting therubber to the road, we say
that's outstanding.
Hey, did you see today's dealof the day?
Yes, hey, mrs smith, show herthe wide explorer.
(33:08):
Hey, uh, miss davis, show herthe banco sport, because we know
that running back is doing good, is making good yardage.
Oh yeah, and what that relatesto?
If you're a customer on theother side of the camera, like
okay, what is it?
That means you're getting aperson who is way more
transparent, way moreknowledgeable, yes, and is going
to value your time, becausetheir time is super valuable,
(33:28):
and so they're going to get youthe best car quickly.
They might find you somethingwith a little bit more discount
because they paid attention inthe meeting, like hey, this one
the manufacturer just came outwith there might attention in
the meeting like hey, this onethe manufacturer just came out
with, there might be twoidentical vehicles on the lot,
and because the time they werereleased from the factory, one
might have an additional twothousand dollars.
So before you just say, hey,leave me alone, I'm just looking
the other side, the trustedclient advisor, might have some
(33:52):
inside trader info that you needto know to help you I think
that and I get it from acustomer standpoint you work
really hard for your money.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
You save your money up.
You know you've done all yourresearch, not only on the
vehicle but how to get the bestdeal, and you've read these
blogs and these posts and this,and that Guys just know this.
We've been here for 79 yearsnow.
The best way we can help assistyou finding the right vehicle
with the right equipment thatfits in your monthly budget is
we got to know some insideinformation.
(34:20):
You know what I mean.
We're going to treat youextremely fair.
We're going to be here afterthe sale too, but we need some
of that information on, like howdo you structure when you buy?
How often do you trade?
Do you put money down?
Like, what, realistically, arewe after?
And then, like, once we havethose details, it becomes a
whole lot more fun walkingaround the lot, because then
we're just picking out thevehicle.
Yeah, I think we've got almost1,200 vehicles now and you don't
(34:42):
want to walk around and look at1,200.
No, well, you know, let's golook at about a dozen or half a
dozen to fit that criteria I'mlooking for.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
So that's our needs assessment and that's something
that we could tell specificallyfor Ultimate Challenge to be
hyper-focused, to save you time,get you the best vehicle for
the least amount of money, and Ipromise you these sales people
aren't trying to find you themost expensive and I think we
talked about this and I had.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
I saw customers uh post the other day on a google
review and it made me prettyproud, because this is what we
talk about is they said, hey,there wasn't any pressure and
they were just gathering thecorrect information for me on
the vehicle and the availability.
Yeah, did they ask me about mytrade and and did we go over
credit and this and that?
Yeah, we did, because theyneeded that information to give
(35:26):
me accurate facts.
And then if it made sense, itmade sense, let's go forward.
If not, then when it does makesense, let us know We'll still
be here.
I think that's really importantis that, yeah, we're here to
sell cars and we're here tooffer you all that stuff cars
and we're here to offer you allthat stuff, but we want to get
you the correct information, butwe need that communication.
Speaker 5 (35:43):
Yes, you know what I've loved seeing and we talked
about this last week butcreating that culture that is
from the front to the back,every different department that
they're all bought in, they'reall in the same game plan.
I've loved seeing this week andI've seen it from even our
sales staff, which, anthony, isa part of that you just heard
from, but I've heard themseveral times whenever a sales
(36:07):
manager has been in the middleof it going through, working
hard and they're gassed a littlebit, they just ran the whole
length of the field and thesalesman's like, hey, hold on, I
thought it was ultimatechallenge.
And that's the pat on the back.
From your sales guy saying, hey, get back in the game, I need
you.
So it's both sides.
From your sales guy saying, hey, get back in the game, I need
you.
So it's both sides, everyone'sso.
Bought in that services up hereasking sales how they're doing
(36:28):
on selling and everything else.
They are absolutely complete.
Bought in of Total Department.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Okay, so we've kind of recapped week two ultimate
challenge as we start this, Iwant to give you three tips on
buying a vehicle that you needto check out before you ever go
anywhere else or try anythingelse.
So these are three tips thatcan be used across the board.
So one you need to go to oneLewis Automotive location
Springdale, dreville orFarmington and you need to ask
for the ultimate challenge price.
(36:58):
You have to get that ultimatechallenge price.
You need to get that in person.
They make sure that you qualifyfor all the discounts and
rebates.
Two, you need to ask for anultimate challenge trade value.
Okay, and that's going to be acash value and those can be
separate and or together, butwe'll always separate those in
that trade value.
So before you buy anywhere else,you're going to want to get
(37:19):
that ultimate challenge discountprice.
Whether it's new or used,you're going to want to get that
ultimate challenge trade value.
You buy cars constantly and thethird thing you want to do is
combo that all together and makesure you get that super low.
We talked about with thefinance managers that interest
rate that we automatically havea two and a half point interest
rate reduction with our banksfor ultimate challenge.
You're going to want to getthat ultimate challenge monthly
(37:41):
payment grid to kind of show you, to give you 12 different
options.
And so if you'll get thatultimate challenge price, that
ultimate challenge trade valueand that ultimate challenge
monthly payment, if you havethat, that will fully load you
to be able to have all theinformation and whether you buy
from us or not and I hope thatyou do, but even if you don't
you'll have that information tobe able to make an educated
(38:01):
decision.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
I think those are great tips and I love the one
part there.
And I know everybody's eithergotten advice from somebody
that's been around the businessor bought a bunch of cars, or
you've read the blogs on how tobuy a car.
One thing we take a lot ofpride in are trade values.
Whether you trade with us ornot, we'll write you a check for
what we said the car was worth.
So it doesn't matter to us ifyou throw the trade in from the
(38:25):
get-go or if you bring it in atthe last minute before you go on
into finance In our book,because that's a transparent way
of doing business.
It's the same value either way,so you might as well get it out
front so you have everythingyou need for the equation.
I think that's a great piece ofadvice right there.
Speaker 5 (38:44):
Taylor.
Any final thoughts?
No, I think we hit the nail onthe head on all of that and just
the total atmosphere,absolutely loving every part of
it.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
You bet that's good.
Hey, any other frequentquestions that since Ultimate
Challenge has gotten startedmaybe from new people that you
guys have gotten asked either bycustomers or by employees about
what it's about, what they'relooking for.
What is all this?
I love it, but what is all thiscraziness?
Speaker 2 (39:08):
man, we get asked all the time, like one where do you
find all this inventory?
you know, and that's somethingthat we've been working on for
two months to be able like, sowe can show up with our best.
Yes, but then it also continuesto keep filling up and we, we
use all channels and all avenuesto get that inventory.
You know, we ask, hey, how doyou pace yourself to make sure
(39:28):
that at the end you have 555stores left?
And we, we get people askinglike, hey, how can I be a part
of that?
You know so, whether that'sinternal people that are not
directly salespeople, um, and sothat's sending in referrals.
So if you know anyone out there, if you're watching this, just
by sharing this or commenting ortelling someone who's in the
(39:49):
market, tell them.
If your name's Bill out thereand you happen to see this,
whether you've done businesswith us or not, someone's asking
about a car and you say, hey,go see the Lewis brothers at
Lewis, I'm going to go seepreacher, go see somebody lewis,
I'm gonna tell them that billsent you and we'll give you a
hundred dollars, you know.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
So that's a good reminder of kind of how that
works there hey, we've got someof the audience out there that's
asking this question.
This is a good one.
They want to know, well, whatis the hottest car during
ultimate challenge?
What have we sold the most of?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
well, it just so happens to be truck month.
Yes, you know so.
Our f-150 is extremely popular.
Yes, up to 16.5 off to fm50 xlt.
Crew cab, four-wheel drive,sport appearance package, 2.7
ecoboost pro power on board.
Uh, center console shifter.
It is the hottest truck.
Last night I walked out Yep andwhere my truck was parked all
(40:47):
there was was a box of my stuff,I mean your car sold Taylor
sold my truck.
It was that truck, an XLT crewcab, four-wheel drive truck, and
I'm okay with that right.
Speaker 5 (40:58):
Luckily, you kept a box, and so it wasn't too crazy.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yeah, hey, anthony sold it and he said said, hey,
you didn't have very much stuffin there.
I've learned a long time agodon't carry a whole lot of stuff
because it's for sale.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
so the f-150 has been super popular but it's kind of
across the board, I'd say theother one that comes in a pretty
, pretty close second and thisis kind of tied between the two
stores.
But is that, uh, that small suv?
Oh, we've seen a ton of successin the Escape.
That's under $30,000, and it'sfour-wheel drive.
And we have as well on theCompass.
You know that Compass is asport four-wheel drive, it's a
(41:29):
2025 model and it's 24.9.
So when you talk about boththose vehicles being under
$30,000, over 30 miles pergallon, you know, and great
savings, we're talking about agreat payment, very safe,
reliable vehicles, and we gottwo of them to pick from.
If you're looking for an escape, great.
If you want a Jeep, great, wegot you covered either way.
(41:50):
So I think both of those arereally good, yeah, final
thoughts Come out and see us,don't wait.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
And then a lot of our friends, people we go to church
with, are, yes, don't wait.
And then a lot of our friends,people we go to church with, are
just people we see along theway.
They say, hey, how's the number, how are you coming?
And I always say you guysalways say, you got to come by
and see if we can upgrade yourride, lower your payment, get
you a newer car.
And they said well, let us knowwhat your number is.
On the 31st, I need your helpon the 11th or the 13th or 14th
(42:25):
or otherwise, otherwise youmight be driving off in a, in a
yugo yeah, a yugo or a pink ponymustang or whatever.
Uh, it's going to be somethingrandom, we'll.
We'll take care of you.
We'll take care of you.
But if you're not going to wanttired and worn out clay, you're
going to want to come on the13th or 14th, that's right
taylor.
Speaker 5 (42:37):
Any other thoughts?
No, absolutely, shelby.
I love that.
We have shared the message somuch that I had several people
this week and asked me hey, canI come by and get one of those
cool stickers?
I want to be a part of it.
Put it on the back of my, soanybody that has any questions,
any other idea?
As far as vehicles, come by andsee us, it's a ultimate
atmosphere that you won't getanywhere else.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
Shelby, that point where you're saying about the
friends, the family, the otherbusiness owners out there that
want to help.
I'm just telling you, at$556,000, will we still make the
deal?
Oh yeah, yes, but do you thinkthe person at $556,000 or
$550,000 is in the driver's seatto leverage more $550,000 and
$225,000.
(43:18):
But at $225,000, the differenceat $225,000 or $ or $300, they
had a lot bigger selection topick from than the person at
$550.
No doubt.
So it's going on the entiremonth.
Today is Tuesday.
Thanks for joining us in onthis live podcast.
Don't forget about today isTaco Tuesday.
We've got the taco trucks here.
That's fun, don't forget aboutthe giveaways.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
We are giving away a grill yesterday.
We're giving away the Stanleymugs.
That's a constant thing thatit's.
It's tough to keep up with it,but we're giving.
So follow our socials yes, onour facebook pages, our
instagram pages and you'll seethose concept contests
constantly.
Share, like and follow.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
We appreciate your support don't forget about 50
off oil change tomorrow,wednesday.
That's at all locations.
We're here in fable doing thepodcast live today, but the
ultimate challenge goes on atall of those locations, whether
it's up in springdale, atspringdale forward, right there
on north thompson, right downhere in fable off of i-49 exit
65, or if you go out intofarmington right past lowes on
(44:12):
the left at our farmingtonlocation, you will find one of
our team members committed andready to go through not only the
best customer experience foryou, but highly aggressive deals
on both the discounts and theamounts for your vehicle.
555 must be sold and ourtagline is no matter what it
takes, thank you guys forjoining your bet.
The fun that we have in the showroom floor, whether I
see Anthony over there and I'mpicking on Anthony or I'm
picking on Scott Jones, which isalways more fun.
But that culture and that thingthat we do, that carries over
to the customer experience.
And when the customers come onthe lot and they see how much
fun we're having, they see theexcitement and you're telling
them.
You know they say, well, I'mnot hungry, I don't need to go
(00:21):
out there, yeah, come on with me, we're going to go get a couple
of tacos.
And it just builds theexcitement.
Customers see that and theytell each other about it.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Welcome back to Crossroad Conversations with the
Lewis Brothers, matt, shelbyand Taylor reporting live from
Lewis Ford in Fayetteville.
We're talking UltimateChallenge, week 2.
Totally mixing this whole thingup, we went from the studio
brought studio, brought livehere to the wooden table to the
(00:48):
wooden table here in the Broncoshowroom to kind of give you an
idea of what's going on.
Yep, the John Maddenplay-by-play how it's going.
So just in case you werecurious and I know you are, it's
day 11.
As the calendar falls, that'snot selling days, but day 11.
We're at 179 sold.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So you're telling me you track these daily activities
and you're giving us an update.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, and the whole team knows that big
scoreboard.
Update Each person.
How many have we sold so far?
179 vehicles sold across thered carpet.
Part of the ultimate challengeUp to $20,000 off.
Ultimate amount for the trading.
Hand-off rates as low as 0%, nopayments for 90 days.
All the good stuff.
The commotion is full speedahead.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
And we're going to have some guests on this show
today that here in a minutewe'll start bringing them on so
you can hear from them.
You hear from the LewisBrothers all the time about, hey
, what's going on, here's whyyou should take action and about
our culture, and you'll neverdo business having more fun than
you do with us, so on and soforth.
If you didn't get last week'sepisode, make sure to go to
Crossroad Conversations or onyour favorite device, whether
(01:50):
that's Spotify or Apple,wherever you're listening to
podcasts, or it could be onFacebook, where we are right now
.
Check that out from last week.
So you kind of get behind thescenes on where the ultimate
challenge come from.
How did we get there?
Why we do this?
Yeah, you know what I mean.
So with that, we know you'veheard from us a bunch.
We want to bring on our firstguest this morning.
He's going to help us give alittle bit of behind the scenes
(02:13):
what Ultimate Challenge means,and all the fun and all the
excitement about what's going on.
What do we?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
got here, hey, Freddie welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Here we go.
Hey, Freddie, so you've beenthrough a couple ultimate
challenges.
About how many do you thinkyou've been through?
About 12.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
12 of them, 12 of them.
Yeah, starting from what?
2010?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
2010.
So Freddie's been with us for awhile and has helped us out in
any situation, every positionthat we've asked him to, and
absolutely done an amazing jobat it, thanks.
But he's been here, for he'sbeen here longer than 12 years,
but 12 ultimate challenges to gothrough, and what do you see
from?
Let's talk internally first.
(02:53):
From an employee standpoint,how does it feel different?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
than a normal month.
It's just, it's the momentum,it's getting into the sales
season.
It's really just kind ofgetting the guys fired up.
You see them moving around alot more.
More people are out, nicerweather, big discounts, big
savings, so that kind of getsthe whole market churning.
Sure, it's a whole lot ofexcitement.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
So we talk about it a bunch on the podcast, about how
we start internally first withthat culture.
You know, for everybodylistening out here, does that
feel the same?
Does it feel different?
Do we rally inside before thecustomer gets here?
Speaker 4 (03:31):
We have a huge rally on Mondays, fridays and then
just about every day of the week.
But what's crazy is we havethat all year long, so we can
always kind of rally and pump upthe guys, but when the ultimate
challenge hits, it's anotherlevel.
Is it different Speakers?
I mean, it goes to the top.
We do.
You know all the promotions,all the lights, all the music
(03:55):
and you think that's you know100%, but somehow we bring it to
150%.
We rented more speakers?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
How did this happen?
Yeah, of course there's alwaysmore speakers.
Yeah, yeah, Matt went andrented some more sub-work drinks
.
Those were tugs.
What did Saturday start out?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
like I was just getting here, it was crazy.
We got a 110-foot gorilla andyou walk in.
There's energy drinkseverywhere.
There's donuts everywhere.
Before we get back to theactual meeting in the park the
coffee truck.
The coffee truck was out here.
We had ice cream.
We got taco trucks today.
Actual meeting in the parkright, just go get the coffee
truck.
Coffee truck was out here.
We had what ice cream?
Oh yeah, we got taco truckstoday.
(04:28):
And, uh-huh, race car simulator.
Yeah, yeah it's next level.
Yeah, we had axe throwing in theparking lot with one.
That's crazy, I'll tell anyone.
So that's just the start of it.
Like what's cool is where we'reat right now, where we get the
momentum built already and nowwe're figuring out how to keep
that thing churning.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
That's really exciting.
So that is from the, that'sfrom the side of the internal
employees.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthe consumer.
Obviously, our sales hats on.
We're trying to sell 555vehicles Now, right now.
You know you're in the financedepartment and just and just
killing it there.
But from a customer standpoint,they're like how am I going to
(05:12):
get a better rate, how am Igoing to get a better buy, a
better deal on the financingportion during ultimate
challenge and I know I've heardyou talk about it before, but
that's leverage.
You take endless business andthen you talk to the banks, you
use leverage.
Walk them, walk them throughthat yeah, you've got to think.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
We know normally we're doing 300 cards a month.
This month we start out.
We get our reps excited aboutit.
We have our reps calling us hey, are you guys doing the
ultimate challenge this year?
Yeah, we are you guys excited?
Yeah, we're gonna stay late tohelp your dealership and
specifically get these dealsbought.
You know we're gonna go from300 cars to 555 cars, probably
closer to 650.
(05:46):
Yeah, you're talking about thebankrupts.
Yeah, absolutely.
Our bankrupts are calling ussaying, hey, we're going to stay
late to help you guys, which iscrazy.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So if somebody out there is going, okay, great, but
you guys are selling cars,you're just giving me a bunch of
words and reasons to come in.
That's not necessarily thetruth, because let's say, you
need a little bit extra, carryon a deal.
Maybe you got to get sales taxin, maybe somebody listening out
there is upside down in theirvehicle, but you had just sent
that bank five deals that wereperfect deals that they're gonna
(06:18):
help us out on number six.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Yeah, they're gonna say, hey, listen, thank you for
sending us those deals, becauseyou sent, sent us those deals.
We're going to help you out onthis one.
So the consumer is going toactually get a little bit better
position on their car.
They're going to be able to getthe loan done and they're going
to leave here in a new car witha red carpet picture.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Because then if they tried to go to the bank by
themselves, they're not going tobe able to leverage off all
that business.
Correct, they're One, oneperson.
That makes a lot of sense, andthat's why we wanted to bring it
up.
It's really where the rubbermeets the road on.
You're leveraging off to beable to get people a better deal
in financing too, and a lot oftimes Shelby talked about we've
got the $20,000 off, we've gotthe $199 payment and the
(06:58):
ultimate amount for your trade,but the financing is a big deal
too.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's what puts the rubber to the road we always
talk about.
There's three people.
Then it's the customer, it'sthe dealership making the
ultimate deal, and then it's thebank.
It's the bank Right, we have toget all those people on the
same page to say yes, and sothat's a big deal.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
You bet.
You bet, if a customer has notbeen here yet, maybe any of the
12 years, maybe they just movedhere and they're hearing about
Ultimate Challenge, like I'm notreally sure what it is, but
every time I turn on the TV, theradio, drive down the road or
open up my email, somethingabout Ultimate Challenge is
there, which means we're doingour job.
(07:39):
You know, as far as marketing,when they come, how would it
feel different, culture-wise,when they're looking at a car?
You know what would theatmosphere kind of walk somebody
through on, how it would feeldifferent than just a normal car
dealership?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
what's the the coolest part is our vip
experience.
Whenever you get to thedealership, within five minutes
you're going to be on a testdrive if you've already picked
out a car.
If you haven't picked out a car, we're going to sit down with
you and do a customer interview.
We're going to get you dialedin because we've got over 1200
cars out here.
Okay, you can walk that lot forsix hours and not find the
right car, but what our guys aretrained to do is they're to sit
(08:08):
down with you, figure out whatyour wants and needs are and
they're going to dial it intothree to five cars for you and
then we're going to go look atthose cars and we'll have you in
and out in under 90 minutes.
By doing it to help them.
Oh man, that's a huge benefit.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Everybody talks about time and time being a big deal
For sure, so sure.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
All right.
So ultimate challenge We've gotFreddie's.
Take Anything you want to leavethe listeners with of hey, why
buy or what's?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
good or what's different.
I think you just have to see itto believe it.
You just have to stop by, evenif you're not in the market for
a car.
Come see what's going on,because it gets pretty wild, you
bet.
I love that.
Well, I love that.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Well, freddie, thanks for joining us this morning.
Go sign some more people up.
Go, yeah, let's go.
We'll be to our next guest herein just a little bit, but
before we go into that, shelby,we've got a big deal coming up
tomorrow because it's Wednesday,and on Wednesday we've got a
big offer.
We've been talking aboutselling cars.
This is for servicing your car.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Servicing your car, and this was an idea to to bring
people on it's $50 off oilchange.
Now, on my side of the screenon your side of the screen, by
the way raise your hands.
Who needs to change oil intheir car?
That's everyone, right, that'severyone needs to change oil in
their car.
And when is a better time toget the complete, full
inspection and make sure thatyou save the money?
So, on Wednesdays, save $50 offan oil change, and I'm just
(09:22):
telling you that.
That's going on all over ourlocations, yeah, so whether you
you take a car up to springdale,if it's at the ford store fable
or the cdjr store fabletomorrow, it's 50 off, no
appointment needed.
Okay, and we've extra staffed,okay, and we've told them say
yes, just the same thing as acar deal, say yes to the deal,
say yes to the old change, um.
(09:43):
So everyone's going to thinkcome early.
But also I want to give you aninside.
I tell them it's inside traderinformation and we track this
constantly that if you will comein between the one o'clock and
the three o'clock, that's goingto be your shortest wait time,
which is going to be like littleto no wait time and they're
going to show you the vipwaiting area.
(10:04):
They're going to get you acompany coffee and they're going
to be like little to no waittime and they're going to show
you the vip waiting area.
They're going to get youcompany coffee and they're going
to get you in and out in notime.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
So what you're telling everybody is like, hey,
here's the big offer.
But some people go in theirmind like anytime somebody's got
a crazy offer, I see that longline or or tents to camp out in.
You're trying to tell them howto take advantage of the offer
at the right time.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
This is like the Facebook group for the Harbor
Freight discount and I'm showingyou how to stack with the US
General 72 inch Double stackSign up for the member's reward.
So you have to stack it, so youget the big money off, but you
also don't have to wait a longtime.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
That makes complete sense.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
So make sure you stop by, and that's only on
Wednesdays, and that's only onWednesdays, and that's only
during Ultimate Challenge.
So don't wait.
You probably are past due onyour oil change, so you've got
to get here and get your oilchanged.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Okay, we've got our next guest up.
He's a fan, mr Steve Aldama.
Steve's been with the companyfor a long time and this isn't
your first Ultimate Challenge,is it?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
It is not my first.
I'll tell you how far I go backthe first contest where I won a
TV.
It took five people to load theTV.
That's how big the TV was.
Man, you're old.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
Yeah, it's old and what size was the TV?
For my friends it was probablyabout a 19-inch, but it was a
color.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
All the knobs were attached.
I was hooked up the knobs, theknobs, the knobs.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
People may not understand.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Talk about how much we've grown.
That was at the old schoolbutcher block, that's at the
butcher block.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Yogi Hamilton was the auctioneer.
The auctioneer, yeah, scottHamilton about that one Yogi was
the auctioneer Long time ago.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
So last episode last week, we kind of gave you a
little bit of behind the scenesand the history of Ultimate
Challenge and where it came from.
We started talking about and ifyou didn't hear it, go back and
listen that we used to havethis large used car sale over at
the fairgrounds that we put onand out of the fairgrounds.
That's where the UltimateChallenge, that's where it
started and I'm pretty sure youwere here at the inaugural first
(12:05):
ultimate challenge.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
So in the summer of 99, that was my first ultimate
challenge.
They had all these goals thatyou, they, laid out for you.
And I remember that firstThursday it was a blur.
They told you what it was goingto be like, but it was a blur.
It was fast moving.
You, you what it was going tobe like, but it was a blur.
Okay, it was fast moving.
You had people looking for keys, moving cars, customers
(12:29):
everywhere, the excitement, theculture.
Your grandfather was movingboats and four wheelers around.
They were in the wrong spot.
It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And speaking of and Freddie talked about our sales
meetings, but this isn'tsomething we just came up with.
Tell us about a fairgrounds,saturday morning sales meeting.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Well, it was an every morning sales meeting.
I think during that salesmeeting Mr Tom had newspaper ads
from other competitors.
All right, who?
Mr Tom is our grandfather.
So Mr Tom is leading the salesmeeting and he says I hear such
and such has got Tauruses forthis and he shreds the paper.
(13:08):
He just tears them up.
Tears them up, it's old schoolnewspaper.
Oh, we're tearing it up.
Then he brings up the oldschool Star Shopper.
The Star Shopper has such andsuch for you know, chevy this
hype.
And he gets the meeting going.
Your dad, I mean it'sincredible.
What was going on.
The atmosphere, I mean, justlike now we're talking old
(13:30):
school hot dogs at thefairgrounds, but even today
we've got the taco trucks outhere.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Oh, taco trucks, Absolutely.
Hey, I can remember Shelbystarted talking about stats when
we started this live today,about how many cars we sold back
during the the fairgrounds,which was pre-ultimate challenge
.
If we we went the stats all theway down to how many hot dogs
and cookies did we handle?
Oh, you know, if you want tomeasure something to prove, you
know you must look at the yeah,yeah.
(13:57):
So you've talked quite a bitabout, you know, the excitement
internally.
You talked a little bit aboutthe auction, which is is an
internal thing.
How do you relate us havingmore fun internally with all
this to a better customerexperience?
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Well, it all comes down to the customer experience.
And I think the customerexperience is even based on the
culture that's created here on adaily basis.
Because the fun that we have inthe showroom floor whether I
see Anthony over there and I'mpicking on Anthony or I'm
picking on Scott Jones, which isalways more fun but that
culture and that, that thingthat we do, that carries over to
(14:31):
the customer experience.
And when the customers come onthe lot and they see how much
fun we're having, they see theexcitement and you're telling
them.
You know.
They say, well, I'm not hungry,I don't need to go out there,
come on with me, we're gonna goget a couple of tacos.
And it's just, it just buildsthe excitement.
Customers see that and theytell each other about it, the
crowd mentality.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
You're so right like people have the FOMO of not
wanting to miss out and Ipromise you you are missing out
if you're not part of it.
But you're so right there oflike people will line up and
then people are just like well,what's going on over there?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
yeah, what's that?
Yeah, that's what it's allabout.
Is the what's going on overthere?
You may not be interested atall in a vehicle and next thing
you know you're getting in one,going on a test drive, and
you're telling yourself what amI doing?
And then the customer last week, as he's signing papers, says I
can't believe I'm doing this.
And he just got into theexcitement and the culture.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
And culture and you know the, the old adage.
You know we made up an offer,he couldn't refuse.
I mean, it was true and thatand that's.
That's a thing of like, andeach day has to stand on its own
.
We've talked about that andthat's our, our.
Our message to our managers is,like you, sit down with the
customer and find a number thatmakes sense to them.
Absolutely, you do not get upuntil you guys shake hands and
make a deal, and it's happenedyeah, it's happening.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
It's happening.
It's happening because of theexperience, the culture, the
years of experience I don't knowof anybody else in Northwest
Arkansas that can come close toover 75 years of a family
business, a family-run business.
Somebody asked me justyesterday are the Lewis's really
here, Sir?
They're here all the time.
They won't leave.
I mean Shelby's.
(16:06):
He's wearing out this towel infront of my office and he's just
up and down the stairs, Matt,all the time.
They're always here.
They're part of the culture,they're part of the experience.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
I think that's big and I think you told a story a
minute ago and that's a commonstory you'd hear on repeat.
If we were interviewingcustomers right now.
They would say hey, I heardabout this ultimate challenge.
I didn't a hundred percentgrasp what that really meant and
we told her, them talking aboutthe big Discounts and the
amount for your trade and thefinancing and the low rates, all
that type stuff.
And then they're like well, I,we would kind of feel like we're
(16:35):
missing out if we didn't go atleast check it out.
So they get here and then theydrive and they find something
like man, this would really benice.
And then they start thinkingabout things like Ford that just
came out with 90 days till, nopayments and spring break's
coming up in a couple weeks andyour car needs tires.
And you're like okay, I couldspend $1,500, $2,000 on tires or
(16:57):
I could take that $700 a monthpayment.
Yes, I put it back in my pocketfor March, for April and for
May.
I now have $2,100 back in mypocket.
I walked away with a sweet deal, all right, with new tires
ready to go.
That's just a small glimpse ofwhat people find.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
That's a small glimpse of what people find
every day and it's the traditionof the ultimate challenge the
stickers on the windows.
People see those stickers.
I had somebody tell me a coupledays ago.
You know y'all are doing thatagain, so they remember it from
years ago.
Oh yeah, and they see thestickers now and they see the
billboards out and they see theexcitement building and it's the
(17:33):
sale season, so he brings themin and they have to check it out
.
You know sale season, so hebrings them in and they have to
check it out.
You know, yesterday we had acustomer that traded in two
vehicles for one and he again,he was just getting some service
work done.
Great opportunity.
Of course we need trade-ins allthe time and we took uh, we
took the customer on a testdrive and he became very
interested and next thing, youknow, he's in the finance
department and he's signingpapers.
(17:55):
So it's a it's a success forboth parties.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
And that's really good.
Anything else you want to letthe listeners out there know
about Ultimate Challenge, or youknow they should come see you
Now.
They're going to find you inthe finance office.
I'll be in the finance officeSign their paperwork.
I already went into a littlebit detail, but I guess I'll ask
just one last question.
From your point of view, in thefinancing, what do you get
(18:18):
banks to do, maybe in the monthof March, that they wouldn't do
in February or April, for thecustomer's benefit?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Well, I think, like a customer, I think the
representatives from eachindividual bank, they get
excited when they see ourexcitement and they see the
atmosphere that's created.
I was talking to one of ourreps I won't say which one, but
I was talking to one of our repslast night at 930 and trying to
help me with some paperworkfinished up and I was calling
him from my house and I don'tthink he takes that phone call
(18:46):
if it's not the ultimatechallenge, correct?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
No.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Yeah, I mean, he's there.
He's always said I'm here tohelp you, I'm here to help you.
Well, now the rubber 30 atnight and he picks up the phone
and says, hey, how's the salegoing?
So he's there to pick it up.
Leverage the excitement, thenumber of people that you're
sending the quality customersthat you're seeing to each
individual bank.
They get excited about it.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Absolutely, they really do.
They really do.
I think that's a big deal too.
When you talk about that, youknow we talk about internally,
where you also have this secondlayer of what's called
internally, of all your vendorsyou do business with.
So once you get on the phoneletting all those analysts know
whether they've been through anultimate challenge or not,
you're prepping them.
So for all the business ownersout there, everybody's got to be
(19:27):
on the same page your internalteam and then all your vendors
at the same time, because we'vegot to hit on all cylinders to
sell 55.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
You do, and whether it's ABC Credit Union or ABC
Bank, they're here to help youall the time.
They are you bet.
Any final comments?
Nope, no comments.
This is Taco Tuesday.
It is Taco Tuesday, coach time.
Here we go.
Are you buying?
Huh, are you buying?
I just put it on my tab, let'sgo.
I'm getting it right now,that's good.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Thank you, guests to come in.
One of the things we need totalk about with Ultimate
Challenge is crazy trades, crazytrades.
We could tell we're not goingto go into them all, but we
could tell story after story.
That's part of the fun andexcitement of maybe when you
just can't quite get there on adeal but you find something
crazy.
Y'all think about a story to goover with us.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I love going way back .
Speaker 2 (20:15):
What about the crate right in front of the sales desk
that had animals in it?
Oh, yes, there were ducks, yes.
So we're trying to put a dealtogether, and so the question
always comes when we're tryingto get to a number their number,
our number, or whether it befinance from the bank's number
and we say, what else do youhave to trade?
And we're not generally talkingabout stuff of VIN numbers at
(20:36):
that point.
What we're not generallytalking about, stuff of VIN
numbers at that point, whatwe're talking about, is crazy
trade.
So this person traded in someaverage tractor supply ducks,
yes, and it was a value of$1,500 or $2,000 to the deal of
some ducks that then end up atmom and dad's house.
Oh yeah, we got them.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Yeah, they go out to the farm.
So it's anything.
And it's going past.
Like you said, anyone else isgoing to tangibly look at a
motorcycle, a car, an automobile, a trailer, something like that
.
But it's getting past that.
It's like, hey, what do you haveof value?
And really getting involvedthere saying, hey, I want to
help you make this deal, I wantto help it make sense to you,
(21:15):
what else do you have have?
And then it's another avenuefor us to share our fun
atmosphere, no different than usdressing up on cancun friday,
having taco tuesday, food truckfriday, saturday.
It's a different avenue andit's letting the customer know,
hey, we're willing to go thisextra step, this extra step to
be able to put somethingtogether.
(21:35):
You have a trade that you canthink of that just really stands
out, the the funniest thing.
And you hit this and I laughabout it.
All of them either end up atour parents' house or our
uncle's house and Matt, well,back in the day they traded for
a goat and I always laugh aboutthis, but somehow it got angry
and may have knocked the slidingglass window out of Uncle
(21:59):
Tommy's house.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Oh yeah, and you said that maybe it's solid
reflection yeah.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
We always give our friends a hard time.
We traded for ducks, we tradedfor horses, we traded for horses
that have gotten loose, thathave we've had to get back in
there, that they all just lookat us and shake their heads.
But we've learned it from themand we always call it old school
horse trading and that'sexactly what it is I'm talking
(22:26):
about a leaf blower that's blownup a golf club with a head
missing off of it.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yes, Anything of value to get it going.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I think all those things and what we're doing
there again is the excitementinternally.
And if you've been around uslong enough, you know we're
solution based and we're lookingfor a reason.
You got to think about, likewhen somebody's buying the
second largest purchase of theirlife, which would be a car, and
we get to a point and it's kindof gridlocked on like hey, I'll
give this, I'll sell it forthis, and like you're at an
(22:55):
impasse, I'm what to do next.
That's where the crazy tradecomes in, for a couple reasons.
One, you're looking for asolution.
Number two, you're just tryingto break the tension, to get
back into that habit, absolutelyJust finding a way to say yes.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
That's what it is.
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Okay, our next guest up.
We're excited to have him here.
Mr Anthony, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Thank you fellas.
Well, you guys might knowthat's the preacher.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
Yes, Thanks for stopping in here.
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
Appreciate y'all having me.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Now, is this the first Ultimate Challenge you've
been through?
Speaker 6 (23:24):
No, my first Ultimate Challenge was 2017.
Okay, and I had a good run ofthat.
And then, a matter of fact,before you guys announced it
again, on the news sales, I waslike man.
I wish you would have beenaround for ultimate challenge.
(23:45):
And then here we go.
We didn't tell anybody, right?
No, absolutely it was just.
It was a great shock and wefeel very blessed to have it
back so if you had customers,obviously you have.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
But I'm just asking in ultimate challenge is that
when you get with a customer orget with the desk, does the deal
feel different?
Speaker 6 (24:00):
Absolutely.
It feels a hundred percentdifferent.
We, you know, I guess, as a asa customer, me on the inside, I
just really feel like we'redoing everything that we can
possibly do to better yoursituation, to put you in what
you want, in a great atmosphere.
And I would be safe to say thatall of my customers have really
(24:25):
become my friends and they mayhave started out angry because
of other experiences but by thetime it's said and done, you
know this really changes yourattitude about buying a vehicle.
Speaker 3 (24:37):
They kind of tell you hey, this feels different, this
is not what I expected fromwhen I bought five years ago or
three years ago from anotherdealership.
Right, and that's of course howwe do business.
It is.
But does the customer have walkus through what you've seen?
Okay, no fluff here.
What you've seen?
Does the customer really havean advantage as far as
negotiating and getting a betterdeal during March?
(24:59):
And if the answer is yes, whyis that?
Speaker 6 (25:03):
The answer is yes and it just kicks off selling
season.
I think, as far as a companygoes, you know we all have
numbers to hit.
We're wanting to have lifelongcustomers, not just one sale.
So we don't look at itnecessarily as just an
individual car deal.
We want to have your family,your friends, your service,
(25:25):
everything else, and in March Imean it is as good as it gets to
come and find, especially theinventory we have.
We're going to do everything wecan possibly do, not that we
don't in the other months, doeverything we can possibly do
now that we don't in the othermonths.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
The march is just special.
We have 555 cars to sell.
It kind of unravels one.
People would ask about it.
They're like, hey, you're doingthat again.
Right, what's your number?
How many you sold?
Uh, and then you get people whoare not in the market to buy
cars.
And we've talked about it,right, like they know, the
inside is like I'm gonna get areally good deal.
But they say, hey, I'm not.
I'm not in the market, but justtell me, here's what I'm paying
(26:02):
, here's what I'm driving.
Can you better that?
Do you have customers like that?
Speaker 6 (26:04):
100%.
Let's just be real.
In 2020, with the pandemic thatwent on and the limited
availability of any vehicles, alot of people got in a situation
they didn't want to be in.
This undoes most of that.
That makes sense and a lot ofmy customers that I've sold
(26:25):
already.
You know they were not in agreat situation but come
ultimate challenge, they'regoing to get a better interest
rate.
If they were upside down, we'regoing to eat that up.
By having you know Ford isallowing us to have deals money
off.
You can undo a bad situation inMarch and put you in a great
situation for the future.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
Hey, let's talk about selection here because we talk
about you know, obviously we'reshouting it, it's on our posters
the ultimate selection, andI'll lead you into this.
But just since first of March,for all the listeners out there.
So from March 1st to the 11th,we have acquired an additional
118 pre-owned vehicles.
(27:06):
That doesn't even take intoaccount some of the other
pre-owns that we bought from ourdifferent holding lots in our
network, but 118 that we'vegotten from fresh trade-ins that
were local trades or that webought locally, and I think
that's important.
So you can share with us howyou translate that to a customer
that if they come on the lottoday, or if they came on last
(27:27):
week and didn't find what theywant, hey, we could be trading
for it right now, or tomorrow100%.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
And the beauty of here at Lewis Automotive is none
of our used vehicles come fromany auctions.
Everything is a fresh trade, orwe buy and then it goes through
service and then I tell themour guys don't get paid unless
they find something they want tofix.
So we're looking to dosomething there and our
inventory rolls over about everytwo weeks so I can get you any
(27:55):
vehicle you want.
If you have the patience, we'regoing to get it and you can be
trusted it's going to have aLewis guarantee.
With that Lewis guarantee noone else offers a three-year
36,000-mile warranty on avehicle that's already had
50,000 miles on it.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
So when does that warranty start?
Let's say, I'm looking at avehicle that's got 75,000 miles
on it.
When does that three-yearwarranty start?
Speaker 6 (28:16):
the day that you sign up and drive off, you're going
to get a three-year, 36,000 milepowertrain warranty.
No one can touch that.
How about a hundred thousandmile car man?
Exactly, yeah, I'm going togive you a six, six, six, six.
So you're you have.
You have something here that noone else will offer.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
so, anthony, how many cars is it?
Would you say?
March is your biggest month ofthe year.
Yes, yes, okay, what's yourmost you've sold in the year?
41.
41.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
That's the last two marches, you by yourself, by
myself, with the help of, ofcourse, you guys.
Good job, 41 cars, yeah, gotcha.
Speaker 3 (28:52):
And 41 people would not have said yes if they didn't
get bigger discounts amount fortheir trade.
We did work with a financingcompany.
The whole equation has to bethere.
It's different selling fivecars and 40 cars.
To be scalable like that,you've got to have some true
benefits.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
You have to, and I think that's where the whole
team comes in.
So it's a huge month and ifyou're looking to upgrade to put
yourself in a better situation,just come by and get a free hot
dog.
Can you even watch a car wash?
You come, ask for the preacher,I'll wash your car.
Hey, what's?
Speaker 1 (29:24):
your phone number.
How do they get a hold of youso?
Speaker 6 (29:25):
479-466-6785.
That is my direct number andmost people know me here as the
preacher.
I pastor a local church for 30years and certainly be glad to
show you a red carpet experience.
And you're here at theFayetteville location.
I'm here at the Fayettevillelocation, but I can sell from
(29:46):
any location you get a hold ofme.
You see something at FarmingtonSpringdale, wherever you call
the preacher, come and ask forme and I'll take care of you.
Love that Good deal.
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Thanks, preacher, come and ask for me and I'll
take care of you.
Love that Good deal.
Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for coming in, the oneand only.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Preacher hey, and we thought it would be fun today to
bring to you guys out theresome of the insiders.
Join in.
Next week We'll have a wholefresh new set to be able to give
their opinion of what's goingon.
But as we wrap this one up,we've got to talk a little bit
about celebrating, and we docelebrate.
We celebrate wins every singleday and then at the end of this
(30:22):
month when we exceed 555, we'llcelebrate again.
But the timing has to becorrect on that celebrating.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Most importantly so, we're always tracking the KPIs.
This month is very importantthat you don't miss a deal or a
day, or each person has theequal load, and so that's
something that we work on eachday, and so if you come through
here, you might see a saleschart, you might see a number
update on the board, you mightsee handouts that have color on
(30:51):
them, and it's helping usconstantly celebrate those wins
to say, hey, you hit yourSaturday number, you hit your
daily travel goal yes in service.
Here's where you track andhere's where you're at and
here's what this gets you inparts.
Hey, we need a little bit morehere.
Uh, you don't want to celebratetoo early, but that's why we
cut it up from like of anthony'snumber of 40, we know that his
(31:12):
travel rate needs to be 1.7 to 2cars per day of his working
days, you bet, and so we'llcelebrate each day win with him.
Yes, you know, so that we canhelp celebrate.
But we're not saying woo-woo,you got there.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Coast the rest of the way we love to translate things
over to sports.
I'm going to have to go tobasketball because football
season's over, okay, so we'llsee how good I am at talking
about basketball.
Yeah, let's, but it's nodifferent.
When the crowd startscelebrating, you know, when a
player hits a three-pointer, orthey're at the free throw line
shooting some foul shots andthey hit those, they celebrate,
but they're not storming thecourt yet we haven't won the
(31:46):
game.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
No, you have to wait until it's done.
You do.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm going to go back over, eventhough it's not football, and
you can do this in basketball aswell.
A coach's aspect is where wereally look at it of and steve
always helps us remind us thisbut it's no different than a
player comes off and it doesn'tmatter if they've just ran the
full court, did a layup, theyhit a three-point shot or they
just ran a touchdown for thefull length of the field the
(32:10):
player comes off, the coach patshim on the butt and he sets him
up to do the next play.
That's right.
He doesn't stop the whole andwe know this is a long month and
, yeah, we're excited, but ourjob is to be able to set them
back up.
Keep them going, keep thesuccess coming.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
So I think you know, if you think about terms of fire
, if we're lighting a fire ormomentum inside somebody, you
don't just sit there and watchthe fire until it burns out.
You're like, oh, that was agood fire, you take that part,
that success, like Taylor'stalking about, that becomes your
foundation then to grow formore momentum and you throw some
more fuel on it.
Oh yes, you know, you putanother log on it.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
You don't want that fire to go out when you can see
a process or a person is workingreally good, things are jiving
well.
You know they're communicatingwell with the customers.
And the customers can relate.
Yes, you know, putting therubber to the road, we say
that's outstanding.
Hey, did you see today's dealof the day?
Yes, hey, mrs smith, show herthe wide explorer.
(33:08):
Hey, uh, miss davis, show herthe banco sport, because we know
that running back is doing good, is making good yardage.
Oh yeah, and what that relatesto?
If you're a customer on theother side of the camera, like
okay, what is it?
That means you're getting aperson who is way more
transparent, way moreknowledgeable, yes, and is going
to value your time, becausetheir time is super valuable,
(33:28):
and so they're going to get youthe best car quickly.
They might find you somethingwith a little bit more discount
because they paid attention inthe meeting, like hey, this one
the manufacturer just came outwith there might attention in
the meeting like hey, this onethe manufacturer just came out
with, there might be twoidentical vehicles on the lot,
and because the time they werereleased from the factory, one
might have an additional twothousand dollars.
So before you just say, hey,leave me alone, I'm just looking
the other side, the trustedclient advisor, might have some
(33:52):
inside trader info that you needto know to help you I think
that and I get it from acustomer standpoint you work
really hard for your money.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
You save your money up.
You know you've done all yourresearch, not only on the
vehicle but how to get the bestdeal, and you've read these
blogs and these posts and this,and that Guys just know this.
We've been here for 79 yearsnow.
The best way we can help assistyou finding the right vehicle
with the right equipment thatfits in your monthly budget is
we got to know some insideinformation.
(34:20):
You know what I mean.
We're going to treat youextremely fair.
We're going to be here afterthe sale too, but we need some
of that information on, like howdo you structure when you buy?
How often do you trade?
Do you put money down?
Like, what, realistically, arewe after?
And then, like, once we havethose details, it becomes a
whole lot more fun walkingaround the lot, because then
we're just picking out thevehicle.
Yeah, I think we've got almost1,200 vehicles now and you don't
(34:42):
want to walk around and look at1,200.
No, well, you know, let's golook at about a dozen or half a
dozen to fit that criteria I'mlooking for.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
So that's our needs assessment and that's something
that we could tell specificallyfor Ultimate Challenge to be
hyper-focused, to save you time,get you the best vehicle for
the least amount of money, and Ipromise you these sales people
aren't trying to find you themost expensive and I think we
talked about this and I had.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
I saw customers uh post the other day on a google
review and it made me prettyproud, because this is what we
talk about is they said, hey,there wasn't any pressure and
they were just gathering thecorrect information for me on
the vehicle and the availability.
Yeah, did they ask me about mytrade and and did we go over
credit and this and that?
Yeah, we did, because theyneeded that information to give
(35:26):
me accurate facts.
And then if it made sense, itmade sense, let's go forward.
If not, then when it does makesense, let us know We'll still
be here.
I think that's really importantis that, yeah, we're here to
sell cars and we're here tooffer you all that stuff cars
and we're here to offer you allthat stuff, but we want to get
you the correct information, butwe need that communication.
Speaker 5 (35:43):
Yes, you know what I've loved seeing and we talked
about this last week butcreating that culture that is
from the front to the back,every different department that
they're all bought in, they'reall in the same game plan.
I've loved seeing this week andI've seen it from even our
sales staff, which, anthony, isa part of that you just heard
from, but I've heard themseveral times whenever a sales
(36:07):
manager has been in the middleof it going through, working
hard and they're gassed a littlebit, they just ran the whole
length of the field and thesalesman's like, hey, hold on, I
thought it was ultimatechallenge.
And that's the pat on the back.
From your sales guy saying, hey, get back in the game, I need
you.
So it's both sides.
From your sales guy saying, hey, get back in the game, I need
you.
So it's both sides, everyone'sso.
Bought in that services up hereasking sales how they're doing
(36:28):
on selling and everything else.
They are absolutely complete.
Bought in of Total Department.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
Okay, so we've kind of recapped week two ultimate
challenge as we start this, Iwant to give you three tips on
buying a vehicle that you needto check out before you ever go
anywhere else or try anythingelse.
So these are three tips thatcan be used across the board.
So one you need to go to oneLewis Automotive location
Springdale, dreville orFarmington and you need to ask
for the ultimate challenge price.
(36:58):
You have to get that ultimatechallenge price.
You need to get that in person.
They make sure that you qualifyfor all the discounts and
rebates.
Two, you need to ask for anultimate challenge trade value.
Okay, and that's going to be acash value and those can be
separate and or together, butwe'll always separate those in
that trade value.
So before you buy anywhere else,you're going to want to get
(37:19):
that ultimate challenge discountprice.
Whether it's new or used,you're going to want to get that
ultimate challenge trade value.
You buy cars constantly and thethird thing you want to do is
combo that all together and makesure you get that super low.
We talked about with thefinance managers that interest
rate that we automatically havea two and a half point interest
rate reduction with our banksfor ultimate challenge.
You're going to want to getthat ultimate challenge monthly
(37:41):
payment grid to kind of show you, to give you 12 different
options.
And so if you'll get thatultimate challenge price, that
ultimate challenge trade valueand that ultimate challenge
monthly payment, if you havethat, that will fully load you
to be able to have all theinformation and whether you buy
from us or not and I hope thatyou do, but even if you don't
you'll have that information tobe able to make an educated
(38:01):
decision.
Speaker 3 (38:01):
I think those are great tips and I love the one
part there.
And I know everybody's eithergotten advice from somebody
that's been around the businessor bought a bunch of cars, or
you've read the blogs on how tobuy a car.
One thing we take a lot ofpride in are trade values.
Whether you trade with us ornot, we'll write you a check for
what we said the car was worth.
So it doesn't matter to us ifyou throw the trade in from the
(38:25):
get-go or if you bring it in atthe last minute before you go on
into finance In our book,because that's a transparent way
of doing business.
It's the same value either way,so you might as well get it out
front so you have everythingyou need for the equation.
I think that's a great piece ofadvice right there.
Speaker 5 (38:44):
Taylor.
Any final thoughts?
No, I think we hit the nail onthe head on all of that and just
the total atmosphere,absolutely loving every part of
it.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
You bet that's good.
Hey, any other frequentquestions that since Ultimate
Challenge has gotten startedmaybe from new people that you
guys have gotten asked either bycustomers or by employees about
what it's about, what they'relooking for.
What is all this?
I love it, but what is all thiscraziness?
Speaker 2 (39:08):
man, we get asked all the time, like one where do you
find all this inventory?
you know, and that's somethingthat we've been working on for
two months to be able like, sowe can show up with our best.
Yes, but then it also continuesto keep filling up and we, we
use all channels and all avenuesto get that inventory.
You know, we ask, hey, how doyou pace yourself to make sure
(39:28):
that at the end you have 555stores left?
And we, we get people askinglike, hey, how can I be a part
of that?
You know so, whether that'sinternal people that are not
directly salespeople, um, and sothat's sending in referrals.
So if you know anyone out there, if you're watching this, just
by sharing this or commenting ortelling someone who's in the
(39:49):
market, tell them.
If your name's Bill out thereand you happen to see this,
whether you've done businesswith us or not, someone's asking
about a car and you say, hey,go see the Lewis brothers at
Lewis, I'm going to go seepreacher, go see somebody lewis,
I'm gonna tell them that billsent you and we'll give you a
hundred dollars, you know.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
So that's a good reminder of kind of how that
works there hey, we've got someof the audience out there that's
asking this question.
This is a good one.
They want to know, well, whatis the hottest car during
ultimate challenge?
What have we sold the most of?
Speaker 2 (40:21):
well, it just so happens to be truck month.
Yes, you know so.
Our f-150 is extremely popular.
Yes, up to 16.5 off to fm50 xlt.
Crew cab, four-wheel drive,sport appearance package, 2.7
ecoboost pro power on board.
Uh, center console shifter.
It is the hottest truck.
Last night I walked out Yep andwhere my truck was parked all
(40:47):
there was was a box of my stuff,I mean your car sold Taylor
sold my truck.
It was that truck, an XLT crewcab, four-wheel drive truck, and
I'm okay with that right.
Speaker 5 (40:58):
Luckily, you kept a box, and so it wasn't too crazy.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yeah, hey, anthony sold it and he said said, hey,
you didn't have very much stuffin there.
I've learned a long time agodon't carry a whole lot of stuff
because it's for sale.
Speaker 3 (41:08):
so the f-150 has been super popular but it's kind of
across the board, I'd say theother one that comes in a pretty
, pretty close second and thisis kind of tied between the two
stores.
But is that, uh, that small suv?
Oh, we've seen a ton of successin the Escape.
That's under $30,000, and it'sfour-wheel drive.
And we have as well on theCompass.
You know that Compass is asport four-wheel drive, it's a
(41:29):
2025 model and it's 24.9.
So when you talk about boththose vehicles being under
$30,000, over 30 miles pergallon, you know, and great
savings, we're talking about agreat payment, very safe,
reliable vehicles, and we gottwo of them to pick from.
If you're looking for an escape, great.
If you want a Jeep, great, wegot you covered either way.
(41:50):
So I think both of those arereally good, yeah, final
thoughts Come out and see us,don't wait.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
And then a lot of our friends, people we go to church
with, are, yes, don't wait.
And then a lot of our friends,people we go to church with, are
just people we see along theway.
They say, hey, how's the number, how are you coming?
And I always say you guysalways say, you got to come by
and see if we can upgrade yourride, lower your payment, get
you a newer car.
And they said well, let us knowwhat your number is.
On the 31st, I need your helpon the 11th or the 13th or 14th
(42:25):
or otherwise, otherwise youmight be driving off in a, in a
yugo yeah, a yugo or a pink ponymustang or whatever.
Uh, it's going to be somethingrandom, we'll.
We'll take care of you.
We'll take care of you.
But if you're not going to wanttired and worn out clay, you're
going to want to come on the13th or 14th, that's right
taylor.
Speaker 5 (42:37):
Any other thoughts?
No, absolutely, shelby.
I love that.
We have shared the message somuch that I had several people
this week and asked me hey, canI come by and get one of those
cool stickers?
I want to be a part of it.
Put it on the back of my, soanybody that has any questions,
any other idea?
As far as vehicles, come by andsee us, it's a ultimate
atmosphere that you won't getanywhere else.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
Shelby, that point where you're saying about the
friends, the family, the otherbusiness owners out there that
want to help.
I'm just telling you, at$556,000, will we still make the
deal?
Oh yeah, yes, but do you thinkthe person at $556,000 or
$550,000 is in the driver's seatto leverage more $550,000 and
$225,000.
(43:18):
But at $225,000, the differenceat $225,000 or $ or $300, they
had a lot bigger selection topick from than the person at
$550.
No doubt.
So it's going on the entiremonth.
Today is Tuesday.
Thanks for joining us in onthis live podcast.
Don't forget about today isTaco Tuesday.
We've got the taco trucks here.
That's fun, don't forget aboutthe giveaways.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
We are giving away a grill yesterday.
We're giving away the Stanleymugs.
That's a constant thing thatit's.
It's tough to keep up with it,but we're giving.
So follow our socials yes, onour facebook pages, our
instagram pages and you'll seethose concept contests
constantly.
Share, like and follow.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
We appreciate your support don't forget about 50
off oil change tomorrow,wednesday.
That's at all locations.
We're here in fable doing thepodcast live today, but the
ultimate challenge goes on atall of those locations, whether
it's up in springdale, atspringdale forward, right there
on north thompson, right downhere in fable off of i-49 exit
65, or if you go out intofarmington right past lowes on
(44:12):
the left at our farmingtonlocation, you will find one of
our team members committed andready to go through not only the
best customer experience foryou, but highly aggressive deals
on both the discounts and theamounts for your vehicle.
555 must be sold and ourtagline is no matter what it
takes, thank you guys forjoining your bet.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.