March 27, 2025 • 42 mins
Take a passenger seat inside Lewis Automotive's biggest sales event of the year – the Ultimate Challenge. What began as a $20,000 vehicle discount has now escalated to an unprecedented $25,000 off select models as the team races toward their 555-vehicle goal with just six working days remaining. They've already hit 81.6% of that target, and the energy is electric.
What makes this event truly special isn't just the price slashing – it's the comprehensive approach to creating value at every turn. Finance managers have challenged 26 lending partners to provide automatic rate reductions of up to 2.5 percentage points below their already competitive rates. Some manufacturers are offering 0% financing options, while Ford's 90-day no-payment program allows customers to pocket their March, April, and May car payments – potentially saving thousands.
The atmosphere resembles a month-long festival rather than traditional car shopping. Food trucks, bouncy houses, petting zoos, and special events create an environment where families want to spend time regardless of their vehicle needs. Sales professionals share remarkable stories of helping customers who thought they couldn't afford to trade up, finding creative solutions through manufacturer incentives, trade assistance, and customized financing packages.
Most impressive is how Lewis has transformed their approach to this high-pressure sales period. Unlike previous years where hitting ambitious goals meant working every day of the month, leadership made a conscious decision not to require anyone to work on their days off – while setting an even higher sales target. The result? A team that's energized, creative, and fully committed to the challenge.
With fresh inventory arriving daily – 240 new vehicles added in just the past week – the selection continues to evolve right through the final days. As the salespeople emphasize: don't wait until it's over; when these deals are gone, they're gone. Visit any Lewis Automotive location before the Ultimate Challenge concludes or catch their live Saturday sales meeting on Facebook to see the latest arrivals and final specials.
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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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Really, for about the past year I've tried to go
through extensive periods ofgrowth and I think that that's
really what has kind of broughtme into this business.
So to be able to kind of sharethat progress and that growth
with the community in a way thatis a positive thing, in a way
where you know it also holds meaccountable to that growth.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
All right, good morning, ultimate Challenge.
All right, good morning,ultimate challenge crossroad
conversation.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
We're jumping right in here usually are used to the
buffer that we go into, so getready for that.
Shared, here we go.
It's us ultimate challenge timecrossroad conversation.
You talk about that.
I'm gonna share this.
Okay, you share that while Igive the intro.
Hey, ultimate challenge.
Maybe you've joined in, maybeyou've seen it on TV, maybe
you've seen it on social.
It's our biggest sell theentire year, where you, the
(00:53):
customer, wins every single timeand you win in all the
categories, whether it's savingon vehicles.
Hey, we just upped, actually,the amount we're taking off
vehicles.
Most places you go to, they'relike oh yeah, we already sold
that one, it's gone.
We went from $20,000 to $25,000off vehicles.
Yeah, taylor, that went up aton.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So much Taylor's going to sell them.
I've been releasing a specialof the day every single day.
This morning I released not one, not two, not three, not four,
but five specials of the day.
I put a lot on the pad.
I put hang tags on Every man'scash.
You know what?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I love about our specials.
We come out with specials tosell them, yeah, and I know
that's like we don't buy thesecars.
There's other people that comeout with specials and door
busters just to create a hookfor you to come in, but then
they come up with reasons not tosell.
We're looking for reasons tosell.
That's on that side.
On the trade-ins, I went over astat yesterday when I was on the
(01:51):
radio, the sports show Shoutout to ESPN there, and we were
talking about if somebody camein the first week of Ultimate
Challenge.
What's different now?
Well, last week alone weacquired an additional 94
pre-owned vehicles and 150additional new vehicles made it
on the lot.
That's 240 vehicles that if youwere here the first week you
(02:15):
didn't see.
And that was not last week,that was just last week.
You can triple that.
That's 750.
Let's call it 50.
That's easy for my paragraphmath.
You know what I mean.
So that's ultimate savingsthere.
Hey, on the financing side,taylor, I'm going to kick it to
you here.
I'll start with the 0% and thenI want you to tell them how you
wrangled all 26 lenders in theroom and challenged them to help
(02:38):
us.
We got 0% financing on vehicles.
But for those that don't havethe 0% financing, what'd you do
with our lending sources?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
I'm telling you, we had an automatic rate reduction
of up to two and a halfpercentage points, and it's so
much to a point we've talked tothem so much that I have them
calling me saying hey, it'stowards the end of the day, I
have more analysts sitting herewaiting.
How can we help?
What can we do?
Hey, here's this deal you sentover.
I think if we structure it thisway, we can help the customer
(03:07):
better.
So it's almost like they'rehere with us and they're wanting
to be a part of it, and evenwhen they're not here with us.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
we've asked the banks for their after hours contact.
Oh yeah, because we talked lastweek about being able to
connect with an actual person,we're not just talking about a
computer thing and so we'vechallenged each one like hey, I
know you close your businessoffice at five or six o'clock,
at nine or 10 o'clock, who do wecall to get an exception, to
(03:33):
get a rate reduction, to move itfrom a tier five to a tier
three?
How do we lower their interestrate?
And they're like do what.
It's like okay, can we callyour cell phone?
We're asking for approval.
But we're also saying, hey,we're gonna call your cell phone
.
Do you want the business oranything?
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I think, something else behind the scenes that the
customer doesn't know, but weknow inside.
We need to share it witheverybody.
It's not only did you get thetwo and a half point rate
reduction that was already atour super low, buy, sell, it was
you know.
So we buy, sell whatever thebank gives us.
We give you guys that rate.
You're already getting a lowerrate than if you walked into a
bank.
Why?
Because we leverage offhundreds of thousands of dollars
(04:07):
, millions that we've done infinance contracts.
Then take another two and ahalf percentage points off of
that.
That lowers your payment.
It does All right.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
So we're talking.
Ultimate challenge we're in thefinal six days.
Six days Working days.
If you're looking at thecalendar and saying Shelby, what
do you mean?
We're not counting Sunday,because the goal of this is to
be able to sell all the carsthat we came 555 cars without
having to make our teamwork anymore than normally necessary.
So, as of this morning, sixworking days left.
What's our number?
How are we looking?
We're looking.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
We're 453 sold as of this morning.
453 sold.
Hey, for all you math and statpeople out there, that puts us
at 81.6% of our goal, but justas like anybody, that's
competitive.
Not only are we going to hit555, now we got to keep moving.
You know what I mean, but wemight stretch a little bit.
(04:56):
Yeah, you know what I mean, butI love what you talk about
there.
And before we bring our firstguest on, I just want to say
this to everybody out there hey,sometimes challenge your team
and see if they'll rise up.
What we're talking about in ourbusiness is I can tell you how
many ultimate challenges I'veworked while I worked all three
Sundays four, I guess it's fourthree of the four Sundays, every
(05:18):
single day off.
And we got the number, but itcame at an expense of work-life
balance.
We told the crew the number wasbigger this year, but we told
the number, but it came at anexpense of work-life balance.
Yep, we told the crew thenumber was bigger this year.
Yeah, but we told the crew.
We said, hey, you guys dig in,you guys get the number.
We're not going to work anySundays.
We're not requiring anybody towork on their days off.
That's a true feat, especiallyin our industry.
(05:39):
Yeah, you know so big, big dealthere.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So ultimate challenge challenge six days left.
There we got some fun guests.
Today we've got guests wewanted to bring out, save some
of the best for last night.
So we've wrangled the wholecrew.
Boys, let's go.
You ready all right let's go.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Oh hell boy, get in here in the middle, all right.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
So first, first welcome, I'm both derek the trip
right here just very light.
You get your punch up, son.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Yeah, all right so these guys have been with our
organization for a while andthey're top-notch sales
professionals.
Now both of you are located ata farm-intended location, right,
farm sir, yes, sir, a farm,okay, right out at the farm.
But if you see a vehicle in theSpringdale lot or the
Fayetteville lot, can you guyssell from anywhere Of anywhere?
Of course, that's the greatthing about being here at Lewis,
you bet, you bet.
(06:24):
So, derek, let's start with you.
Make sure the microphone'sright there.
You don't want to talk to me.
You can look at me every oncein a while, but hey, tell them,
because how many ultimatechallenges have you been through
?
Speaker 6 (06:34):
Well, I'd say at least six, seven.
That's factual-ish.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
You know kind of like how many fish you catch.
You know could be five to sevenin the live.
Well, you know, somewhere inthe 80s Could be.
How does Ultimate Challengefeel different than normal month
, than a?
Speaker 6 (06:50):
February or April.
I mean there's a hugedifference here.
And not only that, thisUltimate Challenge is different
from every other one we've everhad.
Like, what do you mean?
Well, I mean you rememberwhenever you drive by the
Northwest Arkansas Mall, we'dhave all of our vehicles up
there and everybody remembersthat.
But it's just several years.
Things happened.
So now we're doing this thing,and that was for a week.
We're doing this all month longnow.
So you talk about the inventorythat we've got coming in.
(07:12):
I mean we're having trouble outthere just keeping the lot
spots open, because it's just sofull but ultimate selection,
the ultimate savings.
Like I said, trade values areamazing, able to give people
well above what their car isworth to be able to make those
deals work.
Um, just, it's awesomeatmosphere.
We got some great things goingon.
It's fun to be a part of it.
(07:33):
Is it really is?
Speaker 7 (07:33):
and and sure you're involved in this as well, aren't
you?
Yes, sir, absolutely.
This is my second one.
That's part of all right bestone so far.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
And so how are we pacing?
Are you selling more cars thismonth than you normally?
Speaker 7 (07:44):
do absolutely, absolutely.
Right now I'm at 19, my goal is20 and I'm pushing that up to
25, maybe even 30, maybe 30,maybe even 30 by the end of the
month.
But it uh the here at lewisautomobile.
It makes it easy.
The ultimate challenge makes iteasy because it really is the
time to get the ultimate deal.
When we say ultimate savings,ultimate selection, ultimate
trade value, we are absolutelymean that it's one of those
(08:06):
deals, that it's the time of themonth, time of the year where
you can get that deal thatyou're excited to go tell your
friends about or tell yourfamily about.
Like, hey, check this deal out,I got on this vehicle and on
top of that we cover, we takecare of our customers before the
sale, during the sale and thenafter the sale when it comes to
our Lewis Guarantee.
And it just makes it easy.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
You bet I want you guys to think about real-world
examples.
I appreciate you pluggingUltimate Challenge, because
we're always plugging that, butI want you all to think about
some real-world examples and I'mgoing to come back to you here
in a minute of where a customergot a deal Don't say any names.
A customer got a deal that whenyou walked in your manager's
office you're like, man, I'mgoing to walk in there because
that's what I do, but I don'treally think you had a little
(08:45):
doubt in the back of your mindwhether they're going to do this
or not.
Same thing on financing for asolution.
Or, I want you to think aboutwhen you because sometimes our
customers out there they thinkwell, I saw the vehicle at the
Springdale store or theFayetteville store.
I'm not sure if either one ofthe Porter brothers can go get
that.
So I want you to be able toexplain each of those as we go
(09:05):
on.
I'll give you a couple minutesto think about that as I go into
this To all the businessleaders out there.
These two guys are a greatexample of where they had a goal
set for the month and they wereon a roll and they were rocking
and rolling.
And Taylor, I'll let you jumpinto this part, but where you
can see that they were going toachieve their goal.
But as a leader, it's your jobto then instill in them what's
(09:27):
next.
They're on a roll, and you'vehad plenty of guys like that,
haven't you?
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Absolutely.
It's no different than insports.
You can see when it's thatguy's day, whenever he's running
, he's hitting every single shot.
That's when you step back andyou say, hey, you're doing good.
How can I support you and say,hey, you're doing good, how can
I support you?
But I want to push you all tothe next level.
So I want you to be able to hitthat goal you never thought was
possible.
So we're going to go ahead andcritique that up.
It's no different than when Iwas just hemming up Trent here.
(09:53):
He said I'm going to push to 25.
I was like no, I think you'vegot a little bit more in your
tank, let's go to 30.
As, being a good manager andgoing through, I'm going to push
you a little bit harder becauseI know you can get there.
And the reason why you pushyour team harder whenever you
see anybody else on your teamgoing there, it's because
they're the ones that are goingto help you achieve your goal.
That's right, not to say anyoneelse isn't going to.
(10:15):
But whenever you're a guythat's got the hot hands, hey,
give him the ball and let him goto work.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
All right.
So, guys, I've given you alittle bit of time there.
Give us some examples.
Derek, I can see you're readyto go, so before you just blurt
it out, I'm going to say go, Igot one for you.
Okay, hit me.
It happened yesterday actually.
Okay, tell me.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
A customer came in looking at trading their vehicle
they may or may not have boughtduring that COVID time and
payment and uh, you know, andthey, they ended up.
John talked to him and theyactually ended up going to eat
some food and john said, hey,give him a call and see if we
(10:52):
can try something for him.
So, all right, so we did.
And, uh, worked with one of ourreally good lenders.
Um, talk about that interestrate reduction.
Um, that's one of the thingsthat helped us, not only that we
were able to dig in, get theman extra I should probably not
say this but an extra $4,000.
That's true, hang on.
So that interest rate reductionand that extra on that trade
that we got there, you guys thatended up us getting us down
(11:15):
under their budget they neededto be at.
They left happily in an awesomevehicle, said it was the best
experience they've ever had.
They were super happy, theycame in and took advantage of
the month the ultimate challenge.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
That's a really good point of pointing out of like.
We can replace the car, we canreplace a whole lot of things.
We can't replace the experienceof a consumer choosing us,
choosing you guys, and thenshowing up of like.
If they've connected with a carand it makes sense and they've
enjoyed the process, we'refinding a way to put that deal
down.
We're calling the bank andworking it.
(11:47):
We're working the trade andthis sold $4,000.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
And that's the benefit of being able to sell
from any location.
If we start a deal atFarmington, we're able to come
up here at Chrysler, we're uphere to go to Springdale
purchase from us.
But we were able to help themout, get them out of that, put
(12:11):
them in a new vehicle that comewith a 10-year, 120,000-mile
warranty, the first year of key,wheel and tire replacement, and
they were so fired up.
They're a customer for life andI'm just excited that we have
that opportunity to be able tofind a solution for any customer
here at Lewis Automotive.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Hey, what would you tell a customer if they were
like, hey, you know what, I'mhere, I'm looking at it, but I
might need to think about it.
What might they give up if theygo home and think about it?
Speaker 6 (12:35):
The vehicle, the ultimate challenge the vehicle,
the vehicle.
Things are going so fast, youguys.
I'm literally selling thesevehicles before they come out of
the shop, taking deposits onthem.
You know, I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
If you've got one picked out, you better get up
here and check it out, and sothe idea is to transfer that to
the customer to understand if welike the vehicle and it drives
good, it fits with our familyneeds.
We have to keep that in mindBecause there's almost 60 other
salespeople that are trying tosell that exact same car in five
locations and they all want tosell that thing.
So Same car In five locationsand they all want to sell that
thing.
So do keep that in mind,because we've marked them all
down.
What was it that we marked?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
you down.
We've marked down millions ofdollars.
We've earmarked over $2 billionin savings that are dedicated
just to move the vehicles duringthe month of March and we look
at our average days on the lot,it's really, really low.
And Shelby you bring up a greatpoint is there's 60 other sales
people.
We have wish lists behind thescenes.
Yep, those wish lists arevehicles that customers are
(13:29):
looking for and as soon as a carhits a wish list, guys, just
like either one of the porterbrothers here, they're calling,
they're sending out the textbefore they ever hit the
internet.
So that stuff moves really.
That's why I bring up the pointof over 240 additional vehicles
just last week, just last week.
That's a big deal.
I appreciate you guys sharingthose real world examples
(13:50):
because that really tells that'snot the easy deal.
The customer just came in andwrote a check.
They found the perfect, it's.
No, we had a couple obstacles.
We had to be solution based andthat's part of ultimate
challenge, whether it's from thebanks or the savings or the
amounts for the trades as well.
Absolutely.
How does the atmosphere feeldifferent?
I know we've got a greatatmosphere here, but how does it
(14:11):
feel a little bit differentduring the month of March.
Each of you all.
Take that for just a coupleseconds.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
Well, I mean, we've got food trucks coming in, you
know we've got cows and you knowpetting zoos up here on
Saturday.
We've got bouncy houses.
We've got all kinds of crazystuff going on.
That's just awesome.
It's more like an amusementpark this month than going to a
car dealership.
Good morning guys.
The kids are loving it.
My son's following us onFacebook and on social media.
(14:36):
He's on YouTube.
He's like how are you doing?
Where are y'all are going tohit it?
I already know you.
Speaker 7 (14:41):
He calls him every day and checks in like where are
you at today?
We're at the day, so theatmosphere so it's a great
atmosphere.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
We're loving it.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
It's just, it's fun.
Yeah, and I kind of followDerek here.
You know, it's the atmosphere,you know people have a good time
.
We want to be different and weare different than any other
savings and everything, which isa real deal.
But we take the time with ourcustomers to sit down, make sure
that they're not here for fouror five hours.
We take time to figure outtheir wants, their needs, what's
(15:09):
important to them, and wenarrow that down and make it
easy, make it fun, and we rollout the red carpet, you know,
and take a picture with them.
It's stage roll out.
My dad made stage roll out ofthe rest of the curtain.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Snoop Dogg may not have got it, but you know we're
good, we're good, All right.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So where do we find you guys and how do they get a
hold of you?
Speaker 7 (15:26):
Easy Lewis Automotive out in Farmington.
It's 323 East Main Street,farmington, arkansas.
Trip order you can reach me at479-320-4832.
Speaker 6 (15:35):
Thank you, yeah, you guys same place, lewis
Automotive in Farmington.
You social media.
That guy sells cars, fishes.
You know, sells cars.
That guy's at Fishes.
You'll find me all over there.
You can watch on there, youguys.
But yeah, hit me up, I'd loveto be your car guy.
Yeah, come on down and see us.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Hey guys, thank you all for helping us get to that
555.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
We're not done yet, but we've got the old train
fired up.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Thank, you all for joining us.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
y'all enjoy it all right, that's a great example of
just a few of our team membersthat really add up.
You know, it's not just aboutus.
Y'all see us on camera all thetime the lewis brothers, but
it's.
But it's about all the otheralmost 300 employees that help
us make up this culture andatmosphere.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
You know one thing I wanted to point out you guys
were talking about pushing yourteam, as you see somebody that's
working ahead.
How does that relate for acustomer?
Because that's really whatmatters.
A customer doesn't care as much.
I should say I'll be nice aboutwhere a person is, but just
know this if a person has beensuccessful that many times, it's
because they are able to make asuper good process, a very
(16:43):
transparent process, a veryseamless process of
understanding what's importantto them.
And that, I think, is what aconsumer wants.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
Yeah, I'll share with you.
Last night I had this and Ilove it, and this is a repeat
customer that was in here.
But our customers are gettingso involved with it, not only to
get the deals.
But you know what he said.
Right after he came out offinance he looked at the
salesperson.
He said said, right after hecame out of finance he looked at
the salesperson.
He said all right, where areyou at, where are you at Taylor,
where are y'all at with thestore?
And I said right here.
(17:14):
And he looked over at the salesguy.
He said well, son, you got toget a step in here.
No-transcript customers aregetting so involved that they
want to help you.
That's the gorilla part, man.
That's good.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
But you're so good and we've talked about that
before and you all probablyheard it on the podcast If you
hadn't shout out Go back andlisten to some of the other
podcasts.
Customers really do want to bea part of success.
You see it in sports teams allthe time.
Oh yeah, Whenever somebodystarts jumping on the bandwagon
when they're winning.
It's no different in sales, andI'll have customers that have
texted me all month long andthey're like, hey, I'm not in
(17:47):
the market to buy, but I got acouple extra vehicles that I
would sell to you just to helpyou have vehicles to hit your
goal Guaranteed, and that's thetrue success there.
Absolutely, that's really good.
Y'all ready for the next guest?
We brought some great ones foryou today.
Great ones for you today.
Hey 2 Chainz, come on in here.
We've got a little superspecial there.
Let's go Bring it in.
Brad Nice.
(18:08):
Hey, don't you, cal?
Look at the entire area, I cansee you.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You dressed up.
Hey, got the old beard going.
You brought out your goodchains Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Always got to have the chains, guys?
Well, introduce yourself.
Tell them where they can findyou, and then we'll start
talking.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Hi guys, my name is Clay Simpson.
I'm an employee at LewisPre-Owned here in the
Supercenter on Shiloh inFayetteville.
You can give me a call anytime,479-249-3427.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
How do people know you?
I mean, they might know you asClay, because they see that, but
what do people call you?
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Oh, they call me 2 Chainz around here.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, here, okay, it might have to do with the two
chains that I wear you know,it's tricky when, when you hire
on staff of like trying liketrying to remember all the names
and that is so important.
I don't want to say salespersona, b, c, d, correct, but it's
super tricky when you have 270employees to try to remember
everyone's name and I rememberit's like oh, this guy's like,
(19:02):
oh, what's it?
What's this nice?
It's like, hey, what do youlike?
Speaker 5 (19:03):
oh, what's it what's his name.
So it's like, hey, would itupset you if I called?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
you two chickens somewhere through the way and he
was like I kind of like that,yeah, like okay, we can remember
this guy hey, shelby, I thinkthat's two folds.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
That's internally, but you know any da statistics
say that after a year, 90percent of customers forget
their salesperson's name.
Yeah, so if you'll put it tosomething that sticks in their
brain like a two chain and thisbusiness is built off repeats
and referrals you've now brandedyourself as that.
Are you getting any feedback?
(19:36):
Are you hearing anything out inthe community when they start
calling you that?
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Oh, absolutely, and it's kind of a reflection of
this ultimate challenge as well.
It's gotten to the point whereI can't go to the mall with my
wife and my kid.
Even going to the gas station,people are going hey, what's up?
2 Chainz?
Hey, I've got some friends thatneed a vehicle.
So it's gotten so big that it'salmost a humbling experience.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Nothing better than having people support you.
That's outside of the business,Nothing like a shot of ether or
confidence than when somebodyis pulling for you, Even if they
don't buy.
They're like, hey, I'm not inthe market, but I'm going to
send so-and-so to you and I'mrooting for you.
How are you coming on the gold?
That's really good.
That's really good.
That's one of the biggest ways.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
if you and a lot of people our favorite and happiest
customers are the ones that sayI was just looking or I was not
in the market, right, we'd loveto be able to help those people
if we can keep their paymentthe same, upgrade their ride,
change the ability of theirwheels and their lifestyle.
So if you think I'm not in themarket, you just might be, but
if you're not, share comment ofhelping them out.
(20:44):
For this guy and for all thepeople you've talked to, that's
a big way that you can help.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
I think one of the ways people relate to you too is
, you know, when they followyour social and I'm not going to
ask you to go in deep into allof it right now, but when they
follow their social it's veryunique, it's very real.
People can relate.
It's not always like, hey, comedown here and buy an F one 50.
It's real world stuff andpeople can see you're having fun
through your videos.
You know what's intrigued youto do that.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Um, really for the about the past year, I've tried
to go through extensive periodsof growth, um, and I think that
that's really what has kind ofbrought me into this business,
um, so, to be able to kind ofshare that progress and that
growth with the community in away, that is a positive thing,
um, in a way where you know italso holds me accountable, uh,
(21:32):
to that growth.
Um, it's been a greatexperience.
Um, I try and be as authenticof a person as I can, uh,
without upsetting people.
Oh yeah, sure, and that's thebig goal, um, but you know, the
reason why I go for thatauthenticity is because you know
exactly who you get.
Whenever you come down to LewisAutomotive and you ask for two
chains, you don't have to wonderif the guy behind the camera is
(21:55):
really what he's saying.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
I think.
I think that's so good andthat's very relatable and people
are looking for that in this.
In this world where there's somuch content out there, it's
really hard to decipher and siftthrough what's real and what's
not real.
You bring a real realness to itand I just say congratulations
on that.
Now I'm going to flip thescript a little bit.
Let's talk about the atmospherewithin the dealership, because
you've been at other dealershipsbefore in your sales career.
(22:19):
What does this and I'm nottalking about our organization
as a whole, I'm talking aboutspecifically the month of March.
How does it feel?
How does it look?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
different.
So it's almost as if it's amonth-long festival.
That's the best way I candescribe it.
There's something going onevery day.
We've even got Taco Tuesdaytoday.
You know a lot of dealerships,you know they might have one on
every Friday or something on theweekend, maybe even something
(22:50):
once a month.
But I think Shelby said it thebest it feels like the end of
the month every single day hereand we're really, you know, out
there getting it.
You don't even have to besomebody who's in the market for
a car for the month of March toreally enjoy what we've got
going on down here.
Just to be able to have thatmuch access to the community is
really a it's a priceless thing,you know it's fun too, though.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Yeah, it's absolutely working some hours.
You know we're working somehours and we close at seven, but
there's plenty of deals.
We've closed at eight, 30 atnight.
It's because this crew they'regetting their goal, so you might
as well make it fun if you'regoing to put in all those hours.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
You know whether the music or all the activities and
that's the thing, definitelythat we see, as you know, as you
get this day 24, I think, if Ichecked correctly as you pace
through this thing, everyonemoves a different speed and a
different level, and so it'salways a checkup constantly
throughout the day and you canjust tell like 70 percent of
communication is nonverbal,right?
So I might cruise through and Isee Taylor and I'm like I need
(23:46):
to get you a coffee or coffeefor Matt.
I'm like Matt, let me get youanother Spark.
I'm like two chains, buddy,you're looking good.
And he's like oh really,because I'm not feeling good,
I'm like no man, I just passedsome customers and they said
they were having the utmost fun,like they're loving it, and so
it's a recheck of like hey, yougot this, that's good.
(24:07):
Like finish strong, make surethat you.
But just checking on your teamto make sure, because we're
running pretty hard.
It's kind of like a one mile allout or a 5k pace yeah for a
marathon or a 50 miler, but youhave enough people around you
that it's raw, raw, that it'sfun, and the customers they just
.
It's new energy every time acustomer is injected and and
you're like this is what I do itfor, right?
Yes, are you feeling?
Speaker 1 (24:27):
that yeah, 100%.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Okay.
I think that's importantbecause there's no way that all
of our team members even us, youknow we're acting like the last
day of the month.
Every single day, Every singleday is the two-minute drill.
Every single day we're out oftimeouts.
The shot clock's running,Mulligans.
There's no way all of us can be100% on all the time, but if
(24:49):
you surround yourself with theright atmosphere and the right
people on those off days, onthose days where you're just
kind of feeling wore out,they're going to hit you with
the junk box and get you back inthe game.
Yes, absolutely, and I thinkthat's really cool.
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
That's been the fun part about the end of this month
and pushing everything there.
The dial just keeps going upand up and up and we talk about
it.
The two-minute drill of it'sthe horse race.
You're on the final stretch andif you haven't had the most fun
, if you haven't got the bestdeal, it's happening this week.
It's happening this week witheverybody getting in there and
adjusting those goals.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
we talked about salespeople adjustment this
morning.
Lewis Ford was in three oftheir goal.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
And it was a meeting that we added, on another gosh,
almost another hundred to theirgoal.
You said 50, and then I said100.
Not to say that it's aone-upper, but it's like, hey,
it's working at Lewis Ford, it'sworking at all the places, but
they're seeing the most success.
It's like, okay, let's make anadjustment, yep, and let's go
(25:49):
get it right.
So just like, insert some moreenergy, turn the music up louder
, blow a couple more subwoofersyep, order some more and stay
after.
Or some more hot dogs, get somemore food trucks, get a more
carnival, get another pettingzoo, get another race car hey,
Clay, a couple things.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I just want the listeners to understand that you
know what we're saying isactual, factual, real.
How many customers are youseeing?
People that come in that aremaybe upside down, maybe don't
have the credit to buy or maybedidn't think we could find a car
in their payment because allthey see are the $100,000 cars?
Are you seeing any of thosesolutions?
Any of those people walking outwith a new ride?
(26:23):
Any of those?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
solutions.
Any of those people walking outwith a new ride yes, that's
usually a common place in theautomotive business, especially
for the sales that we have goingon now.
We've really pushed out somereally good deals for some folks
, putting dreams in drivewaysand making sure that they come
back and see us.
I even had a customer fairlyrecently usually in the
(26:44):
automotive business when youtrade and finance, there's a
little bit more wiggle room justbecause there's more going on
and he was holding on to a Jeepthat had some age but it still
had some good life in it and itwas beat up enough where you
could do Jeep things with it.
Oh yeah, he wasn't entirelysure on if he wanted to trade
this in or not, but he wasconcerned about the payments,
(27:05):
and so what we did was we cuthim a discount.
We cut him a good deal.
We made sure that he could keephis Jeep for his hunting
excursions, his outdooractivities, and then still have
something nice for his family ata decent price point.
That's solid.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
That's good.
That's really good.
That's really good.
Well, tell them one more timewhere they can find you and how
everybody out there can help youhit your goal for this month.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah, guys.
So I'm at the Supercenter inFayetteville.
Whenever you pull in and take aright to the Black Pre-Owned
Building, I'll be in the firstfloor showroom.
You can contact me anytime,479-249-3427.
Or add me on social media.
I answer my DMs prettyregularly All right.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Thanks for coming on.
We'll chat.
Hey buddy, same time for you.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
Hey, before you take customers, golly, we're just
getting in there and there'speople already calling in on
there and people are respondingand everything else there.
But shout out to a customer.
He's bought over 30 cars fromus over the years.
He participated in an ultimatechallenge.
He sent me a message one Fridaynight and it was late.
He said Taylor, I want to be apart of you.
(28:05):
Do you have anything?
I said, dan, I'll see you inthe morning.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Oh no, not Dan Lancaster, yeah, Cas.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
Yeah, watch live with us right now.
So, dan, ms Luann, we lovehaving you all as customers.
Thank you for participating.
Absolute best people that havefun every time.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Hey, shout out as well to Justin.
Justin Cavanaugh, thanks forjumping on our live today.
Hey, we love when customerssupport our salespeople and they
really have their bestinterests and they want them to
be successful.
That's really what this world'sabout is helping each other be
successful and supporting that.
So, justin, thank you for allyour support.
Thanks for jumping on thismorning.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
No doubt about it.
I love it.
We got another one.
We got one.
That guy's been in the basementfor a while drinking some
coffee.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I'm not really sure where this one's going to go,
but we're going to try to keepit between the ditches.
Okay, he's back there, boostlaunching, doing his burnout,
making sure his tires are sticky, ready to go.
Hey, welcome to one and onlyknown as the FX4, Mr Mason.
What's up, man?
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Hey good morning brother.
I'm not sure what you'rewearing, Buddy, this is the
highlighter.
Best to let everyone know wemean business.
This is to let you know thatgood deals are coming.
We're ready to just, you know,get in front of the people.
You know what I mean.
It is important.
Safety is important.
Well, we got a lot ofconstruction going on here.
We've got a lot of moving parts.
(29:27):
That's a lot of restrictedareas.
If you're playing your cardsright, you can get in exclusive
locations with these.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
So what you're saying is you know how to put a good
deal together.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
I think, with all the experience that I'm around here
at this dealership and everyoneI've met in my life, like, yeah
, I put together a pretty goodquarter.
It'll make everybody happy.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
I want you to take the word salute or the same not
word, that's the word.
I, like you got to remember,I'm from Prairie Grove.
Give me a little grace here.
Okay, prairie Grove's goodSolution-based, solution-based.
What does that translate to?
As a sales manager puttingdeals together?
What does that look like duringthe month of Ultimate Challenge
?
Speaker 3 (30:02):
You've got to be able to know what manufacturers,
what incentives are out there,because there's 12 different
ways you can buy an F-150, andthere's about 30 different
programs.
And if you're able to find outwhat the customer is trying to
accomplish, you can look atincentivized rates, you can look
at maximum discount, you canlook at taking a little bit of
(30:23):
this and a little bit of that.
You can even look at tradeassistance.
You know, do they know someonethat owns a certain vehicle?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
you've got to find all the avenues to perform, to
put it together and we a lot oftimes we see that people
cruising a lot and they mightfind something that's just like
oh gosh, super nice, ultimatetrim level, all the things.
But then we will do a needsassessment and kind of find out
what's important, so then we'reable to help them find the
perfect vehicle that fits theirbudget right.
Absolutely, have youexperienced that?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Oh, absolutely Absolutely.
It usually happens with anExpedition or an F-150.
Okay, someone with a 2012,?
Hey man, I need a Lariat.
I always drive a Lariat.
Sir, let me show you this XLT.
It's got Lariat-like qualities,and the amount of technology
they've put in these new F-150sis comparable to what they had
in the Platinums 10 years ago.
(31:10):
Okay, so you get the lanecentering, you get the 360
camera, you get the wirelessApple CarPlay, you get the fast
chargers, you get all thosethings in the XLT.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
So it's an educational process of helping a
customer instead of trying toshove a Platinum or a Lariat
into the budget of an XLT.
We get to help, educate,absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
We can help keep everything on a level playing
field by making sure we go overall those different features and
find out what's important tothem.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Love that.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I think it's important we brought Mason on
today because we wanted theaudience to not only hear from
the salespeople from all thedifferent locations, which we've
done.
We had multiple financemanagers on here before.
We had Joey as the salesmanager on last week.
We wanted to bring Mason aswell so you can hear the
customer, our transparency andhow it flows all the way through
.
I'm sure you can see by Mason'senergy.
(31:58):
He's involved and he's ready tohelp, which should be exciting
and encouraging to you, thecustomer.
He gets out of his seat or, ifhe ever even sits down, he's got
his vest on out there forsafety.
And you're getting involved notto pressure customers but to
make sure that they get in theright vehicle with their wants
and needs that fits in theirbudget, Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
A lot of customers want to talk directly with the
manager to make sure all thattheir desires and needs and
wants are heard, and they wantsomeone that's got that
experience, that knows theinventory.
They're like you know what.
I do have one of these or twoof these put away over here.
Let me show you what this lookslike.
Let me show you this structure.
Sometimes they like to do that.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
And tell us, though, this is your first ultimate
challenge.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
This is my first ultimate challenge that I'm a
part of, but I've known two guysthat have been a part of
Ultimate Challenge for manyyears, so did you know what to
expect to come into this thing?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I had a glimpse of it .
Speaker 3 (32:53):
No, but it was that easy, more or less.
Oh, it's more, it's way morethan anything I could have
imagined.
The amount of energy that youguys put into this, the amount
of marketing the people, thecarnival-like atmosphere that we
have on a weekend it fires meup.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I sometimes feel like as a manager because sometimes
I get so lucky, I get caught upand get to hang out at the sales
manager desk that you're likethe person who's taking the
tickets at the carnival andthere are lines of people you're
trying to show them.
Hey, here's where the corn dogsare.
Hey, here's where you get yourgate pass.
Hey, here's the all-season pass.
Yes, does it?
Does it feel?
Speaker 3 (33:31):
like that, like there's just stuff going
everywhere.
It does because every time itfeel it never fails.
I always see someone come inand I look around to see if
anyone's sitting at the centerso we can go greet them, and if
the guys see me in motion, theytry to beat me.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
They're like oh, what's Mason getting into?
That's good.
I think the point of that too,and Shelby Mason, is y'all talk
about the amount of people inthe atmosphere.
We're not making this up, it'sall around.
What we've encouraged people todo is it costs zero, zero to
check it out.
It costs zero to come make usan offer on it.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
It's backwards of the cost that actually you get to
bring value, because there'ssome ways that you can take from
us without having to buyanything.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yeah, like on Fridays , where you get a car wash at no
charge.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
I'm going to give you a cheat code from now to the
end of the month.
If I'm talking Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday or Monday, you get acar wash every day.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
So you get a car wash at no charge, you get to look
at the inventory.
You really owe it to yourselfand I'm going to roll down this.
And then, mason, you can takeover.
You know Ford's program rightnow, with 90 days till no
payments.
You know we start talking aboutthat and a customer.
They can come in.
Let's say their payment is sixhundred dollars a month and
let's say it's due on the 30 ofthis of this month.
(34:43):
Swap with us, get into a newride.
Take march's payment, put itback in your pocket.
Take april's put it back inyour pocket.
Take may's, put it back in yourpocket.
That's eighteen hundred dollarsback in your pocket and they're
in a new ride.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Is that actually happening?
Don't forget about the 10 year120.
They're able to double down onall of it.
Maximize all the value.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Yeah, you bet.
So how do you see from yoursales team what do you do to
keep them hyped up and focused?
Speaker 3 (35:10):
One of the big things I like to report the king cake.
So my mom had bought a vehiclefrom us over the weekend.
Where's she from?
She came from Louisiana,Shreveport.
She sent me a king cake fromone of my favorite bakeries.
They're pretty nice, and allaren't they.
Buddy, it's a little house.
No, show them how I made it.
They got a little baby in theking cake and I brought that up
here.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
So your mom came from Louisiana to send me the
ultimate challenge to buy a car.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
She works at a car dealer, shout out Wendy, she
does work at a car dealer.
Shout out Wendy.
Yeah, she did, she does work ata dealership over in Texas.
But she wanted to be a part.
She wanted to help mecontribute to our goal.
She wanted to be a part of theultimate challenge.
We've also got the ultimateinventory.
Her local Ford dealer didn'thave what they wanted, but I had
exactly what she wanted.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
Yeah, I like it for sure.
Hey, mason does a great job andyou already dove into that
about the King K bringing thethunder, and I love it.
You can see the safety vest on.
He is one of our most involvedmanagers with everything we've
got going from a taco Tuesday to.
He'll get out there and makesure that the guys are supported
(36:15):
at the taco truck but the guysknow here.
But then moving to a King K onFriday, he is the most involved.
Looks like Crocodile Dundeemixed on a beach, all of it.
But he transitions that intohaving fun with the customers
and making sure the team has fun, because it's all about coming
together, working, hitting ourgoals.
So he does a great job withthat bringing the absolute
(36:36):
thunder.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
It's Taco Tuesday.
Are you going to take part Inabout 10, 15 minutes?
What?
Speaker 3 (36:41):
time are you going to launch?
I got to hit it first.
We're standing at the tacotruck.
What's your order today?
Oh, burrito, carne, asada allday.
Baby.
Chipotle sauce, green sauce,let's go.
Hot sauce, oh yeah, the redones Until 10 tonight, won't it?
No, buddy, I'll be it.
No, buddy, I've been here asecond.
Look at about three or fouro'clock for that evening rush,
(37:02):
okay.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
So what you're saying ?
This is like a bucky's.
Should we say?
It's a one-stop shop?
You can show up, get a car, onecar wash, you get complimentary
coffees.
We got good coffee, gourmetcoffee, cap of cheese, so a lot,
you know sparkling water.
Then I car wash, you get a freetrack appraisal Taco truck.
(37:23):
I mean, ain't this guy.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
If anything, the best thing you can do, swing by, get
a car wash.
Hey, let me get a quickappraisal, get an actual cash
value on it and just see whatyou got.
You owe it to yourself to knowwhat your financial portfolio
obtains.
What you got.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
It's no different than logging into your portfolio
.
You're checking accounts.
How's it looking?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
If you come by on a Friday or a Saturday, we
probably got a nice food truckwith food.
We got a lot more things goingon.
It'll be a pretty fun time,thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
I appreciate it, buddy, all right, thanks for
adding value to the challenge.
Let's get rolling.
Just another great example ofthe fantastic employees.
And we just got to give a shoutout, I think, to all of our
employees that make up theculture.
Yeah, we're the one on thevideo here, but they're the ones
putting in the work, they'rethe ones connecting with the
customers, yes, helping us putin place not only our dream but
(38:17):
our goals here, that, as we grow, as a family owned and operated
dealership, we can provide morejobs, a great place to work and
pour back into the community ateven a greater level.
And it's those guys that you'rehearing from that are helping
us do that that's a really goodpoint, that.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
So a lot of these people, like mason, uh, like
clay, had never been part ofultimate challenge.
And guess what?
We didn't tell anybody.
Ultimate challenge was coming.
No, no, no one.
So on march 1st we said,surprise, this is all about to
be different.
And so they were like cancun,what?
Yeah, and it's like, hey,here's the link to buy an opo
suit.
(38:53):
Like the shorts are reallyshort.
They're pretty slim, fit sizeup.
Oh, and, by the way, stpatrick's day, yeah oh, and by
the way, we got this and's Day,yeah, oh, and, by the way, we
got this.
And then we showed them thiswhole calendar and it was just
like all this stuff.
And not once did they say areyou sure?
No, do you think I should dothis?
Speaker 5 (39:10):
It rained pretty hard .
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Like they have been very committed right from the
get-go, Now not to say theyhadn't bought more suits or
different shirts, becausethey're like I'm kind of
blending in now.
Yeah, Like I know, I got a porkpie hat on and I've got, you
know, an average shirt on.
But like Clay was like, hey,for St Patrick's Day, can we
dress up?
I was like, yeah, he said isthere a calendar of days that
(39:31):
you can dress up?
I said no, no, no, we don'tthink that far in advance.
If it seems like a good day toPresentable to stand out, that
says, hey, it's me, I have fun.
You're going to want to dealwith me.
Just go ahead and dress up, Beappropriate, Make sure you know
you're presentable, but just goahead and dress up.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
I think that's a telltale sign if you have built
a team and you've proven to themthat you're there to help them
be successful.
When it's time for you to saysomething that's maybe off
course or maybe feels different,if nobody questions it and they
just jump on board, that showsthat you've put in the work and
instilled the confidence thatyou have their best interest and
you're helping them to hittheir goals.
That's really good.
You know that's good.
Well, hey, another greatepisode here.
Like you said, only a few daysleft here to take advantage.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
102 vehicles to be sold, plus, plus, plus, plus
plus.
We still well over 1,000vehicles on the lot that are not
the same 1,000 that were hereon March 1st.
That's right.
But we talked about thatturnover and more injection, and
more injection.
And do keep in mind, even ifyou visit us at
lewissuperstorecom, like that'sgoing to have a majority of our
(40:38):
inventory, but no joke,yesterday there was two and a
half pages of fresh trades.
It did not include nothingbought from the auction and
nothing of our new cards.
Those will take.
They probably won't make it tothe end.
They'll make it, but they won'thave the pricing, they won't
have a description, they won'thave pictures.
So you do, you, you need to doyour service and show up and
(41:00):
just drive through.
That's right, drive through andand see how it can help yeah,
there's plenty of stuff, whetherit's pre-owned or new.
Speaker 4 (41:06):
They're just coming off the transport that by the
time they go through the systemthey won't be on the internet.
So make sure to reach out toour team.
They could be your eyes andears.
They can look for stuff, theyknow what stuff's traded for
before it even hits the trade-inrow and they can help you
connect all that.
We've got plenty of specialsleft out there.
Taylor, I know you've got yourteam hyped up.
We're going to hit the goal andbeyond, so really, the customer
(41:27):
.
They owe it to themselves tocome now instead of next Monday.
We'll still sell a car nextMonday, but the selection is
greater now.
Speaker 5 (41:34):
Yeah, selection is greater, you've got up to 25,000
.
We started off at 20,000, but$25,000.
On Grand Wagoneers, you've got1.9.
You've got no payments fornowadays.
You've got Bronco Raptors yousee right behind me here that
are up to $20,000.
The Ultimate Off-Road Rig,you've got Rangers, starting at
$29,000.
There is a vehicle for youDoesn't matter what you're
(41:57):
looking for All the way to thetop, to a cash car.
That's just going to get methrough the summer, you bet, and
it's going to make the absolutemost sense.
Now Matt hit the nail on thehead when those are gone,
they're gone.
I don't have an abundance ofthem and I have them ready to go
right now.
So make sure you come by andcheck it out.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
Hey, don't forget on Saturday.
Saturday we run our salesmeeting live on Facebook, so any
of our company pages jump onthere.
You can see the fresh trades,the new car specials for the
final, final days of ultimatechallenge.
And, as always, if you don'tmind, go ahead and hit that
subscribe button and share thispodcast so we can bring more
value to the community out herein Northwest Arkansas.
Thanks again for joining us.
(42:35):
We'll see you soon.
Really, for about the past year I've tried to go
through extensive periods ofgrowth and I think that that's
really what has kind of broughtme into this business.
So to be able to kind of sharethat progress and that growth
with the community in a way thatis a positive thing, in a way
where you know it also holds meaccountable to that growth.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
All right, good morning, ultimate Challenge.
All right, good morning,ultimate challenge crossroad
conversation.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
We're jumping right in here usually are used to the
buffer that we go into, so getready for that.
Shared, here we go.
It's us ultimate challenge timecrossroad conversation.
You talk about that.
I'm gonna share this.
Okay, you share that while Igive the intro.
Hey, ultimate challenge.
Maybe you've joined in, maybeyou've seen it on TV, maybe
you've seen it on social.
It's our biggest sell theentire year, where you, the
(00:53):
customer, wins every single timeand you win in all the
categories, whether it's savingon vehicles.
Hey, we just upped, actually,the amount we're taking off
vehicles.
Most places you go to, they'relike oh yeah, we already sold
that one, it's gone.
We went from $20,000 to $25,000off vehicles.
Yeah, taylor, that went up aton.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So much Taylor's going to sell them.
I've been releasing a specialof the day every single day.
This morning I released not one, not two, not three, not four,
but five specials of the day.
I put a lot on the pad.
I put hang tags on Every man'scash.
You know what?
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I love about our specials.
We come out with specials tosell them, yeah, and I know
that's like we don't buy thesecars.
There's other people that comeout with specials and door
busters just to create a hookfor you to come in, but then
they come up with reasons not tosell.
We're looking for reasons tosell.
That's on that side.
On the trade-ins, I went over astat yesterday when I was on the
(01:51):
radio, the sports show Shoutout to ESPN there, and we were
talking about if somebody camein the first week of Ultimate
Challenge.
What's different now?
Well, last week alone weacquired an additional 94
pre-owned vehicles and 150additional new vehicles made it
on the lot.
That's 240 vehicles that if youwere here the first week you
(02:15):
didn't see.
And that was not last week,that was just last week.
You can triple that.
That's 750.
Let's call it 50.
That's easy for my paragraphmath.
You know what I mean.
So that's ultimate savingsthere.
Hey, on the financing side,taylor, I'm going to kick it to
you here.
I'll start with the 0% and thenI want you to tell them how you
wrangled all 26 lenders in theroom and challenged them to help
(02:38):
us.
We got 0% financing on vehicles.
But for those that don't havethe 0% financing, what'd you do
with our lending sources?
Speaker 5 (02:47):
I'm telling you, we had an automatic rate reduction
of up to two and a halfpercentage points, and it's so
much to a point we've talked tothem so much that I have them
calling me saying hey, it'stowards the end of the day, I
have more analysts sitting herewaiting.
How can we help?
What can we do?
Hey, here's this deal you sentover.
I think if we structure it thisway, we can help the customer
(03:07):
better.
So it's almost like they'rehere with us and they're wanting
to be a part of it, and evenwhen they're not here with us.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
we've asked the banks for their after hours contact.
Oh yeah, because we talked lastweek about being able to
connect with an actual person,we're not just talking about a
computer thing and so we'vechallenged each one like hey, I
know you close your businessoffice at five or six o'clock,
at nine or 10 o'clock, who do wecall to get an exception, to
(03:33):
get a rate reduction, to move itfrom a tier five to a tier
three?
How do we lower their interestrate?
And they're like do what.
It's like okay, can we callyour cell phone?
We're asking for approval.
But we're also saying, hey,we're gonna call your cell phone
.
Do you want the business oranything?
Speaker 4 (03:45):
I think, something else behind the scenes that the
customer doesn't know, but weknow inside.
We need to share it witheverybody.
It's not only did you get thetwo and a half point rate
reduction that was already atour super low, buy, sell, it was
you know.
So we buy, sell whatever thebank gives us.
We give you guys that rate.
You're already getting a lowerrate than if you walked into a
bank.
Why?
Because we leverage offhundreds of thousands of dollars
(04:07):
, millions that we've done infinance contracts.
Then take another two and ahalf percentage points off of
that.
That lowers your payment.
It does All right.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
So we're talking.
Ultimate challenge we're in thefinal six days.
Six days Working days.
If you're looking at thecalendar and saying Shelby, what
do you mean?
We're not counting Sunday,because the goal of this is to
be able to sell all the carsthat we came 555 cars without
having to make our teamwork anymore than normally necessary.
So, as of this morning, sixworking days left.
What's our number?
How are we looking?
We're looking.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
We're 453 sold as of this morning.
453 sold.
Hey, for all you math and statpeople out there, that puts us
at 81.6% of our goal, but justas like anybody, that's
competitive.
Not only are we going to hit555, now we got to keep moving.
You know what I mean, but wemight stretch a little bit.
(04:56):
Yeah, you know what I mean, butI love what you talk about
there.
And before we bring our firstguest on, I just want to say
this to everybody out there hey,sometimes challenge your team
and see if they'll rise up.
What we're talking about in ourbusiness is I can tell you how
many ultimate challenges I'veworked while I worked all three
Sundays four, I guess it's fourthree of the four Sundays, every
(05:18):
single day off.
And we got the number, but itcame at an expense of work-life
balance.
We told the crew the number wasbigger this year, but we told
the number, but it came at anexpense of work-life balance.
Yep, we told the crew thenumber was bigger this year.
Yeah, but we told the crew.
We said, hey, you guys dig in,you guys get the number.
We're not going to work anySundays.
We're not requiring anybody towork on their days off.
That's a true feat, especiallyin our industry.
(05:39):
Yeah, you know so big, big dealthere.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So ultimate challenge challenge six days left.
There we got some fun guests.
Today we've got guests wewanted to bring out, save some
of the best for last night.
So we've wrangled the wholecrew.
Boys, let's go.
You ready all right let's go.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Oh hell boy, get in here in the middle, all right.
Speaker 6 (05:55):
So first, first welcome, I'm both derek the trip
right here just very light.
You get your punch up, son.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Yeah, all right so these guys have been with our
organization for a while andthey're top-notch sales
professionals.
Now both of you are located ata farm-intended location, right,
farm sir, yes, sir, a farm,okay, right out at the farm.
But if you see a vehicle in theSpringdale lot or the
Fayetteville lot, can you guyssell from anywhere Of anywhere?
Of course, that's the greatthing about being here at Lewis,
you bet, you bet.
(06:24):
So, derek, let's start with you.
Make sure the microphone'sright there.
You don't want to talk to me.
You can look at me every oncein a while, but hey, tell them,
because how many ultimatechallenges have you been through
?
Speaker 6 (06:34):
Well, I'd say at least six, seven.
That's factual-ish.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
You know kind of like how many fish you catch.
You know could be five to sevenin the live.
Well, you know, somewhere inthe 80s Could be.
How does Ultimate Challengefeel different than normal month
, than a?
Speaker 6 (06:50):
February or April.
I mean there's a hugedifference here.
And not only that, thisUltimate Challenge is different
from every other one we've everhad.
Like, what do you mean?
Well, I mean you rememberwhenever you drive by the
Northwest Arkansas Mall, we'dhave all of our vehicles up
there and everybody remembersthat.
But it's just several years.
Things happened.
So now we're doing this thing,and that was for a week.
We're doing this all month longnow.
So you talk about the inventorythat we've got coming in.
(07:12):
I mean we're having trouble outthere just keeping the lot
spots open, because it's just sofull but ultimate selection,
the ultimate savings.
Like I said, trade values areamazing, able to give people
well above what their car isworth to be able to make those
deals work.
Um, just, it's awesomeatmosphere.
We got some great things goingon.
It's fun to be a part of it.
(07:33):
Is it really is?
Speaker 7 (07:33):
and and sure you're involved in this as well, aren't
you?
Yes, sir, absolutely.
This is my second one.
That's part of all right bestone so far.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
And so how are we pacing?
Are you selling more cars thismonth than you normally?
Speaker 7 (07:44):
do absolutely, absolutely.
Right now I'm at 19, my goal is20 and I'm pushing that up to
25, maybe even 30, maybe 30,maybe even 30 by the end of the
month.
But it uh the here at lewisautomobile.
It makes it easy.
The ultimate challenge makes iteasy because it really is the
time to get the ultimate deal.
When we say ultimate savings,ultimate selection, ultimate
trade value, we are absolutelymean that it's one of those
(08:06):
deals, that it's the time of themonth, time of the year where
you can get that deal thatyou're excited to go tell your
friends about or tell yourfamily about.
Like, hey, check this deal out,I got on this vehicle and on
top of that we cover, we takecare of our customers before the
sale, during the sale and thenafter the sale when it comes to
our Lewis Guarantee.
And it just makes it easy.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
You bet I want you guys to think about real-world
examples.
I appreciate you pluggingUltimate Challenge, because
we're always plugging that, butI want you all to think about
some real-world examples and I'mgoing to come back to you here
in a minute of where a customergot a deal Don't say any names.
A customer got a deal that whenyou walked in your manager's
office you're like, man, I'mgoing to walk in there because
that's what I do, but I don'treally think you had a little
(08:45):
doubt in the back of your mindwhether they're going to do this
or not.
Same thing on financing for asolution.
Or, I want you to think aboutwhen you because sometimes our
customers out there they thinkwell, I saw the vehicle at the
Springdale store or theFayetteville store.
I'm not sure if either one ofthe Porter brothers can go get
that.
So I want you to be able toexplain each of those as we go
(09:05):
on.
I'll give you a couple minutesto think about that as I go into
this To all the businessleaders out there.
These two guys are a greatexample of where they had a goal
set for the month and they wereon a roll and they were rocking
and rolling.
And Taylor, I'll let you jumpinto this part, but where you
can see that they were going toachieve their goal.
But as a leader, it's your jobto then instill in them what's
(09:27):
next.
They're on a roll, and you'vehad plenty of guys like that,
haven't you?
Speaker 5 (09:30):
Absolutely.
It's no different than insports.
You can see when it's thatguy's day, whenever he's running
, he's hitting every single shot.
That's when you step back andyou say, hey, you're doing good.
How can I support you and say,hey, you're doing good, how can
I support you?
But I want to push you all tothe next level.
So I want you to be able to hitthat goal you never thought was
possible.
So we're going to go ahead andcritique that up.
It's no different than when Iwas just hemming up Trent here.
(09:53):
He said I'm going to push to 25.
I was like no, I think you'vegot a little bit more in your
tank, let's go to 30.
As, being a good manager andgoing through, I'm going to push
you a little bit harder becauseI know you can get there.
And the reason why you pushyour team harder whenever you
see anybody else on your teamgoing there, it's because
they're the ones that are goingto help you achieve your goal.
That's right, not to say anyoneelse isn't going to.
(10:15):
But whenever you're a guythat's got the hot hands, hey,
give him the ball and let him goto work.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
All right.
So, guys, I've given you alittle bit of time there.
Give us some examples.
Derek, I can see you're readyto go, so before you just blurt
it out, I'm going to say go, Igot one for you.
Okay, hit me.
It happened yesterday actually.
Okay, tell me.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
A customer came in looking at trading their vehicle
they may or may not have boughtduring that COVID time and
payment and uh, you know, andthey, they ended up.
John talked to him and theyactually ended up going to eat
some food and john said, hey,give him a call and see if we
(10:52):
can try something for him.
So, all right, so we did.
And, uh, worked with one of ourreally good lenders.
Um, talk about that interestrate reduction.
Um, that's one of the thingsthat helped us, not only that we
were able to dig in, get theman extra I should probably not
say this but an extra $4,000.
That's true, hang on.
So that interest rate reductionand that extra on that trade
that we got there, you guys thatended up us getting us down
(11:15):
under their budget they neededto be at.
They left happily in an awesomevehicle, said it was the best
experience they've ever had.
They were super happy, theycame in and took advantage of
the month the ultimate challenge.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
That's a really good point of pointing out of like.
We can replace the car, we canreplace a whole lot of things.
We can't replace the experienceof a consumer choosing us,
choosing you guys, and thenshowing up of like.
If they've connected with a carand it makes sense and they've
enjoyed the process, we'refinding a way to put that deal
down.
We're calling the bank andworking it.
(11:47):
We're working the trade andthis sold $4,000.
Speaker 7 (11:51):
And that's the benefit of being able to sell
from any location.
If we start a deal atFarmington, we're able to come
up here at Chrysler, we're uphere to go to Springdale
purchase from us.
But we were able to help themout, get them out of that, put
(12:11):
them in a new vehicle that comewith a 10-year, 120,000-mile
warranty, the first year of key,wheel and tire replacement, and
they were so fired up.
They're a customer for life andI'm just excited that we have
that opportunity to be able tofind a solution for any customer
here at Lewis Automotive.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Hey, what would you tell a customer if they were
like, hey, you know what, I'mhere, I'm looking at it, but I
might need to think about it.
What might they give up if theygo home and think about it?
Speaker 6 (12:35):
The vehicle, the ultimate challenge the vehicle,
the vehicle.
Things are going so fast, youguys.
I'm literally selling thesevehicles before they come out of
the shop, taking deposits onthem.
You know, I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
If you've got one picked out, you better get up
here and check it out, and sothe idea is to transfer that to
the customer to understand if welike the vehicle and it drives
good, it fits with our familyneeds.
We have to keep that in mindBecause there's almost 60 other
salespeople that are trying tosell that exact same car in five
locations and they all want tosell that thing.
So Same car In five locationsand they all want to sell that
thing.
So do keep that in mind,because we've marked them all
down.
What was it that we marked?
Speaker 4 (13:07):
you down.
We've marked down millions ofdollars.
We've earmarked over $2 billionin savings that are dedicated
just to move the vehicles duringthe month of March and we look
at our average days on the lot,it's really, really low.
And Shelby you bring up a greatpoint is there's 60 other sales
people.
We have wish lists behind thescenes.
Yep, those wish lists arevehicles that customers are
(13:29):
looking for and as soon as a carhits a wish list, guys, just
like either one of the porterbrothers here, they're calling,
they're sending out the textbefore they ever hit the
internet.
So that stuff moves really.
That's why I bring up the pointof over 240 additional vehicles
just last week, just last week.
That's a big deal.
I appreciate you guys sharingthose real world examples
(13:50):
because that really tells that'snot the easy deal.
The customer just came in andwrote a check.
They found the perfect, it's.
No, we had a couple obstacles.
We had to be solution based andthat's part of ultimate
challenge, whether it's from thebanks or the savings or the
amounts for the trades as well.
Absolutely.
How does the atmosphere feeldifferent?
I know we've got a greatatmosphere here, but how does it
(14:11):
feel a little bit differentduring the month of March.
Each of you all.
Take that for just a coupleseconds.
Speaker 6 (14:15):
Well, I mean, we've got food trucks coming in, you
know we've got cows and you knowpetting zoos up here on
Saturday.
We've got bouncy houses.
We've got all kinds of crazystuff going on.
That's just awesome.
It's more like an amusementpark this month than going to a
car dealership.
Good morning guys.
The kids are loving it.
My son's following us onFacebook and on social media.
(14:36):
He's on YouTube.
He's like how are you doing?
Where are y'all are going tohit it?
I already know you.
Speaker 7 (14:41):
He calls him every day and checks in like where are
you at today?
We're at the day, so theatmosphere so it's a great
atmosphere.
Speaker 6 (14:47):
We're loving it.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
It's just, it's fun.
Yeah, and I kind of followDerek here.
You know, it's the atmosphere,you know people have a good time
.
We want to be different and weare different than any other
savings and everything, which isa real deal.
But we take the time with ourcustomers to sit down, make sure
that they're not here for fouror five hours.
We take time to figure outtheir wants, their needs, what's
(15:09):
important to them, and wenarrow that down and make it
easy, make it fun, and we rollout the red carpet, you know,
and take a picture with them.
It's stage roll out.
My dad made stage roll out ofthe rest of the curtain.
Speaker 6 (15:20):
Snoop Dogg may not have got it, but you know we're
good, we're good, All right.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
So where do we find you guys and how do they get a
hold of you?
Speaker 7 (15:26):
Easy Lewis Automotive out in Farmington.
It's 323 East Main Street,farmington, arkansas.
Trip order you can reach me at479-320-4832.
Speaker 6 (15:35):
Thank you, yeah, you guys same place, lewis
Automotive in Farmington.
You social media.
That guy sells cars, fishes.
You know, sells cars.
That guy's at Fishes.
You'll find me all over there.
You can watch on there, youguys.
But yeah, hit me up, I'd loveto be your car guy.
Yeah, come on down and see us.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Hey guys, thank you all for helping us get to that
555.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
We're not done yet, but we've got the old train
fired up.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Thank, you all for joining us.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
y'all enjoy it all right, that's a great example of
just a few of our team membersthat really add up.
You know, it's not just aboutus.
Y'all see us on camera all thetime the lewis brothers, but
it's.
But it's about all the otheralmost 300 employees that help
us make up this culture andatmosphere.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
You know one thing I wanted to point out you guys
were talking about pushing yourteam, as you see somebody that's
working ahead.
How does that relate for acustomer?
Because that's really whatmatters.
A customer doesn't care as much.
I should say I'll be nice aboutwhere a person is, but just
know this if a person has beensuccessful that many times, it's
because they are able to make asuper good process, a very
(16:43):
transparent process, a veryseamless process of
understanding what's importantto them.
And that, I think, is what aconsumer wants.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
Yeah, I'll share with you.
Last night I had this and Ilove it, and this is a repeat
customer that was in here.
But our customers are gettingso involved with it, not only to
get the deals.
But you know what he said.
Right after he came out offinance he looked at the
salesperson.
He said said, right after hecame out of finance he looked at
the salesperson.
He said all right, where areyou at, where are you at Taylor,
where are y'all at with thestore?
And I said right here.
(17:14):
And he looked over at the salesguy.
He said well, son, you got toget a step in here.
No-transcript customers aregetting so involved that they
want to help you.
That's the gorilla part, man.
That's good.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
But you're so good and we've talked about that
before and you all probablyheard it on the podcast If you
hadn't shout out Go back andlisten to some of the other
podcasts.
Customers really do want to bea part of success.
You see it in sports teams allthe time.
Oh yeah, Whenever somebodystarts jumping on the bandwagon
when they're winning.
It's no different in sales, andI'll have customers that have
texted me all month long andthey're like, hey, I'm not in
(17:47):
the market to buy, but I got acouple extra vehicles that I
would sell to you just to helpyou have vehicles to hit your
goal Guaranteed, and that's thetrue success there.
Absolutely, that's really good.
Y'all ready for the next guest?
We brought some great ones foryou today.
Great ones for you today.
Hey 2 Chainz, come on in here.
We've got a little superspecial there.
Let's go Bring it in.
Brad Nice.
(18:08):
Hey, don't you, cal?
Look at the entire area, I cansee you.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You dressed up.
Hey, got the old beard going.
You brought out your goodchains Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Always got to have the chains, guys?
Well, introduce yourself.
Tell them where they can findyou, and then we'll start
talking.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Hi guys, my name is Clay Simpson.
I'm an employee at LewisPre-Owned here in the
Supercenter on Shiloh inFayetteville.
You can give me a call anytime,479-249-3427.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
How do people know you?
I mean, they might know you asClay, because they see that, but
what do people call you?
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Oh, they call me 2 Chainz around here.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Okay, here, okay, it might have to do with the two
chains that I wear you know,it's tricky when, when you hire
on staff of like trying liketrying to remember all the names
and that is so important.
I don't want to say salespersona, b, c, d, correct, but it's
super tricky when you have 270employees to try to remember
everyone's name and I rememberit's like oh, this guy's like,
(19:02):
oh, what's it?
What's this nice?
It's like, hey, what do youlike?
Speaker 5 (19:03):
oh, what's it what's his name.
So it's like, hey, would itupset you if I called?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
you two chickens somewhere through the way and he
was like I kind of like that,yeah, like okay, we can remember
this guy hey, shelby, I thinkthat's two folds.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
That's internally, but you know any da statistics
say that after a year, 90percent of customers forget
their salesperson's name.
Yeah, so if you'll put it tosomething that sticks in their
brain like a two chain and thisbusiness is built off repeats
and referrals you've now brandedyourself as that.
Are you getting any feedback?
(19:36):
Are you hearing anything out inthe community when they start
calling you that?
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Oh, absolutely, and it's kind of a reflection of
this ultimate challenge as well.
It's gotten to the point whereI can't go to the mall with my
wife and my kid.
Even going to the gas station,people are going hey, what's up?
2 Chainz?
Hey, I've got some friends thatneed a vehicle.
So it's gotten so big that it'salmost a humbling experience.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Nothing better than having people support you.
That's outside of the business,Nothing like a shot of ether or
confidence than when somebodyis pulling for you, Even if they
don't buy.
They're like, hey, I'm not inthe market, but I'm going to
send so-and-so to you and I'mrooting for you.
How are you coming on the gold?
That's really good.
That's really good.
That's one of the biggest ways.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
if you and a lot of people our favorite and happiest
customers are the ones that sayI was just looking or I was not
in the market, right, we'd loveto be able to help those people
if we can keep their paymentthe same, upgrade their ride,
change the ability of theirwheels and their lifestyle.
So if you think I'm not in themarket, you just might be, but
if you're not, share comment ofhelping them out.
(20:44):
For this guy and for all thepeople you've talked to, that's
a big way that you can help.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
I think one of the ways people relate to you too is
, you know, when they followyour social and I'm not going to
ask you to go in deep into allof it right now, but when they
follow their social it's veryunique, it's very real.
People can relate.
It's not always like, hey, comedown here and buy an F one 50.
It's real world stuff andpeople can see you're having fun
through your videos.
You know what's intrigued youto do that.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Um, really for the about the past year, I've tried
to go through extensive periodsof growth, um, and I think that
that's really what has kind ofbrought me into this business,
um, so, to be able to kind ofshare that progress and that
growth with the community in away, that is a positive thing,
um, in a way where you know italso holds me accountable, uh,
(21:32):
to that growth.
Um, it's been a greatexperience.
Um, I try and be as authenticof a person as I can, uh,
without upsetting people.
Oh yeah, sure, and that's thebig goal, um, but you know, the
reason why I go for thatauthenticity is because you know
exactly who you get.
Whenever you come down to LewisAutomotive and you ask for two
chains, you don't have to wonderif the guy behind the camera is
(21:55):
really what he's saying.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
I think.
I think that's so good andthat's very relatable and people
are looking for that in this.
In this world where there's somuch content out there, it's
really hard to decipher and siftthrough what's real and what's
not real.
You bring a real realness to itand I just say congratulations
on that.
Now I'm going to flip thescript a little bit.
Let's talk about the atmospherewithin the dealership, because
you've been at other dealershipsbefore in your sales career.
(22:19):
What does this and I'm nottalking about our organization
as a whole, I'm talking aboutspecifically the month of March.
How does it feel?
How does it look?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
different.
So it's almost as if it's amonth-long festival.
That's the best way I candescribe it.
There's something going onevery day.
We've even got Taco Tuesdaytoday.
You know a lot of dealerships,you know they might have one on
every Friday or something on theweekend, maybe even something
(22:50):
once a month.
But I think Shelby said it thebest it feels like the end of
the month every single day hereand we're really, you know, out
there getting it.
You don't even have to besomebody who's in the market for
a car for the month of March toreally enjoy what we've got
going on down here.
Just to be able to have thatmuch access to the community is
really a it's a priceless thing,you know it's fun too, though.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Yeah, it's absolutely working some hours.
You know we're working somehours and we close at seven, but
there's plenty of deals.
We've closed at eight, 30 atnight.
It's because this crew they'regetting their goal, so you might
as well make it fun if you'regoing to put in all those hours.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
You know whether the music or all the activities and
that's the thing, definitelythat we see, as you know, as you
get this day 24, I think, if Ichecked correctly as you pace
through this thing, everyonemoves a different speed and a
different level, and so it'salways a checkup constantly
throughout the day and you canjust tell like 70 percent of
communication is nonverbal,right?
So I might cruise through and Isee Taylor and I'm like I need
(23:46):
to get you a coffee or coffeefor Matt.
I'm like Matt, let me get youanother Spark.
I'm like two chains, buddy,you're looking good.
And he's like oh really,because I'm not feeling good,
I'm like no man, I just passedsome customers and they said
they were having the utmost fun,like they're loving it, and so
it's a recheck of like hey, yougot this, that's good.
(24:07):
Like finish strong, make surethat you.
But just checking on your teamto make sure, because we're
running pretty hard.
It's kind of like a one mile allout or a 5k pace yeah for a
marathon or a 50 miler, but youhave enough people around you
that it's raw, raw, that it'sfun, and the customers they just
.
It's new energy every time acustomer is injected and and
you're like this is what I do itfor, right?
Yes, are you feeling?
Speaker 1 (24:27):
that yeah, 100%.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Okay.
I think that's importantbecause there's no way that all
of our team members even us, youknow we're acting like the last
day of the month.
Every single day, Every singleday is the two-minute drill.
Every single day we're out oftimeouts.
The shot clock's running,Mulligans.
There's no way all of us can be100% on all the time, but if
(24:49):
you surround yourself with theright atmosphere and the right
people on those off days, onthose days where you're just
kind of feeling wore out,they're going to hit you with
the junk box and get you back inthe game.
Yes, absolutely, and I thinkthat's really cool.
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:01):
That's been the fun part about the end of this month
and pushing everything there.
The dial just keeps going upand up and up and we talk about
it.
The two-minute drill of it'sthe horse race.
You're on the final stretch andif you haven't had the most fun
, if you haven't got the bestdeal, it's happening this week.
It's happening this week witheverybody getting in there and
adjusting those goals.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
we talked about salespeople adjustment this
morning.
Lewis Ford was in three oftheir goal.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
And it was a meeting that we added, on another gosh,
almost another hundred to theirgoal.
You said 50, and then I said100.
Not to say that it's aone-upper, but it's like, hey,
it's working at Lewis Ford, it'sworking at all the places, but
they're seeing the most success.
It's like, okay, let's make anadjustment, yep, and let's go
(25:49):
get it right.
So just like, insert some moreenergy, turn the music up louder
, blow a couple more subwoofersyep, order some more and stay
after.
Or some more hot dogs, get somemore food trucks, get a more
carnival, get another pettingzoo, get another race car hey,
Clay, a couple things.
Speaker 4 (26:02):
I just want the listeners to understand that you
know what we're saying isactual, factual, real.
How many customers are youseeing?
People that come in that aremaybe upside down, maybe don't
have the credit to buy or maybedidn't think we could find a car
in their payment because allthey see are the $100,000 cars?
Are you seeing any of thosesolutions?
Any of those people walking outwith a new ride?
(26:23):
Any of those?
Speaker 1 (26:23):
solutions.
Any of those people walking outwith a new ride yes, that's
usually a common place in theautomotive business, especially
for the sales that we have goingon now.
We've really pushed out somereally good deals for some folks
, putting dreams in drivewaysand making sure that they come
back and see us.
I even had a customer fairlyrecently usually in the
(26:44):
automotive business when youtrade and finance, there's a
little bit more wiggle room justbecause there's more going on
and he was holding on to a Jeepthat had some age but it still
had some good life in it and itwas beat up enough where you
could do Jeep things with it.
Oh yeah, he wasn't entirelysure on if he wanted to trade
this in or not, but he wasconcerned about the payments,
(27:05):
and so what we did was we cuthim a discount.
We cut him a good deal.
We made sure that he could keephis Jeep for his hunting
excursions, his outdooractivities, and then still have
something nice for his family ata decent price point.
That's solid.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
That's good.
That's really good.
That's really good.
Well, tell them one more timewhere they can find you and how
everybody out there can help youhit your goal for this month.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Yeah, guys.
So I'm at the Supercenter inFayetteville.
Whenever you pull in and take aright to the Black Pre-Owned
Building, I'll be in the firstfloor showroom.
You can contact me anytime,479-249-3427.
Or add me on social media.
I answer my DMs prettyregularly All right.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Thanks for coming on.
We'll chat.
Hey buddy, same time for you.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
Hey, before you take customers, golly, we're just
getting in there and there'speople already calling in on
there and people are respondingand everything else there.
But shout out to a customer.
He's bought over 30 cars fromus over the years.
He participated in an ultimatechallenge.
He sent me a message one Fridaynight and it was late.
He said Taylor, I want to be apart of you.
(28:05):
Do you have anything?
I said, dan, I'll see you inthe morning.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Oh no, not Dan Lancaster, yeah, Cas.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
Yeah, watch live with us right now.
So, dan, ms Luann, we lovehaving you all as customers.
Thank you for participating.
Absolute best people that havefun every time.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Hey, shout out as well to Justin.
Justin Cavanaugh, thanks forjumping on our live today.
Hey, we love when customerssupport our salespeople and they
really have their bestinterests and they want them to
be successful.
That's really what this world'sabout is helping each other be
successful and supporting that.
So, justin, thank you for allyour support.
Thanks for jumping on thismorning.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
No doubt about it.
I love it.
We got another one.
We got one.
That guy's been in the basementfor a while drinking some
coffee.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I'm not really sure where this one's going to go,
but we're going to try to keepit between the ditches.
Okay, he's back there, boostlaunching, doing his burnout,
making sure his tires are sticky, ready to go.
Hey, welcome to one and onlyknown as the FX4, Mr Mason.
What's up, man?
Speaker 3 (29:06):
Hey good morning brother.
I'm not sure what you'rewearing, Buddy, this is the
highlighter.
Best to let everyone know wemean business.
This is to let you know thatgood deals are coming.
We're ready to just, you know,get in front of the people.
You know what I mean.
It is important.
Safety is important.
Well, we got a lot ofconstruction going on here.
We've got a lot of moving parts.
(29:27):
That's a lot of restrictedareas.
If you're playing your cardsright, you can get in exclusive
locations with these.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
So what you're saying is you know how to put a good
deal together.
Speaker 3 (29:35):
I think, with all the experience that I'm around here
at this dealership and everyoneI've met in my life, like, yeah
, I put together a pretty goodquarter.
It'll make everybody happy.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
I want you to take the word salute or the same not
word, that's the word.
I, like you got to remember,I'm from Prairie Grove.
Give me a little grace here.
Okay, prairie Grove's goodSolution-based, solution-based.
What does that translate to?
As a sales manager puttingdeals together?
What does that look like duringthe month of Ultimate Challenge
?
Speaker 3 (30:02):
You've got to be able to know what manufacturers,
what incentives are out there,because there's 12 different
ways you can buy an F-150, andthere's about 30 different
programs.
And if you're able to find outwhat the customer is trying to
accomplish, you can look atincentivized rates, you can look
at maximum discount, you canlook at taking a little bit of
(30:23):
this and a little bit of that.
You can even look at tradeassistance.
You know, do they know someonethat owns a certain vehicle?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
you've got to find all the avenues to perform, to
put it together and we a lot oftimes we see that people
cruising a lot and they mightfind something that's just like
oh gosh, super nice, ultimatetrim level, all the things.
But then we will do a needsassessment and kind of find out
what's important, so then we'reable to help them find the
perfect vehicle that fits theirbudget right.
Absolutely, have youexperienced that?
Speaker 3 (30:49):
Oh, absolutely Absolutely.
It usually happens with anExpedition or an F-150.
Okay, someone with a 2012,?
Hey man, I need a Lariat.
I always drive a Lariat.
Sir, let me show you this XLT.
It's got Lariat-like qualities,and the amount of technology
they've put in these new F-150sis comparable to what they had
in the Platinums 10 years ago.
(31:10):
Okay, so you get the lanecentering, you get the 360
camera, you get the wirelessApple CarPlay, you get the fast
chargers, you get all thosethings in the XLT.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
So it's an educational process of helping a
customer instead of trying toshove a Platinum or a Lariat
into the budget of an XLT.
We get to help, educate,absolutely.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
We can help keep everything on a level playing
field by making sure we go overall those different features and
find out what's important tothem.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Love that.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
I think it's important we brought Mason on
today because we wanted theaudience to not only hear from
the salespeople from all thedifferent locations, which we've
done.
We had multiple financemanagers on here before.
We had Joey as the salesmanager on last week.
We wanted to bring Mason aswell so you can hear the
customer, our transparency andhow it flows all the way through
.
I'm sure you can see by Mason'senergy.
(31:58):
He's involved and he's ready tohelp, which should be exciting
and encouraging to you, thecustomer.
He gets out of his seat or, ifhe ever even sits down, he's got
his vest on out there forsafety.
And you're getting involved notto pressure customers but to
make sure that they get in theright vehicle with their wants
and needs that fits in theirbudget, Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
A lot of customers want to talk directly with the
manager to make sure all thattheir desires and needs and
wants are heard, and they wantsomeone that's got that
experience, that knows theinventory.
They're like you know what.
I do have one of these or twoof these put away over here.
Let me show you what this lookslike.
Let me show you this structure.
Sometimes they like to do that.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
And tell us, though, this is your first ultimate
challenge.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
This is my first ultimate challenge that I'm a
part of, but I've known two guysthat have been a part of
Ultimate Challenge for manyyears, so did you know what to
expect to come into this thing?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I had a glimpse of it .
Speaker 3 (32:53):
No, but it was that easy, more or less.
Oh, it's more, it's way morethan anything I could have
imagined.
The amount of energy that youguys put into this, the amount
of marketing the people, thecarnival-like atmosphere that we
have on a weekend it fires meup.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
I sometimes feel like as a manager because sometimes
I get so lucky, I get caught upand get to hang out at the sales
manager desk that you're likethe person who's taking the
tickets at the carnival andthere are lines of people you're
trying to show them.
Hey, here's where the corn dogsare.
Hey, here's where you get yourgate pass.
Hey, here's the all-season pass.
Yes, does it?
Does it feel?
Speaker 3 (33:31):
like that, like there's just stuff going
everywhere.
It does because every time itfeel it never fails.
I always see someone come inand I look around to see if
anyone's sitting at the centerso we can go greet them, and if
the guys see me in motion, theytry to beat me.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
They're like oh, what's Mason getting into?
That's good.
I think the point of that too,and Shelby Mason, is y'all talk
about the amount of people inthe atmosphere.
We're not making this up, it'sall around.
What we've encouraged people todo is it costs zero, zero to
check it out.
It costs zero to come make usan offer on it.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
It's backwards of the cost that actually you get to
bring value, because there'ssome ways that you can take from
us without having to buyanything.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Yeah, like on Fridays , where you get a car wash at no
charge.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
I'm going to give you a cheat code from now to the
end of the month.
If I'm talking Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday or Monday, you get acar wash every day.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
So you get a car wash at no charge, you get to look
at the inventory.
You really owe it to yourselfand I'm going to roll down this.
And then, mason, you can takeover.
You know Ford's program rightnow, with 90 days till no
payments.
You know we start talking aboutthat and a customer.
They can come in.
Let's say their payment is sixhundred dollars a month and
let's say it's due on the 30 ofthis of this month.
(34:43):
Swap with us, get into a newride.
Take march's payment, put itback in your pocket.
Take april's put it back inyour pocket.
Take may's, put it back in yourpocket.
That's eighteen hundred dollarsback in your pocket and they're
in a new ride.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Is that actually happening?
Don't forget about the 10 year120.
They're able to double down onall of it.
Maximize all the value.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Yeah, you bet.
So how do you see from yoursales team what do you do to
keep them hyped up and focused?
Speaker 3 (35:10):
One of the big things I like to report the king cake.
So my mom had bought a vehiclefrom us over the weekend.
Where's she from?
She came from Louisiana,Shreveport.
She sent me a king cake fromone of my favorite bakeries.
They're pretty nice, and allaren't they.
Buddy, it's a little house.
No, show them how I made it.
They got a little baby in theking cake and I brought that up
here.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
So your mom came from Louisiana to send me the
ultimate challenge to buy a car.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
She works at a car dealer, shout out Wendy, she
does work at a car dealer.
Shout out Wendy.
Yeah, she did, she does work ata dealership over in Texas.
But she wanted to be a part.
She wanted to help mecontribute to our goal.
She wanted to be a part of theultimate challenge.
We've also got the ultimateinventory.
Her local Ford dealer didn'thave what they wanted, but I had
exactly what she wanted.
Speaker 5 (35:54):
Yeah, I like it for sure.
Hey, mason does a great job andyou already dove into that
about the King K bringing thethunder, and I love it.
You can see the safety vest on.
He is one of our most involvedmanagers with everything we've
got going from a taco Tuesday to.
He'll get out there and makesure that the guys are supported
(36:15):
at the taco truck but the guysknow here.
But then moving to a King K onFriday, he is the most involved.
Looks like Crocodile Dundeemixed on a beach, all of it.
But he transitions that intohaving fun with the customers
and making sure the team has fun, because it's all about coming
together, working, hitting ourgoals.
So he does a great job withthat bringing the absolute
(36:36):
thunder.
Speaker 2 (36:37):
It's Taco Tuesday.
Are you going to take part Inabout 10, 15 minutes?
What?
Speaker 3 (36:41):
time are you going to launch?
I got to hit it first.
We're standing at the tacotruck.
What's your order today?
Oh, burrito, carne, asada allday.
Baby.
Chipotle sauce, green sauce,let's go.
Hot sauce, oh yeah, the redones Until 10 tonight, won't it?
No, buddy, I'll be it.
No, buddy, I've been here asecond.
Look at about three or fouro'clock for that evening rush,
(37:02):
okay.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
So what you're saying ?
This is like a bucky's.
Should we say?
It's a one-stop shop?
You can show up, get a car, onecar wash, you get complimentary
coffees.
We got good coffee, gourmetcoffee, cap of cheese, so a lot,
you know sparkling water.
Then I car wash, you get a freetrack appraisal Taco truck.
(37:23):
I mean, ain't this guy.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
If anything, the best thing you can do, swing by, get
a car wash.
Hey, let me get a quickappraisal, get an actual cash
value on it and just see whatyou got.
You owe it to yourself to knowwhat your financial portfolio
obtains.
What you got.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
It's no different than logging into your portfolio
.
You're checking accounts.
How's it looking?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
If you come by on a Friday or a Saturday, we
probably got a nice food truckwith food.
We got a lot more things goingon.
It'll be a pretty fun time,thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 4 (37:52):
I appreciate it, buddy, all right, thanks for
adding value to the challenge.
Let's get rolling.
Just another great example ofthe fantastic employees.
And we just got to give a shoutout, I think, to all of our
employees that make up theculture.
Yeah, we're the one on thevideo here, but they're the ones
putting in the work, they'rethe ones connecting with the
customers, yes, helping us putin place not only our dream but
(38:17):
our goals here, that, as we grow, as a family owned and operated
dealership, we can provide morejobs, a great place to work and
pour back into the community ateven a greater level.
And it's those guys that you'rehearing from that are helping
us do that that's a really goodpoint, that.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
So a lot of these people, like mason, uh, like
clay, had never been part ofultimate challenge.
And guess what?
We didn't tell anybody.
Ultimate challenge was coming.
No, no, no one.
So on march 1st we said,surprise, this is all about to
be different.
And so they were like cancun,what?
Yeah, and it's like, hey,here's the link to buy an opo
suit.
(38:53):
Like the shorts are reallyshort.
They're pretty slim, fit sizeup.
Oh, and, by the way, stpatrick's day, yeah oh, and by
the way, we got this and's Day,yeah, oh, and, by the way, we
got this.
And then we showed them thiswhole calendar and it was just
like all this stuff.
And not once did they say areyou sure?
No, do you think I should dothis?
Speaker 5 (39:10):
It rained pretty hard .
Speaker 2 (39:11):
Like they have been very committed right from the
get-go, Now not to say theyhadn't bought more suits or
different shirts, becausethey're like I'm kind of
blending in now.
Yeah, Like I know, I got a porkpie hat on and I've got, you
know, an average shirt on.
But like Clay was like, hey,for St Patrick's Day, can we
dress up?
I was like, yeah, he said isthere a calendar of days that
(39:31):
you can dress up?
I said no, no, no, we don'tthink that far in advance.
If it seems like a good day toPresentable to stand out, that
says, hey, it's me, I have fun.
You're going to want to dealwith me.
Just go ahead and dress up, Beappropriate, Make sure you know
you're presentable, but just goahead and dress up.
Speaker 4 (39:55):
I think that's a telltale sign if you have built
a team and you've proven to themthat you're there to help them
be successful.
When it's time for you to saysomething that's maybe off
course or maybe feels different,if nobody questions it and they
just jump on board, that showsthat you've put in the work and
instilled the confidence thatyou have their best interest and
you're helping them to hittheir goals.
That's really good.
You know that's good.
Well, hey, another greatepisode here.
Like you said, only a few daysleft here to take advantage.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
102 vehicles to be sold, plus, plus, plus, plus
plus.
We still well over 1,000vehicles on the lot that are not
the same 1,000 that were hereon March 1st.
That's right.
But we talked about thatturnover and more injection, and
more injection.
And do keep in mind, even ifyou visit us at
lewissuperstorecom, like that'sgoing to have a majority of our
(40:38):
inventory, but no joke,yesterday there was two and a
half pages of fresh trades.
It did not include nothingbought from the auction and
nothing of our new cards.
Those will take.
They probably won't make it tothe end.
They'll make it, but they won'thave the pricing, they won't
have a description, they won'thave pictures.
So you do, you, you need to doyour service and show up and
(41:00):
just drive through.
That's right, drive through andand see how it can help yeah,
there's plenty of stuff, whetherit's pre-owned or new.
Speaker 4 (41:06):
They're just coming off the transport that by the
time they go through the systemthey won't be on the internet.
So make sure to reach out toour team.
They could be your eyes andears.
They can look for stuff, theyknow what stuff's traded for
before it even hits the trade-inrow and they can help you
connect all that.
We've got plenty of specialsleft out there.
Taylor, I know you've got yourteam hyped up.
We're going to hit the goal andbeyond, so really, the customer
(41:27):
.
They owe it to themselves tocome now instead of next Monday.
We'll still sell a car nextMonday, but the selection is
greater now.
Speaker 5 (41:34):
Yeah, selection is greater, you've got up to 25,000
.
We started off at 20,000, but$25,000.
On Grand Wagoneers, you've got1.9.
You've got no payments fornowadays.
You've got Bronco Raptors yousee right behind me here that
are up to $20,000.
The Ultimate Off-Road Rig,you've got Rangers, starting at
$29,000.
There is a vehicle for youDoesn't matter what you're
(41:57):
looking for All the way to thetop, to a cash car.
That's just going to get methrough the summer, you bet, and
it's going to make the absolutemost sense.
Now Matt hit the nail on thehead when those are gone,
they're gone.
I don't have an abundance ofthem and I have them ready to go
right now.
So make sure you come by andcheck it out.
Speaker 4 (42:14):
Hey, don't forget on Saturday.
Saturday we run our salesmeeting live on Facebook, so any
of our company pages jump onthere.
You can see the fresh trades,the new car specials for the
final, final days of ultimatechallenge.
And, as always, if you don'tmind, go ahead and hit that
subscribe button and share thispodcast so we can bring more
value to the community out herein Northwest Arkansas.
Thanks again for joining us.
(42:35):
We'll see you soon.
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