Getting to Know Payton Massey NextGen Dealer From there, I transitioned into a service manager role, then a service director for the group. After that, I sold cars for a little bit, and I worked in parts. I was our used car director for the group, and now I’m the general manager. Have you had any specialized training or education? I recently graduated from the NADA Academy, which has been a truly enriching experience. I recommend the academy to anybody who’s in my position or anybody who’s a long-term employee in the car business. Payton Massey grew up in the car business. As a fourth-generation dealer, he is carrying on the family legacy started by his great-grandfather. Payton grew up in Mobile, Alabama, attending St. Luke’s High School, where he was a member of the golf program. After graduation, Payton attended the University of North Alabama, playing four years of golf while earning his Bachelor of Business Administration. After graduation, he got straight to work at the family business, Walt Massey Auto Group. Today, Payton is the general manager of Walt Massey Chevrolet GMC in Lucedale, Mississippi. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Payton and learn more about him, his career journey, and his future plans. The following are excerpts from our conversation. Did you always want to join the family business? I’ve always known that the car business was right for me. The only other job I’ve ever dreamed of, and I say this jokingly, would be to be a professional fisherman. I just love to go fishing and thought it would be awesome if I could go fishing every day. But all jokes aside, I have immense respect for my dad and what he did to grow this business. I have always wanted to follow in his footsteps. He has mentored me to do just that since I was born. What makes the dealership unique? One thing that’s unique about us is that most of our dealerships are located in small towns, yet we remain a high-volume dealer. We aim to generate as much revenue as possible so that we can support our community. That’s important to us. We’re consistently the number one Chevy GMC dealer in the state, thanks to our competitive pricing, and we are really proud of that. Another thing that’s unique about us is that we are big on growing our employees and promoting them from within. We set everybody up on a path to grow and be successful. If we have the opportunity to promote, then that’s what we do, versus trying to hire somebody from the outside. We value our people and want them to succeed. What positions have you held in the company? My first full-time role was at our Chevrolet dealership in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I started out on the service drive, learning how to take care of customers. I’m thankful that I started learning on the service side because the role of a service advisor is one of the most important jobs at the dealership. They deal with the largest amount of customers than anybody else at the dealership. Being able to start there helped me to learn how to build connections and make relationships with customers. 12
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