Publication1 2021 Issue 1

8 KENTUCKY AUTO DEALER My background was marketing and writing, radio, TV — all that public part of it. I was suddenly taking care of the day-to-day corporate business portion. I had to go back to school with NADA in a yearlong program at the dealer academy. The dealer program brought everything together. It was a crash course in every aspect of running the dealership and every department, and listening to my peers gave me a lot of young, fruitful ideas. We brought in the right people, and I implemented the ideas I needed and wanted. That was the beginning. I was a second-generation owner, but coming in with a new set of eyes, I approached everything the way a first-generation owner would do it. I didn’t have to do it the way it had always been done, but I also didn’t have the benefit of my dad’s advice. My brother had that benefit because he grew up in the business. Part of what made it hard initially was that I had always been a sister and motherly influence to my brother. He knew I could get things done, but he didn’t want to give up the reins, especially because he had more experience. He was also old- fashioned. He wanted to take care of me even though I am older than he was. We would butt heads on things, and then we would compromise. We each had our position. My brother was the historian and knew why we did things; I was the innovator, always asking how we could change things. Then we brought my nephew into the mix. He is the enforcer and handles the day- to-day operations. Since each dealership had unique facilities and a different philosophy, I suggested a management company to make them stronger by maintaining 60% of each dealership’s philosophy. We implemented it a couple of years ago. The HR director tells all stores to do things the same way. Employees now have the same pay and the same environment. We had the old-school method of sales when my father died and I took over. We are now a work family, and everyone has the right to make suggestions. When we have meetings, I listen to employees, and I often tell them, “I can do this for you.” As a result, morale is unbelievably high. I was relocating our Nissan facility to a new facility that had to be remodeled. As I was walking through, I asked where the service manager wanted things placed. He said, “You are letting me design this?” I told him I would have my input, but yes. You would have thought I gave him a million dollars. When he was done, it was the most efficiently laid out facility. He knew who needed to be where, the size of the product, and where everything was going to fit. He was constantly coming back and saying, “I have another idea.” That works for me. I took the same approach for remodeling the service department. Rebuilding was based on the needs in the parts department to make it efficient. For example, we took advantage of the height above 6 feet and put it to work. Why do you think there are so few other women in this business? Traditionally speaking, dealerships have been a man’s world. There was a lot of work for men in high-pitched sales, as technicians, or in parts and the collision center. The woman’s job was behind the scenes in reception or bookkeeping. In the last five years, I have seen women coming from other industries in sales and walking in saying, “I can handle this.” Some top producers are women who came from another industry. They are very capable and strong, they stand up for themselves, and they project an honest image. They don’t have to fight the stereotype of a used-car salesman. Customers receive them kindly because they tell customers what they know and don’t sell the old way. They handle themselves very well. Do you think the industry needs to increase its efforts to employ more women? Yes, and the industry is working on it. I see a noticeable change through NADA. Women are in the industry, and some women are high up in manufacturing. The majority of car buyers have been women for a while, and women are the decision-makers. If they can come into a dealership and say, “I’ve done my research,” especially to another woman, the transition to a sale is easy. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7