Digital Dealer - May 2018 - 32

C O V E R S TO RY

Continued from pg. 31

I BELIEVE BY DECENTRALIZING MYSELF FROM
THE PROCESS AND BY DELEGATING AUTHORITY IT
EMPOWERS EMPLOYEES TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND TO OWN THE RESULTS."
television stations and the affiliates
and automakers and the dealers.
The television networks create programs and arrange for distribution
through a group of affiliates across
the country. The vehicle manufacturers produce the vehicles and
distribute them through a group of
dealers across the country. The transition itself wasn't difficult, because
I grew up in the car business, but I
didn't realize just how much work
it was really going to be. I took a
dealership that, at the time, was in a
30-year-old building and over time
totally redid it into the Honda image
program. I bought the property next
door and turned it into a Honda
Certified Used Car dealership and I
had to completely revamp the staff,
buildings, and processes from the
ground up. Other than our DMS, we
weren't even computerized.

IN 2017, AS PRESIDENT AND
DEALER PRINCIPAL AT NARDY
HONDA SMITHTOWN, YOU
WERE NOMINATED FOR THE
2017 TIME MAGAZINE DEALER
OF THE YEAR AWARD,
ONE OF THE AUTOMOBILE
INDUSTRY'S MOST
PRESTIGIOUS AND HIGHLY
COVETED HONORS. WHAT
DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT
RUNNING A DEALERSHIP?

Solving problems. People come
to my dealership because they need
transportation. I think satisfying this need can and should be
satisfying for both parties involved.
When it's done right, there's a huge
amount of satisfaction in helping
people who maybe never have
bought a car before or don't buy a
car very often, and they should be
very excited about their purchase.
I want to take the sting out of the
process and make it fun.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU

32

M AY 2 0 1 8

HAVE TO OFFER TO SOMEONE
THINKING ABOUT GETTING
INTO THE CAR BUSINESS?

You will definitely not be bored,
but my best piece of advice is to do
more listening than talking. People
will often tell you exactly what's going on if you are actively listening to
what they say. If you're a manager,
a dealer principal, or if you're going
to buy a dealership, the best thing
you can have is good staff. You need
to surround yourself with good,
smart, motivated people because
it is impossible to do it by yourself.
Don't hire people exactly like you.
Strive for an eclectic blend of people. Just make sure they are of good
character. The better the people you
have around you, the better your
dealership will be.

AS SOMEONE WITH
A STRONG MEDIA
BACKGROUND, HOW HAS
THE WORLD OF MARKETING
CHANGED FOR DEALERS
OVER, SAY, THE LAST
DECADE?

It's been cataclysmic. In fact, over
the last 10 years, there has been a
greater change than the previous
25. Marketing used to be about consumer behavior, identifying what a
consumer motivation might be and
then developing a communication
on a media platform, to address
it. Now, everything is about data
and trend analysis. You now have
many millions of people having the
same platform, the internet, to send
their messages. The one-to-many
paradigm has clearly shifted to a
many-to-many paradigm. We're all
bombarded by thousands of media
messages every day. So, it's not
about finding as many people as
you want, instead today, it's about
finding only the people that you
want. With digital, the process is

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

getting closer and closer to the point
where you are actually able to answer
the age-old question: what part of my
advertising is working?

IF YOU COULD ONLY
CHOOSE ONE TECHNOLOGY
TOOL TO HELP YOUR STORE
SUCCEED, WHICH TOOL
WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

It would be search: keywords,
SEO, SEM, digital advertising. People go on Google with the intention
of looking for a specific car or to
research a car. Search is all about
intent. If you can merge your search
strategy with theirs you can at least
leave impressions and get in front of
those consumers who are looking.

I'D LIKE TO SHIFT GEARS
FOR A MOMENT AND TALK
ABOUT MANAGEMENT. WHAT
IS YOUR MANAGEMENT
PHILOSOPHY?

I am a decentralized manager. I
believe in hiring good people and
training them well. I don't believe in
standing over people and watching
them, making them do things only
my way. I believe in saying this is
where we are, this is where we want
to be, and you get us there. When
the process works, it works well. If
it doesn't work, we look at it and
makes changes. I believe by decentralizing myself from the process and
by delegating authority it empowers
employees to take responsibility for
their actions and to own the results.

WHAT QUALITIES DO YOU
LOOK FOR WHEN HIRING NEW
EMPLOYEES?

Number one is character. I want
to be around people that I want
to be around and that other employees want to be around. If we're
talking about sales, I look at it from
the customer's perspective. Is the
salesperson friendly and engaging?
Is it someone who makes the process
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