Digital Dealer - August 2018 - 31

and more important. Facebook is
everywhere. I don't know if I'm
personally a big proponent or
opponent of it (I see a lot of people
engaged with social media worried
about how many "likes" pictures of
their pizza topping got last night), but
it is a big part of our marketing plan.
We're able to target customers with
look-alike audiences based on their
social media behavior. We can know
if they've been shopping websites.
It's pretty Orwellian these days. Big
Brother is truly watching, and social
media is helping that along.
Although we work with a number
of third-party vendors, we have a full
"Sunset Marketing" team in-house
that includes social media directors
and digital experts in SEO and SEM,
as well as a full-time web analysis
expert.
QUESTION: What single piece
of technology makes the greatest
difference to your enterprise?
ANSWER: It would be hard to
narrow that to one. We were one
of the first to work with the A.I.
company Conversica. We were also
one of the first dealers in the area to
have an internet sales department.
The internet exploded on the scene
and now everyone has to have an
interactive website and online
technical support; it's like having a
phone.
Chevrolet requires all of their
dealers to have a CDK website. Our
website, in little ol' Sumner, ranks
in Chevrolet's top five every year for
visitors. It's kind of a Hoosiers story,
where a small-town basketball team
takes on and beats bigger schools from
larger cities. We've been the number
one volume Chevy store in the state
for about the last 15 years. We don't
just win every year, we win just about
every month of every year.
Our philosophy is that you can only
sell somebody once. After that, it's
what you do for the customer, how you
earn their business and their family's

business. During our "Right from the
Start" clinics, we ask people to stand
if they recently bought a vehicle from
us and, of course, everybody stands.
Then, we go down the line and ask
them to remain standing if they've
bought two cars, then three or four
cars, and so on. We've reached as
many as 25 or 26 vehicles with a single
family. It is not unusual for a number
of people to still be standing when
we hit 14, 15, 16, 17...and so on. It is
humbling yet makes us proud at the
same time.
QUESTION: Please tell us about the
various charities or non-profits your
company supports.
ANSWER: This is really Sita's area
of expertise and involvement. One
of our biggest commitments is our
high school sponsorship. We have a
partnership with the school where for
the past 20 years we've invested in
their football stadium. They actually
named the stadium after us; we
didn't ask for that recognition, and
it's not something we normally seek.
I don't know how many high school
football stadiums are named after car
dealerships around the country. In
fact, I have not heard of another one.
We're involved in just about
anything you can think of in the
community. We do numerous walks,
such as the Relay for Life. We support
Rhubarb Days, a local celebration
here in Sumner. There's a bridge
lighting ceremony during the holidays,
major firework displays, charity golf
tournaments, support for our military
(both active and retired veterans), and
any event held at Sunset Stadium.
We contribute to numerous food
banks and make donations to the
March of Dimes and the Cancer
Society. We do a couple of classic car
shows, including Classy Chassis and
Northwest Rodarama, mostly because
Sita and I love classic cars.
If there is somebody in need or
some catastrophic thing happened
to a family and they need relief, you

can bet Sunset will be involved. These
are not just our customers, they are
friends and neighbors. Our kids
go to the same schools, shop at the
same grocery stores, eat at the same
restaurants, are members of the same
churches, and attend the same high
school football games. Without the
support of our community Sunset
would not be in business today. We
recognize and appreciate this and
never take the community's support
for granted.
QUESTION: What suggestions
could you share with dealers to
help them add more value to their
business?
ANSWER: Invest in your customers.
Stay humble, stay hungry, and be
honest. Serve your customers and
your community. In short, always do
the right thing.
QUESTION: What advice would
you offer to someone considering auto
retailing as a career?
ANSWER: You know, it's been a
very rewarding career for me. It's done
a lot for me and for my family. Think
about it. Every day somebody comes
in here and you get to help make their
dream come true. You actually get
paid to make people happy. How crazy
is that? Not too many people that
leave here with new cars have frowns
on their faces. We do everything
we can to leave these people with a
positive experience. After all, we want
to be able to take care of them forever.
QUESTION: What's next for the
Sunset Auto Family?
ANSWER: My wife will probably
hate to hear this - especially since
she does so much of the work at a
new facility once we acquire it - but
I want to keep growing. We're always
looking for more opportunity to grow
our footprint in the Puget Sound area.
With the right opportunity in the right
geographic area, there will be another
Sunset store opening soon. After
almost 100 years, the Sunset Auto
Family story is really just beginning! ■

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

AUGUST 2018

31
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - August 2018
