#167 - Bob Voltmann In The Drivers Seat Of NIADA

Welcome to the Independent Dealer Podcast with hosts Luke Godwin and Jeff Watson. A podcast by Dealers for dealers. Here we go.

Welcome, boys and girls, men and women of all ages, to the Independent Dealer Podcast. Today, a very special guest. Not the first time we've had a CEO of the NIADA on the Independent Dealer Podcast, but this is the first time we have had Mr. Bob Voltman, the new CEO of Niada. Bob, introduce yourself, please.

Thanks, Luke. Thanks, Jeff. So I am Bob Voltman. I was hired by the board of directors at the end of October. I come from an association background. My wife and I moved to Washington, D.C. as newlyweds almost 33 years ago, now worked in the first bush administration, then two trade associations in D.C. and prior to coming to D.C. i worked in two trade associations in Houston. Most of that time, most of those associations were working with entrepreneurs. I love their spirit, their can do attitude, their belief that tomorrow is going to be better than today. And today's pretty damn good. And I was looking for a way to get back to that and work in an industry that was essential to the rebuilding of our economy. And I found that in nida. It is an amazing organization of small independent car dealers, hence the name, but just their spirit and their willingness to put themselves at risk every day to serve their customers. And that's what excited me about the opportunity to build on the success that NIDA has built over 75 years and to take it and position it for an even brighter future.

Bob, that's a. I appreciate what you're saying about independent dealers. Cause we are, I mean, number one, we're entrepreneurs and we're a little crazy. We do think it's always. We do think that it's always going to be better. And that's why, you know, it drives prices, it drives consumer, you know, demand. It does all kind of things because we are. We are P.T. barnum. You know, honestly, all of us have a little bit of that in us. What is your vision for the association going forward? You know, I believe the association has grown very well over the last 10 years. And I really like some of the past we were on. But it seems that you may have a little slightly different vision on what we have been doing. Can you share with dealers what that is?

Absolutely. So what the board and I talked about during the interview process, which is why I must have gotten the job. And then since that time, is to be more focused on serving the dealers and more focused on serving the state associations as they serve the dealers and to build more of a partnership. NIADA my predecessors have done an amazing job to this point getting us through 75 years, built a robust association that survived the pandemic. But with my background and my ability, what the board was looking for was a way to move to that next level of service. And so we put together a strategic plan. I restarted came in, I went on a listening tour, I spoke to more than 100 NIADA members, state executives, state board presidents, staff people, vendors to the industry to find out what they liked, what they didn't like about nida. And I put that all together to the board in a SWOT analysis. And from that we then began to build a strategic plan based on service and really focusing on the dealer and the dealer's customer. And so that's where, that's where the board and I want to take the organization more servant oriented toward the member and their customers.

That's super interesting to me. Bob, maybe give us an antidote. Is there anything like as you dove into this thing headfirst and got involved with these dealers, who was there anything that jumped out to you as like man, I had no idea this or man this is a huge issue and dealers really need some help with this. And it's been, you know, they've been hollering for a while. Is there anything that you could share with us that maybe jumped out to you as kind of an aha or a surprise moment?

The first aha was learning that there was such a thing as buy here pay here dealers. I have since learned that they are very vocal.

Yes, vocal is a good word, but.

I had no clue. Now that same type of entrepreneur exists in every industry but in this one they're really special because as opposed to, you know, you could please don't email or call but you could relate them to factors or check cashing type companies. But what makes the buy here pay here dealer different in using their money to help the less fortunate is they're helping the less fortunate and they're becoming that customer's partner. And that makes it so totally different. And so I was excited to tell their story and in fact our new vice president of government affairs is working for regular meetings between our buy here pay here committee and the Consumer Finance Protection Board which is their biggest fear of being regulated in the way they they do things and helping their customers. So that was my biggest aha moment learning about buyer payer dealers. Because I don't come from a car background.

Right.

I come from an association government affairs background.

Yeah, I do find that interesting too. Sometimes when we even interact with vendors or when we go to certain conventions, they're kind of like, oh, you know, I sell cars. And they're like, oh, what brand? And I'm like, all the brands.

Like, any brand that comes in my door.

Yeah, whatever's running, like, oh, so there's dealers that just sell and. Yeah, we're called used car dealers. Oh, and you also do the payment. Yeah, I'm called. Yeah. So, yes, we are a small niche group of underground folks here.

But, Bob, I find. Yeah, that's so funny. I find. I find something interesting. And you've been in the association area your whole life. It seems so. Have you ever seen an association built like ours is structured where your revenue and your members depends so heavily on state's ability to attract new members? You know, we were talking about that before we got on that some states are so on board, some aren't. And I think it depends on education laws and things like this. But have you ever seen anything structured like this? And what exactly do you all feel like you need to do to help the states?

Well, there are. This is not an unusual model. It's a difficult model. Don't get me wrong. It's a difficult model, but what we're going to do is work together. I have this sense from my communication, whether it was intended or not, there was an us versus them mentality. I don't think it was Hatfield's and McCoys, but it wasn't a partnership. What I see and when I talk to my friends who run or work in federated associations is that it can. Can be different, it can be a partnership. So what we intend to do is, number one, help the associations that are doing well do even better, help that next tier of state associations, develop the professional association executive and develop the resources to build. And we're going to do what national can do and provide it to the state. For example, we just backing up just a second. In my restructuring, I hired a vice president of government affairs actually in Washington, D.C. previously, Government affairs was handled from Arlington, Texas. And the last time I checked, the capital of the US was in Washington because even the capital of Texas is Austin, not Arlington. So we put somebody in Washington, D.C. who came out of the Trump administration. And one of the first things we did was purchase this software that allows every state in our federation to put up an issue. So let's say there's something going on in the Utah assembly or legislature, and Adam wants to have y' all send letters to your representative. He writes the letter, we put it in the system and create a link. That link is emailed to you. You click on it, put in your name, address and click Send. And it goes to your state rep, could go to your congressman, could go to your US Senator, your state senator. And we've done that and we've given it to the states. And we're going to look for other ways that we can collaborate and do those things as a federation that should be done at national and leave the uniqueness of serving the local member at the local level. So we're going to try to build that partnership and take the tension out of it.

I think that's, I think, you know, I understand where you're coming from and am. I've been on a board, the Carolinas board, for years and I'm not on there anymore. But you know, it always seemed that maybe some of the frustration actually wasn't coming from the national level, but maybe from the state level going up sometimes. Cause you have to send money to the national and you're going, what am I getting in return? So how do you, how do you, how can national help build more members if it's got to push down through the state without creating that backlash?

Well, let me correct something. States don't send money to national for the convenience of the dealer member. The state collects both their dues and our $60 dues. So it's just for the convenience of the members. Otherwise we could bill direct. But here's how we can deal with this on a federal basis. What we call the Association Executives Council, which is the state executives have formed a steering committee. And within that steering committee there is a membership committee. And what we're going to work on is how can we at national take what's been working in the states where it's been working, create national drip campaigns and other type of advertising campaigns that we can then give to the states or that we can put out there for the states to follow up with. And then how can we help them in that follow up? How can we take what's worked in the Carolinas or Virginia or Utah and make it work in the states that are struggling? So that's what where I see this, this opportunity for partnership and taking what's unique about the states and taking what we can do together and doing it on a national basis?

What do you say to the dealer who, because they're out there, who doesn't think that any association does anything to help them? How can we change that mentality?

Well, we have to communicate it and we have to communicate it in a way that that dealer wants to receive it. One of the things I've noted is so like, this is a great example of a way to communicate outside the bombardment of emails that we all get. So we're going to find ways, the ways that the dealer wants to receive information and deliver it that way using multiple channels. And we have to convey the message. But one of the things in our strategic plan, our new strategic plan that the board adopted is to focus on the dealer's customers. Why does it matter that that dealer belongs to the Carolinas organization and niada? What does that code of ethics mean to that dealer, to the customer? And why should they care instead of just buying a car off the street?

So let me stop you right there for one second. That has been bouncing around for 15 years. Let's tell the consumer why we're good for them, why the association is good for the end consumer. And every time this has been brought up, the pushback has always been, and I think rightfully so, is the amount of money it would take to advertise to our consumer through the organization. The association doesn't have those funds to do so. So how does that work in your vision of this?

So I have done this at another association. So where do consumers go when they're doing a search for cars?

Yeah, the Internet, of course.

Yeah, the Internet. So. And aren't all of those vendors members of the association? So imagine if you go to one of these search engines and you type in that you want to buy a 2014 Ford F150 pickup truck and you get 10,000 listings. But what if the first thousand had a gold star on them because they were NIADA members and even NADA members. And the consumer could click on that gold star and say, this is a member of a national association pledged to do the right thing and you have rights because of this gold star. We can do the same thing. We don't have to have national advertising. We can do Facebook, we can do Google. We can do gas station pumps have TVs in them now. So. And what pulls up at a gas station pump? Oh, yeah, your car. So it's just thinking outside the box and coming up with new ideas, listening to what other people say and then putting it together and seeing what is possible instead of the. I think there's been the challenge of, oh, that's too much money, we can't do that. And maybe that's where my coming in a varied association background. I may not know the car industry, but I know how to do things like this. And so that's another way that we're going to form this partnership.

Yeah, I think it's a great idea.

Yeah, it's like Realtors are doing right now, you know, they're trying to fight against the digital realtor type stuff, you know, buy from a Realtor, you know. So it's that public education campaign. It seems to me like it's the way you get the dealers involved and to rally is dealers have to be kind of punched in the face to really care and get back just straight, frankly. Right. I mean, look at the states with the strongest associations, I guarantee you. And I'm pretty sure that at some point in the recent past they had some sort of legislation brought against them or some sort of a thing that really rallied the dealers together. So I think if not to fabricate a harsh situation or some sort of a terrorist activity against all dealers, but that's when we kind of rally together and say, hey guys, we're either going to let Vroom and Carvana come in here and kind of eat our lunch or you're going to get together with the other 2000 sleeping dealers in your state and you're going to push for a non franchise, you know, non delivery, whatever, nonsense. They don't have a physical location in my state. How are they delivering cars in my state? They don't have a physical dealer license in my state. Why is that allowed or whatever the situation might be? I think Georgia, or maybe it's Carolinas, you have to buy your temporary tags from the association.

South Carolina and Georgia have certain laws that.

Yeah, that's a great law for Utah to put in place. I would love to be forced to buy my temp tags from the association, give them some extra revenue so that they can have the manpower to run a real association and have the staff to really make us kind of a formidable group. Things like that.

It takes all those ideas, putting them in the mix, deciding what we can do now, what we can do next year, what we can do the year after that. And that's what we put in the strategic plan. In fact, the number one goal of the strategic plan is that independent dealers get to participate in a marketplace that's fair, equitable and reasonably regulated. That's. How can you say, if these five guys have to have licenses and this one doesn't, why is this one allowed to operate? Right?

And just like in our state, you know, manufacturers can't sell direct to consumer. So when Tesla put their dealership in, nada came in, I assume, stomped them out, said, sorry, man, you can't deliver new cars in here. You know, as a, as a manufacturer and owned franchise. Guess what? They just got a used car license. So now they deliver their new cars at their used car dealership and their used Teslas at the used car dealership. So I don't know where the state, I don't know the details of why the state association didn't step in and say, hey, you guys can't do that either.

But I don't either. In Virginia, they can't have. Somehow they're not allowed to have dealerships. So they have mall stores and a giant repair facility that just happens to have a lot of cars on it.

Yeah. And happens to do deliveries and pickups. Sometimes cars that were shipped in from out of state.

You know, sometimes these things are magic.

Yeah.

Well, when the company is bigger than the association.

Yes. And that's the argument. My association does not have the fund funds or the manpower to go fight that. They know that it's probably an issue. They know it could be a good thing. But you got to pick your fights when you have limited resources. I get it. So how do we, how do we get them more resources?

You know, and we're gonna, and we're going to work on that. Part of, part of the strategic plan is to help states develop sources of revenue. That is, that is just for them.

Yes.

So unless it changes, trade associations can offer health insurance, charity associations and chambers can offer health insurance within their state. Can't cross state lines, but within their state, they're able to do this. Chambers have been doing. We need to do it. State associations could offer 401k plans for their dealer members. So there are things that we will get to. I've been here six months. Lou Chedeshi's been president of the board for seven months. We can't turn this aircraft carrier overnight, but we're turning it and we're going to help the states get these things done.

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So the pack, where does the pack stand right now? I know I've been a contributor for years and believe that it's very important part of our association and legislatively, I think that's one of the best ways to, I guess, affect policy in D.C. where does that stand, and what do we look like moving forward?

Well, thank you for your contributions. The pack's in good shape. It could be bigger. We do between 170 and 200,000 a year, so $400,000 a cycle. And ADA does 4 million. But you don't have to have a $4 million pack to be effective. You have to use it effectively. And there's a reason people get pissed off about Washington and they don't like all the money involved. But just like we were talking about advertising to consumers, TV ads are expensive, and the only way those members of Congress can buy TV ads is through PAC money that they have to raise every day, like it or not. So we have to be in the game. Tom Donahue, who is retiring as the CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, has always said you're either at the table or you're on the menu. And we need a place at the table. In our states and at the federal level, nothing can disrupt your business faster than bad policy out of Washington, D.C. so what are we doing about it right now? Because of the virus and the shenanigans that went on in early January, the capital's kind of a, you know, you just can't get in. So we can't have our normal national policy conference where we bring people to Washington and we storm the Hill and tell our story. So instead, what we're going to launch beginning in, in May, is what we're calling NIDA Coffees with Congress. And we're going to go through the committees of jurisdiction and the members of those committees where we have a lot of members, and we're going to have zoom coffees with them. And those will be paid for by the pack. Members of Congress have gotten really good at this because they can't have their normal lunches or dinners or other fundraisers. So they're doing these Zoom fundraisers. So that's what we're going to do and idea coffees with Congress and we'll, you know, say we're in. You know, we do one in the Carolinas and we'll invite the association and those members that are in that congressman's district and we'll have a conversation with that member about how many jobs we represent, how. And we're going to also change the story a little bit so it's not just about us, but who are you serving? Who are the, how many customers do you serve? So, Jeff, you know, what's the average credit score of your customer? And could they go to any other dealer and get a car? We need to tell that story instead of having the story told about us that all you're doing is picking on those poor people who couldn't afford a car and you're putting them in a junker. Well, we know that's not true. We have to tell that story. And then we need to get your customers to tell that story. That because I'm able to go to a buy here, pay here dealer and I'm able to get a car. I'm able to get a job that isn't on a bus line, which all the studies have shown are underpaid jobs. I'm able to go to church. I'm able to take my kids and send them to a different school. I'm able to go to the grocery store that might not otherwise be in the neighborhood. Those are the stories we're going to tell. And Luke, you don't get to tell him if you don't have PAC dollars for sure. It's a sad, you know, whether you like that or not, it's a fact of life.

Yeah, I've sat in front of congressmen and senators and told that story, you know, and they, like you were talking about, you didn't, you didn't know about buy here pay here. Well, the only thing that these congressmen and senators and ladies may know is that, oh, there's places out there charging to their mind, exorbitant interest rates. They don't understand that we are providing the service you just described and it's really important. So no policy conference for the near future.

I'd assume with not this year, it'll come back next year. So, you know, we're doing a live convention in August.

Okay, well, yeah, let's talk about that.

So we have hit. We're almost at 100 million Americans fully vaccinated by the end of June. That should be 200 million Americans fully vaccinated. I know. My wife and I just got our second shots yesterday. I can tell you my arm hurts like hell, but life is going to come back to normal. And so we pushed our convention from June, which. Which we thought was just too close to this cut to the end of August, August 23 to 26. We're going to be in San Antonio, which is an amazing city for conferences, and we're going to have a crowd because it's time to get back. You're serving customers. It's time that we all get together and serve each other. So we're making some changes with that conference. First of all, for the first time ever, we've got two dealer committees looking at the sessions that are going to be offered. So for the first time, they're sessions for dealers by dealers. And we're adding a new series of sessions that we're calling the Service Bay, which are going to be 20 minutes, single topic, usually single speaker micro sessions. And they're going to be focused on things that dealers can do immediately when they get back to increase profitability.

That's what it's all about. Honestly. I think when we talk with Larry, it's about, you know, how can we find a way to maximize per turn. And that's. I'm glad we're actually starting to develop some service more at the convention, because if, you know, when you go to Nada, there's a lot of service there because franchise stores make so much money off service and independent stores should, too.

And we're in contact with SEMA to build a better partnership there. We're working with NADA to build a better partnership in D.C. and leverage their lobby power.

So, yeah, I think. I think we can learn a lot from nada, honestly. And I'm glad to hear that you're looking at that. Jeff, you got anything else for Bob? I'm kind of out of questions at the moment.

No, I think that's so much.

It's unusual.

My biggest thing is, like Bob was saying, I think getting people back, getting dealers to rub elbows with other dealers is so huge, to rally the cause of the associations on the state and federal level, because it just. It gives you that energy. You meet other dealers, you realize you're not alone. You share stories, you share drinks, you share time together, you learn.

You need.

They've got to be once a year, twice a year, shoot every month, whatever you got to do. Because it is really like it's the only time we get together. You know, it's the only time dealers kind of maybe at the auction, but even then you're not rubbing elbows like you used to.

Well, you're not. You're not even at the auction anymore, Harley. And, you know, I've had More dealers in the last two weeks reach out to me about coming to the convention, asking if I was going to be there, who should they bring from the dealership. I've had more dealers reach out these last two weeks and I've ever had reach out to me before. So I believe it's going to be big and really can't wait to get there and meet these people and meet you as well. Bob.

Do y' all broadcast from the convention? Do you do your, do you do your podcast? Would you like to?

We would love to actually.

Yeah. We submitted to Larry. I think so that's.

Let's make that happen.

Yeah, I think, I think it's a really good idea. You know, a lot of times what we would do would walk around and get interviews from dealers on the floor and also from the Expo and it creates a really good atmosphere while we're there. So I believe there's way more we can do this year with it and we'd love to, love to have a sit down with, you know, with Lou or any of the board of directors while we're there or you, you know, either way, I think would be something great to have.

Let's do it.

Yeah.

Well, Bob, thank you for your time. Appreciate it. And we look forward to kind of this exciting, exciting direction. You know, it sounds like empowering the states and giving them that help and almost growing it, growing it on that ground level.

I mean that's the way it starts.

So smart.

Well, thank you. I'm so excited to be here and where we're going. This is, this is the golden age for used vehicles and this is going to be the golden age for NIDA and the state associations.

That's great. Thank you.

Thanks, Bob. Okay, perfect. That was awesome. I don't think anything we need to cut out, right? No curse words, Luke.

No, that was good.

I probably said hell, but that's all right.

I'll say worse than that.

They haven't flagged us yet. Yeah, yeah, that's great. No, this will be awesome. And we'll need to do a follow up too. We talked to Larry about that but once we kind of get to that like hey, do or die time frame of you better have booked your flights and you your hotel by now. I think a couple weeks before that maybe. I meant late July. Maybe I don't know when.

Let's do mid to late June.

I think so.

Yeah, I think it'd be fun to have, have a follow up, especially once the education sessions are announced. I think that's huge. To kind of highlight. Hey, guys, you know, here's the. Here's the do not misses and all the stuff you're going to learn. Like. Yeah, I think that be huge. Yep.

Cool.

Cool.

Thank you, Bob.

All right, thank you.

Thanks.

Bye, guys.

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