#218- BHPH United Vlog

You are listening to the Independent Dealer podcast with hosts Luke Godwin and Jeff Watson.

Hey, guys, here we are at Buy Here, Pay Here, United, the Summit 2022, the inaugural.

Not even the summit, the inaugural summit. And it's all Buy here, pay here. Right, Jeff?

Specifically Buy here at payhere. Education for two straight days. Packed, packed information.

Two days, no expo, just a lot of learning. Start off here probably in like 10 minutes, right, Jeff, stay tuned to us walking around, talking to dealers, getting some real good and some education we're be bringing to you this week, right?

Yep. So stay tuned. We're going to bring you guys some of our insights, the education that we get and report back to you on how it went. Hey, here we are at Buy Here, pay here, United 2022. We grabbed these good looking gentlemen. Yeah, who are they?

Is he your brother?

We do kind of look alike.

We got the same barber, so.

So we've got Chad Lancaster and Greg Chaney from Shake on in Texas, right?

That's right.

Really big Buy Here, Pay Here operation. And they are on the forefront of data, in my opinion. Y' all use data, different data than all of us have always used over the years, I believe. Some of the same, but some new ways to think about data and to approve customers. And in the process of approving a lot of customers, which I'll have a lot of customers, you got to get through that data quickly. Right. And you got to make less mistakes. I only sell 30 cars a month, so I can take more time, talk about the data y' all currently use compared to the data you maybe used five years ago. And then let's walk through that.

Yeah, I'm gonna let you take that.

Thanks, Chad, I appreciate that. So, you know, it's interesting to talk about data because we all now have more and more access to data. Like there's just an unlimited amount of data. And I think with that comes the tendency to think, okay, I should use more data. And we're really pretty much going the opposite direction. We're trying to cut out as much as possible and really look at what has an impact, what really matters in terms of making an underwriting decision. And so in the past it was go through the credit report, look at everything on there, especially the installment loans, auto loans, find out what happened, ask about job time, what happened here? Why was there a gap? We could verify none of that. So the customers, you know, the number one thing that the car loan went bad in the past, mechanical problems.

And you know, they have a repossession right yeah, the car broke or it.

Wouldn'T work with me.

Dealership wouldn't work with me. Car broke down. I bought that. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know what this one is. That's not mine.

I hear that so often. And you're like, you sign. How do you not know that?

Right.

Wait, your Facebook profile has a picture of you in the car, but then.

You just write it. It's another thing that you just write down, like, because you're just asking the question because you've always asked the question.

So you're asking the question knowing it's going to be a lie.

Yeah.

Right.

It's stupid. Right.

Or there's no information from the question you asked. Right. Which happens a lot.

Right. Or you can't use that information to make a good decision. So we, we are trying to stop habits, old habits, some of them bad or hard to break, but we are trying to stop looking at data, looking at information that we can't verify or that we can't really use. Am I going to make a different decision if the customer told me, well, that car, oh, that one broke down. That's why I didn't pay? Or they just said, I just didn't pay? We're not going to make a different underwriting decision. So we're trying to use the data that we can verify, and that has a direct impact on their ability to pay. So we're mainly looking at income.

The amount of income or the longevity.

Of income, the amount of income. So we're really. My favorite way to look at it is to look at underwriting now is to look at, okay, do they have a reasonable amount of income coming in? And are they not. Are they. Are they then spending less than they have coming in? So you can look at like, average daily balance, how many times is it negative? How many times are they overdrafting their account and look at, okay, what would be appropriate payment to income? And then everything else, it just sort of. You just sort of. It's just sort of noise. There's just not really any actual decisions that I think you can make on some of these other things. I know there's exceptions, and we're talking, you know, there may be times when you do. You do have to look at a few more factors. But our goal is, is to be fast and to give someone a very quick decision, because the good customers, the ones who have a choice, they'll just go somewhere else.

Is it quick and automated?

Is that.

Is. I mean, is that what customers are looking for? Like, if I get on Yalls website right now and I put in my information, is it going to say, yeah, you're approved right now?

That's the direction we're moving. We're not 100% there yet, but the direction we're moving now is to be able to give someone an automated decision based on verified information. I know you've got, like, drive time just rolled out there. Know your payment, know your down payment, you know, all the stuff. But they have a disclaimer that says, this is based on the information you provided to us, and if we verify it later and it changed, all of this stuff changes. We want to be able to provide someone with a decision that says, we already verified everything automatically, and this is the decision. We're going to stand by it. So there's not a lot of. It's not going to change.

Well, and our customers, like, they're used to getting maybe that, you know, that fake approval where you entered in enough and everybody's approved or whatever.

They.

They don't want that. They don't have time for that anymore. They want. They want to know right off the bat, did I give you enough information? Can you give me a legit answer that I'm approved? And so we. It's also about how quickly can you get them through the process where they're not entering in multiple. The same thing multiple times or saying the same thing multiple times to different people in the organization. Customers don't have any patience for that.

That's the pushback we get a lot. Well, I just gave you that. I just gave you that. And you're like, well, you didn't give me the right thing, you know, And I know y' all use some software that integrates with people's bank account. I think that's really new data. Can. Can one of you describe that and how. How that eases the process?

Yeah. So the customers, all they have to do is they basically send us an electronic bank statement. And the software, it automates all of that. All they have to do is enter in. You know, they have to enter in their credentials to log in and authorize it. So they're not entering in data. They don't have to type in all of the information because there's typos. Customers misspell their names. I mean, I'm not. I should be wanting to talk. I misspell most things. But they're just, you know, people are typing fast or typing on a mobile device, and they hit the wrong buttons. So we're getting the accurate Information we need directly from their electronic bank statements. And so we can get that. And the customers don't have to enter very much. So it's a very, very quick process for them. Humans are not good at data entry, and so we're trying to eliminate as much data entry as possible and let the computers talk to each other. There's no reason that the customer should have to print out bank statement and then bring it over to one of our humans so that we can type in that information.

Yeah.

And then we can then print it out and do something. I mean, we're just trying to.

They're just other hurdles that make the process take longer. So it's not just the customer putting their information in. It's what you do as a dealer on the back end with it. And if you're making that process last longer, the customer, a good customer, doesn't have patience for that. So it also standardizes the way our underwriters look at it. So they are looking at the same thing consistently every time. So it should speed up. It's all about the time frame and turning it around.

Let me summarize that. So you're getting the customer to come in. They're entering the authorization for their bank statement. You then can look at the bank statement and say, based on what you deposited and what you withdrew, this is your basic net income for the month. And I'm also able to look at the location you're doing these things at. Right. Which ATMs are you hitting? Which McDonald's are you going to on a regular basis for the last couple of months? So you're able to get that track record of where they actually are spending their money.

Right. So we talk about, like proof of residence. Well, how do you prove residence? Well, generally, where you spend your money is probably where you. Where you live. So if you claim to live in Houston, but you're spending all of your money in Dallas, then you probably don't live in Houston. So we can, you know, you can gather some. You're making accurate decisions based on accurate information, not just on what the customer says. I mean, they can provide a utility bill, but doesn't mean they have to live there, but they can provide a piece of paper that mailed to that address, but doesn't mean they actually live there.

Yeah, I've been. I've been doing the underwriting for our company since 2000. Whenever. Well, thank you, but. But, you know, it's like I have this brain damage that you're talking about, and it was always utility bill oh, you don't have a utility bill, I can do business with you or you don't have your pay stubs? Well, I don't get pay stubs. You know, I get this. But the bank statement brings that all together.

Right.

And it's, it's such an interesting way to look at it. When I heard y' alls talk about this, I kind of went back and started redoing what we were doing because I think it is so important and it's all about a negative balance. They don't have a negative balance. They're gonna probably be able to pay for something. Right?

Right.

Yeah.

If something happens to your car, a tire goes flat or whatever, they're gonna be able to put a new tire on the car. And so it's just a novel way to think about it. And guys, y' all are revolutionary and it's super interesting.

But what sticks out to me is a lot of people, the naysayers would be like, well, who's going to let you, who's going to let you have access to their bank account? Who's going to link your bank account? There's fail safes and there's ways to talk around it. But everyone said the same thing about GPS's, right? Well, who's going to let you put a GPS in their car? Everybody. Nobody cares anymore. Like, they understand that's part of the gig. So once that becomes normalized that you are going to integrate with this massively protected company, Stripe or whoever you're using that's nationally recognized. Hey, I don't have access to your bank account. I just have access to your historic data through this majorly publicly traded company. That's not going to screw you over. This is just the way it is these days. People kind of jump on board once they realize that. Right.

I think people are getting more used to that and it's becoming more normal. There's a lot of other services that do it. I was trying to conduct a transaction, I forgot if it wasn't PayPal, but it was something else and it asked me. It's like, oh, well, you can affirm.

And all those places are kind of like that, right?

Yeah, yeah, you link. It's like, oh, well, we can connect your bank and you can do it electronically or you can, you know, it's like they'll send you a letter in the mail and you have to go to the post office and I mean, it's all. Is this really locked up?

Yes. Connect my bank. Make it easier.

I need five. I need it done in five seconds versus, you know, three weeks.

And I think Covid broke a lot of those barriers where maybe a couple years ago, customers would have been a little bit more hesitant to do that, but they. It's now about the ease of the transaction, and they can do it from their couch. They can provide all that information, and they're going to have to provide that in one way or the other anyway.

Right.

But this just gives them a way to do it easier and on their time. It's all about their time and how they want to do it. And not everybody wants to do it. Some people want to start out online and maybe get the process started and then come in. But the thing for us is you have to give the customer all those options, because every customer is different. They want to shop a different way, and we have to be open to that.

Well, I think that's great. Guys coming to these things really help us kind of think about what we're doing. Because if you live in a box, everything looks like a box.

Right.

But everybody's doing it so, so differently, and there's so many good things from each person. And we appreciate you sharing that with us today.

We appreciate you letting us come on. Always good to hang out with my brother when I'm here.

So you guys even look, you know, well, you can say shirt and the same color shirt.

We coordinated our outfits.

That's nice.

Yeah. No, we appreciate what you guys are doing. This is great.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

All right, Jeff, we're here at By Here, Pay Here United Summit, and we want to talk about Buckeye. Buckeye Dealership Consulting. They were one of the founding members here and Put it on and a lot of Buckeye dealers here and just a great time and, you know, thanks to Buckeye. Right?

Yeah. I think when you look at these vendors that are willing to really put their time, their money, their headache, where their mouth is, right. They step up, they get a group of guys, other vendors together to put on a convention like this that just brings value to all of us. They're not trying to make money, I don't think, based on what our rate was and what our room rate is. I don't know that they're making any money on this, but they're stepping up to help Buy Here, Pay Here dealers.

Yeah. And that's so important. You know, reinsurance is such a integral part of a Buy Here, Pay Here store. That can be an integral part of any retail store, too. Selling vsc, the CPI portion with Buy Here, Pay Here is everybody has a problem with insurance. But Buckeye has a solution for every dealer. And we just thank them for putting this together, help putting this together. And. Yeah, call them.

And we're back. We are wrapping up day number one here at Buy Here, Pay Here, United Summit, and we've grabbed a couple of great, insightful dealers that are going to share with us some customer service insight.

Melanie, you were on a panel just finished up, and they were saying, what is the one thing that you would recommend a new dealer, new Buy Here, Pay Here dealer, or any dealer to do? And it was like you just got to take care of your customer. Your reputation is everything. Expand on that. Well, let's introduce first, sorry, Melanie Goldman, gmg, right, yes.

GMG Motors, Morgantown, Indiana.

Okay. And Linda, how you say your last name?

Noose.

Noose.

And she's with Jason March and March Motors down in Jacksonville, Florida. So what are you doing to make sure your customers feel like they're. They're part of your family? I guess is. Is the way I would think about it first.

And, and most simply, we treat our customers with respect. They are coming to our dealership to spend thousands of dollars, and it's a pity. We've had so many come in the door and say, you treat me like a real person. And that's such a sad, sad thing to hear when someone's spending over $10,000 at your dealership. So we treat our customers with respect. That's where it starts. We listen and we try to solve problems. I base our entire dealership on. My success is their success. So I'm not going to put them in a vehicle that they can't afford just so I can repo that later, because that's not a recipe for success.

That's not a business model, right?

No, it's not. And we, if there's a problem with the vehicle, we help them, we fix it. We set up. A side note, we set up payments how we have to, we make it work. Because if the customer in our market, we're a very rural market, and a customer doesn't have their vehicle functioning, they can't drive their kids to school, they can't get to work, they. They can't make money to pay us. And again, then they're not successful, we're not successful. So we make sure that they keep their car going so that they can be successful so we can get paid.

And that's. Respect goes a long way. And it's so sad as a commentary in our industry that people just don't feel respected Right, right. And that's weird. Linda, what do you all do at March Motors to get that same feeling?

So we like to provide our customers and our staff with the idea of creative thinking for our customers. We like to speak about being a solution. We like to be a solution to our customer base. And when they come to us and they're upset, we don't want to have the mindset like, oh, they're mad at me personally. They're upset with the situation. And what we want to do is take all of the information, diffuse that, and provide solutions for our customers. And like Melanie said, we like to treat them as people, and sometimes, you know, they don't have a realistic expectation of what's going on, but we like to give them some solutions and give them some options and explain to them what's going on and educate our customer. It's very important to us right now.

We're going through a weird period in our. In our industry where it's hard to get parts and cars break, and you got to explain that to a customer. Is there anything that you can say to the audience when. When you can't get a part for a car? I mean, what do you. What do you tell the customers? Because the customer gets mad.

Right?

I mean, I think you need to be honest and forthright with the customer. First and foremost, you need to keep in contact as you're going through the entire process through the diag. Through the parts ordering, not just waiting till a week later and then saying, oh, by the way, we can't get a part. No, this is the problem. You know, we've looked at your car. This is the problem with your car. We're going to order the parts for your car and keeping in contact with your customer, because again, in our market, you know, our customers need their car so they can go to work, so they can take their kids to school, so they can do everything they need to do in their life. And so I tell my staff in the garage that. That they need to think about, if it was them, what would you want to happen? You want your car, you want to go on with your life, and so that's how you need to treat your customer?

Yeah, it's basic humanity. I've dealt with manufacturers and OEMs where I'm just very frustrated. The communication's not there. I need some answers. Hey, I want my car back on the road. But at the same time as that, do you feel that the VIP experience, you know, there are some dealers out there that have the mentality that they want to run their dealership like Disneyland, you know, very service, very. Like you're, you know, the red carpet treatment, the sodas, the popcorn, the arcade games, the loaner cars, the. Do you feel like those trump.

Trump communication? I think communications.

Are they like fringe benefits? I mean, but where's the balance between, like, would you put money into a soda machine or would you put money into having a loaner car? Or would you put money into.

Well, we do have rental cars.

The red carpet.

We do have rental cars that we put out for our customers that we charge $10 regardless of how long they have the vehicle. I charge $10 just for a service. So again, so they can go on with the things that they have to do. So I think really, like you said, communication is so important. And sometimes you just have to sit down with your customer and say, look, here are your options. Both your options are terrible. But you and I are going to sit here together and we're going to work a solution out instead of being, instead of just dropping it into your customer's lap and forcing them to come up. Like you said, be a solution maker here. You know, sitting there with them and saying, we understand, we understand, we're sorry, we understand. It's a problem. We want to work with you. Let's see if we can come up with the best solution. And then listening.

Do you role play that in the dealership? I mean, is this part of your training for when you have these heat customers or when you have, you know, a car that you've got a. You got to do something. You know, it's going to take a little time. Do you role play that and train with your, with your salespeople and with your managers to do that?

So what I like to do is I like to involve my staff in that conversation. I don't pull the customer aside, but I let my team know why I'm making this decision. And then after that situation, I'll go back with that team member and I'll explain. Well, I made this decision because how they paid the vehicle that they're in and just touching on the parts that we were just speaking about, if you can provide them with something as simple as a tracking number that can make that customer exponentially happy.

Never even thought about that.

Yeah.

So is the customer always right?

No, the customer is not always right. Sometimes they just don't have the proper information. So we don't have to treat the customer. Look, we're the experts, right? This is what we do for a living. So I don't drive a bus. So I don't act like I know how to drive a bus. I sell cars. That's what I know. So they're coming to us because we're the expert. But that doesn't mean that we have to be rude or we have to be arrogant. We just know that it's our job too in servicing that customer is to help them understand what their options are. Help them to understand financially the impact of their decision. Because in our model, their success is our success and that's what we want.

That's so important.

What's funny to me when she says that though, and this is a problem I need your help with. When a customer comes into me and they are just so apologetic and so, oh, the car broke and I'm, you know, what can I do? You know, like I want to get my car back on the road and I know it's not your guys fault and that thing just happens and I'm like, fix it, whatever, I'll pay for it. I cut the check. I don't even care. On the flip side, when the customer comes to me with kind of fire and is like, you sold me a piece of crap and you need to fix this. My attorney's on the phone and blah, blah, blah, I dig in a little bit and I push back. Is that just my ego? Is that just us being ego, like driven?

I don't know your ego. But I will say that I have this little game with myself.

It seems like if someone goes sideways with you, you can go sideways with them as well. Or are you able to absorb it?

I like to play this game. I like to play this game where I take an angry customer and we get them just like everybody gets them. And I think in my mind I'm going to turn them and they're going to thank me before they walk out the door. And so it's my own, I don't play games with customers, but it's my own mental thing, like I am going.

To diffuse you yourself, right?

I'm going to diffuse them and I am going to explain the situation. We're going to come up with the right solution and by the end they're going to thank me when they walk out the door and they're going to be happy.

Go ahead. I'm sorry.

And keeping that mindset too, that we're the expert in that situation. You have to keep in mind that they're coming to you because they want that solution and they don't know what to do and they're in that mindset, they don't have the money. They're in that mindset of panic and they're coming to us upset because they're flustered and they need our direction to get them back on track.

And a solution so important, and you have to tell that that's a big problem too. When you call a customer and you say you need a new transmission, you cannot stop the conversation there because then you're dropping that situation in their lap. And the minute the first thing they're going to do is panic, they don't know where to get a transmission. They don't have money. They don't even know what it's going to cost.

They don't even know what it is.

For that, you have to create all the solutions for them and say you need a new transmission. This is where it needs to go to get it. This is what it's going to cost. This is how much a side note is that we can set up. If you do side notes, and here's what the payment going to be. This is how we can do it. Will that work for you? So, yeah, so that's, that's what we try to do.

That's great knowledge and that's people listen to, to what they are saying because this is how you build a huge book of business. Right. This is how you get customers, referring customers and coming back to you and speaking good about you in community. And if that happens, your business will stay in business forever. Right?

41 years. So we're still going 36.

That's correct.

There you go.

Thank you so much for joining us and I hope you enjoy the rest of the conference.

Thank you.

Hey, guys, we also want to thank another one of our sponsors, Pastime.

Yeah, Passtime's great. I've been using them probably for five or six years. And the devices work like they're supposed to. We find our cars, we repossess them quickly when we need to.

And so much of the talk this week at Buy Here, Pay Here, United has been about GPS devices, the advancements in technology, the usefulness whether you're using wired or wireless, whether you're integrating and tracking miles, or looking for, you know, ways to just keep your portfolio, your fleet of cars healthy.

Yeah. You know, our business, our business model is moving to big data. And this GPS technology can help us, can help our customers. There's all kinds of things we can use it for. So call Pastime, look at them, because they are, I think, the tops in the business.

Yep.

Hey, guys, here we are, day two by here, PayHere United Summit.

I'm here.

Luke's busy doing business at the same time he's learning. Excited for today? We got a couple of good things. One probably boring presentation.

I'm speaking of that. Are you working for Tesla now?

Yeah, I am. Free jacket.

Really nice. Really nice. Well, when you buy a really nice car, you get a free jacket.

Right. So we're really excited for day two. A lot of great education coming your way. Like I said, Luke's talking to us about what are you talking about?

Down payments? We're going to try to teach everybody how to get a little more down payment. And that's not just in the, you know, the buy here, pay here side. This talks about retail as well. Whenever you can get more money down, you can usually make more profit on your car, right?

Yeah, yeah. And you're gonna be in a better cash position. Also really excited about the dealer forums. The dealer panel forums have been great. So that's kind of a unique situation with this convention where they're having these Q&As with dealer panels. That was really, really great.

It was. And you know, and that's what's great about having dealers, teaching dealers is that there's so many questions that can come in that maybe somebody didn't think about. And then you have the panel yesterday, I think had six or seven people on it and you could hear across the board what, you know, what they were doing to get the solution. So very neat.

Here we go, day number two. All right, guys, here we are wrapping up day two of the buy here, pay here, United Summit. And we cornered Matthew Burton to share with us a little bit of his insights from what he's taken away from the convention. Matthew, introduce yourself to the community real quick.

Yeah, really happy to be here. This has been a great conference so far. So with my business partners, I co founded Adonis Auto in Texas back in 2018, 2010. So we've been in business since then and we've enjoyed being part of this, you know, community of operators from around the country.

Wonderful. And are you exclusively in Texas because don't you have a store somewhere else?

That's right. So we started in the Dallas Fort Worth metro. We've since expanded to the Kansas City and Houston metros as well.

And it seems like Texas is the birthplace of in house financing. And what we do, is the market different or similar in Kansas City at all? I mean, what do you see?

Yeah, you know, there are similarities I find to the industry all over the country. Certainly the consumer need Is there. So one of the things I love most about our industry is that we are truly solving a need for the customer. And when you are able to give a customer access to reliable transportation who didn't have it before, regardless of the market you're in, that demand is always there. And we're uniquely positioned to provide that to the customers, which I think is great.

I totally agree. We've been doing this business since the early 80s, and that is the one thing that continually doesn't surprise me, but warms my heart, is when a customer really needs help and we're able to do it. And that is the great thing about what we do. For sure.

Yeah. What interested me, Matthew, is you were on a couple of different panels. Right. And your insight. I think sometimes we get up there and it's kind of the same old, same old, same old. You seem to me as the kind of guy that's looking for, like, he's.

On the leading edge.

Yes.

Like, what are the pieces? What is the future? What are the takeaways? What. How can I tweak this little thing and make my dealership exponentially better? Share with us, what do you have in your notes? Like, what are you taking home from this convention that you're like, hey, this was really cool to me, or, hey, I thought about this a different way or anything, that you're taking home to your dealership from this convention?

Yeah. So, Jeff. Absolutely. Every conference that I come to, there's always something. Sure. And so I was taking notes yesterday, and I think some of them were about what I expressed out of this conference. I'm really bullish about what GPS technology is going to allow us to do to better serve the customer. GPS technology has been around for a while, but the cost point is got. The cost point has come down and the technology is so good that it's no longer just telling you where the car is, it's telling you elapsed mileage, it's telling you other different kind of alerts that you can set up. And with a little bit of software integration, you can make it so that your system is sending the customer automated repair messages, oil change reminders, and things like that. That's just. We're barely, I feel like starting to use that technology, and that would be so good for customers to be able to get. Get that. Well, you're that help.

You're a data guy. Okay. I mean, that's what you are. Right? I mean, you like data and you use data to make your business better. And we all do. But I think you kind of process it better than all of us. Better than most of us, I should say. How are you, your wheels turned about how you can use that GPS data to. To make your accounts perform better? I mean, is that. Is that where your mind is going with that?

So I think where it really has a lot of potential is to introduce the concepts of fleet management into what we do.

Yeah, man.

That's a way to look at it.

Right?

You mentioned that. I think one of your things is we have to look at our buy her, pay her portfolio as a fleet. We have a fleet of VIN numbers. Right. And those things have got to perform. And if it's tracking mileage to remind people about oil changes, or maybe you go over to a pay per mile model in the future where customers say, hey, yeah, I want to pay for the use of this car. Just charge me monthly for how many miles I drove or integration with OBD 2. And check engine lights.

Great.

Would it be if we were notified that one of the cars in our fleet had a check engine light come on for something?

It would save our service department a lot of time, wouldn't it?

You could proactively save the car before it blew up.

Oh, it's. You left your gas cap off, man. That would really. Yeah, that would save us a lot of time. But I took a couple notes and wanted to talk to you about some things that you said during your data seminar. And you were talking about application fraud, you know, and how that it is. It may not be fraud all the time. It may be just bad entry. And you talked about verifying it. I mean, how much of your team's process is verifying the data that the consumer gives us?

Yeah, so it is 100% verifications of all consumer provided data, which is important. And a lot of times it's not fraud. It's just the customer, you know, they think in terms of weekly income. And our model requires monthly income, things like that. So to answer your question, it is a lot of. It's a huge emphasis with us and I think it is around the industry just making sure that the information we put into our model is correct.

Because that bad data in, bad data out, right?

That's right.

And so verifying, I mean, do you have almost like a BDC that does verification?

We do.

That's great.

That's important because, you know, it's not just about, you know, preventing failure of the account. It's ultimately about putting the customer in a deal structure that's right for them. And this is where The GPS telematics has such potential for our industry is because other sources of automotive financing, they really don't ever look at driving habits and what that's going to be so important.

And it's so important to our business model because if a customer drives too much, the loan's not going to perform. We know that.

Right.

And it introduces additional risk on the insurance side, which many in our industry choose to participate in insurance. We do that, we're able to provide insurance for a much lower cost to the customer than they could get in, you know, Allstate or Geico, using outside providers. But I think ultimately what's really cool for our industry is because we know the customer so well, we're fully integrated finance and operations and insurance. In a lot of cases we can use this data to better tailor the deal for the customer, which ultimately they're going to succeed. And I think the future of our industry is integrated models like ours, not third party models. That's just my.

I tend to agree with that. You said something also, I think. I'm pretty sure you said this, but you were talking about how you have sales and collectors on the same bonus plan. What it. I've been going through a new building of sales plans and I've had this question forever. Why do salespeople make more than collectors? Because collectors are the backbone of a good finance company. Right. Could you just talk about how you came to having the same bonus plan across the board? And you did say that, right?

Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to. I think every. Everybod in this industry has realized that the right number of sales for collectors is zero. They don't want new sales. That makes their life more difficult. And the right level of underwriting for salespeople is zero.

A lot of them would say, yeah, for sure. They want to roll the car. Right.

They want to roll the car. Collections doesn't. So there's this tension inside an integrated operation. We found by putting everybody on the same bonus plan tied to what really matters for the customer and for the company, that eliminated a lot of that tension, helped our people function better as one team.

Yeah. You know, I read a book not long ago called Driven and it was taught. Have you read that book?

I have not.

It is talking about people's psyche and how pay motivates people, you know, and it was just. This is kind of relative to what I was thinking. I mean, I just changed my pay structure. But I like what you're saying there last thing. And this is. I think this is your baby here. How has data changed your underwriting, big data and your use of it?

It's changed everything. Everything about our underwriting. It has totally replaced any sort of human intuition or judgment in our underwriting. That was a deliberate move that we did. It wasn't popular at the time, but years ago, seven years ago, it's been crucial to how our business has been able to grow. Is replacing that human judgment with true data. Science makes a world of a difference.

It does. I just started doing it. Hopefully, you know, in the next six, eight months, I can really see a change. I just think it. I think I can sell more cars, too. It's not, you know, it's not necessarily making my risk less, but I might. I might have been too tight, so it might help me sell cars.

I think guys of our size, our sales numbers are directly related or can be very closely related to how good our attitude is that month. You know, like when I'm the one say, having the final go ahead and the say on whether I'm not, I'm going to approve a loan or say yes to this person. There's a lot of gray area between my attitude and how I feel that day. Right.

Many in the industry would disagree with me. And that's okay. I can just tell you what's worked for us.

No, I think you're right. Well, thank you, Matthew. We really appreciate your time.

Appreciate your time.

Great to join you. Thank you.

All right, well, Jeff, this is a wrap, I think.

Yeah, we had a great couple days here. Buy Here, pay here, United, this summit.

And it's just an interesting different take on the convention. One that we really like, would recommend dealers coming next year. If you weren't here this year, you need to be here next year for sure. Yeah.

Obviously, we recommend you go to every convention you can fit into your schedule. The education is. It's just crucial. You're two days out of your lot. I get that that's very, very hard to do. But the information that you bring back, we're constantly learning. We're constantly fine tuning operations.

Yeah. And you know, what was it this compared to others? I felt like I networked a lot more at this one. You maybe didn't have vendors breathing down your back or whatever, but I think that the new people we met that are really industry leaders that we've interviewed here, I think will really, really help our businesses going forward.

Yeah, yeah. It's great to get out and rub shoulders with fellow dealers and know that we all have kind of similar pain points and we're all trying to kind of solve the same problem. So hopefully you guys got a lot of great content out of this.

Watch it on YouTube.

Right?

Because there's a difference. What we did is it works for podcasts, but to get your best experience would be to go to YouTube and watch it. Because you said it was a vlog. I don't even know what a vlog is.

Yeah, Luke's got a whole new. Whole new sense of media for this guy.

We're gonna.

We're gonna expose him to some new stuff. So, again, subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review. Contact, connect us with us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, all those places, and.

Yep. See you next week.

Dealers helping dealers. Please leave us a review and subscribe. The independent Dealer podcast.