#50 - NABD 2019 - Expo Hall Mashup

Hey, happy Monday guys and gals. Hope you guys are geared up for an amazing week. Today we're going to bring you our expo haul Mashup from the 2019 NABD, the National association of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers. It happened in Chicago last week. Luke and I were there, we got to hang out, meet a bunch of you awesome dealers out there, some of the listeners, we walked the expo hall, we got short 60 second elevator pitches from five different vendors ranging from online auctions to parts to GPS providers. So a little bit for everybody. So you can kind of see some of these new technologies and softwares that are out there to help make our lives easier as dealers. So hope you enjoy this. Stay tuned for Thursday's episode. We're going to bring you Luke's presentation from the convention and in the coming weeks we got a lot of stuff, Great, great guests lined up. Really appreciate your guys support, really appreciate the online reviews that you leave us and sharing this with your other friends so we can continue to spread the word. Dealers helping dealers. Welcome to the Independent Dealer Podcast, the podcast for auto dealers to learn and grow together. Here are your hosts, Luke Godwin and Jeff Watson. Okay, here we are with Chris from Agora. Chris, give us the 60 second elevator pitch. What is Agora? Why do the independent dealers need it?

Great question. Agora is a marketplace where independent car dealers buy here, pay here. Dealers who originate loans can have us integrated with their dms. We're integrated with Fraser Wayne, Reis, Dealer Center, Automanager, Automaster and soon be Dealer Socket. So their loans are concurrently on the platform. They can choose to list their loans. We have over 60 banks and finance companies who will compete and give them the best price in the market in a secure environment. So the marketplace is there for the dealers that want to sell their portfolios or do it for regular cash flow. In addition to that, we have valuation tools on the platform to be able to look at the forecasted losses, the market price, the cash flows that they can expect, the losses they can expect to give them a great insight in their portfolio which our new offering that's coming out at the end of the year, this is the real fun part. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

We have an interest, basically a 6% interest line of credit. It's uncapped, there's no personal guarantees and they could basically pledge the loans in and basically leverage those loans to go grow their business. That's the thing, everybody's really excited as you can see. See we've had a lot of traffic around Here for that reason.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So help me summarize this. If I'm a buy here, pay here dealer, I can have my portfolio of notes, right, that I'm carrying, I'm taking the payments on and I can decide, hey, I want to take these 10, 20, 100 and I want to click import them out of my DMS automatically sends it to your platform. A bunch of different lenders, all of.

Them are available in the platform. They're available anonymously. They're back behind the scenes. Okay, so you're integrated. Your whole portfolio is there. You can choose to sell some, you can choose to leverage it and use the line of credit to go grow your business. So there's all solutions available for you.

So if I wanted to liquidate a handful, I could absolutely. And I could sell off the note to someone and just take the cash. Or like you said, we could use.

It, put it in your line of credit, as a line of credit and then you're getting all the interest payments as they go out in the future and the principal is there for the line, they're paying down the line. It's a really simple solution. And the other thing is if you choose that you don't want to sell, you don't want to finance, you can use our analytical tools to understand how to manage your portfolio better.

Okay. Because it's looking at all the data behind the scenes running through your software, telling us where we're right, where we're wrong.

Right.

Cool. Sounds great. Chris, thanks so much for your time.

Great, thank you.

Okay, here we are. We've got Scott and Susie with Advanced.

Professionals, Advanced Auto Parts, WorldPAC, Carquest, that.

Whole brand, they do it. All right, so for the independent dealers, the reason why we need to be using you guys, tell us the advantages to going with you. Why we're going to want to pick maybe one parts house or have our first call be you guys as opposed to some Joe Schmo down the street.

Or Rock Auto or all that nonsense.

Well, I don't know if there's one advantage, but there's several different distinct advantages. Not only do we have over 5,500 locations across the country, but we have a family of brands. So there are Advanced Auto Parts stores, there are carquest locations, there are World Pack branches, and we also have Auto Part International. So depending on what part of the country you're in, we have a solution or a location to help provide on demand service. We also provide stocking solutions. We stock all major brands that are OE or Exceed OE qualifications for you. So many different solutions. Not only do we sell parts and products, but we sell tools, technology, training. So a host of myriad of solutions to help any of the dealers who are out there listening to this.

So if I want to decide that y' all are my brand of choice, you're my first call and I use a management system. I can order all that stuff online. Right. You can set up a little button for me. And do I get special discounts if I do it that way, Am I getting a better price than someone off the street that walks into advance?

Absolutely. So one of the other distinct advantages we have is 60%. Over 60% of our business is catering to the professional installer. So commercial shops and locations are really what our wheelhouse is all about. So yes, there are programs and advantages designed specifically and essentially for customers like yourselves. So we have electronic ordering incentives, we have rebates, we have incentives, we have promotions, we have ongoing specials that your local carquest advance, worldpac Auto Park, International Auto Part International Sales rep can describe and explain to you.

If I'm not already set up with worldpac or with Advanced, what's the best way? How do I do I go into this to the Advanced store? I know there's no storefront for WorldPak. How do we get.

So if there is a store that is one of the better ways. But we also have a website. You can go on advanced professional.com and look that up and we'd be happy to get back to you. There's many different ways for you to go through the store or through our websites.

I'm always, you know, I'm a training guy. We all know that, right Jeff? And we all hire techs and hopefully they'll get better. I do know that worldpack in advance offers some tech training. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Sure.

So one of the things we're extremely proud of and have been contributing to the automotive aftermarket for a couple decades now is carquest Technical Institute. We're one of the largest training providers in North America. We are able to provide training via online training, instructor led training, virtual training. We provide ASE prep test training. We have over 50 ASE master techs. We provide regional training across the country. So through our ctionline.com you can see our curriculum and all of the wonderful things we're able to do with training. So one of the great things that's going on and you'll be able to participate in 2020 is STX Expo which will be in Washington. And it's for some of the top tier techs. We're going to be providing over 350oe classes at this expo, which lasts a full weekend. And that information is also available online.

That's great, man.

Scott.

Thanks a lot.

Luke, we're recording. Let's do this.

Sorry, sorry. Okay, so we're with Chris Machica, COO of Passtime, and we want to talk a little bit today about your wireless GPS technology. Everybody's abuzz about it and we want to hear more about it.

Sure. Yeah, we're excited as well. Really revolutionary technology, battery powered device, so you don't have the obstacles of installation that you had before. With gps, simple installation can be put in a vehicle in less than 30 seconds and activated and can last up to four years, depending on how you configure it.

Four years, that's a long time. I mean, so they haven't been out for four years. How do y' all gauge how long it's actually gonna work? Gonna last?

A lot of testing, A lot of testing. We've, we've been in development for this for over two and a half years, really perfecting the battery life and the way the device interacts with the network. There's some new technology in the, in the LTE networks that allow us to really manage power and manage the battery life. So when we did our original testing, a lot of it was done in full power.

Right.

So we could see how quickly the device would drain if it was a plugged in device.

Right.

And then a lot of additional testing on top of that. That simulates the four year lifespan.

So it's very small. What do we say? What's the dimensions of it?

Half the size of a cell phone.

Yeah, it's smaller than a deck of cards, a traditional deck of cards. So real easy to install them.

Where do you recommend dealers installing these things?

So in the seat, in the headrest, in the glove box, behind the back seat. If it's a sedan, really anywhere they can fit it. We've seen a lot of people put it in the headrest or in the passenger driver's seat and there's no interference.

From the metal of the car or anything like that.

You don't want to put it directly against a solid sheet of metal. Obviously it's just going to impact the accuracy of the GPS then because it's going to change the ground plane. But as long as it's within, you know, a couple inches of a solid sheet of metal, just a little bit of distance, it's just fine.

And how, how accurate are these compared to the wired ones? Is it exactly the same?

Pretty, pretty close.

I mean, with our accuracy is within.

About 10ft and I'll attest to that. I use pastime and they are freaking accurate. I can almost tell what parking spot a car is in, right?

Yeah. So very similar. I will tell you, if it's in a garage, it can expand to about 20, 30ft because it doesn't have direct line of sight, but still pretty close. Accurate enough. You're looking for a blue car, Right.

You'll find it. What I've really liked about this is, is you've got the ability to get the history because it's still tracking every six or 11 hours.

Eleven and a half hours.

Eleven hours. And that's on normal mode. But then you can switch it over to recovery mode and you can actively ping it because that's. We only use our GPS's when we need them. 1% of the time they're in the car, less than that when you're ready for recovery, and half the time you don't use them at all. So all I really need is something that's there when I need it.

Yeah. So the way we configured it is the first 14 days it's in this active mode, so it's getting more trip data so you can validate home address, work address, after you funded that loan to make sure they are who they are and they are doing what they did. After that 14 days, it's going into endurance mode, like you said. And it's just giving you enough data to know it's working and the car is here. You can see if they've gone out of state or really traveled a lot with the vehicle. And then if you want to locate it actively, you send a command next time it reports in, you've got full functionality.

So how do I activate this thing? Do I install in the car and then wait for my customer to leave? Then I hit a button to activate it. Or how.

No, it activates in less than 30 seconds. You pull a little tab on the device, push a button, it's active.

Right.

It's very, very quick.

And the first. So if I activate it today and I for some reason have to repossess that car in six months, can I reuse this device again?

You could reuse it. Every time the device reports in, it reports a percentage of battery life. So if for some reason it's used a lot of battery, you can actually send it back to us. We can refurb the battery for a fee. And Then send it back to you all.

So now we're talking about fees. What's the cost of this thing?

So it starts at $119 and goes down for volume, depending on what size dealer we can work on that price.

That's the coolest thing is you got that technology, but it's not any more expensive than the regular units.

You pay for installation.

Exactly.

I don't know about you. I charge $80 install.

So, yeah, so it pays for itself. You're getting $10 units.

It's amazing.

Yeah, maybe we need to charge.

No, no, no, no. Thanks, Chris.

Thank you. Thanks. Okay, guys, here we are with Brent of Secure Close. Brent, why do independent dealers. Why do we need your service? What is it? How can it make our jobs easier?

So we're from an independent dealer background ourselves. And one of the things that is just common in the industry is attrition. You lose good people who you've trained and spent a lot of time to convey the right message to your customers. So we wanted to give a solution for that. Our software product experience, the retail installment contracts, arbitration agreements, those tough documents that customers really need to understand for them to succeed and for you to succeed as them being your customer. Over the long term. We make sure that they have the same message every time. We have disclosure that's written by top legal minds. We worked with Hudson and Cook to come up with all our scripts for our documents. And then we record everything that they do on the screen. So as they're viewing their documents, as we're explaining it, as they're electronically signing it, we're capturing it on video so that both they and the dealer have a record after the that fact fact of everything that was disclosed to them.

Is this just F and I that gets this or can we put our purchase agreements in there? Can we do all that?

You can put anything that's right now we are fed from a DMS systems. We have integrations with Autostar, Automaster, dealer socket, idms, a bunch of different options. So any document that is a point of sale form within their system can be fed directly to us.

Okay, and what is this a per month cost or is this a per close cost? What does the cost look like?

Yeah, there's two charges. There's going to be a $300 per month license fee to use the software and then it's $10 per transaction. But within that $10 per transaction, we're going to store it for you and your customer to go back and view those videos and electronic copies of your Documents for the life of your contract with us and then a further five years beyond that to make sure that you always have 24 hour online access to all your signed documents and video files.

Is this a, would one state qualify to do this and not another state or is this across the board?

We're across the board. So every state has what falls under federal e sign law. So we can do those electronic signatures and those disclosure anywhere. And some states have a more tight law, but everybody kind of falls under that federal jurisdiction. So we're in 36 states, something like that at present.

Is there a call for equipment for me as a dealer to buy if I, if I decide to go with y'?

All? Yeah. So our software is all web based. So really the, the cost of entry is you have to have a modern computer which most dealers are going to have anyway. And you're going to need a webcam so we can capture video and audio of the customer and a signature tablet. But the signature tablets are 100 bucks. You can get a webcam for $35.

A signature tablet, is that just like an iPad?

So you see one right there? Yeah. So it just connects, connects with a USB into the computer and that way we wanted to capture their actual signature. You know, I don't know if you're anything like me, but my signature with my finger on an iPad looks like my son wrote it. It doesn't look like my actual signature.

Do I need someone in the office while they're closing? I just say, Here you go, Mr. Customer, get in there, sign your document.

That's exactly right. We wanted it to be really user friendly and we wanted to free up those dealership staff to go out and sell more cars for you. So what's happening is they introduce the product and the experience to the customer. We're going to show them a quick minute and a half tutorial that says here's exactly what you're going to see, here's how you operate it and feel free to go at your own pace. You can re listen to things if you don't understand. Just is really designed around a lower pressure environment for the customer.

This can't be done remotely though. They would have to physically be in the dealership.

The customer we are working on a product for that called Secureclose Direct that is going to be initially for post close documents, contract amendments and things like that for your customers that who have already signed an agreement with you but in the past would have to come back to your location to sign these documents. We're opening that up so they can do those things from home.

That's pretty interesting.

Yeah. Yeah, that's it. Anything closing? No.

Thanks for your time, gentlemen. Appreciate the opportunity.

Here we are with Joe Mok. Real character. Trouble guy. We cornered him.

None of y' all know him, right?

No. He tried to run away from Luke, but then we tackled him. We're getting him on here. Joe, you're here at the convention, but you got a different badge on. What are you doing?

Well, today we're pitching Turn Auctions. Yes.

Your app, right?

Yes, Our app. Yeah. I'm a founder of it. One of the things that was missing out there was the independent auctions bringing their inventory to us. You have Manheim Express, you've got Odessa, you've got acv. But we like to do business with independent auctions, and there's a bunch of different portals out there that some of us don't even know about. There's over a hundred independent auctions, and we're trying to get all the unsold inventory and stuff that I wouldn't be able to find on the other platforms and bring it all together here. One of the things that I hated was when I'd send my cars to independent auction, it would get 10 seconds to run through lane, and then it would sit idle for seven days until the next auction.

Everybody hates that.

That drives me nuts. It gets lot rotted, gets screwed with, whatever the case is. But that vehicle needs to be marketed every second of the day from the minute it leaves the lane until it runs again. So one of the things that I discussed with Ryan Clark, who's the owner of the Greater Rockford Auto Auction, is coming up with an app that would showcase our vehicles and not sit idle. And he thought it was a great idea. We hooked up with some of the best developers in California, and Tern came.

Around, and it's Turn T U R N. Yes. Is it turn.com or turnauctions.comauctions.com and so as an independent dealer, can we listen to cars on here or no? How does it work?

You have to be partnered with your local independent auction, and they will then post it up there.

You have most independent auctions on the. On the platform, Jay.

We currently have seven out of the hundred.

And.

Yeah, that's a lot of 100 and something. Yeah, we're still working on. We're partnered with. We're partnering up with servnet.

Okay.

So the Servnet auctions will be bringing their stuff on there.

Okay.

What?

Like, what? Is there a region? It's kind of in right now. I know these things. It seems like these officers kind of branch out and in, in regions it.

Seems like in regions like.

So is it basically just the Illinois area? Oh no, we northeast or.

Yes, currently we're Midwest. Really working on the south because that's.

Where I tell you the auctions are.

Yeah, yeah. And rust free cars. So we got Oklahoma all the way to Greenville, North Carolina. Yeah, yeah. They're, they're awesome. They're good people. Yeah. So that's neat.

So to get registered, what should a dealer do?

If you have an iPhone, just go to your Apple store and download turn auctions. Or if you're on Android, just go to your Google Play store and download it. Or you can just sign up on turnauctions.com on a typical browser.

Thank you, Jeff.

Thank you guys.

Sam.