Noel Walsh Interviews World Car Sales Record holder Ali Reda.

What is up everybody? Facebook live, no walls coming at you tonight, January 16, 2018, with a very special guest Ally, Rita from Les Stanford Chevrolet and Cadillac in Dearborn Michigan.

And if you don’t know it already, I’m sure you do but Allie set the world record for most automobiles sold in one year, Allie sold fifteen hundred and eighty-two vehicles in one year now, when Ali has a has a slow month a slow month, Raleigh is ninety Or a hundred and Ali is humble grateful people, I’ve ever had a conversation with especially a man of his merits and a man of his accomplishments, and so we’ve got a lot of great questions that I got from different social media platforms.

Actually, most of them came from from LinkedIn, but we got a lot of good ones.
Also from from your on Facebook, from my page conquer, what you chase, sales prose and from some other places, but Holly go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and then hello, Facebook, although everybody thanks for having me odd men appreciate you Know this is a pretty cool, so I appreciate you having me on here.

Yeah, like you said man, I’m selling Chevy in Cadillac in Dearborn Michigan been at this store here for about seven years now, but I’ve been in the business for 17 years and it’s always been Chevy, and when I, when I joined les Stafford, we had a Cadillac To that so yeah excellent, so 17 years, and so now I saw that your your first month, you, you did 19 vehicles, which is yeah yeah.
Yes, first month in the business made out back in 2001, you know it was pretty busy time.
You know a lot of it was, of course you know just you starting out in the business and yeah but 19, that one yeah and now what month did you start 2001? I want to say it was either May or June okay, and if you remember, because I started in November of 2000 and remember, we had 9/11 in you know, September of 2001 and after that is basically when big rebates came out and 0 % like oh, that Was unheard of you know? Maybe you could get 0 % for 20 months and I remembered that we were so busy after that, because all those and hubs and all those programs came out but then but then it dried up.

So when I tell people about like my longevity in the business I’m like you know, I I dealt with with nine nine one one I dealt with the tsunami, you know, if you remember the tsunami, when you couldn’t get different, you know paint colors, you couldn’t get Moon, roofs, you couldn’t get navigation and you know in the imports we’re really hurting because they couldn’t even get new vehicles, and so so we – and I don’t you – know cash for clunkers, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
So we went through all those and those were all exciting and you know – and you had, those ties like cash for clunkers was great, but a couple months after that you were slow because you took out all that business.
You know from the months before, and it was a little slow leading up to that, because everybody wanted to wait because they wanted a way to get the good deals for the cash for clunkers.

So you’ve definitely been in the business through the ups and downs and a couple people here her mill, Oh glad to have you my Columbus glad to have you, Angela Walker, glad to have you, but I’ve got.
I’ve got a handful of questions here, and so you know first off.
I want to ask I want to.

I want to focus on your feet and on your accomplishment and really when you are going through the year one did it really kind of sink in and when did you really kind of realize like hey? I can I can do this like.
I can beat this record, I can.
I can accomplish this sorry, I lost you there, but I couldn’t.

I think I lost connection.

Oh no problem yeah, it froze up for a second, but I don’t know if you heard my question, but one wasn’t exactly that you realize that you could accomplish that feat that you can break that record.
You know I didn’t man that we had such a good start to 2017.

You know, and that month that month in January I did 167 and that kind of set the tone for it for the whole year.
I carry dead on pretty much February was up in the hundreds and you know March, and it kind of kept carried on and somewhere around this I want to say around June or July I started seeing these numbers just just kept going up, and then I then I felt like I had a really good chance at that number and you know that that wasn’t my main goal.
I was in the back of my mind for sure the year before I did 1,300 saw as close to it, but you know somewhere on the summer time.

I realized that I had a really good chance of getting there.
You keep going in your face in your frost, yeah yeah.
I was pretty much kind of still going at my pace, but I think it did make me a little more focused.

I think I you know.
I knew that that was that was there and you know I wanted to stay focused and you know when you’re having a good year.
The momentum is huge and you want to kind of keep the momentum going and you know kind of like that ace pitcher.

Nobody wants to sit next to you know where you just kind of you know you’re in a zone and you’re just doing your thing and it felt like that pretty much the whole year.
You know we were just just positive, the whole year and so blessed to have finish the way we did and so now now we had a conversation.
We know we had a lengthy conversation about a week and a half ago, and then we had a short conversation yesterday, just kind of firm that this live stream up ya know tell us about your support staff.

Oh man, I got the best support staff ever Mandy.

I had two people that work with me.
I got Muir nuts she’s, my assistant, you know, I tell everybody she’s the brains behind operation and she’s, wonderful man.

She does.
I mean she does everything she’s the admin? She does all paperwork she handles.
All the you know, filters phone calls and everything that that needs to be handled behind the scenes, and you know so she’s actually helped me tell help.

Take me to the next level and Sam who I call my young legs.
You know – and you know in the car business man, you can’t run around the parking lot like he used to when you’re in your 20s – and you know I’m 44 this year.
So that’s been kind of tough.

You know running around the parking lot grabbing a car parking the car license plates, so he kind of does all that stuff.
For me, you know: he’s bought me years.
He’s bought me years in the business and not leaving as tired and not you know physically or mentally, so that’s been pretty cool now, neither of himself they’re.

Both you know administration basically, but I’m the only one, that’s selling, but they take a lot off my plate to help take us to the next level and they’re a big part of it.

I mean every huge part of that know and, like you said, you know, you’ve got the admin and then you kind of have zonal a guy right um.
So you can just focus on what you do best, which is which is still amazing.

I mean you, you out, sold more than most franchise dealerships, sell for you know for vehicles and now what would you say you’re new to used mix? Is you know mostly new? I don’t do a lot of used.
You know they do take a little bit more time.
You know riding on the car and all that, so I still have my my you know share of use, but I kind of hooked up with the used-car guy.

I let him you know, take him around, find the right car and then you bring them back in and I’ll finalize the deal you usually kind of give it to that salesperson.
You know at that point, but I still want to take care of that customer.

But mostly I would say I I didn’t do that many used at all.

It’s mostly all new yeah.
No, that’s amazing and III.
Think I told you this and I was able to have a godel.

Are you March of last year – and I think I told you this and he didn’t sell any used vehicles, because you know his philosophy was that you know he wanted to make sure he felt him something with a full warranty and he could service it.
So if they had a problem that he could just say, hey come on into my you know: come on into my service shop, we’ll get you handled we’ll get you taken care of, and I mean you could do that, obviously on a lot of vehicles, but if You’re selling a used Ford, they might have to outsource that even if it’s under a or dealership – and so you like to be on top of it but yeah.
You know I started out in my career and used and my dad was a guy that was his favorite.

He was up to GM level, but you know once like once I got a taste of that new, I’m like I just I just like knew so much better, because you were always all right like look, I’m doing, you know used your you could think and charge Back and in this, and that – and I knew you’re always the hero you’re, like you, know what bring it in I’ll, get it in the shop, Lucchino, loner and and everybody loved you to where unused you’re like oh, you know: good grief, it’s a hundred thousand mile Vehicle and they’re complaining about something you know trivial, and this is a lot more and it goes to it yeah there is and if some people love to used – and you know some people say you can’t make money on you, but ultimately I I enjoyed the new Now, what would you say? Leasing is: what’s your leasing, leasing, we’re in a great a pretty heavy leasing market? So you know, bigger higher percentage is leasing.
Good thing about leasing is your repeat and your repeat: business comes back every two three years, so, if you’re taking care of these customers, then you get a high percentage of people coming back but yeah we do.
We do a high percentage of leases.

Err! No, absolutely – and you know I try and teach a lot about leasing, because you know there’s so many benefits to leasing that they fall in love with your product.
They fall in love with the salesperson.
They fall in love with the dealership and the service department.

Right then, they feel more committed because it’s almost like they feel like they’re, sharing that vehicle with you and GM and themselves right right.
So you know because they would always call me and they’ll be like no.

Let’s do this.

What do I do and you know kind of like it, was our vehicle and it was a joint venture and so those so many states in so many areas, so many regions are afraid of leasing or they think it’s complicated.
I’m like it’s no more complicated than than a purchase, then the oil levels – you know skyrockets, and so so I think that’s.
I think.

That’s amazing.
Now one question I had here from from somebody.
Let me find it because there are quite a few here is: did you read any of joe girardi books that helped help you break the record or help you in your career yeah? You know I’m a fan of his man, I’m a fan of his uh, his values, the way he did business and you know, reading reading a couple of his books.

You know I can’t remember the name of the one book, but I I kind of really loved that yeah.
That’s the one actually yeah yep, that’s the one in that book.
You know I felt like I was reading a story about myself.

I mean there were so many similarities of the way he was doing business and you know you think about what he did in 1973.
You know talking about relationship business and you know building relationships with people all over the place.
I mean you know, selling to people that knew him not so much who he knew.

Those are.
Those are big deals.
You know, you know he got himself out there early.

You know he let everybody know what he did and that’s kind of how he built his business, and it was all repeat: referrals relationship based stuff.
You know, as I’m reading that book, I’m like wow man.
A lot of these are the same things that I do you know, and you know just getting yourself out in your community and doing all the important things to let people know what you do.

No, absolutely no uh, no point: what is it exactly? What kind of things? In fact that was the question here? What activities outside of customer interactions have been the biggest impact on your success? You know being active in your community, I mean that’s it that that is the biggest thing I can tell everybody.
That’s the biggest deal, so you know advertising yourself and building your brand name and letting people know what you do is what’s going to kind of excel you above everybody else, and you know I’m out there I mean you, you, you can’t just expect to advertise somewhere And expect people to come in I mean you physically got to be present where you advertise.
So if I put up a billboard at a community center, I frequent that community center – or you know, if I put business cards at a restaurant, that I always go to that restaurant – I mean there’s a difference between just advertising and throwing things and hopefully it sticks.

Then letting people see your face and touch you and see you and talk to you.
Those are the type of things that are gon na.
You know help you succeed, ya know and that’s something, but I always say is you know, be seen be known, be there.

You know that right that you have to get out, and I think that that’s one thing that you know social media is is great.
It’s really gotten to me a lot of exposure and got me out to a lot more people than I could have ever gotten out to.
But ultimately, if that is that face to face, you know hand to hand, you know meetings that to where you’re in people’s presence – and they really see you and they see you with your kids and they see you with your wife and they’re like wow.

You know I’ve heard he’s a great circuit he’s a good dad too and yeah yeah exactly your real.
You know your real to them.
You know they can see you on a billboard and never ever see you.

They don’t feel like that person is real.
It’s right.
That’s that’s! That’s what you want to kind of get across that yeah you’re, a dad, your brother, your son, you know and you’re just like them, you’re a friend that that’s what you want to get across.

No absolutely! No! I think I saw I was going through trying to find some pictures to to promote the the live stream, and did you get to throw out a first pitch for a Tigers, game yeah man that was so cool.
That was a couple years ago.
I think maybe is last year or year before.

Actually when I finished number one for .

About Richie Bello

Richie Bello has a vast knowledge of the automotive industry, so most of his services are faced towards automotive dealerships. He couples all his skills with the power of the internet to render even remote services to clients in need of a little brushing

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