Tom welcome to the live, show.
How are you today, I’m excellent Ritchie? How are you today good and Tom? I really talked to you about a few things like for an example how a relationship we’ve been together now for quite some time and we’ve been partners for quite some time.
So you know Tom, as you know, and I was telling you that years ago I looked at social media as a platform, a recruiting platform right right, we’ve had a conversation right so and that’s what I do now I wanted to talk to you just give me A minute answers of the dear, but what I want to talk to you is the product that we have.
So we have a great product now right would take anybody that wants to be a dealer.
All the talent that’s out there on social media.
We have requirements right and we did somebody fund it to a new car franchise.
Only we want to stick with you.
Cod franchise, not use gars right, correct in records girl.
Tell me a little bit about that process.
What are the qualifications of that? Well.
First.
Qualification.
Be that you would have to have some type of experience, the automobile business, I would think you’d probably need eight to ten years of some kind of management experience where you’ve been a general manager, GSM, four or maybe even a service director who has been in the Business and for a period of time, so you’d have to have some experience in that the other.
Other qualifications are probably going to be that you’re probably going to need to have basically some history, maybe where you’ve turned something around that.
Maybe when you were working, let’s say you work with a group and there was a stealer ship that wasn’t doing well and they sent you over to run that dealership and you turned it around you made.
So you have some kind of story to talk about like that, because the point of the most important things Ritchie is good.
We have to be getting man getting a manufacturer to to be able to let you become the dealer so right, if you have a good, if you have a good background, a good, a good background and a good story, that’ll help you a lot or, if you’re Working with a particular ship, let’s say today and it’s let’s say it’s Honda Nissan Toyota and you decide you want to buy another Toyota store, buy a Honda store by Anisa.
If you have that relationship with the manufacturer, that makes it much easier.
I think a lot of dealers, a lot of manufacturers now are gon na, want you to have some kind of nad, a certification nad, a has a school that basically gives you that kind of certification that you’ve gone to their nad Academy.
I would suggest, if you haven’t done that and you look into that, because it’s gon na be very important for you to be have that kind of qualifications and be able to do that.
I know again.
I know a lot of manufacturers are asking: if you have that, and you know, then it then comes the financial thing.
So you’re gon na have to have a X amount of cash to be able to do by the dealership or you can get it get ownership in the dealership.
If we, if you’re working with, I guess with our group, you would probably have to have some kind of percentage of capital to be able to put in to be able to run the operation and we’d have to go through that on the size of the dealership.
I mean you know if you’re buying a certain dealership for ten or twelve million dollars, you’re – probably going to need to have a decent amount of capital to be able to get into that and be able to finance that the manufacturer is going to be very important.
In that also they’re going to want to make sure that you have enough capital not only to buy the dealership but also be able to run the dealership.
So they’re going to be looking for what kind of cash you have in the operation to be able to run it so we’ll have to.
We have to go through all those areas.
I work with a lot of CPAs, and so, if you, if you decided you wanted to get involved, I’d be happy to talk with you about it.
I’ve be able to set you up with some of the CPAs.
I know and be able to put together some kind of beautiful folio in the world, because you know blot you’ve put deals together and one of the biggest thing that we’ve had a problem with is the property, so the dealership worth 10 10 million.
So we get them funding you get them funding whatever right now.
The biggest thing is the property.
Now the properties XYZ, so they’re capped out.
Well, guess what our solution is, if you don’t, if you can’t afford the property, we have a group of basically syndicators real estates indicators that will take the property okay.
Now you just pay the rent on it.
Okay, right, if you don’t have that problem anymore and I’m talking about real syndicators right, you don’t have any problem anymore, they’re affiliated with the family office, industry, okay, so we’re we’re in there.
So that’s what real estate is the biggest problem when we find out like that Ford store.
Remember we had everything done and then banning the property.
Well, we need another, two million guess what we’re capped out already, because right done everything and one of the biggest thing that I really like about this.
If they have at least one property, okay – and they don’t have a large sum of of them – we can still get them done because that’s their collateral right right.
So now to all these guys that have so much talent – and you know time for a last – maybe five or six years – I go on social media in and out different than when I started posting and posting.
I go to a lot of groups.
They don’t even know I’m there.
I just join.
I just watched and that’s what I used it for use it as a recruitment tool, and I see so much talent, that’s going to waste working for somebody.
These guys are so good that they can probably develop a business of turning dealerships around right, right and investing and making money, and they work for them selves and there’s no more.
At the end of the day.
What happens in a dealership? Is you know what? If the owner wants you gone? That’s it there’s no warnings or nothing right, so right the product for the real estate market.
If there’s a problem, because we know Tom especially knows as a broker, we know where, where the objection is you got them all set, you got them all down.
Bang the property comes up so Tom and myself we work, maybe three or four years finding this solution, because we write do business but that as much as we want and having that real estate covered is really really key, because when you cover that now you are A hundred percent closing ratio because there well, if people we get them approval the OEM, really easy.
We get everything together and that’s where the problem is well.
That’s right: Richie, you’re, gon na look at when you’re.
Looking at what, though, if you’re buying the dealership, you’re gon na be paying blue sky you’re gon na be buying the parts you got to be buy, buying the furniture equipment tools to the operation, and then you got to have enough capital to be able to run The dealership, so usually the blue sky and the property value were pretty close to each other.
So unless you have a double amount of money, you think you need you’re gon na have a tough time doing it with the property.
Now, if you have somebody who’s, gon na, buy the property for you and then rent it back to you or mortgage it back to you depending how you want to work this, then you can.
You could handle that there’s, not a problem with that.
I think that would be great.
It would obviously we’d put a lot of guys that are in a position, I should say guys and gals, but a lot of people and it put them in a position where they can buy, go, buy something without having as much capital as necessary and then, after A period of time that they can move forward and go from there plus the wait, a minute correction, you know, I wouldn’t let you go yourself because the beautiful thing about this is so you got a car guy that what he’s good at his selling cars right He’s good at writing success.
He might not be necessarily good at marketing.
Well, guess what we also have a company like clickable and look smart – that has all the marketing abilities with a tremendous team, a team here and a team abroad.
So now, right we’ll make sure that dealership turns around for that customer right, because it’s our job to make sure that that goes.
If they want to use our product, they don’t have to use our product.
Let me say this: you don’t have to use our product, but car guys are really good when you’re in front of a customer talking to the customer and taking it to a deal.
Ok and now they bring us in and you know what they reach out to us.
We want to work with you guys, bang, we use the technology of Big Data, Google, Adwords automation and artificial intelligence.
So we wrap everything up and you know what you’re gon na perform anyway right and now you add that to the mix cuz, these guys are gon na perform anyway.
These guys are so strong.
The guys that I have out there special into 30 car group right, which is a friend Taylor groups, a very big group, and I got ta – tell you something that those guys there they sell 4050 cause this guy’s gon na sell 60 cars on ok talent like You’ve never seen talent like I’ve, never seen, okay in all the years in the business and they’re working for a dealership, and they have a little bit of real estate right.
They have a little bit of real estate because too, for the last three or four years, they’ve been investing in real estate.
There’s a lot of content out there about real estate, how big it is, and all I okay, great so they’re investing in that now you can get that and buy a new car franchise, and you know that’s what America is about.
America is about the opportunity.
It’s called the land of opportunity.
Right god bless america, that’s what it’s about so there’s time to be out there right now, for you guys and gals and the gals.
I know gals that are doing 4560 cars.
They did great what is not another day.
I meant something I don’t know, maybe about a year ago, of the female in the automotive space or on balloons they’re very detailed, they’re.
Very you know they.
They have a lot of common sense because they’re mothers, you know, so they have a different thought process.
Great for the business, you know they’re unbelievable, it’s floors that uses them they turn stuff around.
Like you got one of the biggest influences.
I call Lisa Copeland, she’s, really good at what she does.
She’s got so much talent.
It’s like amazing, and that’s what I watch.
I I look for the talent based with our partners, that we have Tom you myself with opportunity for everybody to make money.
What are you thoughts right? Yeah? No, I’m right with you Richie! You know.
I know, ladies, that are in the business that have maybe be on the accounting end of the business office managers, controllers CFOs, and you know, after a while they know the business as well as anybody and if you put them in charge.
I know a couple of ladies that went from the office, then the runs service departments and sales departments and they do a great job.
So, there’s no reason why anybody can’t get involved, but, more importantly, back to what you were talking about earlier about the property and owning the value of the value of the dealership, it’s really important to give enough capital to be able to weather any storm.
You hear any if you can see right now what the storm is, but also with clickable you’re gon na be in a position where you know you know not only you can dominate your market, I mean when you work with auto trader and you work with cars.
Calm, they don’t do the social media type of stuff that you and clickable they’re doing you’re, basically making relationships you’re, bringing customers to them to the to the dealerships that are basically pre-qualified that you have a really good idea.
If those customers can really buy something when you’re going throughout a trader, Kerry’s calm, it’s just here’s the customer and you don’t know the customer can or can’t – and it takes a longer but you’re bringing solid people to the to the to the dealership to the salesperson.
Then he knows right away, the customer is capable of buying it, and now what you have to do is build a relationship sell the vehicle find what the customers needs and wants are, and it makes it simple, but when you know what somebody can do it, that Makes things a lot easier than them? Basically just saying? Well, here you go, here’s a lead, go, follow it up and go from there.
You know.
I got a few of automotive trainers that are corporate trainers in big organizations.
They’re, talented, like you never seen, they got a track record.
They go to this group turner around in four years and go to the other groups learn around the next three years.
I mean there’s so many automotive corporate trainers, which corporate trainers is when a group has no, I think, more than 16 stores.
It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t pay.
These guys are trainers but on hands in their dealership.
Okay, so they’re like not really like what the trainers are out there now doing.
You know they’re on hands that every day seeing changes right, the matter of fact.
They talked the other morning which that with a corporate rate of a major automotive group – and he was telling that sometimes he goes out and gets different trainers to send them videos, or he looks for videos to see what they’re doing right right, they’re doing right.
He sees if it works, what doesn’t it might be a bad process, but then he puts a spin on it for him right.
That’s how this guy has turned around so many dealerships right, so corporate trainers.
Also, let me reach out to you guys, because you guys are doing a great job in these big order who write these new car franchises.
Like signing automotive, you know signing or donation Penske.
All these sports have tremendous corporate trainers.
I mean the Olivia group has a tremendous corporate trainer division.
I mean they got real, they got the real stuff and you want to know something you I can turn a store around, so you guys can buy that exploit, wants to get out that the dealer has hit at a certain age and wants out because his kid Might be our attorney or his kid might be a doctor, the kids right first, it right.
So this is a great opportunity if the numbers are a little down.
These guys know how to wrap up, because they’ve got an involving loser.
Dealers and they’ve turned them around.
What are you 14 Richie? There’s no question that right now, a lot of 60 70 year old automobile dealers are to be looking to basically sell their operations and cash out they’re in the position where they’ve done this now for 40 or 50 years.
This virus has caused them to be in a position where they’ve decided that maybe it’s time for me to leave there’s gon na, be, I think, a lot of dealerships that are gon na come on the market here.
As soon as we start reopening a lot of guys are gon na say you know what, if you find a buyer, I’m willing to talk about it.
I think blue sky values are gon na, be down a little bit because of that I think a lot of guys who thought their cars.
Their dealerships were worth five six seven times earnings are gon na find out.
You know.
Maybe I get two or three times earnings cash out and move on, so I think there’s going to be tremendous opportunities and again I think you know I again.
I would I like to work with CPAs that represent the dealer.
Why do I like to look at those guys? Are the the people that the dealer trusts he goes to them and says you know what I think I want to sell? Well then, it’s up to them to try to help the dealer get through the selling process and that’s why they come to people like myself.
They say Tom.
Can you help it help me find the right buyer for the store I go.
Yes, I can, and – and I’m able to do that – I have you – know six or seven clients that I work with automatically on just different dealerships: they’re big groups and I basically present those those people with it.
But I’m always looking for individuals that are looking for a certain franchise or a certain area, or maybe their will to move someplace else to start up their own business.
But but you said earlier, you know when you’re, when you’re a GM and if you don’t have a percentage of the business you know tomorrow the dealer says I’m selling you’re out of a job, you might have 10 or 15 % doesn’t mean that you can get Another dealership right, don’t you’re, 50 %.
You can talk to the dealer principal right.
There say this is my deal.
I got so much.
I value you’re making something make sense, but somehow I want to touch on something sure so part of our service too.
I mean a lot of guys.
Don’t know this about you Tom, because you’re really not out there.
You like for rich people, you’ve been behind the scenes for a lot of that.
We’ve been traveling back and forth to Arizona what I build stuff you’re part of my nonprofit, also you’re right and we did the nonprofit.
We put you on there, but that’s that the only thing we’re talking about here’s, what we’re talking about people, don’t really know what you do.
So the value of you doing a deal with us, apart from getting funded apart from the real estate, is something else.
Tom is part of a club, a special club.
That’s what CPAs write still write, write all the all the information on financial statement.
Tom was a dealer, but forget about the dealer that he was what really the value that he does he’s in a 20 group of CPAs.
Now, when we were you honest or we do a full assessment and find out if that’s right, not just by us by Tom Horne’s contacts, because what Tom hunt trains on is looking at your financial statement in a dealership, that’s what his whole process is.
That’s what so now today he’s part of a elite group for CPA so elaborate on that a little bit time.
Well, yeah! I I get involved with I.
My group is called the dealer cpa network there’s a fifteen Ferb’s and across the United States that are in the automobile business we meet on a usually it’s a monthly basis conference calls to talk about tax issues.
Talking about like this PPP program, we were – I mean everybody was on this back when was coming out in March.
We made sure everybody understood what what was going to happen, what the rules were, as the rules changed for some dealers who don’t know that the rules have changed and I’m sure some of the GM’s may not understand it either.
But the rules have changed in this program four or five times, but we were right.
On top of it, we had all the guys were working together right on top of it, but I do a lot of what I do for one of the firms is I basically, they send me financial statements I’ll, go over them and give them an outline of What I think the dealers doing with benchmarking I’ve got a full benchmark of scenarios.
I’ve got contacts with nadai have contacts with nickels camel morale, so I have a pretty good idea what what the benchmarks are from veal dealership? I can help you look at the financial statements and we can decide whether the dealer is asking the proper pricing what the proper price he would be for the dealership, so that you’re we’re.
But the key is your internal.
I don’t want.
I don’t want my clients to make a mistake.
I want my clients to make sure that they’re happy with what they’re buying that it’s the right amount and that when they purchase it, it’s something they’re able to make a profit on and make a living off of.
Instead of being under the gun right from the start, I want to make sure that’s all set up that way, so that yeah that’s what I do, I’m able to do reviews of all the financial statements and help you be able to do this.
Also, you know III, the property is not my expertise, but again I in rich ii.
We talked about that with this new, with this new real estate type thing, i think, we’ll have a better idea exactly what the appraisal should come out to be and be able to talk about those things, and you know tom.
The perfect thing is what our opportunity is with these car dies.
Ladies all, these people out there the carbons, have tremendous talent.
So why not do that even GM’s that are parts of the one I do that, but one of the biggest opportunities trainers their work team like it’s going crazy, you know and they make good money.
I mean you got guys out there.
Two, maybe three hundred grand a year just doing training right right for a professional, so that guy or that lady is gon na get approved from the OPM in a heartbeat because they have the track record Thanks turning their place around.
So imagine you putting somebody in like that as a dealer, so the funding process will be easy because how we’re partners with this funding thing they’re gon na right away, step up because successful.
You know what I mean.
So that’s what we look.
We look more not only for how much you have, but what your talents are right, that’s correct, deal or break the deal so right.
That’s not what the issue is.
What the issue is the talent in the car business today there’s a lot of talented guys, especially what they know: how to sell social media they’re a little bit of marketers they’re a lot of like marketers.
You know they know you know.
So that’s what it is capture that talent, because that talent is gon na, be the new generation of owners.
That’s right! That’s exactly right! That’s exactly right! That’s exactly! What’s gon na happen, I mean there’s gon na be a there’s.
Gon na be a shift now, there’s gon na be older, guys, they’re, you know older, guys and gals are getting out and younger people are gon na go up in I mean that’s the way.
That’s what and that’s what make this missus very interesting.
It’s because things are gon na change in this business.
The things are gon na be different, the next five or ten years, and but that’s that’s the challenge and again we’re back to the marketing again you’re going to figure out marketing is gon na change.
It’s not gon na stay the same.
I guarantee you that ten year and five years ago, auto trader in cars.
com were it that was the best way to meet on the internet or get internet’ll leads, and that’s involving to the point now, where you’ve got even even more sophistication like just like you said Earlier about your social media, so there’s all sorts of changes going on in this business and the people that are on the front line are the ones that know what changes are going to be and they be able to stay on top and especially if you’re, a Corporate trainer, I mean obviously you’re able to look at all sorts of different ways of doing things and you’re, seeing which one’s fit the best, and you can use them when you, if you owned your own store, you certainly could implement those type of processes into your Store and its really very accessible.
Let me just say this time.
I think we with that, and let me just say this just in case when that rep comes into the showroom.
Okay, the other thing I’m going to say that rep comes into the showroom and he sees a high performance guy he’s on his social media immediately.
Okay right just let me say that so be careful, also what you post on social, medium, it’s a negative thing! Are you having a bid? They try to stay away.
You know what, because that, Oh Liam, I’m serious, that’s true.
I’m not gon na steal it, but you’re om.
Today.
These reps today are watching everything right.
They really are because these are the future dealers.
You know these are a future GM’s.
These are future DSM’s.
What they’re doing today out there on social media? I mean it’s not just me watching.
You don’t think.
Like you know, I came up with that.
Huh and the OEM situation came up with that.
Okay, everybody’s watching, okay, so that’s very, very important how you post, when you post, if you have a structure, if you have a thing, how you do things, that’s what they’ll look if for these guys going alive! Anything if one of these proper – that’s great, but just you know this is like really.
The old more of Industry pay attention as other people paying attention to you.
You guys got a lot of talent and God bless you all, because what I’ve seen in the last couple of years ever since life started, you know what I’ve seen is from end.
So when you go on live just know as a fact that big brother’s watching you know, I think, that’s really important yeah the manufacturer is able to pick – I mean you know not to get too political, but even in the political world, you got to be careful.
What you put on social media – because next thing you know – is gon na come back and bite you.
So it’s very important to see whatever industry you’re in is paying attention, there’s a guys that are looking into it and recruiting the talent you’re in you’re selling yourself online and you’re getting opportunity.
Trust me anybody getting a ton of opportunity.
What are your thoughts on that? Well, I think I Richie I’m with you, I mean I I did sir.
Yes, I was when I was working at the university level.
I taught at the university level in Northwood for about ten years and during that period of time I ended up doing some recruiting and placing people well in.
Today’s marketplace was just because I knew a lot of CPAs and I knew a lot of office managers controllers across the United States.
I was able to help place some of them, but in today’s market you would use social medias, where you find all these people.
As you said earlier, you join these groups, you get involved with these groups and just listen and watch, and you know eventually you find people that are you see, people that are talented, know what they’re talking about and you use those people.
So it’s a it’s.
A very interesting it’s a whole different, as you said, it’s a brave new world out there and trying to find talent and trying to locate talent, and you really need to be on top of that.
You really need to be part of that and be able to find the right people that fit, and you can do that with social media.
Again, sometimes you can see what they’re what’s how they, how they would fit into your organization, which is something you couldn’t do 10 15 years ago.
Correct! That’s something you couldn’t do that’s right and you know Tom, along with you, too, the talent that’s out there right and it’s not wrong either by the way you know back in the eighties, you know and back in the nineties you know Jackie Cooper, Dasia or I Mean right, yeah today, a talent there, because if they don’t get trained, they’re going to workshops on their own money, I saw that with Frank Taylor.
Let me tell you today, you really got today.
You got guys talent and trend, that’s deadly! Those are the guys that I want to reach out to you know you don’t have to work for a dealership.
So much and always we have a solution for you give Tom Hern a call, let him do an assessment and then we take it from there.
Yeah, I’d look just anybody who’s interested.
Please can’t contact me.
The numbers there, I’m in the Eastern time zone.
So just remember I’m a, but I call me any time I love to talk with you.
We can discuss the what you’re looking for discuss what you have be able to try to put together the right package for you and be able to find the right operations for you and I’d love to be able to help you I mean I have clients right Now that are thinking of selling, and so I do have some inventory of dealerships that are available and I’d love to talk to anybody and go from there and you know, as I said it, you have to make sure everything he’s done properly.
I mean we have to make sure I mean make sure the performer that we’re gon na put together for the factory is correct.
We’re able to do all those things for those those people and I’ve got a couple.
Other people that work with me, one of my partner’s – is an ex GMAC employee.
So Joe has great great knowledge about setting up the the proper information and getting everything done.
I have other gentlemen.
I work with that.
Again.
Are professionals at this and understand exactly what’s necessary to be able to get the deal? Not only one two things, one to get the deal done and then to get the deal purchased and get the deal approved and that’s the key area.
We got to make sure the manufacturer approves the dealer and we’re moving forward, so we’re able to do all those things you know Tom.
I wan na.
Thank you for coming on and we’ll talk like we always talk, but anyway it’s been great to have you.
It’s good to see you.
How well would this Corona it’s great yourself, you know so yeah say hello to the family and say hello, and I will do that one’s for me and then we’ll talk to you soon.
All right! Richie thanks have a great day.
Thanks a lot for having me, I appreciate it.
Bye, bye, .
