Pub. 1 2019-20 Issue 3

Pub. Year 1 2019-2020 Issue 3 35 WVADA I talk to dealerships and dealer relations managers around the country every day. Many dealers had a better May 2020 than they did in May 2019. Stores that are willing to adapt, and have adapted , are not only doing well and surviving, they are also thriving. Ian Grace has nearly 20 years of experience in the automotive industry. He began his career back in 2002 working in retail automotive sales, manage - ment and finance for five years. From there, he went on to work in indirect auto & consumer lending for 10 years before joining automotiveMastermind as a Dealer Relations Manager in 2017. In his current role as Senior Manager, Partner Performance, he and his team are responsible for optimizing partner performance and retention. Ian lives in Pittsford, New York, with his wife Courtney and son Tanner. What are your thoughts about recovery? How long will it take and what will it look like? That’s a tough one. A lot of what we are seeing will be based on when states open up, dealership inventory, individual state policies, and consumer confidence and response. In the next 90 days, it will depend on what states are doing on an individual level. In New York state right now, sales are by ap - pointment only. Once dealerships are allowed to open, the next question is whether they have enough inventory be - cause inventory has been delayed. With that said, now is a good time for dealers to focus on their pre-owned inventory and move what they can from that lot. Also, we don’t know right now whether there will be a second wave of the pan- demic. I recommend that dealers put together two sets of plans, one for the next 30-90 days and a second for the next 90-180 days. Dealer plans should concentrate on the following: 1. When their state fully opens things up 2. The individual state policies toward auto dealers 3. Inventory availability 4. Consumer confidence and response 5. Contingencies should there be a second wave of COVID-19 in the fall or winter If you could give the dealers any good news, what would it be? I talk to dealerships and dealer relations managers around the country every day. Many dealers had a better May 2020 than they did in May 2019. Stores that are willing to adapt, and have adapted, are not only doing well and surviving, they are also thriving. When someone can out-sell year over year, that is very encouraging to hear. Despite everything that is going on, I am hearing about real successes on a micro level throughout the country. As I mentioned before, consumers are ready to buy cars again — you just need to meet their new demands of convenience and personalized experiences before the competition does. Would you condense your experience in advising dealers into three pieces of advice? My work for automotiveMastermind has taught me the following: 1. Proactivity is king. Don’t wait for your customers to come to you or the lot. Reach out to them. 2. Embrace digital transparency on your website. 3. Be willing to accept the fact that things are changing and be ready to adapt to those changes. Do you have any parting thoughts? Things are potentially forever changed in our marketplace, but that doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing. Evolution can be a good thing. It provides opportunities. If you embrace those opportunities, you will find success. t