A sales manager trying to change the automotive sales industry by offering the best customer experience possible. It's not about the numbers of units sold for me, it's about you.
The process of car buying is often compared to getting teeth pulled – but why? It doesn’t have to be like that and honestly it shouldn’t be. Like other big purchases, buying a vehicle is something the vast majority of people do a limited number of times throughout their lives and therefore should feel exciting, fun and positive. Unfortunately, buying a car has become associated with some pretty undesirable stigmas which kill the excitement, suck out the fun, and create a negative experience all before car shopping even begins. Fortunately, stigmas can be broken and I’ve made breaking the stigma surrounding car salesmen and car buying my personal goal. When I began as a sales consultant at McGrath Automotive in Coralville, Iowa, I was focused on two thoughts: 1. I hate car dealerships and I am going to change them. My parents have always leased their vehicles which meant I was in a dealership every year and a half as one of them traded in for something newer. More often then not I remember the experience as boorish or trying and the salesmen as unaccommodating. On multiple occasions my parents have left less-than-satisfied in a car they didn’t truly like. These interactions shaped my views on car dealerships as a whole and I truly believed that by being a different type of car salesmen I could change the status quo. 2. I love being part of a community and I am going to embrace that. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I have always considered myself from the midwest. It wasn’t until moving to Iowa and visiting my fiancé’s tiny rural town that I was able to fully embrace all that it meant to be a midwesterner. She comes from a place where everyone knows everything about everyone else and they all literally wave as they pass each other in town – her “neighbors” include at least everyone within a nine mile radius. My childhood neighbors lived one door to my left and one to my right; everyone was friendly but we didn’t actually know each other or interact regularly. My neighbors created a town while Kylie’s created a community. Communities provide people with a sense of belonging: the people and their lives are all linked together. The Corridor, made up of a number of Eastern Iowa towns, has formed into a community of its own which I am thrilled to play an active part in. Blinded by the excitement of a new career, I failed to take into account the size of my impact on an entire industry as a single sales consultant. To create change in something so large it would surely take more then a single person. Now, as the New Car Director for McGrath Automotive Ford, Hyundai, and BMW in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I deal with lending institutions, dealership inventory management and most importantly, the development and management of an entire sales team. Together, my team and I can work to change the experience the consumers in our community have with the auto industry; a solid step towards my admittedly lofty goals. Although there have been big changes afoot for both my career and around the work place – what doesn’t and won’t change no matter what is the superior level of service my team and I strive to provide to each and every customer we interact with.