Dealer Jamaal McCoy on how to thrive in the industry amid global shortages

From supply shortages to digital retailing, to an EV revolution, our industry is in the midst of a transformation. On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Jamaal McCoy, General Manager of Findlay Toyota Prescott, to discuss what business looks like today for his stores in Arizona.

This has forced us to focus on the fundamentals again says McCoy. A lot of times when you go through a downturn, you get good at things you let slip. He says they focus on their processes, with follow-up and prospecting, product knowledge, and walkarounds. McCoy says they don’t have a lot of cars, but they are selling everything that comes in, with a single digital inventory. They have focused on used cars from the beginning which allows them to maintain a level of consistency.

McCoy says they’ve been able to source cars through their service department, and street purchases. There are also other sources such as auctions. He says you must have buy-in across the whole team when attempting to source through the service department. He says the team looks at the inventory coming in, and offers a buy-bid for the customer vehicle.

When the pandemic hit, we took the focus off selling cars, and put the focus on our people, says McCoy. He says they ask, how do we make the individual in front of us a better person? What are their goals, dreams, and aspirations? They found that the investment in their people has turned into more profits, car sales, better relationships with the staff and customers. McCoy says they make sure they take care of their customers.

McCoy says they were already ahead in the digital retailing space. He says to sell the number of cars, they wanted to sell, they had to embrace that from the beginning. They also advertised that they shipped vehicles anywhere in the states.

I don’t have any concerns for 2022 says McCoy. He says the last few years, force them to get good at the fundamentals and focus on activity. McCoy says they know as soon as they have a vehicle in the pipeline, they’re going to sell it. He says they’ve created a team culture where it’s not about the individual, it’s about the team. McCoy says that attracted people from other stores that want to work for them. We have fun at work, and we do things to keep our team together says McCoy.

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