At the age of 23, Casey Copeland was on an upward trajectory as an entrepreneur. Then in 2007 when the economy crashed, the online retail marketplace he had developed deteriorated and he began looking for a new job. Beginning in the BDC at Jay Wolfe Honda, his climb into his current position of Vice President of Operations at Wolfe Automotive Group in Missouri included a few different stops…but not the typical sales route.
Digital Marketing to VP of Operations
From where Casey lived in Kansas City, Jay Wolfe Honda was the nearest dealership. Understanding the automotive sector would always be around, Casey applied. It’s Casey’s experience in the tech sector that piqued interest. He met with managers at Wolfe Automotive Group who saw something special in him and brought him on board at Jay Wolfe Honda. “They understood that I had a special skill set.”
The chance Jay Wolfe Honda management took on Casey’s website e-commerce background immediately paid off. He cleaned up their website and online paid searches, moving the needle for the Honda store. He shifted over to the corporate office, working with all the stores in the same capacity. With each additional task he was assigned, he’d do well, leading to more and more responsibilities.
Casey then partnered with Wolfe Automotive Group in a digital marketing company. As the recession deepened, it was a way Casey could stay on board with Wolfe in an independent consultant-type role. SEO and outreach were the focus, and Casey developed an intuition for automotive marketing.
In 2013, Wolfe Automotive Group invited Casey back at the corporate level, working directly for the owner and president. He was brought on with the same title he holds now, Vice President of Operations.
A History of Excellence
Casey is proud of Wolfe Automotive Group’s impressive resume. Currently, the group has five import stores in Missouri – one Honda dealership, two Toyota stores, and two Acura dealers – and two used car facilities. Jay Wolfe Honda is the number one Honda dealership in Kansas City for the past 20 years, and Jay Wolfe Acura is one of the most market-effective stores in the country, and unofficially the number one-selling Acura NSX dealership in the country. Their two Toyota stores combine for the most Toyota’s sold in the state of Missouri.
“We’re an incredibly market-effective group for our size in our market. If you’re a dealer group with less than 15 or 20 stores, you’re pretty much a mom-and-pop.”
It hasn’t always been a smooth ride, but Casey’s tech background has been a blessing for the modern issues Wolfe Automotive Group faced. “Just like a lot of other industries, the internet disrupted the automotive industry tremendously. When the ground gets shaky, it’s hard for people to make decisions. At the time, me, with all the experience I gained… I knew how to navigate that. It really helped us, from the marketing aspect, to maintain a competitive edge.”
Challenges from Taking a Different Path
The path to VP of Operations is certainly unique for Casey. Fitting in didn’t come easily. “I wasn’t a car guy, I didn’t come up as a manager, I didn’t work every Saturday all my life. I’ve been ordained into this corporate culture…I was kind of a nerdy kid on the outside but I had this magic crystal ball that nobody could look in but me. The results that it brought earned me respect over time but definitely one of the hurdles was that I wasn’t one of the crew.”
“But the relationship we have now is that I’m totally one of the crew. It’s just that my skill set is different and has adapted over time. They’ve gotten used to me and I’ve gotten used to them. We’ve continued to grow together.”
His style and influence have rubbed off on his peers. “I think that the general managers in our group have a really good fundamental understanding of some things that other GMs at other stores and groups, frankly, have no idea about. One of the hard things for me was becoming one of ‘them’ without taking their traditional route. It was simply because I hadn’t been in the trenches with them. You’ve got to go in there and stand shoulder to shoulder with them, and I think that’s part of the struggle that we’re seeing with some of the new labor force coming in.”
Handling the Changing Auto Market
Although he didn’t experience the same career path as his team, Casey has a good grasp on the challenges the auto market faces right now. And he doesn’t think the challenges Wolfe Automotive Group faces are in any way unique. On the contrary – he emphasizes it’s the basics and the culture that are their winning combination.
“I think we face the same issues everybody else is facing. Customer transparency and pricing, the availability of evaluations at customers’ fingertips, and really educated consumers who come in and don’t leave a whole lot for the dealer. Our biggest competitive advantage to this day is just being a good dealership. If you’re a better dealership, you’ll do better. There’s no magic silver bullet of marketing. It’s hard work and it’s the culture, and that’s really what makes a difference.”
You won’t catch Casey Copeland seeking more credit than what’s due. “If all it takes is just guys like me who come up with cool marketing ideas or build cool websites, we wouldn’t need high-quality people on the floor at the stores. Money is made where the money is invested in our people; it’s at the floor level.”
Tough Selling
While the Jay Wolfe dealerships haven’t been affected much, Casey has seen low front end gross as a growing problem. He notes many California dealers and other highly-competitive areas often have little to no front end gross whatsoever.
It’s technological shifts and customer relationship issues that Casey believes causes the shrinking front end gross. He notes that in some competitive markets, gross has been gone for quite some time. What used to be a big part of a dealer’s income could now be virtually nothing for some dealerships.
“There’s a lack of value-building in the product and features, and not taking the conversation away from price. Some of it is perpetuated from manufacturers, focusing more on putting more cars on the road than making money. Expenses aren’t going down, vendor costs are increasing, making car deals is more expensive logistically. It makes you have to get creative about how you’re going to make money on the front end while creating value for customers.”
Fundamentals and Digital Combined
He points out that technical adoption for other dealerships is a problem. Implementing cutting-edge tools and techniques isn’t seen as a priority for many stores. “As a group, when we do have the option to take advantage of technical early adoption, we keep our ear to the ground. We try new things, we test them. We ‘date’ our vendors, we don’t ‘marry’ them. We stay focused on the fundamentals. We’ve stayed family owned for around 60 years now, we’re into our second generation in ownership with the third coming into the business, and we have a pretty good market effective rate in our area.”
A Changing Landscape
Casey Copeland has his finger on the pulse of both technology and its role in the dealership and the overall automotive industry. He senses major changes in the next ten years, including but not limited to disruptions like Tesla, autonomous cars, and even blockchain technology. He also sees the role of car service and ownership potentially changing.
“What I see is proprietary service. I see the vehicles becoming so complex that you have to service at the dealership. I see maybe more of a subscription model for vehicles similar to leasing, where value and equity are maybe looked at differently. I think there’s a lot of technological change that’s going to happen. There could be a lot of different ways to buy cars in the future too; not just online sales but subscription models. Even financing will be completely different.”
He understands that it’s a customer experience issue, and the length of time it takes to purchase or service a vehicle. “They just don’t want to come to the dealership. They just don’t want to be here. And part of that is not the dealer’s fault. You just don’t want it to be a pain coming to the dealership. And because of everything that has to be done, it can be [a pain].”
Family-Based Future
Asked about the outlook for Wolfe Automotive Group, Casey is quite confident. “The future looks bright. I think owning great brands like Honda, Toyota, and Acura are fantastic investments that our owners made years ago. I feel like we have smart people who work for us and we have a good next line of family coming into this business and a unified family approach. That governance is a big deal in this type of dealer group. Focusing on the customers first is what Jay Wolfe, the founder of the Wolfe Automotive Group, instilled from the start.“
“I’m only 34 myself. I’m betting on being a part of that bright future.”
