You have to take a long-term perspective and I have to remind myself of that sometimes. You have to take a long-term perspective. It can't just be about the now and the today and the stereotype of what can I do to get you to buy the car today or hand us stuff, and if you believe in that, we're gets around and it will come back to you.
Speaker 2:Hey gang, we're here at NADA 2024, the dealer Playbook podcast. I'm sitting with my friend, alex Lawrence. He is the founder of EV Auto. We're going to be talking all about EVs and, more importantly, how he's taken a business from the ground up and built market share in his market for EVs. Stay tuned the car business is rapidly changing and modern car dealers are meeting the demand. I'm Michael Cirillo and together we'll explore the best strategies, ideas and tools to create a thriving life in and out of the business. This is the dealer Playbook. Alex man, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast. Yeah, man, good to be here, good to see you. There's a small group here at our table. They have all sorts of questions about EVs and I was like guys, you've got to wait, you got to wait, we're going to answer these questions on the podcast. You've had tremendous business experience. Bring me into. I mean, because, if I remember correctly not to jump the gun here a PhD, yeah yeah, which is, I mean, kind of weird for this business, I think.
Speaker 2:It's unique because it's not. What is this saying for an automotive? It's Papa had a dealership. Yeah, I've heard that that's not the case. Yeah, what's your PhD? In Business? From Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma State University and leading up to before owning a dealership, what were some of the business ventures that you were involved in?
Speaker 1:First step of my career was in franchising which is interesting because franchises are a big part of this industry Just kind of a hustle mentality. Got involved in some startups, in the restaurant industry primarily, but then in other service brands, made that for a little over a decade, had some good learning, some modest successes. Just learned how to run a business, yeah, how to deal with customers, how to manage cash, negotiate benders, all that stuff. And then had the opportunity to kind of learn more about what I really was interested in, because that was more just an opportunity Sure, that'd be an opportunity. And tech I've been a really adopter my whole life and so I had that chance to kind of make a choice. Made a conscious decision to leave that industry, not running out a burning door just like hey, I can be more choosy. So got in tech, built one of the first third-party apps for Twitter, got involved with a FinTech startup that's now a really large business and kept doing that stuff.
Speaker 1:Started teaching a little bit. Went back to school, got an MBA, which was rekindled by love for learning, because I had a miserable experience a C student prior to that and the teaching thing I kept being drawn back to it. So, as I was starting businesses and running businesses, eventually the university Weber State, then Ogden asked me if I'd come start kind of an entrepreneurship program. They had to have one and so I left. It was my first real job in my whole life yeah, in my last and so I've been there teaching, but part of the deal was I could still start businesses as long as they work competitive with the university, or I didn't hire students and haven't really done that. I've invested a few, advised a few until started a marketplace, actually EVcarscom. That led to Evie Auto and me selling one car at a time, kind of as an experiment that pivoted to why we're here today. You mentioned a oh, and I got a PhD during that period of time. No big deal, no, no, I just that was the original question, so I totally missed that.
Speaker 2:So anyway, but it leads into what I was going to say. You said the word hustle, which I mean, definitely maps to getting a PhD amidst doing all of that right. So it's built into your DNA, I'm guessing. Do you feel like you were born with that level of ambition? Is it something that you've learned over the years? Did your parents teach it to you? Where does that come from, to be able to just go and tackle something and say it's not true?
Speaker 1:It's probably some of all of those things. I've always been that go getter type A hustler, whatever that was in the DNA and so it was learned or required, moved around a lot. It was always the new kid, so that requires just kind of proving yourself over and over again and getting comfortable talking to strangers and that kind of stuff. And my parents were really loving and supportive and encouraging and so yeah, I would say probably all of those things For sure Cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I see the lead up too right. You go from franchising and restaurants and, you know, call it the hospitality business all the way to owning a dealership. What lessons from that tenure if you will even teaching and being a professor what lessons do you see now have contributed to the foundation of starting a dealership from scratch and really a new and emerging market.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to be clear I still teach and I always will. I don't want to, I will never give that up. Okay, how big this business gets. I teach twice a week, two semesters a year. I'm tenured. Wow, I love my students. I think it's really you know why would you say it? Well, no, I mean, I'm saying I earned. You know it's hard to earn, right? I think tenures actually not a great concept for a lot of people. As soon as I feel like I'm not bringing really current stuff to the classroom, I will fire myself, I will quit and so. But while I am doing current stuff, I think it's really important to have some professors that can bring that into the classroom, and so I love that. I can be like I did this yesterday in my business and now we're talking about it today. That's awesome, and so I feel a sense of, and I'm grateful to Averstate for supporting me and letting me do both, and so you know, I think that tell me your original question. I skipped.
Speaker 2:I was asking you know what lessons you've learned along with that, brian, that really have bolstered you up starting a dealership from scratch and in a new and emerging market?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the thing that popped into my head is that all profits are not created equally. Some businesses are a lot harder to make money than others. That just popped into my head. I also think that who you work with is different. So you know, in the tech world when I had the mind of all of those businesses you're working with salespeople and engineers and if you're B2B, other businesses and stuff. In the academic world you're working with students and kind of the bureaucracy of academia and other professors and things like that. And then in the franchise world it's more you know the public or you know more blue color kind of positions and stuff, and there's pros and cons to all of it For me, my joy and the fun.
Speaker 1:I love sales, I love people, but I like things that I personally am really interested in. So you know, food's great and everything I love food. And you know other franchise companies and stuff. But tech and cars are my two. Well, you know fly fishing, golf great, they're hobbies, you know. Then I meet you at.
Speaker 1:So the best of all worlds for me, and my very first business was actually a car detailing business. Oh, and that surprisingly just occurred to me not too long ago. Yeah, I was like, oh so I've always loved cars. I've always loved cars and I'm not a gas car hater, and so I think there's some issues there. And I've got some real world experience with air quality in Utah during COVID and what I saw there when cars came up the road that changed my view on that stuff in a really strong way.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I feel, like you know, I'll be 50 in just about six months and I feel like, kind of everything I've done was built for this. Everything I've learned not to make it too dramatic, yeah, but that's what it is. The culmination of it will be my latter startup, like, was that? I found, and it will be because it's. How did that feel? Did that make it to process? No, I mean, some people like, yeah, sure, whatever, I'm not saying it will be involved in them, invest in them, advise them. That's what you do, like it just takes so much of a toll Sure, personally, family, financially that I just don't want to do it again. This is the most fun I can have, yeah, have building a business, I know it and so, and I think we're on to something and I think it checks all the boxes, and so I'm putting my money where my mouth is and really pushing ships in the middle of the table and we're going for it one more time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know better than most people. When you say EV, I mean, we were talking about some of the other EV models before this, but you know better than even I do or anybody at this table or at this conference. When you say EV, people are meeting Tesla. Yeah, that's like the first thing that comes to your mind, trip, rightfully so. Is there anything, any cues that you've taken from Tesla and brought into your business model?
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. I think you know they have this no touch kind of purchase process. I don't want to get to that. Actually, it's kind of counterintuitive to be in a tech person. Yeah, I'm really trying to get people to come in to see us. Sure, I'm trying to get them to come talk to us, which you know there's been a trend of pushing towards more of the Carvana, the Tesla or everybody does their research online. They come in, they know what car they want and that's great. I'm not pushing away from that. But we're kind of saying we're kind of going back to the old school and the reason for that is the vast majority of BB buyers is their first one and they have a lot of questions and we want them to trust us that we know the answers and we're not going to pressure them to buy a car and so they can come in and just talk to us and leave and they're not going to feel bad about it and so that you have an experience like you don't have a typical looking dealership either.
Speaker 2:I've seen the pictures. It's fun. Yeah, it's like a fun experience. It's a destination experience almost.
Speaker 1:That's by design, like we really wanted to feel fun and chill and cool and different from not just boy. We treat them, but when they walk up, there's this funky rap music or country or whatever playing outside. That's that. Then we've got all garage doors glass garage doors. They're all open with the weather's nice, you walk in from 20 different ways. And we've got nine 85 inch TV screens that make this TV wall that the masters might be playing on or whatever. And we've got all these weird treats and drinks and you know it's not just like a Diet Coke and some old popcorn, you know. And then how they're treated, just hey, what's up, how's it going show? Yeah, you know we might be sitting on the couch just hanging when they come in. My dogs there all the time, and you were sensitive. This is not all people like dogs, but yeah, we just wanted to feel different.
Speaker 2:I almost caught myself by saying is that because people know what they want when they come there? And then I was like, wait a minute, any dealership could do this because, like for having six, my 10 year old daughter girl is what a car dealership does. Hey, before we hop back into this episode of the dealer playbook, we got to give a shout out to today's sponsor, auto-fi. Auto-fi helps progressive dealers like you sell smarter, not harder, on your dealership website and now in your showroom too. Auto-fi solves the everyday problems dealers actually face, like bottlenecks at the sales desk, customer distrust and decision overload, and they're all new. Showroom solution includes deal estimation desking, lender routing and an F and I menu, all in one powerful platform that bridges the gap between the CRM and DMS.
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Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's hard sometimes Because you know we're a small business, but I'm really proud of the fact we've been profitable from day one for four just over four years Awesome, and so it can. You have to take a long term perspective, and I have to remind myself of that sometimes. You have to take a long term perspective. The cat just be about the now and the today, and and you know the stereotype of what can I do to get you to buy the car today or kind of stuff, and so, and if you believe in that word, gets around and it will come back to you. And I know the data. I know that we're leaving money on the table right now. We are on on the front end and the back end. I know that. But I'm not willing to compromise the experience because I'm in this for the long haul, meaning I believe that over the long term it will pay for itself and then some. But at the end of the day, I've bought so many cars as a customer, so I'm totally new to the car business.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of car dealers either haven't experienced it or they forget how miserable it can be to buy a car. I truly, as a consumer. Some of them have never done it. They've grown up in the business. They've never really truly done it. Where they needed the car and they had to get financing and they were at the total you know women will of the dealer and it's a it's. There are a lot of great dealers out there, but but the reputation the industry has earned is largely deserved, because there are a lot of bad ones Right or and and so I just can't. I don't want to do that, I don't care if I won't make as much money, I won't enjoy it. I know other people don't enjoy it.
Speaker 2:Well, and there's value to in in this idea of. But if they had a great experience, the more likely they are to share it with someone else and the more likely that someone else is to come in and the cycle starts again you got to.
Speaker 1:That's harder to measure in some way, sure. So it feels like you know they can show me data all day long. They'll look at what our FNI guy does and look at, you know, or this and that and the other. And I'm not obtuse to that, I'm not. Oh yeah, I don't want to hear it, but again, I part of it's. I just don't want to run a business that operates that way. Yeah, I'm just not willing to do that, you know. And so the but I do believe it'll pay. And you know, our new dealership, our new location's only been open since mid July.
Speaker 1:We've got 155 star, perfect, detailed reviews written by our customers out of five out of five, on every single one of them. And not just read the reviews some of them are paragraphs long about how they've never had an experience like this. Yeah, and we don't give them anything to do that we don't give ourselves person. There's no, there's no. One said we ask hey, would you mind me we send them a thing through a podium that it's automated? Sure, you can ask for it, but I will lose my mind the first day we don't get one. And I know it'll happen eventually, but I that to me is everything. Reputation is everything and we've been tested a few times. I mean, I had to fire a customer for the first time not too long ago. That was abusive and I asked them to leech and they were going to buy the car and I said I'm not selling you, to call it. I need you to go take your business somewhere else and that person may choose the way of us. A bad review? They haven't yet, but I'm okay with that.
Speaker 2:You know, get comfortable for those, because I know so many people are going dang like this. He is firmly rooted in his principles and values and the things that that you believe are right and the way you want your mode of operation, so to speak. How do you encourage others to get comfortable sticking to their values and principles, no matter what?
Speaker 1:In our organization. Yeah, so, first of all, we're small, and so my general manager and operating partner, tyler that's how he's built and that's why he came aboard, so he views it the exact same way. And Darren, who does sales with us and helps run the location same exact way. Our techs we all just believe it and it's part of our culture and our core values. Number one core value so we've just been going through an exercise for us is honesty and integrity and all that we do and we've got six of them, and one of them that's a little bit further down the list is a unique and wonderful experience, which means they're not going to feel pressured, they're going to, they're going to feel you know, appreciated and educated and we're grateful they're there. And so these core values we hire and train. It's just, it's how we're measured, it's how we talk about and there's just a no tolerance issue for it. But I'm really optimistic. I don't think we're going to hire a lot of people that won't Be that way. Come in now.
Speaker 1:People make mistakes of stuff, but you know, if they're not incentivized to do that, if they know that that I mean I want a Nordstrom life experience. I want to do weird things for people that they're like. You know, you detailed my car, yeah, when you, when I traded it in and then I took her. No, we had somebody that they were thinking about trading their car and they left it with us for a couple days. They didn't do it. We detailed that while I was there and they ended up picking it up and they're like you detailed my car, yeah, I'm a show, I owe you nothing. Well, you know, we're open, you do it, but you didn't, no worries, you know, and so just, we're not gonna do that stuff like all the time.
Speaker 1:But trying to do these little unique things, yeah, free pickup and delivery. You know, we had somebody just two days ago. We do tires and so they live 45 minutes away from us. They were busy today. We'll come out, we'll pick up your car, we'll leave a loaner. If you need it, we'll do it, we'll bring it back to you. Oh, yeah, how much does that cost? Nothing, you know, really. Yeah, so they were blown away. We made, you know, 200 bucks. Right, who cares then? We can't do that all the time, but I aspire to, I want to get to the point where we can, you know, scale up enough that we can do that stuff all the time.
Speaker 2:Right, and you're doing it in a controlled way because you're able to see in those moments the response.
Speaker 1:Well, we have limited resources, you know. I mean we're self-funded. You know we don't Do a lot of the things that that other dealers do, that that you know limit our growth, but but we're okay with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, love it. As we wind down, I got one more question I know they already asked your opinions I've already brought up. Hey, like, when you say EVs, you think Tesla? My wife drives a Model 3, lawn raises that I've never accelerate. I don't think I've ever accelerated in a vehicle. As it's time, actually, for what you pay for one of them, yeah, that's right, but of course you don't just do Tesla's. You got all sorts of yeah, he makes models. What are the maybe top one or two that you'd recommend? Like, hey, you've got to check this out. So much fun. Maybe it's fun performance. Yeah, like we're favorites.
Speaker 1:I mean a lot of its budget oriented right. I mean, if you're, if you have a big budget. You know I've driven and been around Cybertruck's a lot. Lately I've learned our shop got to drive one for a while. That's a remarkable one of a kind experience. You know the Hummer Truck ED is a blast. Those are the top-end. The Porsche Taycan Porsche Taycan is an amazing vehicle. And then you kind of go into the five-figure, high-five figure range. The Rivian R1s SUV and Rivian R1 T truck are amazing vehicles, beautiful, beautifully made, especially for a first car or sort of car company. And then as you move down a little bit you've got so many choices. I mean the Hyundai Ionic is cool, the new Kia EV9 is cool, but right now the thing that's really got me just Buzzing are these, these cars that cause so a January 1, you know, the, the IRS and the government change the rule that you can use up to four thousand dollars of your rebate at the point of purchase.
Speaker 1:So it's like cash. Oh, it is like cash, wow. So up to $25,000. You have to meet the income route I think it's under $150,000 a year household income and a few other requirements. That's the main one. So you can buy a $25,000 car and have a $4,000 down payment, and so the car costs you $21,000. And so we've been selling 2018, 2019, in some cases, model 3, long range, all wheel drive, clean title, clean car facts, really nice cars that people are buying for $21,000. And I would argue there's not more car for the dollar, gas or electric anywhere, wow. And so that car is, I know, at the affordable range. I think it's. I realize I'm biased, but it's pretty unbeatable, a remarkable option for people, and we specialize in that. Now we have, we put our stake in the ground. If you want a cheap, really nice used Tesla, you know idioto. And so we're really pushing some. You can also buy the Hummerers and that, all that stuff too. But I think this is a game change game for game changer.
Speaker 2:You know, what's really weird to me is so I have a 14 year old now in Canada, where I came from DPB gang, when you turn 16, you can get your learner's permit. You have to have it for 18 months I feel like a lot and then you can get what's called a new driver's license. You have to put this N on the back of your car. That's pretty smart and you get that for, I think, another 18 months out of star limitations there. Well, when we moved to Texas, I didn't realize that these, these adolescent, 15 years old 15 years old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what dawned on me is my 14 year old is get me. He's right around the corner from his permit. Yeah, and what dawned on me is well, he sure as heck ain't driving my diesel truck, is now learning to drive on that, which leaves mom's Tesla. His first experience learning to drive a car is in in the that's gonna.
Speaker 1:it's gonna haunt him because the speed is going to be addictive. Right, I have to put the limit on it. Yeah, put the limit on it, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:What is it? The valet mode? No well, I can't remember what the?
Speaker 1:yeah, the valet mode. You can also limit the speed. The time yeah, he. And your Iver mode yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:But what a what a weird thing to think about. Like, yeah, his first experience driving an automobile is going to be in a spaceship.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean number one selling car in the world Tesla Model Y, number four selling car in America Tesla Model Y, and the first three are pickup trucks. So the reality is is lots of people are going to be in Tesla's. What the numbers don't no lie you know it's unreal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, this has been so much fun. I can't wait to come to Utah check out your dealership. One last question Might be a second one, oh are you moving south, are you not?
Speaker 1:no, I say yeah, oh, okay, I was really close to. I was like, yeah, you're the first, you're the first, you're really close to it. Oh, south bar dealership, yeah, yeah, yeah, south bar dealership, sorry, but yeah, really close to to that new location too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how, can those listening and watching get in touch with Steve?
Speaker 1:You know I personally post on LinkedIn a lot, but I also post a lot of ED content on TikTok and Instagram and Twitter. That's EV Auto Alex I think my just my name on on Lake Diddersoke, yeah, and then our website. You know EV Auto dot com, but I don't want to pitch fest, you know. But yeah, pretty easy to find. I love it. Appreciate it, man. Thanks for joining us, thanks for having my guest. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Hey, thanks for listening to the dealer playbook podcast. If you enjoyed tuning in, please subscribe, share and hit that like button. You can also join us and the DPP community on social media. Check back next week for a new dealer playbook episode. Thanks so much for joining.