Down the street from executive manager Brad Wise are some of the largest Ford, Toyota, Honda, and GMC dealerships in the country.
But Wise’s store, Ferman Chevrolet Mazda in Tampa, Florida, isn’t on those top lists quite yet.
The store sold 580 units in November, triple the volume from eight years ago.
That would make most dealers happy, but 900 units a month is what the store needs to be a top contender, and Wise won't retire until they hit it.
What they’re saying: "You know, I came from a sports background, and I operate this business very much like a sports program as far as a lot of my ideologies and philosophies. So, a team needs something to play for,” Wise told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D'Arc and Uli de' Martino.
The problem: Wise thinks most stores have it backwards on the variable side. Internet leads are much more difficult to close (~10%) than walk-ins (~60%).
Yet, showroom teams get all the pay, recognition, and accolades while the people handling phone-ups, chats, and internet leads work in the back with less respect and worse compensation.
The fix: Wise added “goalies" at each rooftop. These employees are the top-line desk managers who watch screens for leads that got missed, handled poorly, or need creative problem-solving to figure out if there's a deal. And they make six figures.
“I don't think enough dealers put enough emphasis on putting talent back there, as opposed to $15‑an‑hour inexperienced people,” he explained.
And right now the operation is off-site across three buildings, but will be consolidated into one location in 2026 so multiple people can look at deals together.
The store also eliminated forced addendums. The philosophy is to get customers in the door by being transparent, not scare them off with conservative lowballs that create surprises later.
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The trump card: Wise just brought in Alex Flores, a former dealer who could have taken a bigger role somewhere else but wanted to be part of Ferman’s growth plan.
Wise and Flores connected through social media and decided to disrupt the market together.
"I just landed the ‘Tom Brady’ of the variable department," Wise said. "We're both car people, right? We got big egos. We're really excited. We're competitive as it can be. The both of us together just blowing up this place, putting everybody out of business and just taking what's ours."
Big picture: Breaking down 900 units across roughly 30 days (the store is open Sundays) means 25 to 30 cars daily. The people are right, the processes are being tightened, and Flores is coming in to push execution over the line.
"We already have the right people," Wise said. "It's just getting them to be more and do more.”
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