- Car Dealership Guy News
- Posts
- Lessons from Lithia and beyond—the habits driving a successful dealer group with happy employees
Lessons from Lithia and beyond—the habits driving a successful dealer group with happy employees
Featuring Michael Speigl, Dealer Principal of WE Auto
Welcome to another edition of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast Recap newsletter.
In this episode, I speak to Michael Speigl, Dealer Principal of WE Auto, who discusses the lessons he learned from working for Lithia and how they shaped his own dealerships, why he’s investing over $250K in company culture, and the phone call that changed his family’s life forever.
1. Auto retail can be a very fulfilling business.
Michael, who graduated from the University of Michigan, was drawn to the business because of the opportunities.
“I didn't know anybody in automotive, but was sold a dream of how lucrative it is and a career path. And they were right.”
Michael started his career briefly in South Bend, Indiana and at age 23 moved to Bradenton, Florida, where he worked for a fantastic organization there for about 20 years, before buying a minority stake in a Honda dealership in Wesley Chapel, Florida in 2010.
2. The journey to owning a dealership starts with a vision.
Opportunities are part of the auto retail journey, but knowing when and how to seize the right ones is the name of the game, explains Michael.
“I really truly think that because I worked for such a great organization, had a great staff, really well-run family business, there was nothing that was going to take me away from that short of having some sort of ownership.”
That was the major turning point of Michael’s career to becoming a dealer principal, but he still values and stresses the importance of maintaining those early relationships in the business.
3. Be fully engaged in the learning process during every step of the journey.
Michael attributes a lot of his success as an owner to the lessons learned during every stage of the process to becoming an owner, from becoming a group vice president for Lithia to working with a family-owned business.
“When you work for a family-owned organization…especially when you're kind of the tip of that small little spear, to then (being) a part of the largest public retailer in the world, you just learn so many things.”
Michael says the career stop at Lithia helped him develop a better understanding of various facets of the auto retail business like acquisitions, branding, and going to market.
4. Prepare to seize your ‘big opportunity’ in the business.
That big career-changing opportunity can come at any moment, says Michael. His opportunity to acquire a dealership in Ann Arbor came on a Sunday, a day usually dedicated to spending time with his wife and kids.
“By the end of one day, I said, ‘Hey babe, I think we may be moving to Michigan.’ And she was like, ‘All right, is that the right decision?’ And I was like, ‘I think it might be’.”
Michael did his due diligence to assess the deal, and then prepared the family for the move from Florida to Michigan.
1. Phone Ninjas - Is your store missing opportunities before they even hit the lot? Phone Ninjas helps dealers maximize every opportunity with custom scripts and critical coaching on actual customer calls. Get your team certified today and watch your appointment set and show rates double! Visit phoneninjas.com to start winning today!
2. CDK Global - our trusted technology partner for car dealers and automakers. CDK doesn’t just deliver top-tier tech solutions; they provide game-changing industry insights. Beyond top-tier tech, their Friction Points Study uncovers what’s slowing car purchases—highlighting how dealers are closing time gaps and why F&I remains crucial. Get the full report at cdkglobal.com/insights.
3. CDG Recruiting - Building on the success of my industry job board, I’m launching CDG Recruiting — a more hands-on, personalized automotive recruiting service. Our team has decades of experience and has successfully placed over 1,000 roles in the automotive industry. So if you’re ready to find your next rockstar employee, try CDG Recruiting today by visiting cdgrecruiting.com.
5. Family support is a pivotal part of being successful in the business.
Michael’s wife’s family roots were deeply planted in Bradenton, Florida when he decided to buy the dealership in Michigan—which he says highlights why family support is so critical to one’s success in the business.
“Without my wife's support, without my children's support, I don't think we could have made such a drastic move (from) where we lived in Florida for almost 20 years. My wife was born and raised, her whole life there. Her whole family's there, her grandparents, her parents, her aunts and uncles, her brother, everybody lives in Bradenton.”
Success in the business really requires a partnership with your family, says Michael.
6. Don’t let physical location limit growth.
Learning the Lithia business model has been hugely beneficial in understanding how to think differently about operational growth, explains Michael.
“Right now, today, we have two stores in Ann Arbor, and we have two stores in Nashville…before, I would have never said that was possible. Before I would have told you, you gotta touch it, you gotta breathe it, you gotta be in the stores…and it's hard to do it any other way. The Lithia model forces you out of there.”
It is very possible to operate, maintain, and scale the culture of a retail store from afar with the right people, partnerships, and strategy, says Michael.
7. Thinking ‘big impact’ as an independent owner can be hugely beneficial.
Michael has applied some of the detailed practices used by larger operations into his business strategy to distinguish his store in the market, which has been a major part of his success.
“My previous partner in West of Chapel was the president of Southeast Toyota before he retired and got into automotive retail. So if you know anything about JM Family and of their enterprises and Southeast Toyota, it's just an incredibly well-run organization that anybody would be proud to be a part of.”
The experiences associated with working in that kind of organization have influenced various aspects of Michael’s retail operation, from coming up with a clearly defined business mission statement to a non-profit arm that supports students who are academically gifted.
8. Understanding the needs of the community matters.
With all the investments being made in digital sales tools, the industry might be missing one vital part of the equation—what their customers need.
“The number one thing that we need to push digital retailing forward is the customer to want that. It's not because dealers are fighting it or not putting… resources on their website. It's because, by and large, customers are still picking up the phone calling in, they're still sending in lead form submissions.”
9. Don’t sell customers short on addressing their needs.
Mike took his Ann Arbor Toyota from the bottom of the region to the top two or three stores in the region on a consistent basis, by making operational changes like increasing the dealership’s service client base and addressing customer challenges that might arise from those changes.
“There are times where we'll have a two hour wait for an oil change when it's really busy and we schedule a lot...And that takes a certain amount of fortitude to know that you need to approach that customer and let them hear the story. You know, we really apologize. We're really working hard to increase efficiency and get our customers through.”
However, Michael’s team also focuses on mitigating the collateral damage of those customer concerns, by offering some sort of free service.
10. Be aggressive when it comes to meeting operational goals.
With $400,000 million in annual revenue, Michael credits his success to being assertive in meeting short and long-term goals.
“I would also say that being aggressive in nature and playing offense and driving as many customers to your organization as possible is, overall, a very healthy thing. We always want to be above in, know, net to gross, net to sales, benchmarks.”
That aggressive strategy also includes significant investments in upgrading facilities and data analytics.
Did you enjoy this Podcast Recap newsletter?Let us know your thoughts - |
Interested in advertising with Car Dealership Guy? Drop us a line here.
Want to be considered as a guest on the podcast? Add your name here.
Reply