Scaling a $4.5B+ Dealership Empire | Car Dealership Guy Podcast
发布时间 2024-04-18 09:00:34 来源
摘要
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with David Hult, CEO of Asbury Automotive Group ...
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When you're buying a dealership, you really don't get to talk to anyone or see anything until after you close. I have a simplistic rule equal to or greater than. If we can't maintain things or make them better, even if the deal makes financial sense to us, we will not do it. Coons, Larry H. Miller and Park Place. If you have yet to hear these names, you better get Googling because this CEO is making some of the biggest acquisitions in the dealership business and changing the landscape of the industry as we know it.
当你要购买一个经销商时，直到交易完成后你真的不会有机会和任何人交谈或看任何东西。我有一个简单的规则是“平等或更好”。如果我们无法维护现状或让事情变得更好，即使这笔交易对我们来说有经济意义，我们也不会做。库恩斯、拉里·H·米勒和帕克·普莱斯。如果你还没听说过这些名字，最好快去谷歌一下，因为这位CEO正在进行一些最大规模的经销商收购，改变我们了解的整个行业格局。
Today on the Car dealership Guy podcast, I'm speaking with David Holt, CEO of Asbury Automotive Group, a dealership group with over 157 locations. Don't forget to click subscribe so you never miss an episode. But before we get into the show, this episode is brought to you by Autofy. Autofy helps dealers like you sell smarter, not harder on your dealership website and now in your showroom too. Autofy solves the everyday problems dealers actually face like bottlenecks at a sales desk, customer distrust and decision overload.
在今天的汽车经销商节目上，我将与大卫·霍尔特（David Holt）进行对话，他是Asbury Automotive Group的CEO，该集团在157个地点拥有经销商。不要忘记点击订阅，这样您就不会错过任何一集。但在我们进入节目之前，本集的赞助商是Autofy。Autofy帮助像你这样的经销商在经销商网站上和展厅里更加轻松地销售。Autofy解决了经销商们真正面临的日常问题，比如销售台的瓶颈、客户的不信任和决策过载。
Their all new showroom solution includes deal estimation, desking, lender routing, and an F&I menu all in one powerful platform. Deal ships with Autofy saw cars faster with higher satisfaction and more profit. In fact, dealers make an average of $641 higher back-end PVR on Autofy deals versus their non-autofy deals. To learn more and start selling smarter today, go to autofy.com slash CDG or click the link in the show notes below.
他们全新的展厅解决方案包括成交估算、桌面处理、贷款方案以及一个强大的F&I菜单，全部统一在一个平台上。使用Autofy进行成交处理，能更快速地交付车辆，提高满意度并获得更多利润。事实上，经销商在Autofy成交中的后端PVR平均比非Autofy成交高出641美元。要了解更多信息并开始更聪明地销售，请访问autofy.com/CDG或在下方展示备注中点击链接。
This episode is also brought to you by Experian Automotive. Experian Automotive is one of the most trusted sources of data and insights in the automobile industry and are a one-stop shop. That's because Experian maintains massive databases from credit profiles to vehicle history data and millions of consumer data points. Imagine the potential of Experian data insights to drive your marketing strategies.
本集节目还由 Experian Automotive 赞助。Experian Automotive 是汽车行业中最值得信赖的数据和见解来源之一，是一站式购物平台。这是因为 Experian 拥有庞大的数据库，从信用档案到车辆历史数据再到数以百万计的消费者数据点。想象一下，借助 Experian 的数据洞察力来推动您的营销策略的潜力。
Dealers can use automotive lifestyle and predictive data to find in-market car shoppers faster and at lower costs. By leveraging targeted audiences, dealers can communicate with car shoppers based on make, model, off-least, off-loan, inequity, fuel type or vehicle servicing needs. All this allows dealers to communicate with the right car shopper with the right message at the right time. They can increase their success rates and consumers are happy because they receive timely relevant communication.
经销商可以利用汽车生活方式和预测数据更快、更低成本地找到市场上的购车者。通过利用目标受众，经销商可以根据车型、款式、租赁情况、贷款情况、资产不足、燃油类型或车辆维修需求与购车者沟通。所有这些都让经销商可以在适当的时间用适当的信息与合适的购车者沟通。他们可以提高成功率，消费者也会因为收到及时相关的沟通而感到满意。
You can learn more about the Experian marketing engine by clicking the link in the show notes below. David Holt on the CDG podcast, David, welcome. Excited to be here, Josie. Excited to have you all and you're a hard man to reach and get on this podcast, but we made it happen. Let's make the most of it. I want to start with a very important question. Like this is just ridiculous and I'm nervous to ask you, but someone wanted me to ask you, who is the loudest person in the Asbury Auto Group Office? You know, there's a lot of people that have that award, but I would say Moron Maric is probably one of them. Well, that's the person that asks, so he gets the award. I love to hear it.
您可以通过点击下方节目音符中的链接了解更多关于经验营销引擎的信息。David Holt在CDG播客中，David，欢迎。很高兴能在这里，Josie。很高兴能和大家在一起，您很难联系，让您参加这个播客不容易，但我们成功了。让我们充分利用这次机会。我想先问一个非常重要的问题。虽然这有点荒谬，而且我有些紧张要问您，但有人让我问您，阿斯伯利汽车集团办公室中最吵闹的人是谁？您知道，有很多人有这个奖项，但我想说莫龙·马里奇可能是其中之一。那么就是提问的那个人，那么他就得到了这个奖项。我很高兴听到。
David, man, a lot to cover today and you've been doing a lot of great things as people familiar with the group. No, before we even get started into that, how did you get here? Give us the background of David Holt in the car business. Yeah, it's probably a story like most. I think a lot of people end up in automotive by mistake. I got out of the military and I was waiting to become a state police officer in the state that I was in. And there was an ad in the paper that said a free demo and ability to make money. And I didn't have a car and a demo sounded like a good deal. And it was at a Ford dealership. So I went there and interviewed and got hired and started selling Ford trucks. And I kind of fell in love with the business. It was a little bit tough to enter into it from coming from the military, but I love the people aspect side of it. So that's how I entered in.
大卫，朋友，今天有很多事情要讨论，你在团体中做了很多了不起的事情。不管怎样，在我们开始之前，你是如何来到这里的呢？给我们讲讲你在汽车行业的背景。是的，可能和大多数人的故事差不多。我从军队退伍，本来在等待成为我所在州的一名州警察。然后报纸上登了一个广告，说有免费试车和赚钱的机会。我没有车，试车听起来像是一个不错的交易。广告是在一家福特经销商的，于是我去面试、被录用，开始销售福特卡车。我渐渐爱上了这个行业。从军队转行进入汽车行业确实有一些困难，但我喜欢这行业的人际关系方面。所以这就是我进入这个行业的经过。
So what was, take us for your journey in the car business, right? CEO today of a multi-billion dollar, you know, major auto group, to say the least, right? Started from really the ground up. What was that journey like for you? You know, I think everything in life is timing and opportunities and luck. And I was really lucky and blessed along the way to have a lot of great mentors, be in the right place at the right time to get opportunities. I started off selling, I ended up going into finance, did that for a period of time, was a sales manager, general sales manager, went to general manager school, worked for a lot of different, a few different dealers that I just had tremendous respect for. And I learned a lot from, I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert. So I like to listen and learn. And I always feel like I can learn from somebody. And I've been lucky along the way to have a lot of good people that have mentored me along the way and taken me through that path.
您在汽车经营方面的旅程是怎样的呢？从一个亿万美元的汽车集团的CEO开始，可以说至少是一个重要的汽车集团。您是如何从零开始的呢？我想人生中的一切都是时机、机会和运气。在这个过程中，我非常幸运，也受到了很多伟大导师的祝福，恰逢其时地得到机会。我从销售开始，后来进入金融领域，进行了一段时间，做了销售经理、总销售经理，然后去总经理学校，为一些我非常尊重的经销商工作过。我从中学到了很多东西，我更喜欢倾听和学习，比起外向类型更像内向类型。我总是认为我可以从他人身上学到东西。一路上我很幸运，有很多优秀的人指导我，带我走过了这条道路。
I worked for a tremendous dealer in the 90s, named Ira Rosenberg. And his son David was the best man in my wedding. They were great. I mean, I learned so much there, I had so much fun. We aligned so much philosophically about taking care of your employees and being involved in the community. And when they chose to sell to a public company, that's when the public's were forming. And none of us had exposure to that. And Ira chose to sell the group to group one at the time. So we became part of a public company. David stayed on to run the platform. And I just had the opportunity to learn what the public world was about compared to the private world. And then after a few years, I got solicited by Roger Penske and his team to run a store for him in Florida with the potential to do more.
我在90年代为一家名叫艾拉·罗森伯格的大经销商工作过。他的儿子大卫是我婚礼上的伴郎。他们都很棒。我在那里学到了很多东西，也玩得很开心。我们在员工关怀和社区参与方面有很多共识。当他们决定将公司卖给一家上市公司时，公开市场就开始形成了。我们当时对这方面毫无了解。艾拉选择将集团卖给了第一集团。于是我们成为了上市公司的一部分。大卫留下来管理平台。我有机会了解公开市场与私人市场的区别。几年后，罗杰·彭斯克和他的团队邀请我去佛罗里达为他经营一家店铺，可能还会有更多的机会。
So I did that. I thought it was an opportunity to grow and challenge myself to move to a different part of the country and learn. And it was a great experience. And Roger's just the best. It was great to work with. And I learned so much from him. It was fun running that store. But it was tough on my kids. They were in their teenage years. They didn't appreciate being moved at that age. So I ended up going back to New England after my year contract was up with them. And ended up going back to Group One. And this time I went in there running the market. So I ran the New England market for them. And then a new CEO came to Group One. His name was Earl Hesterberg. And Earl structurally made a lot of changes to the company. So anyhow, I ended up taking on New England, New York, and New Jersey.
所以我就这样做了。我觉得这是一个成长和挑战自己的机会，搬到国家的另一个地方学习。这是一个很棒的经历。罗杰是最棒的。和他一起工作很棒。我从他那里学到了很多。经营那家店很有趣。但对我的孩子们来说有点艰难。他们正值青少年时期。他们不喜欢在那个年纪被搬来搬去。所以在与他们的一年合同结束后，我最终回到了新英格兰。然后我回到了Group One。这次我负责市场。所以我为他们经营了新英格兰市场。然后Group One来了一位新的CEO，他叫厄尔·赫斯特伯格。厄尔对公司做了很多结构性的改变。总之，我最终接管了新英格兰、纽约和新泽西。
And that was a lot of fun because I got exposed to different people, different brands, different markets. So it gave me a lot to really learn and see the world through other folks' eyes. Maple shade, New Jersey, and different parts like that. And it was great. And then within the year I took on the South. So I had from New Hampshire to New Orleans over to South Florida. And I did that through the recession, 0809. And then in 2011, I moved into their corporate office. And I took on fixed operations for the country and created a marketing department. During that time, I had a health issue that I came down with.
这段时间真的非常有趣，因为我接触到了不同的人、不同的品牌、不同的市场。所以，我真的学到了很多，也从其他人的角度看到了世界。像新泽西的梅普尔阴、新罕布什尔的巴切斯特和南达科他州等不同地方。这真的很棒。然后在这一年内，我负责了南方地区。所以我从新罕布什尔州一直到新奥尔良再到南佛罗里达州都负责了。我经历了2008年到2009年的经济衰退。然后在2011年，我搬到了公司总部。我负责整个国家的固定运营，并创建了一个营销部门。在那段时间里，我患上了一场健康问题。
And I started to reflect on what I was doing and where I was in my life. And I kind of wanted to go back on the private side. So I left after a year and went to work for a guy named Mac McLarty, who's just in his family, just great people, really interesting folks. And one of his things that he's best known for, he was the chief of staff for Bill Clinton at one point in time. But he had some really neat investors in his company. He had businesses in Brazil, China, a consulting firm in DC, distributorship, Project Land Rover in Mexico, and stores in the US. So I ran that business and had a lot of fun doing it and loved working for him. He was just so interesting to learn from.
然后我开始反思我在做什么以及我生活的方向。我有点想回到私人领域。所以过了一年后，我离开了那家公司，开始为一个叫麦克·麦克拉蒂的人工作，他和他的家人都是非常好的人，真的很有趣。他最出名的一点是曾经是比尔·克林顿的幕僚长。他的公司有一些非常有趣的投资者，他们在巴西、中国，DC的咨询公司、墨西哥的路虎项目和美国的商店等地都有业务。我管理了这些业务，玩得很开心，也非常喜欢为他工作。从他那里学到了很多有趣的东西。
And then the opportunity came to come to Asbury as the chief operating officer. And initially, I turned down the interview because I kind of thought that I belonged on the private side and that was best. And my motivation for being in the car business is just long as I'm because I know how to change oil because I don't. I'm fascinated by the people and the stories of the people that are in the industry. That just is meaningful to me. And what drives me, so to speak. But I was convinced to come for the interview I did. I fell in love with the CEO here. He was a prior military guy like myself. Was not an operator. It was a finance guy by trade. But had tremendous respect for the people in the stores and what they did. And I thought that it would be a great journey for me to learn from him.
然后我有机会成为阿斯伯里的首席运营官。起初，我拒绝了面试，因为我觉得我适合在私人公司，那是最好的选择。我之所以想从事汽车业，只是因为我知道如何更换机油，而不是因为我擅长。我对这个行业的人和故事感到着迷。这对我来说是有意义的。这也是激励我的动力。但我被说服来参加面试，结果我真的去了。我爱上了这里的首席执行官。他也是一名前军人，和我一样。他不是一个操作员，而是一名金融人。但他非常尊重店铺里的人和他们所做的事情。我觉得跟他学习会是一段很棒的旅程。
So anyhow, so I came here as the operations guy. And when he retired, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to take on the CEO. And at the time, the board here is fantastic. They're very supportive. But some of my goals at the time when I asked them about it was I wanted to grow the company. And I wanted a lot more of our employees in the dealership to be able to participate in stock awards.
所以，总而言之，我是作为运营人员来到这里的。当他退休时，我很幸运地有机会接任CEO。当时，这里的董事会非常出色，他们非常支持我。但是当我跟他们谈起我的一些目标时，我想要让公司增长。我希望更多我们的员工能够参与股权奖励。
So we rewrote our stock plan because it was written in a manner that I really couldn't give it out to the frontline people in the stores. We rewrote the stock plan. I visited our large shareholders. They were kind enough to have a vote and approve it. So we went from giving 120 people a year or so stock in the company to about 1,800 people a year stock in the company. And it's technicians, sales advisors, service advisors, collision folks, accounting folks, support staff people. It's a lot of fun giving frontline people equity in the company that they work for. Take me through that frame of mind, right? Initially, you said you were more of a private auto group guy, right? Obviously, it's stock is more limited. Typically, it's e-liquid, right? Here you are a public company, liquid stock. Have you, I mean, clearly you're the CEO of a public, publicly traded auto group today. So I think we know what you likely favor. But take us through your frame of mind as having gone from the transition of being a private guy to a public guy and sort of the positives and negatives to both.
因此，我们对我们的股票计划进行了修改，因为它以一种我无法将其提供给商店前线人员的方式编写。我们重新编写了股票计划。我拜访了我们的大股东。他们很友善地进行了投票并批准了。因此，我们从公司给予大约120名员工一年左右的公司股票，增加到每年向大约1,800名员工提供公司股票。这些员工包括技术人员、销售顾问、服务顾问、碰撞维修人员、会计人员、支持人员等。给予公司前线员工公司股份是一件很有意思的事情。带我一起走过那种心态，对吧？最初，你说你更像一个私人汽车集团的人，对吧？显然，股票更为有限。通常是电子烟，对吧？现在你是一家公开公司，有流动性的股票。你已经成为一家公开上市汽车集团的CEO。所以我认为我们知道你可能更喜欢什么。但请告诉我们你在从私人转型为公开公司的过程中的心态，以及对两者的积极和消极之处。
Sure, it's funny. I think there's positives and negatives to both. And I think it's really about an individual making a choice that's best for them. I loved working on the private side. I loved working for the families, the dynamics, the passion, the ties they had, the community. That just hit home for me. Some of us are servers by nature. I'm a server by nature. So that just aligned with me and my philosophy.
当然，这挺有意思的。我觉得两者都有优点和缺点。最重要的是个人能够做出最适合自己的选择。我喜欢在私人领域工作。我喜欢为家庭工作，他们之间的关系、激情、联系以及社区。这些都让我感同身受。有些人天生就是为他人服务的。我就是这样的人。所以这和我的理念是一致的。
With the public organizations, the benefit of a public company, if you're not part of a family and don't own a business, you can reach a ceiling and a dealership with your career path. It's still a meritocracy. So even with a public company, regardless of where you came from, you can get to any position you want if you want to bet on yourself, challenge, learn, and grow. So that's some of the benefits.
在公共组织中，作为一家上市公司的好处是，如果你不是某个家族的一员也没有自己的企业，你仍有机会在职业生涯中达到一个高度，并获得机会。这仍然是一个以功绩为导向的社会。因此，即使在一家上市公司工作，不管你来自哪里，只要你愿意相信自己，挑战自我，学习和成长，你都可以达到任何你想要的职位。这就是其中一些好处。
The downside to being on a public company and some of the things I don't like on a daily basis, being a public company is challenging at times with everything being out there, everything being exposed. And you're getting in that concept of whether you're hitting the quarters or not hitting the quarters. I'm an operator at heart. So I tend to focus on what's best for the long-term shareholder, what's best for the company in the long-term. Are we involved in our communities? Are we doing the right things? Are we taking care of our people? And my logic is if we build a solid plan for the future, whether we hit or miss some quarters along the way, we're part of a bigger journey and we have a cause. I think some people in life sign up for paychecks and some people sign up for the cause. I don't think there's a good or bad. I've just always been more about the cause than anything else.
作为一家上市公司，有一些我每天不喜欢的事情。作为一家上市公司，在某些时候会有挑战，因为一切都是公开透明的，所有事情都被曝光。你陷入了一个概念，即你是否完成了季度业绩或没有完成季度业绩。我本质上是一个实干家。所以我倾向于关注对长期股东最有利的事情，对公司长远发展最有利的事情。我们是否参与社区活动？我们是否正在做正确的事情？我们是否在照顾员工？我的逻辑是，如果我们为未来制定了坚实的计划，无论在未来的旅程中是否完成或未完成某些季度目标，我们都是更大目标的一部分并且有一个使命。我认为生活中有些人是为了薪水而工作，而有些人是为了事业。我不认为哪种更好或更糟。我总是更在意事业胜过其他。
So I think with a public company, you can grow. With the private side, you can have a really good life, make a really good income, be part of something really special, but maybe have a ceiling on how far you can go for obvious reasons. This episode is brought to you by my very own car dealership guy, Industry Jobboard. CDGjobs.com, my industry job board connecting the best talent and automotive with the best companies, will remain absolutely free for CDG listeners to post and fill available roles at their companies. This free job board is for anyone in automotive, vendors, dealers, lenders, manufacturers, auto tech, everyone. Already over 100 companies have posted open positions, including lithium motors, recurrent, credit acceptance, Vero's credit, cars commerce, shift digital plug, full path, Westlake trade pending, you get the point.
因此，我认为通过公开公司，你可以实现增长。通过私人公司，你可以过着非常好的生活，赚取丰厚的收入，成为某种特别事物的一部分，但也许会因为明显原因而在发展上受到限制。这一集由我的私人汽车经销商朋友Industry Jobboard赞助。CDGjobs.com是我的行业招聘平台，连接汽车行业最佳人才和最佳公司，对CDG的听众来说完全免费，可以发布和填补公司可用职位。这个免费的招聘平台适用于汽车业的任何人，包括供应商、经销商、放贷人、制造商、汽车技术等。已经有超过100家公司发布了空缺职位，包括锂电动车公司、recurrent、credit acceptance、Vero's credit、cars commerce、shift digital plug、full path、Westlake trade pending，你明白我的意思了。
The best part is that when these companies hire through CDGjobs.com, they are hiring the most informed candidates in the marketplace. So don't hesitate, you can add your open roles today by visiting CDGjobs.com or clicking the link in the show notes below. That's CDGjobs.com. Speaking about Publix, right, you've made some super impressive acquisitions here. And just to list a few, you acquired Larry H. Miller, 54 rooftops, seven use car stores, 11 collision centers. You acquired Coons, 20 dealerships, six collision centers. You acquired Parkplace in Texas. I don't have those numbers in front of me.
最棒的部分是，当这些公司通过CDGjobs.com招聘时，他们正在雇佣市场上最了解情况的候选人。所以不要犹豫，您可以通过访问CDGjobs.com或点击下面节目说明中的链接来添加您的空缺职位。这就是CDGjobs.com。说到Publix，你们在这里进行了一些非常令人印象深刻的收购。仅列举几个，你们收购了Larry H. Miller，54家汽车销售店，7家二手车店，11家碰撞中心。你们收购了Coons，20家经销商，6家碰撞中心。你们在德克萨斯州收购了Parkplace。我手头没有这些数字。
But the bottom line, all three huge acquisitions. How do you blend those cultures, right? And this is not just taking another publicly traded, you know, massive dealer group, but this is taking another private massive dealer group, right? And people that are, again, they're not accustomed to the kind of public company differences or ways. So how do you take these organizations and really blend their cultures and, you know, able to still push your business objectives due to the way where, you know, the team that, you know, the massive team you're acquiring is, you know, everyone's on the same page.
但是最重要的是，所有三家巨型收购。你如何融合这些文化呢？这不仅仅是接管另一个公开交易的大型经销商集团，而是接管另一个私人的大型经销商集团，对吧？而这些人，再一次地，他们不习惯于公开公司的不同或方式。那么，你如何真正融合这些组织的文化，并且仍然能够推动你的业务目标，以一种方式，你知道，你正在收购的庞大团队都是在同一个页面上？
It's an outstanding question. And having worked inside the dealerships, most of my career, when someone invests 10, 15, 20 years in a dealer group, there's a lot of pride that has been in that business. And they've invested their time, which is their most valuable asset. I think sometimes if you're a big company acquiring something, if you go in there that you're acquiring it and you're going to change things to be a certain way, I think that's a huge mistake. I think, you know, part of deciding on what acquisitions make sense for you is really understanding the group that you’re acquiring. And can you be a good steward of that business?
这是一个很重要的问题。在经过我大部分职业生涯在经销商工作之后，当有人在经销商集团投入了10、15、20年的时间，他们对这个企业感到非常自豪。他们投入了自己最宝贵的资产——时间。我认为，有时候如果你是一家大公司正在收购某个东西，如果你去那里收购，并且打算改变事情以符合某种方式，我认为这是一个巨大的错误。我认为，决定哪些收购对你是明智的一部分，实际上是要真正了解你正在收购的集团。你能成为那个企业的良好管理者吗？
I have so much respect for the dealers that built the businesses that you just mentioned, but they're all very different. And they all have very different cultures. The culture in Park Place is significantly different than Coons and significantly different than Miller or Nally in Atlanta. I think our goal is, and the line that I use all the time, is if we're going to acquire something, we need to go in there and see the world through their eyes, leave the business the same as, you know, the accounting stuff you have to change because of public rules and the gap accounting, but operationally selling and servicing a car, we're there to support it. And part of the reasons we acquire some of these groups is because of the culture that they have. So we look at it as we're stewards and we're there to foster, but we're there to maintain the culture.
我对你刚提到的那些经销商们非常尊敬，他们创立的企业各有不同。他们每个人的文化也是非常不同的。 Park Place的文化与Coons和亚特兰大的Miller或Nally有着明显的不同。我认为我们的目标是，我总是说的一句话，如果我们要收购某样东西，我们需要以他们的眼光去看待这个世界，将业务保持不变，你知道的，由于公共规则和差异会计规定，会计方面必须做出一些改变，但在销售和为汽车提供服务方面，我们在那里支持他们。我们收购这些集团的部分原因是因为他们拥有的文化。因此，我们认为自己是监护人，我们在那里培育文化，但我们也在那里保持这种文化。
And I use this example all the time when I get asked this question. During the Miller acquisition, we also acquired the Stevenson group. And Larry Miller's very first job in the automotive business was working for the Stevenson family. So it was ironic that we had the opportunity to buy two groups at the same time. And in Denver, I literally had side by side two stores of budding, one Stevenson store, one Coons, excuse me, one Larry Miller store. And when I every acquisition, I go in and I meet the employees, I talk to them, we talk about benefits, all that kind of stuff. These stores are side by side.
我经常用这个例子来回答这个问题。在米勒收购时，我们也收购了史蒂文森集团。而拉里·米勒在汽车行业的第一份工作就是为史蒂文森家族工作。所以很讽刺的是，我们有机会同时收购这两家集团。在丹佛，我真的有两家店挨着，一家是史蒂文森店，一家是库恩斯，请原谅我是拉里·米勒店。每次收购，我都会去见员工，与他们交谈，讨论福利等等。这两家店挨得真是紧。
I go in the Stevenson store first. Their first question was, we don't want to become part of Miller. And when I went to the Miller store, and again, I literally walked across the parking lot to go to the Miller store, the first question they said is, we don't want to become part of Stevenson. And there's neither both are good, but both are different. And our job from above is to respect the environments, respect the cultures that they have, and try and enhance them. When we look at an acquisition, I have a simplistic rule equal to or greater than. If we can't maintain things or make them better, even if the deal makes financial sense to us, we will not do it. Because to me, buying a dealership, it's all about the people.
我首先去了史蒂文森商店。他们的第一个问题是，我们不想成为米勒的一部分。当我去了米勒商店，再一次，我实际上是步行穿过停车场去米勒商店的，他们说的第一个问题是，我们不想成为史蒂文森的一部分。双方都不错，但两者都不同。我们的任务是尊重环境，尊重各自的文化，并尽力增强它们。当我们考虑收购时，我有一个简单的规则就是保持不变或更好。如果我们不能保持原样或变得更好，即使这笔交易对我们来说具有财务意义，我们也不会做。因为对我来说，收购一个经销商，一切都取决于人。
And if I can't go in there and enhance the benefits or make it a better situation for them, they don't need me coming in and disrupting their world and acquiring that store because then it creates a lot of turnover. And we just don't want that. The tough side, the tough part is, you go to buy a home, you get to walk through the house, you get to see everything before you make an offer and you get inspected. When you're buying a dealership, you really don't get to talk to anyone or see anything until after you close. And that's when you find out really what you purchase. So a lot of your homework that you're doing is socially online and through connections when possible. But we look at an acquisition.
如果我无法进入那里，增进利益或为他们创造更好的局面，他们就不需要我进来打乱他们的世界并收购那家店铺，因为那样会导致很多人流失。我们不希望发生这种情况。艰难的一面是，当你购买一套房子时，你可以走进房子，看到所有东西再决定是否出价，而且要经过验房。但购买经销店时，你真的无法与任何人交谈或看到任何东西，直到你成交后。那时你才会真正了解你购买了什么。因此，你要做的很多功课都是通过在线社交和可能的联系来完成的。但我们会考虑收购。
The first thing we do is what state is it in? What are the franchise laws within that state? What brands are they in that market, in that group? What is the market share within those brands within that state? Because you're a franchisee. If a certain brand has a 20% market share in a state, that's valuable and it's worth something. If another brand has a 2% market share, you can't think going in there as a dealer. You're going to all of a sudden change the market and do something different. So we look at the franchise laws, we look at the market share numbers within the brand. We also look at the culture of the stores and how they operate and say, can a public company own this? Could we be a good steward of the business? If we don't think we can, we walk away from it. If we think we could be a good steward, we try to aggressively go after as we can. But integrity is the key. Meeting that dealer, understanding what's important to them, making sure that they feel comfortable that we can take care of their employees in the right way. Most of the time we get it right. We're not perfect. We've made mistakes along the way in doing it. But that's how we look at it. If you and I got in a car and we went to the park place, you would see that culture and then we drove across town to McDavid. You would see a much different culture there within the same market. But what you would see is a lot of great people that have invested a lot of time building that brand equity in those names. And we value those names. At least as long as I'm with the company, we'll continue to use the dealer names within the market places where we do business. And I want to ask you about that.
我们首先要做的是了解它所在的州是什么情况？那个州内有哪些连锁法律？在那个市场、在那个集团中有哪些品牌？在那个州内，这些品牌的市场份额是多少？因为你是加盟商。如果某个品牌在一个州的市场份额达到了20%，那是具有价值的，是值得的。如果另一个品牌的市场份额只有2%，你不能指望作为一名经销商成功进入该市场。你不会突然改变市场并采取不同的做法。因此，我们会研究连锁法律，观察品牌的市场份额情况。我们还会了解店铺的文化以及它们的运营方式，并问自己，一个上市公司能否拥有这家公司？我们是否能够成为这家公司的良好管理者？如果我们认为自己无法胜任，我们就会放弃。如果我们认为自己能够成为良好管理者，我们会积极去追求。但正直是关键。与经销商见面，了解对他们来说什么重要，确保他们感到我们能够以正确的方式照顾好他们的员工。大多数时候我们做得很好。我们并不完美。在做这些事情的过程中，我们也犯过错误。但这就是我们的看法。如果你和我一起上了车去了“公园广场”，你会看到其中的文化，然后我们驱车穿越镇上去了“麦克戴维”。你会发现在同一个市场内有着完全不同的文化。但你会看到很多投入了大量时间来建立品牌价值的优秀人员。我们重视这些品牌。至少在我在公司里的时间里，我们会继续在我们业务开展的市场使用经销商的品牌名称。我想问你对此有何看法？
Because I think that's a testament to keeping things local the way they are. I think on the other side, what I'm curious to know is, you're buying different groups and some operate in a more centralized and others in a more decentralized way. And I see you're smiling. So how practical is it to let people continue? You mentioned you change accounting, you're a public company, sure. But how practical is it really to let people keep operating their ways when different dealer groups and different dealerships operate very differently, specifically from a centralization versus decentralization? You come in, you're in charge of technology suddenly. And I'm saying this hypothetically. So walk us through that. I smile because you learn as you go through this. I would tell you, we've acquired both. We've acquired groups that are more centralized than we are, and they're sold on it, and we leave it alone. Again, the heavy lift is on accounting because you have to go to a standard chart of accounts, and you have to expense things the same because with SEC rules, everything has to be consistent. We have to report in a timely manner. So the heavy lift is really on the accounting side.
因为我认为这证明了保持事务本地化的重要性。我想知道的是，你正在收购不同的集团，有些以更为集中化的方式运营，而另一些则以更为分散化的方式运营。我看到你在微笑。让人们继续如何操作的可行性有多大？你提到了改变会计制度，你是一家上市公司，当然。但是在不同的经销商集团和不同的经销商之间有着非常不同的运营方式，特别是集中化与分散化。当你进来后，突然负责技术，这是否真的可行？我是在假设这种情况下说的。请给我们介绍一下。我笑了是因为你在这个过程中学到了很多。我可以告诉你，我们收购了两种不同类型的集团。有些比我们更为集中化，他们经营顺利，并且我们保持不干涉。再次强调，最繁重的工作在于会计部门，因为你必须按照标准的账户表，必须进行相同的支出，因为根据证券交易委员会的规定，一切都必须保持一致。我们必须及时报告。所以，最繁重的工作真正在于会计方面。
The toughest one was the millers because they had 54 stores in seven different states. Every single store operated independently. Every single store did their own payroll. They did their own expenses. They had their own chart of accounts. So that was very painful for them and for us to go through a standard chart of accounts and get on the same page. It took a long time to do it, and we waited a while to do it. Our goal is, as long as we're operating legally and ethically, the first three to six months is just getting to know one another, building trust and seeing the world through their eyes. So then we can come back and say, how do we keep them as much the same as we can, but do what we need to do on the back end to pull the data out? Because of the size of mill, that was complicated and very tough on the employees and tough on the organization. But in smaller acquisitions, it's much easier.
最困难的是磨坊主，因为他们在七个不同的州有54家店铺。每家店铺都独立运营，自行处理工资、支出和账目。所以要让他们与我们达成一致，对于他们和我们来说都很痛苦。花了很长时间来完成，我们也等待了一段时间。我们的目标是，只要我们合法和合乎道德地运营，最初的三到六个月只是相互了解、建立信任、从他们的角度看世界。这样我们才能回来问自己，如何让他们保持尽可能一致，但在后端进行必要的操作以提取数据？由于磨坊的规模很大，这对员工和组织都是复杂而艰难的。但对于规模较小的收购，这要容易得多。
The Coons acquisition was probably the smoothest transaction we've ever done. It was such a well-run group of stores, tenured with the employees, great management team. The dealer was so great, so passionate, so engaged. I'd never personally align with someone as much as I did him and how we operationally think. So that has been a really smooth transition. As Kevin said that, our whole company is on CDK and the Coons stores are on Reynolds. So in that world, we left them on Reynolds, but now we're on the backside of the plumbing. How do we pull out the data that we need so we can report in a timely manner? And so we're going through that process with them now, converting the accounting side through Reynolds so we can pull stuff out quickly.
Coons的收购可能是我们做过的最顺利的交易。这家店铺管理得非常出色，员工老练，管理团队优秀。经销商非常出色，充满热情，投入其中。我个人从未像跟他一样与某人合拍，我们的运营思路非常契合。因此，这个过渡非常顺利。正如Kevin所说，我们整个公司都在使用CDK，而Coons店铺使用的是Reynolds。因此，我们把他们留在Reynolds平台上，但现在我们在解决一些问题。我们如何提取我们需要的数据，以便及时报告呢？因此，我们目前正与他们一起进行这个过程，通过Reynolds进行会计方面的转换，以便我们能够快速获取所需信息。
Something that surprised me that you just said was that earlier, you said that after you buy the dealership, that's only when you really find out what's happening. Are there skeletons in the closet? What's really looking under the hood? And that surprised me because I figured, I know that there's a certain level of confidentiality, especially your public company, but I didn't expect it to that extent. So my question to you is, how do you build that conviction to follow through with an acquisition? Like what is that tipping point for you? Given the fact that there are so many unknowns that you're going into, how do you build that conviction? It's not easy. And it quite honestly, it's not fully possible until you become aware of everything. You make assumptions along the way. You know, in theory, if you're John Smith Motors and you're operating ethically, from when you write up a customer in the service drive in how you sell a car, it doesn't really have to change.
你刚才说让我感到惊讶的一件事是，你说过，当你购买经销商之后，才会真正了解发生了什么。橱柜里有骷髅吗？真正的问题是什么？这让我感到惊讶，因为我原以为，我知道保密性是有一定程度的，尤其对于你们这样的上市公司，但我没想到会到那个程度。所以我的问题是，你如何建立起完成收购的信心？对你来说，那个临界点是什么？考虑到你要面对的未知情况如此之多，你如何建立那种信念？这并不容易。说实话，直到你完全了解所有情况之前，这是不可能的。沿途会有假设。你知道，从理论上讲，如果你是约翰·史密斯汽车公司，你从在售后服务中为客户撰写报告，到如何销售汽车，都不需要发生太多改变。
Again, the backside accounting will have to change because of gap accounting and stuff. But if you assume a store is ethical and then you close on the store, and maybe there's business practices that you don't think are ethical and that you need to change them, that's a tough thing because then the comment is, you said you're going to keep things as much as you're going to be. And that's much the same as you could. So we try and at the end of the day, it's human nature. We don't hear every word everyone says, sometimes you hear what you want to hear or you retain a certain percent. But certainly if a business is operating legally and ethically, it's easy for us to adapt to them. If there are practices we have to change, you know, change is tough on people and it changes behavior.
再次，由于差距会计和其他方面的原因，背面的会计将不得不改变。但是，如果你假设一家商店是道德的，然后你关闭这家商店，也许有一些商业实践你认为不道德，你需要改变它们，这是一件很困难的事，因为那么评论就会出现，你说你会保持事情尽可能保持不变。这和以前可以做到的一样多。因此，我们努力这样做一整天，这是人性。我们不会听到每个人说的每个字，有时我们只听到我们想要听到的或者只记住一部分。但是如果一家企业在合法和道德的情况下运营，我们很容易适应他们。如果有一些我们需要改变的做法，你知道，改变让人们困难，它会改变行为。
And that always takes time. We try and be respectful in how we do it. We explain the why. We like to think we do a lot of training and educating people and give people a good opportunity for careers. But at the end of the day, every individual is going to make a choice on whether it's for them or not. And you got to hope, look at it, it's a big country. I've been in the automobile space 38 years. There's a bunch of people that know me, trust me and respect me. I'm sure there's a lot of people that don't like me and don't appreciate some of the things I've done. You're never going to please everyone, but you try and go into it understanding that your reputation matters and integrity matters. And as long as we're doing things the right way, you know, you can deal with anything that comes down the road.
这通常需要时间。我们尽量尊重我们的做法。我们解释为什么这样做。我们希望我们为培训和教育人才做了很多工作，并给人们提供了一个良好的职业机会。但最终，每个人都会对是否适合自己做出选择。你得希望，看看，这是一个大国。我在汽车行业工作了38年。有很多人认识我，信任我并尊重我。我相信也有很多人不喜欢我，不欣赏我所做的一些事情。你永远不可能取悦每个人，但你尽力以你的声誉和诚信来对待。只要我们以正确的方式行事，你知道，你可以应对一切。
I want to shift gears a bit. I want to talk about your role. Like what's a week? What's a week in your life look like? It depends upon what time of year it is, whether it's closing a quarter or a typical month or certain things that we have going on. But I would say in a normal traditional week, I'm an operator by heart. You know, I get up between four and five in the morning, depending upon whether I'm exercising or not. And I start to look at reports. I'm looking at each store and how they're pacing, how they're pacing year over year. What does our traffic look like? That's kind of how the day starts for me. And what are you looking at? Like what specifically, like what's your kind of health report? What does that look like? Yeah, I think that there's a top line stuff where you look at the traffic year over year and how does that look and how are you converting and are we growing our business or not. So I think the high level metrics of, you know, I have a saying within the organization, every store every department stands on its own.
我想稍微改变话题。我想谈谈你的角色。一个星期是什么样子？你的生活中一个星期是什么样子？这取决于一年中的什么时间，是结束一个季度还是一个普通的月份或者我们正在进行的特定事情。但我想说，在一个正常的传统周里，我是一个真正的操作者。我通常早上四五点起床，取决于是否要锻炼。然后我开始查看报告。我会查看每家商店的进度，以及他们的同比增长情况。我们的客流量是什么样子？这就是我的一天是如何开始的。你在看什么？具体来说，你看的是什么健康报告？是怎样的？是的，我认为有一些最重要的指标，比如客流量同比增长情况和我们的转化率，我们的业务是否在增长。所以我觉得高水平的指标，就像我在组织中说的，每家商店每个部门都要独立运行。
Sometimes when you can be part of a bigger group, they look at averages or the holes all aggregated and rolled up. I don't like to look at things that way. I'll never compare a store in Texas to a store in Florida because they're two different markets. I look at our stores and how they perform within the markets where we do business. So I look at that traffic dictates what the future month is going to look like. Conversion tells me how well we're doing with opportunities. At the end of the day, we're a franchise business. So we don't sell or service anything that you can't get at a lot of different places. The only differentiator we're trying to create that we have is the level of service that we offer. And the way we view it is that has to start internally before externally.
有时候，当你成为一个更大的团体的一部分时，他们会看到平均数或汇总的漏洞。我不喜欢以这种方式看待事物。我永远不会将德克萨斯州的商店与佛罗里达州的商店进行比较，因为它们是两个不同的市场。我看我们的商店在我们经营业务的市场中的表现。所以我看那些流量决定了未来一个月会是什么样子。转化率告诉我我们与机会的表现如何。最终，我们是一个特许经营业务。所以我们不销售或服务你在很多不同地方都可以得到的任何东西。我们试图创造的唯一区别是我们提供的服务水平。我们的看法是，这种区别必须从内部开始，然后才能在外部体现出来。
If I'm not giving stock to our employees, if I'm not giving them career opportunities, if I don't give them good benefits, they're not going to treat our guests well. And at the end of the day, the best word amount is the level of service that you offer. So that's kind of how I focus on that high level stuff. Now, we have a lot of different departments within a big organization. So I meet with all of my direct reports at a minimum once a week and some of them I talk to daily.
如果我不给我们的员工股票，如果我不给他们职业发展机会，如果我不给他们好处，他们就不会好好对待我们的客人。最终，最重要的是你提供的服务水平。这就是我关注高层次事务的方式。现在，大型组织内有许多不同部门。因此，我至少每周与所有直接报告的员工会面一次，有些人我每天都会与他们交谈。
We have a D and I officer who's also in charge of training. We meet once a week. A gentleman in charge of our IT. We meet once a week. Our operations guy. He has to deal with me every day. Our CFO, you know, naturally we talk daily, but the accounting folks in the field. It's more of a weekly event. But it's also navigating the business. You know, it's not equal across the board.
我们有一个负责多样性和包容性事务的官员，同时也负责培训工作。我们每周见面一次。还有一个负责我们IT部门的绅士，我们每周见面一次。还有我们的运营负责人，他每天都要和我打交道。我们的首席财务官，你知道，自然地我们每天交流，但是我们现场的会计人员。更多是每周见一次面。但也要不断地适应业务变化。你知道的，这在不同部门之间是不平等的。
The needs of our Chevrolet store in Indianapolis is going to be different than the needs of our Chevrolet store in Jacksonville. So we have to be really good listeners and understand what the needs are of our store and how do we serve for them. And then it's the partnership with the manufacturer. I don't have a business without them.
我们在印第安纳波利斯的雪佛兰店的需求将会与我们在杰克逊维尔的雪佛兰店的需求不同。因此，我们必须成为真正优秀的倾听者，了解我们店铺的需求以及如何为它们提供服务。然后就是与制造商的合作伙伴关系。没有他们，我就没有生意。
We don't own 160 stores. We own the rights to these franchises and the ability to operate them on behalf of the manufacturer. I never lost sight that we're simply part of the supply chain. And we think an important part of the supply chain. I think software makes us more efficient and makes us more transparent. But I think people create the experience.
我们并不拥有160家商店。我们拥有这些特许经营权，并有能力代表制造商经营这些店铺。我从未忘记我们只是供应链的一部分。而且我们认为供应链中的重要一环。我认为软件使我们更加高效和透明。但我认为是人们营造了体验。
And every day we focus on how do we balance those two to make sure we're employing with our people the software that they need to be transparent with our guests, while also being efficient at what we're trying to do at the same time. You are infamous for keeping the names of the stores. You enter a market, you let the store, you don't change it to Joe Smith's auto sales or auto group. I mean, you keep it as the local name.
每天我们都关注如何平衡这两者，确保我们与员工一起使用他们需要的软件，使我们能够透明地与客人交流，同时在我们正在尝试做的事情上也变得更高效。您以保留商店名称而臭名昭著。您进入一个市场，保留商店名称，不将其更改为乔·史密斯的汽车销售或汽车集团。我的意思是，您保留当地名称。
What are the primary reasons for doing that? Many. Some of them respect for the dealer, knowing that we're steward and what they created. Some of them spent a generation or two building their name and building the market. And it's not just keeping the name the same, but it's understanding we now have the responsibility to uphold that name and continue to bring the level of service that they brought to the market. That is daunting and challenging, but it's one we take real serious.
做这件事的主要原因是什么？有很多。其中一些是出于对经销商的尊重，知道我们是管理者以及他们所创造的产品。有些经销商花了一两代人的时间建立了自己的名声和市场。不仅仅是要保持品牌名称不变，而且我们现在有责任维护这个名字，并继续将他们为市场带来的服务水平提高。这是令人畏惧和具有挑战性的，但我们非常认真地对待这个责任。
And we've honored those commitments with the groups that we've purchased and had long conversations with the gentleman on Park Place about that as well, because in my opinion, he had a national brand recognition. Because those stores operated so well and the level of service they offered their clients was just second to none. So this brand equity in the market in the name, the reputation within the communities and their engagement, it doesn't make sense to meet a plug on a different name and wipe away that history.
我们对购买的集团和帕克广场的绅士进行了充分尊重承诺，并进行了长时间的交谈，因为在我看来，他拥有国家级品牌知名度。因为这些店铺经营得非常出色，他们为客户提供的服务水平无与伦比。因此，在市场上品牌资产、名声、社区声誉及其参与度这些方面，用不同的名字并抹去历史是没有意义的。
That history is meaningful and it should be built off of it. You know, I can only speak for myself and when I'm here now, I can't speak to the future, but I would never want to put the Asbury name on dealerships. I just don't think that's appropriate. And we're community driven.
那段历史是有意义的，我们应该建立在这基础上。你知道，我只能代表我自己，在现在的时候，我不能预测未来，但我永远不会想要把阿斯伯里的名字放在经销店上。我觉得这样做不合适。我们是以社区为驱动力的。
You know, when I go to Indianapolis and I talk to our associates or I talk to our guests, we're not talking about Dallas. We're talking about things that are going on in Indianapolis. We're talking about local events and what we're engaged in the community and events like that. So that's how we kind of look at our business. We're individual stores within these markets. Every store matters to us and in our the reputations of the brands that we represent are certainly a huge part of our stewardship.
你知道的，当我去印第安纳波利斯和我们的员工交谈，或者与我们的客人交谈时，我们并不是在谈论达拉斯。我们在讨论印第安纳波利斯正在发生的事情。我们在谈论当地的活动以及我们正在参与社区活动等等。这就是我们如何看待我们的业务的方式。我们是市场内的独立店铺。每家店铺对我们都很重要，我们代表的品牌声誉是我们责任的重要组成部分。
What about stores that unaffiliated with brands, you know, independent stores? Do you believe in that? What are your thoughts on that? So, you know, that varies. We have bought single stores where we have incorporated the name. The quickest one that comes to mind right now is in Colorado. We bought a Rapahoe Hyundai and we call it Mike Shaw at this point.
关于没有品牌关联的商店，你知道，独立商店呢？你相信这种商店吗？你对此有什么看法？所以，你知道，情况各不相同。我们曾经购买过一些独立商店，然后将其纳入我们的体系。现在我想到的一个最快的例子就是在科罗拉多州。我们买下了一个名为Rapahoe Hyundai的商店，现在我们称之为Mike Shaw。
And the reason we do that is we had a Subaru store in that market with the Mike Shaw name. We bought another Subaru store. We call that. That was a single point store. We call that Mike Shaw as well. Mike Shaw is a tremendous dealer. He's done a lot in Colorado. He did a lot for that state. He did a lot for his employees. We thought it made sense to put the Mike Shaw name on there. But same example in Colorado, we keep the Stevenson name there and we keep the Miller name there as well within that marketplace.
我们这样做的原因是我们在那个市场有一家以迈克肖的名字命名的斯巴鲁店。我们买了另一家斯巴鲁店。我们也把它命名为迈克肖。迈克肖是一位非常出色的经销商。他在科罗拉多州做了很多事情。他为那个州做了很多贡献。他也为他的员工做了很多。我们认为在那家店铺上使用迈克肖的名字是有意义的。但同样的例子在科罗拉多州，我们也保留了史蒂文森和米勒的名字在那个市场里。
You know, how are you driving success throughout your organization in ways that maybe are not easy to quantify? Right? We talked culture and we know that permeates with the organization. But, you know, how are you driving success reorganization? And like I said, specifically, if I'm a shareholder, right? And you tell me, hey, I'm not changing the name of this group. Okay, so I may say, okay, I don't think that's a good idea. I think it's a bad idea. It doesn't matter at the end of the day. That's your decision. But anyways, with that said, like, are there any other areas that are maybe a bit more, you know, not, or not as visible to the market or to outsiders where you are driving real success in organization?
你知道的，你是如何在整个组织中推动成功的方式，也许并不容易量化的呢？对吧？我们谈到了文化，我们知道文化贯穿整个组织。但是，你知道的，你是如何推动组织的成功的重新组织？就像我说的，如果我是一个股东，对吧？你告诉我，嘿，我不准备改变这个团队的名字。好吧，那么我可能会说，好吧，我觉得这不是一个好主意。我认为这是一个糟糕的主意。不管怎样，最终这是你的决定。但无论如何，话虽如此，还有其他一些领域可能对市场或外部人员不太明显，你是在那些领域推动组织取得真正成功吗？
So I'll start off by with a disclosure that basically says, I'm that guy that sees new technology and immediately thinks my world's going to change overnight. We're going to become so successful. So keep that in mind when I make this comment. I would say our world is a journey and investing my whole adult life in doing it and knowing how hard the people work in a store. You want to make the business as transparent as possible. Consumers don't like, they just say they don't like to negotiate a car sale. You'd be amazed how many car people don't like to negotiate either. You wish it was just more transactional.
所以我先声明一下，我是那种看到新技术就立刻觉得我的世界会一夜之间改变的人。我们会变得非常成功。在我发表这个看法时，请记住这一点。我认为我们的世界是一个旅程，投入了我整个成年生活来做这件事，也知道店铺里的人们有多努力。你希望让业务尽可能透明。消费者不喜欢讨价还价，他们只是说他们不喜欢还价买车。你会惊讶地发现有多少汽车销售人员也不喜欢还价。你希望这只是更多交易的过程。
We got passionate back in 1819. That old statement, where do you think the puck is going? We really were pressed with Carvona and their rate of growth and their ability to sell used cars online. No company is perfect, but that was interesting to us. So, you know, we started looking at that and we're a franchisee, right? So, I can't have exclusive software because now I put myself at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace with these franchises that, you know, we're all part of the same organization. So, we really try and share all the software we have.
我们从1819年开始就充满热情。那句老话：“你觉得冰球会去哪里呢？”我们真的对Carvona及其增长速度和在线销售二手车的能力印象深刻。没有公司是完美的，但这对我们来说很有趣。所以，你知道，我们开始关注这个，并且我们是加盟商，对吧？所以，我不能拥有独家软件，因为这样会让自己在市场上与其他加盟商竞争时处于不利地位，你知道，我们都是同一个组织的一部分。所以，我们真的尽力分享我们所有的软件。
We built a software we named it Clicklane, but it's a transactional software online. I can't tell you how many private dealer groups have been here over the years that we fully expose the software, how we use it, what we do, and allow them to take all the information from us that they want. Because my goal is to make sure the franchise system stays forever. I think it's the best model, but there's ways to improve upon it. I don't think the future is a three hour transaction in a showroom. I think if you can get the transaction time down to 15 minutes and make it more about the experience, that's better the long term future. And that was the domination behind us building that tool.
我们开发了一个名为Clicklane的软件，但它是一个在线交易软件。多年来，许多私人经销商团体来到这里完全了解我们的软件，我们如何使用它，我们的操作方式，并允许他们从我们这里获取他们想要的所有信息。因为我的目标是确保特许经营系统永存。我认为这是最好的模式，但是有改进的方法。我不认为未来是在展厅里进行三个小时的交易。我认为如果你可以将交易时间缩短到15分钟，并使其更注重体验，那么长期未来会更好。这就是我们开发这个工具背后的支配力量。
Back in 1819, I went to a software company because I saw a commercial for Domino's Pizza and they showed the Pizza Tracker. And you know this from your experience. 70% of the calls that come into a dealership are for service and they're checking status on their cars. And you pay people to move in a dealership in the handset or stationery so they get voicemail. The call doesn't get answered. And it's a horrible experience. So I went to our software partner and said, "Hey, this Domino's Pizza Tracker. I want to put this on our service software. I want to be able to every time that car moves in the shop. It sends a text message to the car. Alerting them where the car is and what's going on and their ability to talk to the technician. Either through video or through photos and that kind of thing. And so there's little things like that. Now that technology is out there for a lot of people to have and I think that's great. But that's what we're working on. We're working on software to say, how do we employ our people to do more of the transactions? And a faster man or more transparent.
1819年，我去了一家软件公司，因为我看到了Domino's Pizza的广告，他们展示了Pizza Tracker。你通过经验知道，70%来电都是关于汽车维修状态的。在经销商里，你花钱让员工在手机或固定电话上移动，结果是他们接不到电话，这是一种糟糕的体验。所以我去找我们的软件合作伙伴说：“嘿，这个Domino's Pizza Tracker。我想把它放在我们的服务软件上。我想每次汽车在维修店内移动时，都会向车主发送短信，告知他们汽车的位置和正在发生的事情，以及他们与技术人员交流的能力。可以通过视频或照片等方式。所以我们正在着手研究这些小的细节。现在很多人都可以使用这项技术，我认为这很棒。但我们正在研发软件，以便让我们的员工能够更有效率、更透明地进行交易。”
And it's just laws of persuasion in the sense of nothing's good or bad to you have something to compare to. So our pricing has to be on spot. The products that we offer have to be on spot. The lenders that we offer for you to do financing. You need to be able to choose the lender that you want, not the lender that we tell you to go with. So I think that's a good thing. So I think as long as we can invert that process, make it transparent for you, our hope is over time, just like EVs. It'll catch on and the consumers will become more comfortable transacting online. You know, right now it's only 15% of our business, but we're hopeful that we'll continue. When you say 15%, that's 15% completely online. So 15% of the cars that we sell are transacting online. We have a showroom application as well.
这只是说服法则的含义，即没有什么是好或坏的，除非你有东西可以进行比较。因此，我们的定价必须准确。我们提供的产品必须准确。我们为您提供的贷款人进行融资。您需要能够选择您想要的贷款人，而不是我们告诉您一定要选择的贷款人。所以我认为这是一件好事。我认为只要我们能逆转这一过程，使其对您透明化，我们的希望是随着时间流逝，就像电动汽车一样。它会受到欢迎，消费者会更容易在线交易。你知道，现在我们业务的15%是在线交易，但我们希望能继续发展。当您说15％时，这是完全在线交易的15％。我们还有展厅应用。
An example would be you're sitting on your couch. You see an ad for an F-150. You go on our site. You see the F-150. You submit your financing. You go through the F&I process. And you say, you know what? I'm not going to sign the documents until I come in and drive the vehicle. Or you only do a portion of it. And you say, you know what? Until I drive it. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to.
举个例子，比如你坐在沙发上。你看到了一则关于F-150的广告。你进入我们的网站。你看到了F-150。你提交了融资申请。你进行了财务和保险手续。然后你说，你知道吗？在我试驾这辆车之前我不会签署文件。或者你可能只完成了其中的一部分。然后你说，你知道吗？在我试驾之前，我不想。我不想。我不想。我不想。我不想。我不想。我不想。我不想。
I don't want to. I don't want to do anymore. Then you come in. You drive the vehicle and you have the option to finish it online yourself or go through the dealership and finish the process that way. 70% of the transactions that are done in Clicklane are done on the phone. They're not done on a tablet or a desktop.
我不想。我不想再做了。那么你就进来吧。你驾驶车辆，可以选择自己在线完成或者通过经销商完成整个过程。在Clicklane上完成的交易中，70%是通过电话完成的，而不是在平板电脑或台式机上完成的。
It doesn't surprise me. Yeah. You know what surprises me and keep in mind I'm an old man. You know, visually the screen is only so big on a cell phone. It just doesn't to me give the great visual display that an iPad could or a desktop. But it's obviously convenient. Yeah. No, I have this argument with my wife like every day.
这并不让我感到惊讶。是的。你知道让我感到惊讶的是，记住我是个老头了。你知道，在手机上屏幕大小是有限的。对我来说，它并不能像iPad或者台式电脑那样提供很好的视觉显示。但显然它很方便。是的。不，我每天都和我妻子为这个问题争论。
There's a huge computer right in front of her jeans on her phone. I'm like, what are you doing? Like this is microscopic. Use the computer. So, you know, I think that's just, you know, we're so conditioned to using the phone that sometimes it's just easier to, you know, use that for, you know, and, you know, just shopping anything really.
她的牛仔裤前面有一台巨大的电脑，她却在手机上看。我就想，你在干啥？这太微小了。用电脑吧。所以，我觉得我们太习惯用手机了，有时候就觉得更方便，可以用手机购物或做任何事情。
Well, I was going to say, which I think is great and, you know, transitioning where we're starting a relationship with Tachyon where we'll be able to do all those transactions, all that software, right, repair orders off a cellular phone. If we choose, if the employee chooses to do that, we think that's exciting. So all transitioning deeper into tech.
嗯，我本来想说，我认为这是很棒的，你知道，我们正在与Tachyon建立关系，我们将能够通过手机完成所有这些交易，所有这些软件，对吧，维修订单。如果我们选择这样做，如果员工选择这样做，我们认为这是令人兴奋的。因此，我们正在向技术深度转型。
AI. I mean, are we, are we, are we, are we, are we, are we, are we, are we, are we, like, are you, how are you looking at this? Right. Is this, is this going to replace people? Right. You mentioned getting the transaction time down to 15 minutes. Is AI going to replace people? Or are we just talking about something that is a tool that our people are going to use to make them more efficient, a combination of both? Where are you at?
我是说，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，我们是不是，就像，你是怎么看待这个问题的？对吧。这个，这个会取代人吗？对吧。你提到将交易时间缩短到15分钟。AI会取代人吗？或者我们只是在谈论一种工具，让我们的员工更加高效，两者兼而有之？你怎么看？
Yeah. I said it earlier. I think software makes us more efficient and it makes the process quicker if it's good software, but people make the experience. This isn't, you know, buying something off his shelf in a, in a department store. These are expensive transactions. They're complicated software packages within these cars. People want to learn and educate themselves. So there's a huge need for people.
是的。我说过了。我认为软件让我们更高效，如果是好软件的话，它会让过程更快，但是人们才是体验的关键。这不是在百货商店随便买东西。这些都是昂贵的交易。汽车里有复杂的软件包。人们想要学习和提升自己。所以需要有大量的人才。
I think the ability to speed the process up is where is key. I have a saying that I try and use in the company to get people on my side. People love to buy things. They hate to be sold things. And the more we can offer them products or software to allow them to make the decisions, we're all consumers. I know I love to buy things, especially if I want it.
我认为加快流程的能力是关键所在。我在公司中常用一句话来取悦他人：人们喜欢购买物品，却不喜欢被推销产品。只要我们能提供产品或软件让他们自主决策，我们都是消费者。我知道自己喜欢购物，尤其是当我想要的时候。
And if I feel like something's being forced on me or if it's being a precious sale, all of a sudden I don't want it. So we really try and use that balance of the software with the people to create a better experience. Your point on the 15 minute transaction, I think is imperative because, again, three hours in a showroom and this day and age, we're an instant gratification society. We want to get a good deal. So show me that it's a good deal in a timely manner. Let's not go back and forth. Don't wait 15 minutes to give me your best price. Give me your best price up front. And let's see if this transaction makes sense or not.
如果我觉得有什么东西被强迫给我，或者如果是一次宝贵的销售，突然间我就不想要了。所以我们真的试图在软件和人员之间取得平衡，创造更好的体验。你关于15分钟交易的观点，我认为非常重要，因为再三小时在展厅，而在这个时代，我们是一个追求即时满足的社会。我们想要得到一个好价格。所以展示给我一个及时的好价格。让我们不要来回磋商。不要等15分钟才给我你的最佳价格。最好先给我你的最佳价格。然后让我们看看这笔交易是否合理。
You just set a beautiful statement. People like to buy things and always be sold. So I listened to this podcast recently with the founder and CEO of Grove House Hospitality. It's a restaurant. It's like four or five, six restaurants in New York. This guy was always a good bond trader partnered up with the chef, opened his restaurant group. Now today he's the owner of some of the most hot and just the longest waitlist in New York restaurants, Missy, Lilly, on a bunch of other ones.
你刚说了一句很有道理的话。人们喜欢购买东西，也乐于被卖。所以我最近听了一个关于Grove House Hospitality创始人兼CEO的播客。他们经营的是一家餐厅，在纽约有四五六家餐厅。这个人曾经是一名优秀的债券交易员，他和一位大厨合作，开设了自己的餐厅集团。如今，他拥有了纽约最受追捧的、排队最久的餐厅，比如Missy和Lilly等。
Anyways, long story short, what I found fascinating about this podcast that he was on, his name is Sean Feeney. He was talking about creating a culture where you are demand driven, meaning you always have more people that want to do business with you, right? Then you can take on it. It's not from a bragging perspective. It's building a healthy business. And anyways, I share that because I think the point you're making is I've always had this thesis, the idea is like who will be the auto retailer that will be able to create a culture where the car is not commoditized. However, however that happens, I don't know how it happens. I don't know what they do in the background, but how will that one day happen? Will it happen? Will there be drops, right? What a lot of modern lifestyle brands do where they do a drop or they release products on a certain day, limited supply? I don't know, just something.
无论如何，长话短说，我在这个播客上发现有趣的是，他的名字叫肖恩·费尼。他谈到要创建一个需求驱动的文化，意思是你总是有更多的人想要和你做生意，对吗？然后你可以应对。这不是出于炫耀的角度，而是建立一个健康的企业。无论如何，我分享这个是因为我认为你的观点是，我一直有这样的论点，那就是谁将能够创造一个文化，使汽车不会成为商品化。然而，怎么发生的，我不知道会怎么发生。我不知道他们在幕后做些什么，但有一天会发生什么呢？会发生吗？会有跌落吗？很多现代生活方式品牌所做的，他们发布产品的方式是限量供应或者在某一天释放产品？我不知道，只是一些想法。
And again, it's tough to do with commodities, but always something that went through my mind. Like as a dealer, I always hated that I was always like, you know, quote, quote, quote, chasing the customer. That just didn't sit well with me with my philosophy in business is, you know, I do believe that to build a healthy business, there's something there's something to be said to being sold out and to being scarce, right? You want to be valuable? You want to be scarce. So that's my, that's my monologue on scarcity. But I do agree with that philosophy a lot. And I highly recommend anyone listening to this that they check out this podcast, right? Sean Feeney invests like the best because this was just a fascinating look into building, you know, a business that just pulls in demand. I think that's the, that's again, I'm the guy that buys that software and thinks we solve the problems of the world. That's our journey. And honestly, you know, we can't control how many vehicles get manufactured. So your day supply is going to vary and it's hard to do scarcity. But the one thing you can control is the experience that you give.
然后，对于商品来说很难做到，但我总是会想到这点。作为一个交易商，我总是讨厌自己总是像追逐客户一样。这与我的经营哲学不相符，我相信，要建立一个健康的业务，就要懂得卖光和稀缺的重要性，对吧？你想要有价值吗？你想要稀缺。这就是我对稀缺的理解。我非常赞同这种哲学，我强烈推荐任何听到这段话的人都去听这个播客，对吧？肖恩·费尼投资如行业最佳，这是一个令人着迷的建立需求的业务的视角。我认为，我是那个购买软件并认为我们解决了世界问题的人。这是我们的旅程。坦率地说，我们无法控制生产多少车辆。因此，库存量会有所变化，稀缺会很难做到。但你能控制的就是你给予客户的体验。
And it's difficult. And I say this is an older guy who's been doing this a long time. Behavior is hard to change. And you know, this from experience and working in a dealership, the software in our industry has been antiquated and hasn't allowed us to offer a great experience. That's changing. But now the tough part is the software is going to be ahead of the people. And when you have someone that's been in the industry 15 or 20 years used to doing it a certain way, they're going to want to continue to do it. Change is difficult.
这很困难。我可以说这是一个从事这个行业很长时间的老人。改变行为很难。通过经验和在经销商工作，我们行业的软件一直过时，无法提供出色的体验。现在正在改变。但是现在困难的部分是软件将领先于人。当你有人在这个行业工作了15或20年，习惯了某种方式，他们会想要继续这样做。改变很困难。
So we're trying to not, you know, in the concept of going back to the EVs, we're not trying to flood the market with EVs. We're trying to take slow bites at the elephant, look for hand raises in our organizations where leaders are more innovative and find ways to really pilot them with software to allow that to change the transactions. You know, we have some stores that don't have finance managers. You know, it's done by the product specialists. It works really well. And it works really well because the employees, the leadership are committed to it. But if you force that on a group that isn't philosophically committed to that, you know, go out of their way to try and make things fail. Sometimes unintentionally, it's just, it's hard to change behavior.
所以我们试图不要，你知道，在回到电动汽车的概念上，我们并不打算让市场充斥着电动汽车。我们试图慢慢地来，寻找组织内那些更具创新性的领导者，真正试验软件来改变交易。你知道，我们有一些门店没有财务经理，而是由产品专家来负责。这种方式运作得非常好。这种方式成功的原因是员工和领导都对此承诺。但是如果你强迫一个不具备这种哲学承诺的团队，他们可能会尽力让事情失败。有时候是无意识的，改变行为很难。
So we think at the end of the day, in order for us to be different within the markets we have, we have to be fully transparent. We have to put as much of the process in the consumers' hands. I call this a journey up a mountain. You know, if you're 20 years old buying your first car, 50 years old buying your 15th car, or 70 years old, you know, maybe buying your last car, everyone wants to do the transaction differently. What we should be able to do is very quickly and efficiently find out what's most important to you and the Mary, you want to go down that road. And if you're into technology and you want to make this a full-tech experience, let's do that. If you want to slow that process down and you don't feel comfortable with that and you want to do it a different way, let's do that.
因此，我们认为归根结底，为了在我们所处的市场中与众不同，我们必须完全透明。我们必须将尽可能多的流程交到消费者手中。我把这称为登山之旅。你知道，无论是20岁购买第一辆车的人，还是50岁购买第15辆车的人，或者70岁购买最后一辆车的人，每个人都希望以不同的方式进行交易。我们应该能够迅速高效地找出对你而言最重要的事情，然后根据你的需求来展开。如果你喜欢科技，想要让这成为一次全科技体验，那么我们就这么做。如果你想要减缓这个过程，不太舒服，想以不同的方式来进行，我们也可以。
We do this every day for a living. We should be able to adapt to the consumers' needs and not tell every consumer we have a one-size-fits-all. You have to go through this process. People don't want to hear that and it's not fun. And you know this firsthand, people love to buy a car. It can become a top experience if we take that emotional experience and fun out of it for them. And you do that by creating a long-gated process. So the more you can shrink the transaction time and the more you can talk about the experience side of it, the product itself, that's where you create a different experience. That's where you drive more business. And just like restaurants, you brought that up and I'm not familiar with that chain, but any local market, there's really popular restaurants that have a weight. And it's usually because they always have great food and they have great service.
我们每天都为生计而做这个。我们应该能够适应消费者的需求，而不是告诉每个消费者我们有一款适合所有人的产品。你必须经历这个过程。人们不想听到这个，这也不是一件有趣的事情。你亲身经历过，人们喜欢购买汽车。如果我们把情感体验和乐趣从中剥离出来，这可能会成为一次糟糕的体验。你可以通过创造一个冗长的购买过程来做到这一点。越是能缩短交易时间，越是能谈论关于体验的一面，产品本身，那就会创造一种不同的体验。这将带来更多的商业机会。就像餐厅一样，你提到了餐厅，我对那个连锁店不熟悉，但在任何本地市场，总有一些非常受欢迎的餐馆总是排队等位。这通常是因为它们总是有美味的食物和优质的服务。
To me in business, consistency means success. And what I learned from the military when they're training you in those situations, consistency matters. It means the difference between someone living or dying in some cases. So repetition, training, consistency is really important. But as a consumer, it's really important to know before I go somewhere, I know what to expect. I know what the experience is going to be like. I know that they're going to take care of me. I know it's going to be fast and efficient. That's how you grow your business in my mind. The key is how do you get there? How do you convince all your folks that this is the journey we need to go on?
在商业中，对我来说，一致性意味着成功。我从军队中学到的是，在那些训练中，一致性至关重要。在某些情况下，这意味着生与死的区别。因此，重复、训练、一致性真的很重要。但作为消费者，了解我去某处之前，知道可以期待什么是非常重要的。我知道体验会是怎样的。我知道他们会照顾我。我知道会很快、高效。这就是我心目中发展业务的方式。关键是如何做到这一点？如何说服所有员工我们需要走上这条路？
I couldn't agree more. I mean, I'm an immediate business. It's all about repetitions in this business. Because anyone can come up with something novel or some great content, but you do it for one day, one week, that you're no good. Try doing it for a year, two years, three years, a decade. Now you have an audience and people are listening. Correct. Agree.
我绝对同意。我的意思是，我是一个即时的生意人。在这个行业里重复非常重要。因为任何人都可以提出一些新颖或优质的内容，但如果只做一天或一周，那是不够的。试着做一年、两年、三年甚至十年。现在你拥有了观众，有人在倾听你。正确。同意。
In the future, any potential new entrants, new new brands coming to the US that you're excited, concerned about, obviously, China's a major talking point here. Where's your head on this? I love open marketplaces and I hate controlled markets. I honestly think with more competition, not everybody makes it, but everybody learns from it. I think that pushes everyone to be better and it brings better products to the market. I have a light familiarity with a company called BYD. What I've been an automotive person looking at their cars, looking at their product, I think they're really great. It seems like a great product. I don't know much about the organization, but the products and the price point seems really interesting to me. But I think over time, like anything else, there'll be some consolidation as well. I think these next 10 years are really going to be transformational for the business that you and I have spent a lot of time working in.
将来，任何潜在的新进入者，新品牌进入美国，你对此感到兴奋、担忧，很明显，中国在这里是一个主要话题。你对此有什么看法？我喜欢开放的市场，讨厌受控制的市场。我真的认为，更多的竞争会让一切变得更好，不是所有人都会成功，但每个人都会从中受益。我对比亚迪这家公司有一定了解。作为一名汽车行业的人员，我看过他们的车，看过他们的产品，我觉得它们真的很棒。看起来是一个很棒的产品。我对这家公司的组织结构了解不多，但他们的产品和价格点对我非常有吸引力。但我认为随着时间的推移，像其他任何事物一样，也会有一些整合。我认为接下来的10年对我们花了很多时间工作的这个行业来说将会是变革的。
I think that's exciting and fun. Quite honestly, as an old guy, I'm looking forward to that. I can tell you, I'm sure a lot of our younger folks are really looking forward to that as well. But technology is going to change. Hopefully how we transact is going to change, how we communicate with our consumers is going to change. I think that's exciting for us. There'll be bumps along the road. It'll be lumpy. No one's going to get everything right, but hopefully we'll learn from it, grow from it, and keep going. I'm really hopeful for the innovation that's coming to this space, post on the product side and on the software side for the dealer bar to do a better job servicing their clients and guests.
我认为那很令人兴奋而有趣。老实说，作为一个老家伙，我很期待这一切。我可以告诉你，我相信很多年轻人也在翘首以待。但科技将会改变。希望我们的交易方式会改变，我们与消费者沟通的方式也会改变。我觉得这对我们来说很令人兴奋。在前进的道路上会有一些坎坷。会出现一些波折。没有人能完全做对一切，但希望我们能从中学到经验，成长并不断前行。我对这个领域即将到来的创新充满希望，无论是产品方面还是软件方面，经销商酒吧都可以做得更好，为客户和客人提供更好的服务。
My favorite question as of late is anything keeping you up at night? I think we're all wired differently as people. I'm so jealous of the people that I can stare at night. They never worry about anything. I wasn't blessed with that. I'm the guy that worries about every little thing. I care a lot about our business. I worry about our people. I worry about stability. My dad died really young. I grew up with a single parent. We moved a lot. That made an unstable environment tough for a kid to grow up in. We really want to create a stable environment for our employees. Even where they can grow their careers and create stability. If their kids never sense instability, that's success to us. We really want to take care of our associates, give them an opportunity to grow their career, give them an opportunity to sit in any seat that they want if they're willing to bet on themselves and take that journey. We talk about being the most guest-centric automotive retailer.
最近我最喜欢的问题是“有什么让你晚上睡不着觉的吗？”我觉得每个人的内心是不同的。我很羡慕那些晚上可以安心入眠的人。他们从不担心任何事情。可惜我不是那样的人。我是一个担心每件小事的人。我非常在意我们的企业。我担心我们的员工。我担心稳定性。我爸爸过世得很早。我是在单亲家庭长大的。我们经常搬家。这让不稳定的环境对一个孩子的成长来说是件困难的事情。我们真的想要为我们的员工创造一个稳定的环境。即使他们能够发展自己的职业并创造稳定。如果他们的孩子从来没有感受到不稳定，对我们来说就是成功。我们真的希望照顾好我们的员工，给他们发展职业的机会，让他们有机会在任何他们想要的位置上坐下，只要他们愿意相信自己并踏上这段旅程。我们谈论成为最以顾客为中心的汽车零售商。
There's several parts to that. We have to service our customers better than our competition within our markets and we have to give them what they want. Our partners are bifurcated in our deal because we're public. It's our shareholders and it's our manufacturers. We have to be really good partners to our manufacturers, understand what's important to them and deliver to them. In our shareholders, I'm thankful. Our largest shareholders have been long-term shareholders. They love the space. They're committed to the space. They look at the long view. They love the vision that we have for the business and I'm so thankful that we have them supporting us. I'm lucky to have a board that's so uniquely talented in their careers and the seats that they've sat in and how helpful they are to the management team in getting us to think about our business and grow.
这涉及到几个方面。首先，我们必须在市场中比我们的竞争对手更好地为客户提供服务，给他们想要的东西。由于我们上市，我们的合作伙伴在这笔交易中是双重的。他们是我们的股东和制造商。我们必须成为我们制造商真正的好伙伴，了解对他们来说重要的是什么，并为他们提供帮助。在我们的股东面前，我感到很感激。我们最大的股东是长期持有者。他们热爱这个领域。他们对这个领域承诺不移。他们看重长期发展。他们喜欢我们为企业设定的愿景，我很感激他们一直支持我们。我很幸运有一个董事会，在他们的职业生涯和所任职位上都拥有独特的才华，并且在帮助管理团队思考我们的业务和成长方面非常有帮助。
As long as we take care of our clients, as long as we take care of our employees and we're representing our partners well, that's part of our vision to really grow as an organization continue to build. Our goal is not to be the biggest. Our goal is to really be a place where people want to work and do business and where our partners think that we've been good partners to them to work with and for. What's next for Asbury? Get better at what we do. We're really focused on software right now and implementation. We've invested more in training. This business is a great business to come into but you know this firsthand. There's not enough training and enough training in all the different positions and ongoing training. We've built that out.
只要我们照顾好我们的客户，只要我们照顾好我们的员工，并且代表我们的合作伙伴，这都是我们愿景的一部分，为了真正发展成为一个持续成长的组织。我们的目标不是成为最大的公司。我们的目标是真正成为一个人们愿意工作和做生意的地方，让我们的合作伙伴觉得我们是他们想要合作的好伙伴。Asbury接下来会怎样？不断提升我们所做的事情。我们现在真正关注软件和实施。我们投入更多培训。这是一个很棒的行业，但你知道这一点。在各个不同的职位上，缺乏足够的培训，而且缺乏持续的培训。我们已经改进了这一点。
We've added a lot of trainers to our organization. So we're trying to get better with software. We're trying to train our people better off of more career path opportunities with the hope that we can have more success down the road at differentiating ourselves from the other deals we compete with. I have a way to close my friend. I love to hear it. David, truly really enjoyed the conversation. Thanks for sharing your insight. It's clear why you guys are so successful. I think that attention to detail. I think that's one of my takeaways here. How that permeates to the organization. And I just want to wish you all the best. Thanks for coming on. Sharing your insight. We're going to have to do this again. There's going to be a lot more to talk about.
我们的组织加入了许多培训师，所以我们正在努力改进软件。我们正在努力为我们的员工提供更多职业发展机会，希望我们能在将来取得更多成功，以区别于我们竞争的其他交易。我有一个办法可以关闭我的朋友。我很乐意听到这个。大卫，我真的很享受这次对话。谢谢你分享你的见解。你们为何如此成功显而易见。我认为注重细节是我的一个收获。我想这种精神渗透到了整个组织。我只想祝愿你一切顺利。谢谢你的参与，分享你的见解。我们将不得不再次进行这样的对话。将会有许多更多的话题可以讨论。
As you said, we're going through a super transitional time in the industry. But with that said, thanks for coming on and we will talk soon. This was a lot of fun. I appreciate your time and enjoyed it a lot. Thank you. All right. Hope you enjoyed that episode. Check out the link to the show. Subscribe to the show and check the show notes for links to what we talked about. Thanks for tuning in. I'll see you guys next time.
正如你所说，我们正处在这个行业一个非常转型的时期。不过话虽如此，感谢你的加入，我们会很快再聊。这真的很有趣，我很感激你的时间，也非常享受。谢谢你。好了，希望你喜欢这一集。点击链接观看节目，订阅节目，并查看节目说明中我们谈到的内容。感谢您的收听，我们下次再见。