About Me
Everybody has an ABOUT US section - Nobody has an ABOUT ME section.
I asked for input from some of my friends (car dealer principals). They told me they didn’t care at all about the “us” and my support staff, but do care deeply about me and who I am. I am going to tell you about the “me” to see if I can help you.
I grew up in a nice neighborhood in Houston, Texas. Bunker Hill Village to be exact. My Dad was a share cropper’s son from Oklahoma who was an entrepreneur and did well in oil and gas. I have no doubt he would have been a great car man.
After receiving my undergraduate degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, I got my MBA from SMU with concentrations in finance, accounting, and organizational behavior.
Upon graduation my two best job choices were to work for an international steel trader in Manhattan (NY), or for Ford Motor Company as a Field Manager in Los Angeles. Since it was 1983 and Ford wasn’t trading well at the time, my Dad asked, “Why the f___ do you want to go to work for Ford?” I told him that it looked like a fun job.
Little did I know I was hired because Harry Wilson, Assistant District Manager in the L.A. District, wanted to beat the San Jose District in softball. They hired me, and we won!
I was fast tracked with Ford, started as a Field Manager in Southern California supporting some of the biggest dealerships in the country, before being promoted as a District Department Manager in the Phoenix District. Before I was 25 I became the youngest district department manager in the country for Ford. I was Marketing Manager and then Operations/Distribution Manager in Phoenix.
Then I got the call – Ralph Williams, my first and most important mentor in the car business, made me an offer I could not refuse with huge pay and a promise to teach me the car business. He was then running the 2nd largest Ford dealership in California and he taught me the car business inside and out.
I was Assistant to the General Manager and then became General Sales Manager for one of the largest dealerships in the country. From there I became President of Courtesy Pontiac Nissan, and throughout it all, I learned and digested the car business.
My ego became greater than God. Then I, through my ego, made a terrible business decision. It cost me a lot of money. I wish I had a “me” to talk to before I walked into that trap instead of following my ego. After that my ego went into check.
Fortunately, another mentor, Carl Westcott, told me something early in my career. He said, “I have little respect for those that succeed once, they may have just got lucky. I have great respect for those that succeed, fail, and succeed again and again!”
After that, in the 1990’s, I worked for Gulf States Toyota driving their marketing division, Gulf States Marketing, and then went back into retail in El Paso as the Director of Sales for the Dick Poe organization (Honda, Chrysler, Toyota and Pontiac). I was later lured to Albuquerque by my friend Ken Zangara.
In 2000 I decided to leave the retail car business and begin my own company, GCS Automotive, assisting dealers in operations, marketing and advertising. I have slashed prices (yes, I was the now retired Wholesale Harry) and ran high impact sales. My company has numerous agency relationships with dealers.
My personal passion has been to assist my dealers in all aspects of operations and success. This has led to natural organic growth of my consulting practice.
I have worked with dealerships before, during, and after the great automotive depression of 2009-2012. I have been a part of the evolvement of the digital marketing age and fully understand how to successfully merge traditional and digital.
I have assisted many dealers with pay plans that motivate rather than de-motivate staff. I have learned from seeing best in class practices and sometimes worst in class practices within dealerships and take great pride in assisting them in turnaround situations. I have worked with dealers in the development of business plans, buy/sells, and through some disastrous to stellar inventory transitions. I have helped negotiate and renegotiate vendor relationships to make them work long-term for both parties.
Bottom line - my passion is assisting dealers to succeed.
I may be a fit with you and your organization…and I may not. If I am not a fit I promise I will tell you before you have to tell me. If you want somebody to help with the hard decisions and not tell you what you want to hear…then I’m that guy. I love our business.