Connected at NADA 2024 Special Episode: Mobile Service with Ed Roberts and Jeff King from Bozard Ford Lincoln

Greg Uland: Hi, I'm Greg Uland with Reynolds and Reynolds, and this is Connected, Live at NADA. Very excited to sit down with two guests today at the show. We’ve got Ed Roberts, who's the chief operating officer at Bozard Ford Lincoln. And we also have Jeff King, who's the vice president and general manager of the store. Gentlemen, thanks so much for joining me.

Ed Roberts and Jeff King: Thanks for having us.

GU: Yeah, absolutely. No, it's going to be going to be a good show. But I'm curious for you, a really basic question like, why are you here, right? When you leave on Sunday or Monday, whenever you're heading back, What's going to make it a successful weekend? Like, what are you trying to accomplish while you're here?

Ed Roberts: So some things I want to make happen with the manufacturer or really get on the same page, get some alignment with the manufacturer. Those are always, if you're looking forward, there's always elements that you can tie in there. So that's one of the key factors I really want to make some ground up with. And then A.I. has just really gained some traction over the last 12 months. And I want to see where the right elements of A.I. can really complement our business. I wanna look at some of the stuff A.I. and then the world knows that we're huge in mobile. And with that I want something more than telematics for mobile. I want some elements where customers can see where vans are, like an Uber type app. So I'm looking for that kind of stuff.

GU: Very cool, very cool. So Jeff, I'll get to you in one second, but I want to double click on A.I. It's such a broad topic, and you said it right. Like what are you looking for when you say A.I. Because that could be I mean anybody can basically say we have A.I. So how are you looking to apply it?

ER: When people come to your door and knock on your door with A.I., they come to you and present to you as it replaces people because they want to reduce your cost and all that kind of stuff and build the value of them being there. I don't want it to replace people. I want it to enhance what our people do. I want to raise their level. Right. So I want to integrate with what we do not change how we do it.

GU: Yeah. That's good. Good. So, Jeff, what about you? What are you hoping to get out of this weekend?

Jeff King: Ed kind of mentioned it. The, it's an opportunity for us to get face to face with some people from the factory. Yeah. And, you know, we make a few connections here, and then we go back and the things we work on for the next several months, they settle in a little bit better. It's good to get that face to face time. And, you know, this is one of the best places that that we have the opportunity to do it. There's a couple of things, mobile service, you know, some equipment that we might not even know exists. Yeah. And I think Ed mentioned it with A.I. I don't think we're looking for anything prepackaged that somebody has. But if we find something and then we figure out how we can adapt it to our system and how it improves the experience that we give to our customers and for our employees, then yeah, then it’s a bonus. Yeah.

GU: So really, especially with AI, sounds like looking for ways to streamline workflows, improve efficiencies, make your people more effective, more productive. Not necessarily turn the world upside down, but making them more effective.

JK: Shorten wait times. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, any way we anything we can do to make the customer experience better. Yeah. That's what we're looking for.

GU: That's great.

ER: Sometimes it's a perceived shortening of wait time because there's fillers in there and that's stuff that it can do.

GU: Yeah. No, you're right, you're right. No I was I mean those are good, good topics. Is there anything top of mind with the factory that you guys are trying to make sure to get a good understanding of? I mean, there's always these initiatives, right? There's always various initiatives across the entire store. Things you need to do, things that are recommended. Is there anything with Ford specifically that you're hoping to get underneath?

ER: The industry is short on technicians.

GU: Yes it is.

ER: We all know that, and that's something we all talk about. We do a lot of things at our store to help aid that. And 65 percent of our techs are millennials or younger and that that really bucks the trend out there. Yeah. And what we do is very duplicatable. So we're partnering with Ford to help them be able to add some of those elements or make some of those elements available to other stores. So that's a big part, because when we help them do that, then they're going to tug on our people less. So that helps us in different ways there. And then we lead the way with mobile. And it's so much easier to do it when we're all pushed in the same direction. So it's great that alignment with that, so that we're all pushed in that direction to where we can service customers on their terms. Look at it from a customer lens, and service them on their terms rather than ours.

GU: Sure, sure. So let's dig into that mobile piece. I mean, how many I forget, we talked not too long ago, and you're telling me how many vans you're going to have on the road in 2024? Wasn’t it like 80?

ER: Well, we're going to have 50 by summer. 50, Okay. And then we'll determine what our needs are from there to get that number. It could be 80, it could be 100 by the end of the year. We don't know yet.

GU: Yeah.

ER: But 50 is the target right now. We'll do that by June 30th. Currently we're running 12, and we're adding people every day. And that's a rare opportunity to come into our store because we grow our own people. But now we're pulling people in because we want to grow that so fast.

GU: Right. So when you think about that, especially as a store, I was talking to a Ford dealer maybe two weeks ago. And he was telling me they were just getting into this mobile service van stuff. And he was struggling with it, right? It's something new, he didn't feel like it was right for his market. And there really are a lot of variables. So I'm curious what you think. You're in Saint Augustine, Florida. And my assumption, and I don't know what your experience has been, is that there is going to be a big difference between, you know, locations, right? Geography, demographics, kind of who your clientele is. The type, probably, of manufacturer, right? The type of work that you're doing. So I don't know, with all those variables, what are your thoughts on, you know, is this a cookie cutter kind of “Okay, this is how we do it, and this is how we can replicate it?” Or are there a lot of variables that need to be taken into account?

ER: There is variables, and some of them are valid that you need to look at. But the reality is we get locked in on the obstacles. And it's kind of like asking a girl out. If you ask if you think, well, what if she don't like this? What if you don't like that? What if, what if, what if? Then you never do it. But if you just jump in there and then find out what those obstacles are, whatever it may be, you can work through them. And that's what we're doing. We're jumping into it because there is things that we can do that we don't even know we can do yet.

GU: Yeah.

ER: We can determine so many things that we can do going into it.

JK: Yeah, we don't know some of the things we don't know right now.

GU: Sure.

JK: And as we come out here, the idea is “What can we find out, and how do we overcome the obstacles that we know we're going to run into? We just aren't sure what they are yet. So.

GU: So how do you — One of the things that that I'm interested in, we were talking about A.I. and efficiencies and workflows. You think about a technician being out in the field, right, in a van. Do you usually send one or two? How many go out? Just one person?

ER: Depends on the situation. Most of them have got two, but we have some that we do now that we're doing with diag vans and different things that we're using one person on. Right. Okay. So, both.

GU: So how do you manage the kind of workflow efficiency in the mobile environment, right? When we're in the store it's controlled, right? And we have tools in place that we can we can make sure that our techs are as efficient as possible. I mean, you think about it and I've been talking a lot about dead bay time. And you just have – you’ve got it all over the place. You got a car on a lift that's not being worked on. That's the inventory that's being stolen, right? Or you got a bay that's empty, that's inventory being sold. It's just dead bay time. So we can really work on those things inside the store. It's a controlled environment. But you get them out into somebody's driveway or parking lot, you know, that control is kind of gone. So how do you view that?

JK: Well, as we ramp up our remote services, the more vehicles we have, the less dead road time that they have driving from place to place. Yeah. If you're trying to cover a geographic area with four vans, they have to go all over the place. But if you can, with as many vans as we have, we can put them into very tight geographical locations.

GU: Yeah.

JK: And, you know, it's cutting down on the road time that they have from place to place. Now, we still have to make sure that they have the right tools and the right parts that are on the van when they get there. So there's a lot of logistics that, that we still have to perfect.

GU: Right.

JK: But, but a lot of it is overcome, quite honestly, with going all in and not dipping your toe in the water anymore.

GU: Yeah, so go ahead.

ER: And its setting expectations as well. And it isn't that we just say, “Hey, you're we're going to put you in mobile.” They have to earn their way into it and they have to earn the way to stay into it. And that's with expectations. You gotta set their expectations and hold them to it.

GU: Yeah, that makes sense. So how big, going into 50 vans this summer, right? You’ve got to have a dispatcher, you’ve got to have somebody to manage this. Just how big is the team that's managing the mobile operation? Because I think about that, I mean, that in theory could be it's entire back parts counter, right? Like, how do you manage that?

JK: So, we have as of about 30 days ago, I think, we opened up a separate division of remote operations.

GU: Okay.

JK: So we now have a fixed operations director that manages everything that happens at the dealership. And we have a remote operations director that is an equal on the org chart.

GU: Sure.

JK: So, yeah, they're both two equals and they're both working together to service our customers better.

GU: Yeah.

JK: But we realize that remote services is going to be as big as fixed operations.

GU: Right. Right.

ER: And to speak at it from a numbers standpoint, we're going to have more people in remote services than the average dealer has out there. And that doesn't need to scare dealers away from doing it, because you got to crawl before you can walk, and you’ve gotta walk before you can run.

GU: You started with one van at one point, right? Exactly.

ER: Right. Exactly. So as far as the number of people that we'll see in it, we'll be at 80 people in there by summertime. Yeah. And it's a whole department in itself. So yes, there is parts people, there is advisors, there is dispatchers. There's fill-in technicians, because when you’re running 50 people, 50 vans, and somebody calls in, or somebody is on vacation, that van still needs to roll. So you’ve got to move those guys around so that there will be mobile guys that move into a van, that might be in one van today and a different van tomorrow.

GU: What have you learned so far on metrics? Like, what are you measuring? So you mentioned, right, I said dead bay time, you said dead road time. I mean, that's a great thing to look at, right? So how do you – are there new metrics that you're looking at to make sure that your fleet is as efficient as possible? Because if that van's not moving, or if it's just sitting there, or if it's not working on a vehicle, right, If it's driving from one side of town to the other side of town, that's probably not the most efficient way to run the business. So what new metrics are you measuring?

ER: So, we look at it from an experience standpoint. How many experiences do we offer our customers.

GU: Okay.

ER: And we want that to be a certain number per vehicle. And then in addition to that, we have an expectation for them to bring back opportunities for us. So, they have more opportunity to connect us as they're driving down the interstate or driving down the road, or they see another commercial van or something. That commercial van has a fleet opportunity for us. And so, if they just take a picture of that, we'll take that ball and run with it. So they need to bring us back those opportunities continue to compound that and build that business.

GU: Yeah, yeah. That's interesting. So in the same vein, we're thinking about, you know, how you're growing, what you're doing. What's been maybe the most surprising thing? Because you've grown pretty quickly, right? The organizations grown pretty quickly. What's been the most surprising thing for you in this kind of mobile service area?

ER: Well, from a surprising standpoint, it’s how much customers love it. We knew that they would like it because of the freedom that it gives them, and it doesn't disrupt their day. Well, they write us letters, they take pictures that they’ve posted on social media for us, so they give us advertising that we didn't necessarily ask for. And so the embracement of it is even larger than we expected it to be, and we expected it to be big, and it’s been even bigger than that.

GU: That's great.

JK: The satisfaction numbers aren't drastically different.

GU: Okay.

JK: I mean, our satisfaction numbers are pretty darn good anyway, right? But the wow factor is through the roof. And, you know, the fact that one out of five or one out of ten people actually take the time to call you back and send you a letter or shoot you a text. Yeah. And just, they get blown away.

GU: That's awesome.

JK: And they just can't believe that we're doing it.

GU: Yeah. No, That's great. That's great. I got to ask, what's your upsell percentage look like? Because to me, right, You have a car on the lift, You got to a tech that can do a full inspection, Right? And they're going to recommend two or three services, or at least mark them yellow as something to look at. Your advisor takes a swing. But when they're mobile, it's a lot more difficult to do a big, thorough inspection. So is it just a different type of service you're doing? What's that upsell percentage look like?

ER: It sounds like it's more difficult.

GU: Okay.

ER: But when a customer comes in and then we come back and tell them it needs ten things, they kind of expect that. And that kind of creates some of that trust issue. “Well do I really need those things? I came in here for this.” And then when we add pictures to it, that certainly helps. When we add video to it, that certainly helps. But most customers, when you go to their house, they come out and they watch and they pay attention. And when you take something out of their vehicle that it needs, it’s showing a sell.

GU: That's true.

ER: So all you gotta do, as soon as you take cabin air filter out, it ain’t any question whether they want it. That came out of my car, they know it right there. So, just being able to show it. So, preparing those vehicles is more of that. We got to make sure that we send it out with wiper blades and all those things that we can inspect in field, so that when we do test them in the field, we can have it there and not have to come back to it.

GU: I like that.

ER: So preparing the vehicle going out, and then going through those motions with the customer there.

GU: That's good, that's good. Alright so I just want to shift gears a little bit while I have you both here. Yesterday at the Automotive News Retail Forum, Ed, you were actually on stage talking about EVs and kind of the future there. You know, there's so much I feel like there's too much negativity in the narrative around EVs. You know, we've always – forever, right, the auto industry has had these kind of headwinds, and things have changed. And I mean, heck, back in the 70s, there was no way somebody was going to buy a car with a seat belt, right? But eventually we get there. And so I'm curious, from your perspective, you know, what are the opportunities with EVs? Shifting the mindset from, “Gosh, this is a pain. Nobody wants ‘em, the government's got it all screwed up because nobody knows how much the rebates are.” There's all these headwinds, there really are. But where do you see the opportunities lying?

JK: So I'm an EV driver.

GU: Okay.

JK: And love it. Best car I've ever owned.

GU: Yeah. And what do you drive?

JK: Mach-E GT.

GU: I love it.

JK: Super, super great cars. My second one. Um Adoption needs to take place, and at our dealership, we know that we have to be a certain way with our employees before they will treat our customers a certain way. So the culture is all built in there.

GU: Sure.

JK: It's not a whole lot different with EV. If our own people don't drive EVs and own EVs, then they're not going to recommend their friends and their neighbors to do it. So, our charging system that that we are putting in place to be compliant with Ford.

GU: Right.

JK: After we did the entire set up, we added 20 additional chargers in our employee parking lot so that people that drive that buy EVs from us can charge the cars for free while they’re at work.

GU: That's great.

JK: And, yeah, we'll break down a lot of the barriers that take place. Technicians, they don't want EVs. They’re taking away their livelihood.

GU: Sure.

JK: But if you give them free transportation, they're also really cheap.

GU: Right.

JK: And, you know, the cars and trucks ride really, really good. They're fantastic vehicles. But we gotta get past the perception. We got to get butts in seats. And that's the way we're doing it. We’re very optimistic about it, but there are a lot of obstacles that have to be overcome.

GU: Yeah. Yeah.

ER: Then I'll take that a little farther as well. It's almost like a political game. When that time frame comes around, everybody has an opinion. Well, it's the same way with EV right now. Not everybody has driven them.

GU: Right.

ER: But everybody has an opinion about ‘em.

GU: Right.

ER: And when customers experience them and when our employees experience them, it creates a whole different mindset. And then secondly to that is, we have to help customers visualize how they can fit in their life and not just send them out and expect them to live off of public charging or whatever else,

GU: Right.

ER: We got to help them visualize having infrastructure at home to where they can charge and leave the house everyday with 300 miles of range. And when they do that, most people rarely drive more than the range of the vehicle in a day.

GU: Right.

ER: It's just having the opportunity to be able to have that range everyday without going out of their way to get it.

GU: Yeah. So Jeff, you mentioned, you know, technicians and having this concern, right? This legitimate fear, I mean, the vehicles are built different. There's fewer moving parts in an EV than there are in an ICE vehicle. That's just reality. Do you think – because I would question if it truly is going to take away their livelihood. I think their livelihood will change.

JK: Right.

GU: But, you know, they're going to become more computer technicians than, you know, hardware technicians, but.

JK: We have a technician shortage.

GU: Yeah, you're right.

JK: In our industry right now anyway. The fact that that they could even be thinking that they might be running out of work here is, is absolute– You know, but technicians, yeah, they want to make sure that their food's always going to be on the table. And I agree with them. But we have so much work that's coming out with all the ICE vehicles we're selling now. Anybody that's working on cars right now will have plenty of cars to work on for the rest of their working career, even if they're 22 years old right now.

GU: Yeah, I agree. Yeah.

ER: And I'll take that a different direction. Technicians are technicians. They are gearheads. And it doesn't take a gearhead to work on an EV. So they don't see that as something that they're going to work on. So it's a different class of technician that we need for those EVs. They're kind of like that computer, that techie guy.

GU: Yeah.

ER: That we need to have for those those vehicles. And we have to prepare ourselves for that because those gearheads are not necessarily going to do it. That's like asking a construction worker to be an eye surgeon. It's not what he does.

GU: Yeah.

ER: He looks at that like “That's not what I work on, That's not what I do.” And so it allows us, it really helps us as an industry because it allows us support a new clientele of technician into our field.

GU: Sure.

JK: Right.

GU: That's that's a good point, that's a good point. All right, well, gentlemen, this has been fun. I appreciate you taking time out of your weekend at NADA to sit down. Anything else you want to chat about before we jump out of here? Anything top of mind for you?

ER: Well, I appreciate you taking the time to share what you guys are doing. And you guys are great partners, and I appreciate what you do for us.

GU: Oh, 100 percent.

JK: Yeah. Thanks for having us.

GU: So, real quick, before we jump off, though, I got to ask, for anybody that's going to watch this, right, looking forward to 2024, Right. We're in February right now. Just turned the calendar to February. What's the one thing to look out for or to go attack?

ER: I'll start with that. And this may sound cliche, but if you keep it in front of you, it'll be impactful. Focus on the things you can control. Don't focus on things you can't. We talk about all the stuff with EV that we can't control. If you handle the things that you can control with EV, the EV will take off. It's the same way with tech development. It's the same way in the sales department. There's so many things that we can do. Focus on what you can control. That gives you a list of what you can do. When you're talking about the things you can't control, you can't do anything about it.

GU: Yeah. Good, good.

JK: And we need to execute. We, you know, we have a saying – we do a very common thing, but we try to do it uncommonly well.

GU: Yeah.

JK: And, as we go into some of these new ventures, we need to make sure that the product that we deliver is up to the expectations that our customers expect.

GU: Yeah. No, that’s perfect. All right. Well, Ed Roberts, Jeff King, thank you so much for joining. Really appreciate it, and have a great show!

ER and JK: All right. Thank you Greg.