Episode 37: John Love
09/13/2024 / Dealer Insider
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Episode 38: Engaging With Dealer Feedback
As the only captive to utilize the NADA Dealer Survey, it’s GMF’s mission to listen to dealer feedback. Owners and general managers receive the survey from "NADA Chairman" quarterly and, unlike similar surveys, ours only takes about four minutes to complete. This issue of Dealer Insider features three perspectives about how we use the results to help dealers navigate changing market conditions.
Watch NADA Story
Episode 36: Brad Brotherton
When Brad Brotherton, Owner of Brotherton Cadillac in Seattle, started looking into how to evolve his growing franchises, he leaned on GMF. A floorplan dealer since 2019, Brad saw an opportunity to leverage GMF’s lease offerings to compete in today’s rate environment.
Watch Brad's Story
Leaning Into Loyalty
"I realized I’m GM Financial forever.”
Throughout his career, John Love has always valued trust and loyalty. After struggling with a different floorplan provider during the pandemic, in 2020 John reached out to GMF. Within 24 hours, the team was talking; after 30 days, the dealership was floorplanned with GMF. That was when John realized the value GMF brings to the table.
Four years later, Bob Johnson Chevrolet stays competitive by leveraging floorplan benefits designed to help dealers find ways to be profitable. “If you look at Dealer Dividends and the difference that that makes in the cost of doing business, it’s costing a dealer money to not be with GMF.”
Dealer Tip: Not sure how making a switch to GMF floorplan can boost your dealership’s profitability? Talk to your GMF Rep about a no-risk 120-day floorplan test drive.
Supporting Change
"One of the key advantages of working
with GMF is that they understand the changing market.”
As much as John knows about loyalty, he knows even more about change. Bob Johnson Auto Group has grown from one dealership in 2001 to a dealer group with 23 stores and more than 1,400 employees today. John needed a strong team to think on its feet and be nimble enough to respond to the unpredictable market.
“They read the tea leaves. They look at what the challenges are for dealers and then figure out a way to contribute to ease the pain or help things run better at the dealer level.”
Dealer Tip: GMF’s success is tied to your success. When your dealership goes all in with GM’s captive, you benefit from our ability to react quickly to support your business.
Entering the EV Era
"The future with GMF is bright.”
Knowing how to maximize EVs is key. John says his stores are seeing an influx in EV adopters wanting to lease, which dominoes into more robust lease-return business. “With GMF, we know that we’re going to have affordable programs on most models, and we know at the end, we’re going to get the first crack at those EVs when they come back in off lease.”
With an ever-growing used EV market, having that pipeline of lease returns is critical for John and the dealership’s business model. “It feeds our used car inventory. So, if we look out three, four, maybe five years, we know that to feed that machine, we need those programs now. GMF is standing right there with us.”
Dealer Tip: Really successful dealers like John are talking about EV leasing. If your staff isn’t leasing savvy, consider engaging GMF’s Dealer Training team to upskill your sales team.
Making moves and growing a lasting, successful business takes the right team. When you go all in with GMF, you’ll find unique opportunities that lead to a stronger, more profitable future.