Wake up, Buy Here, Pay Here people. It's a beautiful day. Go grab yourself another cup of Joe and say hello to Jim and Michelle Rhodes on the Buy Here, Pay Here morning show. Take it away, you two. Oh, hey, hi again. So we got a little different setup today. So those of you that are tuned in, if you would just acknowledge that you're hearing the audio and we'll proceed. But we have some guests in the studio. We'll introduce them shortly. But for today, we just wanted to kind of I'll catch up on a couple of announcements. We've got you need some help over there. I understand Android phones. Oh, let me know. We've had this conversation quite a few times. Yeah, I'm an Apple user, and our guest today, we actually had the conversation about, you know, apple android those of you who watch know that this is a thing yeah and they're a split family as well so you know it's like we have just like lots in common that way um we're just gonna kill this we're just gonna kill we're gonna kill the other one because we're trying to get like all super techy and um and uh I believe that our guests are like you guys are You're winging it. You guys are just making it up as you go. It's all good. We got a couple of announcements. You know, last night we had our meeting with group two, which is the group of large dealers. It went really well. There's going to be a great dialogue with that group going forward. And I'll just remind everybody, we have one seat left in that group. So if somebody wants to join the group of larger dealers, that cutoff is 500 accounts and above. So if you're in that segment and you want to get involved, then yeah. got a chance to get uh together and compare and connect with other dealers so that's part of what we do in v8 and then the new group is going to be meeting on thursday so if you have less than 100 accounts somewhere around there is uh is that thursday is that what you said that's thursday thursday yep yep And then, yeah, we also have on April 2nd, I think we went with noon Eastern. We've got a conversation around, and this is for our V8 dealers. If somebody else cares to join, please reach out. But we've got a conversation around private money and capitalization or alternate capitalization options. So that's going to be at noon on April 2nd. So we'll just be doing that virtually. So folks can reach out for that. Yeah. So today's topic. Customer and dealer advocacy. I mean, it's all kind of in the context of customer service. So what prompted the conversation or this, this as a topic is, you know, we've had some, we've been involved in some threads on behalf of some dealers recently where, you know, we see this quite a bit and our guests today can, you know, kind of speak to this as well. Like we find ourselves often as, you know, what I call kind of an implementation oversight person, you know, we fulfill a role in oversight with dealers. And a lot of times it's in the course of setting up a dealer. Sometimes they're in the middle of changing to a new provider, adding a new provider. And getting those providers to communicate with one another is sometimes challenging. And so this is where just kind of sometimes dealers get stuck in no man's land in between and can't seem to figure out how to solve the problem. So yesterday was an example where we got involved in a conversation on one that was stuck. And so it just kind of opened up this whole thing about dealer advocacy, customer service, something I've been dealing with in my career for a very long time. And we've been real advocates with a lot of our clients to add a position within your dealership that's about a customer advocate. And so it's the person, it's someone that just really doesn't have a dog in the fight kind of thing and can help be, you know, talk to the shop, talk to the whatever, and just be that person that's... can help make keep things flowing nicely and help solve problems. And so this is this is kind of, you know, we take it back a little bit. And that's one of the things that Jim and I do is that we, we are there frequently with, with different softwares, like Jim said, and just kind of helping things move about smoothly. It's been interesting as we've done this, that different vendors, other vendors that we work with are like, this is nice, because they don't typically have someone there that can help translate that understands the product as well and can help, you know, do further training or, or whatever. And so, um, you know, we, we, uh, we just have really enjoyed that, that opportunity to be an advocate. So should we bring in our guests? Let's go ahead and do that. I don't know if it, cause they're sitting across the table from us. I don't know if they, they haven't been on camera yet. So it's rare. All right. Welcome. Hello, you two. It's welcome. Good morning. Glad to have you. And our camera is like not working. Not functioning? It's not working. And they were talking about, hey, we don't know if we want to, you know, camera not. There you are. Okay. The laptop went to sleep, so I didn't realize that was going to come up. We mentioned on Monday that we have two special guests that were coming in. And so our special guests have been Crystal and Luis from Scopex Pros. And you might've heard some about them in the industry. I know that they've, they've been a business that has been very word of mouth and, you know, out there and, and a very long and distinguished, accomplished, accomplished career in automotive. Yeah. And between both of you, it's like, there's, there's quite a few years and, and good expertise around. Glad to have you guys here. It's pretty uncommon for us to have people in the studio. Yeah, you're welcome. And yeah, they're from the Houston area and we invited them up. We got together to do some brainstorming. They are stepping in with us and some branding and marketing work. And so it was a chance for us to be together and brainstorm about some of the strategies around our work. And of course, it was an opportunity to meet with some of our clients that we have in common during the time you've been here. It's just been, uh, it's been wonderful to have you here and it's great to have, uh, you know, experts in the studio who can speak to some of this stuff about customer service. So why don't we start with you, Crystal, and you kind of share your background in, uh, in automotive, kind of give people the, the rundown, take your time on the expanded version of your, of your, yeah, give them the, give them the whole, the whole, uh, resume of your background in automotive. Okay. So, um, so when when you were about 20 yeah so I i I um was introduced to automotive when I was 21 and it's funny because I was just talking to michelle of how I thought it was a a clinic that I was walking into and ended up being a car dealership and so one of the things that uh really caught my attention was the little voice inside of me get down you're not going to regret it get down get down so it took the opportunity to um walk into the dealership and it's been history since then. I started off as a BDC agent back when I was 21 and actually brought within the automotive industry and made it to vice president of sales and operations for one of the most largest, uh, buy here, pay here, uh, franchise, franchise dealerships here. Um, up until 2019. And then, so we, we decided that we identified a niche, right, of need for other dealerships that wanted to, or that needed loan servicing, BDC agents, and more of a creative and marketing that really just understands the industry and the communication styles between the consumer and the dealerships and so we decided to build scope expros and it's been great success since then and as you mentioned we now share clients yeah so um this topic is going to be really great because um we do you know interfere with a lot of being the the advocate for our clients and for third parties yeah absolutely So Luis, you want to give your background? We know that you two intersected. I have to talk. So Luis, the co-founder, you guys met in the car business, right? That is correct. We met a few years ago and working for a dealership. And it was through that where we started talking about all the opportunities that this area or this kind of business has. You know, the necessity of some clarification about the processes, what it has to be done, how it has to be done. And sometimes it's not just about the complex of the process. It's about knowing the steps of the process. Right. So we started with this whole idea of extras, and it has been a really great job. Yeah. So these guys provide an excellent service in the work that they do. So it's just, yeah. So, Louise, maybe if you can hold that microphone, we'll get you a little closer to the mic. Oh, okay. Gotcha. So our listeners will be able to better hear you when you get a little closer to the mic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, I think it's just about this idea of being able to share with you guys this conversation around customer service. Because one of the things I've seen in my career, one of the things I talked about when I wrote the description for the show is that in my own career, going way back to when I was doing consulting, the company that I was with had a training consulting division and then they had a software division. and one of the things in working with software is much like working with auto mechanics it's like they they have their skill set they have certain things that they do and when they feel like they've completed their part then it's kind of like you know it's up to somebody else now like I've done my part and so sometimes in this context it's like dealers can kind of get stuck in between because dealers aren't tech people right you guys work with a lot of dealers and most of them aren't strong on technology and when you look at what it is to build a buy here pay your dealership just start one from scratch what do you got you got marketing you think about facebook pages you got websites you got lead forms you got all these things just on the marketing side alone there's all these technology pieces that have to come together and they have to be able to communicate well and so that's what kind of sparked the conversation for us is that whole element And I know just from having conversations with both of you is that with the clients that we work with combined is that that when you see a need and it's like, how can I help? And so, you know, there's there's very, very frequently just this this we're going to we're going to step in. We're going to have a conversation. We're going to step in. We're going to. And yeah. And because you are an advocate. And I think more than anything, it's just the right thing to do, right? It's just you're brought in as part of their solution. They have a problem. And it's part of they're giving you trust. And if there's something broken or something that's been fractured, it is within our power. We know that we can fix it or we know that we can alleviate some of that problem. technical stress, right? Just step in. I think it's the right thing to do. And it's about going above and beyond and just letting it, just sitting back and just watching it just. Yeah. Yeah. And it's part of what we do obviously as consultants, advisors, and you guys are, you find yourself in a consulting role sometimes, even though you're the scope of your engagement is, you know, a little more specific, but you also kind of, as you said, the right thing to do, you have experience in that area. You see the need, you step in and try to, to help solve a problem. Yeah. Well, one of the things that we see from our side of, you know, we're, we're trying to be an advocate for dealers just in general is that like Jim said, is that dealers, they get caught on certain things and usually they're a lone Island and they're, you know, they don't realize that there are others that might, or that there's, you know, that this is, it's solved for this one. They don't have that problem. So how do we solve this for you? And, and there's not a lot of people in the industry that, that it's, that, have the, um, the bandwidth or the, the ability to just understand a lot of the pieces and be able to step in and say, okay, um, you know, we're, we're going to step forward because there's, there's something that, that, uh, isn't working for you. That's working for others. So how do we fix it? Or that is not working for a lot of people. And, and that, that dealers don't always recognize the things that aren't working could be working and could be, could be and today doesn't have to just be about technology it's like this was just the most recent thing that we've observed where dealers kind of found themselves stuck and needed somebody to kind of help out and we were we happened to be together and it happened to share a client so we stepped in in a different way and it's just an example though I think of you know you guys are are here in part to to talk about our our future of white hat way as a brand and kind of how And I thought it was great to have you guys come to the microphones because this is an example of some of the things that I think you can expect to see White Hat Way continue to do. We're interested in the success of dealers. And we have a unique position in that, in that we have always maintained a position of being agnostic. And so that lets us kind of bring our voice in a way that others might not. We also have the good fortune of earning the trust of a lot of dealers. And so this lets us kind of use our voice on their behalf to be able to speak up. And the best way to maintain trust is be transparent. As you guys know, you guys talk about that too. And so we just... This is what is kind of our methodology of just going forward and being transparent. And people can see that we're not saying anything different behind closed doors. We're saying the things that we would say. And we're, we're, we're also of course interested in the success of the vendors or, you know, in this case, it's in this case it's a conversation about dealers and vendors you could take this same uh logic and apply it to dealer customers you know all of it it's like it's all part of helping you know improve the dialogue solve problems and uh and sometimes even being an interpreter too yeah of whatever it is that's happening um yeah yeah You're just kind of a mediator in a way. But I think we kind of have this unique position as a third party, sort of on the sidelines of some of the terminology that I use. And it's really just, this is kind of where we see White Hat Way being able to fill a role because there's just not much out there in the way of advocacy. I mean, who would you call if you're a dealer? First of all, there are no yellow pages anymore, so you can't pick up the phone book. Both of you who are really young out there, there was such a thing, a book, yellow pages, you could thumb through and find whatever. But even if you just did a Google search, where are you going to find somebody who's going to help solve the kind of problems that we're talking about? And so I think this is where we, in our unique position, some of that's experience with these elements, some of it's relationships, some of it's resources. It's just, we're going to try to advocate on behalf of dealers and and help them to have more success with their consumers ultimately and this is just part of why I thought it would be helpful to have you guys be part of the conversation we want um our listeners to get to know the two of you we we certainly come to regard you guys as uh really accomplished professionals and the service that you provide You know, on the outsourcing side is tremendous. And I will just share that, you know, the folks at Scopex, we have clients currently using their services for outsource BDC and outsource marketing. I'm aware that you guys also do outsource collections work. So it's just part of what, and you bring a ton of experience. When she says she worked for one of, I've never heard of a larger buy here, pay here operation in the industry that you guys came from. And so it's, you bring really deep experience. And chops. yeah so it's really important that you know that folks get to know you and be aware of what it is you do and so we're we're happy to you know have our listeners get uh familiar with scopex pros and and it's something that uh because we also know that you you share these ideas around this white hat approach this idea of whether it's in the context of customer service trust and transparency these are all things that you guys operate your business by every day That is correct. One of the things that Crystal and I were discussing when we just started ScopeXpros, it was about a slogan, right? Something that could describe what we wanted to do with the customer. And after several days, we came up with saying that we were an extension of their genuineness, right? Our sense of ownership about any customer or any partner that we have is really high. So for us, when a customer has a problem or a challenge to overcome it's not enough to just say oh that's not on my side right it's not my problem it's not yeah it wouldn't be I don't know within my my responsibilities right or it's above our pay grade right yeah we try to always go above and beyond and find that piece that is a little bit broken and that is a little bit out of place that it can bring everything together and to work exactly at the end of the day We really believe that their success is going to be our success. So that has been what it makes us different. The sense of ownership that we have over any policy. Yeah, we see that. We definitely see you guys step in and take ownership. And we also see that because of that, you have a problem, just like the dealer, of knowing when it's time to unplug because you put in a lot of hours on behalf of your client. And you can, by the way, our listeners, you can tell from Luis's accent that he's Irish, right? Yes. No, I just, I wanted to bring in the idea. They also, everything that we mentioned in the way of services, they do in bilingual, they have the ability to offer that in bilingual in Spanish. So it just is a really nice solution. Well, and I just, you know, I think that as vendors, you know, fellow vendors and, you know, call to all vendors out there is that as we can step forward and try to be a problem solver with the things that are working and things that are not working, things that we can help either be, you know, send, hey, we see a problem here. Here's someone that you should let me introduce you to someone that can help you with this. And really, it's it's. we've seen a lot of alignment in this is about the customer experience And it's about helping the dealer be able to reach the customer effectively and be able to communicate with the customer effectively and know what's working and helping their customers. And it's been a really beautiful thing. We've had a lot of fun, a lot of laughs. And I want to ask a rhetorical question because it's something that we've kind of socialized. We've talked about a little bit here and I didn't ask you to answer the question then. But when you think about what is the value, like if we just talk about the financial value of White Hat Way as a brand, it doesn't matter what that number is to you or to you or me it's like whatever that is if whatever those resources might be so that can be our platforms that can be our resources our relationships I mentioned whatever those assets may be that you would describe that are kind of under the white hat umbrella if you will That's, we want to leverage those things for the benefit of dealers and ultimately their consumers through dealers. And so this is part of where, you know, today's just one example of where we anticipate that we'll be able to continue to be a voice on behalf of dealers so that they can enjoy more success and to, cause they're, they're the language I use this morning in the post was they're, they're fearless entrepreneurs. And they're operating in a risky space where few are willing to provide a solution. And they could use a lot of support from folks like us who are just interested in their success. And so this is where I'm just saying we're going to continue at White Highway. Whatever those resources look like, whatever those assets might be, we're going to continue to bring those assets for the benefit of the industry. And in particular, today, we're talking about dealers and their success. again I'm just glad to have you guys here and be part of the conversation and so you can be uh inside and see all the the loose wires that is a podcast and the loose wires that is like jim and michelle it's been great to have you here but I think you know we covered the part michelle that I wanted to cover today I think um you know again it's just uh it's been wonderful to have you here in our home and be able to spend some time and get to know you on a personal level and to see that you guys share some of these things that are so near and dear to us and that um you know we have this opportunity I think you guys can certainly see that we recognize an opportunity to make a real difference in an industry that is you know you guys see and you can probably better speak to it this idea of the, the frustration and the, the reputation, you know, that is a used car operation and especially a buy here, pay her operation. And so part of our work, and we look forward to working with you guys in that regard, part of our work is to, to reach more dealers and to help make a difference for them in terms of reputation management, conflict resolution. There's lots of opportunities around all those things. And, uh, you know, They don't all have to happen tomorrow, but just know that our, that's very much our mission. And we're glad to have you guys involved in that mission in whatever way you can participate. No, and we appreciate the fact that we were invited to participate in this. Yes, we really enjoyed you guys hosting us. Thank you so much. Oh, you're so welcome. You're so welcome. They're just saying that because they need to ride back to the airport. I'll call an Uber right now. Excellent. So you guys stay backstage for a second. And we're going to go ahead and take you on out of the broadcast. You know, I think that this... that we have an opportunity, especially vendors to be able to help dealers be more successful. And I'm really, just a lot of humbling gratitude, an awful lot for the position that Jim and I have the privilege of, of being able to be agnostic, of being able to be familiar with a lot of the different platforms, softwares, other vendors out there, and to be that voice of let's introduce you, let's make sure that we're all on the same page. If you've got any questions, give us a holler. We're here to help kind of thing. And one of the one of the things that you will be seeing more and more and more of from White Hat Way, Jim and Michelle and White Hat Way under the banner of White Hat Way is really stepping in as advocates in in a more and more transparent and a more visible way um you know we a lot of conversation about transparency and and all those things that that that is that's part of where we're going what we're doing is being that advocate being someone who is agnostic and being able to lead the conversation so that we can resolve things that will make everyone's experience And I think you said, you know, lead the conversation is also bringing others to the conversation. So we don't have to have all the answers ourselves. We just bring the people who can help solve the problem. And so this is a part of what we're enjoying doing at this stage of our career. And so, again, thanks for joining in on White Hat Wednesday. Thanks again to Crystal and Luis for joining in. And we will see you just one last reminder before you close us out. We have that April 2nd. uh, conversation on, uh, uh, private capital. So anybody wants to join in on that, just reach out. Yep. It's going to be a good, that's going to be a good conversation. So, all right, everybody have yourself a great rest of your day. Um, we will see you on Friday. Um, not quite sure what we're going to talk about yet, but you know, I'm sure that there's something out there that's going to just look on Facebook. Yeah, if you've got any ideas about things that you'd like to have us talk about, please feel free to reach out to us via any of our social media channels. All right, guys, have a great day. We will see you on Friday.
