What you do in one month is more than what one person would do in their lifetime. How do you make it not a transaction? 1400 employees. Mm-hmm. All started on a used gravel lot. Gravel. Lot selling. Used cars in Indiana's. We've never seen that phone name before. Hit your grandpa and I was like, what are you a come sell cars for me this summer?
I was like, I will. I'll do it. Where was the moment that you knew that like taking over the family business was gonna be your destiny? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between. This is Get IN, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation.
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Now let's get into the episode. Today I'm joined by Ryan Rohrman, the CEO of Rohrman Automotive Group, one of the largest family owned dealership groups in the US that's based right here in Indiana. Now Ryan is blending tradition with innovation, transforming this legacy business through digital marketing, culture building, and a fresh approach to leadership as a third generation family owned business.
Today we're gonna be talking about this business that started in 1963 and is just celebrating as rewarded by the governor today, the day of our filming for their 50th year in business, talking about, you know, leading through culture and also leaning into social media. And this is gonna be a really fun episode.
Ryan, welcome to Get IN. Yeah. Hey Nate. Thank you for, uh, having me looking forward to conversations. It's be fun. Yeah. It's gonna be, it's gonna be awesome. We're, we're gonna start and set the scene. We gotta get the background. Cool. Uh, your grandpa, what's your grandpa's name? Bob Rohrman. Oh, of course.
You've heard the commercial commercials, right? You've heard the commercials. Bob started this business back in 1963, set the scene and kind of catch us up to, I mean, not the whole thing, but, you know, 50 years. How, how did this business start? So my grandfather, um, smart guy, hard worker, barely got through high school.
Uh, and so he went to, uh, high school in Lafayette, Indiana, uh, Jeff High School, still there. Go Bronchos That's right. Yeah, Bronchos Yeah. Yeah. With an H though. That's right. Bronchos Yes. The draft was going on at that time. So he decided to go into the Army. Um, and so he got, so I don't know the story of how he got into this, but he ended up being a light tank commander, um, out in Washington State.
And literally the day before. Uh, the Korean War, the treaty was signed, he was gonna go out the very next day, so that happens, right? Uh, he's, he's been out there for three or four years, and then he is like, what am I gonna do? So he was one of 11 kids, and he was towards the, the young side. So his, so he moved back to Lafayette, Indiana, where his sister was living, and a lot of her children were, were similar ages to him at this time.
Oh yeah. So he started living with them and he was talking to his brother-in-law and he goes, I don't know what I'm gonna do. Um, and his brother-in-law was selling cars. And he goes, you know, my grandfather looks at him and says, man, you look good. You have a suit and tie on. Like, maybe I wanna do that. So, uh, he goes, well, he goes, Bob, I, I sell used cars.
You shouldn't start there. Let me take you down to the Ford store. Um, so at the time, Pittman Ford, uh, was downtown Lafayette, Indiana, and now there's a Holiday Inn down there. So actually if you go in that, um, hotel, there's pictures of Pittman Ford. Oh. Uh, there, I don't think there's, I don't think there's any pictures of him, but it's, it's pretty cool.
Um, so this was like late 1950s into the early, early sixties. He just crushed It did well just rose to the top really, really fast to the point of, in 1963, he decided it's time to do my own thing. And so in 63, um, he went out and he bought a gravel lot right on Creasy Lane and Sagamore Parkway, which is still what, uh, we have a lot of our dealerships are still there on that original property.
That's, and as a gravel lot, we have pictures of that. Um, it's pretty cool. And it was, it was Bob Rohrman Automobiles, you know, and he sold used cars. Uh, and so he did that very successfully for many years. And then in 1968. Toyota came from, uh, Japan, and it's like, we want to start selling new Toyotas in North America.
So they were here a little before 68, but it was a slow bleed. Yeah. Uh, from both coasts, just in general, that timeline. 1968, that's not that far from the forties, you know? No. And like Japanese cars and Yes. Yet, I, I just can't imagine. So does he become a Toyota? Well, so as a story as he would tell the story.
Yeah. You know, the Toyota, uh, folks, they didn't go to startups. They went to the big three, the Chevy dealers, the Dodge dealers, the Ford dealers, and they're like, Hey, do you want this? Um, because whenever you get an open point, so if a manufacturer wants you to be a dealer where there's no dealer at mm-hmm.
There's no cost to that. You just have to buy the lane and build and build. Oh, they'll just give you cars. They'll give you the ticket as we call it. So the ticket gives us the right to sell that product on that parcel. I got you. Okay. So they're literally giving it to, and, and the big three at the time in Lafayette says, we don't want that.
And a lot of it was based on, I think what you're alluding to. Yeah. So like, not too far after World War ii. And so there was a lot of still this pent up, I, I don't wanna say hatred, but like, just dislike maybe is a better word. Yeah. Um, towards the. Towards Japan. Yeah. Well, I mean, today you fast forward to 2023 and I think, or sorry, 2025.
Yeah. And I feel like Honda Toyota, like those are some of the most like, revered cars in the state or in the, in of the United States. Absolutely. Yes. Oh, you want a reliable, dependable, like never have to as long as you like take care of it. It's like, yeah, go buy a Toyota. Well the, the interesting thing about any new startup manufacturer, and this is probably true outside of automotive too, there's a high risk of taking a brand that you don't know anything about.
Mm-hmm. I wanna come back to that. But if you fast forward, like you think like Isuzu Suzuki, they're very successful in Japan. They tried it in the United States and they're not here anymore. Right? Yeah. So there's a risk to whenever a new manufacturer comes, you know, um, whether they're based out of North America or they're based outta different countries.
It is so interesting. Yeah. And even like some of the Toyota cars don't make it over here. Yeah. Like they have some really cool cars they do that are like in Australia. Yes. And like that area. And I'm like. Dude, those are, those, those are ba like we need some of those. They're cool. They'll make it over here.
Yeah. Okay. So 1968. Yep. Toyota's expanding into Lafayette. Yes. And ends up getting connected with Bob. So my grandfather goes, Hey, I'll take it. Um, he knew they were in town, um, talking to these dealers and they're like, you're a used car dealer. You don't have the land or the building. And I, this is the weird part of the story.
'cause in the, in the sixties, like the towns that we live in today, I mean, we know they, they don't, they didn't look like that. Right. So he literally said, I'll just buy the parcel next to me. It was a cornfield, you know? And so they're like, alright. So he bought the parcel next to his used car lot, put a Toyota showroom in, and they gave him the, the, they gave him the ticket.
So he starts selling Toyotas. And you know, he got, he got awarded the ticket in 68, so that's when the business opened. Mm-hmm. And so he was probably selling them a small showroom within six to eight months. You know, selling new Toyotas outta Lafayette, Indiana. Well, fast forward a couple years, the first oil embargo hits, um, oh, I'm sorry.
He got Honda in Lafayette right next to it. Similar story. Oh, so wait, he gets, he gets Toyota and then he gets Honda right next to it. Oh yeah. Come on. Same story because Honda was right behind Toyota. So, uh, we got the Honda store around 71 or 72. Okay. First oil embargo hits. So all the big boats, um, that the domestics were selling, you know, gas was extremely expensive.
So he took off, uh, because he was selling these little Japanese cars Yeah. That, that were very fuel efficient. And 'cause even though you had the ticket, it didn't mean they were selling like, like hotcakes like they are today. Right. So it was just perfect timing. Very fortunate and. Exploded. Yeah. I mean, you just think of like, this is late sixties, early seventies.
Like these cars are huge. Yes. Like these massive, they're big old school. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, of course, like we weren't around at this time, but my grandfather would say he'd come into the dealership and then some mornings, some of the Toyotas or Hondas, they would literally be flipped over on their, on the roofs.
Uh, that's how small they were. Like if you, you could go up to 'em and people would not like these cars 'cause they're, their friends are paying and they'd literally flip them over. Oh gosh. And they'd have to flip 'em back over. They buff out the top. The top out. Yeah. Okay. You know, so, and I guess that was a thing, you know, so.
Yeah. And it was like, there wasn't like, you know, simply safe back in the day. Like, check out the, check out the ring cameras on. No way. Who keeps, like you have, you've heard of cow tipping, but then there's Toyota tipping back in day Toyota tipping. That's right. That's right. Uh, okay, so things progress. Yep.
He, he's right place, right time. Buying these, these new lots where he Yes. You know you have the Toyota. Yep. You have the Honda. Right. Oil embargo hits. Yep. Things take off. And how, how quickly did he, did he stick around? Did he still have to used car lot as well? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So running those three that are kind of like, yes.
That, that's a nice commute between offices there. Oh, they were right next to each other. That's awesome. Yeah. So really from like, I would say like the, the early seventies, he just exploded. So the, you know, the story from the seventies to probably the early eighties, he just was his expansion in Indiana.
Yeah. You know, so he got into Indianapolis and then in 83 he entered into the Illinois market as well. Did his brother-in-law end up coming and joining the, the business? No, he never did. No. It still stuck on his own. He never did talk about a great camera, like, Hey, I know you see me selling you. Yes. You should go do your own thing.
Yeah. Had he, he could have just been like a, an all star used car salesman with his brother-in-law. He did his own thing. Wow. Yeah. His brother-in-law and, and you know, it's not that he was a real old guy at the time either, but he, he just, he was very content in what he was doing. So there you go. Well, I mean, it's, it's, that's wild because today you guys have, what, 1400 employees across all how many locations?
Uh, 22 locations. 22 locations, yep. 1400 employees. Mm-hmm. All started on a used. Gravel, lot, gravel, lot selling used cars in Lafayette, Indiana. Mm-hmm. That's amazing because today you talked about the expansion in Illinois and you're also have Wisconsin, I believe it's almost Illinois still. It's Kenosha.
Oh yeah. Wisconsin. So it's just across the border, but yes. Yep. One store there. That's awesome. Really just takes off through, you said into the eighties. Mm-hmm. Was your dad involved? Was there, what was the, the second generation between you and your grandpa? My grandfather, uh, has five kids. Uh, so my dad is his oldest.
So his sons all worked, uh, in the business. At different levels. Yeah, different roles, different times. What did everyone have, like a specific starting job? Like, Hey, you, you gotta start like, selling cars or you gotta start washing cars. Like where do people get their first gig? So, my uncles are hilarious.
My dad too, they have a great sense of humor and a lot of their jokes, they're inside jokes. Um, you know, working for their dad. My dad's name, um, is Robert. Uh, he's a junior. He goes by JR Today, but he was Robert and then the next brother down one was Randy. So they had r and r. Uh, like cleanup. So their first job was cleaning cars and you know, they talk about doing it every now and then on the gravel lots.
And, uh, part of their job was maintaining the gravel, you know, 'cause the weeds would pop up and, or, you know, they'd want to make sure that it wasn't bumpy or anything like that. Yeah. So that was their first job was just really like maintaining the lot and then washing the cars, you know, on a daily basis.
And, you know, they all worked, they all started at that level. Yeah. And then worked their way up and, yeah. So my dad was really prevalent in Lafayette. Uh, so at one time he oversaw the operations in, uh, Lafayette, Indiana. My other uncle Randy was real prevalent in Chicago. He did some of, he, he was a director of operations up in that market.
And then my other uncle Rick was in Indianapolis doing, uh, similar job. So they all love cars, you know. So they all had other side hobbies that they did? Yeah. Um, in 91, my dad left my grandfather and started his own business. Uh, and so he had JR Rohrman Automobiles that was all based outta Lafayette, Indiana, and it was used car lots.
So he got into the Buy Here, Pay Here business as well. Uh, and that's kind of what I grew up doing different than, yeah, Bob Rohrman Automotive. This was Buy Here, Pay Here, like used car lots. That's right. In Lafayette. Wow. So it's like, you know, five, or let's say 10 years after they buy from grandfather, then it's like, Hey, yeah, we might like get your trade in here.
Come on. Absolutely. There you go. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. And he did that very successfully. My dad did for probably about 12 years. Um, and then in the early two thousands he decided, um, it's time for a change for our family. So, uh, he sold everything and we moved to Northern Wisconsin. So I ended up going to high.
So I born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana. Um, and then my high school, my high school years I went to, I was in, uh, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Wow. Wow. Yep. So, which is pretty far north. Why, why Northern Wisconsin? Long story, the shortened version of it is the Rohrman, uh, surname were German. And so when the first rohrman came over from Germany, uh, for whatever reason, they landed in Spooner, Wisconsin, which Spooner Wisconsin.
It's a population of 1100 people, uh, in the summer. And, uh, it's a lumber jacking town to this day. It's still, um, a very small, neat town. Um, but Bob Rohrman, my, my grandfather's dad, he would be considered a gypsy in today's. Like just the way he traveled all over the place. Yeah. Looking for jobs. So my grandfather, you know, one of 11 kids, he grew up all over the Midwest, um, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin.
He was born in Lafayette, Indiana. Just 'cause his dad was driving through, you know, with what a wild life all their 11 kids. Yeah. So he, he was really raised all over the place, but they ended up in Spooner, Wisconsin. They started there and ended up there. Uh, and so, um, during the Great Depression, they were able to purchase.
Um, some land around this little lake. So a 30 acre lake, it's called, uh, little Casey. And, um, most of that has stayed inside of the Rohrman family really for the last 60 years. So then you guys go up there? Yeah. Your dad says it's time for a change, right? You move up to Wisconsin. Mm-hmm. Go through high school.
Yep. You end up coming back to Indiana, though? Yes. And you go to Bethel? Yes. Uh, so I never came back to Indiana until 2020, so I was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Yeah. I went Bethel University is in St. Paul, Minnesota. Oh, not Bethel in South Bend. That's another one. That's Bethel College. Oh, yes. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, so this is Bethel University in Minnesota.
Yeah. Not in I, okay, nevermind. When I said Go Pilots earlier, I, that's so silly. Yeah, I was like, uh, the, were the Royals. Yeah. No, Bethel. I was thinking, I went to Bethel basketball camp in South Bend. Okay. It makes more sense now. Now. All right. Different Bethels. Yeah. All right, now we're on. Yes. So you end up going to college in Minnesota?
I did. Okay. Wow. Yeah. Interesting story behind that too. So, I love cars, grew up loving cars. Like even when I was a kid, I loved the DuPont Registry. I loved Car and Driver, so I would study these cars. I knew a lot about cars, worked on my dad's car lots as a child. Um, when I got into high school, Northern Wisconsin, shop classes are epic.
What you could, what they offer is great. So I. Uh, I've taken welding one, two, and three. I've taken metals one, two, and three. So, and I really liked working with my hands, so I was good at that. So I got a job at a body shop, um, and I was the, the owner had the municipality, um, contract. So up in northern Wisconsin, um, all the police cars have, uh, the brush guards in the front of them.
Yeah. And a lot of the time it's because they're hitting deer a lot or trees. And so these cars would come in crushed and they just gave me the torch and they're like, you gotta get it out. So I loved that job. It was great. How old were you? I was probably 17. That's a pretty cool job for 17. I loved working, so like I was always.
I loved working, so I always had a job ever since I was 14 years old. I, I worked at McDonald's for like two years. Um, was that your first job? It, my first real job. I worked at my, that's right. My dad's lot prior to that. But like really the, where I got paycheck, that was my first, that was my first real job was at McDonald's.
Was it? Dude, you learn a lot about people. I love that job to be What were you like, uh, working the register? No. Or were you like back there like making burgers? I was making burgers and putting 'em together. Well, and it's like a fun little assembly line. Like you kind of get vibing. It was fun, man. I, I, I don't know, but the only time I did not like, it's when they made me work in like holidays and my whole family went and did something and they were like, no.
I mean, if you didn't tell 'em, you know that you weren't gonna beat. And when you're like the low man on the totem pole Oh yeah. They're like, yeah, here's Christmas for you. Like, enjoy. Oh yeah. 24 7, 365. Everyone's right. Would you like fries with that? Oh, come on. Uh, that's Wow. Okay. So you end up then going.
So you were working kind of around cars. Yep. You go to Bethel in Minnesota. Mm-hmm. And then when do you decide like, hey, I might want to get back involved with the family business, be in between that. I ended up getting a job at a Spur gas station and I was changing oil, so I, I was doing light mechanical work on a car, on cars for about 18 months as well.
So, you know, like I did a lot of and in between to help my dad out, I'd sell cars too. So my dad opened another used car lot up in northern Wisconsin and I would help him do that. So I sold a handful of youth used cars in that market as well. So all had to be said, you know, by this time I was going off to college.
I had, uh, worked in a body shop. I had turned wrenches for, um, almost two years. Um, I've sold cars a little bit and, uh, I was kind of done with the business to be frank. Um mm-hmm. So I was a biochem major. Um, I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I just knew I liked science. So I was a biochem major and I was a, a decent soccer player, so Bethel gave me an academic scholarship to play soccer.
'cause it's D three, so you can't, yeah, yeah. Come on. So, yeah. So I went there and, and on a side note, at the time, uh, they had one of the best biochem programs in the country for private schools. It is a, it is a good fit for me. So I, I went there and probably like two to three months into my freshman year, um, my grandfather, just like, at this time, we had a great relationship.
So like I was his oldest grandson. And, um, he really started taking an interest in me, probably around like my eighth grade year. I was really blessed with, uh, with athletic abilities. So like, I love playing basketball. He'd come and watch me play on, you know, an Indian in the a u stuff, high school, soccer, all that kind of jazz.
And he was into that. So he'd support me in that. And then, so two to three months into my freshman year, he started blowing my phone up just, and, you know, my grandfather, he, um, you know, if you watch some of his commercials, the, the personality that you see there, that was not him acting. That's awesome.
That's, that's how he was. So, you know, you'd, Hey Grandpa, Hey babe. You know, like he, like, he called everyone nicknames, you know, if he ever called me by my real name, I was in trouble. Oh. So, you know, I was babe or chief or something like that. He's calling me, he's like, Hey, when you don't come sell cars for me.
I said, grandpa, I'm biochem major. I, I don't think I'm gonna do that. Oh, you don't wanna do that? That's he, well, you don't do with that. Be a doctor or something. I was like, yeah, maybe. And he's like, you don't wanna be a doctor, you wanna come sell cars? And I was like, I don't know. I, I think, I think I wanna do this.
I really like it. And he, he so legitimately, this went on for like weeks. He'd call me around the same, he always late at night. Um, and I stopped picking my phone up. 'cause, 'cause I, he was so relentless. I was like, I didn't, like, I had no problem telling him no. I just didn't wanna have the same conversation over and over again.
So, at the time in the dorm room, we still had the phones with the cord. Oh, on it. Okay. So this, oh, this isn't like your cell phone. This is like, he's calling your like, well we never used it, but we had a phone with a cord on the wall. That thing starts ringing for the first time in like three months. Like all my, I had two other roommates.
We all looked at it like we've never seen that phone ring before. So my buddy picks it up, he goes, hello? He looks at me, he goes, hit your grandpa. And I was like, what? So I picked the phone and I was like, grandpa, he goes, Hey babe, how'd you get this number? He goes, it took me a few phone calls to get it.
Hey, are you gonna come sell cars for me this summer? And I was like, you know what? I will, I'll do it. He did not give up. He didn't give up, man. No way. I do wonder he is like, did he have to call like the dean's office or whatever and like go through the registry and it's like, Hey, I just need to get to room 2 46.
I He is. He was so persistent. I mean, he just. And he was good at it. He didn't do it in a way where you're like, this guy is, uh, he's a jack. I mean, he, they're like, he probably had him laughing, you know, like, oh yeah, let me get that number for you. Classic. So, so it was a, it was a summer of 2005. I went and I started selling cars.
So I lived with him. He lived in Downers Grove at the time in Illinois. It's the suburb. And, oh, so he was not in Lafayette. He had a house in Lafayette. Okay. But he kind of lived in both places, but he was more living at this stage of his life. Okay. He was in that house up there. So you're like, okay, you know, you're just going south a little bit down near Chicago.
Is that like, where's down Grove? I, yeah, it's like in North Northwest suburbs. Okay, gotcha. Um, uh, maybe more west if you're getting really specific, but, um, no, I just, like, in my, in my mind, that's just like all the greater, it's just Chicago up there, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, uh, 19 miles outside of Chicago, it'd take you two hours.
I was gonna go, so 19 minutes away, right? Yeah. No, no. Unfortunately not, not quite. I live with him. I start selling cars, new cars, and so at this time for me. It was the fir it was my first experience ever with new cars. And so I never realized the difference in working for a new car manufacturer and everything else I had done in the past.
You know, working at an independent shop or a a, a body shop or a used car lot, there couldn't have been a, a, a, a bigger difference inside of the same industry. And I fell in love with it. Um, so that summer, what, what was the piece? Because a lot of people, I mean, obviously like used car sales is kind of like known as a grind.
Yeah. You know, like universally that's a challenging business. It is. And sometimes it gets a bad rap. It does like the classic, you know, like the used car salesman. Yeah. Right, right. Like you just, like everyone can see that picture in their head. Right? Yeah. But, um, to say you did it for a summer and then fell in love with it, like what about it did you love?
I love a lot of stuff about it, but I would say initially. The process of selling a new car. There's a way it made me feel it was addicting, you know, and to the point of like, I could do this and I could do it as a career from the outside looking in, obviously. Mm-hmm. Not an expert, not a third generation.
Yeah. In the automotive industry. Right. I feel like though, but as a, as a one-time car purchaser. Sure. Right. The salespeople that don't make, 'cause this is a huge purchase. It's in a lifetime. The average consumer, what you probably know the number eight cars. Eight. Mm-hmm. Eight. And how many brand new cars?
It depends on the buyer. Some people only buy new, some people only buy used, but the average person in their lifetime will purchase eight cars. Eight cars. Yeah. So it's like a thing you do eight times, you know, you live to be, let's say 80 years old or whatever. You're every, it's like once a decade. Yeah.
You know, that's a big moment. It's kinda like buying a house, you know? You probably only do that four times. Yeah. And so, like, when it, when it feels like. Oh, this person gets me and it's not just this transaction and it's not just blah, blah blah, blah, blah. Like I think that's like the real magic that can happen.
Yes. I love training at, you know, today in my role, so I've been, this month I've been training all, we went through probably not all 1300 'cause they're not all customer facing, but about a thousand of our employees. Um, so we do that in our three different regions. So Fort Wayne, Lafayette and Chicago. We do two sessions in each region, so two days.
So it's uh, six total sessions and we cycle any co any customer facing employee through this. And we do this quarterly, and I actually talked about it just yesterday. I was in Fort Wayne and I said, you know, I use that stat, the average consumer buys eight cars in their lifetime and the average rohrman sales associate is selling 12 cars a month.
So I said, guys and gals, we have to realize that. And not let it not become desensitized to what you do in one month is, is more than what one person would do in their lifetime. So how do you make it not a transaction? So like I was coaching a little bit on conversation before conversion. You know, a lot of times we want to go right to the conversion, which is the sale, but that's, if that's all we make it about, we're missing it.
Right? Yeah. Like the conversation matters. You know, I the most successful automotive sales associate, the conversation is something like this. It's, I get to know my customers so well and the conversations we have are so rich and so deep that when we're done, like hanging out inside the dealership, a side effect of the conversation is they buy a car.
Yeah. And like that's what it looks like. Yeah. And it's like, how do you do that without it being like weird? Yes. You know, where it's like, yeah. You're always sitting there and like, so you got kids and like, oh, okay. Like, you know. Right. But it's like if you're just a true conversationalist Yeah. You can, you can do very well and you can make happy customers, you know?
That's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's really interesting. Today the industry, like we really, I don't know how many times we sell a car, to be quite frank. Um, the data shows that the average consumer on a new car is spending 28 days online before they hit submit or pick a phone up or anything like that. Yeah. So if you actually spent 28 days studying anything, you're gonna know it pretty well.
You know, so by the time they hit submit, our customers, we know, they know that they know what car they want. You know, they, they might have some questions that they couldn't have figure out, but like that's becoming less and less, I mean through Yeah, throw it in the chat. I mean like Exactly. It's gonna answer all your questions.
Or like, then there's like an auto reviewer, and then there's this tic-tac page and there's this, that they go in there and they like, they might know just as much if not more about that specific model. Agreed. Like, I'm looking for the V six charger, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know? And that's right. Yeah.
So then it's like, what's our job? As we still call, we still call ourselves sales associates. We're really guides. It's like, all right, so fill me in on your journey so far. Like, what brought you to this car? And you know, they'll tell you and be like, great, so where can I, what, what can I do to help bridge anything that you weren't able to find?
Or do you just want to touch it? You know, like it's a machine still at the end of the day, you know? So like the internet, it can tell us a lot of the head knowledge, but the, but you know, the feel, the smell of the car pushing the buttons, these are all big touch points. Yeah. Is, is there like a moment like within the sales cycle?
Yeah. Within the customer journey of purchasing a car where it's like, when they do X they're like, that's what they're, they're more than likely gonna buy this car. Everyone's personalities are so, are so unique and so different. Like I, I remember even when I was selling cars, I had the customers that would wear sunglasses.
The whole time, even inside. And they'd sit in my office with their arms crossed and they were, they were tough 'cause I was just trying to be nice. It was like, can I get you anything else? Nope. Don't want anything. It was like, O okay, well do you wanna buy the car? Yeah, I'm here. I'm here to buy the car.
It's like, okay. And there's just, they don't, they didn't, it's almost like they read a book somewhere and they're like, do not have any emotional connection with the salesperson. Or they'll get you, you know, and it's like, yeah. And then you have people that are just really like, Hey, I'm this, I'm looking.
And you know, you can tell like, when you connect with that person, after, you know, 30, 40 minutes, you know you have a car deal. Now it's just like, alright, you gotta bring it home. You know, like, you know, and, and some people, they just really know what they want. But that's, I wanna say that's the most common customer though.
Most people, they're still a little, they know and they're like hesitant. Yeah. That because they've heard that. Like car salesmen are gonna like rip you off or whatever, right? Yeah. And it's like absolutely. They, and it's maybe they've never even had that experience personally. Yeah. But you like go in there and you almost like, don't wanna give an inch.
'cause you're like, if I say I don't know what I'm talking about. Yeah. Like, I'm, I'm totally screwed. Yeah. You know, when we do a lot of our corporate training, you know, I, I bring it off, you know, we have this stigma in, uh, north America and we have to overcome it. We, you know, like they make movies about it.
They, they, there's, I mean, it's funny. I mean, they have funny badger commercials on YouTube about it, you know, trunk Monkey, all this. It's funny stuff, but at the same time it's like, but that's the career that I'm in. Yeah. And this is not what we do at, at, at least at Roman Automotive Group. That's not us, you know?
So we spend a lot of time focusing on who are we, you know, we have a rich purpose statement, we have our, um, our value statement. And it's a, it's a trickle down effect, you know, to change that culture. But, you know, one customer at a time, one store at a time, we're trying our, our best to say, you know, that stigma, that's what it could have been years ago.
Yeah. And unfortunately, some stores, it still is. But we're trying to make this change inside of our organization where it's not 'cause like we focus on customer experience. Yeah. You know, I mean, we're, I'm actually going through this process. So, um, my girlfriend, she lives down in, uh, Florida. Okay. And her car like, broke down and she's like going through this buying process and literally she's like, what car should I get?
I was like, cv, like, just get a cv. There you go. You can't go wrong. It won't be like, and she's like, well, like I can't go to a car dealership. I was like, what do you mean? Like, just go there. And she's like, no chance. Like, I don't know anything about what? Anything. So like, I, I'm flying down this weekend and we're like gonna go like look around and stuff.
There you go. Because like, the stigma is that she's like, Nope. As a 20, 27, I gotta her age. Right. 27-year-old, you know, young woman. It's like I can't go in there alone. Like I'll get the worst deal, the worst. I don't even know how to buy a car. Yeah. So do you have advice for people out there of like. What are questions that you should ask, whether you're, you know, buying from Rohrman here in Indiana or in the Chicagoland area, or you're just, you know, you could be in Florida and you're going into a, I'm going this weekend.
What do I need to ask? I think step one, it's not even what you need to ask. It's do your research. Like if you're specifically on new cars. So on new cars, all the information is out there, the incentives, the rebates. Just know, it's, it's, it's helpful to know that I think. Mm-hmm. You know, so, uh, going in there prior, like, just, just know, like, you know what the MSRP is, the invoice is out there, you know, what the rebates are.
And, and so start there, you know, and then I would say what I would be looking for is a relationship. Like I really like to meet a professional. I love it. Um, and not just inside of automotive, but inside of any place you go Best Buy, you know, you go and you. It just happened to me like six months ago. I went in to buy the cheapest TV I could find that was still a smart TV for streaming.
And the, and this, he was a young dude, like early, early twenties, and he's like, well, why do you want that one? And I said, well, because it's 200 bucks and it has all the streaming stuff. He goes, oh. And then I was like, well, why, why did you respond like that? Why did you ask, is there something wrong with this tv?
He goes, no. He goes, but you know, there's, there's other options. And I was like, what would you do? It seems like you know what you're talking about. He goes, can I show you something? And I said, sure. And literally, after like 10 minutes, I was laughing to myself because I was like, this dude, he's great. And I'm, I'm watching a professional salesman and I appreciate that.
So by, at the, after like 30 minutes, I was like, all right, I don't have time anymore for this. So I looked at him, I was like, dude, you are awesome. Yeah, you are killing it. What TV would you recommend I buy? He goes, probably this one. I was like, done. Let 'em know up front. I have to go. I was like, I gave him my card and I was like, if you ever wanna sell cars Yes.
And you would crush it. Yes. You know, let me know. I think experience in purchasing a car is potentially more important than these witty questions you gotta say. Or, because if your experience is good, you're gonna go back and, and you're gonna feel comfortable. 'cause there's nothing worse than like walking into a store, um, and feeling uncomfortable, feeling intimidated.
Like you're kinda like jumping into like a pool full of piranhas a little bit and you're like, oh gosh, they're coming for me. Like, uh, you want to, yeah. You wanna feel like welcomed and you wanna have a great experience and you wanna just feel like a name you can trust, right? That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I would say, you know, the advice I'd give is when you're doing your shopping, like know your numbers, like it's all out there and know like when you see like costs that there, there are costs on cars that.
If you go below there, the dealer loses money on it. And we sell lots of cars at a loss. It's just part of the business that we're in, you know? So, yeah. That's interesting because based on like how long it's been on your lot, like the space where it's like, well if that wasn't here That's right. We could have another one here that could move quicker.
Mm-hmm. Like how, what, is there like software or something behind the scenes that's telling you like, yeah, we just gotta like, we gotta like turn this spot over. Well, it's, it's not, there's not software down to the car spot itself. We track really heavily and, and all the GMs have this, um, where you can have a car sit on your lot, a new car for one month and it not really costs you anything 'cause you get a credit from the manufacturer.
Now, here's what I love about the car business, that credit it can cover as an expense or it can be picked up as a credit. If you sell the car fast enough, right? Because it's going, it's, it's there to cover the interest expense of the car sitting there. If there's no interest expense, they don't remove the credit.
Now, if you don't sell the car for two or three months, the credit's been only been used and now you have expense of the car sitting there. So there's a business Yeah. Practice inside of that. So it's like you're, you're incentivized. Like first day it's dropped off, like, yeah, okay, let's get this thing yet.
'cause then the credit comes or then it's like you're incentivized later on down the road be like, we just gotta get rid of this thing. It's time to go. Like, so it's either like right in the beginning or like Yeah, right at the Wow. Yeah. That's interesting. So, and, and that's, and if you had, you know, 15 dealers in the room, they would all have probably a different spin on their perspective on like, we call that the turn, like how fast you wanna turn.
Um, and our mentality is we like to turn really fast. Um, I don't like cars sitting new or used cars. Bad things happen to cars that sit long, you know? So it's kinda like houses too, right? It's true. It's like, oh, this has been on the market for 20, like, especially today in Indianapolis, like specifically it's been on the market for 20 days.
Like, what's wrong with this place? Like something has, right? Like something has to be wrong. Yes. It's weird, you know? 'cause it's true with houses. If no one's living in the home, weird stuff happens. Like it starts falling. You'd think it'd be the opposite. You know? No one's in it, it's still brand new. It's like, no, there's something about like.
People in the home and it, yeah. I don't know. And same thing with cars. Like cars are built to move, you know, they're built to move. Yeah. So, I mean, the sitting there is, it's not good for them. That was a fun, we, that was a fun little like side quest there. I do wanna get back to this journey. So you spend a summer selling cars Yes.
With your grandfather? Yep. And was it that moment that you knew like this was what you wanted to do? I knew, yeah. So I went back 2005, I went back to school, changed my major to, uh, marketing. I sold cars the rest of the summers. Mm-hmm. Um, in Schaumburg at a Honda store. Yeah. And in 2007, my grandfather, he was great.
He was also a hard dude. So I mean, he was all business. Um, first. So, you know, I was, I was talking about my career path a little bit. So like, I'm not, I'm not, I haven't graduated quite yet. And I said, grandpa, what does my career path look like? And he goes, well, he goes, I think the, the, the most basic thing that you need to understand is if you can't do it, I'm gonna fire you.
And he goes, hell yeah, grandpa and my entire family, they all know this to be true. Like, it's just, that's how he was. I mean, if you can't, he will give you the opportunity, but it ends there, then it's like, all right, it's, it's, it's which, which is good's great. Especially being in the family business. Yeah.
Where it's like everyone knows, it's like, Hey, there's no, like, he's not playing favorites here. No. It's like, if I can't, if I can't do the job, he can't do it. I mean, you're, he goes, I'll give you the opportunity, but at the end of the day, if you can't do it, I just want you to know. Were there ever any moments like as, especially early in your career where you were like, oh dude, I'm so, like, grandpa's gonna be upset.
Yeah, for sure. He was just masterful in his ability to. Read people well, and, and so, um, he knew me really well, um, from two years of living with him and then working pretty close closely. And so, um, as I progressed, he knew how to push me and he would push and push and I never, and I, my pushback was, um, I, I never pushed back unless it was wrong.
You know? Even if it was like, I don't know if I can do it. I'm gonna try anyways, you know? And he kept pushing me and, and to the point where this was years down the road. Now, at this time I was running a dealership for him. I was the general manager of our, of our Honda store in Schaumburg. I wanna say that this was like 2010 end of May.
We were on pace to break every record the store had ever had by in May. The pace was already there and that he's had that store since 1984. It's a big store. I'm not the type of guy to ever pound my chest. And so I wasn't, so I'm, he, I knew he knew that. Um, so I didn't need to bring it up. And he kept pressing me and pressing me.
And finally it got me to the point where I said, you know, grandpa, at this point, I really am giving you everything I have, and I understand if it's not enough, I can go do something else. And he said, babe, you're doing great. Keep it up. And he stopped pressing at that point, and I looked back at it. He was refining me for years.
So from 2005 to 2010. So that five year span, we had these, we had great conversations, we had hard conversations, and he kept pushing me forward. He kept putting me to the edge, putting me to the edge, putting me to the edge. And I almost feel like he was doing it on purpose. Um, he either was doing it on per purpose or he just was, I don't, I don't know how, what else you'd call it, but he gets me to the edge and he pushed a little too hard.
And, you know, like I respected. I respected him so much, I would never got mad or angry. It's, that's not how I operate. And that's why I said to him, I said, you know, if it's not enough, I get it, you know, and I'll do something else. And he knew, he got me to the, my breaking point. Yeah. And then he let me go.
Yeah. And I don't know if he's trying to show me something about myself. I don't know if he was trying to figure out how far he could push me, but, um, that was 2010. And we did that year, we broke every record that store had. Especially when you think of like third generation family businesses. Like a lot of 'em don't make it that far.
They don't, you know, or if it is, by the time it gets down to the third generation, the whoever's running it is like so worried. He's like, maintain, don't screw it up. Like, blah, blah. Like, and not really thinking about growing and expanding or being, because of this balance between showing respect to. The past.
Yep. And, and you know, like honoring a legacy. Yes. But also continuing to like drive when it's just your startup or when it's your thing that you built. It's like, I can do whatever I want with it, you know? That's right. So I think that's a hard thing, but it is interesting to think about, uh, your grandfather, the refinement mm-hmm.
There, and the fact that like he would've, I mean, I, I, obviously I've only had, we've talked for 40 minutes now or whatever it is, but I believe he would've fired you. Like he is like, yep. Can't do a job. And I think that that's a little piece that like has made you into an excellent operator today. Yeah. I give him a ton of credit for that.
I mean, as we move forward in our relationship together, um, he kept going so he knew, like we almost entered into another chapter after that. Yeah. So like the first five years of our working together. I think he was trying to, he was trying to see what he had, you know, it was almost like, um, clay in a potter's hand, you know, like he was trying to like, what, what is this?
What can this, what type of vessel can this thing turn into? Yeah, right. I don't know. He got it to where he wanted to and, and then in 2013, he platformed me. So he took me out of a single store and he put me over the 14 stores and that's was like the next step in our relationship. So that's when we really started working side by side from 13 to really the end of 17, 18, a little bit.
We were, I wanna say inseparable, but I was with him a lot. Um, and we were. Um, I mean, he did stuff in Indiana and I, at that time, I wasn't doing anything in Indi in, in, with the Indiana stores. I was all Chicago. Um, but it was hiring and training general managers and this overall operations, like that's what we did together.
And we had this, I have such fond memories of that. My grandfather had this internal clock, you know, from eight 30 in the morning to 9:00 PM at night. He was on every day besides Sundays. He was just, he was on, and you could just tell he wouldn't relax. He was on and he loved it. You know, it, it's what he did.
But right at 9 0 5, he'd sit back in his chair, he'd undo the knot in his tie, and he could just chill. My wife probably didn't love this, but I was with him many, many nights, you know, at nine 30. But it was beneficial to my career growth because that's when we got the break stuff down. Um, during the, when, when we were selling cars and selling service.
We were on the clock and we were solving, we're we're solving problems or trying to make things better. But then once the clock was off and he knew all the stores were dark, we could then get real, you know? Yeah. Get past the work side. And I have so many fond memories sitting in his office, you know, and it was you, I knew when the sign was the tie would come down.
Like that's when he could chill. Yeah. And, you know, not many people have to see that side of him 'cause they weren't willing to put the hours in. Yeah. Right. Like, he wouldn't, he wouldn't do that with you at 5:00 PM like, it was, it was nine 30 at night and if you wanted to, he'd sit there with you till 11.
I still remember, you know, backtracking a little bit. Um, 'cause he, this refinement stage, we were, he, I, he was doing it with me when I was selling cars. So he told me I was 21 and 2005. And, uh, he goes. Um, I said, what are my hours? He goes, they're on the door. I said, okay. So that was my hours, and I went to my GM at the time and he goes, I don't want you.
We call those bust outs when you work from, um, eight to nine every single day. And the GM goes, I don't want you doing that. I said, well, you wanna tell my grandfather? He goes, Nope. He goes, how about you get here like at nine 30 and you can work like at nine to nine? He goes, don't, nothing happens in the dealership at like eight o'clock in the morning.
And I was like, all right, I'll, I'll try to figure that side of it out. So that's what I did, and at this time, there's no need for a day off. So I worked, uh, Monday through Saturday and I worked, um, nine to nine, but nine. Oh yeah. So the economy was rocking, you know, in the early two thousands. And so very rarely would we close at 9:00 PM Um, the guys would lead that had families.
I would stay and sell cars. I mean, the, the latest customer that I greeted at the door is at 11:00 PM in Chicago. And I sold him a car at one in the morning, you know, and the only time I couldn't do it was, um, it's illegal to sell a car in Illinois on Sundays. So if I couldn't have the deal closed on Saturday before midnight, we'd have to, because everything's timestamped, we'd have to, um, start it back up on Monday.
And so most evenings I got home around 10 30. That was my, you know, so I'd leave his house around 9, 9 30, and I get home around 10 30. If he was in town, I cannot remember a night where he would not be up and the house would be dark. I mean, his wife at the time she was sleeping, the house was dark. He would sit at his kitchen table.
It was like an old mobster movie, you know, and there's two lights on over the table, the rest of the house dark. And he'd scare me half to death sometimes. 'cause it, it was a blind corner. So I would, I, I lived in his basement, so I'd come in through the garage. I'd just go down and I was tired, you know.
Been grinding for 12 hours. He goes, Hey, and I jump 'cause I didn't know he was still awake. Sit down, tell me about your day. And we did this every night and there's sometimes I was, you know, it's, it's, it's hard to work it not sell a car, you know, you work there all day and you know, you talk to five people and, um, it just didn't happen.
You know? And you can, you can get kind of down and, you know, he disencouraged me, he goes, oh, he goes, you know what that means? I said, what does, what does that mean, grandpa? He goes, well, every fourth person you talk to, on average, you sell a car. So that means like, you're gonna sell three cars tomorrow.
'cause you're the first three people you talk to going, boom, boom, boom. I was like, really? And he's like, oh yeah, that's gonna happen. He wasn't always right. But it was true. Like, there, there, there is like this equation to selling cars. 'cause most people don't come into a dealership just to come into a dealership.
You know, they, they wanna do something. So, you know, they're best salespeople. Are closing one outta three people they talk to. That's just like, it's just, that's a fact, you know? Um, you can get a little bit better than that, but then you start getting into like, well, 2.7 or, you know, something like that.
Yeah. So one outta three. And what, how many conversations on average do you have in a day if you're working a shift? Well, that's a big store that I was working out. So we were selling like 300 new cars a month, and like 175 used cars a month. So I could, if you wanted to. So, so much of, there's not a whole lot of structure, um, in sales at a dealership, you know, because it's, it's kind of a free for all to some extent.
Like you have tasks that you need to do, but then it's kind of like, well. Do you wanna go pursue the front door where people walk through the front door? That's changed a little bit with the internet today, but for the most, that's how it was. So like, I literally would just stand by the front door after my tasks were done and just stand there and wait, stand there and wait.
I'd greet people and they're like, they're here to see someone else. 'cause they had an appointment. Great. I'd walk 'em to that person. I'd go back and stand by the front door. So like if I really worked that 12 hour shift hard, I could easily talk to four people on average per day. Some days were, were we're more and some days were less.
Yeah. But I'd say on average four. And then you that good salesperson, you're getting one every three. So Yeah, you're, I mean, I was selling 20 cars a month, you know, so it was, it, it was, and on average today, I mean, a little bit ago, you said the average sales person says 12. Yeah. And that hasn't changed. The average sales person in the country is 10 to 12.
Wow. It's just the way it is. Um, and so much of that, it's not because they're not good salespeople, it's 'cause, you know, I've had this conversation with my sales staff so many times. It's like, Hey, you work a eight hour shift. How many of those hours are you actually working? You know, you go to lunch for two hours or you, uh, play games on your phone or X, y, Z, right?
You, you talk with your employees or you actually like pursuing your job description, you know? And, and the, that's the difference. The folks that do that every day consistently, they're selling 2030. I mean, there's people selling 40 cars a month out there. What's the most that anyone within Rohrman Automotive have ever sold in one month?
I had a guy out of our Toyota store in Oakbrook. He sold 60 cars in one month. Yeah, 60 cars. Yes. Holy. True story to me. I'm just like, it's impossible. But he did. I mean, he sold 60 cars. That's like an all time run. They gotta be like, you just gotta be walking home at night. Like, let's go. You felt good about yourself?
Yeah. Still not many cars. Toyota. I mean, those things sell themselves. They Toyota's a great offer. This episode of Get IN is brought to you by our friends at Indy Grills and Outdoor Living, a local business here in central Indiana. They specialize in custom patios, fireplaces, and outdoor kitchens that are designed around how you actually want to use your space.
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Check them out@indygrills.com. I I do want to talk about the moment, like you talk about having these late night conversations with your grandfather. Mm-hmm. Where was the moment that you knew that like taking over the family business was gonna be your destiny? Like, what was the conversation that you had with.
Your grandfather, like my grandfather was not one to ever project where you're going on you. Like, that's not his, that was not his management style. Like, I don't like thinking back, he's not the, he was not gonna be like, someday you could be the GM of this store. Like, that's just, that's, that's not the way he motivated.
It was more or less, it was like the takeaway clothes for him. It's like, well, you're just not gonna keep that job if you can't be at least one of the best ones in there because you're a rohrman. You know? And so like, it was like, oh, so I need to be the best one, you know? And so like every, almost every promotion I got, I had no idea it was coming.
Like I found out about it when everyone else did and I was like, oh, I'm gonna be the used car manager now. Great. Let's go. You know, literally, like even when I got my first GM job, I think it was, it was 2009, 2010, and it was at this end of the year banquet, we call it Manager of the Year. So every manager in the state of Illinois.
Was at this banquet hall, it was like 10 30 at night. These things 'cause all his stuff, the store had to be closed for him to do anything. So we didn't even start until nine. So we'd go to like one or two in the morning. So like halfway through this banquet, he stands up and he promotes my GM to a director role.
And so someone's like, oh, that's cool. I wonder who's gonna be the G of our store. And then he calls me up in front of everyone. I'm just like, oh, this is happening right now. It's like, okay. I was 28, you know? So I was like, let's go. It it it's go time. Yeah. You know? So like that's how he operated in the background.
His inner circle of like directors and leaders, like they were really great folks and. You know, I heard some stuff through them, like, you know, 'cause my grandfather, he might not have been there encouraging one, but they'd come behind him and encourage me if we had a sideways conversation or something like that.
So I kind of knew at some point like, this is going somewhere. I, I didn't have an idea potentially of what it looked like. He platform me, uh, to the Chicago stores. Like I said before, in like 2013, that's when he really started teaching me, like operationally, you know, he's like, Hey, being successful in the automobile industry doesn't mean we sell cars.
There's a lot more to it. And so I was like, that, that phrase, I was like, what, what does that even mean? And so I learned what that meant, you know, just what does it look like to run a new car? Operation when you get to multi roofs, right? So it's different. If you only have two stores, your operation will look very different than what I'm running today.
I would say for anything that looks similar to what I'm doing, you'd have to have at least seven to 10 stores even before we could start talking. Um, just because you, you, you need some of that ability to, to span and uh, and whatnot. So my grandfather, he passed away in 2020. In 2018, he had a stroke. I was in Las Vegas at a dealer conference and I got the call.
So I flew back April 1st, 2018. It was a Sunday and I was in, uh, his hospital room and my dad was in the room. The doctors were in the room and uh, I just got back and I said, Hey grandpa, how you doing? He looked at me, he goes, I'm doing okay. I started to talk. He goes, stop. And I said, okay. He grabbed my hand and he goes, I know the next thing you're gonna tell me is like, you can get better and, you know, so on and so forth.
He's like, and I know that. But I need to ask you something. I said, okay. He's like, I know the only way I'm gonna get better is if I know you're running the organization, so I need you to promise me that that's what you're gonna do. And like he had my hand in an awkward, it was an awkward grab. He had my hand.
I looked over at my dad and I was like, what's going on right now? And he goes, what's your answer? Your dad or your grandpa? No, my, my grandpa. And I said, I'll, I said, grandpa, if that's what you want, I'll do it. He goes, that's what I want. That's how I'll get better. And I said, okay. And that was it. Like, so that, so, so that was a definitive time in my career where I'm just like, I have an opportunity.
It's go time. And so I pressed hard, you know? So from April 1st, 2018, it was keep the legacy. Yeah. Yeah, this foundation is super strong. It's time to build and grow. And so, you know, the last, what's that, seven, eight years, that's what we've done, you know? Yeah. And so that's, that's that story. And like everything was a surprise.
Like it was like potentially I knew someday maybe I'll run it, maybe I'll have a store of my own, you know, or something like that. I don't know if I ever thought that I'd actually be doing his job, to be quite frank. I don't know if that was ever in the cards. Um, maybe just running Chicago or I don't know.
But that moment in 2018, it defined the future for me Yeah. Of where I was going. Well then talk to us about, you know, the last seven years of. Growing Roman Automotive group and, and all the innovation that has come in. Oh my, I mean, you talk about like all the Yeah. 20 17, 20 18. Like TikTok car reviewers, like weren't a thing.
Yeah. Right. You know, like now the big thing is, uh, oh my gosh. Who are the two? There's these two guys on social media. Russ Flips Whips. Oh yeah, I know him. AMG Jared. I don't know him, but I know Russ. He's only did like the BORA video. Oh yeah. Yeah. And I'm just like, I, like, for some reason they've been in my feed a lot lately.
Like Russ is a stud. I know him personally. He's a really good dude. Really? Yeah. He's a really good dude. Well, he just put something where he is like, yeah, one of my clients wanted to sell their dealership and within, within like 24 hours, they had a hundred leads they did to buy a dealership. Yeah. Like that's crazy.
That's awesome. Yeah. He seems like a good dude. He's a good dude. We, we did this big grand opening. Um, we have one of the largest Honda stores in the country in Schaumburg. It's huge. Uh, 180,000 square feet. And, uh, we invited a bunch of, a bunch of social media influencers to come in, like. Hype it up. So he was one of the guys That's cool.
That came. So we got to know him a little bit, but it was pretty, it was pretty cool. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, talk to us about Yeah, the innovations that have been coming and, and how you've been balancing maintaining legacy while also innovation and pushing the needle Right off the bat, I knew step one, one of the things that my grandfather did, I, I'm sure there was a reason behind it, but it wasn't, my thing was he kept the stores very separate.
We're not friendly with another Orman store inside the organization. It just, it was his thing. Like he, he liked to put us against each other at competition. Across, yeah. Which doesn't make sense. Like a Ford and Honda store, we really don't compete, you know, but we can actually help each other instead of, so I, I thought right away I'm gonna unify the group.
Um, and so, because I think that's a great way to grow. Like it is very hard to send people out to outside training. Uh, because they don't know how we operate. So they're gonna tell you how to do something, but it doesn't mean that it, it actually aligns with your structure. But when you have that many employees and that many stores, if they're aligned, it makes training great because now I can start implementing from the top down.
This is our process, this is our structure. This is who we are. So right off the bat, I started doing in-store meetings every month without fail. And at that time we had 25 stores. We, we sold a few stores. So I did that for two years straight. I was in every store every month. I was in more hotels than I was in my own, my own, uh, bedroom.
And I was, I, I held, I had a process of a meeting that they were about two to three hours each in each store. And every, I met with every manager every month. Inside that process, we started creating this Rohrman family atmosphere. You know, where, you know, I, I like the idea of being sticky. Like I think one thing that's really important to me is tenure inside of the auto group.
I hate turnover. Um, I love pouring into our staff. Um, and so from 2018, our average tenure, and this is, I'm gonna say this number, this is very common in automotive, was about two and a half years. So the average person would stay with us for two and a half years. That's, unfortunately, it's a high turnover industry today.
We've grown that to 4.8. So Wow. It takes a long time to grow tenure. My goal is to get to seven, like, I don't know if I can get it. It is a high turnover industry, but I believe we can get to that to average seven years. Yeah. So especially in like today's age, like people aren't like legacy career loyalists, you know?
No, they don't commit. Folks don't commit to, uh, something long term that much. Yeah, and it's interesting too because like. I'm sure you can't have, like even if you brought in seven Awesome, you know, sales associates, it's like you can't have seven, you know, managers at the same store. So it's like you probably have to move and go do something.
Yes. Like the career, like, it's a pyramid of like development and growth and promotion. That's hard. You know, that, that is definitely a thing. Right. You know, as you grow people, unfortunately, you just don't have enough spots. Yeah. As you get people great. And then maybe the, like other dealerships are like, oh, you guys have, you've come through good leadership structure and like, we want to bring you over and you don't have to like move to a new city.
And you know, in all honestly, I, I celebrate those wins. Like I, because they'll come to me like Ryan, I, I have a, I have a job offer and I'll look at 'em like, I think you should take it. You know, 'cause I unfortunately don't have that for you. And the, the auto industry is a small world. It doesn't mean our paths are nothing to cross again.
Right? Yeah. So, hey, you have my cell phone number. If anything ever changes, just stay in communication with me, you know, and we will see where this thing goes. Yeah. You know, so. So that was happening, but at the same time, I was like, we need to redefine our identity. So my grandfather, uh, he had very few people under him.
He loved the direct connect to the gm, which is very, very inefficient and time consuming, but he liked that. So through the, from 2018 to 2020, I realized really fast. That's not efficient. Like I can't be everything for everybody. Um, so I started hiring directors. That has to be draining too. It was like, yeah.
Uh, kudos to your grandfather for being able to do that. Yeah. Like, I, I don't, like a lot of people could not handle, I mean, how many, you talking about 27 stores? I mean, at, at the top of his career, he had, he was pressing 40 dealerships at one time, like 40 people that he's like, like I think 40 direct reports Yes.
Is crazy. It's crazy. Yeah. It's not, it's crazy. It's, honestly, it's not efficient. I mean, it's, it hinders your growth. Like you have to realize that you cannot lead that many people successfully. It doesn't mean that's not good. It's just could be better. And I think that is the desire is like, can, what can we do to get better?
So put this great, um, team of directors in place. And what I love about this part of the story is we just grew, like, every time I added someone, we grew more, we grew more, we started breaking every record the group had ever had. Instantly we were hiring better people, which helped. But that was a lot because of the directors.
'cause they were in the market that, that we were working in. So they were there all the time. Yeah. You know, they were, they were there like, you need help. You had a guy, like even when I was doing everything for everyone. Like my phone and emails were just nuts. Like, I had to tell people like, 'cause it wasn't just them, I had all the manufacturers that wanted my time too.
So I was literally putting people off. I was like, is it an emergency? I'll call you tomorrow. You know? And, and that's a terrible way to lead folks. That's hard. Put this director team together. They're studs and they're still doing a great job for me. But at, so the while that was happening, I was like, who are we?
Like, I love like statements of truth and I love that concept of a purpose statement. So we hired this guy, a central location is like Merrillville, Indiana. So we were in like a Holiday Inn conference room. Yeah. Come on. Yes, yes. So we were in a, uh, like a Holiday Inn conference room. Uh, I had, I had 15 people, so like the 15 people were in, there were people who'd been with the auto group a long time, so like tenure year, um, and my director team and I was like, alright guys, we're, we shut the door.
We're not leaving till we have a purpose statement. So it took us three hours. And so this, but this guy kind of walked us through. He goes, all right, go start writing sentences down about your purpose. So, you know, after like an hour, we had a paragraph. He goes, all right, A good purpose statement is like, it's, it's a sentence or less.
And so we, we kept redefining, redefining, redefining. And so finally we're looking at it. We're like, there it is. So our purpose statement is Driving Relationships. Awesome Experiences, period. That's what we do. So we establish that. And so now when we train, it's, hey, in everything we do, in everything we do.
In everything we do, we're gonna drive the relationship and have an awesome experience. And that's not just for our customers, it's for our employees as well, you know? And so like we really try to live that out and everything we do. Yeah. You know, so whether it's customer facing or whether it's to our employees, uh, and that has changed our culture, um, yeah.
In a big, big way. Yeah. I mean, this has been a heck of a story. We are, uh, we are at time. Nope. I have a couple fun questions for you as we wrap up. Okay. From Lafayette, then went up to Wisconsin, then spent some time in the Chicago land area. But you've been a, a full-time Hoosier for the last five years. No, five years in the first 15 years.
There you go. So 20 combined. 20 combined years. Mm-hmm. Um, first one. So would you say that Indiana's home. Yes, this question is brought to you by our friends at JC Hart, a leader in creating enjoyable living experiences at apartment communities all across Indiana and beyond. Check them out at home is jc hart.com.
So my question for you, why do you call Indiana home? Some of it's that home is where the heart is. I was born and raised here. Um, I have super fond memories, um, of Lafayette and just growing up there. Um, and my family's there, you know, so we are in the, the Chicago market for 15 years or so. Um, but I have three younger brothers, so two of them live in Lafayette.
My parents live in Lafayette. And um, a lot of it was just, you know, to be by our family. Mm-hmm. And move back to that. The people in Indiana are great. If you've never lived anywhere else outside of Indiana, you'll realize, like, I'm sure there's other nice states too, but, uh. The folks in Indiana are just super nice.
Um, it took me a little, uh, time to, to slow down, you know? 'cause the fast paceness of the, the Chicago market, you know, people don't say hi to you. They don't care to get to know you. I remember waving at my neighbors and they wanna wave back, and I was like, what did I do? You know? Um, even checking out, like you'd say, if you said thank you, they might say You're welcome.
Where, when I came to LA back to Lafayette, I was checking out and like the, the checkout folks wanna have a conversation and I'm just like, oh. Yeah, I need to slow down and like, this is great and like, I just think it's a great place to raise a family, you know? Um, 'cause that that's, you know, I have three kids and, you know, that's, I think the legacy of my family.
Like I would, I would love to see them stay and put their roots into Indiana. Um, so how would you compare Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Minnesota have a lot of similarities. You have the Minnesota nice thing, so like, Chicago's not nicety, but it's just fast paced and like more cutthroat.
Um, at least in the, in the burbs. Yeah, I'm there. There's, that's not true about the whole state. Um, but yeah. You're talking about just like Chicago, yeah. And the suburbs, right? Yeah. St. Paul has some similar vibes to that, but it's a little slower pace. Wisconsin and Indiana are, are definitely more similar to each other.
It's just, it's a slower movement and people are friendly, you know, like if, if you need help. If you go to your neighbor and ask for help, like they just, they'll, I would say most of them will just show up and do it. I only went to college in St. Paul, so I don't want to give too much of a, of a, of a slap on them, but I'll, I'll say in Illinois, that's not true.
Yeah. Or you wanna want your neighbor. You wouldn't want their help because they're, and I don't know, it's interesting, uh, scenario sometimes, so Yeah. That is interesting when you like, technically all Midwest states Yeah. But like very different experiences based on where you live. Yeah. And it's always fun to have guests that have like, spent time with it because a lot of it's like you bring in a lifelong Hoosiers, like Indiana is just the best thing ever.
Yeah. Like, yeah, exhibit A, there you go. And they're like, yeah, what does this guy know? He's never seen anything. So I always, I always love having that. Uh, you guys have really leaned into social media. Yep. Specifically TikTok. Mm-hmm. Can you talk about the strategy there and like what your thoughts are and what your most fun tiktoks to like be part of in creative then the whole journey on social media has been interesting.
So, you know, every year we try to start the year off with like a phrase. So, um, and uh, two years ago it was own it, so it was like whatever, whatever it is. What, what, what? You don't go after just own it. Like don't go halfway. Yeah. So, um, in February, we were of that year we were talking about, Hey, we all have these unique platforms, let's own it.
And, uh, and so we were talking specifically about social media and so some people just went with it, you know. So, um, I personally don't do a whole lot of TikTok. Um, but I have the staff at Rohrman. I mean, we encourage 'em to like, Hey, do your thing, you know, and so, um, they've done some crazy stuff, funny stuff.
We had a podcast where Driving Relationships podcast. That was fun. We had all these people that Russ Flips Whips was actually on that Nice, I think at one time. Nice. But what we've seen inside of that is just, you know, as, as we get older, that next gen, the way that they consume information is changing. You know, it's even changing today, but the gen of like in their late, their mid twenties to early thirties right now.
It's all social media, you know, it's, that's where they get their information from. It's where they, it's their Google search. It's, it's everything. It's like you, you Google something and you have to like, go read this article and you have to like, surf. Like you have to, um, figure out what's ai, what's not ai.
Yes. Like blah, blah, blah. Right. This is just like searching on TikTok and it's like, oh, this person's gonna tell me about it in 90 seconds. That's right. Yeah. Like, sure. So then it's like, well, all these ads I'm running, I'm missing like a whole section of buyers. Yeah. You know, and, and, and right now that, that is the, arguably it's the core buyer right now, you know, like late twenties into their mid thirties.
Like, they got a lot of money. Well, okay, nevermind. Well, they're earning, they're earning their money. They're looking to buy that first or second new car. And it's like, well, you don't watch tv really? You stream everything. You're not as much on the website, you're on the internet, but how do we reach you?
And it's like, well, social media. Right. And so we've really leaned into that. Yeah. And, and, and, you know, I do a lot on LinkedIn, um, on my platform. I spend, you know, shoot a lot of video, put a lot of content out, just like what we're doing. And I'm trying to get sticky. Like that's all I'm, I'm trying to be at Attract.
I've, I've hired so many great folks, um, off LinkedIn and it's because that's what they're looking for. Mm-hmm. It's, people aren't really applying to help wanted ads anymore. It's Who do you know? Did you help? Wa I didn't even know there was still help, wanted ads. Oh, they're out there, man. Career Builder and some of these other ones.
So help wanted ads. Yeah. Well, tell your team we need to do a video. Yeah. I, uh, we need to do a, a car video. Yeah. I have a fun car story. Okay. Um, so like, this was what got me into like this today. Okay. It all started in March of 2024. Cool. I had like, we were hosting the podcast, but like, no one listens to anyone's podcast.
Right. Like, it takes a long time to build up. Yeah. And I like wanted people to like, you know, start listening quicker. So it was March, 2024 and I was like, I was putting out Indiana content. I had like 7,000 followers and I was like. You know, Indy 500 is like what Indiana's known for. Yes. I need to do something crazy.
So I went and bought, well, I put out a video that said I'm on a mission to be the first truck in the infield at the Indianapolis 500. Okay. I don't own a truck. Yeah. And I was gonna host a tailgate and like did all this stuff. So I went on Facebook Marketplace. Yeah. And documented buying this 1986 Dodge.
Awesome. W250. Yeah. And went through the whole process. We had to flip it, get it right. There was a squirrel living in the Oh my word. It was awesome. That's cool. People loved it. Yeah. I gained like 15,000 followers and I ended up like working with sponsors and hosted in all Indiana tailgate at the Indy 500, where like 400 people showed up and like beer meat, every, yes.
Like we did not go to Kroger or Walmart. Like everything was sourced from Indiana. Really? And you could just have whatever you wanted. 'cause it all came from sponsors. Oh, that's cool. And by the end of it, I had made, like, I made $10,000 in sponsorship and I was like, if I can make 10 grand from. Tailgating.
I could build a business around this. Yes. And I quit my job The MU or the Tuesday after. Wow. Memorial Day. Love that. And it was just like cars. Yeah. I was like, oh my gosh. Like just like people talking about seeing the experience. Yes. And learn. Like getting up to peak inside. Like I saw one of the videos you guys put out, I like monthly commission check delivery.
Mm-hmm. And it's like, who would've thought five years ago that people would want to watch a video of people receiving their paycheck? Yeah. Like it's nuts. You gotta think of something new. Don't imitate something else. Like you gotta make it your own. Like there's a guy in TAC that throws plungers. Have you seen this dude?
Yes. He throws plungers at buildings and so now you can pay him. So we did it. He came to our Toyota store and like we paid him like 10 grand to come throw plungers at our building. And was like, when they, when they threw the idea at me, I was like, really? Like, that's what's gonna move. We're gonna pay him to throw like toilet plungers at our, like, our beautiful facility.
And they're like, yeah. It was like, whatever it let's, like let's, let's try it. You know? How many views did he get? Tens of thousands of views. I mean, it just, people come in and they're like, oh, is this where they threw the plunges? Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Like, I, I don't know if we sold a car off of it.
I'm, I'm sure we did, but it, it's not always that instant gratification though. It's, it's building into something, you know, else. Well, and it's like, I feel like a lot of times there are, like, I'm, I'm 28, so like the 20. Five to 32 year olds. Yeah. Like wanna do business with people that they like. Yeah. And they, they find out, I mean, that's like the whole world wants to do business with people they like, but today you find out that you like people through their social media content.
Absolutely. Right. And it's like, then you meet 'em in person, you're like, oh, you're the same. Like, I like you like the plunger guy. Yes. No way. Like, that's so cool. I love it. Um, okay, as we keep rolling through here, what kind of car do you drive? I have a F-150 Raptor. Oh, that's right. That's what I drive.
That's a fun one. Yep. If you were recommending three cars for, you know, the, let's say the 30-year-old professional, like what do you recommend they get? What's gonna be reliable? What's gonna be fun? What do they need? I love the Toyota 4Runner. I like the look that car's bulletproof it. If you are a, I'm gonna drive it till the wheels fall off, you're gonna get over 200,000 miles in that thing if you take care of it.
This is a great car. And the back window rolls down. Yeah. It's awesome they brought that back. I'm so glad I have a Jeep now, but I had a four runner. It was my first, like, I saved like a bunch of money. Bought like a 2006 four runner. Yes. And I had the sunroof in the back window rolled down, and I just felt like I was so cool.
Oh man. It was, I remember I was selling used cars with my dad and the, uh, it was either like late nineties or early two thousands and we sold this. It was like a 95 4Runner. That body style was awesome. Yes. And he was so excited. The first thing he did is went camping with his son and like, it just, it was, they sent us pictures.
I mean, it was That's so cool. It was a cool, cool, you know, like but that, that car is iconic. Yeah. They have not messed it up. It looks, I mean, they just remodel. They just redid it like a, a year ago or something like that. It looks great. It drives great. Yeah, it has a, they have a hybrid V six in it too, so like, it's cool.
You talk about iconic, are there other cars that are just timeless to you? Civic? No, I, I still, I was selling, I was selling new Hondas in 2005 and I'll say the 2005 Honda Civic was ugly. Um, it was not a good looking car. And is that like the four door one that kinda looks like a turtle shell a little bit.
That was better. That was like 2006, 2007. The, the 2005 was a box. Uh, it was, and I, I still remember I was Oof. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was, I was, I was selling this lady the Civic, and I looked at her at one point and was like, you're just not excited about this car, are you? And she goes, well, it's, it's a civic.
And I was like, but it's a new car. I was like, why are you buying it? She goes, it's a civic. Yeah. Her answer for everything was, it's a civic and it's because it's, she's probably still driving that car today. She very well could be, honestly, you know, but that car, they, I don't know if this is filter today, but um, when I was running Honda, they said that Civic had such great brand recognition that you could have a separate standalone dealership called Civic.
And only sell civics and just, and be just fine. Like that car is just, that's so true. It's my opinion that in that small sedan segment, there's nothing that holds a, a, a candle to that car. Like the Corolla is great. It's not a civic, like it's, there's just two people swear by 'em. They're great cars. Yeah. So I, iconic, iconic.
That would be interesting. Like you, like, like you used in just civic and you just sling civics. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Uh, is there a another Indiana business, so outta the car realm, but is there an Indiana business that you love to support? The non-for-profit stuff? Yeah. In Lafayette. So we just did something with the Humane Society there and that was, it was super cool.
It's one of the nicest humane societies I've ever been to. We have this thing called Rohrman Impact where. It's like, what can we do to not have to spend money but still impact the communities that we're in? So like when you asked me that question, I went more to like, like we did something with Feed My Starving Children up in Illinois.
Yeah. Where Kate's Kart in, uh, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Like that's a awesome, um, thing. Phil's Friends is a great one. These are all around like kids. Yeah. Um, the Humane Society pause, like, so like when you asked me that, I, I went to all those 'cause we've just been, uh, yeah. Doing a lot of that lately. That's awesome.
Um, it's not mandatory. It's if you wanna show up and do it, go for it. And so, I mean, it's cool when your employees just show up and Yeah. And make an impact in their communities. For sure. Okay. Final three questions that we ask everyone who comes on the podcast. All about the state of Indiana first thing, what's something the world needs to know about Indiana?
It's not just a crossroads. That is, that is a interesting, uh, one 'cause you know, for many years when we travel like a family vacation or something, we told people, yeah, we're from Chicago. And everyone's like, oh. And now we tell people we're from Indiana and they're like, oh, the crossroads. It's like, no, no, no, no.
It's way more than that. Uh, it's, you know, just like business. It's all about people, Indiana, it's about people. And um, you know, you could have skyscrapers that touch the sky if the people are rough or unfriendly, why do you wanna live there? And like, that's what I think is really unique to Indiana. It's people, it's not only great people, but I don't know if we want to go here.
But it's great politics. Like it is phenomenal to have a business in this state. I mean, it's, other states make it challenging and. And Indi Indiana doesn't, they support, they support the entrepreneur, which I think is great. Yeah, that's awesome. It goes long ways, so, heck yeah. This is now a time where you get to shed some, some light share, some love with something in the state of Indiana that might get overlooked.
What is a hidden gem in Indiana? Turkey Run State Park. So we like to hike. We've gotten into hiking a lot lately, and so we make multiple trips to do that. And it does not feel like you're in Indiana. No, it's beautiful. I mean it, well, India, it's beautiful, but it's, it's mountainous. There's rocks, you know, we took our kids to the Ice Box for the first time and, you know, we had to climb down those ladders and they did great.
You know, it's super cool, but super fun. Yeah. Prophetstown State Park, which is in my backyard. Mm-hmm. That place is cool. Um, campground, there's a, there's a cool water park there. The history of that place. Yeah. I mean, it's been there forever. So if there was one spot around Lafayette, like if we were driving through and you could only visit one thing while you were in town, what would you tell people to do?
I love Purdue. I didn't go to school there, but I love Purdue, so I love taking people to the basketball games, you know? Yeah. And, and so it's, it's super fun to do. I think that's a unique experience, you know, like it helps that they're really good right now and they have been, but it's just fun, you know, experiencing that.
Living in Chicago, it was all about pro sports and, um, they're cool. But man, college sports awesome. Yeah. You know, it's, it's great. And Indiana has a lot of great college sports, you know? Absolutely. I'm not a IU guy for sure. But you got them. Um, Purdue Butler. And you got not Notre Dame, right? Notre Dame.
Yeah. Come on. That's right. The classic is Purdue and Notre Dame. It's like, yes. Wait, those are in Indiana? Yes. You're like, yeah. Uh, final question. This has been a spectacular episode. Thank you so much for sharing all the knowledge. The legacy 50 years. Incredible. Uh, this is an opportunity that helps us find new guests or just people in the state that are doing interesting things.
Who's a Hoosier that we need to keep on our radar? Someone who's doing big things. One is my cousin, uh, Laura Fletcher. So she is awesome. So she's not in automotive directly. She, um, she runs and is a partner of OMG. It's an advertising company and they are cutting edge in automotive, uh, tech, and she would be a phenomenal person to get and talk.
And she's a Hoosier, you know. All through and through. The other person is a friend of mine, um, at a Lafayette. His name is, uh, Andrew Stanko. And, uh, he's a stud. When I think of an entrepreneur, like it's him, like he just, he's a, he's a, he's a from nothing story. He owns his own business today. What does he do?
Couple things, but it's, he's in construction and um, so like roofing, roof roofing is his main thing. Then he got into, uh, rental properties throughout really Lafayette and West Lafayette. But he does a lot more than just that. And he has this, he has a heart for people. He's a super involved. He's one of those guys that you're in Lafayette.
Everyone knows who he is 'cause he's just that everything. And, you know, young guy full of piss and vinegar and uh, yeah, he's fun. He's super easy to talk to. We love that. He just, yeah. So I love Ryan, thank you so much for coming on the show today for talking to us about all things Rohrman Automotive.
Uh, it's been incredible to hear not only your grandfather's journey, but your journey as well. Yeah. From, uh. Bethel up in Minnesota. That's right. To a biochem major today coming and, and getting into the family business. And uh, and then yeah, for the last seven years, been running Rohrman Automotive Group and That's right.
Just doing incredible things throughout the state of Indiana, throughout the state of Illinois as well. A little bit into Wisconsin. I appreciate you, uh, coming. If people wanna connect with you, if they wanna learn more about all things, if they want to buy a car, how can they find you guys? The easiest way is rohrman.com, you know, so, um, all our cars are there and it's cool.
Shopping is so easy anymore. Yeah. You can buy a car basically on our website. We'll deliver it to your door, so it doesn't matter if you want to do that. It's like Amazon buying. Let's go. Can come on. Hey, Amazon Autos is coming. It's, oh gosh. It's, uh, it's gonna be, we're they're launching in, on the west coast, I think this week.
And then this market will be next, so it'll be Amazon Autos is coming, so it's, it's not too far away. Wow. Yeah. And then also on LinkedIn. Uh, so like, I, I do a lot on there of just. I'm talking about our culture, the tech that we're doing, the training that we do, all the things that I'm passionate about and it's super easy to find me on LinkedIn.
Awesome, man. We appreciate you stopping by and we'll talk soon. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode of Get IN. If you like what you heard, make sure you leave us review wherever you listen to podcasts. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations@sweetwater.com.
If you want a behind the scenes look at everything we're doing across the state. Make sure you follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being part of what makes the Hoosier State great. We'll see you next time here on Get IN.
