wake up buyer payer 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 hey friends good morning from new mexico kind of an unusual uh podcast venue today. It's wonderful. Super quiet here. I'm actually outdoors on the patio. A friend of ours has a place in the mountains of New Mexico, which is not far from where we live now. And he's been kind enough to allow us to come use that. And I came up this week for a little business retreat. and snuck in a little fishing already, but it's been mostly just holed up with spreadsheets and a lot of mind mapping and kind of preparing for much of the work that's ahead for us. And it kind of leads into the conversation that is going to happen today, which is throughout the month of October, we're going to be using those five Fridays to talk about fourth quarter planning in preparation for a successful twenty twenty seven. And this particular episode, we're going to talk about the the tax preparation in particular tax refund season being primarily February these days. And and so there's some tips. I've got a I've got a long video loaded up today. I'll prepare those who listen in. I think the video itself runs maybe forty five minutes. So you've got a longer broadcast today. So plan accordingly. I can always catch it on replay. And it's going to be a little different in that I've got a lapel microphone, much like the one I'm wearing today. And I took it out to the lake yesterday morning. I beat the sun to the lake and I set up a tripod and I sat and fished. and talked a little buy here, pay here. I've got a full, I actually did quite a lot of recording out there and just kind of talked through, you know, trout fishing tips and kind of the history of my growing up trout fishing. And so the extracted video will probably eventually be available for those of you who want to kind of sit in and, you know, listen in on some fishing tips and see more of the New Mexico fishing It was really fantastic. And I've got a couple of photos I may be able to drop in at the end of today's broadcast to show even more of what I've experienced since I've been here. But I will share with you that I touched on really some very specific strategies around tax refund season and things that you'll be able to do in Actions you can take in October and it's especially in November and December. So if you're a very experienced dealer, if you're just new to this, I would urge you to have a listen because I think some of the tips that are in there are very significant and I think they're difference makers for you in terms of the success of your tax refund season. So by all means, check that out. We'll get the video teed up here. And so again, we'll be live. I'll be here. If you have comments, I'll be able to kind of track those and respond as you see those. But hope you enjoy the setting that is the lakeside, quiet lakeside, very still yesterday morning. And so quiet lakeside in Eagle Nest, New Mexico. So there's a little bit of private property. Oh yeah, that is a deer over there. You won't be able to see it in the camera from this distance, but maybe we'll get a glimpse of it before we get out of here. But let's talk some buy here, pay here business. This is a, the uh gonna be the second friday we talked about that every friday in october we talked about fourth quarter planning for going into q one of twenty twenty seven and this morning i want to talk to you about tax max and they're not a sponsor They're, um, they're people that we, you know, have a lot of regard for. They've been around the business for a very long time. I mean, gosh, I, when I first started managing a buy here, pay here lot in the middle or the late nineties, nine seven, um, I think we were using them in that dealership that I managed back there. And, uh, I know we were, if not the first season, I know we were doing it during the time that I managed there because I had a lot of success with it. I think I just got the hang of it. And I feel like the techniques that we used back then are every bit as relevant today. And I would say the TaxMax system is better today. It's more advanced, more sophisticated, things move faster, digital, you know, features. And so it's, it's better for the dealer and the customer than it was back then. So I think, you know, we hear dealers talk about using TaxMax and I, I want to share this part with you early because, you know, in early October, They always have a fourth quarter campaign. And, of course, they'll typically have a promotion where you can sign up with them early. And I think what I can tell you without hesitation is that, you know, if you're one of those dealers that we've talked to over the years who said, you know, I tried TaxMax. It didn't really work for us. And we didn't do much. We might have processed a few refunds. It might not have been worth it to us in the end. I can almost always... be sure that what that means is that we really probably didn't... Let me just say it this way. If you didn't have success with it, I don't think it had anything to do with TaxMax. So that may be hard to hear, but it's like... We got to be able to – we got to get super familiar with the program. And they offer tons of training. I'm sure they got online training these days. And, of course, they do live trainings, and they're always available on demand. They've got great support. And so I think this is a way for dealers to do a couple things. Get trained up. Get familiar. Make sure you know how to present it. Because to me, the language, the verbiage, heck, even the body language is going to be relevant. Because let's think about it. On the surface, why would a customer, and let's just make it even your current customers that know you, why would they choose to Why would they choose to get their taxes done at a car dealership? Think about that. Why would anybody choose to do their taxes at a car dealership? They're not tax specialists. So it's just on the surface, you've got to overcome that right off the bat. And there's a really great answer to that question. That should be a trout over there. There's trout on the surface. I'm on Eagle Nest Lake this morning. I'll try to turn the camera where you can see a little bit more of the lake. It would be fun to hook a pike. Most people who catch a pike in this water will release them. They're just kind of become a nuisance fish. Up north, they love to catch pike. They're fun to catch. They get pretty big and they put up, uh, they pull hard. They don't fight and throw their head around like a trout does, but they, they, uh, they definitely, you know, can be fun to catch, but they, I've got this ultra light four pound test line on here. And, uh, so if I catch a pike with those big teeth, you know, it might cut the line. I might not land it, but but the trout aren't biting. So back to tax max, I think in order for one to have success with tax max, we have to be able to get good at helping the customer answer that question for themselves or you answer for them. It's like, why come to a dealership to do my taxes? Well, here's a short answer and here's, let me just kind of go into almost word tracks. Like what I remember saying years ago and the way I would say it, if I walked onto your lot and I was representing tax max in the fourth quarter and going into January and February, and I was talking to customers about, um, taxes, I basically would be saying something like this. I say, you folks typically get a tax refund. You know, like in February when it's time to get refunds, I mean, or you typically have kids and you typically get a refund. Oh, yeah, we always get about, you know, four thousand dollars, six thousand, whatever it is. OK, so let me let me talk to you about something. There's we have a program called Tax Max. You may or may not be familiar. You can learn a lot about them online, but they're tax professionals. And we have a program that we've enrolled in through them. And it allows us. to work with you to get your taxes filed here and if you file your taxes here then you can get the same refund that you would get anywhere else so you know who do you typically use and they'll say jackson hewitt or h r block or whoever's out there and why because those are tax people and i know and you know that those charges with those people can be quite high. So without being negative, because I'm never one to negative sell, I would simply ask them, do you remember what your fees were last year when you Got your taxes done with those folks. And they may not remember. A lot of times they don't pay attention. They're just getting a big chunk, a big check. And if a chunk was taken out, they don't pay a whole lot of attention. They're still end up with a big amount. So they don't pay a lot of attention. And I think what you'll find if you do a little homework, you'll find out that those folks charge a pretty substantial amount more than tax max. But even if tax match were the same, okay? So you can help the customer understand, well, okay, so if you, instead of doing your taxes there, if you came and brought your taxes to me this time, bring your W-II, and we'll just do a quote. There's no obligation. We'll do a quote, and you can get a quote with them as well. And if the refund is the same amount, which it should be, it's the federal government that's issuing the refund. So the refund to you should be the same. And if it's not, it's just a question of how people are calculating it, whether they really know what they're doing. Because the TaxMax folks are going to do it the right way. They're going to know the tax laws. They're always up to date on tax laws and make sure you get the most possible refund. But here's the big difference. If you do your taxes with me here at the dealership, you'll still get the refund as quickly as you would over there. But if you're using this money to do whatever, you're going to buy a car, you're going to buy a TV, whatever you're going to be doing with this money, especially if you're going to buy a car, I can get you in a car much quicker. We don't have to wait for the refund to actually be here to be able to get you in the car. So let's think about this. You're going to get the same refund Maybe a little bit more because the fees may be less, but let's say it's the same refund. But the refund in this case, Mr. Customer is going to come directly to us and then we're going to cut you a check for the difference. If you buy a car and you want to put fifteen hundred dollars down, as an example, then what we would do is we would allow you to, you know, you process, you bring us your W-tos, we process the refund and the check comes to here. It probably moves electronically. And then, you know, we cut you a check immediately. Like you get paid the surplus right away. So that's the big difference is that If you're going to get the same refund that you would get somewhere else, but I can get you in that car right away. And I can probably, we can look at what the programs are this year. They often have a way to get some instant money, get some early money before the refund's actually processed and before the full amount is available. So that's why I would say that we really want you to think about doing that because there's a chance you'll end up with more money in your pocket But I can get you in a car right away, like even now. So let's talk about the program that I did as a dealer. And this is the part that a lot of dealers can't get comfortable with. I did it because I had the mentality. I continue to have this mentality, but I'm not a dealer and I'm not the one taking the risk. So it's not easy. It's not for me to decide. You have to decide, dealers, whether or not this strategy can make sense for you. But I was absolutely putting customers in a car in December with the expectation of a refund payment in February. And now the only question becomes, how much documentation do I have in December to make me feel comfortable that the refund will actually land and tax max can answer a lot of these questions like what is the percentage of taxes that get intercepted because of student loans or child support or whatever they're going to have all that information but and they have a way for you to be able to sweep that situation at the time so you can know the likelihood probably based on social security number or whatever they can they can do a scan and see the likelihood that there's something outstanding credit, you know, obviously there's different ways to access that information. So they're going to be able to tell you the likelihood that there's going to be something to intercept that. So now the question is, do I, have I secured the deal enough in December to be assured that the customer is going to process their refund through me? It can't just be a promise. Now I could do it on a promise. My, when I was a dealer, my ACV was low. I was putting customers in car with low down payment anyway. And, and I was seeing almost no customers in December because the, the, the, it was Christmas and everybody's using their money for Christmas. So, you know, it's just part of what would happen. And so I was aggressive and why? Well, because in February when the refunds actually in the customer's pocket, They go anywhere. Anybody will help them buy a car, you know, help them finance a car when they've got three thousand dollars down in their pocket. So I want them to already be in a car. So, you know, when I got in the car business in the middle line, he's working as a salesperson and then, you know, sales manager and working with a lot of really experienced salespeople and managers. There was a phrase that I don't hear very much anymore. Maybe it's an old phrase. Maybe I'm just not around that part of the car business in the same way, but they used to talk about de-horsing a customer. You guys familiar with that expression? So de-horse them meant, you know, of course this was in central Oklahoma when I was doing this, but de-horsing meant to take them off their horse, to take them out of their other car and get them in your car. That was, that was de-horsing. Okay. So, And it still happens. They may not call it that, you know, where you're from. But that was what I was essentially doing was de-horsing a customer in December, putting them in my car. If I didn't put them in my car, my car was going to be sitting on the lot collecting dust. And so I was just aggressive about, I would have them in a car. So in February, when the refund came, I was able to withhold the part of the refund that belonged to me for a down payment. They got the balance and, you know, off they went, but they were already in my car. That's the thing that I'm saying about a fourth quarter promotion and approach. And so the only difference is in the fourth quarter and in December in particular, because, you know, that it gets a little different there, but, um, I'm the, I always say about these cars, you know, we, we sit there with this inventory and that inventory in my mind is there to move. It's not there to hold down the asphalt. This is me being a smart aleck, but it's like, we don't, we don't have the cars there to hold down the asphalt. We're they're there to move. And in February, we're going to make a decision about a customer based on a couple of factors. their down payment that they're offering us today, and then their other qualifications. I'll lump them all together, but they're just a couple really. We're looking pretty hard at stability. We're looking at how long they've been on their job or in the area and income, right? So it's the same. Most of that's the same in December as it is in February. We just have to make a judgment now about whether or not the customer is honest. We had a really great conversation and had a dealer come visit our V eight groups last month, the experienced dealer and, uh, who've had, you know, doing a volume of thousand cars a month. And they came and spoke to our smaller dealers. And, and, and that was one of the big takeaways is like, you know, he, part of the way they sell a thousand cars a month is he doesn't just, he doesn't treat his customers like liars. You know, this sounds so simple, but it's like, He didn't treat customers like liars. He just, when they tell him that they have six months on the job, he tends to believe them. And it doesn't mean there's not some degree of verification and he's not surprised if we're going to stretch things a little bit, but it's like the same thing here. It's like, if I'm going to put a customer in a car in December and I'm going to anticipate that they're going to put a down payment with me in February, Then I'm going to, of course, do whatever documentation is there. I can write a promissory note, but I don't feel like I need a promissory note. I've already got a retail installment contract back where I was doing business. I guess I better get this line untangled and get started casting the fish or surfacing on here. I just was as I was reeling it in, it hooked up in the rocks right here. So we get that free and we'll get back to fishing because I can fish and talk taxes at the same time. Well, it's in two big rocks. Wouldn't that be fun to catch it on video of me going into the lake? All right, we're free. Let's change this camera angle a little bit so you can see more of the mountains and a little less of Jim. pour some more coffee and then we'll resume this conversation. It's an important one because it's not just about the tax match program. It's also a little bit about mentality, approach, risk. So I just think the opportunity here to, to really change your volume. For me, I believe I could help you change your volume in December. I believe it'll change your volume in the first quarter. But in the first quarter, certainly February, when the refund's in the customer's pocket, you're competing with everybody. And what I'm saying that TaxMax gives you an opportunity to do is be in front. Dehorse the customer. They're already in your car when they get the refund. And if they like your car, they're thrilled because they've been driving your car already for weeks. They got to have the car that they wanted and they got to get in the car early. And they didn't have to wait for the actual refund. So this is the part that I'm saying you got to get familiar with. You got to really take time to learn and understand the particulars of that program. so that you can understand how do I protect myself? And I've got some sort of a, can't tell what that is. Some large fish catching bird flying over. I'm not aware of any kind of a, what's the, what's the Seahawk, the Osprey. There may be Ospreys around here. It's kind of that size. Anyway, um, So we just got to make sure that we're, we're in a position to make those decisions and have a chance to get the customer in the car early because understanding the particulars of the program so that you can be protected, you got GPS, you know, if your customer lives in the area, You're going to put them in a car in December. Again, this is the part I recognize. Not everybody's going to get comfortable with this. Some people have a high ACV, and so the idea of letting a customer in a car in December with a promise of a February down payment is uncomfortable. Okay, well, if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you, but just understand you're going to be competing with everybody else in your market come February. But if you can do that, then it lets you... You heard the fish jump? Oh, no, that was the... It's like a loon. I don't know if you can see it well enough in the camera, but it's got a, that long neck, like a, like a loon. If I'll be quiet, we'll hear it. I think this is the part that I'm telling you in the fourth quarter can, uh, can really make a huge difference. And, and even if you decide not to sell and put the customer in cars and dehorse them in December and December, uh, then getting trained up and getting familiar in how to use those word tracks and that language to help the customer feel comfortable. You know, the phrasing that you heard me use and the way that I would speak to a customer about that refund thing, it's really, you can put up the signage, you can put up the banners, TaxMax has that, you can run ads. But I'm just going to tell you, at the end of the day, if that customer agrees to let my dealership, process their refund it'll be because they trust me okay it'll be because they are comfortable because of the language that i use the eye contact that i made they can see that i'm not looking to take advantage of them that i'm really trying to help them and so our success with that program is a lot to do with those things right there like when we talk about, because again, back to where I started, why would anybody let a dealer process their taxes? They're not in the tax business. So, and yes, TaxMax is, but your customer doesn't know TaxMax, right? Yeah, TaxMax has been out there a long time and they may be more familiar under a different name on their consumer side than they are in the TaxMax dealership world. But this is about Earning trust. And then when you do it and you follow through and you're successful and the customer can see, oh man, I got in the car that I wanted. I got in early. I got every penny I was supposed to get. Now next year's way easier. They got great things to say about you, man, you know. if you expect a big tax refund in February, Mr. Coworker, I'd get your butt down to Joe's used cars because he can get you in a car earlier. You don't have to have your refund in your bank account to get a car with Joe. But again, it's back to when I meet the customer on the lot, can I win that business? Can I earn their trust? And to me, that has a lot to do with the phrases that I use, the eye contact, do I come across as genuine and trustworthy? And that's going to really be the separator. So, and I can do that more successfully. Like I can earn the trust. I can say the right things. I can use the right phrasing. Um, when I'm familiar, when I trust the program myself, I know the details. I know how it works. And now when I can get in there and talk to customers with high confidence and reassure them that this is a win for them, then I'm going to have way more success. And so, you know, all the particulars of the program, it's important to know it. It's important to get really familiar with what, you know, how it all works. And that you can walk the customer through, you know, wow, that was a trout. I was a little distracted, kind of a squirrel moment. Just a big trout came up and surfaced, came two-thirds of the way out of the water and rolled over, but it looked like it was probably a, you know, four-pound trout or something. But, so I should probably get back to fishing. But, you know, hopefully I covered the parts of that that are going to be most relevant. And, you know, it's just a, it's a, it's just one more reminder that, you know, we, I tell people, you know, when I meet people and talk about what I do for a living, you know, dinner party, whatever. And I'll tell them, you know, we're, I work with car dealers. but I'm really not in the car business. I'm more in the finance business, right? Which is true of us in buy your pay or lease your pay or we're in the finance business. But in reality, everything you just heard me talk about with that, winning that customer, we're in the people business and cars happen to be what we sell or finance. Taxes happens to be a way that we connect with them and, and win the deal today. But really, it's about winning the customer, getting them feeling comfortable with us. And so, you know, this is part of what I think helps all of us to look, you know, is there somebody else besides TaxMax out there? I'm not sure. I don't see him. Here's what I can tell you about TaxMax. TaxMax has invested heavily in the buy here, pay here, lease here, pay here space. They're at all the conferences, state level, national level. They're always there. You can always find them in a booth and all through the year. So, you know, if they're trusted, they've been around a long time. Um, you know, I'm hearing myself talk about this and this sounds like an ad and it's, it's, it's, it's meant to be in a way it's meant to make sure that you folks know what tax tax can do for you. And then it's meant to help you as dealers. learn how to leverage the tax max deal so that you land more business because that's absolutely possible. It's more possible today than it was when I was using that program very successfully in the late nineties. So, you know, I've told this story before, probably even on the podcast, but I remember at the end of the tax season many years ago, and I think this was maybe before Bill and those folks were, you know, in the picture, I know it sold at one point, but regardless, at the end of the tax season, I got a phone call and the folks at TaxMax were curious to know how it was that we manage in such a small store and small community to do the volume of taxes that we did. I don't remember what the number was, but it was in the dozens. We did dozens of deals and many of them in December, as I recall. And that was my answer. I think I just won the customer's confidence. I got really familiar with the program. I bought into it. I had our people wearing the buttons, and we talked about TaxMax as a solution. And we started wearing the buttons in December. And that's why I want to talk to you about this stuff in October. It's like when you buy in and you get comfortable buying, and you believe in it, and you can get your team to believe in it, and your team can get your customers to believe in it, you're going to do big numbers. And that's the reason I thought it's an appropriate conversation to have for October. It's an important opportunity for us to really set the stage now For a very successful December and a first quarter. You know, I always said about November and December that it'll get slow if we allow it to be slow. And part of the way that I overcame that was just agreeing to put customers in cars in December with nearly nothing down. Because I know their money is tied up with the holidays. And I know that I don't want to wait until January and December to do business. And I know that if I can put them in a car now, that I'll be ahead of the competition, that I'll be able to be out in front. So this is part of the premise here. And I also know that if I make a decision to finance a customer today in December, They're the same person they are in February. They just got a little different down payment in their pocket. Think about that part. I'm just agreeing in December to put them in a car now with almost no down payment and the promise of a February refund. People are going to ask, and I might as well address it here. I'm starting to get a little bit chilled, so forgive the shaky voice. I got a little bit of a chill with this video. cool air moving across the water. But people are going to ask, so let me try to address this part now. And this is purely, you know, just guessing at numbers based on my own memory. But it's a pretty good representation of what the experience was. Folks want to know, okay, well, if you did that and you put all these customers and cars in December, what was your success rate? And I can tell right now, success rate was very high. We had a few repos. We had customers who, you know, maybe they told us they would bring us their W-II's the moment they got them. And instead, they took their W-II's to H&R Block and they got the refund somewhere else. And they didn't make the payment that was expected in February. And so we repossessed the car in March. And, you know, that was probably in the range of single digits. Now, more likely what would have happened in that scenario is had they broken the promise and had they gone to a competitor or somebody else and got their taxes done and not made the taxes or not done the taxes with me, not made the tax payment that was promised, more likely we would have gotten them in because we would have GPS. you'd get them in, you'd work something out, maybe re-amortize and maybe they'd stay in the car. Because again, I'm in the business of moving cars. I didn't, I don't really want the car back. So if I can restructure the deal and save the account and make it work, then, then I would. And, um, And again, maybe being a low ACV makes the difference here because I was in a low ACV as a dealer back in those days, but maybe it shouldn't. If, if our objective is to win and keep the customer, then, you know, we have an opportunity to do that. And so my best guess based on memory in those days as a dealer, and then of course, keep in mind, I was a dealer in the, late two thousands as well and managed, you know, dealerships doing significant volume and years between. But my best memory is that probably in the range of sixty, seventy percent of the customers do exactly as expected. They bring their W-twos, you process the refund, it gets it comes directly to the dealership and the customer walks away with the surplus and it all works just exactly as it's supposed to. There's another percentage that you have to run down and bring them in the office and refinance or otherwise resolve. And then there's that single digit that default. But I mean, we're used to that kind of, Right. Anyway, right. We're used to customers defaulting and we got GPS. And so I think the real question for me on that is if I think about, let's make it ten percent. Let's say ten percent of the customers don't follow through and we have to repossess the car in March because we put them in a car in December. The real big question for me is what's the value of the car when we recover it in March? And if it didn't degrade a whole lot, We didn't lose a whole lot by putting them in the car in December. That's the part that I think is, it seems to get lost sometimes is that, you know, we, I work with a lot of dealers who have cars that are aged hundreds of days. So if I did put that customer in a car in December and repossessed it in March, Depending, I really have to ask myself, how much did the car degrade during the time that they had it in their possession? Because if it damages a lot, then that's a real thing. But I would say of the percentage of cars, if we're at ten percent, the cars get repossessed. Then what percentage of those cars had experienced significant damage? deterioration or damage that's very low that's very low and it's frustrating at the time but it's like in reality it's a very small percentage so again I'm been out here it's warmer now probably than it was when I came out but that breeze is giving me a little bit of chill so forgive the shaky voice here but the sun you can tell the sun's coming over the hill so get warmed up here shortly So I think this is the part that we really want to think about in our business. And this is about just how aggressive are we? How comfortable are we? And to me, that's really based on something I said earlier. It's like, can we get to a place where we trust the customer that we're financing? And of course, a percentage of them are going to misrepresent themselves or the circumstances are going to change and we're going to breathe with us in cars. Of course, they're going to. But if we can Get comfortable with the idea that that's not the case with most of the customers. Most of the customers just need some help. And if we're in a position to be flexible and provide that help, we can win a lot more business because there's a pretty good chance that the dealers who are down the street that are competing for you for that business, especially in February, They might be jaded. They might only do business a certain way. They may only be willing to put a customer on a card or certain terms and certain down payments and whatever else. This is, you know, I always said outside of the car business, like I just saw a lot of people working in collaborations and business agreements. Like I pride myself in being flexible and creative. And I was flexible and creative as a young manager in ninety seven. And I'm flexible and creative now. And I think it can pay dividends for dealers. I know it can pay dividends for dealers who can get a little creative and. get familiar with the tools that are available. In this case this morning, we've talked about tax max, but I would say that is, that is something that can help you move those cars and, You'll find something else. You'll have fresh inventory to hold down the asphalt. If you feel like you need your lot full, you can get fresh inventory in there and sell that fresh inventory to those folks who are coming around with big refunds in February. But look at what just happened. I mean, if you pick up ten to fifteen deals in December, what's that do? How much does that move your business? you know, I think as we move into these, um, upcoming sessions, the sun feels good. It's been a little chilly. Um, you know, as we move into these next few, um, Fridays in October, we'll dig into a couple more things around that, that, um, you know, kind of help move the needle. But I know that, um, we want to get into some forecasting and projections and, um, And so part of this is, you know, planning our cash strategy and obviously tax refunds and tax max and all those things can be part of what we want to do to do that. But certainly we'll move into more forecasting and projections. And if you'll indulge me, I'm going to take a minute to wrap up here and talk about our V-A dealer groups. You know, the thought that spurred the mention is that we're starting to do more forecasting. It's something that, you know, we already do roll forwards and we just came off of this twenty four month thing. By the way, email me at Jim at WhiteHatWay.com and we got a little document put together, a white paper that summarized the the the twenty four month conversation that we had through the month of September. So again, just Jim at White Hat Way and I'll be happy to share that. But I think as we move into these coming months, as we're starting to do more forecasting in VA, I want to share with many of you that we're seeing as, you know, Cami, we brought Cami Powell in, she's working with us in sales. She's talking to a lot of dealers. She's talking to potential members. She's talking to our current and even some past members and just really getting feedback as somebody who's new to the industry and new to this VA service. And one of the things we're hearing from dealers is that, especially the dealers that we're talking to about possibly joining us, they're saying, I like the concept. I just don't feel like I have time. And I just want to make sure dealers understand. You're going to see us start to tell the story differently in our marketing. But that's a misconception. And it's even more of a misconception today than it was three months ago. V-Eight is not a heavy time demand. We made it less of a time demand for dealers than it was before. I'll put it this way. If you played nine holes of golf last month, you spent more time than you would have spent as a V-Eight dealer and your commitment to working on your business as a V-Eight dealer. It's not a big time crunch. And so, please, as Kami speaks to you and we reach out to you, recognize that's just not accurate. Now, if there's another reason and you're using that as an excuse, you can say so. We can take it if you have a reason. If you don't like our model, whatever, you can say so. But the time thing is not accurate. It's getting closer to an hour a month for dealers. So this is something that I think it's important that we address that because we want to see folks get in our V-Aid groups. The more folks that are in those conversations, the more value it is to everybody there. And all these kind of conversations that we're having in the fourth quarter, moving into a successful twenty twenty seven, we don't have more more people in those meeting rooms. Um, our data is getting richer and richer. And like I said, we're now moving into a place where we can forecast more. And so, uh, you know, that's part of what, uh, I wanted to have a chance to share is that, you know, there's, there's, there's some misconceptions about there, about what V eight is. And so I just, I'll take a few more minutes here to just say what V eight is and what it's not. And what it's not, it's a time demand. It's not a big financial demand. It's, it's a reasonable monthly amount. And we believe, excuse me, we believe the value is there. I'm a big believer in this solution and what it provides for dealers. And you can talk to our members as references. And I think they'll say the same. And our data has just taken big leaps forward. It's simple. And now that we are able to capture the data ourselves, then, you know, it doesn't have to require much of you as a dealer or your team to be able to get into a, a place where you can allow us to pull the data together. You can sit in a meeting that's going to be closer to an hour now. We used to do an hour and a half meeting. Now we're moving to more like an hour. And you're going to see some really rich information. I think we bring a little different perspective to certain data points. And we're going deeper in terms of this business model analysis and these report cards that we're generating. Now we're doing a three-month progress report. And I think you'd be astounded with how much we can put in front of you in terms of data visualization. With a limited amount of data, when you string it together month over month, We work a lot off a six-month average in V-Aid. And I would just tell you that I believe that you'll find that the value is there. And I'll say here, too, that one of the things we're doing, too, I'm making sure everybody knows, we do a twelve-month subscription in V-Aid. We ask dealers to sign on for twelve months just because I believe that a month-to-month scenario really doesn't work in a V-Aid environment. Part of it is we've got to have confidentiality commitment, right? We need commitments from everybody. And so we need to be under contract before we bring people in a room. We don't really bring people into a room to try it on for size and see what it's like. We talk about too much stuff that's confidential over there. So we want to see people enter into a confidentiality agreement. But the part that I'll say here that I've been saying to everybody since day one is that We expect everybody to sign a twelve month subscription agreement and we will allow people to exit. If they've been in a few months and they're not finding value, of course we'll allow you to exit without penalty. That's just kind of how I like to do business. I don't want people under a contract. when they're not thrilled with what they're getting. I just don't want to hold people in a contract that are unhappy. That sounds miserable for them and for me. So we're going to want to make sure, and we recognize it's our job to make sure we deliver good value. And so that's certainly something we accept that responsibility and we believe our value is strong in VA. So thanks for indulging me to kind of share that, you know, that's what we have. Last mention is that, you know, we currently only do things globally. And what I mean by that is if you're a dealership with a finance company and three sales locations, when you get your VA report, it's a consolidated global one report of your entire operation. And that'll continue to kind of be the model for the most part. But we are hearing from some people who are interested in doing something that kind of breaks down their sales locations and what have you. And so we're exploring that. So if you're somebody in that situation who you'd like to see Maybe you're a larger operation with more sales locations and you'd like to build a C and maybe even get your managers involved so that you get a report that is more breakdown on individual locations. We can do that. It won't be the same pricing as our one global thing. It'll be a little heavier lift on our side to produce that. But just know we're happy to explore that with dealers if that's something that interests you in a virtual format. So, I'm going to go back to fishing. It's, you know, this will be my last fishing trip of the fall. And, you know, before I started kind of recording and talking business this morning, I fished a little bit, probably casted twenty times or so, and not a bite. So, it's time to get down to business, or I'm going to be eating peanut butter and jelly for dinner, so. Hey, I'm back. Thanks for indulging me on that. I probably recorded for two hours, so a lot of fishing conversation, very little of which really related to the work and the business. But if somebody's out there who wants to hear some fishing tips from a guy who's been trout fishing for, gosh, I don't know how long has it been, you know, So, you know, I'm going to make that available raw over on our YouTube channel so you can check that out and and see more of the scenery in that part. But, you know, for today, I just wanted to have a chance to to kind of share that information with you. Like I say, our perspective on that whole. tax processing situation is that it's an opportunity to really make a big difference. It's meant to be an endorsement of TaxMax. You know, we like them. It's also not meant to be an endorsement of TaxMax. We don't see anybody else doing what they do. And we certainly don't see anybody else investing in the buy-here-pay-here space and knowing the buy-here-pay-here space and lease-here-pay-here side as much as those folks do. So certainly, you know, that would be your first call. I need to get with them about some sort of referral partnership here or something because for me today, it was just about education. It was a way to help you folks as dealers out there to really have a chance to move the needle, drive some bigger numbers as you go into the new year. Hopefully, those tips helped. And then you can watch that other video to get some trout fishing tips. I only ended up hooking one fish and lost it. I fought it for a minute or so on camera and then ultimately lost the fish. But I may sneak out a little bit more today, Friday, before I head back. But anyway, again, thanks for indulging me. This was just part of how we're going to educate in the month of October and prepare everybody for a really successful season. close of the year and preparation for the new year as we move into into uh, into uh, twenty-twenty-seven. So, thanks. We'll uh, see you next Friday.
