Podcast: ‘On the Job’ with CULA’s Mark Chandler 

Riley Wolfbauer 00:08
Hello, everyone, and welcome to on the job a series down the roadmap from auto finance news that brings on an executive from the auto finance industry to discuss what they have learned throughout their career, and strategies they employed to be a strong leader within their organization.
Mark Chandler 00:33
Thanks, Riley. It’s absolutely a pleasure to spend time with you and the whole organization. I enjoy Auto Finance News. Completely. My Yeah Riley Wolfbauer 00:44
and I have enjoyed the relationship that we have developed throughout my time here at Auto Finance News. So so let’s get started with the first question here, have to give a little bit of background on yourself and what you love about what you do? How did you get into the auto industry? And what has made you stick around for so long? Mark Chandler 01:08
That’s a great question. It’s funny, I do know people that knew early on, they wanted to be in the auto industry. And I think some of them is because their father was in it or their mom, or, you know, their parents were in the auto industry. I didn’t. I didn’t plan on getting in the auto industry, it kind of happened out of well, frankly, initially, it was because I can make good money. And I landed at a dealership, I’d helped a friend of mine, a couple of friends get cars at this one dealership, it was a dealership in Orange County. And going through the process, they said, Gosh, you should think about being a salesperson here. And you know, I had a good attitude. And I think, you know, just the right energy. And so they hired me. And it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was a natural fit. So I did very well for the store, I did well for myself, I was making more money than my friends and family were at the time. And what that led to was other opportunities. A friend of mine named John G. John Godfrey, he’s not with us anymore that I know of. He’s had a relationship with a local credit union, he was helping them buy cars. And I got a chance to be a part of that. And so we started to assist credit union members by like a conscious car buying service, allowing them to have a better experience back in the day. Before indirect lending. car dealerships and credit unions were kind of arch enemies. The credit cards would get a contract on a Monday morning from the dealership that laid a member away and the credit union would try to save it. And it was this sort of animosity and the advent of indirect made credit unions and the auto industry become kind of one. There’s this cohesiveness now that really changed things. But before that, it wasn’t that way. And so there was this, this bad feeling of going to a dealership and getting beat up. And so we he created it, but I was under the initial employee investor. You know, I was a part of this organization called the SU auto hotline. What we did was help people through this concierge car buying service get into new cars. What kept me in it was I started to fall in love with credit unions start to fall in love with more with the auto industry. And so it was always in the space. Somewhere between the two trying to keep people together was trying to have a great service for credit unions and their members, bring in quality loans, make sure that members are getting take care of with my partner dealerships, give them more volume, you know, help them move inventory. So it was a great relationship. And I think what’s still keeps me in it. And what I’m all about is the relationship. So I bet I was in between 10 and 15 Weddings as not necessarily the best man but as a groomsman or something like that, especially in my earlier days of people I met through credit cards and through the auto industry. So to me, it just became kind of part of my nature, my livelihood, my life was it was family and auto industry. So and I’m loyal to a fault some degree, that auto hotline, I stayed with them, we we eventually parted ways. And I got involved with a company called Auto land a car buying service and stayed there for almost 20 years with the same sort of concept. We took that organization from a handful of offices to 30 offices and even bigger and, you know, it was just about that same sort of culture being around all the time and the relationships and I’m extremely loyal. I like to stay in one place at the same time as long as I can. Riley Wolfbauer 04:44
Great and I’m not surprised to learn that you started in sales and did it successfully given your personality. You have a personality that fits that. Mark Chandler 04:52 Thank you. Appreciate that.Riley Wolfbauer 04:54
So So given your career experience and In all your learnings, what what is the lesson or two that you learned early in your career that you still try to carry to this day?
Mark Chandler 05:11
I think I could be classified historically as kind of a workaholic. There’s days when you wake up and you’re kind of tired, not feeling like you want to work. And for me, it’s just get fired up and go, I enjoyed so much. I’m kind of goofy here at the office, when Fridays come around, I walk around pouting. Like, I hate Fridays, because gonna miss everybody, and they all think I’m a knucklehead, but it’s true. I actually enjoy it. So I never take a breath. I never slow down. You know, I’m in my 60s already, and I’m still ready to fire up every day. I don’t drink coffee. Can you imagine if I drank coffee? It would be crazy. My poor family, they disowned me. And then the other thing is, I don’t know everything. So I want to make sure that I come off as someone that’s always listening, always trying to learn, should if we did everything the way we always did it, we’d be in big trouble. So it’s kind of fun to see the progression of the industry that I’ve fallen in love with. And not just on the auto industry side, but also on the credit union side. It’s just getting better. And I’m learning more every every day. But I think over at all. I think for me, the life lesson that I carry on is that attitude is everything. You just have to have a positive attitude. There’s no upside of having a negative attitude.
Riley Wolfbauer 06:34
Yeah, that’s one thing that my mom and my sisters, that’s my mom especially has tried to ingrain that in us that carrying a positive attitude. You get what you put back out in the world. If you put a positive attitude, you can get good things coming back your way. So it seems seems kind of that’s what you try to carry? Mark Chandler 06:53
I definitely do. I’m an over hugger, I like to hug a lot. I know there was a time where that was probably not the right thing to do. But I had a company say mark, you got to stop hugging so much. I go, that’s who I am. I can’t stop that. And I don’t just hug. Hug everybody. Sounds like I’m leaving anybody else. So it’s just that sort of positive, outgoing, strong attitude. Your parents are good parents, I can tell you’re a good guy. And I’m sure your parents and I are probably somehow related. Riley, we’ve talked about that before.Riley Wolfbauer 07:26
Well, thanks, Mark. They’d love they’d love to hear that. So reflecting on your career, looking back, what would you say has been one of the best moments of your career? And how is that something that has informed you throughout the rest of your career? And what did you learn from that moment Mark Chandler 07:48
You know, I think the best moment was, I mentioned working for auto land, it was, at the time, the largest car buying service was founded by a guy named Michael Malama, that just has the gift of making money. And the reason why it was successful is because we always focused on the service, that was the value of this organization. It wasn’t how much money it made, how many offices that owned and how many cars it sold. It was the value that was the that was everything, the service, the service we provide. I ultimately worked my way up to be the president, the leader of that company. And so I would say that was my proudest moment, what I really learned from that. What’s interesting is that the higher you go up the ladder, and ultimately to the top is that you, you have to wear your HR hat more, you become more of an HR person, because the people that reports you will open up more and more about their needs financially, what’s going on in their personal lives. You know, what, what’s happening, you really have to put that HR hat on. And I think the definition of a good leader and what I learned from that, and why still take with me now is to be a really good listener. One of the things I do when I interview people, as I asked them, you know, for a position, how do you define the word Trust. And you know, if you look at the dictionary, it’s got its own meaning, but the way I define it is trust is putting someone else’s needs in front of your own. And so if you go through kind of your career, and even your personal life, and you think about putting the other person’s needs in front of your own, and every situation, it creates this high level of trust. And when you’re dealing as a leader of a company with employees, if you can find a way to put your employees needs in front of your own. I think that elevates you as a leader. It’s easy to be a boss. It’s easy to tell people what, what to do and just because I have the business card, but it’s takes a little more effort, I think to really listen, guide them by examples and be you know, just be that sort of resource for people that are looking at growth and apply pathway for their own what they’re looking for out of their career, if you can sort of guide them, it’s very successful, very rewarding. But I think that that was the best moment of my career. And I think when I think about the things that mean the most to me, and another way that I sort of described define success is, you know, you probably haven’t felt this as much, but you have for sure is that I can remember going home to a beautiful home that I owned, walking in the door, seeing my wife and kids greeting me at the door. I mean, it’s touching that, to me is, is success. So I know you’ve kind of strayed off the subject there. But for me, the definition of success personally is one that happens, it’s all about family. And then also from a high level executive position. It’s super cool when employees that work for you get married, have children buy houses, we even move on in their careers to other places, and a more successful role. I it rejuvenates me, it fires me up when I see people that worked for me or with me be more successful, and also get get the things in life that they’re looking for. I think I kind of took that question, blew it up a little bit, right Riley Wolfbauer 11:22 And that’s all right, you gave good insight into how you kind of try to carry yourself and what, what gets your motor going as, as a leader at your company? So to flip it now, what would you say has been or what would you say is maybe the worst moment in your career? Or what is the mistake that you’ve made in your career? And how did you learn from it and become better from it? Mark Chandler 11:51
That’s an exceptional question. I was proud of becoming the president bottle and but I’m not there anymore. And the reason why I’m not there is because I was, it’s hard to imagine I’m, you know, over 612 100 plus pounds, I’m a big guy. And my boss, the chairman of the board was a petite person, that was a bully. And I had a hard time dealing with a bully. And ultimately, there was a decision made, I wasn’t going to get that person to leave as the chairman of the board. So the decision was that I had to depart. And so that was kind of a tough moment for me was leaving a company I’ve been at nearly 20 years, and ultimately leaving as a leader. And when I look back, if I would have stayed on with that organization and not allow myself to be bullied. I’m almost embarrassed saying this, I probably would still be there. In hindsight. Now, I’m glad I’m not there. Because I’ve grown so much since that that’s such a, I had like a West Coast relationship. And, you know, my presence was west coast. And now I have a national presence. And so I’ve really had this chance to expand my horizons. And financially, I’m a better spot. I mean, everything is good since then. But it’s one moment that I kind of regret is that I let this bully forced me out. And I since then had another situation where I had a bully as a boss. And I knew how to handle and better handle this bully better. And I grew from the original. And the only way from my perspective, if you have a bully as a boss, the only way to win is to bully back. But you have to take the risk that you might be terminated or something but I’m in a position in my career where I didn’t have to worry about that. Because if I did, I’d bounce somewhere else. But it felt good to go back to a Boolean, just not allow it to happen. And ultimately, that person left and I’m still here. Riley Wolfbauer 13:47
Great. Alright, so shifting gears a little bit. You’ve already given a little bit of insight into this question with your other answers talking about positivity and trust and upward success for your employees. So given all that, like how do you really aim to lead your team day in and day out? Mark Chandler 14:11
Yeah, that’s good. I mean, definitely with strong energy. It’s funny, you know, we’re a volume based organization and sales your you want to move units or you want to get numbers out. And some of our salespeople are better than others, but they all have sort of the same goal in mind. Some have higher goals and others, you know, higher targets. And ultimately, you sort of grade your sales team on their volume. I have a little different approach to that. I some of my favorite sales consultants or regional sales managers are just flat out salespeople are the ones that I judge them on two things and one of them is attitude for sure. If they got the right attitude, good things are gonna happen. But the second one is after If it’s you know, a lot of people work remotely, it’s hard to sort of quantify effort. So you can only quantify based on what they put into Salesforce or how many calls they’re making, things like that. But I can sense attitude and effort even remotely over these type of calls, these sort of facing calls and being around them on a regular basis. So I know pretty quickly if someone’s the right choice for our team, you know, it’s funny, when we hire someone, we don’t really hire someone we adopt them. I believe that our culture is that in this organization is like a giant family. And so when someone lets, that’s one person, you know, if someone fails, it kind of lets us all down. And so there’s this sort of, it’s not, you’re not really stressed about it, because we patch on the back of the hour, but month and say, Let’s get them next time. But really attitude and effort is basically what I use to judge my team. And a lot of that is your salespeople are interesting, the best salespeople are usually the highest magnets. And I have a couple of folks that are so good, but they just can’t understand how good they are. And so I constantly have to remind them, you are so good. I mean, literally, I’ll call them as well just say, I want you to know that I see you and that you’re really good. And what it gets out of them is a whole nother level of tail wagging and swagger and fired up and it’s worth it to me them take the time and effort to do that. I’m not talking about direct reports, I’m talking to maybe two or three layers down. So just letting people know that you see them. And then again, the main thing that that I like to do is never overreact. Stuff happens, you know, volumes go up and down. This is a marathon even on a marathon, you’re going uphill once in awhile. We are it always works out in the long run. You just can’t overreact. Hopefully that answers that question. I mean, I’ve had employees do stupid stuff, you know, steel in the past, you can’t tolerate that. So where I get so attached to sometimes the salespeople will have been with me for a long time, when I find out they’ve stolen it, it hurts, I can take it personally. So I’ve gotten better at not allowing that to affect me personally. But I still do fall in love with everybody that works with and for me. Riley Wolfbauer 17:22 And I can tell that’s just the nature of your personality. So yeah. So obviously, as you just as you said, in sales, there’s always goals for sales numbers and what you guys are striving for in a company. When you’re managing your teams, how do you ensure that goals are aligned top to bottom, that all teams are on the same page? And you’re all working towards your same end goal? Mark Chandler 17:52 That’s a great question. And Ben, for me a slightly tough one to answer, I have a vision. And I have to make sure my vision aligns with the other executives at the organization. But from a volume standpoint, I have a vision, it’s a big number. I don’t want to say what it is today. But it’s a big number. Now the team I have today, we won’t hit that number. So what I do is sit them down, tell them here’s my vision. In order to get there, I’m going to need all of you to perform at certain levels. And a lot of this vision is on my shoulders with the current. You know, we’re doing auto leasing here with credit unions to hit the volume that I want to hit before I you know, retire, I need we have 40 ish credit lines right now we need probably 140 of the right credit. And so I have a lot of work to do. And I need better consistency in Florida and Texas, way more consistency in California, so but to get that I have to sort of start from there work backward, and build out where the credits need to be to make this happen. What amount of team members have to be there? And where are these team members fit into that mix? So I’m kind of painting the picture for them and their sort of segment of that vision where I need them to get to? And I asked them are you in do you buy in. And then we talk about where we are in that process headed towards that vision. So I think that the team members we have today on the sales team will someday be leaders of the sales team. I think the vision is between five and 10 years out from now. And I see. I’m hoping that most of them stay on board. But you know, in sales in general, you have turnover. But the ones that stay on board, I see them running their old Sales Team at some point. And it’s hitting this crazy vision. So it’s just you know it, you have to communicate progress regularly. You have to show where we are in that process. It’s almost like a timeline. And I oftentimes use sort of a football analogy. Let’s say my visions $10 billion in one year we did 2.7 billion last year, so we’re kind of on our own 27 yard line. We’re going to do less this year. Are because we have much more competition. But the sort of analogy using football, it helps out for the vision setting is where we are in that process. So I’m hoping to be where we’re on the 10 yard line getting ready to punch it in the endzone sooner than later. But that’s sort of the way that I track. Vision day in and day out. Yeah Riley Wolfbauer 20:21 yeah, for sure. So I appreciate you providing insight into your career and a little look back on your career. But that is all we have time for today. So I appreciate you joining me today, Mark. Mark Chandler 20:34 Man, it’s my pleasure, Riley. You’re a good guy. I’ll do this. Anytime you call me tomorrow. We’ll do it again. Riley Wolfbauer 20:41
Yeah, maybe maybe we can revisit change a little bit next time Mark Chandler 20:44
I’m okay with it. I want to podcast you talk about your career. Riley Wolfbauer 20:48
Hey, we can do it. All right. If you if you want to do it, we can do it. All right. And so to our audience members, thank you for joining us on the roadmap today. And we will see you next time and online at Auto Finance News dotnet