“Tracy Myers is a visionary…
a Walt Disney for a new generation.”

– Brian Tracy, New York Times Best-Selling Author

Tracy Myers Wins CIADA Community Service Award

CIADA Award given to Tracy Myers, wineer of Frank Myers Auto

Tracy Myers being presented Community Service Award by Marty Coates

This years winner of the CIADA Community Service Award is an active dealer in all of the communities he serves. Tracy Myers, owner of Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston-Salem, NC, has been a leader a giver in the community, always giving back when he could and never asking for anything in return.

In 2011, many say he outdid himself when he had the vision to take his passion for sports entertainment (also known as pro wrestling) and use it to raise money to help provide toys and Bibles to less fortunate children during Christmas. He created the WrestleCade fundraising event which partnered with The Christmas Toy Drive to benefit The Salvation Army. 

What began as a one time/one off fundraising event is now entering its sixth year and is one of the largest annual 3-day events of its kind in the world! Last year alone, an estimated 6,000 wrestling fans from as far away as Norway and Austria attended the event, and dramatically boosted the local economy with tourism dollars. When asked why he chose to partner with The Christmas Toy Drive to benefit The Salvation Army, Myers replied: “As a father, it was an easy decision for me. Last year alone, 6,506 children in the greater Winston-Salem area received 55,690 toys from the Salvation Army and the lives of more than 8,500 families were significantly impacted. To be a part of an organization that helps change so many lives at such a young age is special.”

This is just one of the many ways Tracy is involved and gives back to his church and his community. 

CIADA is proud to announce the 2017 Community Service Award Winner: Tracy E. Myers, CMD owner of Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston-Salem, NC.

The CIADA Community Service Award is sponsored by Waymaker Learning Corporation. CIADA Strived to encourage its members to be active in the communities they serve. An active community benefits when businesses give back, and our businesses benefit from a prosperous community. 

By |2021-01-06T15:37:15-05:00October 24, 2017|Blog|
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Happy Father’s Day, Uncle Frank!

Author’s Note: I originally wrote and published the following post as a tribute to my father in June of 2010. It was so well received that I have reposted it every Father’s Day weekend since then. This year, I decided to update it. Enjoy and “Happy Father’s Day!” – Tracy Myers

Tracy Myers and Frank MyersAt least once a day, someone comes up to me and asks, “So…how’s your Uncle?” Of course, they’re not asking about my REAL Uncle. They’re asking about the man that I’ve been referring to as “Uncle Frank” on television commercials over the past 20 years. That man is my father, Frank Myers.

For the record, my father is alive and well. He’s doing what he loves doing most; being an entrepreneur. I’ve truly never met anyone that liked the “thrill of conquering” a business model quite like my father does. He’ll come up with a concept for a new business, brings it to life and makes it successful more times than not. Then he gets bored and moves on to the next challenge.

For those of you that don’t know my “story”, I’d like to share it with you. Not because it’s that special but rather the misconceptions that revolve around it. Lots of folks assume that since my unofficial title is PHD (Papa Had a Dealership) and that I would have had an easy time getting into the used car business. Indeed, my father had big plans in store for me. Only they meant working 60 hour weeks in the detail shop!

I was 15 years old when I first started working in my father’s detail shop and I hated it. It was brutally hot during the Summer months, bone achingly cold during the Winter ones and didn’t pay nearly enough. I decided early on that this was NOT the career path that I wanted to follow. So after graduating high school, I chose to go to college instead of going to work for my dad. So I would have some spending cash, I got a job as a salesperson at a local Toyota dealership. The schedule was brutal: I attended classes from 8am until 1pm and sold cars from 3pm until midnight. I loved selling cars so much. School? Not so much. So I decided to quit school after a few months and become a full-time car salesman. I did it without telling my parents. For some odd reason, my 20 year old brain didn’t think they would find out and I was pretty sure that my dad would have killed me if he knew that I was working for another car dealership other than his own. Of course, he DID know but never mentioned it. I give him props for allowing me the time and space to find my own way without stepping in. A couple of years later, I announced to him that I was coming home and would like to work for him at the dealership. He sounded happy and said he had a spot for me. So I turned in my notice at the Toyota store, headed home and showed up to work in a shirt and tie. My dad looked at me and told me I was a little overdressed. I was confused. Overdressed to sell cars? No way. The problem was I wasn’t going to be selling cars. I was going back to work in the detail shop.

I stayed there for almost two years and I worked my way up the ladder through every aspect of the used motor vehicle industry. In 2006, at the age of 34, I bought the family car dealership and sold almost 1,400 vehicles in my first year.

Fast forward to 2016 and I still love this business as much as I did the day I sold my first car. My Team is the best and they make me look much more talented than I actually am. The dealership has posted a 144% increase since 2008, has been named one of the fastest growing privately owned small businesses in America by INC magazine for 4 consecutive years (read about it HERE) and was named the #1 small business in NC by Business Leader Magazine (read about it HERE). A few years back, we were even fortunate enough to have had a documentary made about us. “Car Men” aired nationally on the Biography channel, won several Telly awards and was even nominated for an Emmy! You can watch it HERE.

My dad is still my biggest supporter as well as my biggest critic. Regardless of our differences, there is one thing we can both agree on that took us way too long to realize. If we put God and family before the dealership, then the dealership will always prosper with a lot of sweat equity and prayer.

Happy Father’s Day to the best dad in the world and the best “car guy” that I’ve ever met…Uncle Frank!

PS: The photo above is of me (on the left) and my dad (on the right) in 1994 the day after I had sold my first car at the dealership. This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my dad.

By |2021-01-06T15:46:43-05:00June 20, 2015|Blog|
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Dealerships Can Achieve Results Using Social Media/Part 1

Dissecting Social Media For Car DealershipsAs I travel the country and consult auto dealers, they seem to fall into 2 camps regarding the use of social media as an effective marketing tool. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to discuss the differences in those camps as well as share some examples of businesses who are doing it right as well as some who are doing it dreadfully wrong.

No ROI In Social Media

The largest category of dealers I speak to fall into the category that I’ll affectionately label No ROI In Social Media. Their words, not mine. They don’t all dislike it. In fact, some use it a lot in their personal lives. However, they feel that it is a waste of their employees time where their business is concerned. Why? Easy answer. They don’t see it producing an ROI, or Return On Investment.

YES To Social Media

Of course, the remainder of the dealers I work with fall into the category that I’ll label as YES To Social Media. In short, they believe in the power of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the rest. However, it’s alarming to me that most aren’t sure how they know it’s working. Even fewer actually have a social media strategy. When I ask them about their social media process, they generally stare at me with a strange look on their face.

You’re Doing It Wrong

If your dealership isn’t seeing results by using social media, then you’re doing it wrong. The good news is that success leaves clues and there are many businesses outside of our industry successfully using effective social media strategies to both grow as well as show a return on their investment. We’ll examine some of those as well as some of those who are failing miserably.

Which Camp Are You In?

So…which camp does your dealership fall in? Are you ready to learn the right way? Are you willing to invest the time it takes? Stay tuned for part 2. Coming soon.

Who Is Tracy Myers?

For more info about the author of this series, Tracy Myers, please visit him at TracyMyers.com

By |2014-11-12T11:55:57-05:00November 12, 2014|Blog|
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Strong Customer Relationships: The Six Pillars/Part 5

Exceed Customer ExpectationsIn part one of Strong Customer Relationships, I introduced the six vital pillars that support strong customer relationships. I also discussed pillar #1: Making The Right First Impression (read about it HERE).

In part two, I discussed pillar #2: Being Easy To Do Business With (read about it HERE).

In part three, I discussed pillar #3: Remembering Your Customer Has A Choice (read about it HERE).

In part four, I discussed pillar #4: Making Life Better For Your Customers (read about it HERE).

Each of these pillars have an important role to play and the stronger each of them are, the better your overall relationships will be. Today, let’s talk about pillar #5: Exceeding Expectations

Pillar #5: Exceeding Expectations

One of the best ways to build deeper relationships with customers is to give them more than they expect.

The key to doing that is managing expectations by under-promising and over-delivering.

As a customer, you’ve probably experienced this in both ways – expectations being exceeded or dashed.

For example, I buy supplies regularly from the same computer company. I’m always told that my order will arrive in 10 to 14 days.

Every single one of my orders with them has arrived in 5 to 7 days – half the time that I was told.

Even though it happens every time, I think “Wow, what great service.” They have managed my expectations and then exceeded them.

They under-promised and over-delivered.

You’ve probably seen it happen in restaurants. You’re told the wait will be 30 minutes, and you’re seated in 15 minutes. You’re very pleased. Your expectations have been managed.

But when it works the other way – when you are told 15 minutes and have to wait half an hour – you are not going back there again.

In my dealership, when customers want to finance a vehicle and put $1500 down, I tell them that we can often get customers approved with as little as $1000 down.

But plenty of people drive home after putting no money down. When that happens, I’ve beaten what I’ve told them to expect and created a raving fan of my dealership who will immediately go out and tell all their friends.

Managing expectations is crucial to being able to exceed them.

This can even work when there are problems. You just need to manage the customer expectations and deliver something better than you promised.

Fortunately, poor customer service seems to be so common these days that it can be easy to make customers happy in this way.

– Stay Tuned For Strong Customer Relationships/Part Six. Coming Soon.

By |2014-07-01T13:13:11-04:00July 1, 2014|Blog|
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Get Paid For Your Passion

Get Paid and Have Fun At WorkI remember being asked “how do you do all that you do?” Not exactly sure what the person meant by that statement so I asked for clarification. They responded by saying “you write 3 or 4 books a year, you’re traveling and speaking all the time, you run a successful car dealership and consulting business, you’re on TV and in movies, you promote wrestling and you STILL seem to find time to spend lots of quality time with your family to be the world’s best dad and husband. You pretty much make me look bad and need to stop.” Thankfully the last sentence was said with a smile and a hint of sarcasm or it would have hurt. As far as the rest of the statement, it was humbling and something that I had never been thought about until that moment. It’s easy to get a lot done and to be successful at what you do if the things you do make you happy. Someone else once said to me “I don’t know how you work all the time.” I responded by saying it’s not work when you love doing it. It feels as if you’re getting paid to enjoy your hobby. The key: do whatever it legally takes to find that “something” you have a passion for and find a way to get paid to do it. That’s when you’ll be able to do LOTS of stuff, have fun doing it AND get paid…all at the same time.

To read more from Tracy, visit: TracyMyers.com

By |2014-06-19T12:57:19-04:00June 19, 2014|Blog|
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Fake It ‘Till You Make It

smiley faceI remember receiving a disheartening and anonymous email from someone who told me to “stop putting on a fake persona on social media because it’s sickening…it’s impossible for someone to be as happy as you pretend to be all the time. I mean, you own a used car lot. How happy and successful can you possibly be?” I decided to share this NOT to call him/her out, rather I’m sharing this to say that it’s a choice to choose the better route, to rise above the pain and find the silver lining around the dark clouds that some folks dwell in.

Besides, research shows that unhappy people:

1) Have a higher heart rate and may be at higher risk for heart attacks.

2) Are 65% more likely to get a cold.

3) Have a greater risk of heart disease, strokes, hypertension, infections, and Type 2 diabetes.

4) Release more of the stress hormone cortisol, therefore being more stressed.

5) Are less likely to find a spouse.

6) Live nine years fewer than their happy counterparts.

So…when you are happy, you are likely to live longer. You are more emotionally healthy, physically healthy, creative, energetic, compassionate, and successful!

So if you have difficulty being happy and have more of a tendency to be a Debbie Downer, my simple advice is to “fake it ’till you make it.” Your life and health depends on it.

And for the record, NO ONE is happy all the time. Even Jesus wasn’t always happy, and he wasn’t always sad, but he was always kind.

By |2014-06-02T16:16:46-04:00June 2, 2014|Blog|
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Does Your Teacher/Trainer/Consultant Walk The Walk?

Auto Sales Consultant

TRUE STORY: A General Manager of a BIG dealer group called me one afternoon about securing my training services. Allow me to share “the meat” of the conversation with you. As always, names have not been used to protect their ignorance.

Him: “I’ve spoken with several trainers and consultants before you. I know what I’m looking for. May I email you a list of questions that I want you to answer before we go any further?”
Me: “Sure.”
Him: “Good. Please don’t be insulted. I’ve asked all of the trainers the same questions that I’m asking you.”
I receive the email and a few of the questions were as follows: What type of car do you drive? Where do you live? When you travel, do you fly 1st class? How big is your house? Do you own a beach house? How many times a year do you speak? Where is the last place you went on vacation? What’s the most expensive piece of clothing you own? Are you an international company? Etc, Etc.
There were 25 of these random and odd questions. When I read them, I called the dealer back.
Me: “Thank you for your email but I believe you left off the most important question.”
Him: “Which question is that?” (sounding very confused)
Me: “In my modest opinion, it’s the question you should ask ALL trainers who you are considering to hire for your dealer group. You didn’t ask me when I sold my last car.”
Him: (silence followed by an expletive) “I NEVER thought about that but you are so right! So…when DID you sell your last car?”
Me: “About 2 hours ago.”
I received his signed contract and a credit card deposit less than half hour later. Remember: it’s easy to talk the talk but do they also walk the walk. The best teacher/trainers/consultants did it and STILL do it.
By |2014-05-27T18:51:30-04:00May 27, 2014|Blog|
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Award Winning Ads Versus ROI Producing Ads

There are two types of ads: one wins awards for the agency that created it and one makes money for the client. It is rare for one ad to be able to do both. Below is an example of an award winning ad, or at least one that should be. It was created by BBH, London for Axe Body Spray. It’s visually stunning. In fact, I would even call it art. Here’s the problem. It won’t make one dollar for Unilever, the makers on Axe. The three cardinal sins of this ad? There’s not an irresistible offer, no call to action and no deadline for the offer. So the next time you’re creating the next ad or marketing campaign for your dealership, ask yourself if you want it to win an award or if you want it to make money. Unless you’ve got marketing money to burn like Apple or Coke, the answer should be apparent.

Award Winning Marketing

By |2014-03-10T18:40:50-04:00March 10, 2014|Blog|
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Why Dealers Should Avoid This Type Of Advertising

I often talk about the 2 different types of ads: award winning ones and ones that produce an ROI, or Return On Investment. Click the photo below to see a perfect example of an award winning commercial. It’s by Apple and it’s beautifully done. The problem is that car dealerships who try and emulate this formula will fail. Why? Simply put, they don’t have “Apple money” (I called it Coke money before Apple’s heyday). If you own or represent a company smaller than Apple, take heed: STOP trying to create award winning ads. The bill collector doesn’t care, your dealership employees don’t care and your family doesn’t care. What they all care about is that your ad is a lead generator. So should you.

apple-our-signature

By |2014-03-08T11:15:37-05:00March 8, 2014|Blog|
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21 Secrets Of A Money-Making Customer Experience/Part 6

Starbucks Experience SecretsGREG: Welcome to the fifth and final entry of Uncle Frank’s 21 Secrets of Creating a Money-Making Customer Experience. Today we’re wrapping up our final conversation with Tracy Myers, founder of the Unfair Advantage Automotive Mastermind Group and the owner of Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston-Salem.

Now that we’ve gone through all twenty-one secrets, let’s kind of break it down for everyone that’s been listening throughout these five parts.
Can you give some specific steps or some specific actions that are going to help all the business owners listening to improve and enhance their customer experience, which ultimately, really, is going to help them grow their business?
TRACY: Well, instead of lots of small ones, I’m going to share one big
one. That one big action step to take today: get creative or find someone in your organization who is, and learn to wow your customers.
Please know that you have to have the right people and processes in place first or the wow factor won’t work. It can’t be bad people, bad processes, and a wow experience. It doesn’t happen that way.
But if you’ve got the right people and the right processes in place, and you bring someone on or create a wow factor yourself in your business, then nothing will take your business like another level like the wow factor will.
The secret to wowing your customers is to look for problems they would love for you to solve, but don’t expect you to. Then when you do, you’ll wow them. I’d like to end with another story about Disney, for a matter of fact.
We just got back from Disney again; we love Disney. We were there about two weeks ago and I rarely rent a car when I go there and we didn’t stay in the resort.
I was there on part business, part pleasure; the family’s with me and the first couple times we took a standard cab. Anyone that’s rode in any cab, USA, in any city, USA, knows what that experience is like. There is no experience in a cab.
So when we were at the hotel one day, we were getting ready to leave, and I don’t really like riding the shuttles either because I like me and my family to enjoy that time together and when you’re on a bus, mass transit with fifty other people, that’s kind of tough, especially with smaller children that want to run up and down the aisles of the bus; that’s another story for another day.
I asked the hotel if there was another way that we could get to the park. They said of course. So we waited outside for five minutes and a big black Yukon came and pulled up right outside.
A guy came out in a white shirt, black tie, black pants: “Waiting for a ride, sir?” I said, “Absolutely.” “Going to Disney?” “Yes, I am.” “Please get in.” He opened the door, he pulled the stool out, we got inside, he said, “What radio station do you listen to?”
I said, “Sir, I have no idea, I’m from out of town.” “Well, what type of music do you listen to?” I told him; he found the station for me. He asked the kids- this is before we take off, now- he asked the children what kind of movies they like, and they were amazed that he was asking.
Of course, my daughter’s six, my son is nine, so the disconnect between Dora the Explorer and whatever my son’s into- Pokémon- they found something that they would watch together on the DVD player in the back, which made my wife really happy.
So we get a peaceful trip to Disney. Before we got out, the guy says, “When are you coming back?” We said, “We have no idea, sir. Whenever we get tired and get ready.”
He gave us a card and said, “When you get ready, you call me. I’ll be here; give me fifteen minutes.” Well, guess who we used for the rest ofthe week for our trips back and forth to the park, and guess who got a very, very substantial amount of money from tips at the end of the week?
When he took us to the airport there was a traffic jam; he found the alternate routes and got us there no sweat, no nothing. And guess who I’ll call the next time I’m in Florida and need transportation?
I’ll call him because he provided me the wow experience that I wasn’t expecting. When he delivered, he knocked that home run out of the park. And guess what I’m doing today?
I’m telling you, Greg, and all the listeners know about it as well, and there’s no better form of marketing and advertising than creating that wow factor and having an advocate like I am for this cab driver in Florida. You need, and business owners need, and I need consumer advocates like that for my business.
GREG: I guess all I can say after hearing that story and all twenty-one secrets to you is, wow. This has been a great experience and I want to thank you for taking the time out to go over all these secrets and strategies that have been so important to the success of not only your business but yourself, personally and professionally.
What I wanted to do now is after going through these twenty-one secrets, I’m sure that some of the people are going to have some more questions, or maybe they’re going to want to work with you. I know that you have some great services and some great ways of connecting with business owners.
I was hoping that you could share a little bit about what you do to help car dealership owners to have more success, deliver a better a customer experience into their businesses.
TRACY: The easiest way for businesses to learn more about the twenty one secrets that we talked about today, among other things, is to actually apply for membership into the Unfair Advantage Automotive Mastermind Group, which meets in Charlotte 3 times a year.
The Unfair Advantage Automotive Mastermind Group is a great idea; we actually bring automotive professionals together from across the United States and Canada and we moderate the conversation for people who are already top performers or who are ready to take the action needed to become one of the best in the industry.

In fact, I believe in this group so much that anyone who can’t make an additional $100,000 in the next 12 months from what they learn from being a member, the chances are they won’t be invited back the following year. Anyone interested can find out more at UnfairAdvantageMastermind.com
GREG: That’s great, Tracy. Thanks again for sharing that resource; I encourage everyone to check out UnfairAdvantageMastermind.com. There are some great resources on the page and you can find out when they are having their next meeting. Tracy, once again, thanks for sharing these twenty-one secrets with everyone.
TRACY: It’s been all my pleasure and it has been lots of fun.
GREG: That’s one of the success principles and I had a lot of fun as well, and I hope everyone listening did. Again, at this point you should have a full action guide with a lot of things you can bring back to your business and to your team members and ultimately deliver a great customer experience. I want to thank you all for going through this program and we will speak to you all real soon.
– To Read Part 1 Of This Series, Click HERE.
– To Read Part 2 Of This Series, Click HERE.
– To Read Part 3 Of This Series, Click HERE.
– To Read Part 4 Of This Series, Click HERE.
– To Read Part 5 Of This Series, Click HERE.
– To learn more about Tracy Myers, visit his website HERE.
By |2014-02-18T16:42:16-05:00February 18, 2014|Blog, Winston Salem Business News|
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