Steve Howard

**** ********* ***** ■ Greenwood, IN 46143 ■ 317-***-**** ■ acxgsz@r.postjobfree.com

Dynamic, management professional with extensive experience leading high-volume multi-department, multi-unit operations – generating millions of dollars to top and bottom lines in a high stress, competitive environment. Successful at training and directing large, diverse teams that collaborate as focused units to achieve aggressive department/regional goals. Tenacious, hands-on leader with track record managing complex negotiations, CRM activities, process improvements, B2B sales, B2C sales, data collection, revenue cycle management and strategies. Tech savvy and progressive, adept at implementing cutting edge technology. Experience in lead generation and managing social media marketing campaigns. Equipped with a significant level of communication and interpersonal abilities in addition to a strong background in effectively fostering positive relationships with co-workers, vendors and clients. Champion of change management. Intent on a career change that will allow me to use my areas of expertise and grow with the company.

Multi-Site Operations Management CRM Management Process Management Team Leadership & Collaboration P&L Inventory Budget Accountability Strategic Planning & Execution

Customer Retention Motivating, Training & Coaching Complex Problem Solving

Employee Retention Cost Reduction Innovation Process Improvement Project Management

Education / Affiliations

B.S. in Marketing A.S. in Sociology, Indiana University

Former member of Mensa, Mensa International

Professional Experience

SALES MANAGER, SALES DIRECTOR

2010 – 2016

Hubler Chevrolet (2010-2012 & 2015-2016) Oak Motors (2014-2015) Wetzel Motors (2012-2014)

Managed day-to-day operations supporting sales efforts and business development for large volume dealerships. Accountable for inventory purchases / liquidations, bank / pricing negotiations, compliance, service performance, office administration, customer vendor relations, staff training & development, CRM activities, and complaint resolution.

VP OF SALES & OPERATIONS

1996 – 2010

National Car Sales/National Car Rental, Indianapolis, IN

Promoted in roles of increased responsibility from overseeing sales functions to day-to-day operations for 4 large-volume dealerships generating $33 million in annual sales. Supervised and led 72 employees across five departments and four nationwide locations. Accountable for P&L performance, Business Development Center, Call Center, HR issues, CRM / inventory management processes, and marketing & sales strategy.

Achieved 55% repeat business by managing $500,000 budget to promote and advertise a $5 million portfolio via websites/micro-sites, social media campaigns, Angie’s List and CRM marketing.

Reduced inventory by consolidating data, leveraging synergies, and implementing reporting tools for large rental business by mining several data bases.

Gained 400+ positive EBay reviews and quadruped web traffic by developing and implementing an online sales program and marketing strategy that captured the first 6 pages of Google.

Turned around a service department from losing $50,000 per to month to generating more than $20,000 in monthly profits in one year by introducing a CRM tool and customer service policies & procedures.

Ranked 16th to 22nd in the nation for sales volume for last 10 years for independent pre-owned dealers.

Grew annual sale by 20% by designing and rolling out call scripts to secure new business opportunities.

Championed key Social Media tools that propelled our company to a 4.9 ranking on a 5.0 scale

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Devised and implemented an internet strategy that rose website traffic to one of the 600 largest globally. Effective use of SEO and SEM.

Built and maintained the most powerful PCs for Executive Management

Devised new Process Management tool that reduced product to market days from 14 to 3.

Reduced advertising budget by 66% while increasing sales.

Introduced HR initiatives and incentives that led to a 90% employee retention rate.

Planned and conducted team meetings and directed coached and mentored staff to comply with all company goals.

Emphasized principles of honesty and integrity by implementing “full disclosure” selling process that increased customer transparency and improved client/employee interactions.

Developed and maintained company directives and policies for fast start openings of new stores.

Capitalized on added responsibility of other company owned businesses by consolidating data and identifying synergies.

Introduced Call Center/Business Development Center to maximize sales potential and insure that the company’s message was consistent.

Promoted collaboration of IT, Marketing and 3rd party vendors.

Awards

Dealer of the year.

“A” rating on Angie’s List.

Consumer’s Choice Award, 5 consecutive years.

EBay Power Seller.

“A+” ranking with the BBB.

Software Proficiencies

Microsoft Access: Ability to configure complex reports from several databases.

Microsoft Excel: Adept at writing formulas to report and produce grafts or pivot tables with multiple joins.

Dealer Management Systems: (DMS/DMP) Able to use various inventory and financial systems including, Reynolds and Reynolds, ADP, PBS and others.

CRM: On the Board to help take a server based CRM Autobase, a MS CRM tool, to a web based CRM, AVV Web Control as a power user.

Microsoft Office: Can easily maneuver all products.

HTML/CSS: Understand and can write projects.

Google Analytics: Can understand and manipulate reports.

XML: Complete understanding of this protocol.

Wordpress: Can read, write and understand this language.

SQL: Ability to pull ad hoc reports.

Working knowledge of browsers, DNS, Wi-Fi, WAN, LAN, and TCP/IP.

Use of “Hot Spot” tools for website evolution.

Product Information Management (PIM)

Project Management

Organized several software installations including the negotiation with vendors, mapping of data, initial and ongoing setups, reporting, marketing automation and monitoring of compliance.

CRM Highlights

Installed, configured, routed, trained, monitored, reported with and maintained CRM tool that increased sales and drove client loyalty.

oEvaluated a myriad of solutions & vendors (Autobase, ELead, Dealersocket, Dealerpeak, AVV Webcontrol, VIN Solutions, Dealertrak, ADP, Promax)

oSelected Autobase (MS CRM based) as the best solution. It was the most robust in reporting functionality, easiest to use/setup (Templates, scripts, etc.) and the most stable.

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Hurdles overcome:

oData mapping: Most were not compatible with our accounting/inventory system and had to do a lot of custom work with 3rd party vendors.

oCompliance: Getting the salesmen to put all of the data in and fill all of the fields, especially email address and advertising source.

oData base integrity: Duplicate clients, dead leads from previous systems.

oLegal compliance: Stayed abreast of permission based marketing.

Drove CRM Adoption/Usage:

oGained buy-in from upper management and set expectations

Once one individual/group had success the others more easily followed.

There were some that fought it but were slowly convinced once the others outsold them.

oCreated Incentive Programs to drive usage.

oSold them by success of compliance.

Demonstrated success / sales increases generated by other folks using said solution

oTraining

Leaned on the vendor initially, and then drove that knowledge base through daily meetings.

Evolution of Solution:

oChampion of the overall CRM Strategy

Including Workflow, Usage, SEO, etc.

Ensured that everything pointed back at the website to fully leverage customer/business data

Website became one of the Top 600 sites Globally.

oHeld company-wide meetings to gain solution feedback.

Analyzed reports to substantiate said feedback.

o As the CRM evolved, we implemented/leveraged the new bits of functionality.

Trial & Error. Figured out what worked for them and what didn’t.

All campaign metrics were analyzed and adjusted, as needed to maximize ROI.

Selected References

“As an IT Professional, it's a rare thing to find upper level management like Steve that truly grasps the benefits that can be gained through technology and innovation. I was able to help Steve create several systems and reports to better manage and track the performance of his sales department.

Steve understands the value of others' input, but also recognizes the importance of strong leadership, steady growth, and measurable success.”

Chet Cromer, President, C2IT Consulting, Inc

“I had the pleasure of working with Steve for many years, extremely knowledgeable in automotive retail market and very professional to deal with.”

Lynn McNeill, Sr. Vice President, PBS Systems Inc

“I have known Steve for over 5 years now and believe that from a professional and personal perspective, there are few in this business as dedicated and innovative as Steve. He understands the operational aspects of the business along with how to implement ideas technically. He has a "get it done" mentality and a great sense of humor that I admire. He is a pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend Steve to work in operations at any company.”

Damon Johnson, VP, Business Development, Kelley Blue Book

“Steve ran a very detailed and process driven organization. He was definitely in the top percentage of dealers with that respect. This helped our products become better for his dealership and others. Thank you for all the great feedback.”

Ed Braunbeck, Product General Manager, Dominion Dealer Solutions

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