March 5, 2021

The Montana Auto DealersAssociation (MTADA) has endorsed a handful of partners like American Fidelity that can significantly and positively impact your business. American Fidelity can work as an extension of your human resources department.

Every year, as dealers begin to work on their annual labor rate submissions, many are quick to grab their policies and procedures manuals to get started. For most, it’s a process that may involve filling out a competitive survey, producing a certain amount of consecutive qualified repair orders, or a combination of the two. Does this process yield as much of an increase as the dealership wants or is entitled to? Many times, the answer is no.

Laurie Bakri, a Helena native, taught middle school for several years until she moved on to New Jersey where she took a role in the private sector with a supplemental education provider. For 19 years, she worked her way through different roles all working with quality service, efficiencies, and profitability. Her last role there was as the VP of Education in the Gulf area, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Bahrain, and Kuwait. Most recently, Bakri was the Business Services Supervisor in the Montana Secretary of State’s Office.

Achieving the highest level of technical expertise is a process; there are no shortcuts. But while formal training programs can be important, on-the-job experience and a general mechanical interest and ability are critical. Computer skills are increasingly valuable as well.

If you live in the U.S., you already know what most people want for their children: a university education followed by a high-paying white-collar job. The decision to earn a four-year academic degree has also traditionally been encouraged by the high school that the students attend, as most are focused on academics and getting students ready for college. Unfortunately, adults generally don’t prepare good students for anything other than college.

Michael Tilleman grew up on a farm. His father once said that he was as dumb as a cow, something that Mike disagreed with, noting that cows always knew the right gate when it was time to come home.

Robert “Bob” Oakland decided his future was in the U.S. instead of Saskatchewan, Canada, during the summer of 1943. Bob’s father had died on Pearl Harbor Day when Bob was 15. The family had a wheat farm, and although Bob gave farming a try, he felt that the U.S. offered better opportunities for him than spending his days, sun-up to sun-down, hauling wheat on a bundle wagon and a team of horses for $3.50 per day. “I wasn’t going to do that,” Bob said. At 17, he talked to his mother, and he moved to the U.S. with his mother and younger brother. Bob’s uncle sponsored him, and he graduated from Fort Benton High School in Fort Benton, just north of Great Falls. Later, Bob served in the U.S. Navy and proudly became a U.S. citizen. He eventually settled in Great Falls, Montana, after attending Montana State University. He liked the town and the people who lived there.

Born in Minneapolis April 9, 1929, George Selover attended and graduated from The Blake School and Princeton University, where he earned a degree in theoretical economics. He met his wife, Patty, in Minneapolis, and they married in 1951 after graduation. Although Patty’s father owned dealerships in several states, Minnesota was his home base. He talked the couple into moving to Billings in 1955, so George could run a Buick dealership for him. In 2006, George told The Gazette that the move “was undoubtedly the best move we ever made.” George was 26, and he soon felt extremely fortunate to be living in Billings. Ten years later, he bought the dealership and renamed it Selover Buick.

How did you become a car dealer? Did you always aspire to be part of the automotive industry?
I didn’t grow up in the industry, and I didn’t even work in it as my first career. Getting into the auto industry was really a function of wanting to move, and I needed a job — little did I know that I would find my future and a career that I absolutely love when I answered the ad from a Ford-Mitsubishi dealership.

It goes without saying that perfection of the lender’s lien on vehicles financed is a big deal. As we’ve stated in this column in the past the process is very simple. Always put the lien on the TRP. In most cases once the TRP is issued with the lien included and the fee is paid by the charge to the dealer’s account the job is complete and your contractual obligation to the purchasing lender has been accomplished. Bruce and I confirmed this fact during a conference call with the DMV just recently.