From the February issue of UCD
In explaining terms and going over payments, Ryan Jones leans on his experience from his previous career.
Before opening Ace Auto Sales in Fyffe, Alabama, Jones and his wife, Meg, were teachers. Ryan taught history, government and economics. Meg led business and marketing classes.
“You do get to help educate a few people every now and then,” Ryan said.
It was Meg who introduced Ryan to the car business. She grew up in the industry. Her father Rick Terrell had his own dealership.
“I’m the car girl. I love cars,” Meg explained. “I’ve always been in the car business. I was in sales and marketing before I started teaching.”
Not long into their teaching careers, the Joneses started eying an opportunity to move into a new business. Meg credits her father with helping them get their start, including taking Ryan to auctions.
“We started selling some cars on the side to have some extra income and it just over time built and built,” said Meg, pointing out the need to supplement their teaching salaries. “It definitely surpassed what we ever thought it would when we first started it as a side income for us.”
Even while still in the classroom, they started the retail side of their business. When Ryan had enough years in to retire from teaching, they started adding buy-here pay-here to their operations.
“We’ve been in business for 10 years and been doing BHPH for six,” Ryan said. “We ran the dealership remotely and had employees. Once we started getting busier just as a retail dealership that’s when we decided, and I had enough years in to retire, so I got out of education and started doing the business full time. That’s when we shifted to BHPH.”
BHPH is now the primary part of their business.
Over the years, they moved from being the teachers to students of a new business. One of the biggest lessons they learned is the need to be flexible and change to the market.
“Don’t be scared to change your own rules to fit with trends,” Meg said. “Once you do something and you implement a rule, it doesn’t mean that it is always going to work out like you planned. Be flexible.”
Ryan added that it’s never “one-size-fits-all,” especially working with customers.
“Sometimes in your own dealership you’ll do some things for people that maybe it’s not what you would normally do because you want to help people and see them succeed,” Ryan said. “That’s the thing I like about BHPH. Typically the people that come to see us can’t get a car in a traditional setting. We are helping people get their lives back on track. That’s the thing I enjoy.”
Working together has not been an issue for the Joneses. They enjoy the opportunity to continually bounce ideas off each other. In building a new office, they are looking to share an office space.
“I know some people are like, ‘I could never work with my spouse,’” Ryan said. “That’s not us. We work well together…I know it’s cliché, but we really do finish each other’s sentences. We’re really one mind.”
Meg added they share a love for business and are always constantly looking to improve.
“I really do feel like we have a lot of fun in the business because we are so like-minded and love business,” Meg said.
They admit the job doesn’t stay at the dealership, but they do try to prioritize family time with their children.
“We are very intentional about not neglecting our children,” Ryan said. “But we do take business home. We share so many ideas that it doesn’t feel like work when we’re at home.”
Though relatively new to the business, Ryan and Meg have immersed themselves in the industry, learning and also passing on lessons to others. Both were heavily involved in the BHPH Dealer Forum in New Orleans being chosen by their roundtables for sharing the best ideas. Meg explained how to sign up with insurance providers to receive digital notices of customers canceling coverage. Ryan presented his text prompts to increase responses from customers who are behind on payments.
Meg will be part of a panel at the NIADA Convention and Expo on the best ideas from the Dealer Forum.
“In the last few years, we’ve been getting more involved in conventions. They’ve been beneficial to us and at the same time, we’ve tried to turn that around and be as useful and helpful to others as we can,” Ryan said. “In our business, no one is reinventing the wheel. It’s important to share the information that you’ve learned with others.”
Meg said it’s another opportunity to give back and do what they do best – teach.
“I do enjoy teaching and with us enjoying what we do, it’s something that comes with a passion, helping others,” Meg said. “There’s so many people that need cars that I never see it as a competition. A local dealer and I were talking this morning and just trying to help each other. We can always learn from each other instead of everyone having to go through the same mistakes.”
