F&I and Showroom, July 2016

www fi magazine com 15 F I and Showroom July 2016 N Neither the bothered looks nor the polarizing remarks he heard caused him to second guess his plan Having shocked the business world last year when he stepped down as CEO of the Larry H Miller LHM Group of Companies which counts the NBAs Utah Jazz and one of the nations largest dealer groups under its banner Greg Miller is known for making tough decisions and sticking to them But this was different Miller wasnt facing the sports media world like he did in June 2013 to explain why his family green lighted the trade of a franchise cornerstone nor was he instituting 29 million in cost saving measures like he did during his first year at the helm of the family business He was addressing 100 or so employees of a dealership he had just acquired under his new enterprise Greg Miller Automotive San Diego And Miller wasnt there to make the typical new owner speech He was there to tell his new employees it wouldnt be business as usual as his plan to transform the underperforming store called for the tear down of the stores F I offices and elimination of the F I manager title Also gone was the dealerships sales and F I process which was replaced with a one touch process Miller refers to as the Power of One When I stood in front of these employees on April 20 I took the opportunity to reiterate to every one of them that we have a unique opportunity to be part of establishing a brand on Day One with the Greg Miller brand Miller says And it has a lot to do with this Power of One selling system DEEP ROOTS BIG PLAN Miller had been the CEO of the family business for seven years when he announced he was vacating the post in March of last year The privately owned business employed about 10000 individuals and counted more than 80 businesses in 46 states including 56 dealerships when he did His departure came just as the group was transitioning to a new corporate structure Miller noting in a company press release issued at the time that the decision was the right move for me personally for my family and for the business Greg was successful in taking over for Larry while facing one of the toughest economic times in our countrys history read a quote from Gail Miller Gregs mother and current owner of the LHM Group in the same press release He has done an outstanding job leading this organization and his accomplishments will have a profound lasting effect on our family business and our communities for generations to come Miller who continues to maintain his duties with the Utah Jazz said he stepped down for a multitude of reasons And it wasnt the first time he stepped away from the family business I went out on my own started and ran my own business for a couple of years just to prove I could do it he says Then I came back to the family business Owning a dealership however had been a dream of his for more than 18 years He was just 13 when he went to work at his fathers Toyota store in Murray Utah the first dealership on which the Larry H Miller empire was built In fact it was his dad who drove him to work on his first day Miller recalls his father handing him a list of duties he was to complete jobs that ranged from making sure the trunks of every car on the lot had a dealer logo to sweeping down the parts department When he was done his father was ready with a new set of duties for him to complete Over the next 30 years Miller would work in a variety of roles within the familys dealer group He sold cars worked in the parts department and served as general manager He describes himself as a student of the car business and is quick to credit the host of longtime car guys who took him under their wing But he notes that his experience wasnt limited to life in a dealership The Larry Miller group is big enough that I was able to work in communications and sports real estate finance and some other areas just to get exposure to them but the things Ive enjoyed the most are automotive related he says In June 2008 his father suffered a heart attack that hospitalized him for nearly two months A month later the younger Miller was named CEO of the LHM Group His father passed away eight months later in February 2009 Miller says his year away from the business allowed him to work on his house and travel to the North Pole He also began cataloging some of his notes from his time at LHM Miller kept copious amounts of notes on his meetings and thoughts throughout his days he says He wanted to digitize his records in chronological order While scanning stacks of his notes he noticed multiple entries that mentioned buying his own dealership the first of which dated back 18 years He says theres a good reason he never pursued that goal until this past April A big reason I didnt pursue my own dealership was because I had a job and I wasnt looking for another one he says I kind of likened it to marriage I was Greg Millers first action as the owner of Greg Miller Toyota was to replace the dealerships sales and F I process with a no haggle one touch process he dubbed the Power of One The move didnt sit well with some employees with the dealership losing all but one of its F I managers and three of its sales managers