Leading the Next Generation of Dealers

Special Guest - Karen Ford

Karen Ford, President at Sutton Ford and incoming NextGen Committee President at NAMAD, talks cultivating culture and continuing legacies at dealerships. Plus, what she had to do before she could join her family’s dealership.

In this episode you'll hear:

Building up the next generation of dealership leaders
What helps drive a recipe for dealership success
How OEM work-experience impacted the ways Karen leads her dealerships

Episode Breakdown

0:00 - Karen’s journey to becoming a dealer
5:50 - What OEM work-experience gave Karen as a dealership leader
6:47 - How Karen’s continuing a dealership legacy
8:10 - Top rewarding moments from becoming a dealer
9:25 - Cultivating a culture at her dealerships
10:49 - The goal of NextGen and building up future dealers
12:00 - Dealership operations: What Karen’s focusing on
14:04 - Establishing connections with local communities
17:50 - Opportunities for increasing sales
19:12 - Karen’s Best Bets on community-first dealerships, digital retail and more

“It’s just really a blessing [being a second generation dealer owner] because legacy is important, you know everybody fought really hard to get here and I’m just really looking forward to it.” - Karen Ford

For more information about our guest, visit their LinkedIn.