- PNC is proud to support "Business Forward" where community leaders discuss the issues confronting business in Central Illinois.

(light music) - Welcome to "Business Forward."

I'm your host, Matt George.

Joining me tonight, Mike Miller.

Mike Miller Auto Park, welcome.

- Thank you, Matt.

- I'm glad you came on.

I've wanted you on the show for a while and you're a busy man, but I do wanna say you're many things to this community.

You're a family man, a community guy, a philanthropist, a friend, but today I wanna focus on Mike Miller the entrepreneur and talk about business because you have a interesting business in an interesting time right now.

- Right.

- So you seem, you're one of those guys that everyone seems to know you.

So, is that by design, being in your business?

Because I think of somebody like John Beers being that guy too, but I relate you guys all to community.

- Yeah, I mean, we are very connected to the community.

That's part of what we do.

That's part of how I grew up in the business.

I had a guy named Joe O'Brien that I was with for 20 years that taught me that.

In fact, when we split and I bought the store, he wrote me a letter and said, "Congratulations."

He said, "Sell a lot of cars, make a lot of money, and give back."

And the key thing is, is giving back.

And that's part of the thing with community and to be the face in front of it, I guess, probably where I differ from a lot of the local dealers is I'm in the store most every day.

- Yeah.

- So, through advertising my name, the jingle, and the name, and the face has been recognized.

So, when they see me they're almost a friend.

I mean, they kind of say, "Hey," a lot of people, "I know Mike."

And, that's part of the deal when you name the business after me.

- After you.

- After your name, my advertising guy said, "Hey, you're gonna be a celebrity in town."

And I'm like, "Yeah, I don't want that."

I don't want that 'cause I don't look at me as a celebrity.

I look at me as a fellow town, person of the community 'cause Peoria is an unbelievable community, I'm not from here, but it's a beautiful, it's a wonderful community.

But he said, "Everywhere you go, people are gonna recognize you."

And that is the truth.

- Well, you say you're not from here, where are you from?

- Northern suburbs of Chicago, Deerfield, where everybody knows Deerfield now.

- [Matt] Yeah.

- I used to say Chicago because no one knew where Deerfield was, but now with the transfer, with Cat, people know where Deerfield is and that's where I grew up.

- Walgreens too.

- Walgreens, I went to high school with Kevin Walgreen.

- Oh really?

- One of the grandkids.

- Cool, cool, so when did you come to Peoria or Central Illinois?

- Well, I moved to Central Illinois in 1987.

That's when I got in the car business over in Bloomington 'cause Joe O'Brien was building the Mitsubishi dealership where the plant was.

- Yeah.

- And this was a big deal.

And I'm like, "Yeah, but I don't wanna get in the car business.

I don't wanna be in the car business."

And then I started there in 1987 and then came over to Peoria in 1992.

So, I've been in Peoria for 30 years.

In the car business 35, in Peoria 30 of them.

- That is great.

So, you talked about the jingle, but it's that Mike Miller minute and it is famous.

I mean, it is one of the few jingles that everyone in this area knows.

And I'm gonna tell you a funny story.

I'm hoping you remember this.

But my son at the time was four and he's going to be 11 here very soon.

And I introduce you to him and I always make my kids come up and shake hands and introduce themselves the proper way.

And you said, "Hi Matthew, my name's Mike Miller."

And he goes, "Are you the Mike Miller minute guy?"

(men laughing) I think you've gotta hear that all the time.

- Well, the most unique times I hear it is when one of my competitors are saying their kids are running around their house singing the Mike Miller minute.

In fact, a friend of ours who's no longer with us, Jeff Green, used to say, "I can't get my kids to stop singing it."

- Oh how fun.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, Jeff Green was a legend in this business.

- Yes, he was.

- He grew up in my hometown, Danville, Illinois.

- Right.

- Yeah, he lived right down the street from me, his family did.

- I miss him?

- Yeah, he was a good man.

So, I wanna talk about like franchises.

So, car dealerships.

Is, when you have a car dealership, how do you get associated with a certain brand?

So like take Kia, what, do they come to you, you go to them?

How do you find that niche?

- Well, a lot of it is through connections.

- Okay.

- In the business and networking.

That's the way it is today because there's a lot of transaction, dealer transactions going on with the manufacturers and new buyers.

Dealers buying dealers out.

It's kinda the way of the world.

But you know, the manufacturer will sometimes seek you out because if you're a performer in the market and they wanna come to a a specific market, they will seek out the people that do it right.

We've had great relationships with Hyundai, Kia, and Mitsubishi.

I cut my teeth on Mitsubishi like in 1987, but Hyundai and Kia came on later and we've had wonderful relationships.

- It's interesting.

So, like when you have those unique brands like that, where it's not GM, do you own a space that no one can have a dealership around you?

- Yeah, there's franchise laws that protect the dealer so they can't just put one on every corner.

And the manufacturer doesn't wanna do that.

That's not good for them.

And they want their dealers to be successful and profitable and happy so that they can take care of the customers.

But as we know, there's a lot a General Motors franchises in town and in the market.

In fact, we own Riverside Chevrolet in Chillicothe and there's nine Chevy stores in the market.

- Right.

- There's one Hyundai store, there's one Kia store, there's one Honda store.

- That's why I brought it up 'cause I think it's unique that you have a brand, well there's three brands.

- Yeah.

- Under your brand.

- Four.

- Four brands.

- Five with Chevy.

- Okay.

- With Genesis 'cause gotta bring Genesis in there.

- Which is, I love that car.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- But so, I mean, the franchise laws have changed over years and as time has evolved to protect the dealer.

Early on, General Motors, Ford, they wanted a dealer in most, you know, a lot of the little towns.

So, there's gonna be, and I don't wanna call 'em little, but there's gonna be one in Washington, there's gonna be one in Morton, there's gonna be one in Pekin, there's gonna be one in Canton.

And those all are part of my market designation.

- I gotcha.

- So, if they had another Hyundai store or Kia store in Morton or outside of Peoria, Pekin, that would be a competitor.

- Yeah.

- And that would be difficult, more difficult.

- Yeah.

So, when you came to Bloomington, were you just a salesman?

- No, I kinda took a different route.

I mean, I was selling Mac trucks in Miami.

- Okay, that's crazy.

- Talk about going from Miami to Bloomington.

- Okay.

- So the speed of Miami versus, you know, if you're going to central Illinois.

And I had befriended Joe.

Joe became a good friend and he was courting me to go to work for him.

And you know, again, I went right in as a manager.

- Yes.

- Never sold a car in my life.

- Isn't that- - And fortunately, it worked.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- But, you're a good salesman.

- I'm okay.

- Yeah.

When did you want to be an owner?

Do you know?

- Yeah, I guess I always kinda had aspired to be and I had been a partner with Joe in several stores prior to that.

So, probably for 15 of my 20 years with Joe, I was a partner.

So, you are an owner then.

And then when '07, '08 hit the market, when the economy crashed, Joe was thinking maybe, you know, we're gonna, he's gonna have to shift some things around and you know, my wife, Liv, is a Venaken.

So, we were down in Florida at the time running the stores, the the two stores down in Fort Myers and Naples, which we're all praying for those two communities for what's going on now.

But, she said to me about a few months into the time that we were there is, "You know, Florida's a really nice place if you're on vacation or retired."

- Right.

- And I said, "Oh, so we're not gonna stay, huh?"

So, when Joe was thinking of possibly shifting some things around, I said, "Hey, that was my team, that was my team."

In Peoria I'd been there 15 years, I'd hired 'em all.

They they were used to me, which is not an easy thing to do sometimes.

And so, we moved back and that's in 2007.

- That's awesome.

So, here's something I just, I don't understand so I need some clarification on.

The internet and car sales.

Like, I get it, obviously, but I don't understand, like take eBay as an example.

So, let's say I find a cool car on eBay.

How do I know, why would you buy?

I guess why would you buy something on the internet when I could go to a Mike Miller or go to a whoever, it doesn't even matter, go to a dealership.

- A local dealer, - And that you know, they're going to sit down with you face to face.

And if something does go awry, I can come back to Mike Miller.

- Right.

- Which happens sometimes.

- Sure.

- And, but I don't understand why you would spend X amount of dollars on something like that, of a car in California, let's say.

Do You?

- Yeah.

One reason.

Price.

- Is it price?

- It's price.

The internet has really kind of gone or raced to the bottom.

So, you buy online and you can buy from someone you never met before and maybe will never see again.

There's a lot of transactions that happen this way, but you don't know the car, you don't know the history of the car.

You can get a Carfax you can get, if you have access to it or get access to running a Carfax or request a Carfax, you could kinda get a history, but you'd really don't know what they've done to it.

When we sell a car, a used car, we go over the history of the vehicle and we go over what we did in reconditioning so that people know that when they come in to get their first oil change, we're not gonna hit 'em up with a $1,200 bill for brakes and fluids and tires and stuff.

- Right, right.

I just always wondered that because- - It's price.

But you know, online, you know, online, you know, you're online all the time and you're probably gonna be teaching online and writing a book online.

But I mean, it's the way of the world.

And it's, there's so much advertising and advertising has gotten so- - Out there.

- It's just, it's diluted and you go on to check something on the internet or even you go onto an app and there's advertisements there and a lot of 'em are automotive.

And so, that gets someone's attention and they kinda get pulled in and there is a, I mean, there's a lot of that, especially now, you know, we were talking a little bit before we went on air about the pandemic and that's brought a lot of online business and a lot of online where people don't wanna come to the dealership to test drive.

So, we'll bring a vehicle to the customer to test drive and we'll handle the transaction where they don't have to come into the dealership.

And that's becoming more popular even outside the pandemic.

- Yeah.

Yeah, I mean I can see change like that.

I can also see getting on online and buying auto parts for a older car, something like that.

But, I don't- - It's different for a car because it's such a big, it's a big purchase.

- [Matt] It is a big purchase.

- It's your second biggest purchase that you'll ever do.

- Yeah.

- [Matt] All right, I'll get off the subject.

- But, I mean, here, think of Amazon.

- [Matt] Yeah.

- I mean, would you have ever thought you could order Frosted Flakes on Amazon?

- Right, well, that's true too.

- I mean, so why wouldn't you go to your store?

But, I get it.

I want and that's my part of my DNA, part of my business, you know, way is get to know the people.

- Yeah.

- Know that there's a face behind the facility, the dealership.

And we do, we are big on if something goes wrong, you know what, we're gonna handle it.

- Yeah.

- Cause you know, we're, and again, we're in a community that's not a huge community that, you know, your reputation's really important.

- It is important.

So, there's a lot of things going on in your sector of business.

There's electric cars and self-driving cars and all these different things.

Are we ever gonna get away from just the regular car like I drive now that has gas?

I mean, are those gonna be gone someday?

- I don't know that they'll be gone when we're around.

- Okay.

- But the other ones might be here when we're around.

So, I don't know if there's gonna be a transition.

Electrification is already becoming bigger and bigger.

- I know.

- And we're in the Midwest.

So, think of what's going on on the coastal areas where the infrastructures are stronger for that type of vehicle.

And I mean, a lot of the people that do big commutes, that's a big deal.

- Yeah.

- But, I think it's common, electrification.

- Yeah.

- I mean there, so, I was looking at some statistics the other day, and there was like in 2020, there was 300,000 electric vehicles sold in the United States.

In 2021 there was 600,000.

- Oh wow.

- In 2022, they're projecting 1.2.

So, it's been doubling for the last number of years.

- Ever since last year.

- And everybody, every manufacturer we were, I was just at a dealer shows for Hyundai and Kia this last month.

And I mean, everybody's talking about it.

Now, there was a large conversation that they're not getting away from the internal combustion engine at this point.

And they're not abandoning it.

There are some manufacturers that are going complete electric.

Ford, Ford's going to complete electric.

- That's crazy, I woulda never, I mean, who would've ever thought that.

- The state of California by the year 2030, I think is only allowing electric vehicles to be sold.

- No.

- And that's eight years away.

- Wow.

- It's a little over seven.

- That is crazy too.

So, let's talk about supply chain issues.

And you're probably sick of talking about, but when you look at, when you drive by certain lots, there's just not a lot a cars out there.

- Inventory.

- Now is the inventory, is it not out there?

Why is it not out there, number one?

This is a two part question, but does it have to do with like technology and the newer cars being computerized and they can't get parts for the computers?

Or, is that just part of.

- It's the chips.

- The chips.

- The chips.

And there is so many computers.

So, you think of a Highline truck, or a Highline SUV, or a Highline sedan is using multiple chips.

I mean like multiple, like five, six, seven, eight.

- Yeah.

- And a base vehicle could use maybe one.

So, everything needs chips.

I mean, your cell phones need chips, your appliances needs chips, your computers needs chips, your tablet needs chips.

- true.

- Everything needs chips.

There was an issue in Japan with a plant, the chip plant.

So, that cut the supply down.

That was one of the early issues.

- Yeah.

- But the supply on everything, to be honest with you, everything, you know, I just got, you know, we're just going through the finishing of a new facility and the supply chain issues are real.

- Are real.

- And they're ramp, I mean, they're widespread.

It's like everybody.

And I think a lot, some of it's, a lot of it's employment, people.

- Well, let's kinda talk about people for a minute, because I always liked your team.

I always think of, so in my mind, you're the CEO and when you hire, you hire a certain way and they have to fit your personality and you have to like them, but it comes down to that customer service piece.

Because anytime somebody buys a car from you, I always hear about, "Oh, I like Mike."

Or, "It's that customer service piece."

It's that feel when you walk in, right?

- You can feel it.

- You can feel it.

- Yeah.

- And I think that's special.

So, what's the magic sauce, so to speak, when you are hiring people?

- Well, that's a little bit of a, you know, it's a moving target.

- [Matt] Right.

- And sometimes you don't know, sometimes the people that you hire that you think are gonna be great, don't really work out.

And some of the people that you just say, "Hey, I'm gonna take a shot on this one."

And they fit perfect and they don't have to be like me.

I mean, no one's gonna be like me anyway.

- Yeah, we don't need more of you.

- No, no, we know how he is.

Don't do that to someone.

Don't wish that on anybody.

But I mean, you want it to fit within a style and you want that touch.

And the way that we do things, I mean, we don't just point, we walk 'em to where they're going.

Normally when you walk into our facility, you don't open the door.

I mean, the door, there's someone at the door.

- That is true.

- And they open the door and I mean, those are little things, but we try to do some of the things that make it comfortable.

You know, one of the things I learned from my mentor, Joe O'Brien, again, is he used to say, this is 35 years ago that I learned this, "Is people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

- I love it.

- So, you don't need to be telling everybody everything that you know, you wanna show the people that you know welcome and that they're important to you and listening to them as opposed to going off on the mouth.

- Yeah.

And I know, I know a lot of your team, but when I walk in, it's like five, six of 'em converge and they're just talking.

They're not selling, they're just talking.

I think that's what I've always loved about your team.

- Yeah.

- It's just a little different.

- We got a good group.

I'm very lucky and a lot of them have been with me a very long time.

I mean, I got people that have been with me, I have someone that's been with me over 30 years.

- Wow.

In a competitive business like this.

- Yeah.

Several 20 to 25.

I mean, then they're family.

- Exactly.

- And kinda what we do when we sell a car too, is we welcome customers, a lot might very common for me to go and say welcome to the family.

You know, some people kind of, "Yeah, whatever," you know, but we mean it.

I mean, you're part of our family.

You're gonna be with us.

I mean, if you have an issue with your car, we're the Hyundai, or Kia, or Mitsubishi, or Genesis dealership, where you're gonna go to get service, especially for warranty, we're the only one you can go to unless you're gonna drive out of town.

So, we want people to know that, hey, you're important to us, you're part of our family.

- This may sound like a dumb question, but are car dealerships all clustered around each other just because that's the thing to do?

And if someone's looking for a car and can't find something on one lot, you hope you get 'em?

- An auto row?

- Yeah, an auto row.

- Yeah, traffic breeds traffic.

- [Matt] Yeah.

- So, I mean, that's by design.

- Yeah, I just always, I knew that, but I just, somebody had asked me that about restaurants and they said, "Well, I'm buying this restaurant, I don't want another."

I go, "No, you do want."

- [Mike] Right, think of some of them that aren't.

- Right.

- You know?

Stephanie's, or what's the one that's down on the river?

- Yeah, that's hard.

- Yeah.

It's a destination.

- It has to be a destination.

So, it's a whole different part of marketing or branding or whatever.

- Yeah.

- So, what's the next couple years look like for you guys?

- I think good.

I mean, especially, like I said, I just got back from the manufacturer meeting out in Vegas.

The products coming are amazing.

I mean, we got some amazing vehicles right now.

The ones that are coming are jaw dropping unbelievable.

And so, I mean, we're positioned very well.

I think it's gonna be good.

Economically, I think that could be a challenge.

- Yeah.

- I mean, we're all, when that happens, we're all going through it.

- Yeah.

- But I think, I think it's gonna be good, very good.

- So, another random question, we're coming to the end here, but Uber and Lyft, do they affect your business?

- Not as much in Peoria.

- Not much.

- A little bit.

But, it's interesting that you brought that up and then you bring back to the pandemic where people maybe don't want to ride share.

- [Matt] Well, that's true too.

- And go into a vehicle that someone else just got out of which when the pandemic first hit, the younger generation drivers would do that all the time, would usually Uber, Lyft, ride sharing type applications, and then went and were buying a car that never had owned a car before in the city, in the metro areas because they didn't wanna be exposed to the pandemic.

And I think that's had a last lasting impression.

- Yeah.

- And once you have a car, it's hard to give it up.

- Yeah.

- 'Cause it's kinda part of your, you know, be able to get around, get out and get around.

- Well, I appreciate everything that you do.

Not only you support a lot, but I'm gonna give two shout outs to both FamilyCore and Children's Home because that's kind of the space that I was in for many years.

And you've always had a heart for those areas.

And that's always been where my heart is too.

So, thank you.

Thank your to you and your wife and also your team.

You do great work, Mike Miller, Mike Miller Auto Park, another great show.

I'm Matt George and this is "Business Forward."

That's a wrap.

(upbeat music) - Thank you for tuning in to "Business Forward," brought to you by PNC.