Tony Fiorillo: 0:21

Hello, I'm Tony Fiorillo with Vision Management Group and I am honored to be here today with Steve and Jeremy, who are the principals of Alpha. Steve started this company back in his late 20s, maybe when I first met you Early 20s Early 20s yeah, it's been that long. And Jeremy's been here 15, 16 years as the president of the company and we've had the pleasure and the honor of doing business with these folks for it's been 10, 11, maybe 12 years. Yeah, that we've been doing so.

Tony Fiorillo: 0:55

Today, guys, I just I really appreciate you taking time to sit and talk to me and I just what I want to do is really talk about you know your business, our business, but how we've aligned real well together your culture. I mean, I noticed when I walked around your office you have a core value up there of always doing the right thing and funny thing is is that's one of our core values. And I look at my experience, obviously, working with you and your team. It seems like at every turn that we've come into any kind of a situation or any kind of something we've tried to build or that you guys have always done the right thing. And you know, tell me, basically, how do you instill that in all of your employees that work here.

Steve Rosenvall: 1:39

Yeah, I mean, I think it started from the very beginning, right? So my dad and I, having military backgrounds, we were always very heavy on just do the right thing, things will work out. We were always the long-term play. We were never the short-term gratification guys. And so even our story began that way, where my dad was working for another warranty company who took reserve money and disappeared, right, and then I stepped in with my deployment money to cover it all. Right, and that's how we started by doing the right thing. So from day one we've just instilled that into everybody. Then, obviously, jeremy came along and did a much better job at growing the culture. And then when we met your words I don't want to take them out of your mouth, but these young whippersnappers and as we sat down and talked about doing the right thing, that really resonated with you and probably what was about six to eight months later, you gave us an opportunity.

Tony Fiorillo: 2:34

No, which is true. I mean, it's amazing how life intersects with one another and how business intersects with one another. And, frankly, having the chance to meet you I know you you probably remember, don't remember, but we met way, way back when, had a kind of friendship right and you had a. You had a table there and I think my former business partner had a table and and I'm looking over there going, what's this? You know, he's a guy. He's like 20, man. I'm like buddy, look you look so good. He's like 20, man. I'm like buddy, look you look so good. You're just dressed so sharp. And it's funny how years later we connect and then we end up doing business and it really is. It was that's what attracted me really about what you working with you guys. A number one you were young, innovative, but your culture that you already were starting it had.

Jeremy Lindsey: 3:24

And just the fact that you always did the right thing. I think the important part is really finding the right people. I notice you guys are very deliberate about the individuals you bring onto your team as well, and that's a real focus for us as well. I think it's that deliberate check to make sure that each time you're bringing people that really reflect your values and your culture. Otherwise you're not going to get to the do the right thing, you're not going to be able to present that consistently to the marketplace, but if you find the people that understand that your business really reflects that value.

Tony Fiorillo: 3:57

I agree 100% and, like I said before, my experience and our experience and really as our team, our employees and everything else, is the constant positive feedback that I get, the fact that you guys do always step up, you always find a way to find a solution to an issue. I mean, we all know in this business not everything is perfect, not everything is covered, and then we have my capital failure, but it's really, it's what happens after an issue arises. Is really the? I think the proof.

Steve Rosenvall: 4:27

Yeah, I mean, I'm glad you brought that up, because we are all human, we make mistakes at time and so when we recognize that we do everything we can to make it right, you guys own it and you guys do the same thing.

Tony Fiorillo: 4:39

We own it. You have to own it and that's just part of I think, really I think, running a good sound business. And speaking of running a good sound business, I look at you, where you guys started your building into where you are today and obviously you can only see a very small backdrop, but you've built this very successful company and what's been really nice is the fact that you've shouldered up with us and we've had such incremental growth and it's really been heavily on the alpha side. I mean, you guys are our preferred or go-to TPA because of the relationship and the facts of your culture and how well we align. What do you see reciprocating as far as that with why? Vision, why have you guys liked vision? Or what have you seen that we do? That's maybe different from some of the other TPAs that you've been associated with or know of, and kind of some of the things you hear from them about, some of their experiences, yeah, I think an important thing is that we don't go off of price.

Steve Rosenvall: 5:42

Right, we're not going to be always the cheapest guy or the less expensive option in the market, but along with that comes a better service, a better quality, a better understanding of what the consumers need. And we've talked about this multiple times, because we have to appeal to three different people, right, the dealer, the agent and the end consumer. And if we aren't hitting all those boxes, we're failing you, right, we're failing other agents. But as we partner up with guys like you that have that full picture, you're not missing any puzzle pieces. The training, the people, the knowledge of the program, the industry, your relationships I mean that's everything you need to have a successful business. And so we think the same way, and that just compliments each other so well, to the point that even in a down market, we're both growing tremendously.

Jeremy Lindsey: 6:36

Yeah Well, and I think Steve hit on something important. He talked about the fact that you guys do a lot of training, and it's not something that we see consistently across the board. Some are great at that, but you guys are very process driven, and I know what Benjamin Franklin said process is the foundation upon which success is built and you guys do a great job of ensuring that your team understands your process and implements that directly with the dealerships that you work with, and I think those dealerships see the value of working with your agency, and that's a massive advantage for the vision management group.

Tony Fiorillo: 7:15

I appreciate it. I believe so too. I think we do have a slight edge in the marketplace just because of the way that we do it. But, again, what powers us is really you, the fact that I know with confidence that when I go in to speak to a dealer or to a prospective dealer, that the rubber can always meet the road. I'm never flinched by being able to put and install your guys' product, because I know what you say you're going to do. You do and I can't say that about a lot of other third-party administrators or other companies that are out there, because they don't all see things the same way Right, you know, I think that's again a testament as far as why I believe you guys have had the growth and again for us, why we've had the growth.

Tony Fiorillo: 8:02

You know you mentioned earlier dealers. I think we have one of our clients that stopped in, but what kind of feedback did he share with you about doing business with Vision? Did he give you any difference makers or anything that we've done for him? That's kind of you know, from an agency standpoint.

Jeremy Lindsey: 8:18

A lot of what I heard is kind of going back to the same thing. It's process. It's him knowing that. It's basically he has an extension of his management team. It's understanding that, whether it's Ross or anyone else, I know Ross was in here before and he knows he has a team there to support him for whatever that they need. So any of their new people that are joining, whoever needs additional training, they know Vision Management Group is going to be there to help support them. Where they're spread thin I mean dealerships are spread. If you're a GM or an owner, you're spread very, very thin. So it's very challenging for you to give the time and attention in every facet of your business and having a resource like Vision Management Group I think gives a competitive edge to those dealerships.

Steve Rosenvall: 9:12

Yeah, what was brought up to me was listening and communication, because a lot of times we do come in and talk a lot and share a lot of information, but at the end of the day, they're the guys on the front lines, right. So they're the guys that know what the demand is, they know what the consumer needs and wants are, and just not enough praise to give you guys. He says they actually listen, they actually follow through, and that may sound so simple in our industry today, but just knowing he can call Tony or any of his people and they know exactly who to call, who to communicate with and how to get things done and doing the right thing, yeah, so, yeah, I agree, but I think the same thing goes back.

Tony Fiorillo: 9:55

It's reciprocal. Yeah, we didn't get here today because you guys don't run a great organization, and that's what we're really very appreciative of organization and that's what we're really very appreciative of. And again, I'm very thankful for the fact that you allow us to come in here and we use your beautiful facility and you guys have your training room downstairs. So a question for you guys when you guys are on the lookout for, like a potential agency partner, what do you look for in partnering with an agent?

Jeremy Lindsey: 10:24

I think, first and foremost, it is those aligned values. We want to make sure that if we have somebody out there representing our products and our service, they reflect our brand. We've worked really hard to establish that brand, as Steve talked about, and so we want to make sure it's not an individual just looking for another product. Those can be a dime, a dozen, but it's really an individual or group of individuals, an entire agency that understands that they're looking for a true partner, not just a vendor, but a true partner and someone, once again, who can represent and communicate effectively our products, our brand and our service to each of the dealerships that they represent.

Steve Rosenvall: 11:07

Perfect, yeah, and for me it's understanding the business to business relationship, because so many times that gets lost in communication. And so, again, going back to aligning the agency with what the service contract company or the TPA can provide is crucial for that dealership success. And so if we have guys out there that you know nothing against a one-man band but they're spread very thin and so it's hard for them to give the support to their dealer network the way that you know a bigger agency has, that has that relationship, that support, that strength, if you will, to give the dealership what they need, especially in their time of need. Right, that's how you can really measure someone is are you going to be there when they really need it? And over time and time again, your agency has always been there, and so we do look for agencies that are similar to that caliber.

Tony Fiorillo: 12:00

Thank you you know you've, obviously you know that this is for you, steve and Jeremy. You've been here 15 years and Alpha has been in existence for Just over 20. Yeah, 20 some years Go back in time. You know you're beginning this business, steve, and you have a vision and you know the vision it obviously you know you've built to scale. You've really scaled up your business and again, and I'm going to admit, I I mean I've made a lot of mistakes along the way. So you know, what would you say to a younger or a company that's moving along? What have you learned? How did you keep your vision, keep it alive, scale? And then I look at your employee retention and you have a lot of tenured people in the organization. So give us a little snapshot on how you kind of put all those things together. And I realize a lot of it's like Jeremy, hiring good people that really understand the values and are able to continue that sort of look. But you had to start from somewhere.

Steve Rosenvall: 13:05

It was really you and your dad. Yeah, I mean and that's an interesting story because we're both come from the 19th Special Forces Group my dad was a Green Beret. Thank you for your service.

Tony Fiorillo: 13:16

Yeah.

Steve Rosenvall: 13:17

Yeah, totally. My dad was a Green Beret. He was my commander for a few years. I was a radio operator and so for lack of better term we were the agency of two guys. Right, we were the guys driving around in a car and our office was our trunk. And so there's, you know, a saying going around burn the boats, right. But I'll tell you right now, we didn't have any boats to burn. I'll tell you right now, we didn't have any boats to burn.

Steve Rosenvall: 13:46

And so, having that background in the military, it was like failure is not an option. So, even though we felt little failures along the way, we learned from them tremendously, right. And so that fight and that discipline not to give up was crucial, because there were those times we did not want to go on and it was hard and it was difficult, but we just told ourselves there's no other option, we're going to win. We had those sleepless nights. We had those nights where we thought we didn't have enough cash. It was a dog fight. We didn't hit any home runs. It was taking one inch at a time and not giving that ground up, and that's how we became successful.

Tony Fiorillo: 14:24

Awesome. And then you started. Obviously, as you scaled, you started building a team around you. How did you find the right people to be in the right seat?

Steve Rosenvall: 14:34

So yeah, I mean it's a funny story Jeremy was what our third hire. We were all in college, so for Jeremy this was probably a stepping stone for him in his career. But as we worked together and we were visiting dealers and we were growing programs and competing more, we both found out that we work really well together and we both had the strong desire to keep learning and pushing and developing those relationships. And then along the way you find those guys that when it's hard and it's hard for them too, they're not leaving right. They're right there with you along the way, and so you can't trade that for anything. And so I've picked those guys up along the way and when you find them, you don't let them go yeah, just to add to it, I think steve did okay.

Jeremy Lindsey: 15:24

I have to give him a lot of credit. I think he did a really good job of understanding his strengths, which this business wouldn't have started, it wouldn't be where it is today without him. But he also looked at himself. He looked at the company, he looked at what he wanted to create and said I need to make sure I surround myself with the individuals the Darrens, the Jeffs, the Bryans, the Robs and so many other people here who are absolutely incredible, that have a great skill set and, as Steve said, we've done a really good job of trying to keep that group together. To your point earlier, I've been here 17 years, I believe. Jeff Robinson, our COO, has been here 16 years, darren just hit 15 years and we have so many others on our team that are Brian Hawkinson and others who are just a few years behind that. So I think keeping that core group of individuals together and then making sure that we pass the vision along that was originally created by Steve and Craig, it's really led to a lot of success for our company.

Steve Rosenvall: 16:31

One of the most humbling things is having such a talented team, Because then you know where all your weaknesses are, right. Oh sure, you look around the room and you're like this guy does this so well, he's so good at this, and then I sit back and go. Those are all my deficiencies as a leader. It takes a village right.

Tony Fiorillo: 16:51

What is it they say? Your boat is only as strong as the weakest link in a person you know. Yeah.

Tony Fiorillo: 16:56

So you know, Steve as an owner and operator, jeremy as the president, I think you've done a very good job on basically stepping I don't want to say stepping back. It's like you've never taken a hand off the wheel. But you're like myself, you're an A-type personality. Totally you want to be in control. You always want to have your hand on the wheel. But I've seen you give far. You know you've kind of let your team run it, because they have built that foundation and that trust a little bit, a lot of trust, yeah, the same way that I have with our team. It's like it allows you to work a little bit more on the business than always working in the business. But how did that transition go for you and what were some of the emotions that you felt?

Steve Rosenvall: 17:39

Yeah, man, I mean I'm going to be 100% honest. It was really tricky. I had moved down to Arizona so I was coming back and forth from there to here quite a bit, which was great, but then COVID hit. Um, so kind of getting a little bit of a taste of a retirement during that time was really hard for me. I knew at that time I'm like there's what we want this company to be and getting those roadblocks out of the way, saying hey, we can do this. I mean, a lot of people know us as alpha, but really we are a conglomerate of six different companies that a lot of people don't know about. So we do have these other verticals we go into. That makes alpha, or what we call the cadence organization, that much bigger. So being able to focus on other areas of the business has been really fun for me.

Tony Fiorillo: 18:44

And Jeremy. Now I'm sure there are some things that you want to possibly do and maybe Steve doesn't, or Steve wants to do and you don't. So how do you guys come to that sort of?

Jeremy Lindsey: 18:56

common ground. Yeah, honestly, I think that's a healthy balance in a business. If anything, there's certainly those times where Steve and I are like we got to go this direction. We both 100% agree. And then there's those other times where Steve says we go this way and I'm like I think we go this way and I think it's been a really healthy thing for our company as we've continued to grow, because it challenges both of us. There's plenty of times where, at the end of it, I look and I'm like, oh, you're right, this is a better direction, or he comes over here, or it's somewhere in between. We're realizing that we can take some of the good from this and some of the good from this and blend it and go a direction as a business that's really positive for us. So, um, certainly those, those things are going to come up, but I think it's a healthy balance for us that we've been able to find Um and it's led to some great success.

Tony Fiorillo: 19:49

Yeah, yeah, I would. I would say, yeah, we're happy with it. Absolutely Um questions for me. I mean you guys, I mean you've got a great story. I mean I know we know each other very well, but is there anything out there that you have noticed, seen, or what have you that we've done or not doing, that you guys can maybe give us some help?

Steve Rosenvall: 20:20

Yeah, I would love to start with it I mean for me.

Tony Fiorillo: 20:22

I would love to know what is the future vision for vision.

Jeremy Lindsey: 20:24

That's a way to play on words.

Tony Fiorillo: 20:26

You know it's, in a nutshell, my vision for the company and, frankly, it's not just mine, it's our whole team. We all share a very common vision, very common goal. I stay very transparent with the team as far as revenue goals, dealer goals, client goals and different things along those lines. So it's basically been a very open book. I really envision and be in every state. That's where I want to be. I want to have representation in every state. We have a proven process. We have proven results.

Tony Fiorillo: 21:05

We have an average of a 23% increase on dealer clients that we start doing business with. That's an average, which means some is higher and some are lower, and what I always say is it's the adaption of the process. You, with your military background, you have a chain of command and you follow orders. If you follow orders, you typically have success, correct, Correct, and it's the same thing that we look at is we have a process. We have steps to the sales, steps to getting to a yes with a customer without it being the cost of CSI or a customer having a bad experience at a dealership, and as long as that process is followed, we have that 23% increase.

Tony Fiorillo: 21:44

So as we grow, you know and I worry very much about our culture. So it's a slower growth because it's organic. So would I love to be able to go out and hire 20 agents and plop them in 20 states that we don't do business and train them up, and absolutely. But it's just not physically or financially able to do that. So we have to go out and do some prospects and dealers. Because I happened to be in town there for something that was non-auto related or RV related, and one of the guys I was there with he goes what are you going to do? Why? Because they went out golfing and I said I'm going to drive around town, I'm a fine car dealer, I'm going to find RV dealers, I'm going to stop in and prospect. And he goes the reason he goes just spent an whole day with this dealer. Well, guess what? You know we have an opportunity to. He's at five stores, three in Twin Falls, two down in Arizona. So now we have an opportunity to, you know, go in and present to them and do an analysis and do what we do.

Tony Fiorillo: 22:49

Very cool, Because it's just they don't have anybody like us, Um, and we've been very successful in that. And so, basically, taking that culture and try not to lose it but grow it, you know. But I can't do that unless new business, it gets pushed to Alpha and everything gets pushed to Alpha because of the people like Jeremy, you know, Darren Darren has, you know, pushing hard and riding for the Vision brand. But I think again, the reciprocating is the fact that you know we've been able to increase volume, Because I think, I don't think I know, but and you can correct me if I'm wrong our contract volume, probably over the last year, two years, has probably tripled. Yeah, Tremendously, yeah. So it's you know. But that wouldn't happen if we didn't have great partners like you, because you guys have done things that have helped us accelerate that and given us some options that we're able to captivate and able to capture some business that maybe wouldn't not have captured.

Steve Rosenvall: 24:17

So yeah, the great thing is the retention right, and so what we're doing on both sides of the house is so important, because obviously you're signing new business but you're keeping it. Yeah, and that's always a challenge for a lot of agencies.

Tony Fiorillo: 24:30

Yeah, very true. No, it's true, and I always say the business we lose is a business that is sold or gets acquired by a big conglomerate that we just can't. Nobody does business with them. They have their own internal programs, right? You know you're kind of eight six you're out.

Jeremy Lindsey: 24:47

So I have a question for you. You talked about this massive growth that that you're seeing, and just even the over the course of the past few years. As your team comes out here for these agent trainings, the annual retreat that you do, the number of team members continues to grow more and more. So, you know, I would really love to just better understand what's really driving that growth from your perspective.

Tony Fiorillo: 25:14

The way I see it is that the business today you look at COVID and you think about COVID, everybody was just smashing it. They're doing extremely exceptional, high grosses, a lot of sales, everything they had they're selling out of and people forgot about what it was like to sell. And so now we get out of that post-COVID blitz and we have to get back to reality and some dealers have been gotten back to. A lot of dealers didn't get back to reality but in the same hand what came along with that was the inflation, with increasing in interest rate, with some consumer uneasiness, so our opportunities to sell automobiles came down, so we have less opportunities to do business. They come through the door but yet dealerships still have a high overhead.

Tony Fiorillo: 26:04

So that's been our success and I believe it's like any downturn in business is when we accelerate because we're able to get that 23% out of less opportunities. So it's like the dealer really hasn't felt that pinch because we've been able to raise that bar and bring that extra half a million million $2 million to the bottom line, because we've been able to increase their revenue through our process. And that's why I think when you look at the market and I look at other agencies. You get some feels because you talk to administrators and different things and they say their agent business is either flat or a little bit of a decline in bit.

Tony Fiorillo: 26:46

You know, I feel we're really on a hockey stick because the difference is what we're doing in these organizations and then it's referrals and it's word of mouth. You know we've been, we've got into a 20 group and we took a dealer from the bottom of the page to the top of the page and then the next 22 comes around and hey, go see this person. So we go see that person and we sign them up and then we bring them from next to the bottom of the page to just under them and then next thing you know is we have seven or eight dealers in this 20 group because they're all like well, every time they start doing business with this company their numbers go up. So we've been very successful getting referrals just out of our 20 groups.

Steve Rosenvall: 27:29

Yeah, I mean just helping those dealers keep the lights on. With that extra operational cash flow you're never going to lose on.

Tony Fiorillo: 27:36

Yeah.

Jeremy Lindsey: 27:36

No, and it's huge. Yeah, just to that point. I was just. You brought up inventory levels with the decline that we saw during the pandemic. That's a massive challenge and I don't think most dealers in that time were thinking how do I really grow my business? Of course they want it to, but when you have less inventory and you're trying to make every dollar count, you're looking for whatever you can, and so if you have somebody coming in you talked about doing more with less that's able to actually produce at that level that's a massive find for that dealership. That's a massive value for a dealership to be able to get more value from their agency partner during a really challenging economic time.

Tony Fiorillo: 28:20

It's true, but I think that just builds legendary relationships, and that's really what we're after, I mean, and that's the way I feel that we have here Now. You guys may not feel the same, but I feel we have a very legendary relationship, but it's built on trust and it's built on really, it's built on deeds, and your results is the way I see it. That's all Well said, anyways. Well, gentlemen, I just truly appreciate the time. Thanks very much, yeah, and looking forward to really what the future is going to hold for the both of us Absolutely Always appreciate it, tony. All right, thank you.

Speaker 4: 28:56

Thanks for joining us on the Driven by Vision podcast. We hope today's insights will fuel your success. Remember to subscribe, leave a review and visit visionmgroupcom for more resources. See you next time and stay driven by vision.