If you’re shopping for a Ford Ranger, you need to hear this episode! In this episode of the Miracle Ford Podcast, host John Haggard talks to Chris Laye, Ford Sales Zone Manager, about the new 2019 Ford Ranger, its exciting features and technology. Other topics discussed include the following:

• Chris’s Start in the Automotive Industry
• Chris’s Favorite Travel Destination
• What Does a Sales Zone Manager Do?
• The Growth in Ford Market in Gallatin, TN
• The Rise of SUVs and Trucks
• The New 2019 Ford Ranger
• Awards the 2019 Ford Ranger Has Already Garnered
• The Most Exciting Features of the New Ford Ranger
• Ford Ranger Technology That Everyone Should Know Of
• Android and Apple Car Play
• Ford Ranger’s Frequently Asked Questions
• Why Pick a Ranger over Other Brands and Models
• Chris’s Go-to Hometown Restaurant
• Upcoming Mustang-inspired SUV This November

Transcript

John Haggard 0:02
Welcome to the Miracle Ford podcast where you will learn the best ways to purchase, lease, service and maintain, accessorize, and sell your vehicle for the highest resale value possible when you’re ready, and also to learn more about the capabilities and fun features of new vehicles. I’m your host, John Haggard, and throughout each month, we’ll also have special guests join us and you’ll also see a transcript of each podcast for quick reference. If you need some additional information, you can just go find it. On this podcast. We’re speaking today with Chris Laye. He’s the Ford Sales Zone Manager for Zone C in the Memphis region. Hey Chris, welcome to the podcast.

Chris Laye 0:40
Thanks, John. Thanks for having me. Man. I’m excited to be here and excited to talk about the all-new Ranger and the new products we have coming out.

John Haggard 0:47
Good. I think a lot of folks always want to know about the future. We know about the past but hey, what is coming up? So before we dive into the world of Ford, and get an idea as to what is upcoming, tell us how did you get started in the automotive business. There were a lot of professions you could have gone into, why automotive? How did you get there?

Chris Laye 1:05
Yeah, absolutely. So if you spend enough time around Ford employees, you’ll probably hear the phrase, “my blood runs blue”.

John Haggard 1:12
Yeah.

Chris Laye 1:13
And that’s certainly the case for me. So my grandfather’s on both sides of my family worked for Ford Motor Company, as well as my father. So actually, I held the same position that I do now. So kind of following in their footsteps. But when I was growing up, I started out working at a local dealership, washing cars in the summers and high school and helping out with events. From there, I went to college where I had an internship with the marketing sales and service team out of Atlanta. And at the end of my internship, I was fortunate enough to receive a full-time offer, which I accepted and that’s how I got my start in the automotive business. So kind of always been in my blood and Ford has it as well.

John Haggard 1:53
Yeah, it was very interesting. Your story parallels that of Jim Galvin, dealer principal from Miracle ord. Because I said hey, how did you get started? He said, Well I, you know, went to work for my dad I started washing cars to get gas money so I could go to school and all this type of thing. So I guess it really does sometimes run in the family. Did you do anything before automotive, like, you know, maybe you were working in a restaurant when you first got your driver’s license or anything like that.

Chris Laye 2:18
To go back to Mr. Galvin. Jim Galvin’s father, Jim Galvin SR., actually worked with my grandfather in Ford. So yeah, small world. So I was excited to be covering that story as well. So the only other job actually had that wasn’t automotive-related was I worked at an animal shelter and I think my freshman year of high school, which I really enjoyed giving back to the community and helping those dogs find a home.

John Haggard 2:47
So where are you originally from?

Chris Laye 2:50
I’m originally from Swanee, Georgia, which is about 30 miles north of Atlanta.

John Haggard 2:54
Okay, about 30 miles north. And you’ve lived in… where are you living now, by the way?

Chris Laye 3:00
So I currently live in Memphis, which is where our regional headquarters is. To kinda give you a little bit of background of what we are what areas we cover. So our regions actually made up of five different zones. We cover the state of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and then parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. So Memphis is our central location.

John Haggard 3:21
And you travel all of those. Is that right?

Chris Laye 3:24
I only cover Nashville. And we have there’s four other sales managers, and each one of those managers covers one of those states.

John Haggard 3:32
All right, so when you’re not doing Ford 24/7, Chris, what are your passions outside of work? What do you like to do?

Chris Laye 3:39
I think my biggest passion is probably traveling. I enjoy going to new places, meeting new people and seeing things from a different perspective. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day work of our lives. So traveling is a good way for me to slow things down and enjoy living in the moment and invest in other people.

John Haggard 3:56
Any favorite cities or destinations that you have been to that maybe someone has not been to that you would recommend?

Chris Laye 4:04
My favorite places I have probably been… Santorini in Greece. It’s a gorgeous gorgeous island. Then the beautiful scenery. So if you know if you get the chance head out to Santorini in Greece.

John Haggard 4:16
Alright, so let’s fantasize for a moment. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

Chris Laye 4:22
Oh, that’s a tough one. I’m gonna go with the first one I thought of, and it’s got to be flying.

John Haggard 4:26
Okay. So if you could just sort of like jump off the ground and fly?

Chris Laye 4:29
Fly. I mean, that would take care of my passion for travel and not a bad superpower to have.

John Haggard 4:35
Kind of like Superman?

Chris Laye 4:36
Right!

John Haggard 4:37
Yeah. You wouldn’t have to stand in any long lines at the airport to go anywhere. You could just jump off the ground and go. That would be kind of fun.

Chris Laye 4:44
Right! Yeah, take care of the Atlanta Atlanta airport issue we have going on over here.

John Haggard 4:49
You know, I think a lot of people Chris would love to have your job, especially in the world of Ford and on automotive. It’s a fast-moving, fun, exciting industry, always something new to report. What is it about that job that just makes you want to get up every morning and go to work?

Chris Laye 5:05
What you’ll hear from myself and probably a lot of people that have been in the business for many years is that no day is the same. And so I enjoy waking up every morning and not really knowing what’s going to happen because it’s going to be a different day. It’s certain incentives that are coming out. There’s customers coming in, new vehicles are being released. And you know, the relationships that you build with your co-workers and the dealer body are absolutely incredible. So you never know what’s going to happen. And I think that’s what makes it so exciting to wake up in the morning and give this job 110% effort.

John Haggard 5:39
So tell us about your role specifically, what is it exactly?

Chris Laye 5:44
So I think one of the most exciting parts about my job and you know, probably the most valuable asset that we have is Ford Motor Company is our dealer network. So I get the opportunity to work with 13 of the Ford stores each day. Most of them are in the Greater Nashville area but go all the way to Jackson, Tennessee up to Paducah, Kentucky. So a lot of territory to cover, but I get to work with their stores every day. My job is basically to be the liaison between Ford Motor Company and the dealer body that I cover. So I provide business operations consulting, consumer experience support, as well as sales forecasting and metrics to show growth opportunities. But one of the most important pieces of my role is wholesale vehicles. So two weeks out of each month, I go to each store so I’ll start to my stores and we build a sales forecast together to decide how many vehicles they need to purchase from Ford. And this process is extremely important because a dealership needs to have the right quantity and mix of vehicles to better serve the market that they’re in. So I always tell my friends that we know when you drive by a Ford dealership, you’ll see all the new line of Rangers, F150s, Explorers. And those vehicles go through me, so a dealership will earn their wholesale through a Sales Zone Manager.

John Haggard 7:09
All right. And as you look at Gallatin, Tennessee for Miracle Ford, just the market as a whole, what do you see there?