Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Tucker.
Jeff, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In September of 2010 I was overseeing a BMW dealership when a recruiter contacted me to see if I would be interested in joining Ally as an Account Executive with the Dealer Products and Service Team. Over a 2 month period of interviews and assessment I was hired and officially started with Ally on December 27, 2010. In my initial role I was responsible for in store development of Finance Managers and supporting performance goals of the dealership through our product line of Extended Service Contracts, GAP, and other vehicle related products. During my first 3 years had found success through the team approach Ally promotes and its excellent developmental culture. July of 2013 Ally created the Area Growth Leader position for which I was 1 of the first 4 to be placed in the role. In this new role I became responsible for supporting the Dallas Account Executive Team through acquiring new relationships with dealerships in the Metro Area, West Texas, Oklahoma, El Paso, and New Mexico. This new role afford me the opportunity to be part of the team the defined the position for future employees and establish the overall roles and responsibilities. With over 4 years in the position I have been a part of a team that has continually found success through new dealer partnerships throughout Dallas Ft. Worth, West Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. It truly rewarding to be a part of an organization that is building its brand and helping dealerships build their organizations. Since joining Ally I have been honored enough to obtain Presidents Club as a top 5 Area Growth Leader for the organization in 2017 and 2016. In addition In 2015 I was honored to earn the Ally Lead Award which recognizes the top 1% of all Ally employees for Leadership and living our LEAD core values. In addition to those honors I was the project lead for the Ally Engagement project that worked on innovative solutions to crease Ease of Business for our employees and dealership customers, Employee Engagement or better recognize and reward our employees, and Career Development that worked to develop solutions for career growth and development. Currently I am a part of the Field Advisory Committee that works to continue the efforts of the original Ease of Doing Business Team.
Since late last year I have had the opportunity to take an active leadership role in managing some of our newest National Accounts. This additional opportunity has really allowed me to better integrate with multiple departments within Ally as we create new and exciting ways to support and meet the needs of our dealership partners. During this time I also have begun a 6 month Executive Certificate of Business Administration program through the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
Has it been a smooth road?
I believe that success is never a smooth road. There are always challenges when you are changing the landscape of an industry or even your organization. It however has been a truly exciting adventure because the leadership for Ally and my team members truly buy into our LEAD Culture and supporting each other along the path. As an organization we have had to redefine our brand when we moved from being GMAC to Ally. Previously we were simply a GM focused organization but with the transition to Ally we were able to create a nationwide brand that had no limitations to who we could partner with and provide our services.
The biggest challenge of course is ensuring that I keep balance between my work life and my family. My wife, daughter, son, son in-law, and granddaughter are my world and they are why I work so hard. I want to ensure that I can always provide for whatever they need. In the last 4 years the challenges my family and I have faced have included the sudden loss of my mother in 2014. Then in late 2014 my daughter gave birth to our first granddaughter. She was 22 weeks and 1lb 14oz and spent almost 90 days in NICU. Through all those days of trials and tribulations she is now an almost 4 yo happy healthy little girl. In 2016 my daughter gave birth to our second grand daughter and after only 15 min she passed. The support and love I received from my Ally team members and Ally leadership meant some much to me and my family. These are the times that show you that you are working for the right organization.
As to the move from Account Executive to Area Growth leader and now Sr. Area Growth Leader I think the biggest challenge was defining the position. This position is unique to ally within the Finance and Insurance Provider space. There were up’s and down’s as we worked to identify the most effective approach for building our Ally Brand and growing our dealership relationships. Just like anything we had a lot of trial and error and some amazing support from the Ally leadership and even our dealership partners. I think that much of what I learned and continue to learn in the Area Growth Leader role has afford me the opportunity to lead the relationships with our National Accounts. These accounts challenge you working within inner organizational departments to create outside of the box solutions in a short time frame and through these changes we are growing great brand recognition and additional partnership opportunities.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Ally Insurance Dealer Products and Services story. Tell us more about the business.
Ally Dealer Products and Services is an organization that provides Finance and Insurance products for dealership to sell to their customers. These products include Ally Premier Protection Extended Service Contract, GAP, and many ancillary products such as pre-paid maintenance, Tire and Wheel Protection, Theft protection and more. Unlike many F&I Providers we are unique in the fact that we are a truly flexible company in our approach to coaching and development for success within all the departments of a dealership. When a dealer makes the decision to switch his/her F&I Products to ours and utilize our coaching and development we take pride and ownership in being an active partner. We work to create processes that are consumer friendly, reduce the traditional frustrations consumers have through the buying process, and work to build leaders and teams within the dealership. We recognize that it is our responsibility to integrate ourselves into each dealerships culture, be willing to have adjust to the unique needs and goals of our dealerships, and hold ourselves accountable to the commitments we make to our dealers. We continue to gain new relationships and find innovate ways to respond to one the every changing automotive industry.
We are one of the only F&I Providers who can bring dealerships solutions for every aspect of their business. We have retail lending and leasing, protection products, profit sharing programs, facility insurance, team and building and leadership development, commercial financing, facility lending and more. We are able to bring solutions that create a team of Ally employees focused on the overall health and brand of the dealership.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The biggest change is one that has slowly been occurring over the last few years and that is consumers desire to complete the shopping/purchase process as much online as possible. Technology innovation has to be in front and center of any F&I Provider going forward if they wish to be successful. Ally is driving forward with innovative tools and technology that is allowing us to meet these challenges and at the same time keep dealerships connected to its consumers. Today with just a few clicks any customer can obtain just about any information regarding pricing of any vehicle. To be an organization that is on the forefront of driving this change in the F&I Product segment is exciting. We have and are developing solutions that brings this to the consumers and still supports our dealership relationships. We have done this through internal development and external partnerships. Our future will continue to rely on our ability to be flexible to our dealerships and the consumer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ally.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ally
Image Credit:
Landen Tucker (son) Dawn Tucker (wife) Brett Blackmon (neighbor)
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