Cultivating Customer Connections With Cody Hammer, Area Sales Manager at Trusted Tire and Auto

Cody Hammer is the Area Sales Manager for Trusted Tire and Auto in Bismarck, N.D. Despite not having an automotive background, Cody’s career path shifted from construction to sales after being inspired by a radio advertisement featuring the general manager of Trusted Tire. With a natural gift for communication and a deep-seated desire to positively impact people’s lives, Cody thrives in his role by prioritizing empathy and understanding toward customers, a quality he believes is essential in customer service.

In this episode…

In the competitive automotive services industry, building strong customer connections is crucial for success and loyalty. But how can salespeople truly connect with customers throughout the sales and service experience?

According to Cody Hammer of Trusted Tire, connections can be made with customers by empathizing with their stress and anxiety when they need automotive services. He aims to make customers feel at ease by offering transportation options, providing clear communication through digital vehicle inspection reports, and using light-hearted humor to elevate the experience. By aiming to understand each customer’s unique driving needs and budget, he is able to recommend the right tires. After making a sale, Cody follows up with customers to ensure satisfaction and create a more personal connection.

On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge talks to Cody Hammer about creating genuine customer connections through empathy, transportation services, digital inspections, and humor. Cody shares how he tailors recommendations based on driving needs, budget, and lifestyle cues. He highlights follow-ups, thank-you notes, and tells a story about assisting a stranded customer. Other topics include Cody’s rural upbringing, his career transition via people skills, and his favorite movie.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• Cody Hammer talks about growing up in rural North Dakota and enjoying outdoor activities like hunting and fishing.
• The value of empathy and understanding customers’ anxiety when they need automotive service
• Why providing alternate transportation options for customers is important
• Making customers smile to elevate their experience
• Following up after a sale to ensure customer satisfaction and create a more personal connection
• The importance of tires as the only contact between the vehicle and road
• How Cody transitioned from a non-automotive background by focusing on strong people skills

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• About Cody Hammer
• Trusted Tire and Auto
• Jarid Lundeen on LinkedIn
• Mike Edge on LinkedIn
• Tread Partners

• Cody Hammer
• Gain Traction
• Gain Traction Podcast
• Mike Edge
• Tread Partners
• Trusted Tire

Transcript

Announcer:

Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show.

Mike:

Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast. I am Mike Edge, your host. This episode is brought to you by Tread Partners. Do you work with a marketing agency in the tire industry that can act as your quarterback because they know the industry well? If not, call or connect with Tread Partners. They specialize specifically in the tire industry, marketing, and specifically with multi-location tire dealers. To learn more, visit treadpartners.com. Okay, folks, you know how I like to give a shout-out to previous guests. I recently had a great interview with Brian Quisenberry, Vice President of Training and Development for S&S Tire. Brian is the real deal when it comes to dealing with people. Please check out the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, or you can just go to gaintractionpodcast.com and you’ll find the list.

So our guest today is Cody Hammer, Area Sales Manager for Trusted Tire out of Bismarck, North Dakota. Cody and I met through his boss, Jarid Lundeen. A lot of folks in the industry know Jarid. He’s a great networker, great person. Jarid and I have become great friends, and one of the ways that he introduced me to Cody is because I told him I thought one of the unsung areas or heroes of the industry are the people that are very customer-facing, the CSRs, the store managers, those folks that really are in front of the customer all day every day and helping to promote their brand as well as ease the tension for the customer and sell tires. So today, we have Cody Hammer. I’m excited to interview him. Cody, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast.

Cody:

Hey. Thanks for having me, Mike. I appreciate the opportunity, and that’s awesome.

Mike:

Yeah, so give our audience a little bit the background of where are you from, where’d you grow up, what was it like growing up.

Cody:

Well, I’m from the frozen tundra of North Dakota. Six months of the year where you can be anywhere from negative 30 to 70 degrees. So activities are fun. I grew up hunting and fishing with a very family-oriented upbringing.

Mike:

Awesome.

Cody:

Lived in a small town where I graduated with 28 kids.

Mike:

Oh, nice.

Cody:

Yeah, so super lot of friends, and I think everybody knew everybody. I think it was safe to say that. And so yeah, it’s a really low-crime state. So just a lot of hunting, a lot of fishing, a lot of sports.

Mike:

That’s cool. Did you guys… When you say sports, I picture snowmobiles. I guess that’s a big one, isn’t it?

Cody:

Yeah, when we get snow, yep. Most of the time, we have snow and so yeah, snowmobiling is a big thing. We don’t have a ton of hills here, so we can’t really ski a ton. There are a couple of resorts, but I would say ice fishing is a big one, snowmobiling.

Mike:

Cool. What do you fish for? Is it walleye pike? What is it up there?

Cody:

Yep. Walleye pike. Yellow perch for the most part of the big three.

Mike:

Okay. Yeah. So did you always know you were… Were you an automotive kind of guy growing up, or did you know that you would go into the automotive sector or tire sector, or how did you get here where you’re at today?

Cody:

Well, I was working at a construction company. To answer your question, no, I was never automotive-inclined. I can change my oil and the basic stuff, but as far as the engine mechanics and how that all works, no, never. Working at a construction company, they decided that they were going to sublet everything out and change their direction of business, and I heard Jarid on the radio and said, “Well…” I was a server at Texas Roadhouse for a long time and was super successful there. So I was like, “Well, let’s go try see if I can be a salesperson for him.”

Mike:

Nice. So you just heard Jarid’s wonderful voice on the radio, and that inspired you to come apply for a job, huh?

Cody:

Yep, it’s incredible. Yeah.

Mike:

That’s awesome. You knew you were going to go for the sell side just because you had been kind in the server side on that restaurant side, customer-facing. You knew you wanted to go that angle?

Cody:

Yeah, I wanted to find something where I could talk to people. Everybody that knows me real well says I have the gift of gab. And it’s crazy because my brother’s completely opposite, but I enjoy taking care of people.

Mike:

That’s awesome. Well, you and I were talking before we decided to record our program here, but you had mentioned to me that you felt like one of your great qualities, or, I guess, one of the things that you try to live by is empathy for a customer. You want to expand on that a little bit? Am I saying that right?

Cody:

Yeah. Being sympathetic and empathetic is so important, especially when somebody’s in need. You can go in all different industries with that, but as far as a customer service representative, they’re coming to us with an issue or problem, or something to be fixed. As Darren McLea said in one of your previous podcasts there that, “They don’t want to be here,” and he’s so correct with that for the most part. Other than that eight to 10% that wants that wheels and tires and that big lift and stuff.

Mike:

Yeah. The fun stuff.

Cody:

The fun stuff, right?

Mike:

Yeah.

Cody:

And so understanding that people are stressed when they come in, they have high anxiety, their kids got to get to school, or they have to get to work. Things that we’ve learned over the course of the last, I don’t know, especially four to five years, is that the most important thing to people is time. That’s something they can get back. And so trying to figure out how we can relax them to make sure that “It’s going to be okay, we’re going to help you out. We can get you to where you need to get to.”

Mike:

How do you guys comfort people on that time aspect? Do you guys do courtesy shuttles, or do you do anything like, I guess, DDI? What do you guys do?

Cody:

A hundred percent. We do all that stuff. As far as the courtesy rides, we have courtesy rides at every store or courtesy vehicles. We have, even some of our managers and salespeople, if they have to, if somebody’s in a big hurry, we’ll jump in their own vehicle to get them somewhere.

Mike:

That’s awesome.

Cody:

During the COVID time, obviously with the mask and everything, and people weren’t super comfortable riding with other people. We even hired Ubers and Lyfts for that for them. And so we always found a way to make sure that we made it easy to do business with us. And so we get that they need to get to work to make money to live their life. And then, as far as digital vehicle inspection, of course, that comes with something that we’ve been doing that’s not super popular in our market. And we were the first in our market in North Dakota to do it that I know of. And still, even in the two cities that we’re in, in Minot and Bismarck, we’re still about the only ones that really do it. And that goes along with our name, with Trusted Tire & Auto, being transparent, being able to show people what’s going on with their vehicle, we can edit them. It’s very, very awesome thing to have.

Mike:

I totally agree. And to your point, it’s the time aspect. You’re giving people their time back because they don’t have to track you down to ask you what’s the status, right?

Cody:

Correct. Yep. It’s updated throughout. And so the car’s being checked in when they first get there. Obviously, they know that they’re being checked in, but then it says that their vehicle is being looked at, and then they get the actual digital vehicle inspection, and then we quote it out, and then we send them another one that says waiting on approval. So now we’re not having to try to call them when it’s inconvenient for them. Now they can call us when it’s convenient for them. And it just makes everything just so streamlined and so awesome.

Mike:

Yeah, no, I like it. You and I also were talking, and this kind of plays into this empathy and sympathy that you have for the customer and their circumstances. And I was asking you about you got any good stories of customer service, etc. And you had mentioned a young lady that I guess she ended up at your store after several tries with other stores in the area, I think she had a flat tire.

Cody:

Yeah, I remember this cus-

Mike:

You start from the beginning. Yeah, tell us that. I love that story, though.

Cody:

Yeah, absolutely. I remember this customer dearly, for years on years, and she lived an hour away from out of town. Actually, in between Minot and Bismarck. And she went to a Goodyear store here in town, and it was actually her husband’s, his best friends, and they closed, I think at six o’clock, and she got there right at 6:05 and they said, “No, we’re closed.” She tried to explain to them that, “Hey, I’m from out of town. I’m by myself.” It’s in North Dakota. So it was super cold, and she had nowhere to go, and they said, “Nope, I’m sorry, we can’t help you.” Didn’t even offer to air up her tire or anything like that. So she goes, “Okay, well, I’ll go to the next place.” And that part of the story, she went to two to three different places before she ended up on my door at the south side of Bismarck. And we closed at eight o’clock at that time, and she showed up about 8:10, 8:15.

I was still cleaning. I’m still there. And she come in pound, or knocking on the window of the glass windows, and I let her in, and I said, “Hey, how’s it going?” She goes, “Oh my God, I need help. I have a flat repair or a flat tire. I live an hour away.” And I said, “Hey, not a problem.” She was almost in tears. And so I said, “Not a problem. I’m going to take care of you.” I said, “All my techs are gone,” so I said, “I’ll have to go do it, which is no problem.” And so I got her a bottle of water, got a warm cup of coffee, and then I pulled it in. Unfortunately, the tire was unrepairable. She had driven on it too far where it was run flat, which is unfortunate. And then of course, unfortunately, it was an all-wheel drive, and so she really needed four tires at that time. They were pretty much worn out anyway.

And I talked to her and her husband, and they said, “Yeah, absolutely,” and got the four tires on there, and she got on the road just shortly after nine o’clock that night and was able to get back to her hometown.

Mike:

What a relief, huh?

Cody:

Yeah.

Mike:

Especially in that North Dakota weather, man.

Cody:

Yeah, it’s crazy. It’s in the middle of the winter, and even driving an hour can be dangerous when it’s negative 30 degrees or 10 degrees and you don’t have very long with frostbite and all that stuff. So it was super awesome. It was a great feeling. I was very empathetic towards her, sympathetic. And she was our raving fan. She still buys tires from me. She just bought a… Coming actually this last Saturday. We actually closed on Saturdays at the first of this year, but I was still able to get somebody down there for the same exact customer on Saturday. And I have one of my assistant managers, Bill, come down there, and he did a fantastic job. She calls up Jarid every time, just in tears, super emotional, but super appreciative of what we do.

Mike:

That’s awesome. Man, that makes you feel good. I like you all’s name a lot. I’m a little biased because we were involved with it. Our parent company was. But Trusted Tire is a cool name with you guys. And I know you rebrand it, and that’s a tough process, but it’s gone well for you guys, hasn’t it?

Cody:

Yeah, it’s gone very well, very well accepted. We have a really good customer base in the two markets that we’re in. And everything we do is for the customer and to show them that, “Hey, there’s two big stigmas really in the automotive industry. One that they’re selling things that they don’t need, and then two, they’re selling things that they make commission on or the most expensive stuff, and that’s the furthest from the truth.” When we check somebody in and when I’m going to educate you about tires, that’s something that I really want to let everybody know is I’m not selling you anything. I’m an educator, and that’s weird to put it in that perspective. But when we’re driving in North Dakota, it doesn’t matter what I want on your vehicle. It matters what your driving habits are and what’s going to be the most practical for you.

And if that’s for price, that’s fine, that’s for price. We can go that route. But if it’s something that’s ice and snow and you want comfort and you want to be able to last a long time, well, that’s a whole completely different product than something that is a Tier 4 tire.

Mike:

You do sound like Darren McLea pretty well because the way he talks. But it’s about putting the customer first, putting their needs first, and then figuring out which solution do I have for them, right? And like you said, if it is price, “Okay, we can work with you there.”

Cody:

Yep, absolutely. We focus on is value. And through Bridgestone, they have what’s called the fast five process, and that’s where we get up to the vehicles. And it is crazy to think that every vehicle tells you a story. So, you’re looking at the bumper stickers as Darren McLea, and I think his associate was maybe Jason, if I remember his name right, I don’t recall, but the bumper stickers, the tow hitches, of course, we have a lot of four-wheel drive trucks here, and now you’re into M-PLUS, the oil fills. So now are you looking for something driving on scoria, and you can see if it’s got the red dirt in their wheels, and whether they do or don’t, if they got car seats. All that stuff matters to what’s going to be really practical for them.

Mike:

Yeah, no, that’s cool. And I like that. Every car does tell its own story, from bumper to bumper. And when you have those observations… Anybody that’s listening to this podcast knows I’m all about tires that do very well in the wet and the water. I have had one of those hydroplane wrecks before. When I say hydroplane, I mean it wasn’t just the little zip and then, “Whoa, what was that?” It was full-blown. I felt like I went for a quarter of a mile, that’s how long it lasted. But went in front of a semi and back and forth. So yeah, anytime… And that was quite a few years ago now, but I’ve always been like, “Just give me the best rain tire there is.” But when you have those personal experiences, that’s what happens, right?

Cody:

It changes really quick. Life lessons like that, having a baby does the same thing. And all of a sudden now, it’s not just me, it’s my kid in the car. But my wife, I told her, I said, “When we have kids…” And we had kids, I mean, before we really got married, but she’s such a great gal. And I immediately went to the Bridgestone Blizzaks, and I found a way to afford them at that time in my life. And it’s the best of the best.

Mike:

Yeah. Well, yeah, that’s exactly what you do. You’ll find a way to make it work, depending on what the need is, right? And when it comes down to your wife and kids, yeah. In my family, they always got the best vehicle and best tires, and Dad drove the jalopy.

Cody:

The jalopy, yup. And what’s kind of funny about that, about in a general consensus with some customers doing this a long time, is you tell somebody that their brakes are bad and you show them that their brakes are bad, they’ll go through the dryer vents and they’ll go on the couches to find every penny and nickel and dime to make sure they pay for that. But what people forget is that their brakes aren’t always good as what their tires are. And so, really, tires are the only thing between you and the road. And so it’s a crazy thing to think about, but it’s the truth.

Mike:

Well, look, we love the tire industry. That’s why we’re in it. We love doing this podcast, bringing people together in the industry. And it is. Tires are one of those things that just naturally get overlooked as to their importance until you have a situation like I did, and you end up in a hydroplane circumstance and you’re flying all over the road going perpendicular with a semi looking at you. All those type of things just make it real interesting, and all of a sudden, put it in perspective.

Cody:

Yup. And that’s through our educational piece here. You’re a hundred percent right on that, Mike. And through our educational piece that we try to make sure that we’re teaching them about the cycling and tires, and the North Dakota ice and the snow. And technically, ice is not slippery until it’s actually the thin film of water on top of ice that actually makes it slippery, and what the technology and the tires do, in layman terms, to help with that.

Mike:

Yeah. So what’s your favorite part of the business? You’ve been doing this a long time. Anything stand out to you as your favorite? Obviously, you seem to love the customer.

Cody:

Yeah. And I think that still goes with it. As far as part of my favorite is somebody coming in that’s got super stressed out and super anxiety, not that I like to see that, but able to show the hospitality of getting them a bottle of water, letting them know what’s going to be okay, and then watching them walk out with a smile.

Mike:

Well, you mentioned earlier, you weren’t really a tech guy to begin with, even though you knew how to do things, the basics, but what always interested you was the people. And I think that’s what makes… At the end of the day, and that’s what I like about Jarid and our communication, our friendship over the years, is just that communication’s the key to life. And when you can communicate with people, I mean, the product ends up being just a byproduct in a sense. I think my friends down at Gerald’s Tire in South Carolina like to say, “Hey, we’re in the customer service business. It’s tires just what we sell.”

Cody:

Yep, correct. And there’s so much truth to that. And one of the things that I like, when people leave with a smile. I was mentioning that. And something that I like to say when somebody comes in and they come and say, “Yeah, I’m here to pick up my vehicle.” I’ll make a joke to make them smile and say, “You don’t have to be so strong. We don’t have to work out today. You could just drive it away.”

Mike:

[inaudible 00:20:05].

Cody:

I almost always get a laugh, and it’s just awesome.

Mike:

See, if I said that to my boys, my boys would say, “Dad, your dad jokes.” They know I like to come up with… I say all kinds of silly stuff like that too. But you know what? At the end of the day, Cody, people love that stuff. They do. Dave Christopher, one of the founders of our company, he loves dad jokes, and he put them out there for years with our company, and he hadn’t done them in a while. But I would take them and run with them, and of course, I throw them out to my family. We have a family group text, and I’d get all these emojis back or whatever, but everybody likes them. I like that, though. I like that you try to make that effort to just elevate the moment. The guy’s about to pay you a bunch of money for tires or work or whatever you want to call it, you might as well make it a little lighthearted, right?

Cody:

Correct. Yeah. The important thing, I think, that we do a lot of is it’s more than just the initial interaction. All of our… Especially tire sales, we’re calling them back within 30 days to make sure that the tires are working out for them if they have any issues. And so just the customer follow-up is huge. We do thank-you cards, handwritten thank-you cards.

Mike:

Ooh, man. I love that. That’s awesome.

Cody:

And so that’s something that Jarid, you mentioned, he’s such a good networker and communicator, and that’s as close of the truth as you can get. He’s absolutely the best public speaker I know of. But he said, “Everything is moving to digital. Everything’s digital. Everything is online, internet and all that stuff.” And kind of going back to the good old days of writing hand thank-you notes with a little message and said, “We appreciate your business,” send it in the mail. And we’ve got quite a few things, and-

Mike:

You know what’s cool about handwritten notes still, in my opinion, and the reason why I think they’re still very effective? It’s an object that the person sending it to you touched and wrote out. It’s not like the digital aspect. Sure, it’s nice to get a thank-you text, email, etc., but when you get that item that somebody had at their home or office and they turned around and sent it to you, there is something more connecting about it, I think. And I think people naturally appreciate it. I know my wife and I do. We try to make an effort of that. When people do something nice to write a thank-you note, but at the same time, it’s nice to receive them.

Cody:

Yeah, absolutely. I couldn’t agree with you more. When we get thank-you cards from customers to us, we’re hooting and hollering. And it’s really a feel good and the appreciatory side of things. And that’s what builds customers.

Mike:

That’s awesome. Well, let’s go back to the personal side real quick. What’s your favorite movie of all time?

Cody:

Law Abiding Citizen.

Mike:

Tell us about it because I do not know this movie, and you’ve kind of given me a little sneak peek before we started talking. But who’s the main character actor?

Cody:

Gerard Butler.

Mike:

Yeah. And wasn’t he in 300?

Cody:

I believe so, yeah.

Mike:

Yeah, that’s a great movie. But anyway, he’s a phenomenal actor. Give us a little bit about the storyline.

Cody:

Well, two burglars or criminals come in and basically murder his family and make him watch, and they ended up getting prosecuted or caught. But the plea deal that went through with the state’s attorney, Gerard Butler, the actor, was not happy with it, which was the husband of the family. And he-

Mike:

So he goes and makes it a better deal?

Cody:

Yeah. And so he hunted, basically, he broke into jail and then hunted everybody down that was a part of that plea bargain, including the two criminals. And eventually, it was just a psychological game to him, and everybody else was scared. And it’s just an awesome movie, suspense the entire time.

Mike:

So basically, they robbed the wrong house?

Cody:

Yeah, I would say. It’s not somebody I’d mess with.

Mike:

I’ve got to check that one out. I have not seen it. I’ve heard of it, and I feel like somebody else told me to watch that at one time, and I have not yet. So I’ll definitely do that. Cody, it’s been a real pleasure and honor to have you as a guest on Gain Traction.

Cody:

Well, thank you. Yeah, it’s absolutely an honor. I appreciate it, and hopefully we’ll talk again.

Mike:

We definitely will. I told Jarid I’m going to come back to Bismarck one of these days, so if we do, I’ll look you up.

Cody:

That sounds good.

Mike:

Well, to all our listeners out there, thank you, as usual, for being part of our podcast. We couldn’t do it without you. And just so you know where we stand. In the past, we would have these podcasts and we would get pretty good listening viewer or audience and downloads, etc. And it’s kind of a measuring stick to let you know if you’re growing or not. Downloads give you an indication as to how often people are listening. And we are now over 4,000 downloads a month. We used to hit that sometimes, but now we’re over it every month, and it’s been a very positive experience. But we love audience. I love the interaction that people give us. If you ever want to meet anybody that we’ve had on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. And if I can introduce you, I’d be glad to.

Some people listen to podcasts and they’re not in competing markets and they think, “Man, I learned something from that guy. I’d like to learn a little bit more or take a little deeper dive, wondering if that person will talk to me.” And so I’ve made introductions that way that have worked out great, and we can learn from each other. So that’s the whole idea of this podcast is being in this network. So thank you for listening. If you’d also like to recommend a guest, please email me at [email protected]. We take all recommendations very seriously. Until next time. Be safe and have a great day. Thank you.

Announcer:

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