Liss began his retail automotive career at Green Lincoln Mazda in Springfield, Illinois, joining the team in August 2008. Despite his mother’s misgivings about the car business, it was here that he would spend the next 15 years moving up the ranks and gaining hands-on experience in every facet of the dealership, eventually becoming the store’s general manager in 2019.
His first position, however, was in the sales department, where he worked for three years, learning crucial customer service skills and automotive knowledge. After several years, Liss transitioned to the fixed-ops team, becoming the dealership’s ASM in 2012. In this role, Liss demonstrated his talent for interpersonal communication by successfully managing relationships between the many parties involved in after-sales operations. With the help of his brother and top Mazda sales representative Justin Liss, he implemented a service-to-sales handoff process, helping the dealership sell even more vehicles.
When the opportunity presented itself to join the finance department as its manager, Liss came to the interview prepared with new ideas to improve customer service and efficiency. Thanks to the skills and knowledge he obtained through his experiences as a service manager and sales representative, he was able to guide buyers to the financial products that worked best for their needs and translated into higher profit and service satisfaction for the dealership.
After spending two years in the F&I department, Liss’ long-time mentor and then General Manager of Green Lincoln Mazda, Tim Nice, became an executive director and partner involved in multiple rooftops, vacating his leadership position at the dealership. Liss, with his years of experience in every department, was a natural shoo-in for the job and, sure enough, became the store’s GM in 2019.
Today, Liss continues to direct operations at Green Lincoln Mazda, using his role to support the Springfield community and ensure the dealership team has an amazing and lucrative retail-automotive experience. Liss celebrates his four-year anniversary of becoming GM this November. “The automotive space is a lifestyle for those that are committed, and I try to bring the best of that lifestyle to my employees as well as my customers,” he writes. “We all possess the same goal: provide an easy, premium buying/ownership experience, and make money and have fun doing it!”
