CBT News sits down with Brandon Medford, Dave Obaseki, and Eric Whitehead, founders of PTG365. These men have dedicated their company to making the buying experience as easy as possible for their clients. They work with every client that comes to them in order to find them their perfect vehicle, no matter their credit score or circumstance, Dave says, “There is a car out there for everyone.” With a large range of vehicles, from Toyota to Ferrari, Brandon, Dave, and Eric will work with their clients to get them the car they are looking for, and are also working to give back to their community in the process.
To hear more about Dave, Eric, and Brandon’s company watch the full interview above or check out their website at www.ptg365auto.com.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:Â
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Thank you so much, gentlemen, for joining us.
Eric Whitehead:
Thank you for having us.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
You guys are written up in Forbes Magazine and you’re traveling from L.A. to Miami, to New York. So we’ve got to find out what’s going on here with you guys. So, you’re catching a lot of great press. SO let’s jump right in here. You have a company called PTG365. Tell me what PTG stands for.
Eric Whitehead:
PTG365 stands for Prices Too Good Every Day.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
All right, all right. And the 365 just is–
Eric Whitehead:
Every day.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Every day, 365 a year.
Brandon Medford:
Besides the leap year.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right, that’s right. All right, so talk to me, gentlemen, about your business. What do you do?
Dave Obaseki:
Well, to be quite frank with you, we make the buying experience very easy.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.
Dave Obaseki:
And we make sure that you are accommodated with any given type of vehicle you want, as long as your credit fits the team.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.
Dave Obaseki:
It goes from A to Z. There’s steps in the process, as long as you trust the process, everything is beautiful. And to be quite frank, you’ve got to understand something, this is the second largest thing you’re purchasing usually as a human, so, why not, I don’t want to make it quick. And you know, how it’s been for years and years. We like to add sum oomph into it.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure.
Dave Obaseki:
We like to add some confetti, some red carpet, some red ribbon.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
A little pizzazz.
Dave Obaseki:
It’s all about the pizzazz. It’s like ordering a martini. Just that hint of mint on the tip makes everything look better, no?
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Now you guys are dealing in some heavy metal, though, I mean, right? This is not Toyota Corollas and Nissans?
Brandon Medford:
We still have those, too.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
You do.
Brandon Medford:
Yeah, we volume a lot of Toyota, Honda…
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay so you’re from Toyota all the way up to Bentleys and Rolls.
Brandon Medford:
Toyota all the way up to Ferrari and Rolls.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
And Ferrari.
Brandon Medford:
Yeah cause Betleys are lower so Ferraris and Rolls.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
And are you inventorying these cars currently or do you find the car when someone says they want to get a specific car?
Eric Whitehead:
We find the cars. It’s supply and demand. We order the cars as we go.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.
Eric Whitehead:
We try to keep overhead low and we don’t want to pay interest on the cars per day.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure.
Eric Whitehead:
We keep a couple cars in stock, like cheaper cars that people can pay cash for–
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.
Eric Whitehead:
And so forth. If there’s a certain deal we may just have the car there in our inventory. But we usually are supply and demand. We order the cars as the consumer wants the vehicle.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay. And you’re, where was your first location? Was it in New York?
Eric Whitehead:
New York. New York first.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
So you open up in New York–
Eric Whitehead:
Correct.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
And decide, okay, we’re going to go after the auto market and we’re going to go really up against new car franchise dealers, right?
Dave Obaseki:
Correct.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
So that’s a pretty big job right there.
Brandon Medford:
Yes, but at the same time, we’re not going against them, we’re actually working with them.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay. To help to sell it.
Brandon Medford:
To help to sell it. For the manufacturer.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
How do you find your customers?
Brandon Medford:
A lot of heavy advertisement. A lot of marketing goes from social media marketing and a lot of referrals. Because we do good business, people refer us.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right. Right. And, in finding these luxury car buyers, I understand you’re doing business with celebrities and sports heroes. Talk to me about that.
Brandon Medford:
That starts up with the nightlife. [crosstalk 00:03:38] Yeah, it starts off with the nightlife meaning a couple of big promoters, ambassadors, a couple of executives from these major companies and, from there, going all the way up through the ranks. And from there, obviously, now having ties and relationships with a lot of the athletes, and the rappers, you know, artists, because once you do a deal for one person, the way into it is so big everybody’s going to see it and want to know, ‘Who’s that guys he’s working with?’
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right. Right.
Brandon Medford:
And then from there, that’s when it just keeps on growing.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The guy you’re working with in the industry could be just as important sometimes as the car that you’re getting.
Brandon Medford:
Oh yes.
Dave Obaseki:
110%
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right, yeah, exactly. So talk to me about the importance of maintaining a roster of clients like that. I mean, I’m sure you gotta go out of your way.
Dave Obaseki:
It’s about branding. You keep relationships tight. You answer phone calls, you go the extra mile for customers. When you do that, it’s word of mouth, ‘Hey, guess what. They brought this to me. They cater to me. I think you should deal with them.’ We take on every client, so, again, it’s all about the brand.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure.
Dave Obaseki:
And we have to protect the brand. And by protecting the brand we do good by customers. Excuse me, clients. And keep that relationship solid.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
[crosstalk 00:04:48] Go ahead.
Eric Whitehead:
I’m going to add to what he said. With our client base, our roster, we keep it so well because it’s not just selling a car. But our clients become family. They want to wear our merchandise. They want to hang out with us. They call us all times, happy birthday, they do a little bit of everything. So they become family and then they refer their family or friends. Like he said, we really go the extra mile. Service appointments, there’s times that our clients needed an extra car am I’m like, ‘I have a car for you. You know, do what you have to do. Just make sure you’re okay, nothing happens to the car.’ But we really do a lot for our clients. Like we have customer appreciation days, we did a brunch. What’s that called? Sofritos. We did a customer appreciation day, we bought the bar, come eat, drink, just thank you for allowing us to earn your business.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure. And that will, in turn, earn more business for you.
Eric Whitehead:
Exactly! Yes.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
So it’s an appreciation slash revenue generating event.
Eric Whitehead:
Exactly. We’re good at that. Giving back.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
So, in talking about giving back. I know you guys are doing some cool things with single moms and getting them on the road. Talk to me about that.
Brandon Medford:
We just actually had a Mother’s Day special for single mothers. Any single mother who did purchased a car from us will receive up to three payments on any leased vehicle.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow. Okay.
Brandon Medford:
Yeah. So we give back because we all came from our mothers so we know how hard our mothers work in our lives, especially the single ones.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay. And I understand, if somebody’s got a low credit score, you can still help them.
Eric Whitehead:
We still get them approved. There’s a car for everybody.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
And how does that work? What do you have, a resource that is buying challenge credit?
Brandon Medford:
We have multiple financial institutions, so based on your credit we’ll match you up with he right bank and we’ll put you into a vehicle.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Fantastic. So where do you see the business going in the next five years?
Brandon Medford:
Oh, my goodness.
Dave Obaseki:
There’s going to be a lot. Nobody’s tapped into jets. 110%.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
You’re what?
Dave Obaseki:
Tap into chartering jets.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Oh, chartering jets. Like NetJets or something like that?
Dave Obaseki:
Yeah, tap into the jet world because that’s a different market. Then next is yacht. Then next is real estate. Then next is taking over everything. Hiring a team that can run the show. So there’s no limit. The sky’s the only limit for PTG365, to be quite frank with you.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
What advice would you have for somebody that’s listening to you right now that’s in a dealership. Because I know you guys all worked in dealerships, right?
Dave Obaseki:
Correct.
Eric Whitehead:
Yes.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
What advice would you have for them if they said, ‘Well, I want to go out on my own and open up a really cool leasing company like this and hanging with rap stars, and football players, and baseball players, and…
Brandon Medford:
Just know it’s not as easy as it looks. If it was–
Dave Obaseki:
Every single person would be–
Brandon Medford:
It’s not as easy as it looks. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything. Meaning family time, friends, food.
Eric Whitehead:
Sleep.
Brandon Medford:
Sleep, because I don’t sleep. If you’re committed you will achieve but you have to be 110% all-in. Can’t get…all-in.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Do you ever look back at your days in the dealership and go, ‘Ah, you know, that was a pretty easy way to go to make a six figure income.’
Dave Obaseki:
It’s crazy that you say that because there was one time where all three of us were in the same position in the dealership world. Going into dealerships that we have accounts with, you know, salespeople come, they ask questions. ‘I want to work, etc, etc.’ And sometimes when I’m waiting in my clients’ car I just look and I’m like, wow, do you wait for a customer to come in, you’re sitting there and if it’s dead it’s dead. You’re just ordering food and on your phone. And you’re looking in the sky waiting for another customer. So we remember but that just pushes me.
Dave Obaseki:
It just makes me go harder and harder because I’m like I used to be in that shoe. Now I’m in this shoe and this shoe is a little harder because he who wears it knows where it hurts.
Eric Whitehead:
Yeah, Exactly.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
For sure, for sure. So now you’ve got three locations, I understand? Is it L.A., Miami, and New York?
Dave Obaseki:
And New York, yeah.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s phenomenal. How do you manage that? Does each one of you take a different location or–
Brandon Medford:
You have to grow the thing. You know, right now we don’t have any other partners, as of yet, but we have, right now sales directors. So as a sales director goes up and the bigger we get it’s going to become the next future partner.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay.
Brandon Medford:
Because it’s all about, you’ve got to have partnership.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah.
Brandon Medford:
Especially if you want to grow and have such a big brand. You’re dealing with so much moving parts.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right.
Brandon Medford:
You need for the people to look at it as a partner.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right.
Brandon Medford:
So that’s where we’re at right now.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Okay. Okay. In terms of the growth of the company, do you see yourselves acquiring a new car franchise dealer at any point in time or do you want to maintain just what you’ve got going on as kind of a brokerage situation. Somebody calls and says, ‘I gotta get a BMW 6 Series.’ You find that car for them, buy it, and then bring it to them, right?
Brandon Medford:
That is correct.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
So you’re running a beautiful business operation because you don’t have to inventory all of those vehicles as a dealer does. But do you see yourselves going into the new car franchise business?
Eric Whitehead:
Honestly, we go back and forth on that all the time. Because we’re like, we should have a showroom, an actual showroom with inventory and having all the cars but then we think about how successful we are now. How many units we do, we’ve consistently been doing 200 cars a month. It’s like, it really doesn’t make sense.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
200 cars a month is really incredible.
Eric Whitehead:
Last month was our biggest month. We did 200 cars.
Brandon Medford:
Last May, May 2018 we finished over 30 cars. May 2019 was 207.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Wow.
Brandon Medford:
May 2020 our projection will be 1,000.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
1,000 cars?
Brandon Medford:
Correct.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
My gosh, that’s incredible. People are coming to you for vehicles, over 200 last month alone. Why do you think they’re coming to a company like yours versus going into a franchise dealer? What are some of the problems and pitfalls that you see now that you’re outside of the dealership that dealers kind of drop the ball on?
Eric Whitehead:
I can say this. Time management.
Brandon Medford:
Time management.
Eric Whitehead:
And the dealership, even me, like I used to buy my cars and work in the dealership. You’re in there for 5, 6, 7 hours. A lot of downtime. You’re sitting there trying to figure out what’s going on next. The communication is not there and so forth. We make it easy. You call us on the phone, if you want to come to our office and meet physically, you can. You let us know exactly what you want, you get exactly what you want. You’re not worried about time. You don’t have to take off from work. Wherever you are, if you’re at dinner with your wife or your husband, or you’re with your family, you’re home. We deliver the car right to you. We deliver all cars with a red bow. We deliver it with red carpet and confetti.
Eric Whitehead:
It’s something you’ll remember, it’s a big purchase. You’ll sit in the box with a finance manager and you’ll get bumped on payment, everything is transparent. Everything is done nice and easy. It’s like, how do I explain it? It’s just so fast. So fast and so easy it doesn’t make sense.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
Well guys I want to thank you so much for joining us on CBT News, Brandon, Dave, and Eric. It’s been a pleasure. Much continued success. I know what you’re doing, the auto world is watching closely to see all of the things you’re doing. You’re doing some really cool things so congratulations.
Dave Obaseki:
That’s another thing, I do want to let you know while we’re on the air that we are open to working with any dealership in the country. If there’s any dealership that wants to work with us, contact us any time.
Jim Fitzpatrick:
You heard that dealers, so if you’re out there you see these guys in your showroom, they want to do business with you. Take them up on it because you might roll some cars. [crosstalk 00:12:00] Well thank you guys so much for joining us.
Dave Obaseki:
Thank you.
Speaker 5:
CBT Automotive Network, the number one most watched network in retail automotive. This has been a JBF Business Media Production.
