CARY, N.C. -

As part of Auto Remarketing's 2020 Best Auto Auctions to Work For program, we are featuring Q&As with leaders from some of the honorees. 

Next up is Michael Waterman, chief sales officer at ACV Auctions, one of this year's honorees. 

That Q&A, available to CMG Premium subscribers, can be found below.

Auto Remarketing: Workplace safety has been a big topic in the auto auction industry, particularly for the traditional brick-and-mortar auctions where cars are running through the lanes. How does an adherence to workplace safety manifest differently in the digital wholesale space, where sales tend to be remote?

Michael Waterman: Although our sales take place 100% digitally, the safety of our team of over 700 inspectors — the largest inspection network in the country — is paramount. In accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, we adopted new and enhanced protocols to help keep our teammates safe — both in the field and in the office. 

For our office-based teammates, we were able to pivot to a mostly remote, work-from-home workforce while still maintaining best in class service and efficiency. For team members working in the field, we updated our process for approvals, sign-offs and hand-offs of vehicle keys to minimize contact between our customers and our inspectors. ACV inspectors do the vehicle inspections outside at the lots of our dealer partners, which allows for a safe and distraction-free work environment. ACV’s thorough onboarding process includes training on how to properly operate our innovative tools used as part of ACV’s comprehensive True360 condition reports, which are designed to provide the most accurate, transparent view into the vehicle’s condition.

Our auctions take place completely online, where dealers use our detailed condition reports to make confident bidding decisions without needing to be physically present at a traditional auction. Not only does this eliminate the in-person auction experience where cars run through lanes and crowds gather to make purchases, it also provides dealers with a faster, more flexible and more informed way of doing business without the risks associated with physical interactions.

AR: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your safety strategy?

MW: Our inspection process is as contactless as possible, allowing team members to safely distance themselves from others while remaining fully productive in their roles. In light of the pandemic, we have closely followed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and equipped our team members with necessary protective equipment, including masks, gloves and disinfectants, in order to ensure that they can perform their work safely. All measures have been designed to keep both the safety of our team members and our dealer partners in mind. ACV provides virtual training sessions to our field teammates as we introduced new PPE and process updates to ensure everyone feels educated and comfortable working within our “new normal” for business operations.

AR: Training and development is key in any organization, but I imagine it’s especially challenging in the digital wholesale space. What have been some effective approaches you have taken when it comes to training and developing employees?

MW: ACV provides hands-on training for our Vehicle Condition Inspectors (VCIs) both in the classroom (now virtual) and with vehicles. Team members from various departments will do ride-alongs in the field so that Managers are able to assess and help improve processes and vehicle assessments.

We haven't let COVID slow us down from a training perspective. We are continuing to invest in training our team members in new types of inspections including cross-training our VCIs on all three kinds of inspections that we provide  (wholesale, retail and off-lease) so they can become experts in each area and grow in their skillset and within the company. 

During these challenging times, we are providing additional instructor-led training via online learning as well as socially distant field visual training to enhance their inspection skills and overall knowledge of ACV.

AR: This year’s program had some particularly strong scores with supervisor relationship and overall employee engagement. What are some ways your organization fosters positive professional relationships between supervisors and employees?

MW: ACV’s culture leads with a “You asked. We listened.” mindset. This applies to both our customers and our team members. Given our background as a start-up, our teammates’ feedback has been extremely important to the growth of our company and to our culture. Many of our leading procedures and policies are in direct response to feedback that we have received from our team members.

They know that they can speak up and share their thoughts and they will be heard. ACV is a company without ego. We love great ideas/feedback and take it from our team members and customers alike. This feedback makes us better and more relevant every day.

It’s invigorating to look at our growth over our five-plus years and see how our team members have grown with us. A once junior inspector is now a senior inspector mentoring and coaching new team members as they join ACV. It ultimately comes down to the passion that each and every one of us have for our jobs. We want to be the best we can be in our roles and we want to help those around us be the best as well. It’s in our DNA to help one another from offering tips, answering questions and serving as mentors to one another.

AR: Likewise, what are some ways your organization engages employees?

MW: ACV engages our team members by empowering them and supporting them. We encourage team members to find an area of passion and run with it. For example, our Diversity & Inclusion program was spearheaded by one of our senior teammates from our training department who has both a passion for and experience in leading D&I initiatives.

We also support our teammates in philanthropic efforts that impact them personally or impact the region where they work. We support these team members as they offer charitable assistance across the country to regions impacted by natural disasters and other efforts to help those in need.

COVID-19 has significantly impacted how we can interact with our corporate teammates who are used to seeing one another daily in the office. ACV quickly pivoted to a mostly remote model for our corporate workforce in order to protect their personal health and safety as a result of the pandemic. We pushed through to find new ways to connect, engage and have fun. Various departments have virtual, Zoom-powered happy hours and play games via Jackbox. The ACV HR department also started a monthly all-company Trivia Night on Wednesdays to bring everyone back together.

We now also offer team members free access to online Yoga and Meditation sessions (exclusively for ACV team members) throughout the week to help relieve any added stress that team members may be carrying due to the intensity of our “new normal.”