ARLINGTON, Texas -

This week, the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association continued its revamp of moderators and trainers who will oversee the organization’s dealer 20 groups.

Joining Ed Curry, who came aboard last month, NIADA welcomed Bill Elizondo and Ben Goodman, whose backgrounds include all crucial segments of being a buy-here, pay-here operator, from inventory management to underwriting and delivery to collections.

Both Elizondo and Goodman will work with NIADA’s BHPH 20 Groups, as well as leading dealer training classes and conducting on-site consulting.

“The addition of Ben, Bill Elizondo and Ed Curry as moderators and consultants provide the foundation necessary to make NIADA’s 20 Group and dealer development programs the best in the independent dealer space,” NIADA vice president of industry insights and analysis Larry Dixon said in a news release.

Goodman has spent the past 11 years with Byrider, one of the nation’s largest BHPH franchise operations. He began as general manager of multiple Byrider dealerships in Cincinnati, winning the regional Dealership of the Year award three times in his first five years.

Goodman was then named GM of Byrider’s newly developed business development center, designing and operating an internal BDC for 21 Byrider corporate stores and increasing dealership traffic through Internet lead conversions.

When his program proved a success, it was implemented at 67 Byrider franchisees.

Goodman later served as a Byrider franchise consultant, maximizing franchisee profitability through benchmark performance analysis, action planning, interactive training and onsite and virtual visits. He organized and moderated Byrider 20 Group meetings, bootcamps, panel discussions and conventions, as well as serving on planning, implementation and training committees in all phases of BHPH operations.

“We’re incredibly pleased to have someone of Ben's quality and experience on the team,” Dixon said. “His extensive BHPH dealership, training and moderating experience make him an ideal leader for NIADA's 20 Groups and dealer development programs.

Before joining Byrider, Goodman spent nearly 16 years with CitiFinancial, rising to district vice president of operations, responsible for all operations of seven subprime consumer finance branches in Columbus, Ohio, and surrounding markets.

“NIADA is a world-class organization with a proven track record of success for its members,” Goodman said. “The team of subject matter experts they've put together across all platforms is unsurpassed. I'm humbled and excited to become a part of this tradition and I can’t wait to get started.”

Meanwhile, helping NIADA member dealers will not be new for Elizondo, who comes to NIADA from AFS Dealers, where he was serving as chief operating officer and responsible for developing and conducting training programs and in-dealership consulting to support BHPH/LHPH dealer performance improvement and revenue growth.

He has also been part of NIADA, NABD and many of NIADA’s affiliated state association since 1995.

“No other consultant has come even close to having the impact on my business that Bill has had,” said Nick Markosian, chief executive officer of Markosian Automotive in Utah, in a news release. “He really gets in the weeds to find solutions. I can’t wait to see how he puts his unbounded energy and enthusiasm into helping us become better operators.”

Elizondo’s experience the BHPH industry goes back more than 30 years, beginning in 1990 with CAR Financial Services (formerly Wells Fargo Financial), where his responsibilities included profit, hiring, training, underwriting and collections, and he rose to national accounts director.

He later served as created director of collections practices and review, and vice president of operations for America's Car-Mart, the nation’s largest publicly held BHPH dealership, working with and managing 29 dealerships totaling more than 10,000 accounts and $86 million in receivables.

He moved from that role to director of strategic growth and development and later director of sales for Superior Auto, another large BHPH operation known for outstanding collections.

During that stint, his job included running a dealership and personal visits with customers. As sales director, he was responsible for 64 stores – increasing retail sales by 22% and unit sales by 12.5%— and was instrumental in the development of a new sales manual.

“We’re incredibly excited to have Bill on board,” Dixon said. “His deep and diverse experience will help elevate independent dealers’ operational performance. He’ll play an instrumental role in making NIADA’s Dealer 20 Groups, dealer training and education programs best in class.”

Also of note, Elizondo is a marathoner, an All-America masters swimmer and a swimming coach who also has completed an Ironman triathlon.

“I am excited for the opportunity to be a moderator/consultant for NIADA,” Elizondo said. “Following our mission by promoting, educating and advancing our dealers with best practices, insight and increased bottom-line success is what I love to do. Working together will provide a powerful framework for success.”