Why our award matters to your dealership

What would you think if your boss said something like this about you:

“While I think all our executives are bright, talented leaders, I am fond of telling them that when Michele is present that the rest of us are merely competing to see who’s the second-smartest person in the room!”

Exeter CEO Jason Grubb wrote those words about the company’s Chief Information Officer, Michele Rodgers, in his letter of support for her nomination as Dallas CIO of the Year. Due in part to praise like that, Michele earned the distinguished title this year. We couldn’t be happier for such a deserving leader and colleague!

Officially, Michele was named the Enterprise winner of the 2021 Dallas CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards. The award was presented by DallasCIO, a chapter of the InspireCIO Leadership Network, which each year recognizes chief information officers in seven key categories.

While this award offers the company some bragging rights, the honor is particularly gratifying for Exeter for a couple of reasons. First, it further promotes and recognizes our diverse workforce. Women on our leadership team have earned several awards over the past couple of years for the tremendous work they’ve done, and we’re very proud of their accomplishments. We hope you are, too.

Second, as a lender in a competitive industry, we put extraordinary emphasis on our technology. As necessary and wonderful as our people are, we count on our information technology (IT) resources to give us a competitive advantage. And that should matter to you as well.

Think of the last time that you had a car buyer with a credit score below 550 sitting in your office in the dealership. The customer was probably wondering whether any lender would give them a chance, but you knew there was no need to worry. You knew that when you posed that question to Exeter, our technology would deliver a “yes” or “no” answer in most cases in mere seconds.

So, because of the talented people Michele leads, the complex processes they implement and the incredible technological solutions they deliver, we can usually tell you whether your customer is approved for an Exeter loan in less time than it takes to walk to the coffee pot and back. It helps you take care of your customer the right way, which is ultimately what matters most to your organization and ours.

That’s a big reason we’re so proud of the recognition Michele has earned this year. She’s a true professional whose background spans technology, finance, enterprise risk and operations. Her broad experience provides her with a solid base for making critical decisions and makes her one of Exeter’s greatest assets -- no matter what challenge or opportunity the company is facing.

We think Michele Rodgers stands as an excellent example of what a leader should be. It’s why she is Dallas CIO of the Year for 2021 and was selected just two years ago as one of Auto Fin Journal’s Top Women in Auto Finance.  We’re proud to have Michele as part of the Exeter leadership team, and we hope you’ll join us in thanking her for all that she and her IT team do for Exeter, your dealership and, most of all, your customers.