A Michigan native, Brian Stratton is a General Motors brand champion. He started his career more than two decades ago in Collections at General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC). There, he gained experience in multiple departments, including Commercial Lending, then joined GM Financial (GMF) as the Vice President of Business Development in 2012. Today, Brian is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Credit Operations for GMF’s Southeast Region.
“When I started at GMF, we had zero commercial loans, zero outstandings, no commercial policies, very few legal documents and no floorplan sales process,” Brian said. “I was fortunate enough to be on the ground floor for all of it. Later that year, GMF booked our first dealership floorplan deal and we haven’t looked back since.”
Today, GMF’s Dealer Services organization is nearly 1,800 team members strong. From Sales to Credit, Funding to Operations, Commercial Lending to Fleet, building great relationships is the lifeblood of this group and requires that team members have a vast amount of experience and skills.
“As we continued to expand, our senior leaders were very focused on keeping our culture intact,” Brian said. “It’s amazing that we have not only grown our business appropriately and become more important to GM and GM dealers, but we did it without losing our identity that was so important to our company to begin with.”
Why GMF Dealer Services?
Brian believes GMF’s supportive, inclusive culture and access to senior leadership set it apart from other companies in the auto finance industry.
“If you want to become a leader, I think this a great company to learn how to do that because of the leadership principles set in place by our Executive Team today,” he said.
According to Brian, team members who are driven, open to learning, work with excellence and have a positive attitude are what make Dealer Services great. As GMF continues to grow, add new products, tweak existing processes and adapt to changes in the market, it continues to add growth-minded team members to support all areas of the business.
“There’s so much opportunity here at GMF, especially considering we’re still on a growth trajectory,” he said. “We’re not done learning. So, if you’re interested in a company that has a great culture that is also continuing to grow and evolve, then this is probably the place for you.”
Training Opportunities
GMF and the Dealer Services team serve more than 4,000 GM dealerships nationwide, with nearly half of those dealerships choosing GMF floorplan. Team member training, both in the new-hire stage and on a continual basis as programs and systems evolve, helps team members provide ongoing consultative feedback and helpful solutions to dealers.
Most new Sales team members take part in the Strategic Account Manager (SAM) program, which includes six to eight months of onboarding, including live dealer conversations, job shadowing, face time with senior leaders, credit underwriting, role-playing and assessments to prepare for a field assignment. Credit team members also receive intensive new-hire training from the dedicated Dealer Services Training team.
“The best part of both Sales and Credit trainings is an early introduction to our senior leadership team,” Brian said. “One of the things that surprised me the most when I joined the company was all the support functions that were available to me right away. Our Dealer Services Training team is great. They’re entertaining. They give you great information, and the content is well thought out and engaging.”
National Mobility
Like many Dealer Services team members at GMF, Brian’s career has been marked by mobility. From Michigan to Ohio to Illinois to Texas, each move afforded Brian opportunities to learn from a different set of dealers and co-workers.
“Every time I made a move, it was a step forward in my career. When I moved to Dallas, I believed it was the right decision for my family and my career long term. And I was 100% correct in that. But I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t believed in myself and invested in myself.”
Whether the purpose of the move was a promotion or to learn a new aspect of the business, Brian believes each step along the way enriched his professional journey. Without realizing it, Brian took moves that refined his skills and ultimately prepared him for his current role.
With 13 credit centers and Sales territories covering all 50 states, GMF offers team members extensive access to career movement. Check out opportunities here.
Ready to be part of the GMF team? Start your job search today and experience firsthand what makes Brian so passionate about his career journey at GMF.
Key terms:
General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC): Auto finance company founded in 1919 by General Motors. GMAC rebranded to Ally Financial in 2010 during Brian’s tenure there.
Commercial loans: Sums of money dealerships finance from GM Financial for vehicle inventory, real estate and/or dealership insurance.
Outstandings: All amounts of money that are due, but which have not yet been paid and are owed to the creditor by the debtor.
Floorplan: In the broadest sense, floorplanning is a type of inventory financing for high-cost/high-quantity items. For GM Financial, dealerships are considered “floorplanned” when they finance large loans for vehicle inventory, real estate and/or dealership insurance with us.