Meet Troy Webber

Troy, thank you so much for joining us today. We’d love for you to bring our readers up to speed – can you introduce yourself and share your story?
I am very proud to be the third generation owner of my family’s auto recycling business, Chesterfield Auto Parts. My grandfather bought the junk yard in 1947, operated the business until selling to my Dad in 1975. He continued to run the business until 1989 when he changed to a sell-service model. He built our second location in 1991 as a dedicated self-service operation and partnered with other recyclers to build junk yards around the country throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. He sold the business to me in 2008, and I was able to acquire our third location in 2013. I have spent the last three years designing and building a new cloud based Yard Management System, called Yardsmart App  for my business,  for the second time in 20 years. I have seen the industry make a huge shift towards the self-service model of this industry,  in the past 10 years, and there is a glaring gap in the software available to the industry for this type business.

Please tell us more about your brand, Yardsmart App
Yardsmart is a cloud based application that includes Point of sales, inventory management, commodity sales and ample reporting, all in an easy to use web-based operating system. We are unique because we use a fixed menu pricing model that does not sell parts from a finite pre-defined inventory, similar to how a farmer’s market or produce stand works. We don’t know, or care how many parts we have in the field. If a customer pulls off an alternator, it cost $30.00. It doesn’t mater what car it came off, it costs the same amount. We do not track the parts specifically to a car. We are also the only option today,  that is cloud based, which means that you can use all your existing hardware and there is no server to buy or maintain. I can also access my business from anywhere in the world, which means I can see how my business is performing at any time. Yardsmart is also the only Yard Management System that allows businesses with multiple locations to be linked together.

So, as we mentioned to our audience earlier, you were introduced to us by Susan Nefzger, of S. Nefzger PR & Digital Marketing,  and we really admire them and what they’ve built. For folks who might not be as familiar, can you tell them a bit about your experience with Susan?
Susan and I met in 2019 through another ad agency that had hired her to do a very limited promotion for an event we were having at my Richmond store. She did such a great job that I tapped her to help me launch my new software. Now, I couldn’t imagine how I would have gotten to this point without her.

I am an automobile recycler. My area of expertise is recycling junk cars, not marketing, advertising or public relations. I am trying to launch a new software company, so I do not have the time or knowledge to do all that is needed to have a successful marketing plan.

On the other hand; Susan is the expert! She knows the advertising world and she has learned everything about me personally, my business and my marketing plan. She knows what I am looking for and what I am not interested in and is able to bring opportunities to me that she thinks will benefit our plan. Most importantly she doesn’t waste my time with things that we don’t need. She has a global reach that she is constantly using to pitch my product and boost my presence. Susan sends me interviews with journalists, Q&A sessions and articles to contribute to as part of our earned media. She is always happy and positive about the opportunities that we have and is a great spokesperson for me individually and for my new company.

Website: www.yardsmartapp.com