Lightspeed has long been touted as the best DMS in the industry because it was built by dealers for dealers. And while many of us are aware of Hal Ethington’s influence on the software and how it was built specifically to simplify dealer management, there is more to the story of Lightspeed’s origins that helps explain why so many customers find Lightspeed to be seamless and best-in-class. Lauretta Sechrest, a former parts manager and Lightspeed’s first employee, also had significant influence on what is now Lightspeed’s current operating platform and the culture of the business itself.
Lauretta becomes Lightspeed’s first employee
Before Lauretta came to Lightspeed, she was a parts manager for Newgate Honda Kawasaki motorcycle dealership in Ogden, Utah. The owners of this dealership were tired of doing everything by hand, so they decided to purchase a computer system. The system happened to be Lightspeed, and they sent Lauretta for training. There, she met Ernie Blodgett and Robert L. Bagley, the founders of Lightspeed, and they offered her a job. At that time, Lauretta declined the offer. She instead went back to the dealership, excited to implement the system.
“I went through that whole process of implementing the Lightspeed system at the dealership, putting in all of the parts, setting up service, parts, and then sales and accounting,” she said.
As a result of that process, Lauretta saw how automation could truly transform a dealership. And that’s why, months later, when Ernie and Robert came back to her with another job offer, she decided to say yes and become Lightspeed’s first employee.
Leading customer support
Lauretta’s first title at Lightspeed was Customer Support. Lauretta pointed out that while she was not a programmer, she did have a knack for understanding technical things. Sometimes that meant dialing in on someone’s modem to investigate and solve problems. Or sometimes it involved expanding databases. “Back then, they had servers on site, and when a customer would fill up their database, we’d have to call in on the modem and expand their database,” she said.
Lauretta was also highly involved in the setup. “We’d configure the servers for new customers, send them out, and they would have to hook it up themselves,” she said. If customers had questions, they would call in, and Lauretta and the team would walk them through what to do.
Heading up software development
After taking a short break from Lightspeed in the 90’s, Lauretta came back and was put in charge of software development. And that’s when they developed the new software platform that Lightspeed is still using today.
Lauretta said that helping develop that platform was one of the most fulfilling things she’s ever done. “I’m not a software developer,” she said, but with her background in parts management and experience in customer support, Lauretta did know what users needed the system to do.
She explained how the development process worked. “I couldn’t go in and do a code review. But I would say, all right, next week we need to be able to put a part into inventory.”
Lauretta said that the next week, the developers would come in and show her what they had done, and then she would put a part into inventory to see if it would work. She felt it was a great way to develop software because they had feedback all the way through.
As for the user interface that so many customers appreciate, well, a lot of that was Lauretta. “You know the user interface was very, very good, because people like me were looking at it, playing with it, trying it the whole time.” Because she knew the dealer experience, she knew what they needed.
The Lauretta legacy continues
Lauretta is now retired from the industry, but she was delighted to learn that not only does Lightspeed still use the platform she worked so hard to create, but they also use the same development process.She recalled a recent conversation she had with Darrin Cummins, VP of Technology at Lightspeed, where he said, “We still use the same philosophy, the same methodologies of development —agile, agile methodologies. We’re still doing the same things that we put into place all those years ago because it works. And because of that, Lightspeed is the best product on the market.”
