Mark J. Payne

You could say the car business is in Mark J. Payne's blood...literally. He's the son of former car dealer Leo Payne, a pioneer in the auto mall concept. During his heyday, Leo owned 17 dealerships for over 30 years in and around Denver, Colorado and in so doing, infected his sons with the car business bug.

Mark debuted in the business, at age 9, as the official weed puller of his father's dealerships. That's when he began learning the automotive business from the ground up. No coward to hard work, his other not-so-glamorous duties included dusting parts bins, assisting mechanics in cleaning their tools, emptying grease pans and later serving as the resident "lot rat" cleverly moving cars about the lot, in and out of tight spaces.

As age permitted, Mark began his journey around the world of a car dealership working in the sales, finance, service and parts departments. Mark later graduated from Northwood University, a school renowned for its automotive based curriculum.

By the age of 30, Mark got his name up on the marquee as the proud owner of his own Mazda franchise, Mark Payne Mazda of Miami. Yet Mark's entrepreneurial spirit was stirring to develop products geared toward making dealerships run more effectively and profitably. Mark sold his Mazda store and embarked on a new adventure to combine his love of the car business, travel, technology, consulting and product development. He created Total Dealer Solutions. Mark has become the car dealers' "go to guy" if you will, bringing them a wealth of experience and a dynamic suite of back end and front end products which include:

PartsCount, an Automotive Parts Physical Inventory Firm.

Zipcode Target Marketing, a Service Department Customer Retention and Retrieval Program.

Partsfisher.com, an Automated Parts Obsolescence Avoidance & Reduction Tool.

PartsRec, a Daily Parts PAD to GL Daily Reconciliation Software.

Although he is known for his laidback Colorado style, there is no question that he is extremely passionate about his role in the automotive industry. As a seasoned automotive consultant with decades of front and back end experience to draw from, Mark takes great pride in bringing creativity and ingenuity into products that dealers can rely on to make an immediate impact to their bottom line.

Mark is a member of many dealer organizations. His companies are endorsed by many automotive organizations and he has been a welcomed guest speaker at several 20 group meetings to promote his products and services.