Meet Jason Hoult, Anvil’s President and Founder

What do you do for Anvil?

I lead the vision and growth of Anvil; both where we’re headed and how we’re going to get there. I provide inspiration to the team and help drive the culture of finding a better way. 

How long have you been at Anvil?

I created the company in 2017. It took me about nine months to design and build the first version of Anvil, before it was officially deployed on Feb. 4, 2018.

Why Anvil?

My happy place is leveraging my unique skills and experiences to help other dealers — our customers — tackle the challenges in front of them. When I was in their shoes, I knew there was a better way a dealership could grow, but I didn’t have the tools available. I took that need and found the unique mix of Salesforce and our expertise to deliver what I feel will take our dealer customers to the next level. We transform dealers into digital powerhouses at Anvil. We help them build a better business using technology. 

What are you most excited about in this industry?

Our entire industry is shifting to targeted solutions. Instead of a dealership having to fit into a generic solution box, the entire software market is moving to industry-specific, and even dealer-specific, tailored solutions. I love being the partner to others that I always wanted to have.

What are you most excited about at Anvil?

The winners in the dealership market are going to be those who better manage their inventory vs. those who turn their inventory. That is the whole point of Anvil CRM/I, DealerConnect CRM/I and Anvil Enterprise — better data, better processes, better inventory management. Winners will be those who do the best job, and Anvil helps dealerships do personalized management at scale.

What do you consider Anvil’s most overlooked feature or superpower?

This is like asking which kid is my favorite. But I would have to say Sales Pipeline or Visual Pipeline Manager. The reason is it can help you stay more organized with just a few minutes a day. And with clarity comes so many rewards: forecasting, organization, faster follow-ups, better customer service, knowing which deals are great and which are bad. It’s almost a forgotten thing that you can manage your sales pipeline this way. Anvil makes it realistically possible, and then your sales managers become coaches rather than admins when it’s done well.

What are your passions outside of the office?

Family, food and classic cars. I love spending time with my wife and kids. I enjoy cooking and gravitate to making comfort foods — the two requested most are my pumpkin pie or my biscuits and gravy. I’ve also been told I can’t come to Thanksgiving ever again without bringing my cranberry sauce. Alton Brown and Kent Rollins, the chuckwagon cook, are my top sources of cooking inspiration. I have two classic cars, a ’94 Blazer and ’94 Corvette. I’m also a gadget geek. As a tech guy I suppose it comes naturally, but I like to have the latest devices (most of which are Apple).

What are your must read or listen to media sources?

I like to see how other people tackle problems and build things.

• “How We Got There” podcast by Mike Davis
• “Go To Market” podcast
• “How I Built This with Guy Raz” podcast on NPR (especially this episode with Craig Culver)

What do you consider the most important skill or trait to have to succeed?

Curiosity. It drives searching out education and drives looking for a better way. Curious people don’t stagnate.