WEST HERR WEDNESDAY: Michael Bundt

For this week’s West Herr Wednesday, we sat down with Sales Consultant, Michael Bundt. Michael is selling out of our West Herr Toyota of Orchard Park store and has been with West Herr for a little over seven years now.

When Michael graduated with a degree in journalism, he pictured himself on the sidelines, microphone in hand, covering the biggest moments in sports. Today, you’ll find him helping customers at West Herr Toyota of Orchard Park, but his passion for connecting with people has never changed.

Mike has been with West Herr for more than seven and a half years, though his career path looked much different before joining the company.

“I was actually a sports anchor and news reporter,” Michael said. “I covered everything from Ohio State football to minor league baseball, basketball and hockey. Friday nights covering high school football were some of my favorite memories.”

After he and his wife, who was working as a television camera operator, got married, the couple decided they were ready for a fresh start and wanted to move back closer to family in Western New York. Having heard great things about West Herr and having a personal connection to the company, Michael took a leap of faith into an industry he knew very little about.

“I had zero sales experience,” he said. “I didn’t know the first thing about selling cars, and honestly, I questioned everything I was doing when I started.”

Like many people beginning a new career, confidence didn’t come naturally. Michael credits his time working in several different roles at West Herr, including Sales Consultant, Assistant and Vehicle Exchange Manager. He says working in different positions within the company helped him develop the skills and confidence he has today.

“Being a Vehicle Exchange Manager really helped me learn how to communicate with customers and improve my product knowledge,” he said. “Even today, you’re never 100 percent confident, you just focus on taking care of people.” That customer-first mindset has become the foundation of his approach.

“The biggest thing is putting your customers first,” Michael said. “If you give people a great experience and genuinely try to help them, everything else tends to work itself out.”

Throughout his career, Michael has also built lasting friendships with coworkers across multiple stores. Whether it was grabbing wings after work with teammates in East Aurora or sharing laughs with his current team in Orchard Park, it’s the relationships that stand out the most.

“The people are what makes this place special,” he said.

Mike is also grateful for the mentors who helped shape his journey, including the late Sean Murtha, who was Michael’s first mentor when starting at West Herr.

“He probably believed in me more than I believed in myself,” Mike said. “He really helped me grow.”

Outside of work, Michael’s lifelong love of sports is still a huge part of his life. He’s an avid Buffalo football & hockey fan, carries an impressive 220 bowling average, and continues covering Buffalo sports through Trainwreck Sports, where he creates social media content, podcasts and reports on local teams.

“It was always my dream to cover Buffalo sports,” Michael said. “Being able to stay involved keeps me close to something I love.”

His journalism background has even allowed him to continue receiving media credentials for events like Buffalo Football Training Camp and University at Buffalo football games.

Although his career took an unexpected turn, Mike doesn’t see it as leaving one passion behind he simply found another way to connect with people while keeping the first one alive.

When asked what advice he’d give someone making a major career change, his answer was simple.

“Work hard, but don’t overthink things,” he said. “I made things harder on myself in the beginning by overthinking everything. If you put in the effort and stay patient, you’ll figure it out.”

Looking back, one of the moments that reassured him he was on the right path came during his first year at West Herr. After a challenging start, he wrote four deals in just six hours one Sunday. “That was the first time I thought, ‘Maybe I actually have a chance at this.’”

Looking ahead, Michael isn’t really focused on reaching one specific title or milestone. Instead, he prefers to keep an open mind and continue growing wherever the opportunity takes him. “This is a goal driven industry,” he says, “but I don’t like to put a cap on myself. I just want to do the best I can and see where it takes me.”

So far, this method has served Michael well, and we are so lucky to have him on #TeamWestHerr. Keep up the amazing work, Michael!