Podcasts

Building a product strategy based on target audience. AutoLeadStar is playing the long game. They are developing products to address the entire industry, not just the needs of one or two dealers. And that means they are focused and innovative. Ilana Shabtay is the Director of Marketing for this Israel-based tech company and she joins the Auto Collabs crew for a thoughtful conversation.

Tuesday offers us a vague and precise picture of our future as we cover some highly audacious EV goals from Elon, a new way to do navigation (you’re gonna love it), as well as some stats on how fast people are watching your YouTube videos.

Sometimes you meet someone for the first time on a Zoom call. This was the experience interviewing Sarah Carter of Upstart Auto Retail. Sarah has 20 years of experience in the industry, and she has a good perspective on the intersection of digital and physical, from the way leads are handled to how other countries are ahead of the US digitally. Plus, Cirillo considers skiing, and Paul learns what push/pull integration is.

Auto is BIG. You never know where a conversation with Darren Doane will go, but it will keep you thinking long afterwards. Darren is a director, first of music videos and now of documentaries. He’s been around many types of business and sees things from outside of the automotive industry. And he is impressed with how big auto is. That makes it able to try things in a way that other industries can’t. Today’s conversation talks about scrap metal, Newsies and yes, how Michael Cirillo is Seth Rogen’s doppelganger.

We’re set to take off this Monday with some investigative journalism around Carvana’s claims, Google gets very helpful in their recent search update, and the US is going back to the moon (ish) today.

Unboxing, ride alongs and cars in the community. There’s a sort of punk rock aura around Jeff Revilla. His first business was a skate shop where he was buying ad words on Overture. Then he joined Smail Auto Group, where he monetized their Youtube channels and got their videos seen all over the internet. All of this while not looking like every other car dealer out there.

Steven Apicella is a man on a mission. He’s out to influence the automotive industry and specifically the way that F&I has worked in the past. You can hear the passion in his voice, how much he cares for both the dealer and the customer. His company, Strategic DX - Your Dealer Experience, consolidates and tracks your third-party offerings in a way that keeps the customer connected to the dealership. Steven talks about his experience coming up in the automotive world and what sparks him to create

Lot’s of fun this Friday as we breakdown California’s 2035 EV rules, Fed Chair, Jerome Powell’s incoming speech from Jackson Hole, WY, as well as the Tesla stock split and Space X’s T-Mobile tag team.

We can’t tell you what’s going to happen in the future. But Michael Johnson has a sneak peek. Part of this is because he lives in Australia, several hours ahead of us in the US. The other part is that dealers in Australia have been experiencing things that are relatively new or not even on the horizon for those of us in North America. Inventory issues and the agency model are normal in Australia, and Michael shares his insight from the industry partner side.

Chad Graves knows marketing. He began in the marketing department of a dealership group before leaving with members of that team to start Reunion Marketing. Now, Reunion works with dealers to lift the gates of transparency, break down the silos, and formulate an entire dealership strategy. Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo find out that Chad knows that to look for from the moment he steps foot into a dealership, and also has a good handle of what SEO is and how it works.

We have some work to do this Thursday as we cover the FTC declining of the deadline for public comment on proposed legislation. We also cover the barrage of negative dealer coverage on YouTube. We’re also going to take a look at EV adoption data.

Some people always bring the sermon. Tim Cox is one of them. He is the co-founder of CarNow, and has so many thoughts for the automotive industry. But what’s special about Tim is that he is genuine all the time and you can hear his heart when he is speaking. Kyle Mountsier and Paul J Daly spend time talking about the history of CarNow, how someone on the team has to be right, integrity, and some things that are coming in 2023 that dealers need to be ready for.

Everything’s bigger in Texas. Including Classic Chevrolet’s buy center in an 80x30ft tent. Eric Hall is the Internet Director for Classic Chevrolet, and he talks about staying on top as one of the largest volume dealers in the nation, the challenges and success of looking at a buy center in a different way, and what he sees for retail automotive in the next 6 months.

Your background informs your now. That’s what Colby Joyner has experienced, going from the auto industry to the Air Force, to being an air traffic controller, to a massage therapist and then back into the auto industry both on the dealer and partner sides. It’s allowed him to see things in a different light and helped him as he organizes and automates processes.

A 50 year veteran. Tommy Gibbs has been selling cars longer than Paul, Kyle or Michael have been alive. What made him such an effective operator and what makes him a great consultant now is his emphasis on the basics. You might not get the latest flashy trick play from Tommy, but it will be effective if you work at it and get good at it. Plus, there are plenty of football analogies along the way.

Today we take a quick-shot look across the EV space as we talk about the heavy lift following the recent Climate Bill, the Sony Honda collab destined to change the in-car experience, and get into the details of the latest Tesla update.

Tuesdays are for Troublemakers. Today we cover Ford’s layoff of 3000 workers, the guilty plea of a Chinese former employee working in Apple’s automotive division, and why so many TikTockers are talking about Costco.

Parts guy. Service Advisor. Parts and Service Director. Fixed Ops Director. General Manager. These are all parts of Brian Singh’s retail automotive experience. He’s used all that knowledge to bridge the gap between different departments and help them overcome their pain points. Now, he leads evrdrive, a customer experience that he hopes will change the way people buy cars.

Ron Duan. What does a kid from Kyle Mountsier’s freshman tennis team have to do with the Social Dilemma documentary? Apparently a lot, if you ask Dr. Nicole Lipkin. She spends time with Paul, Kyle and Michael talking them through the mental health issues facing our world, or if we’re being honest, the issues we all are facing. Nothing’s off the table, from mental agility, to social comparison, to the emotional contagions.

It’s the start of another great week as we talk about Dodge’s noisy little addition to the EV race, Tesla bumping the price of Autopilot in a tweet, and your favorite striped cereal mascot becomes a YouTuber. And it’s only Monday.

We made it all the way to Friday and we’re just getting started. Today we talk about Toyota’s new Head of Sales’ predictions on that what and when of inventory recovery. We also dig into Uber and Lyft’s plans to get deep in the ad game, as well as a new study revealing the dollar amount associated with raising a child.

On the go. Where Matt Lasher goes, the insights follow. So when you have the chance to interview him, you take it, even if it means recording in a car on the way to NYC. Paul J Daly and Matt talk about the trends they’re seeing for the industry plus how marketing has changed for West Herr.

Carter Myers Automotive has been around for 98 years, meaning they lived through the Spanish Flu of 1918. Liza Borches hasn’t seen all of that, but as the 3rd generation President and CEO of CMA, she knows the stories of the company. She knows the joys and the pains. And she has led the organization through growth and culture shift, overcoming her own ideas about retail auto and even some misogyny from those in her organization. Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly, and Kyle Mountsier ask her about an opportunity at General Mills, Honda’s 3 Joys, and why groups are asking CMA to acquire them.

On this glorious Thursday we’re covering the continued retail drama as Target reports major Q2 Losses. We also cover a very real-world F-150 Lightning review, as well as Apple’s next big thing.

Glenn Pasch has seen a lot. Now he works directly with dealerships to build structure and processes. He views the world as a puzzle to be solved for the customer’s sake, and believes that as you ask the right questions and design the right roles, everything will click into place. The more guardrails you have, the faster you can run, and the better you can perform.