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In this episode, Kyle Mountsier and Paul J Daly chat with Carla Wade, the newly appointed Chief Revenue Officer of LotLinx, about her dynamic journey in the automotive industry. Carla shares her experiences from working at Automotive Mastermind to transitioning into LotLinx, where she initially served as the Senior VP of Business Development. She highlights the importance of passion for the product, believing in what you sell, and how that belief translates into effective sales strategies. Carla elaborates on LotLinx's unique technology and its impact on dealerships, emphasizing data-driven marketing approaches in a changing automotive landscape. The discussion also touches upon the challenges and rewards of leading a sales team in a SaaS organization, where belief in the product is crucial. Carla's vision for LotLinx in the upcoming year reflects her commitment to integrating various departments under her leadership to create a cohesive and efficient team.
0:00 - Intro
0:19 - Carla's journey to LotLinx and her previous experiences
0:56 - The evolution and unique technology of LotLinx
1:43 - The significance of believing in your product for successful sales
2:54 - Carla's approach to leading a sales organization in the SaaS industry
3:31 - The importance of passion and product belief in sales
4:21 - Transferring product passion to the sales team
5:12 - Carla's goals and vision as the new CRO of LotLinx
6:05 - Closing thoughts and Carla's commitment to LotLinx's growth
Carla Wade is the Chief Revenue Officer at Lotlinx
Paul J Daly: 0:06
All right, we're sitting here with a new friend Carla Wade CRO of Lotlinx
Kyle Mountsier: 0:10
newly appointed
Paul J Daly: 0:13
once removed and I have to say, wins the shoe game for Friday.
Carla Wade: 0:19
Thank you so I pass out the vintage Burberry's for today.
Paul J Daly: 0:23
Oh my goodness. I don't even know what that means. But when you say it
Kyle Mountsier: 0:26
sounds, Burberry see now you know, vintage apparently
Paul J Daly: 0:31
vintage Burberry. Thanks for staying with us. We love it when the first conversation we have with someone our paths have crossed a lot, but we've never sat down.
Carla Wade: 0:37
That's true. Yeah. Glad to be here.
Paul J Daly: 0:39
So newly appointed CRO, how
Carla Wade: 0:40
long have you been with bottling so so it's been literally a year. So my first week in on the job was actually with them at NADA. Oh, that's jumping both feet straight in what was your role when you started? So I was senior VP of bizdev. And what that meant was helping lot length kind of create that SDR team and inside sales team to grow their market share. It didn't exist then. And that was a year for growth. And so I came in to help them get that done. Curious, what were you doing before a lot less before that I was with automotive mastermind for about six years. And prior to that I was at the retail store for about 15 years.
Kyle Mountsier: 1:22
So I got a whole long story. Let's stay on track. So over the past year, obviously working with a company like Lynx that has equal share in data and marketing. Yeah, right. What have you learned about the industry that has been unique to the viewpoint of lobbyists?
Carla Wade: 1:44
Yeah. So you know, I think one of the hardest hurdles, is trying to get dealers to think differently, right? Because a lot of it predicates upon leads, which is kind of what we know. But the main staple diet, if you don't have leads, you don't have opportunities. And, and so the way that lot links operates, it's not bringing the leads, but it's bringing the efficiency in the intelligence for you to be able to operate in a better and more succinct manner for the dealer, as well as with your customers. And it's almost like, for example, when a customer walks into a store, it's not always all about price. Sometimes it's the right model, it's gas efficiency. So there's a number of different factors that come into that. And then, of course, price is a factor. But it's not the only factor. And that's the same way that I kind of view lat links for a dealership where we may not be that lead provider, but we're helping to make sure that you are putting the appropriate budgets on the right cars, looking at your VIN vans in a very strategic manner. And it's that conduit to helping you have that rounded package to get rid of your inventory and sell to more customers.
Kyle Mountsier: 2:54
So you said you train STRS she's like, let me put this little bow on this topic because I've told my people I love to talk because, you know, across across the industry, a lot of times from industry partner to dealer, yeah, there's this kind of battle and like you don't really know what I do. But there is sales on either side of it. And you're leading a sales organization that is doing a similar thing. When you think about leading a sales organization to bring a product to market like, lovelies, what are some of the key things that you're thinking about as you develop? The team?
Carla Wade: 3:31
Yeah, so a it's passion behind the product, right? You have to love what you're selling, you have to believe in it. And I truly believe that Lotlinx has such a unique technology. Listen, I've been around for a little while. I used to be the decision maker for technology in the dealership, I worked at another SAAAS auto organization before that. And when I saw what Lotlinx has and what it delivers to the dealerships. That's what really brought me to the company. First and foremost, I'm like, that is cutting edge. And I want to be a part
Kyle Mountsier: 4:02
now you can transfer that passion. So yeah, so I think
Carla Wade: 4:05
really standing behind and believing in your product is baseline. Yeah. Like
Paul J Daly: 4:11
I mean, a lot of people say they do. But I feel it. She's like, it's at my core right here.
Kyle Mountsier: 4:21
Actually, things that we used to say all the time, it's like get people driving the product, right? In the automotive sales side. It's like, hey, if everybody's driving your product, they're going to be more passionate about and they're gonna love it more and then it's going to sell more because they're passionate about the product and that's a difficult thing in the SAS world because you can't get that person to buy the product. Yeah, they have to buy the belief in the product. Yeah, and the idea around the product, because they can't like own it. Take it home with right share stories about
Paul J Daly: 4:52
transfer of ownership the classic sales technique. Well, why don't you feel it? Oh, yes
Kyle Mountsier: 4:59
sir All right, so now you've you've taken the CRO role, which is very similar, I'm sure but an elevated role for for your role, a lot of things. What are you hopeful for? And what are you driving toward in the next year? Yeah.
Carla Wade: 5:12
So what I'm really excited about the most, and I feel like this is going to be like, our pinnacle year, is having an opportunity now to kind of bring a few departments together, right? So being a CRO, I'm only overlooking now the SDR team and inside sales, but also feel sales, as well as performance management, enablement, right. Rev operations. So bringing all of that process training people, service together, just allows us to have a more rounded and more prepared team to kind of hit the ground running and grab the worldwise horn man,
Paul J Daly: 5:50
I'm gonna be watching.
Kyle Mountsier: 5:51
I'm watching. I'm watching the whole year where we're coming back to NADA. Yes, you're gonna be like, what happened? She's gonna be like, did you do? Yeah, it's gonna Yeah, we gotta tell the story. That's really cool. Well, thank you so much for spending time with us today. It's great to meet you. And just hear your passion. Yeah.
Carla Wade: 6:06
Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity and keep doing what you're doing. Absolutely love it. Thanks a lot.