0:00 / 0:00
Car Guy Coffee & DriveCentric presents “Live at Drive for #DC20” feat. Nathanael Greklek

Car Guy Coffee & DriveCentric presents “Live at Drive for #DC20” feat. Nathanael Greklek

Car Guy Coffee Apr 23, 2024 24 min
0:00
0:00
Immersive Mode

About this episode

Engaging discussions at the Drive for #DC20 event highlight the importance of evolving communication in the automotive industry. Nathanael Greklek emphasizes the need for dealerships to embrace modern marketing strategies, particularly through social media, to connect authentically with customers. He shares insights on creating engaging content and fostering community relationships, stressing that the industry's success hinges on adapting to new communication methods. The episode features lively exchanges about personal experiences and the transformative power of storytelling in sales.

Topics: social media marketing customer experience community engagement video content modern communication dealership strategies branding event insights
Select text to request an explanation
Hello, and welcome to the Car Guy Coffee podcast for the DC twenty Unlocked series, brought to you by drive Centric. For more information or to get
signed up for the next DC twenty event, go to drive centric dot com.
Let's prove what's going. It's spelling ourself and we are still brewing solutions
live at drive Centric headquarters, and we are right here with the one, the only, not that, y'all. That's right. Yeah. Excited When
you asked, when do you guys get here, We're like, oh, stap He's going over there. Awesome, This is awesome, exciting, exciting
that you're here as a for runner in this industry for making sure people use and operate socially. What is it like for you to be over here at
one of the for runners in our industry in being social and using video actually being here, I honestly, I didn't know what to expect because my literally my first year and like the first time ever hearing about it, to be honest, But the amount of brain power, that's the way, that's the only way I can really describe the amount of brain power that's in here, the questions that are being asked, the speakers that are here, all are enticing you to think differently, to think outside the box, which is honestly
my favorite thing to do as And maybe some of you don't know that, don't know me, but I run the social media marketing at Mohawk Auto Group, Molawkana, Mohawks, Chae, Mowawk, Colligious, Center, Wrap Case.
But we post a lot of content and for here to be amongst people that are trying to think outside the box and trying to think a little more progressively to bring the industry to a new bar is just it's a great It's a great place to be. It's literally that's the way I can describe it.
And so this is being your first one here. What would you say
to people that are even on the fence or kind of considering coming to a DC twenty event. If you're thinking about coming, the first thing I will
tell you is you need to be open and you have to be willing to execute. I think that's one of the biggest things that we as an industry.
We're like, yeah, we want to sell more cars, we want to have great customer experience, but we're gonna still four square. We're still
going to do the same things that we did in nineteen seventy eight to sell cars, but we want to have a better experience. That doesn't work.
You have to be with like minded people, like minded individuals. You have
to be willing and able to execute what's being done here when you find it feasible for your dealership, for your goals. So I love what you just
said there, and it is true. And that's the thing, Like we
want things to change, but we don't want to change. You want to
sell more cars, and you want to make your customers happier, but you want to do the process we did in nineteen seventy eight and for all of our times by at the same time, he's not lying. That's not even
really an exaggeration. It's basically what is happening is that we're still trying to
do the same old process that we think works. It works, but it
doesn't work for today's clientele. It doesn't work for what the future of the
world looks like. The way we communicate has changed so much. Our parents'
parents communicated differently than our parents did. Our parents communicate differently than we do.
In our children, they're going to definitely communicate way differently than we do.
So if we're not looking for ways to evolve that, then, really, what are we doing. We're just we're playing a game that's going to
be dangerous. It's going to cause us to not just lose your opportunity to
help a lot of people, but also possibly lose your business. So it's
time to change. It's time to make a change and do something different.
Look in a mirror, and a man in the mirror, right and understand that the problem most of the time in the stores is you are the problem.
If you're an owner in your stores not doing the things, it's because you're not making it happen. It's your job to be the fish that has
the fresh head. In this way, the rest of the body is really
fresh too, So be that person and go out there and do things.
And let me tell you something. You you're an amazing young man. We
got to meet you a long time ago. The first time I really got
to really see you when you went to one of Glenn Pash's events. It
was one that was out in wine Country and I saw you, We saw you bring it, you brought the b boy, you were break dancing and all this stuff. Was the first time I ever seen you, like I
think I may have senior social but I saw your personality there and when I saw that, I was like, I want to hang out with this kid, right, young man, I should say right. And what I mean
by that is that you just bring up an energy that makes me want to do more and I feel like and a lot of times Lou and I are the ones bringing the energy in places, but yet you come in and you bring it. Then when we got to hang out with you at a soducon
and the very first one, and we were all dancing and hanging out, and you were bringing the funks, just bringing it, and me and Lou were bringing we were just which one I pushed up? Dude, that was
a fun vibe. So we knew right then that we'd always be friends with
you. We knew right then that I'd be following you and cheering you on
and everything you do. Even since then. I know there's a lot of
things that's happened in your life, your health, like your family, your dinnery have another baby. Amazing, is that right? But life is always
challenging, it's always moving, but yet you always keep a smile on your face. Brother, and you shared it with the world. You are an
example at your store of what social media should be used like. It's not
just hey, I want to sell you something, It's hey, I want you to who I am. I want you to want to do business with
me because I'm a normal person and I actually and I care about the people I'm around, my family, the people I work with, the people I sell to, all those things, and you bring that You're great example of it. Brother. One of the speakers that was here, Danielle Dolgatto,
talked about putting don't you want don't you want your community to know who you are and what you stand for. That was what she said, pretty much
in a nutshell, and that has literally been that spoke to me so much because that's literally been my like my north star ever since I started as the made up title chief digital branding leader. That has been my main focus has
been let people know who you are, know the process, and know who they're going to deal with. Yes, because that, at the end of
the day is what they're to care about. Yes, everyone's even I'm ready
just bring those comments in. People care about price, they care about this
that ears monthly. Yeah, and you know what, there is some validity
to that. Yes, there is, But are they willing to come back
to you after that APR after that least month? Are they willing? Do
they love it? Do they love what you stand for? Do they love
that you take care of their family? When their little kid has a baseball
game and your name is on their shirt? Are do they do you care
about their family? When their girls Scout Troop wants to come sell cookies and
their your dealership like, who are we to keep that in a box?
Because we have the ability to help the community so much and share the amazing people and change the perception. Ship of the automotive industry is our job.
It is our duty as dealerships now to change the stigma of what it used to be. Yes, I love that which we can always add upon what
it is that the industry is by sheer numbers or just by closing more or selling more. But there is a real transformation that is occurring. Transformation also
means that there has to be a sitting and allowing the process to take root.
As a caterpillar is making the change or the metamorphosis into a butterfly.
Right there, there is that continuity, that time where you have to let the process in. You have to let it become and it wurts. It's
a change. It sucks to get your you gotta shed inside of that.
There there is something that's unique about each and each individual themselves. Make sure
you tack a car guy, attack a cargal. Share this around everybody.
We need more people to hear from right now, they take it. What
you all are seeing in front of you is somebody that is pushing the envelope and you are seeing these new experiences yourself over at Mohawk wherever it is that you go highlighting what it is that's happening at the store, the people that are at the store, the community, all of those things are very important, especially if you have something unique. Now, you can get a haircut
anywhere, but you came to Saint Louis got a haircut and you got it wasn't just as That's such true because if it was just a haircut, you wouldn't have said nothing about But you had a different experience. Something something seared
you. That's even the Colever naming of it. It seared me. But
tell us a little bit about that experience that you had today and correlate that to making sure that people out there do take seriously what they have the opportunity to do. So I'm a sucker for experiences because I want to be I
never want to be a car guy cargirl that just becomes jaded in the industry.
I want to constantly be looking what are other people doing? What are
others experiencing at other places? And I want to be more self aware in
that manner. So when I see a Scissors and Scotch, I'm like,
Wow, that place sounds dope, it sounds cool, and it has things that most barbershops don't offer. They don't most barbershops do not offer a facial
sugar scrub. They don't. Let me know in the comments, you've been
to a barbershop that has a sugar scrub and it can't be you go to Scotch and Scissors, because what else what we're talking about? Shout out,
but shout out Scott Decissors. Share this around. But they had that.
They have a facial toner and outside like and a hot towel. Hot towel
is a staple for barbershops. But that extra thing, I was like,
not even I got the medium package. I'm like, I mean today and
that cost me one hundred and twelve dollars. They up charged me a single
malt scotch at their bar that they had at Scotch. This is a scotch.
They're like, yeah, we have these. You get a free you
get a free drink from this shelf. I was like, but what about
that shew That one looks way back and that's and that that is exactly when I'm thinking about. And we're gonna talk more about videos and things like that
tomorrow and some best practice and best practices. My passion's gonna come out.
I don't know if I'm gonna talk much about just making videos and drive centric or videos in general, but we're gonna find out. But yes, we're
specifically we're talking about the videos that you can send to your customers. But
that's an experience. Some of the testimonials that I have from actual salespeople,
they're gonna, you guys are getting the four one one, the loan, the forour one one. But the the salespeople where they're like, yeah,
first I didn't want to do it, so why'd you do it? My
managers forced me to do it, so why do you do it now?
Because I love it and I see the freaking results. Okay, great,
that's amazing. Why are we not doing that across? That is the reason
that I can do literally do my job is I can do my job best when the managers, the general sales managers, the assists in general managers, yep are doing their job to keep the team accountable, to give the customer the best experience. That's it, the accountability. You just said it.
We all know videos. Well, we're about to go off in here.
It's so right, and yeah, Nathaniel's right, I'm telling you right now, right because it is true. We all know that. We all agree
videos work. We all agree that we need to communicate more in video communication.
Right. We need to send people what it looks like to be u
through, what we look like, what the vehicle looks like. There's so
many easy things. If you're in service, even you could show what's going
on with the vehicle. It's crazy to say that we don't want to do
it. But here's the problem. Most of you leaders, you never did
it, right, So you're from that school, but we didn't have that.
We still sold cars. Guess it's different again. It's just like the
language. The way that we communicate is different. Now, So you have
to encourage your team to do it, but most importantly, you have to hold them accountable for it. Just like he said, our managers made us
do it, and once they made him do it, And why do you still do it? Because I love it because I see the results. I
see what happened. So sometimes you're gonna have sales pros that you're gonna say,
hey, I need you to do it. They're gonna just do it
and you don't even have to push them to do it. But there's gonna
be times you're gonna have to push people. And just know that push will
have a result because when they see results, that's when they become the buy in. That's when it all happens. When they have that experience, they're
like, oh, there it is. Now I see why I'm doing this,
and now they're gonna do it every day. But sometimes we have to
push people. It's no different than your children, y'all. If you got
kids, you guys know what you do. Sometimes you make kids now don't
want to do it. I think it's bad. It's good for you,
so I need you to do it. You need each Abrucotli all that type
of stuff. It's like that old joke. You know, It's like that
old joke, what's the different between biggers and broccoli? Kids don't eat broccoli,
right, So that's that's how it goes. But that's true. But
the point is that you have to sometimes encourage them, but most importantly you have to hold them accountable for it. And if you do that, the
results are tenfold. It's just because we never done it before in the past.
Listen, I was there five years ago. I'd never did video either.
I didn't know what that stuff was like. And then I started doing
it and I saw results from it, and then now I tell everybody, this is what you need to do if you want to have a future in this industry as like a real future, and not just sell your ten to twelve cars a month. You want to sell twenty thirty forty cars a month
and do it without having to bend over backwards and work your aceof do social media. You're still gonna work hard, but you're gonna get so much from
it. You're gonna have people coming in to see you because of just because
of the way that you show yourself, the way that they know you.
Your brand is gonna be everywhere. Man, I don't know how much business
Low and I have gotten just because of our videos. People come to us
all time. What do you guys do? I want to do business with
you guys. You guys seem like fun. That's the point, my friends.
They don't just do they don't just do fun podcasts. I just yeah,
Yeah. There was something that that happened when you were called up there
by the now and she was speaking, and she asked about your goal, and you set a goal that inside of the room of people that maybe try to push the envelope a little bit, maybe they're starting to get a little bit social if in this event they are somewhat forward thinking. But you said
something, you said, have forty posts per day, per per mohawk entity, per mohawk entity, per store or rooftop, right right, So help us understand that goal and what it is that you're doing to try to achieve that. Well, a lot of people you're gonna hear you hear this all
the time, right like value Trump's quantity, value Trump's quality. But when
we're making content, we're doing highest quality we can with the highest content.
But you also have to this is a whole social strategy for everybody. But
like it's a mix, just like you have a marketing mix, you have a social media mix. Yes, not every single video is going to be
high quality. Where sh in front of an A seven six thousand, or
my team's using a seven R three's in our fours and a gimbal and.
But there's a lot of times we're going out, we're using this thing, which is pretty powerful. This is a much better camera than half the cameras
we had all our lives. I started making content for Mohawk and an iPhone
seven, and if anybody remembers the iPhone seven, I'm pretty sure the pixel was maybe like five megapixels. They're like something like asinine, like that little
and but what you do, it's not about the video. It's about the
content inside of the video and how people relate. And the best thing that
I can My most recent viral video is about three hundred thousand on TikTok.
It was a sales manager so passionate about making armadillo eggs. You ever heard
of armadilla No, me, neither't even know they did. The funny part
is that it's a jalapeno. Oh I got you hold out with a cream
chees He's sauce put in the middle, wrapped in sausage, wrapped in bacon, smoked. And his intensity on this video, make sure you check it
out on TikTok because it is amazing. Like the amount of focus he had
talking about that was crazy. And the comments you saw is like, I'd
instantly trust this man. I if I buy a car, I need these
Armadillo eggs, Like where are these Armadillo eggs? And the funny part is
when I went around to the dealership, some of them hadn't even seen the video, but we went to his house and made him and made the armadel eggs. Yo, you want an armadial egg? Like, no, I
don't even know they made Armadila. I didn't even know. I was like,
no, this is it. But that's the power of social Like three
hundred and thirty four thousand people saw this video. They commented ridiculously amounts of
fun content about him, like you got to see him come to life.
And that's from a videos do yes you can? Hey, mister and missus
customer, I just want to talk to you about your branding vehicle. I
just wanted to follow off with you seguent versus. Hey, mister missus customer,
I just want to talk to you. They can see your face,
they can see you like. It's the difference closer to one on one.
I love social media. It's never going to compare to one on one.
Never, never, there's never. The whole point is to get them one
on one, to get him here. But we need to communicate where they
communicate, and if social media where they're communicating, let's talk to them there.
It's what you said it. There's so many ways that on social we
could message them, we could video them, we could do things, we could post something and tag them to it. It's so unintrusive in so many
different ways if you do it the right way, if you know your clients, you know how to speak to them. But don't discount that opportunity.
Don't just say I'm gonna do multichopol. We I still sell cars. Do
you want some more cars? What would you do with an extra thousand dollars
every month? My friends? Right? A lot? Right? We have
some people on Instagram. I want to shout out because we can't post those
comments up here. We got Brian or tag on there saying bro and he
says Nate Dog is extra for sure, says this dance Time. It is
love your tag. We got the automotive mentorship. They're saying, just post
customers don't worry about what you're wearing and how you look. They remember how
you made them feel. Facts that's great. This and my Angelo but altered
and I love that you know, and that's okay, And that's great that you say that, because that's factual. That's something that'll be true to the
end of time. As long as you give somebody an experience that's unforgettable,
they'll never forget that. Even if they don't leave in a car, even
if they go buy somewhere else, they're not going to have the same experience if you give it. A promise you the majority of sales people out there
won't give them that experience. Even if they have to buy somewhere else.
They do, they'll remember and guess who they're going to send anybody that they want to have a good experience to you. I've had it happen to me
in the past as a salesperson, where customers coming to me that were referred by somebody I bought somewhere else. All I did was talk to them for
maybe an hour at a dealership, but because I explained things so well, so well that I explain things so well, but I brought such a great energy to it. I made it such a great experience when I hit them
with the three e's and I made sure that they left feeling very empowered.
And then they went out and did what they did. They were so empowered
they bought a car, which makes me happy. I want them to buy
for me, but I want people to remember me more than buy for me, because I know that if I do that enough, I'm going to have a business, and I'm going to have a flourishing business for the rest of my life if I continue to do that NonStop. So use social to show
people that don't worry about Danelle was on the show a little bit before you, a couple of guests before you, and she said, there's a lot of dealers out there that just don't talk about the great things they do, like the donations they do for their community and stuff, because they don't want to break It's not about bragging, it's about showing people what you do so others will do the same. And here's the thing, is that so for
us specifically Mohawk. You can't speak for everybody else, but when you have
a team, you can provide more value to your community partners. So,
for instance, when we go and we sponsor an event, specifically, I'm gonna go with Special Olympics in New York, So using the talents that our team has, go there. We sponsored a team, all that fun stuff,
but we take it to the next level. My team goes out there,
they make content for the event, Like obviously we're there, so we're gonna be in the stuff or making the content for Special Olympics to be able to use on their platforms if they were. If your community partner was going
to try to buy someone to get there to shoot content to make a video, it's gonna cost him at least fifteen hundred dollars at least unless they find someone out the grace of if you have someone that's do for free, awesome, But a majority of these places don't have that ability. There's a lot
of people that want this the social they need the content, but they can't afford it. And you as a dealer, when you have a team,
you're like, hey, I'm gonna give you some money, but I also have this option too. We've also had the ability to We didn't even there's
people that be like, we don't really need money, we just need production.
So now you're getting a partnership for free based on the fact that you have a social media team that can make them content. You get your name
on hand sign, you get your name shout it out, and that's something that other dealerships aren't doing. So now when they post their content, everybody
in their little service. Yeah, Lohawk made that. Ye dudes, you're
talking some really great stuff and folks, and he's going to be talking about a lot of this tomorrow too. And that's why you're here as a speaker,
brother, and I want to congratulate you on all your success with that, dude, and you're going to be doing this more and more. I
know you're involved with a lot of great agency. You're with a Soda.
You're always there. You're always supporting them and they support you, and I
love that. I love how you guys have that relationship there. You do
that with us. You've always been very supportive of us. You've been supportive
of of a lot of different dealerships, even outside of yours, because you have friends in all kinds of different spaces because of the way that you're so open about what you do. So congrats on that. Man. That's not
easy thing to do. And folks, if you need somebody to follow and
really learn how to do it, this is a great one to watch.
And if you have any questions, you can reach out to him. His
favorite place to be reached out to hiss all social media. We asked him
before the show. Anyone on social he'll reach back out. He's so active
on there, he'll see it. He'll make sure he reaches out. But
folks, if you have any questions, you make sure you reach out to him. Man. He'll get you the information as fast as possible or hook
you up with somebody who knows the answer. We are affiliated with some really
great car people and we're very lucky to have friends in all the places right, So reach out to any other the right friends and all the right places.
Love it, man, love it. We love you, man.
Go ahead break. If you are a content creator in a dealership, you
make content for a dealership, we have a group for you, specifically, go to Facebook Automotive Creative Collective. It is a group of individuals that handle
the social media handle the content creative at dealerships, and that is a place for you. It's a safe place for you to make content, to share
with us, to see what others are doing so that you can implement in your store and make your content and create content that crushes. Is that correct?
Automotive creative collective? That's it all right, folks. It's the ACC.
Yeah, you know me right, So make sure you guys get down with ACC. Go out there, reach out to them if you want to
learn more. It's great information. Like you said, he's in there.
Just they're sharing all their content, they're having fun, they're giving each other ideas, and that's it's a beautiful thing to be part of a network like that. And there's a lot of great car people. A matter of fact,
the best want to give out their secrets. They don't really actually have
secrets. Secret. So just the key is work, work with passion,
and you'll do great in life. So this one just has a amount of
passion, just a little bit a little man, Thank you so much, man, this time with you. Just excited to just have you with us,
event no doubt, hang out with you. It's even better that you're
speaking, even better that you've been on the cart podcasts, now Live and direct sitting in the chairs next to us, brother the experiences is apprehow you your energy is second to none. And car guys in car guys, you
need some more of what he's brewing. And we are so thankful that you've
taken the time to watch this, whether why or on the replay or if you're listening to this on the podcast. Thank We love you. Is a
car guy and I'm freling our up Prime Hei Road before we let you all go. We got to make sure that we do drop those bombs that don't
offend the moms. And that's going to give focus and with this incredible solutionary
we're brewing with right here, Hey, let's do this. Let's do it
on three one two three forget focus, focus, live and keep throwing, keep throw it, throw it. Have a good one. Everybody, keep
staying tune. We are live with Drive at DC twenty unlocked. See you
all later. We out

Request an Explanation

Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.

Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.

Want to learn more?

Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.

Explore Terms

More from Car Guy Coffee

NCM Event Conversations feat. Chad Graves
Jun 1, 2026
NCM Event Conversations feat. Tim Hayden
Jun 1, 2026
NCM Event Conversations feat. Owen Moon
May 27, 2026
NCM Event Conversations feat. Eric Glass from CallReview
May 27, 2026