Cox Automotive’s Jade and Jeremy join Car Guy Coffee at the NCM event to talk about how sponsorship and networking connect technology to the consumer experience. The conversation moves into dealer benchmarking, the “dealer blind spot,” and why measuring only first/last touch misses most of the journey. They discuss marketplace inventory visibility, crediting leads across many touch points, and building first-party data with Neptune/Drive Q. The goal: connect online shopping to in-store seamlessly, using data and curiosity to grow market share.
NCM Event Conversations feat. Jade and Jeremy from Cox Automotive
In this special Series NCM Event Conversations we grabbed a few of our favorite guest to talk about their experiences and whats happening in our Industry. In this interview Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz speak with Jade and Jeremy from Cox Automotive, discussing why dealer culture and people matter as much as technology. They highlight the value of networking and understanding the vendor landscape, then preview a session on multi-touch attribution to address the dealer “blind spot,” where only first and last touch are typically measured despite an average of 62 touch points.
NCM Fixed Ops Summit, an experience built for leaders ready to elevate performance, profitability, and the customer journey through modern systems and by utilizing AI-driven innovation.
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"I tell you NCM has spent decades mastering the 20 group side of the business how do you take dealers from everywhere and you take benchmarks and you take all of these great aggregated data and insights to help them all raise their game."
NCM is the name of the organization being talked about. They’re described as having a lot of experience running a dealer-focused group and using data to help dealers improve how they do business.
NCM is referenced as an organization that has spent decades mastering the “20 group” side of the business. In this context, it’s positioned as a data/benchmarking and event ecosystem that helps dealers improve performance using aggregated insights.
Concept
20 group
"I tell you NCM has spent decades mastering the 20 group side of the business how do you take dealers from everywhere and you take benchmarks and you take all of these great aggregated data and insights to help them all raise their game."
“20 group” sounds like a specific group or benchmark set of dealers. The idea is that they use shared data and comparisons to figure out what works best and help other dealers improve.
“20 group” appears to be a specific dealer benchmarking cohort or segment being used as a performance reference. The host ties it to using aggregated data and “metrics” to help dealers raise their game across the dealer/OEM/consumer chain.
"how do you take dealers from everywhere and you take benchmarks and you take all of these great aggregated data and insights to help them all raise their game."
Aggregated data just means information collected from lots of places and combined together. In this episode, it’s used to spot patterns and compare results so dealers can make better decisions.
Aggregated data means combining information from many sources into a single dataset for analysis. Here, it’s described as being used to create benchmarks and insights that help dealers improve performance across multiple metrics.
"that really understand how to connect the dots between the consumer, the dealer, the OEM and all of the places that matter to drive ROI. In fact I'm sure Jeremy will tell you we're going to talk a little bit this afternoon"
Return on investment (ROI) is a way to judge whether spending money is paying off. Here, it’s about figuring out what actions and factors actually lead to better results for dealers and customers.
Return on investment (ROI) is a measure of how much profit or value you get compared to what you spend. In this episode, it’s framed as something technology helps dealers understand by identifying what drives ROI and customer satisfaction.
"we're going to talk a little bit this afternoon about the dealer blind spot that has been so big for so many years where dealers had to decision make without those core data points"
“Dealer blind spot” means dealers haven’t had visibility into some important information. The discussion is about tools that help them see what’s actually driving results and customer happiness.
“Dealer blind spot” is used as a business concept for the idea that dealers have been missing key information needed to make good decisions. The host says the episode will cover the technology that helps dealers understand what’s driving return on investment and customer satisfaction.
Term
consumer satisfaction and experience
"what technology is unlocked to help dealers really understand what's driving return on investment and consumer satisfaction and experience."
This phrase is about how happy customers are and what their overall experience is like. The episode suggests there’s tech that helps dealers figure out what influences those customer results.
“Consumer satisfaction and experience” refers to how customers feel about the buying and ownership journey, not just whether a sale happens. The host links it to technology that helps dealers understand what’s driving both ROI and customer outcomes.
"...umers where they are and to create that connected omni channel ecosystem that makes them happy it's so t..."
The Dodge Omni is a small car made by Dodge, built to be an affordable way to get around. It’s a front-wheel-drive hatchback, meaning the engine and driving wheels are up front. People bring it up because it’s a well-known older model from the compact-car category.
The Dodge Omni is a compact, front-wheel-drive hatchback/small car that was produced by Dodge. It’s often discussed as an example of practical, budget-focused transportation from its era, and it may come up in conversations about how automakers built “everyday” cars for mass-market buyers. If it’s mentioned alongside broader business or product themes, it’s likely being used as a reference point for a recognizable model line rather than a performance story.
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Hello and welcome to the CarGuy coffee podcast. You are listening to the inter brews at the
NCM client and friends event. Enjoy these conversations. Let's brew what's going on
car guys and car gals. It's Lou Ramirez, the car guy, and we are excited to be brewing solutions
live over here at the NCM and associates clients and friends workshop in Kansas city. And we have
representing the big Cox Automotive from wherever it is in the country they came in from. We have
Jade and Jeremy making sure that they are brewing solutions. Welcome to the party everybody.
Excited that you are here and I am really excited to understand what is it that you all are getting
to to make sure that you take away as you are or actually coming and you're given pretty much.
You guys are a pretty big sponsor of this event. I'm excited that you're out here. What is it that
you're most excited about coming to this event? The highlight so far was watching you guys on
stage earlier today because you bring the energy and the passion and you remind us all that this
is a people business because we talk so much about the technology and the software but it
really comes down to we talked about this a lot over the years culture adoption the energy and
the attitude that you bring to the consumer experience. So that's what we're most excited
about here at the NCM dollars. I appreciate that thank you so much and we are definitely here to
be able to pour something inside of everybody's cup to encourage them because it is so important.
Jeremy coming to an event like this where we can get all jammed up inside of an elevator or we can
get inside of a big room where we can meet sitting at a table and have a conversation with everybody.
I understand that yes the people are incredible but you all link so much technology to the people
but at the end of the day it really doesn't matter if the people actually know what they're doing.
Jeremy what is it like for you coming to an event like this. I just love the networking
and I have to agree with Jade you guys's energy is awesome and I see you at NADA I see you guys
everywhere you guys a fantastic big fan. I really want to check out what our competition is doing.
I think there's a lot of really great vendors here and learning where we exist in the space or
where we coexist with them super important. I myself do product demonstrations so knowing
our advantages and exactly what everybody else is working towards and how we're scaling alongside
that I think is a very important part of that business. Coming together with all these different
people that have solutions is really what makes you all be able to be so versatile and that's
awesome being able to present products know what's actually out there and I love that he said that
he's actually checking out his competition. One thing that is cool about this event is even if you
are inside of the room with people that you're competing with everybody still seems to be in
the room to be able to advance everybody move everybody forward. What is it like being able
to go to different events like that because I'm sure you all get to see your share of events and
your share of people doing what it is that you're doing but how often do you see it done in such a
it's not starchy but it's very classic. What is it like for you to be able to see that inside of
that class? I'm going to go to the lady because there is a lot of curating that goes into making
sure that this is an event where you do feel like maybe a guy's thrown on the jacket you're rocking
the jacket too though loving it. I tell you NCM has spent decades mastering the 20 group side
of the business how do you take dealers from everywhere and you take benchmarks and you
take all of these great aggregated data and insights to help them all raise their game.
What's working the best for everybody in their 20 group across all of the different metrics that
matter and NCM has somehow carried that same culture through to this event started of course
with David, David Cain, Cain and friends that we have all been to together for so long and love so
much but it's almost the 20 group of vendors also because it's the best of the best that are here
that really understand how to connect the dots between the consumer, the dealer, the OEM and all
of the places that matter to drive ROI. In fact I'm sure Jeremy will tell you we're going to talk
a little bit this afternoon about the dealer blind spot that has been so big for so many years where
dealers had to decision make without those core data points and today we're going to cover
what technology is unlocked to help dealers really understand what's driving return on investment
and consumer satisfaction and experience. I love that Jeremy spill some beans about what's about to
be on the stage today. Yeah absolutely so we're going to be talking a little bit about multi-touch
attribution recording so if you start to think about CRM is typically the main source of the
data where you're looking at that is what I'm doing working right am I closing sales am I actually
making some deals but the blind spot is actually really everything in between so when we're starting
to think about what what's the first area that customers clicked in and started looking at my
inventory what do we do next are we following them what sort of data sets are we utilizing so it's
all the engagement that we get from those things in between was there there's 62 touch points and
only first and last touch are currently getting measured so that's the where the blind spot comes
from so when you say there's 62 spots only the first two are what are those first two generally
it's like usually going to the website sometimes it'll come from like google that's just like the
direct path right but a lot of the other things that are influenced are typically going to be
things you're spending money on so when we imagine hey I spent money to get my display add up there
and somebody clicks on it that's one path but one of the main ones is the listings websites so
we'll have the customer click in and find the vehicle that they're most interested in and then
we have to follow that all the way through and then the last touch portion of it is who gets
credit for that sale when we're looking in the CRM and the lead source I do that justice jade
you did a great job so when you think about that we just completed a study commissioned by proficient
or commissioned by Cox Automotive proficient used clairvoy data over a million transactions
that they looked at last year because we are teaching dealers that it's finally time to get
past the lead model because you can't pay the bills at the end of the month for the stack of leads
you gotta have closed deals and profit come on and yeah and so you all do a great job you've
been talking about this for years but the industry is finally getting it so you take those 62 average
touch points and if you're only measuring the first one and the last one first click last click
you're measuring maybe three to six percent what's actually driving profit for your organization
and we also found out in that study 48 percent of visits are starting on a marketplace website
which means you have to have your inventory where the consumers are because you know what when you go
to auto trader or any of the other marketplaces out there of course we just launched the auto
trader srp vdp on the car and driver experience but when consumers go there and they don't see
your listing as a dealer they don't think gosh they're not advertising on the marketplace this
month they think gosh they don't have the vehicle i'm looking for and so as dealers start to really
understand where their consumers are where their profits coming from where they're really driving
return on investment that's where they're going to make those connections and start to be more
profitable and gain market share wow and you said something critical there about the dealer
actually knowing who's getting credit right we want to know and the dealer wants to know and
so many times they have no idea it's we sold another car we did another thing and we don't
really know where it came from and with that because you guys do have access to so much
incredible data and you would be all and i want you all as humbly as you do a great job of being
cool kids in the park but you guys are some big dogs in the park and we all honor and we do respect
cox automotive and the presence that you have but there's another big dog in the yard amazon auto
and amazon is in the house and that is taking everything in this industry to a different level
and making everybody start to figure out where they stand in it you all seeing that coming
and being as analytical as you are being the geniuses that you are what's some of your thoughts on
amazon jumping into the car game to try to help these dealers get their inventory out there where
everybody is doing their commerce anyway i see it as another data source actually so i'm big into
data i was a front end web developer before i joined cox automotive so one of the things that i think
about is opportunity with amazon's neptune web services when they're actually utilizing all of
this technology to build marketing data lists essentially so they were already doing it just
not for automotive it's the next logical step for them but we actually rely on neptune as well and
that's how we're building up a drive q which is our first party data system so i think it's exciting
i think there's space there for it and i think everybody will probably benefit from it what about
you yeah so data of course is our superpower across cox automotive with all of those tier one
10000 ish dealer websites that we powered through dealer dot com and all of the advertising
that we do and the largest identity graph that exists in the space but one of the biggest challenges
that we have had as an industry meeting consumers where they are over the last
handful of years is connecting that online to in-store experience it's what consumers want
the dealership still matters it's the most important piece but they want that seamless
transition start anywhere stop anywhere pick back up exactly where they left off to as much
for its little all or none online and then go in store and pick right back up and one thing that
we believe is awesome as part of this amazon autos launch into the industry market places
that now more consumers are realizing it's okay you can buy a car online you can really do it
and so those early adopters in e-commerce for automotive have had some challenges
and this is just one more step to meet consumers where they are and to create that connected
omni channel ecosystem that makes them happy it's so true and it is it's making people curious
but it's also making them happy that dealers are even getting involved to really listen
and i know at first when they introduced this even coming to the table right it was like what
amazon's going to get in our world but what we're starting to notice is that many people are actually
starting the process there and then showing up to complete it at the dealership without actually
doing all of the follow through but either way around it's like you said it's meeting the customer
where it is that they are this is an exciting time for automotive to be able to see this happening
and for consumers that are out there check it out see what actually is going on but dealers
make sure that you recognize that this isn't trying to get in your way remember amazon really
doesn't sell anything i don't have a shirt that says amazon on it i don't have anything that's
made that says it's from amazon they're selling everybody else's stuff and that's something
that you need to get involved with if you're not there then you're still you're sticking to old
traditional ways that could make you obsolete now teaming up with incredible industry leaders
that have great advice for you it is very important that you do get some great information and like
you said you guys got the data you guys got the info what is it like leaving an event like this
getting ready for the rest of the year and knowing that you have so many different clients and friends
to be able to unite with and to be able to advance you to the next level i'm going to let you shut it
down so i think it's really exciting just going back to the amazon thing that you're talking about
where we're actually prepping customers and getting those guys ready to understand that they can afford
the vehicle and that's also where we're looking at this space too and as we meet these vendors and
we understand what they're doing amazon might play a part in that as well and as their tech grows
we get more data from that as our tech grows everybody else benefits too because we're able
to integrate more seamlessly as well with all these data solutions i'm going to take the words
right out of your mouth and he said be curious market share matters database decision making is
the most important piece of earning and gaining market share and not only that but keeping what
is yours today as we are on the very short one runway to finish out the year strong and get ready
for 2026 know where you are today know where you want to be and make a plan to get there
what else are we going to say what else are we going to say car guys and car guys let's go ahead
and take that with us put that inside of your cup sip on it everybody and let's make sure that we
continue to keep growing together we have a whole lot more to brew while we're here at this event
but we're so thankful that cox automotive took the time to brew some solutions with you and you took
some time to listen to learn and to get a little bit hip to the script car guys and car guys let's
forget focus fly and let's keep growing all the time here we go y'all know the blues on 31
23 forget focus fly and keep growing keep growing you've been doing solutions in
Kansas City with jade and Jeremy from cox automotive i'm Lou Ramirez the car guy we're out
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