Covideo Contest Finalists Revealed, Sita on Videos Driving Performance | Daily Dealer Live
Car Dealership Guy Podcast
Covideo Contest Finalists Revealed, Sita on Videos Driving Performance | Daily Dealer Live
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Term
negative equity
Negative equity means you owe more on your car loan than what the car is worth. If you try to sell or trade it in, you might still have to pay off some of the loan even after selling the car.
Term
underwater trades
Underwater trades happen when you owe more on your car than it is worth. This means if you want to trade it in, you might have to pay extra money to cover the difference.
Brand
Lexus
Lexus is a brand that makes luxury cars. It's part of Toyota and is known for being very reliable and comfortable.
Brand
Ferrari
Ferrari is a famous car brand from Italy that makes very fast and expensive sports cars. They are well-known in racing.
Brand
Porsche
Porsche is a brand that makes high-end sports cars and SUVs. They are known for being very fast and well-designed.
Car
GMC Yukon
The GMC Yukon AT4 is a version of the Yukon SUV designed for off-road driving, featuring special equipment to handle rough terrain.
Term
10 speed transmission
A 10 speed transmission is a type of gearbox that has ten different gears, helping the vehicle to shift smoothly and efficiently.
Part
5.3 liter V8 engine
The 5.3 liter V8 engine is a type of engine that has eight cylinders and is 5.3 liters in size, providing strong power for vehicles like trucks and SUVs.
Part
air ride suspension
Air ride suspension is a system that uses air instead of metal springs to support the vehicle, making it smoother to drive on bumpy roads.
Car
2026 Airstream Interstate 19x LE Outland Edition
This is a special version of a small motorhome made by Airstream. It's designed for comfort and adventure, and only a few of them are being made, which makes it unique.
Company
Focal
Focal is a well-known company that makes high-quality speakers and sound systems. They worked with Airstream to create a great sound experience in the motorhome.
Brand
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a famous car brand that makes luxury cars and trucks. They are known for their high-quality vehicles and advanced technology.
Term
tire pressure
Tire pressure is how much air is in your car's tires. It's important to keep it at the right level for safe driving and better fuel economy.
Part
suspension components
Suspension components are the parts that help your car's wheels move up and down smoothly. They make sure your ride is comfortable and that your car handles well when turning or going over bumps.
Part
rotors
Rotors are the flat metal discs that your brake pads push against to stop your car. Keeping them in good condition is important for safe braking.
Part
brake pads
Brake pads are the parts that press on the wheels to help your car slow down or stop. It's important to keep them in good shape for safe driving.
Part
tires
Tires are the round rubber parts that help your car grip the road. It's important to check them regularly to make sure they're safe to drive on.
Term
lifespan
Lifespan is how long something is expected to last before it needs to be replaced. For car parts, it tells you how much longer they can be used safely.
Term
gimbal
A gimbal is a tool that helps keep a camera steady while filming. It makes videos look smoother and less shaky, which is important for good quality.
Car
Cadillac Escalade
The Cadillac Escalade IQ is a new electric SUV that offers a lot of space and luxury. It's designed for families and has features like a big screen for entertainment.
Term
infotainment screen
An infotainment screen is a big screen in the car that shows music, maps, and other information. It helps keep passengers entertained and informed.
Term
all-wheel drive service
All-wheel drive service is about keeping the parts that help all four wheels of your car working well. It makes sure your car can grip the road better, especially in bad weather.
Term
transmission service
Transmission service is about taking care of the part of your car that helps it change gears. It makes sure everything is working smoothly and can help avoid big problems later.
Part
wiper insert
A wiper insert is the rubber piece on your windshield wipers that helps wipe away rain or snow. If it's worn out, it won't clean the glass properly, so it needs to be replaced.
Term
battery testing
Battery testing is checking if your car's battery is working well enough to start the engine. If it fails the test, it might need to be replaced so your car can run properly.
Car
Toyota Sienna
The Toyota Sienna is a family minivan that can carry many passengers and has lots of space for cargo. It's special because it comes with a hybrid engine, which helps save on gas.
Term
hybrid system
A hybrid system in a car uses both a regular engine and an electric motor. This helps the car use less gas and be better for the environment.
Term
scan tool
A scan tool is a device that mechanics use to check what's wrong with a car. It connects to the car's computer to read error messages and see how different parts are working.
Part
engine ECU
The engine ECU is like the brain of the car's engine. It helps control how the engine works, making sure everything runs smoothly. If there's a problem with it, the car might not work properly.
Company
Logitech
Logitech makes devices like cameras and keyboards that help you use your computer better. They are popular for things like video calls.
Term
transparent pricing
Transparent pricing means showing customers all the costs they need to pay, so there are no surprises. It helps people understand what they are buying.
Car
Dodge Hellcat
The Dodge Hellcat is a powerful car from Dodge that has a very strong engine, making it one of the fastest cars on the road.
Car
Dodge Viper
The Dodge Viper is a fast sports car made by Dodge that has a very strong engine and a unique design, making it popular among car enthusiasts.
Car
Ram TRX
Car
Chrysler Pacifica
The Chrysler Pacifica is a family minivan that offers lots of room for kids and their stuff. It's designed to be comfortable and safe for long trips, making it a great choice for families. Many people like it because it has cool features that make driving easier and more enjoyable.
LIVE
Hey
everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Daily Dealer Live. I'm your host,
Sam Darkin. Welcome to the space where automotive comes together to learn, to share, and listen.
Today, we are executing. Thanks for choosing to be here this Friday, January 16th. And coming
up today, we'll unveil the top four finalists of the first-ever car dealership guy dealer video
challenge brought to you by CoVideo. But first up today's industry headlines.
First up today, negative equity is growing in automotive. According to the latest data from
Edmunds, negative equity hit record levels at the end of 2025. Nearly 30% of trade-ins
on new vehicle purchases were upside down in Q4. That's the highest share since early 2021,
and the average amount owed on those underwater trades climbed past $7,200. That's the most Edmunds
has ever tracked. And on top of that, more than one in four upside down trade-ins carried at
least $10,000 in debt. And a lot of this traces back to pandemic era loans buyers paid higher
prices, had fewer leasing options, and locked in long terms. Now those loans are aging into a
market where depreciation has returned to normal. What's the big picture here? Well, more deals
will need careful structuring, cleaner appraisals, and direct equity conversations. Because rolling
big balances forward is getting harder to justify, and more importantly, harder to get approved with
partner lenders. Next up, a new study from the Savvy Dealer shows most dealership websites
aren't built for how shoppers are actually searching today, especially through AI search
tools like ChatGPT. Out of 100 dealer sites tested, 84 failed AI visibility outright,
scoring below a D-grade. The average score was just 34 out of 100, and only 14 sites scored high
enough to pass. The biggest issues are basic, but they are costly. Nearly half of all dealer
sites are, get this, actively blocking AI crawlers, the very thing you want catching info on your site.
And many others don't use structured data that helps AI understand inventory, location, hours,
or services. As a side editorial note, I spent time with dealer teamwork yesterday, Minnesota,
based on a meeting at one of our Hyundai stores going through that very problem. Bottom line here,
stores that audit their AI access settings, fix blocking issues, and invest in proper structured
data will be the ones showing up when the shoppers ask AI where to buy next. That's a fun exercise.
Ask AI where to buy, see if your store pops up. Next up today, first automotive entrepreneur,
Artem Bogoslavsky, purchased multiple dealerships in Gorham, New Hampshire from Summit Automotive
CEO Alex Gillett in a deal that closed on January 15. Summit operated the dealerships under its
Berlin City Auto Group arm, and just a day before that, Pierce Automotive Group bought a pair of
Lexus dealerships near San Diego, California, beautiful place in the world from Halo Motor Group.
But the biggest news is that Jeff Weiler Auto Family just bought itself a once in a generation
premium fortress. Weiler, one of the largest private dealership groups in the U.S.,
acquired Midwestern Auto Group's campus in a 14-brand deal expected to add 500 million in
annual revenue, a half a billion in one acquisition. All of the 14 brands acquired, including Ferrari,
Porsche, and others, will be renamed as the Weiler Collection. And don't forget, you can see this
deal announcement many more throughout the entire year by visiting the CDG Buysale Tracker
powered by the Presidio Group at cdgbuysale.com. There we go. I was wondering where the jingle
was. We cannot go this news point without having the jingle. And finally up today,
about two months after cutting 350 customer service jobs, CarMax has made another round of
layoffs. This time, roughly 230 employees from its home office and CarMax Auto Finance teams
while they were told they no longer need to report to work reports Virginia Business.
Most of the affected workers are salaried and CarMax says they'll be paid through January 31st
along with severance and access to career support and internal job postings. For context, CarMax has
been going through it lately. Weaker earnings and the surprising regsignation of former CEO
Bill Nash on December 1st, 2025 have driven the company to reorganize because the used car market
has become hyper competitive and the company's share in used vehicle retail has declined materially
as competitors price their inventory more aggressively. And that is a wrap on today's industry
headlines. Julie, today's the day. We've been talking about this for weeks. We've been talking
our dealer championship contest here. Today's the day we unveil our top four who will go into the
final round. The winner, the ultimate champion gets a cool trophy. I'm excited for this because I
want to see the trophy myself. A little bit of money. They get a thousand bucks cash,
but most importantly, they get a spot on the show in a future episode. We'll highlight their video,
share it with everybody out there. But today, by the way, yoga cars, thank you. Roll balances to low
money factory lease when available. Thanks for the comment. A reminder to all our audiences,
we're watching these videos as we're unveiling the winners as we're having today's conversations.
Our entire show is made better by your comments in the comments. You can go to any social media
platform where this is being live streamed across the social, the car dealership guys,
social media and post your comments. We'll bring them into today's show. Let's get into the unveil.
Joining us today, Margaret Hennie, vice president of marketing at co-video. Margaret, welcome to the
show. Guys, thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it. So it's interesting. Let's step back
a minute and figure out how the heck this all started. So you and I, we do this show three
times a week and videos continually come up in the conversations as a separator between great
and mediocre dealerships, both in the service department and MPIs and in the sales departments
on the showroom floor. And it's interesting. I will get offline out of the show, people saying,
well, wait, I don't understand why you guys talk about this so much. Like doing videos is easy.
And of course the dealers that are doing it, they've got a process, they have a standard,
they're doing it great. And then I hear from other dealer groups. So they're like,
we've not even thought about this. We haven't even started. And so we wanted to shine the light on
this as a process of connecting to consumers because it is so efficient and effective and
share with everybody out there, best practices and listen to everybody watching. We hope you will
share clips that we share today of these four final videos across your network and have a
conversation behind why do videos work? Why are they so effective at communicating with consumers?
And then what the heck is going on? Why is it so hard to get salespeople, service folks and other
staff and dealerships to just do videos? So Margaret, you're with CoVideo. How long have
you been with CoVideo? Give us a little bit of background on you and what you do there at CoVideo.
Yeah, absolutely. Going on 10 years now. So almost a decade with CoVideo actually started
out in sales and then moved over to the marketing side of things. And that's what I've been doing
for about the past five years now. All right. So CoVideo is probably one of the biggest, if not
the biggest video delivery platforms in automotive. You integrate with many different platforms,
including CRMs. You have an affiliation with CDK as an example. It's a recent affiliation.
How many videos do you deliver regularly and how many dealerships do you do business with?
Just to give us a sense of scale. Sure. We work with 2,500 dealerships all over the U.S. and in
Canada as well. And every single year, 18 million videos are being delivered through video, right?
And how many dealerships did you say, dealer groups? 2,500. 2,500. So, and you were rattling off
how many dealerships there are across the country? About 17, 18,000. Yeah, right in there, 18,000.
So we still have some people dragging their feet. Come on, boy, guys. But as far as share goes,
you do business with a very large share of automotive out there. Absolutely. Yeah. And we're
really proud of a lot of the dealerships. We work with a lot of the folks who are top 25 dealer
groups. A lot of those folks are using co-video because it works and video works.
So before we see these four videos, Margaret, what do you look for in an effective consumer
communication? Whether it's somebody who's sent in a lead looking for more information on a vehicle,
whether it's maybe a technician trying to explain a repair, what are you looking for?
Yeah. First and foremost, almost always is going to be personalization. So,
hey, are we calling that that lead or that customer by name? Everyone loves the sound of
their own name, right? They want to know that they're being spoken to and that their needs are
being met and that they are heard. So trying to personalize it as much as possible, but also
injecting your own personality and self into that is really important. That authenticity comes
through and this is something I really like to coach people on because if they're a little bit
shy about being on video, they say, hey, Margaret, I can't do video like you. And I say, I don't want
you to do video like me. I want you to do video like you. That authenticity really comes through
and that's ultimately what builds a lot of trust. Oh, sorry, you look like you're going to say so.
What does authenticity mean in a video? How do I be my authentic self? People use authenticity
all the time and I, for the life of me, can't figure out what on earth that means when I'm
making a video for a customer. I think it takes a little bit of practice to kind of shake out the
cobwebs if you've never done it before. But I want you to think like you're talking to someone that
you're friends with, right? So not a casualness where it's, you know, maybe your best friend,
but an acquaintance, someone that you've known and you're just being genuine and warm in yourself.
And that also means that mistakes are totally fine. I think sometimes people think they're
making a commercial. You're not making a commercial. It doesn't need to be perfect.
Yeah, you don't need a script. You just need to flow. Exactly. And then that really kind of comes
through. And then of course, I always want people to give a really strong call to action so people
know what to do next. All right. Before we show our first video, tell us why is it that video
in 2026 January connects better with a consumer than a text message or an email or a phone call?
Why is the video so powerful today? Well, first off, I want to let you know that video is not
taking the place of those things, right? We're still making phone calls and leaving voicemails
and we're sending our videos through email and text. So this is about supplementing that outreach.
But if you think about when you are out in your daily life, people are in their phones,
they're scrolling, what are they doing? They're looking at videos, yeah, TikTok and Instagram
and Facebook and all the videos. Yeah, YouTube. It's the preferred medium for people today.
It's how they research. It's how they get entertainment. It's how they collect their
information. And so we want to speak their preferred language. And it's just because
it's so much more engaging and builds way more trust than just a standard text or text only email.
Yeah. And actually, there's some data behind showing that was we did our research showing
that people actually keep videos longer. So if maybe they don't watch the video initially or
maybe they watch it, they're more reticent to delete that than they are a text or an email.
They see it less like spam, particularly if it's personalized, right? Absolutely. And it's way more
shareable too. I mean, it's not uncommon for people to take co-videos and they'll say,
Hey, Margaret, I sent this to one person, but they've watched it five, 10 times. I'm like,
well, guess what? They probably sent it to their wife. They sent it to a friend or they sent it
to their kids. Check this out. This is the car I'm thinking about buying. It builds that excitement
way more shareable. Yeah. So Lauren Klein online, long time a viewer and contributor in the comments
says 100% on authenticity. It adds so much to that transparency and trust. And then she says,
it's all about making it easier to do business with us. And I think that's absolutely true.
So Margaret, are you ready? Should we go in? There are four videos. These are in no uncertain
order. I think let's show each video and then let's have a little bit of a conversation about
what are the strengths of each video, tips, what you would do. And then what we're going to do is
on our championship round, we're going to give them one final task each of the four and they're
going to make another video that they'll bring on our final show on our final round, January 30th.
It's a Friday and we'll crown the champion. So first up, let's go to suburban Buick GMC of Troy.
All right guys, this is Chris from suburban Buick GMC of Troy,
bringing you out the GMC Yukon with the AT4 package.
Under the hood, we've got the 5.3 liter V8 engine. It's also paired with the 10 speed transmission.
We've got the 20 inch all carbon flash wheels and then we've got the all terrain tires as well.
Okay family, now that we're actually driving the Yukon, you can really feel how
smooth the AT4 package is, especially with the air rides suspension. With the AT4 package,
you can really feel how solid and controlled it is. This package comes with the black
engine.
If you're interested in this GMC Yukon AT4, please feel free to reach me at this number so we can
schedule a test drive. All right, Margaret, give us some tips and then I've got to take here.
Yes, so I'll tell you a couple things he did really well. One, the fact that he is out there
doing it in not great weather, I think he's actually leveling up and saying, I'm here for you.
I'm going to do whatever it takes. I'm trusting that guy. That's authentic, right? Yes, totally.
Totally authentic. He's not waiting for the perfect moment. He's going out and doing it.
I love that he shows his face and introduces himself. So many people want to hide behind the
camera, but the trust building happens when you get to see them, be your authentic self.
He knows his stuff. He had a lot of great information in there. I would say at a couple
of things. The music got a little bit loud and overpowered the audio of what he was saying,
and that's the most important thing is the narration. And then at the end, I'd like to hear
an even stronger call to action. Like, hey, this is a great car. It's flying off a lot.
If you are interested, call me. Text me. Make an appointment now.
Yeah. Yeah. Lauren Klein gives him props. He says, big props. He did it one-handed,
which is true. He was holding the umbrella with one hand and then showed with the other. So
very good comment. A couple of questions about the music because the music did overpower the
voice from online. YogaCar says, is music from the video or you added it for the show? No,
the music is from the video, but he had captions, which I really like the use of closed captions.
The question I have on music and captions, and you would know this using your technology or similar,
is it easy to do that? When I'm thinking about a customer response to a lead,
it's got to be scalable, right? As a salesperson, I have to be able to go out, record that,
put it together quickly, and then send it in fast enough fashion that I can do multiple of
them a day. How long do you think a video like that takes? And we'll ask him when he comes on
the show. But yeah, for that one, it took probably a little bit longer because it does have that
level of polish and he's meshed in all those clips together. I think he's doing the most for a
competition, which is great. But I also want people to know it doesn't, you can do that in one take.
You can do a walk around in an intro and it can still be incredibly effective. So I don't want
people to feel intimidated by that. But one thing that's really cool is we're actually adding AI
music for CoVideo here coming up really soon. And it's actually going to change the tone for you,
like automatically love level. So that way it's not getting in the way of that audio and that
voiceover. So we're excited about that. That's smart. And when you're creating video, you got to be
cognizant of copyright rules and laws too, right? So I would assume that most platforms
that push out through CRM's CoVideo and others are going to allow you to select music that's
okay to use. I like the music. I think it's baby. It creates a fine tone to it. Yeah. And it makes
you smile. It makes me smile when I hear it. And but that's, but that's Julie take away props to
Yeah, 100%. It was the weather, the fact that so many people create these fake barriers of like,
Oh, I can't do it right now. I'll wait for the sun to come out this that no, you have a customer,
you need to connect with them, go outside rain or shine. And to your point, the fact that it was
raining or it's snowing and made it even better because it's like, this is how much I want to
connect with you. I'm outside. Here's the truck. It's a beauty. Let's go. My only critique was
again, just the level of that volume, but everything else I thought was great.
Colin online says, Chris knows how to play ball and Jay makes a great point online. He says,
you know, you can pick up a low quality, a low cost, but quality wireless mic set for your phone
for under $100. It's a great investment for any sales rep for video. And talk to us about that,
Margaret. The value of having really good audio is high, right? Audio is a difference maker in
any video because it connects. Absolutely. You've got to be able to hear what you're saying. It has
to be clear. Your message is one of the most important things. So that comment, they're exactly
right. You can buy something real cheap. Just clip it on your shirt right here and that'll connect
to your phone. But also there are some cool tools, usually with platforms out there like CoVideo,
where we've got background noise reduction that's helping do some of that work for you.
Yeah. And also almost everyone has AirPods now. You can use what you update. You can use your
AirPods as the mic. So yeah, yep, yep. But as long as you go through some sort of filtering
software after, which I think CoVideo and similar platforms would have where it will filter out the
background noise because AirPods without that additional enhancement probably don't sound great.
Do they, Margaret? Well usually you want to say there's just a little toggle on that says,
hey yeah, reduce that background noise and that's going to happen for you. That's incredibly important
if you're out on a busy lot or in the service drive where things get really noisy. So it really
comes in handy there. I recommend people use it. Yeah. All right. Our second finalist, and again
these are in no uncertain order, comes from a place that makes me super happy because today
it is snowing in the footprint here in the upper Midwest where it is cold as all get out. So let's
turn to Airstream of South Florida with a vehicle arm. Hey everyone, welcome to Airstream of South
Florida. Today we are giving you a quick tour of the all new 2026 Airstream Interstate 19x
LE Outland Edition. This isn't just any class B, it's a special collector's edition. And what makes
it even more exciting is that this right here is number eight of only 30 being made. If you're
craving rugged capability, elevated comfort and electric innovation, this is the rig that checks
off every box. Built on the Mercedes Benz all-wheel drive chassis with all-terrain tires and
upgraded suspension, the 19xC is ready to take you off the beaten path in serious style. With up to
5,000 pounds of towing capacity and flexible cargo space, it's perfect for your toys, tools, and
trail ready gear. Inside is sleek and functional with ultra leather seating, a full galley and
smart use of space, but one of our favorite features, the sound system. Airstream partnered
with Focal, a world-renowned audio brand to create a high fidelity surround sound experience.
With premium speakers and an integrated subwoofer, your road trip playlist, podcast, or movie night
will sound crisp, clear, and full of depth, just like you're in a luxury studio. You're also powered
by Airstream's E1 package, complete with Volta Lithium Solar and an advanced energy management
system for off-grid freedom without compromise. So if you're ready to elevate your adventure game,
the 2026 Interstate Outland is waiting. Come experience it in person right here at Airstream
of South Florida, and remember, adventure sounds way better in an Airstream. Lauren's a pro. I love
Lauren. She's a co-video user and she just kills it every single time. I'll jump in and say some
of the stuff if you don't mind. I think she did really well. So first off, pro tip, if you're
either inside or outside in decent weather, so smart to have the trunk up, the doors open. It
makes that walk around really easy and smooth for you to do. So you're not opening and closing doors.
You see it and you're like, oh, wow, look at that. That thing is fully loaded. So you get excited
right away. She goes and actually does these walkarounds and then we'll use our voiceover to
do the narration afterwards and then shares this out with everybody on her team so that they can use
it. And that is a great way to do some personalization at scale. So she kills it. So is that,
Lauren Klein does ask online. She says, is that an AI speaker? So is that an AI voice or is that
her voice? It's not. It is Lauren's voice. Lauren is a pro. She knows her stuff. She loves going out
there and doing it. So she does the walk around. She does the narration through co-video afterwards
and you've got that feature for you. And then she shares that with everybody on her team so that
they've got that right there at their fingertips. And so now if a lead comes in, they can send that
out automatically. So that's an alternate way to having the individual sales consultant send it out.
You can have them kind of prepackaged for each vehicle and send them out that way.
CDG's own Michelle says, my birthday's coming up. Adding that to my wish list. Evan Wright says,
what's up, Sam? What's up, Evan? Thanks for watching. So he's a Ziggler, one of our own here at
Ziggler. So all right, cool video. Julian, any thoughts on that besides the warm weather? I want
one of those bales. Like that is cool. Really cool. So it automatically makes the video a little bit
better. But no, 100% spot on the fact that the doors are open. You can see all the goodies.
That's, it was almost the one shot. Yeah, it's almost the one shot where it's just walking around.
And this just goes to the point again, you don't need to overcomplicate it. You don't need two people.
You don't need a tripod. Shoot the video. And then if you don't have the ability to do the audio
right there, go back and do the voiceover because that's super compelling. And if I'm in the market
for that, I'm watching that video over and over again. I'm sending that to my wife. I'm sending
that to my friends. Check out this cool thing I want to buy. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, all right.
Well, I like that as a process. You can pre-record those, share it with your team and then the team
can send it out if there's a fear of creating your own video. And we're going to talk a little
bit about that in a minute, what might be driving some hesitancy of salespeople and service folks
creating a video. But next up, again, no uncertain order, third finalist from Benzo Bush Motors,
which we had on the show here last week, was a Mercedes-Benz service NPI. Let's go there now.
Hello. Thank you for choosing Benzo Bush Mercedes-Benz. My name is Jason. You're certified
Mercedes-Benz technician and I'm the one that's been working on your car today.
Today, I performed a 80,000 mile or eight-year service. That service consisted of a few things,
starting off with the engine oil and filter change, replacing of your brake fluid. Your
brake fluid reservoir is located underneath of here, replacing both of your front wiper blades,
as well as both of your AC cabin filters. You have a dust filter located underneath of here
and your main cabin filter located underneath of the glove box. In addition to that, I topped
off some of your fluids under the hood, like your coolant and your washer fluid, which you have
right over here. I also corrected your vehicle's tire pressure. Very important to note that during
the spring, summer and fall, Mercedes-Benz recommends 32 psi in all of your tires. During the winter
time, we highly recommend increase your tire pressures by three or four psi. So with that being
said, I put 36 psi in all of your tires just for the winter time. I also performed an overall
vehicle multipoint inspection, which consisted of inspecting your engine compartment,
as well as the undercarriage. And I'm happy to say that your car is in excellent condition.
Once again, that goes for your engine compartment and undercarriage, including things like your
suspension components, drive train components, etc. I found no leaks, nothing broken or out of place.
In regards to all of your vehicle's brake pads, rotors and tires, I'm also happy to report that
they're in excellent condition. In regards to your tires and brakes, they all actually measure
at 50% of their lifespan left, which may not sound like a lot, but that is extremely healthy.
So you will not have to worry about tires and brakes for an extremely long time.
Other than that, that actually concludes the service and the multipoint inspection.
After this video is completed, I'll be sending your vehicle out for a car wash,
and your advisor will contact you when your vehicle is ready for pickup. And I'll also be cleaning
your engine compartment. Obviously, this is my favorite part. And here's the after. Thank you very
much. Have a great day. I mean, David is a pro. He is telling me stuff I didn't know. You know,
I'm like, he is educating me and giving like incredible tips. He's being very, very thorough.
I love the before and after. I thought that was so smart. And he props to him because he gave a
very specific call to action or what happened next. Like, hey, one of our service providers
is going to be reaching out to you when it's done. So you're not just like, hey, cool,
thanks for sending this. What's next? He tells you exactly what to expect next. So great job.
So what would you say to a service technician that sees this and is like, I would love to be
able to do that and deliver that value to my clients, but I don't like, I don't speak well.
I don't, you know, I'm uncomfortable being on camera. Like of the least customer facing position
in many dealerships, it's a technician, right? And it is a little bit of an uncomfortable position
to all of a sudden beyond video. Where do you get training to do this? Because he did an awesome
job and we saw many similar videos. It takes training to do this, right? Yeah, exactly. Well,
I think what's important is what we're doing right now. We're showing what does good look like,
you know? And it does take a little practice, but I also want to soothe their concerns and be like,
hey, you are the expert in what you're doing. You know your stuff in and out. Yeah. It doesn't
have to be totally perfect. You noticed that video was a little bit shaky. I'd love to see him reduce
that, that shake just a little bit through stabilization, but overall that doesn't matter
to me as that customer. I got an awesome experience. I feel like they were being incredibly
transparent and like I'm in really, really good hands with them. So just to get, I always want
impress upon people. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's going to take a couple times to get a little
bit more comfortable, but he gets to even be behind the camera. Doesn't even have to show his face
and it's still very, very authentic. So here's one of the parts I love about this video. So how
many times have any of us weather changes? It either gets colder or warmer. That tire light comes on
and you're like, what am I supposed to put my tires to? And you're sitting in front of the tire
machine at the gas station trying to fill your tires or take pressure out. I love that he gives you
the pressure and then the season. Yes. And I'm going to keep that video if I'm a consumer and I'm
going to go back to it. And what great advertisement for the dealership to have a consumer go back to
that over and over again. A couple great comments online. And Dancy, I agree with this. Dancy says
the last one just need a little bit of stabilization. We made that point. Gimbal goes a long way in
producing a quality video. However, I would say that even a little bit of destabilizing,
I think that goes to the effective service. And I think it's okay. Totally. I think it's okay.
David Cerquera, who was on the show says, be yourself as customers are not expecting actors.
I think that awesome authenticity goes a long way to creating that connection and credibility.
One thing I did notice and I love with this and it's Mercedes Benz, the best or nothing. We have
a Benz store. The facility around it is gorgeous. And you see a clean space where that video is being
filmed and it also increases credibility in what's being shared with that. So
how did he do the before and after clean and dirty? Did he re-hoist it again after it was
cleaned? Because that is a little bit of work, I would say. I don't know exactly. I think what he
probably did. So he probably did the walk around first, paused his video. So he's not doing a totally
new clip. He's just pausing it and then restarting it when he's ready to do that next, that big before
and after reveal. But that was just so smart. That is something I actually haven't seen before. I
thought it was really clever and so fun from the customer's perspective. I'm like, oh, that looks
so great. How satisfying. Yeah. I love it. It's pulling on my OCD too. And Sam, I wonder if customers
notice how clean the shop is because I mean, we're car guys, we're the professionals, so we notice a
clean shop. But the hood, to me the whole time, I'm like, man, those leaves are bugging me. So
when he cleans it, that's why I wrote to the producers. I'm like, make sure this plays all
the way out because to me, that's the best part. I also love a clean bill of health. It doesn't
always need to be selling, right? This needs to be informative and transparent. I have your back.
Here's what I did. This is why. So we're educating the customer. Again, we're the professionals. The
customer is not. So it's a tremendous amount of value. I think it builds a lot of trust and
you did a fantastic job. Yeah. All right. Let's go finally up. Cavender Cadillac. This is a pre
appointment sales. A little bit more production on this one, but let's go there. Cavender Cadillac.
Hey, Mr. Jones, it's Taylor over at Cavender Cadillac. I know we talked about surprising
your wife with a new vehicle and I think I have the perfect one. So this is the 2025 Escalade IQ
in our black cherry color. And let me tell you five reasons why I know she'll love this vehicle.
First, who doesn't love a frunk? I love it. This is actually the longest range electric vehicle
that Cadillac makes. And I know when we talked earlier, you said that y'all love to take those
road trips with you and the kids and never seen before 55 inch infotainment screen where the
passenger can actually watch their favorite shows. And that's you, Mr. Jones and three rows of seats
with a ton of space, which will minimize fighting during those road trips and zero to 60 and 4.7
seconds. Mr. Jones, I think this is the perfect vehicle to surprise Mrs. Jones with. I'll see
you later this afternoon for your appointment here at the store and I can't wait for you to
test drive this vehicle. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to give me a call or email me.
Margaret is selling her butt off. I am blown away. Like, obviously, this is a she really went
all out for the competition. So again, this doesn't have to be what your videos look like every single
day high production value, high production value, put a lot of thought and a lot of effort, different
camera angles, clearly using some stock footage that's available to her as well as her own.
But the level of personalization and, you know, just in terms of, you know, she listened to what
the customer is looking for. I'm like, can I be Mrs. Jones? So really tapping through what was
important to them, you know, of course, confirming next step. There is no way Mr. Jones does not
show up to that appointment. He shows. And by the way, he keeps that video and she instantly has
credibility for other options. He's going to be if he ends up saying I need to look at other cars
or I need to like, you know, I haven't found the right one, he's going to be waiting for that next
video or the next two or three video options. He's not going to just go away and purchase
another vehicle from another person. That is connection at its at its utmost. How long do
you think it takes to create something with that level of production value? Because that
truly is high value. She really, really thought through this. So not just the filming. So she
probably thought about what she was going to say, the timing for each of the scenes, changing the
humor angle, and then doing some editing afterwards. I mean, this probably took her an hour or more,
at least I would say, you know, whereas, you know, and ultimately what is it, you know, a two minute
video. And that's a sweet spot is actually below two minutes. So somewhere between 45 seconds and
like a minute and a half is really ideal. But like I said, for something like this, where
she's confirming the appointment, she's like, Hey, I really want to sell this. If she just
knocked it out of the park, and she's so warm, like I'm like, seems so loved to buy a car from
Taylor. Yeah, and a frunk. I didn't even know what a front was to be honest with you until
she opened that up and showed us. So it's educational as well that that display screen.
She just, she did a nice job. Paul Salisman says online personalized,
fast moving, compelling to watch. She keeps it moving and gets attention with those great edits.
And to your point, we don't need to have all the great edits to get it. So those are our four
finalists. We're going to give them a final task. Everybody's going to come on the show January 30th
Friday with their final video. And we're going to actually talk to each one of these creators,
understand what their process is, how often they do this, what the result is,
does it help sales? Does it help service? What is the net impact? So be ready with all of your,
all of your questions because we're going to get a talk to every single one of these.
But before we go, I want to go to the other side just a little bit. We had a ton of video
submissions. So we saw videos that ran the entire gambit and many of you sent in videos
we just couldn't bring into the final four, even though they were awesome.
But I also noticed a couple of things and I'm going to, I'm going to just call it out here.
We saw several videos of a salesperson who obviously is probably very good at selling,
who was monotone, drone, boring. Like if I got the video, I'd be like, I'm not,
I'm not that interested and excited. Why is it sometimes so tough for an individual salesperson's
personality to transfer onto that video? And we saw it in many of those video submissions,
if you recall. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good question. I think it's hard to say why for every
person. But I would say the main thing that's probably holding them back is they want to be
perfect. They don't want to make a mistake. They don't want to say something and be like,
oh, that's not what I mean and have to over correct themselves. So I just want people to
feel a little bit more loose to be who they are. And if you stumble over your words, that's totally
fine. Like in fact, like that's great. It lets you know there is a real person on the other end
of this. It's, it actually can work in your advantage. Margar, I have a theory. Yes. Do you want to
know my theory after we watched all of them? And by the way, we had videos from Canada. We had
international videos. It was awesome how much content we created. In fact, maybe we'll find a
place where we could deposit them all just so people could see them all. I think there are
dealerships where videos are not normalized. And so a salesperson walking out and taking a video
of themself in front of a car, I heard in some of those videos nerves and I heard fear of being
judged or scrutinized by other salespeople. And here's what I'm going to say. We've got to find
a way in automotive if we're going to connect with consumers online and we've got to. We've got to
normalize salespeople with an iPhone or a camera of some sort and a mic standing in front of a car
and doing a walk around or a product demo or an invitation that has to be as normal as I used to
sell Saturn's back in the nineties and we had that stupid demo car and we would go beat the car up.
We had to walk around it, jump on it, beat the panels up and you felt ridiculous in the moment
doing it, but it worked in connecting the customer to the value prop of that vehicle.
We've got to normalize taking videos and automotive for this to work, Barbara.
Totally. Well, and just like good on you for the people who are out there and doing it and
the folks who are not in the arena and by, I mean like not going up there and doing that.
Bernay Brown. Yeah, exactly. I love Bernay Brown. You don't get to criticize if you're not in the
arena, right? So if you're not willing to do it, you know, keep that to yourself, but everybody
else, good for you for putting yourself out there and for being vulnerable and trying something
different. Yeah. Yeah. Paul Salisman says online, would it make sense for a dealership to have a
production person that assists salespeople, does the edits, et cetera? Fick should always use the
tech because of credibility. I agree with that. And I think what's your take? Should you have a
designated individual or is the salesperson doing it or the tech uploading it into the
technology that delivers the video enough? Hey, would that be a dream world? Yeah, for sure. That
would be amazing to have on hand and they could go out and do a lot of those walk-arounds for you,
then you're doing the personalization at the beginning with like an intro, but I don't think
it's a necessity by any stretch of imagination. And in fact, there's even more trust that's built
when things are a little bit more raw, when things are really, really perfect.
You know, sometimes like, I don't mind someone get out there, especially for a used vehicle
and call out, here's what's great about it, but here's some imperfections. You know, that is even
more trust building and real to me. So I'm okay with that. All right, before we let you go and
we're about to go over on time, I know the producer is going to be like, let's go, let's go, let's go.
Two more videos. I want to show you from the service department because we got to that. I was
like, wow, this is educational. Let's go to Toyota of Nashua with a service follow-up. Today, we'll
be taking care of you with blue boil and filter service, tire rotation, all-wheel drive service,
transmission service, along with a complete video inspection. Your lights are in good working
condition. I did notice your rear wiper was not clearing very well. We'll be recommending
replacement of that wiper insert. Moving to the front of the vehicle, state inspection is up to
date. Also, there's the front wipers were not clearing very well, so I'll be recommending
replacement of those wiper inserts. Your battery did fail testing, so I will be recommending
replacement of that today. I did check and adjust your fluids to include topping off the
washer fluid. We will be taking care of your engine oil today. I do want to show you your cabin
air filter. I did not remove it from the air box because there is a large rodent nest up on top.
Check that out. So if I do remove that filter, that nest will drop down into the blower motor,
which is below it here. So I'm recommending replacement of the filter as well as some
time to clean that blower motor out once all that debris falls in. Your engine air filter is
starting to get dirty, so I'll be recommending replacement of that today as well. Serpent
Genebel is in good condition. No cracks. At this time, I'm going to pause the video and lift the
vehicle. Starting with the passenger's front tire tread depth measurement, 10-30 seconds,
passenger's rear 10-30 seconds, over to the driver's rear 10-30 seconds, and the driver's front
is 10-30 seconds for brake measurement. All right, producer, they did a good job. We can
pull that. So I love the rodent nest because that's something that is common. We see it in the
Midwest every now and again, and it's a tough sell to the consumer unless they can actually see it.
And he so matter-of-factly goes right by it, and that rodent could create other problems
eating through wires and up costing a wiring harness. And its ultimate credibility, that video
of it, that the consumer then can go back and watch over and over again if they need to, right,
Margaret? You got it. He's doing something amazing that my friend and colleague, Olivia,
called out to me that they say and talk about in journalism and media called Say Dog, See Dog.
So in journalism and media, when you say dog, you're showing a dog. When he's talking about
these things, he is showing them every little bit of that. And so he's narrating it. It all makes
sense. The trust building, I mean, hey, you're believing your own eyes because he's showing
you every little bit of it. Very thorough, great job. You get that video once. You're never going
to go anywhere else. Eager K says good and very detailed video, and he's 100% right. All right,
let's go one more because we're running to time. McGovern Auto Group with a service vehicle
via video inspection. Good afternoon, Eric, and the technician working on your Sienna today.
Brought the vehicle in the shop. You had multiple warning lights on your hybrid system.
Hooked up the scan tool to perform a health check. The scan tool could not communicate with your
engine ECU, which is this thing right here. Everything else communicated normally. The
codes in the hybrid system were for no communication with this ECU. This ECU controls your engine.
It looks like what happened is
someone jumped started the battery under the hood on this port. I love this.
If you look closely at this bracket, there's some scrap marks.
They probably use this as a ground, and this is attached to the engine ECU,
and that caused the engine ECU to get fried. I did check for power and ground at your connector
here. You have good power and ground, but there's no communication with this engine ECU.
So we're going to have to replace that. Also going to have to replace your battery. It's
extremely weak, so we're going to recommend that. Engine filter and cabin filter look.
All right, we can go from there. If you've never done a brake fluid.
So Margaret, the consequences of a bad battery jump, a lot of people may not see that. It fried
an expensive component that repair bills not going to be cheap, but he did a great job educating
the consumer. The level of expertise that is coming through in this just makes you feel like,
wow, I get it, because there's always that barrier in automotive and sales and in service,
where we're trying to get through that wall of trust. Automatically, people have their guard up,
so we've got to overcome that. He's doing an incredible job doing this, being very thorough.
I also really love that he says why they came in. So just again, like, hey, I'm calling the customer
by name. Here's why you brought it in. I understand that and this is what's going on. Killer job.
So props to our four finalists. We'll be reaching out to you. Suburban BOGMC of Troy,
Airstream of South Florida, Benzel Bush, and Cavender Cadillac. You'll be competing for the
ultimate trophy of winner of the first ever car dealership guy video competition.
$1,000 cash trophy, but you'll also have an appearance at that final video.
January 30th, we're excited to have everybody back. And Margot Henney, Vice President,
Marketing at CoVideo. Thanks for being on the show today, sharing your perspectives and
really teaching us what it takes to create a great video to connect with consumers. And the
call to action to our audience out there, whether it's CoVideo, whether it's another video delivery
system, get outside your comfort zone and creating these videos in service and sales and everywhere
to connect better with the consumer in this video driven world. Margot, thanks for being on
the show today. Thanks for having me guys. We'll see you soon. Thanks, Margaret.
That was fun. Yeah, I love it. I hope this gets clipped up and shared with dealerships all across
the country as people see the difference that that video can make. But before we go to our final
guest today, let's talk Experian. Today's episode is brought to you by Experian. Nearly 90% of
dealers say fraud is rising and 75% say it's already impacting operations. Stop it fast with
Experian Automotive Fraud Protect. Quickly validate customer identities and documents with zero
disruption to your sales flow or to the customer journey. Learn more by clicking the link in the
show notes below. And you can also, as always this way, click the QR code for more information.
But props to Experian for supporting today's content, including this cool conversation on all
things dealer video brought to you by Co-Video. Thanks, Experian. All right, let's turn to Nino
Sita. He's a return guest on the show. General Manager of Lindsay CDJR Nino. Welcome to the show.
Hey, guys. Thanks for having me again. Nino, thanks for being back. First off,
House Biz. And then for the part of our audience that isn't familiar, wasn't watching you before,
what do you do in the world? I sell Christchadodge D. Bram in Manassas, Virginia. We were in the
Northeast Business Center and we just closed the year second in the state of Virginia. We were the
number one certified store within two regions and top seven in the country. Beautiful. That's
awesome. So you've been on the show before. You actually talked video to you just happened to be
on the show when we announced the top four videos. What do you think of this whole video thing, the
videos we saw and then the act of creating a video for sales and or service? That last video,
the production was insane. I mean, that's something I've never seen before. The service videos are
where it's at and the texts that are jumping on this bandwagon, they're seeing the ASM
somewhere work for them. When you have that transparency and the MPI being done as meticulously
and it's just educational as they were doing it, that's the way the business is going. As
Margaret said, everybody spends so much time on their phone watching videos and you capture
their attention and you sell more work and you sell more cars and you make more money when you
do it 100% of the time. So what's your standard in your dealership there? You've seen a huge increase
in the units you sell. Do you have a benchmark or do you have a standard within Lindsay CDJR as it
relates to video creation and service and sales? In sales, it's 100%. If you don't send videos,
you don't get leads. It's that simple. We sent, we recorded over a thousand videos last month.
One roughly about a thousand total leads. Everybody gets a video for a phone up, for
internet lead, even for walk-ins that didn't buy CSI follow-up, appointment confirmation.
If we could shoot a video, we'd do it and it's impactful. We closed 36% of our phone-ups last
month, 14.8% of internet leads. When you start looking at that as an average and you look at
what you're doing now, my only difference versus what you do if you're not sending videos is the
video. Yeah. So talk to us about your DMS and your CRM. Do you send it through the CRM?
So we're e-leads dealers, so we have that fluid compatibility with co-video. So it's all right
there in the text box when you're sending an email. The way it integrates with co-video is
absolutely fantastic. So when you came aboard Lindsay CDJR, they weren't doing videos. Talk to
us a little bit. Was there a pain process from before to now? And how did you overcome the
salesperson reticence to doing and creating this and sending it? So I have been with co-video
since I was a VP of another group back in 2019. So when I came to the Lindsay group, I brought a
good number of sales managers and sales people with me. So they knew the Nino process and they
bought in because they saw how much it impacted their paycheck and how much money they made.
You know, the ones that were here, I mean, it is like steer in the Titanic to a certain degree,
but as soon as they start seeing the other guys closing more and selling more cars and making
more money, everybody comes to work every day to make more money. I mean, I don't know what I have
to do. If I see the results, that's the buy-in. The text is a little bit harder. So like,
we're 100% in videos and sales every single month. We've been tackling service the last
probably three months or so. And we sent about 170 videos on a 450 RO account. So about 30%.
We'll get to 100% by the end of the year. But you know, when you have some of these guys that
have been doing this for a long time and they don't want to be on camera, they don't want to
talk to a customer about a car. But then they see some of the guys that have bought in and
their upsells going up and their hours per RO going up. You know, everybody wants to make more money.
You're a general manager and you know those numbers instantly. Like you had those to instant
recall. Why do you know the numbers? Why are you bothering yourself with that little detail?
Well, because I mean, I personally sent like 71 videos last month myself. Like,
so I'll take I'll take uncontacted in the CRM over 10 days. And I'll send them in a video. I'll shoot
a generic video. Hey, you're still on the market. I want to help you buy a car. Let me get personally
involved above your trade. I'll help you with the rate. Interesting. That's my customer. That's
my contact rate is the strongest in my group because it just takes that little nudge and I'm
a salesperson. I got a fancy title. Just the salesperson, you know, so when a customer goes,
oh my goodness, the general manager reached out to me. Yeah, it's a huge response rate, you know.
But yeah, I stay on top because I it's my paycheck. Actually, I would imagine the 100%
rate on the sales floor is because you did it first. You set the standard and you know exactly
how to do it. Yeah, so yeah. So just out of curiosity, since we've talked all video today,
we won't get away from it. We'll lean into this. You're a GM. You decide to go out and create a
video that you send to select customers. Is it on your iPhone that you go out and create this?
Do you have a mic? Do you walk out on the lot? Where are you? Give us your process as you do
this as a leader. So it makes me smile. I look at my report from last month. My top three out of
five in my store and videos sent and viewed were sales managers. So these guys, we have really
nice Logitech, you know, that's the camera, PC cameras, they pull the car up on a BDP, they pull
a worksheet up on another screen, they have their face right in the middle, and they go through
the car, they go through the iPad, they go through the car facts, then they present the numbers
transparent right on the other side, send the customer the link, and the view rate is over and
over and over again, because like, oh, yeah, that matches up my sales tax, my zip code. When I send
a video, I like, if I'm sending a video on my store like nudging the customer if they're still in
the market, I put my website up, and then I put my Google review page up on the other side. We have
over 7,000 Google reviews at a 4.6 rating. So I talk about why you want to do business with me in my
store and with the Lindsey Group. It's because we take care of customers as a transparent buying
experience. And we're a top volume dealer. And I go through all of that. And, you know, the sweet
spot is about a minute and a half. But they're doing that video at your desk, then you're not out on
the lot, you're doing it at your desk. Yeah, when I do my desk, but like, I'm, I'm probably one of
the biggest Hellcat dealerships in the country. I love buying these specialty cars. My showroom
right now probably has a million dollars of Hellcat sitting out there. So I love taking those
videos for customers. I personally own, you know, between two Hellcats, a Viper, a TRX myself. So
like, I like talking horsepower. So we got, we got a lead on a cool car. I'll grab the salesperson
out there. I have them recording you want to walk around. Because I just like talking about the
cool cars. So you talked about the challenge with technicians sometimes if they don't want to be on
camera, they're not used to it. It's not what they signed up for. How are you training them to do
that? Like who's training on, like we saw, we saw three really good examples of technician walk
rounds. And there was a lot of detailed information on that. And it takes a little bit of organization
in your head to like, pull that off. Is there, who handles the training on that? So my service
director, Mike, you know, he has a contest every week where he picks the best video of the text.
And we'll just randomly, you know, spiff him, buy him lunch, you know, just to get them, you know,
somewhat excited and engaged. But it is such a learning curve because we're all salespeople
are actors. Like we can get on camera, we can get on stage and we just can start going.
Tech start like that. They don't want like, then I'm okay. Even like someone's videos,
you'll see the technicians face, we're just fine. You know, the car is the star. You know,
I'm okay as long as you're just go on over, start small, right? Let's start up with an MPI.
It's so great to send a green MPI video. Hey, you're doing a great job taking care of your car.
Here's your undercarriage. Here's your tires about 50%, brakes about 50%.
When you start getting like some of those diagnostic videos, those are awesome. You just
got to make sure they don't go too much in detail because sometimes these guys will just start going
on and on and on. Yeah. Yeah. So Dave Thomas from CDK came in the comments and says, that's
quite a personal garage. Nice, nice collection there. So props to you on that. So let's, let's
transition just gently away and talk CPOs for a minute. Your goal is top five CPO in the nation
in 2026. You're already crushing it in the CPO world. What are two or three levels you're pulling
in the CPO world to have the success and the results you're getting? You know, it's my best sales
people and they go over a used car walk around is they first read the I packet, they go through
the service receipts and I got this one guy CJ, he will literally do a walk around, go, hey,
it's got brand new front brakes. See these tires, it's still got the little nipples on,
it's still got brand new tires, air filter's been replaced, cabin filter's been replaced.
As you're doing the walk around, he's being transparent. Like I probably sell 35, 40 CPO a
month off site delivery, you know. So I want to be transparent about the car. If there's a
nick or a dent, you know, once again, I try to sell a really quality product and I try to make
it as perfect as possible but it's still a pre-owned car. So we're really transparent about
the walk around. We go through I packet religiously. I mean, every customer gets an I packet and we go
through the car facts and we try to do it all fluidly through that one minute 45 video. So
the I packet you mentioned is it's kind of a history file on the vehicle, right? That's
a I packet is a company that will deliver basically a history. Maybe tell everybody what I packet is.
So I packet will deliver the customer their original options list, the MSRP. It will go through a
brochure telling you about the hot, the hot buns on the car. It has a car facts and then my favorite
is it integrates directly with your DMS and shows a copy of the service receipt. So it shows that
the car's been certified. Oil's been changed, wipers been replaced, air filter's been replaced
and it goes through a line by line by line just to give the customer the most transparent
mind experience buying a pre-owned car because, you know, that people are scared. I mean, there's
some dealerships that still does do business the wrong way. They don't fix the cars, right? They
sell cars with brakes at 230 seconds, barely passing safety inspection. So the first time
the customer gets their first roll change, they get with a hefty bill and it's good to tell the
consumer that, go, hey, if you're shopping my car versus another car, ask for the service records.
If they don't give you a multi-point, won't give you what they spent on the car,
there holds something back from you, right?
Interesting. Yeah. So Joseph Anderson comes into the comments online, says,
my grandmother lives in the DMV area and purchased a Pacifica from Lindsay. They're amazing. She
won't service anywhere else. So props from a buyer on a customer out there, presumably in the auto
industry as well. So talk to us a little bit about F&I in your world and let's stay on the video
topic. Do you do anything with video with your F&I managers? So, yeah, Mike. So like I said,
we do a lot of off-site deliveries. We're shipping the car or one of my guys is driving the car out.
We're really doing a lot more of the virtual. Everybody has an iPad. We're doing a FaceTime
walk around with a digital presentation with the menu right there. I've got a fantastic F&I team.
We want to sell the car protected as possible. So we really focus on product penetration more
than anything and going through the customer with the customer line by line, virtually,
if they're not in the store. And you'll be surprised as a product you can sell even on a cash
deal that's going across the country as long as you show value and you have fair pricing.
And these guys are extremely knowledgeable and they know, you know, the ins and outs of the cars
and, you know, things break. I mean, that's why you want the car protected.
Khalid Isaac online says, love, iPad. Also, if you change the price of the unit, the customer
gets notified. So you do the video, you send the video out, they've reviewed it, and then they get
updates as they go on and on and on. So tell us what's one video habit you'd mandate in every
dealership tomorrow if you're running a 10 store group. So if you, it's probably what you've already
mandated, right? 100% utilization and sales. So the car is the star and it's always that's for
sales and service. My really good salespeople have gotten to the point where they use a gimbal.
They have their little picture in the corner of the car on the big part of the screen,
they're using both cameras and every car has to have a video walker.
Introduction videos are great. I've seen some fantastically just edited and production quality
introduction videos of the store. But like, you can tell it's the same video going in every customer.
Make it personal, ask open any questions. Because, you know, the biggest thing with my
first video is I want to response back from the customer and of course have the call to action.
So, you know, read the lead, answer questions, ask questions,
the car is the star and ask for the appointment. And that's, that's, man,
if you could do that 100% of the time in every store, we'd sell, you know, 25 million cars a month,
you know. A lot of comments in the text chain saying you are a great general manager who is
active and who's setting the standard, but not also not not just asking people to do things you
wouldn't do, but being a leader by doing it first. And I got to tell you, I think that's a
big difference maker in your world versus a lot out there. There are too many that kind of stand
back and say, you know what, I can't do this or I won't do that. And that's a difference maker in
technology. It's like, if we want to win in technology, whether it's AI, whether it's tech,
whether it's video, whatever, as a general manager leader, you've got to understand it and learn it
first in order to be able to demonstrate it and be it later on down the road. Any final thoughts,
Nino? We appreciate you being on the show today. No, thank you so much for having me on again,
guys. And if you're not shooting videos in your store, just try it. And like, it's tough the
first time, it's scary the first time. And then you can do a certain point where it's like, if you
don't do it, you're like, man, I'm not doing the right thing. And I promise you, do it for a month,
do it habitually 100% of the time. Don't be perfect. I say, I'm a lot when I'm watching my
shooting. They're like, oh, we're human. We make mistakes. We're not perfect. And people,
when they see that on the other end of the camera, like, man, I'm going to buy from a normal guy.
Khalid Isaac says, leading from the front, which you absolutely are, Nino Cida,
general manager, Lindsay CDJR. Thanks for being back on the show as a repeat guest. We appreciate
you being on. Thanks for sharing your perspectives on all things video and how you're crushing it
in your world today. Thank you for being on today. Thank you so much. And hey, as a reminder to
everybody out there, January 30th, that will be our championship round. See the four winners from
today as they compete for that crown, the thousand bucks, and their opportunity to be on the show
today. Yuli, thanks for being on. It's a heck of a lot of fun to review all those videos. Yes.
It was awesome. The moment we've been waiting for. All right. To everybody out there, thanks for
watching Daily Dealer Live, where we break down the biggest moves in the car business as they
happen. Don't forget we're here live every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 1 p.m. Eastern. So if this is
your world hit like and subscribe, turn on those notifications so you never ever miss a beat.
And we'll see you next episode, everybody. Thanks for being here. Thanks guys.
About this episode
The episode highlights the finalists of the first-ever Car Dealership Guy video challenge, showcasing how video can enhance customer communication in automotive sales and service. Industry insights reveal rising negative equity in trade-ins and the need for dealerships to adapt their online presence for AI visibility. Notable guests, including Margaret Hennie from CoVideo, discuss best practices for creating engaging videos that build trust with consumers. The episode emphasizes the importance of authenticity and personalization in video communication, as well as the impact of effective video strategies on dealership performance.
Original notes
Today's show features:
- Margaret Henney, Vice President of Marketing of Covideo
- Nino Sita, General Manager at Lindsay CDJR
This episode is brought to you by:
Experian – In the past year, 85% of dealers have suspected or confirmed fraud cases, primarily due to income fabrication and forged documents. The fix? Experian Automotive's Fraud Protect. Fraud Protect quickly and easily validates customer identities and documents with zero disruption to your sales flow or the consumer journey. Learn more at: https://www.experian.com/automotive/fraud-protect
Dealer Video Excellence Challenge, presented by Covideo – enter the contest by submitting your videos for your chance to win $1,000 and 3 months of Covideo access here: https://2tqce38uozv.typeform.com/to/KEOuOixJ
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