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Drowning in Tech Noise – How to Really Win with GEO, Reviews, and Conversion | Alexi Venneri, Co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology
Drowning in Tech Noise – How to Really Win with GEO, Reviews, and Conversion | Alexi Venneri, Co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology
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About this episode
Navigating the crowded automotive tech landscape can be overwhelming for dealers, but Alexi Venneri, co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology, shares insights on cutting through the noise. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on consumer reviews over traditional ads and leveraging AI for genuine engagement. With a wealth of experience, Alexi discusses the evolution of digital marketing in the industry and how dealers can optimize their strategies for better conversion rates. This episode is packed with practical advice for dealers looking to enhance their customer experience and adapt to changing market dynamics.
Topics:
consumer reviews
ai in automotive
vendor selection
conversion strategies
digital marketing evolution
customer engagement
technology integration
market trends
dealer experience
Cars:
Buick Century
Today I’m joined by Alexi Venneri, Co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology.
We dig into why dealers are spending a record $29,000 a month on SaaS yet still feel buried by noise, how AI search is shifting power from SEO to reviews-driven GEO, and why “conversion” now matters more than attraction.
Alexi breaks down her vendor agnostic philosophy, the idea of replicating perfect employees with tech, and what actually drives results in today’s market.
This episode is brought to you by:
1. Podium - Don’t miss another lead. With Podium’s AI BDC, dealerships are seeing an 80% increase in after-hours appointments by handling leads 24/7. Instantly respond to inquiries, book test drives, and let your team focus on what matters: closing deals. Learn how Podium can help you sell more cars @ https://www.podium.com/car-dealership-guy
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3. DAS Technology - If you’re already going to NADA, you might as well get invited to the best night of the week. DAS Technology is hosting a private party at Allegiant Stadium, and the only way to get a pass is by booking a short demo. You’ll see how DAS uses AI and data to improve lead response, service retention, and marketing ROI, then enjoy a night with Daymond John, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and NFL legends Tim Brown and Brandon Marshall as well as once-in-a-lifetime experiences like attempting a field goal and ziplining across a professional football field! See the details at dastechnology.com/nada
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Topics:
01:20 How did Alexi start in the industry?
02:36 Why was DAS founded during recession?
07:55 Why are reviews and social media important?
16:28 What trends worry dealers today?
23:36 How should leaders manage vendors?
27:18 Why is conversion rate more important than attraction?
29:07 How does technology improve experience?
31:51 How does culture affect industry relationships?
37:10 What events is Alexi excited about?
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Filter:
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Buick Century
"a tiny place, an old 11th century castle watch tower in Italy. Alexi, incredible c..."
How did Alexi start in the industry?
Why was DAS founded during recession?
Why are reviews and social media important?
What trends worry dealers today?
How should leaders manage vendors?
Why is conversion rate more important than attraction?
How does technology improve experience?
How does culture affect industry relationships?
What events is Alexi excited about?
Select text to request an explanation
Don't assume that what works for another market,
even the guy or gal down the street
is gonna work for you, because it won't.
So really be on top of your metrics and numbers,
always be sharpening your pencil.
Today I'm joined by Alexi Venere,
co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology.
Dealers are spending more on technology than ever,
yet many feel less clear on what's actually working.
Alexi breaks down why AI search is rewriting the rules,
why reviews now matter more than ads,
and how dealers can stop chasing noise
and focus on real conversion.
This conversation is all about building systems
that scale trust, efficiency,
and results in a crowded market.
A big thank you to our sponsors
for making this episode possible,
Podium, Amazon Autos, and of course, DAS Technology.
And now let's get into the show.
["DAS Technology"]
Alexi Venere on the CDG podcast.
Alexi, welcome.
Hi.
I should have gone Italian with the last name
like you had suggested, Venere.
Just a little bit, just a little bit.
Welcome to the podcast, Alexi.
I have followed your journey for quite a while.
We probably, maybe not, but we may have
slightly crossed paths or had a conversation
in your dealer track days.
It was early to the industry back then,
but you've really risen in this industry.
So this is gonna be a very interesting
and exciting conversation just to have you talk
about the journey you've been on here at DAS
and also what you're working on today.
Welcome to the pod.
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
What's new in your world?
Gosh, what isn't, right?
Automotive is never boring.
Neither is tech.
I feel like we're always just researching
and building some cool new tools
that'll really enhance that customer journey.
So I love our company.
We've been around now, gosh, almost 16 years,
which is amazing to go from my kitchen table
during the recession to this.
And we just love our dealers and partners.
We're up to about 9,300 relationships in the industry.
So it's pretty cool.
I'm blessed.
I love our team and I do love this industry.
Alexi, how does one go from you being a managing partner
at Vantile around the recession to founding this company?
Tell us a little bit about that story.
Sure.
Well, Larry Vantile, I love him.
He was on our board way back in the day
when it was my first automotive exec job at Who's Calling.
I was head of marketing there.
And I got to know him a little bit.
I was then recruited to dealer track, took them public,
worked for Mark O'Neill and loved that.
And then he just really came calling.
You know, when a billionaire flies you to Arizona on his jet,
it was hard to say no.
So it was around the time when, you know,
digital marketing still hadn't fully taken over our industry.
People were still trying to understand
what's the social network thing?
What are these social site reviews?
We're just starting to be relevant
to dealers and traffic for SEO.
And he wanted me to partner with him
and help all of his portfolio companies
on the digital marketing side.
So that was great.
And I learned so much because I was,
for the first time, not just a vendor selling to dealers.
I guess it was a dealer.
I was working with him.
I was in the stores.
I saw how hard it is.
I saw how crazy it is,
but also really seeing it from the dealer side
gave me a new perspective.
And then the recession hit.
And that is why we have Das today, literally.
Back in the day for anyone that's old like me,
you know, cash for clunkers, dealers were closing.
It was insanity, bailouts of GM, right?
So, and banks were going out of business.
There was that whole thing going on,
which obviously impacts our industry, right?
Whenever there's a financing sort of crisis.
And Larry just said, you know what?
We're gonna shut down the agency.
And I was president of his digital marketing agency.
So that was kind of crazy.
But one of the best things,
it was like a PhD in automotive.
We actually started what now today
would be similar to Shift Digital,
internally with all of the vendors
that were constantly pitching Vantile,
which is now part of Berkshire Hathaway.
We set up a program to audit the vendors.
You know, we saw, are we getting the results?
We had them sign data agreements.
We really looked at what was working.
We wanted some price protection.
And that was amazing
to just be able to do that for one dealer group.
Recession hit, agency closed.
And I still had a ticket
to go to the very first driving sales conference in Vegas.
I was consulting, you know, it was a couple of weeks in
and I went to that conference.
And it was amazing because I met some dealers
and they said, Lexi,
if you were going to do anything right now
during this recession,
it was the height of the craziness, what would you do?
And I said, well, for the first time ever,
we know where consumers are.
They're on social networks.
There was no business pages.
There was no one doing anything with social media.
And I said, guys, let's not be an agency.
I just went down that path.
You know, we're not going to do that,
but let's build some tech.
Let's truly build technology that would help us
engage with those consumers on those social networks.
And that's how it started at my kitchen table back in 09.
So that's what happened.
Everything happens for a reason and it was fantastic.
You mentioned Mark.
So shout out Mark for taking my phone call
probably over a decade ago.
When I had nothing to offer him, but he took it.
I hopefully, maybe he remembers if he, if he listens to me.
It might have gone through me and maybe I was the gatekeeper
that got you.
Well, that was nice of him.
Mark is great.
So hopefully maybe, maybe he remembers that.
You know, one of the stats I bring up pretty often
and I believe it was Steve Greenfield who published this,
but that the average dealer today is spending
over roughly $29,000 a month on SaaS on tech,
which is a record high.
And you mentioned in early in your journey here,
you were sort of like a shift digital vending vendors
and doing stuff like that, but how is it that today,
you know, roughly, you know, over 15 years after that,
that there's still so much noise around vendor selection,
right?
When I just, the conversations happening in circles,
as an example, or our peer groups,
is such a big part of the conversation is around vendors
and partners to work with.
Like it's not all the conversation.
There's, you know, other topics, market, OEMs,
but like vendors monopolize a large chunk of that conversation,
which to me signals that it's still very opaque
and people are, you know, it's still not clear.
How is that possible?
Like why haven't we fixed that problem in your view?
I think there's a couple of reasons
and that's a great question.
There's a lot of people that think they can come into auto
and they'll just know it and figure it out
and we're just not like other industries.
So there's a little bit of noise with newcomers
claiming to do things that they probably can't fully do.
But I like that innovation, right?
It's great.
Let's see, get ideas from other industries.
Let's learn.
I think that this industry is so competitive
that the reason why there's a lot of noise
is we're competitive, but we're also collaborative.
So you always wanna get the edge
on the guy down the street, right?
But you also have these 20 groups or circles
or, you know, ways that they get together.
I know at Vantale, we had partner meetings.
The OEMs certainly bring dealers together.
Shows like NADA bring them together
and it's always been awesome
that dealers are willing to share.
Unless you're the guy down the street,
even if you're maybe kind of like somewhere else
in the state, they will share
because they don't wanna be taken advantage of.
And I think there is that fear.
Am I paying too much?
Is this the right product?
Does it really do what the vendor says?
I don't think that's ever gonna go away.
We're a very innovative industry.
We're willing to take risks.
I think it's actually a good thing
and I think there is variety with vendors, right?
And sometimes when there's more vendors
talking about something or doing something
that really validates that that space
or that technology you should probably look at.
If there's only one person claiming to be the best
or one person making sort of outrageous results claims,
I would be a little suspicious of that
as my 15-year-old would say that's a little sus.
So I wouldn't buy into that, but dealers are always,
I think they've got some pretty big checkbooks.
Sometimes they're known for having big budgets.
I think that over the years,
some people have maybe taken advantage of that.
And I really think dealers should trust the vendors
that really get the industry,
that really understand it, but are still innovative
and willing to develop new talk and do new things.
You also mentioned that when you were starting DAS
in after the recession,
the big thing was social media's starting,
reviews, websites, that whole arena.
What is that today?
Like where's the alpha today as a dealer listening?
There's a reason that dealers are listening to this right now.
It's because they're likely maybe in the market
for new technology, they're trying to assess
if they have the best technology,
maybe they wanna switch providers,
or maybe they just wanna get educated.
Where is the alpha, right?
Like where is the next thing,
or what is the smartest, highest leverage way?
In your opinion right now,
the dealers can take advantage
of this rapidly evolving technology in their industry.
Yep.
I think the big thing, and it's not a new...
Give us the stock tips, give us the stock tips.
It's grown.
The reason why social media at the time was so important
and still is today, it's actually not lessened in any case.
In fact, it's gotten stronger in some ways
with what's going on with AI search,
because reviews and consumer content really matter to AI.
But I think what it was is the consumers had a voice
that was very public.
Prior to that, it could have been,
I'm gonna fill out the mailed in CSI survey.
Yeah, word of mouth, I might have a complaint
about some experience or dealer,
but suddenly it was public, and it still is,
and it matters, and now it really drives...
It always drove SEO, now it's also really impactful.
It's the number one driver.
Online reviews and content from consumers
for AI search or GEO.
That is huge, that is the big thing.
Yeah, and I wanna talk to you about GEO,
but we'll save that, GEO, we'll mention that next.
Now, while that's the big thing to get found,
that doesn't matter if you don't take care of the consumers.
And I think that there is so much noise,
so much tech, we're all bombarded.
I even think 16 years ago, yeah, there was social media,
yeah, I was texting, but maybe I didn't also have to check
my team's messages, I wasn't necessarily,
there was no WhatsApp.
Like think of all the things were so bombarded
with technology as a consumer or as humans,
how do you break through that clutter?
How do you still have a meaningful experience?
And consumers are hungry for that.
They maybe don't want salespeople calling them like crazy
when they're just in that research stage,
but how do you show that your dealership cares
and you have humans that are gonna give them
a better experience and that you can be trusted?
That really matters more than ever before,
because there is so much noise.
So I think that leveraging tech to deliver
that difference maker in a way that isn't highly manual
and take so much time because we are all so busy
for the staff and the dealership, that's a game changer.
You know, I think back, I gave someone an allergy
not too long ago, I remember the game changer
back when I was starting the company was,
oh, that dealership sent that consumer cookies.
Okay, that was something maybe unique.
Dealers might still do that, that's great,
but how do you now leverage AI and technology
to feel like every interaction is personal
and you care about that consumer's preferences
and their journey in a way that is almost like
getting those home baked cookies through tech.
So that can really help you expand, I guess, your team,
right, one person can do a lot more
to make those consumers feel special than they could before.
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You mentioned the term GEO,
which for those who are not familiar,
you know, it's fancy term,
all it is is you've heard of SEO for Google,
imagine SEO for ChatGPT or whatever, Gemini, right?
It's just Generative Engine Optimization, okay?
So putting the term aside, how do you think about this?
Lots of dealers are talking about this.
You know, everyone wants to show up first on ChatGPT
when you say the best dealer near me or whatever.
Like, how do you win at this?
What's your perspective?
And you work with thousands of dealers,
I have to imagine this is top of mind.
Yeah, we've actually had a whole team on it
for almost two years.
We have an AI technical officer.
Visual strike team.
Yeah, we do, we do.
We actually call it StrikeForce.
Oh, look at that.
SpaceForce is StrikeForce.
We are always learning.
And again, this is where, you know,
our company being around a while really helps.
It reminds me of the social media days.
We were trying to figure out how do we crack the code there?
How do we get alerts and integrate with those sites?
It's very similar.
What we're really finding the biggest thing,
ironically, is consumer reviews.
It's the number one driver of getting found.
You could go right now and ask if you're in chat UBT
or Gemini or Perplexity, or even if you're on GROC.
That's another little more interesting AI search engine.
Ask it.
You know, if I'm looking for a dealer,
who would you recommend and then say,
why did you recommend this?
What data are you using?
Number one, and we're testing all the time.
There's other factors.
By far though, it feels like having online content
that's relevant from consumers,
their ratings and reviews,
and actually also relevant content on your site.
But that is really important, super important,
just like you still need that.
And it was always a driver for traditional SEO.
So that has never gone away.
In fact, if you don't have volume frequency,
you're not responding to those.
You're gonna fall behind,
just like it was back in the day
when social media was really impacting search,
and it still is.
So let me pressure test that.
It feels like nowadays,
we've gotten to an era where the baseline is a 4.5 plus,
like a 4.5 rating or higher.
Like how do I get an edge?
That's what I don't understand, right?
It's like, many dealers listening right now
are forward thinking dealers,
and they're probably on top of their reviews,
and they have great ratings.
Some don't, but many, many do.
So if you're saying that reviews is the path to getting,
or to increasing your chances of being ranked highly in
an LLM, but then if we all have 4.5 or higher,
or maybe some, you know, a large percentage do,
then how do I beat that?
Is there like a next layer, or how do you think about that?
100%.
I think dealers are not talking about their rating enough.
So even if you show up in search, or a GEO,
or call it AI search,
and there's a couple of you up there, right?
You should be talking about that,
because chances are the guy or gal down the street is not,
and once you're found, it's the message that you deliver,
and kind of your validation,
that I didn't game the system to get that score.
Like this is a legitimate real thing.
So we've got some things we're testing
that are pretty impactful,
that as well as just be helpful, right?
We've got some ways where we leverage AI
to actually communicate a message that's personal.
That might be more helpful than just some static copy
somewhere that you haven't updated in six months.
So just be thinking about as a consumer.
I always like to think like a consumer.
What would I want to find if I didn't know this industry,
if I didn't know certain dealers,
what would make me want to then click,
and not just click, but engage,
and spend my time and money with that retailer?
That's the hugest thing.
You want to get found,
but you want to cut through the clutter.
And then always be measuring.
Do you have a tool right now to measure your traffic?
Are you aware of what are those drivers
that when you tweak something or change it
in your campaigns or plans or vendors,
does it change your traffic?
Are you getting more appointments set?
Are you closing more?
So you kind of have to have an easy way to do it.
I know it's not easy, but there's also tools and ways
that you actually can leverage even AI
to get that information,
to evaluate how you stack rank,
and then when you make a change to your plan,
how it's impacting those results.
So you always got to stay on it.
You can't fall asleep at the wheel.
Okay, so I have to imagine that you've been
with the company now,
you've launched, like I said, over a decade ago,
and actually by this point, almost two decades ago.
So you've clearly had-
You feel too old.
Well, no, I say that positively,
because I think that, you know, I'm a believer, right?
It's like, you know, that term like Lindy,
it's like, it's the longer something exists,
the longer it will likely exist,
just because you clearly have staying power,
you've been able to adjust through ups and downs,
you're doing something right.
So with that said, I have to imagine dealers,
like what are the top three concerns
on dealers' minds today
that they're bringing towards you and the company?
Like where are you saying,
okay, these are the top three problems dealers
are anticipating that we are here to solve?
Like I'm trying to kind of see around the corner right now
and understand what's coming.
So what do you think,
what's your perspective on that?
Yep.
I think historically, and it's changing a bit,
but the last year at least,
dealers are concerned about consumer spending
and confidence in general, right?
Things are more expensive,
there's tariffs, interest rates,
hadn't come down for a while, thankfully,
it's starting to move in the right direction.
So if consumers are gonna spend less
and maybe not get a new car every three to four years,
what does that mean for a dealer?
We like to coach them on,
think about your holistic dealership experience,
never forget F&I,
never forget what you can do in service and parts,
and be there for consumers,
even if the sales cycle is a little delayed, right?
And let's think about how you make money as a dealership
and really be flexible and nimble.
So some tools and vendors are only about helping you
with one piece of your revenue.
What about the entire way that you make money
at a dealership?
So that is probably the biggest way.
And also look at their spending.
Oddly, one of the first conversations I have
with any of our dealers is like,
what are you spending money on right now?
How are you measuring that?
In any part of your business,
so many dealers when we had both the recession and COVID,
they really sharpened their pencils and really took a look
and you learn way more when times are hard
than when they're easy.
I think we all know that,
but to really embrace that philosophy
and just look at what is the difference maker
for you right now and don't assume
that's what's gonna work three months from now.
So it's really just being very mindful
and staying on top of your budgets.
And with any traffic you're getting,
how are you converting it?
I think that's the biggest conversation
I usually have with them.
I also find that they're really exhausted
with a lot of dashboards.
They're exhausted by a lot of vendors.
You mentioned the vendor conversation.
Every vendor is gonna-
There are too many dashboards by-
Too many dashboards and we all hate it.
And there's way too many vendors saying-
And what are you doing about?
We're the best.
We'll help you some more.
And it's all kind of BS.
I mean, you shouldn't listen to me or vendors.
You should know how you can easily and quickly measure
without needing another dashboard to log into.
Know what's working for your dealership,
your brand, your region, how you're set up.
And do you have people that are willing to help you
with that and adjust to what works for you?
Don't assume that what works for another market,
even the guy or gal down the street
is gonna work for you because it won't.
So really be on top of your metrics and numbers.
Always be sharpening your pencil.
And don't be afraid to try new things.
That's the other cool thing, right?
And know that you've got a baseline.
So if you interject a new tool, a new process,
is it moving the needle the right way?
Is it somehow negatively impacting
what you're doing and your goals are?
So that is the most important thing we could do.
And I usually say to dealers,
especially if they don't work with us,
I'm like, well, can you just talk to me
about your goals and what are you spending money on right now?
And I'm gonna assume that what you're spending money on
maybe is great.
How can we look at the metrics and find some gaps,
where maybe you're spending somewhere
that maybe it's not a difference maker for you?
And let's look at the process.
And are you also leveraging those vendors
to their fullest potential?
So I kind of always think about it back
in my agency days, Vantile days,
when I was there in the stores,
I'm like, what's going on here?
Like, let's look, don't ever set and forget
with a vendor or a plan.
You've got to be on top of it.
So yeah, I think there's been concern now.
I think people are hopeful.
Just in what we're, as of today, a weekend,
a couple of weeks into the year, it's a new year.
I feel like people are a little more hopeful.
I can't wait to see everyone at NADA
and see how they're feeling.
There's some great incentives
the manufacturers have right now.
I think we've kind of turned a corner.
It reminds me again of the old recession days,
the COVID days.
It's actually good to come out of some slower times
because we've got those learnings,
some new ways to do things.
And I think it's going to be a great year.
Well, I want to complete that one thought.
Now, you mentioned that you're asking dealers,
what's your goals and how are you adjusting
and where are you spending on really?
But could you give us a pulse
on how are dealers adjusting the dials right now?
Like, are you seeing less blank, more this,
or more voice AI, less text, more text, less voice,
more less Facebook and Google,
more reputational, more like,
what are you seeing in terms of that perspective,
how dealers are adjusting dials?
Because I would agree with you that
we're definitely in cut cost mode, efficiencies mode,
a lot more than it's been in the last couple of years.
You hear it all over.
And so I'm curious to see how dealers are adjusting the dials
from your perspective and how you're being helpful with that.
To be honest, I think they're just oftentimes adjusting
without a plan.
The best way that you can adjust
is to talk to the consumers, ask them.
Every year we do a trend study.
We have another one coming out where we just ask consumers.
That's though like a national study we do.
We actually go and survey through a research company
in the last six months, did you buy your service vehicle?
And it doesn't matter what dealer,
doesn't matter where they are,
but dealers need to ask their own market,
their own consumers, right?
Not some, how'd you hear about this thing, but really ask.
Like if you do have kind of AI VoIP tools,
either doing outbound stuff,
or like they're taking first touch when people call in
or email or whatever, did the consumer like that?
Was it helpful?
Is that their preference?
Ask their preferences.
Even if it's a sample size
or you make a part of your process to know that,
just ask the consumers.
Because it's pretty amazing how rapidly it is changing
and how consumers may actually prefer some of those tools.
Or you know what, give them a path to immediately talk
to somebody if they're not a tech centric consumer
and they don't want that path.
That to me has always been it's not rocket science,
but just talk to the consumers
and make sure as a GM or anyone handling the marketing budget,
a marketing director for a group,
you're the one getting that information,
you don't want it filtered through layers.
Because if you have someone on your team
that made a decision to implement a tool or technology,
they don't want to egg on their face to say it's not working
if it maybe isn't, right?
So you've got to find a way to get direct access
to yes, the high level trends and know what's going on,
but also go deep.
I like to call it being bifocal.
I do it here at our company.
I don't know where a team always loves it, but...
Tell us about it, yeah, tell us.
Well, yeah, I've got a thing where like every Monday,
everybody director and above has to tell me their priorities
and what they did last week.
15 minutes and send me an email,
copy your leadership team.
And do I go through, this is a secret,
I don't want them to see that.
Do I go through every one of these every week?
No, but do I sometimes go deep?
Absolutely, absolutely.
I'll see something when they're putting a picture of that.
Show it to, can I see it?
I think that's cool that you're real about that
because I don't think they expect you
to go through every single one,
but you reserve the right and you may.
And I think that's, it's good and it keeps people accountable.
It's good for them, it's good for you, it's good for everyone.
Yep, and a way a dealer can do that,
think about your vendors as your team, right?
Do they send you something?
Do they check in weekly?
Is it a monthly strategy called what's going on?
Even if you delegate that, do you say, you know what?
Every week, every month, I'm gonna jump in
and join those meetings.
I also get, here's another trick.
I'm on every distro in the company.
I know that sounds a little micromanagy,
but I am, I actually am.
Cause I wanna see, are they doing meetings?
You know, those distros usually get invited
to the team meetings.
There's some sort of circulation, billing, inbound leads.
That's a distro.
I see when a new dealer, if I happen to know that dealer
since a lead, man, I might wanna reply myself.
You know, most of the time I don't,
but I like knowing the distros.
Cause again, that's sort of high level,
but if I wanna go deep and be bifocal, I can.
I don't, yeah, I love that, by the way.
Because it's, to me, it's you're just hands-on.
Like, you know, you're seeing the flow.
You have a good pulse on the activity in the company,
which by the way, it's very much dealer mentality, right?
Like you're in there, in the weeds,
like literally in the action.
And I think that's a trade that doesn't escape you.
I still, I feel the same way.
You're entrepreneurial.
You are.
You started this company, the FOD, right?
Of course.
You can't ever let your baby go.
And I do know so many of our dealers
are the same way, right?
That's good.
It's family run maybe, or you finally got that key a point
or whatever, you're never totally out of it
because you know you're only as good as your last sale
the last month, you know things can change.
So that's what I think about.
You can never have an arrogance or be too good
to do any job in your company, right?
When you have that, the devil's in the details.
Now I couldn't possibly scale the company
if I was always in every detail of everyone's business,
but I want them to know number one,
I will jump in and go deep sometimes,
but also my door is open.
I think that's another saying that people are like,
oh, my door's always open.
I love it when someone in our company hasn't maybe come
in my office and chat with me for a while.
My office is actually a meeting room.
It's behind me, I could show it to you.
I want them to do meetings in here
because I want to walk around.
I want to go out, I'm traveling to see our clients
like use my office and if there's a meeting in here
and I want to pop in, I might sit down on the meeting.
Like I want to be part of it.
I don't want to be off in a corner, you know,
in an ivory tower.
So I think that if you have vendors that do that,
if you are that kind of leader,
and you do ask for them to tell you
what the results are, what the expectations are
as a vendor, but then you do have a way to check
that's easily, it's checkable.
That's how you also adjust the plan.
I'll go back to the other question,
but like you've got to know your own data,
you've got to know your own consumers,
you've got to know if the stuff you're trying is working.
So you have to know.
And by the way, that to me, to me here,
you say that is, I think that's awesome
because that is shows me, okay,
if this is what the leader of this company believes in,
then that's going to permeate throughout the company
and that's going to impact things that I do with you.
Like I love that.
So speaking of, you know, the ways you work with dealers,
when I was doing some homework on you,
I saw you have like these three main tiers to your brand.
You kind of have like a, you know,
from a solutions perspective,
you have a track, convert and retain
when it comes to customers, right?
Different tools, top dealers attract,
of course, convert them into customers
then retain them long-term.
Where are you seeing today a majority of,
or new dealer adoption?
Like what are dealers coming to you asking?
What solutions are, you know,
being adopted the fastest right now
amongst the dealer community?
So as someone that's been in marketing
and running agency and been on the digital ad side,
this is going to sound weird,
but of all of those solutions we just named,
the one that I think people shouldn't start with
or care about is attract.
Yet that seems to be where OEMs put their co-op money
and dealers are always like,
what's the new way to advertise?
That's good insight.
Forget it.
Forget that.
Forget it.
So when I talk to dealers, I'm like, ignore that.
You can go to anywhere and spend your money
and you will get some new leads.
But I think that the biggest area
the questions I usually get are on the convert,
which is, you know, I've got all,
hopefully you do get leads still coming
and you've got a database, right?
How do I convert people that maybe didn't buy
or they haven't bought yet
or maybe I want their trade in, whatever.
Whoever you want to take an option,
are you using the coolest tools, the new ways
to help that conversion happen?
That is the most exciting thing,
I think to be talking about in the conversation
and how you use AI and how you use vendors,
that conversion is so important.
There's not that many brand new dealerships out there
that don't have their own database,
that don't have access to information
or leads that haven't converted.
So that is the coolest thing for me is conversion.
That you got a-
So that conversion is exciting to you
and what's specifically within conversion?
What is like the specific tool
that's gaining adoption rapidly?
So I think that it's really hard
to change human behavior with your team.
Every business has this, including mine.
I think for years, people talk about,
let's just train the dealers.
Why don't they do this on the phone?
I also say kind of forget that.
The humans are the humans.
A lot of the time that people are working
with you in this industry,
it's because they're great people, people.
They're great.
Don't make them use technology.
Don't make them log in at 27 dashboards.
Let them do what they're great at,
which is there's oftentimes even service advisors,
they're in sales, they're friendly, they're likable.
They get excited about your products.
They wanna get people in the new car.
Let them do that.
So how do we find technology to sort of replicate
what's hopefully a great in-person experience
when people walk into your showroom or the service lane?
How do we leverage technology to be more personal?
To give those consumers a better experience
where it's not just you trying to train
that perfect salesperson or that perfect service advisor?
Or why have we never been able to truly get leads
in the service lane and drive and convert people
with that repair into buying a new car?
It's because we're dealing with humans.
And I think that we've got to not totally give up the plan,
but if you could as a dealer,
think about your most perfect service advisor,
your perfect salesperson,
how do we replicate as much of your vision
for what you want them to do for your store
that you know works?
How do we replicate as many pieces of that leveraging tech?
So we stop trying to change people
that maybe are never gonna be you as a general manager.
I have a habit that's not great.
I think the way that I think and how quickly
I can come up with a solution, how long I work
and all the things I do, I just assume our team can do.
I think GMs think that too, GSMs think that.
They're not you or else they would be that general manager,
that GSM.
So how do you give them other tools and resources
to actually do what you would do or do it even better?
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The reality is dealers hear a lot of this in the industry
from people that maybe have been in the industry
for a fraction of the time you've been.
And so, what can you say about your ability to do that
that is better, superior than others?
Like why should they trust you
or why do you think you can do this best
versus maybe others in the industry
with respect to what you just mentioned?
Like arming, providing the tools for the team
to perform better in their job with AI,
with other technology in general, maybe voice or text.
Like why can you do this, you know, best
or better than others in the industry, in your opinion?
First of all, I think anyone that thinks blanketly
they can do things better and best, you shouldn't work with.
Anyone that says they're an expert, I call BS on that.
I think what we do is first of all, we care.
We really do get the dealers and we care about them.
We call it a DX dealer experience.
Think because we've all been in the industry
and we know it's a really hard job.
So we care.
So that is what is different and we listen.
I wanna know what's working for you.
I wanna know the 14 vendors that you can't live without.
That's great.
That's a good answer.
We interact with them, we integrate.
We have over 230 integration partners.
There's probably not many good vendors
we don't integrate with.
Even if people think we're frenemies or something,
even if they have one feature
that overlaps with something we do,
I'm like, I don't wanna change that.
You took the time to integrate that,
work with that partner, it's working for you.
Don't change a thing.
So that's the first thing because again,
I just call BS on anyone that claims they're an expert.
I remember back today, I'm a social media expert.
I'm an AI expert.
That is total BS.
Don't work with it.
Yeah, you could have gone in two different,
very different ways there.
You could have started giving me a technical breakdown
of your technology stack or something
that would not even resonate
or no one would...
No, we just care.
It doesn't register.
But to your point, it's just like that intangible.
It's the basics, right?
It's like we freaking care, we listen.
We give a shit.
Sorry, I think someone said, don't swear.
I said, let's turn the dealership back.
No, no, swear, swear.
First we'll give a shit.
Swear away, swear away.
And the first rule of our company was no assholes.
Anybody in our company, you could walk in,
go to our booth in an ADA, what's the first rule?
No assholes.
That is it.
We wanna be the company that's not annoying to work with.
We're not assholes and we wanna be not annoying
and we wanna help you.
That's all I would say and we really care
and we're not gonna come in and make you rip out
another vendor or change this.
We work with really everyone in the industry.
We're kind of Switzerland.
Now, we also have to listen.
So let's, we have tons of tenure in our company too.
I'm really, really proud of this.
I think our average tenure of every position
is something like 6.7 years.
So they know the industry.
They know the industry and they care.
So we wanna learn what's working for you.
That's why we do, the G summit, our ultimate 20 group.
We actually did with you guys.
We brought Sam down.
We listen.
We want to have our dealers network with each other.
We wanna learn because it's not necessarily
about your technology today
because it should evolve, it should change.
But where can we fill in a gap where you as a dealer
or dealer group do have a gap in that customer journey.
You're gonna defect a lead prospect
or a customer's not gonna come back
that did service with you.
They're not gonna buy from you.
Where are those gaps?
And then I also think because we care, our stuff works.
We're not gonna sell you something that's smoke and mirrors.
I can't help but think of like,
you'd literally need a marketing campaign
that just is like three ads.
It's like, we listen, we care, our stuff works.
Our stuff actually, like it's so fricking simple.
And I love it.
This is like, it's the basics.
It's like, don't even think about the technology.
We'll handle that.
Our stuff actually works, so basic.
It's gonna make your life better, not worse.
You're not gonna spend a bunch of money
and implement something like a go,
why the hell did I do that?
We care, it works.
And you know what, if it doesn't, we're not perfect.
If something didn't happen to work
the way you thought it would,
we don't hold you to crazy contracts.
We don't do that.
We'll find something else.
Or if there is a transition that happens,
we all know a new GM comes in, has their favorite vendor.
We're the ones that actually wanna have a transition meeting
with any other vendor and make sure your data's your data.
And whatever you're doing with us
or with someone else that you're gonna make a change,
that happens with dealer groups.
They mandate something or whatnot.
We wanna make sure that we leave the right way
if we ever leave so you can't-
Of course, your opportunity to see-
We're there for you, we're not going away.
We're gonna be in this industry.
I think in an ocean of very deep technical conversations,
I think this is,
I think you're definitely resonating with many people
right now because you're resonating with me.
And-
Thank you.
I think people-
I can go deep on the tech side.
Well-
Just because we throw great parties,
doesn't mean we can't get technical.
But I would rather do that one-to-one with somebody
that I can listen and see who you're using
and we can go real deep.
But that, you know, I just love this industry
and I would never want somebody to be confused.
I think sometimes vendors throw on big words.
They wanna confuse you.
They want you to think that you're missing out
on some new special technology
that's gonna solve all your problems.
That's not real.
You need to find ways to listen to your own consumers,
know where you've got gaps,
and integrate new tech like AI
into what's already working for you where it makes sense.
And the last thing I would say on that,
it should be AI native.
We're AI native.
It's in our platform.
We're not reselling someone else's thing.
It's not some little bolt-on feature.
I would avoid that.
I think you gotta have your own plan,
how you're gonna leverage this amazing new technology
to make those consumers have a better experience.
If you stick with that, you can't go wrong.
So tell me a lot of these parties you speak of.
You know, Yoshi, I don't feel I have to talk about them
because that's all everyone usually wants to talk about.
They actually started, for me,
directly many years ago when I was at Who's Calling.
And I remember we had a founder of that company.
I think it was Aspen Marketing,
that he's like, why do they have a line
around their booth at NADA?
And I'm like, I'm gonna go find out.
And it was just to pick up a party pass.
So I've done it at Who's Calling, at Dealer Track.
We even did some fun parties at Vantile
with some of Larry's portfolio companies.
And we've done it from day one here.
So it's our gift to the industry.
It's to thank you.
We do have remote account support
and most of our sales team is centralized here
in Scottsdale, Arizona.
We do, of course, go out and meet our dealers.
We do go to trade shows,
but this is our one big thank you to the whole industry.
It's open to partners like you, to anyone.
We just wanna get the best people together.
We're lucky.
We tend to work with the best dealers.
A lot of successful folks come together.
It's our thank you.
So this year we've rented out Allegiant Stadium, whole thing.
We're doing the first ever zip line across the stadium.
Our dealers and partners are gonna be the stars.
You're gonna get to run through the tunnel
and smoke's going off and your name's up in lights.
We have some of our great partners.
We're gonna be announcing a partnership
with Damon John of Shark Tank.
He really believes in excellent customer service.
All of his products are that way.
He's gonna be there.
We've got DJ Jazzy Jeff.
We're turning it into a nightclub.
It's gonna be amazing.
So that's this year.
But there's so many stories and parties in the past.
It's just been,
we've been so lucky to be able to throw these as a thank you
and to get to see so many of our partners and clients.
And keeping it fun.
And what's a completely different story
but what's just like a fun fact about you
that most people don't know something interesting about you?
Man.
I'm a triple agent.
I have citizenship, three passports.
So yeah.
Irish EU.
I was born in Canada.
So shout out to all my Canadian double agents out there
were shape shifters and the students.
And then I've been in the US for,
man, gosh, a long time.
So longer than any other country.
So that's a little fun fact.
I'll tell you the international dealers love me.
They come over.
Oh, and I've got a little,
a tiny place,
an old 11th century castle watch tower in Italy.
Alexi, incredible conversation.
Before we wrap up,
is there any single takeaway,
any last like closing thought that you want to share?
I think if I had to sum up this conversation,
it's, you know,
you're a technologically advanced company
that's leading with something that's as old as time,
which is heart care,
making things actually work,
which is pretty, it's pretty refreshing.
But what's just like,
what's the takeaway for a dealer listening right now?
What's your just closing thought?
If you're not an asshole,
and you're a good person
and you're looking to take care of customers,
come talk to us.
You know, I want to learn from you too.
What's working?
What's that difference maker for you?
I want to get to know you.
Honestly, we just work with some of the best people.
Our clients are like family to us.
And yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing all of you,
whether you work with us or not at NADA.
So this industry is always so exciting.
There's always something new we can all learn from each other.
And I love being a partner in the industry
and really kind of playing the role of Switzerland.
So we've got some cool new things coming
with how we're going to be able to do more
with more of our partners and some of that data.
But I just want to get to know more people in the industry
and, you know, have gratitude
for us all being able to do what we do.
Amazing.
Alexi Venere, I think now's a good time as we wrap up.
As we should also mention that you do have a big presence
at NADA.
I don't know if you have your booth information
with you right now, please feel free to share.
We can also link it in show notes below
and put more information there.
Sure, thank you.
I've gone to NADA more than almost anybody
in this industry exhibited.
I know the spot to be.
So we are 1311 West Hall.
That's the new hall at the Vegas Convention Center.
If you look for the main stage, the live stage,
I love that stage, right?
When you come in that main hall,
you go to that first entrance and you go straight up.
We're near the product demo stage.
I suggest people check that out.
That's where NADA you have to, you apply as a vendor
and you can showcase on their main stage
some cool new products.
There's also a pitch competition.
We've won that before.
We're going to be in it again this year.
Again, hot new products.
It's kind of fun.
It's almost like speed dating.
All the vendors get on the stage.
So we're close to that stage and area.
I look for the line for the party pass line
and come out fun.
We've actually, we're turning our booth
into a football field this year.
You can actually throw a pass to get entries
to win a chance to go to the big game.
That's the Sunday in Santa Clara right after the show.
So we just like to have a lot of fun.
It's our thank you, it's our give back
and we can show you some pretty cool fun tech too.
So 1311 West, hope to see you there.
We'll throw it out in the show notes as well.
Alexi Venere, Das, thank you so much
for coming on the podcast.
It was a super fun.
Thank you.
We love working with you guys.
You're the best.
All right, hope you enjoyed that episode.
Please give the podcast a rating.
Consider subscribing to the show
and check the show notes for links to what we talked about.
Thanks for tuning in.
I'll see you guys next time.
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