A deep dive into the evolving automotive dealership landscape, featuring insights from industry experts Steven Hill, Dave Thomas, and Greg Smith. The discussion covers the impact of social media on sales processes, predictions for 2026, and the importance of mystery shopping in enhancing customer engagement. Key highlights include the rise of AI in dealerships, the significance of training and career pathing for technicians, and strategies for improving sales through streamlined operations. The episode emphasizes the need for dealers to adapt to market changes and focus on customer experience to thrive in the competitive environment.
Today's show features:
- Stephen Hill, Managing Partner at Oakes Auto Inc
- Dave Thomas, Director of Content Marketing at CDK Global
- Greg Smith, Vice President of Operations at Leavens Automotive Group
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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"...the winning brands well Toyota, GM, Hyundai, Kia they all won..."
Hyundai is a car company from South Korea that makes a variety of vehicles, often known for being affordable and reliable.
Hyundai is a South Korean automotive manufacturer known for its affordable and reliable vehicles, as well as its advancements in electric and hybrid technology.
"...movers in the opposite direction well Rivian deliveries fell sharply..."
Rivian is a newer car company that makes electric trucks and SUVs, designed for people who love outdoor adventures.
Rivian is an American electric vehicle manufacturer known for its electric trucks and SUVs, such as the R1T and R1S, focusing on adventure and outdoor lifestyles.
"...Subaru and Mazda both finished the year lower than..."
Subaru is a car company that makes vehicles known for their all-wheel drive, which helps in tough weather and off-road conditions.
Subaru is a Japanese automaker known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles and outdoor-oriented models like the Outback and Forester, appealing to adventure enthusiasts.
"...movers in the opposite direction well Rivian deliveries fell sharply Mitsubishi was down double digits..."
Mitsubishi is a car company from Japan that makes various vehicles, but it has been having a hard time selling as many cars recently.
Mitsubishi is a Japanese automotive manufacturer known for producing a range of vehicles, including the Outlander and Eclipse, but has struggled in recent years to maintain market share.
"both features will debut on a new midsize electric pickup in 2027 part of"
An electric pickup is a truck that uses electricity to run instead of traditional fuel, which is better for the environment.
An electric pickup is a type of truck that runs entirely on electricity instead of gasoline or diesel, offering a more environmentally friendly option.
"...but this is an example of just the type of connecting video you can send to your customers to up our game in automotive and by the way transparency in automotive makes us all better..."
Transparency in automotive means being clear and honest with customers about car prices and services. It helps customers feel more confident and trusting in their car buying or servicing experience.
Transparency in automotive refers to the practice of being open and honest with customers about vehicle pricing, services, and processes. It aims to build trust and improve customer relationships.
"...of your brake fluid your brake fluid reservoir is located underneath of here replacing both of"
The brake fluid reservoir is a small container in your car that holds the fluid needed for the brakes to work. It's important to keep it filled so your brakes can stop the car effectively.
The brake fluid reservoir is a component of the braking system that holds the brake fluid necessary for hydraulic brake operation. It's crucial for maintaining brake performance and should be checked regularly for fluid levels.
"...in regards to all of your vehicles brake pads rotors and tires i'm also happy to report that they're in excellent condition..."
Rotors are the round metal discs that the brake pads press against to help your car stop. They are an important part of the braking system.
Rotors are metal discs that work with brake pads in a vehicle's braking system. When the brake pads clamp down on the rotors, it slows the vehicle down by creating friction.
"...in regards to all of your vehicles brake pads rotors and tires i'm also happy to report that they're in excellent condition..."
Tires are the round rubber parts on your car that touch the road. They help your car move and stop safely.
Tires are the rubber components that provide traction and support for a vehicle. They are essential for safe driving and handling, as they connect the vehicle to the road.
"...in regards to all of your vehicles brake pads rotors and tires i'm also happy to report that they're in excellent condition..."
Brake pads are the parts that help your car stop when you press the brake pedal. They push against the wheels to create friction, which slows down the car.
Brake pads are components of a vehicle's braking system that press against the brake rotors to create friction and slow down or stop the vehicle. They are crucial for effective braking performance.
"...that actually concludes the service and the multi-point inspection after this video is completed..."
A multi-point inspection is a thorough check of your car to make sure everything is working well. It looks at many parts to catch any problems early.
A multi-point inspection is a comprehensive check of various components of a vehicle, typically performed during routine maintenance. It helps identify any potential issues before they become serious problems.
"...we have two key of stores and one gmc store uh it was doing about 50 cars a month..."
GMC is a brand of vehicles that makes trucks and SUVs. They are known for being tough and good for heavy-duty use.
GMC is a division of General Motors that primarily focuses on trucks and SUVs. Known for their ruggedness and capability, GMC vehicles are popular among consumers looking for durable and powerful options.
"...the big one is obviously the telluride was huge when that came out they got..."
The Kia Telluride is a popular SUV made by Kia. It's known for being roomy and having many safety features, making it a great choice for families.
The Kia Telluride is a mid-size SUV that has received acclaim for its spacious interior, advanced safety features, and overall value. It has quickly become one of Kia's best-selling models since its introduction.
"they've done a great job with and the sportage and um the serento..."
The Kia Sportage is a smaller SUV that is great for city driving and families. It combines good looks with useful features and a comfortable ride.
The Kia Sportage is a compact SUV that offers a blend of style, comfort, and practicality. It has been a strong contender in the SUV market, appealing to a wide range of buyers.
"...and the serento and then also the telluride coming out with the hybrids..."
The Kia Sorento is a family-friendly SUV that has room for more passengers. It's a good option if you need extra space and comfort for trips.
The Kia Sorento is a mid-size SUV that offers three rows of seating, making it a versatile choice for families. It is known for its spacious interior and a variety of engine options, including hybrids.
"...the extended warranty being the top you know product that's being sold..."
An extended warranty is like extra insurance for your car that helps pay for repairs after the regular warranty runs out. It can save you money if something goes wrong.
An extended warranty is a service contract that provides additional coverage for a vehicle beyond the manufacturer's warranty period. It can cover repairs and maintenance, offering peace of mind for car owners against unexpected costs.
"...same with prepaid maintenance which i've always recommended..."
Prepaid maintenance is when you pay for car service in advance, so you don't have to worry about costs later. It helps keep your car in good shape without surprise bills.
Prepaid maintenance is a program where car owners pay upfront for scheduled maintenance services over a certain period. This can help save money and ensure that the vehicle is properly maintained according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
"...especially now with with tariffs still happening those prices will go up..."
Tariffs are extra fees that the government charges on things brought in from other countries. If these fees go up, it can make cars more expensive to buy.
Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods, which can affect the prices of vehicles and parts. When tariffs increase, the cost of manufacturing and selling cars can rise, leading to higher prices for consumers.
"...ld would likely increase as well so you know the omni channel experience you know how much people can d..."
The Dodge Omni is an older, small car that was popular in the 1980s. People mention it when talking about how cars have changed over the years and how companies market them.
The Dodge Omni was a compact car produced in the 1980s that is notable for its role in the hatchback segment and its affordability. It is often referenced in discussions about automotive history and the evolution of car design and marketing strategies.
"...it's really around this average transaction price that is so widely reported..."
The average transaction price is the average cost of cars sold. It helps people understand how much buyers are spending on vehicles.
The average transaction price (ATP) refers to the average amount paid for a vehicle at the time of sale. It is a key metric in the automotive industry that helps understand market trends and consumer spending behavior.
"...we understand that you know it's k shape recovery luxury sales are going to be way up here..."
A K-shaped recovery means that some parts of the economy are doing well while others are not. For example, luxury car sales might be increasing while sales of cheaper cars are not.
A K-shaped recovery describes an economic situation where different segments of the economy recover at different rates. In this context, luxury vehicle sales are recovering faster than those of more affordable cars, indicating a disparity in consumer spending.
"...you look back at inflation on a Honda Accord Toyota Corolla whatever you want to do they are less today..."
The Honda Accord is a popular car that many people choose because it's reliable and good on gas. It's a comfortable car for families and daily driving.
The Honda Accord is a midsize car known for its reliability, fuel efficiency, and spacious interior. It has been a popular choice among families and commuters for decades.
"...which in the canadian market an all-wheel drive family hauler is really something um so that hurt us at our two folks wagon stores..."
All-wheel drive means that power goes to all four wheels of the car, which helps it grip the road better, especially in rain or snow. It's great for driving in tough conditions.
All-wheel drive (AWD) is a drivetrain system that provides power to all four wheels of a vehicle simultaneously, enhancing traction and stability, especially in adverse weather conditions. It is commonly found in SUVs and crossovers.
"...ppening in with that brand a lot of times on the x5 and x7 um fraud theft um you know just we would h..."
The BMW X5 is a fancy SUV that is known for being fast and comfortable. People talk about it a lot, especially because there have been some issues with it being stolen.
The BMW X5 is a luxury midsize SUV that combines performance, comfort, and advanced technology. It is significant for its role in popularizing the luxury SUV segment and often discussed due to its high-profile theft cases and reliability concerns.
"...i went up and spoke to a group of Canadian Lexus dealers and was talking about you know..."
Lexus is a luxury car brand that comes from Toyota. They are known for making comfortable and reliable cars with lots of features.
Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. Known for its reliability and comfort, Lexus vehicles often feature advanced technology and high-quality interiors.
"...s getting also getting brand new uh uh redesigned cx5 model so you guys should be expecting more sales..."
The Mazda CX-5 is a smaller SUV that looks good and is fun to drive. It's getting a new design, which means it might be even better and more people will want to buy it.
The Mazda CX-5 is a compact crossover SUV that has gained popularity for its stylish design, engaging driving dynamics, and practicality. The recent redesign aims to enhance its appeal further, making it a topic of interest in discussions about sales trends in the automotive market.
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We're doing better as a result of social media presence it doesn't do those three things
then it's on the chopping block it's in return on investment discussion
Hey everybody welcome back to another episode of the Daily Dealer Live I'm your host Sam
Dark and welcome to the space and automotive where we come together to learn to share and
most importantly everyone as we know an automotive to execute. Thanks for choosing to be here
on this Monday January 12th today we're covering the full dealership stack how stores are selling
how tech is simplifying operations how leadership systems drive predictable results at scale two
operators a respected vendor partner will all with one goal helping dealers to win in 2026
coming up today Steven Hill managing partner at Oaks Auto Inc and Dave Thomas director of
content marketing at CDK Global with some fascinating industry insights we wrap it today
with Greg Smith vice president operations at Leavens Automotive Group but first let's hit
today's industry headlines. First up today new vehicle sales grew in 2025 but most of that
growth was concentrated into a handful of brands rather than rather and spread less evenly across
the market than in years past the winning brands well Toyota, GM, Hyundai, Kia they all won Toyota
sold about two and a half million vehicles GM led the industry at 2.9 and Hyundai and Kia both
posted solid year over year growth movers in the opposite direction well Rivian deliveries fell
sharply Mitsubishi was down double digits and Subaru and Mazda both finished the year lower than
2024 the brands that gained share leaned heavily on products like hybrids SUV crossovers and more
affordable vehicles what's the bottom line here well the winners leaned on scale and familiarity
while smaller and niche brands felt the pressure as the market tightened. Next up today at this
year's CES Expo Ford previewed an AI built-in a system and a new generation of BlueCruise both of
which are designed to be cheaper and more practical than what's currently on the market today i.e.
Rivian and Tesla the AIS assistant that Ford unveiled runs on Google Cloud and taps directly
into Ford's vehicle data it'll let drivers ask real everyday questions like whether there's a
whether a load of mulch will fit in the truck bed or how much oil is left in the vehicle Ford
plans to roll the assistant out first through its mobile app in early 2026 then it will bring it
fully into the vehicle the following year at the same time Ford showed off its next gen BlueCruise
system which it says cost about 30% less to build and sets the foundation for quote eyes off driving
later this decade until that's something similar to Tesla's autonomous driving but short of fully
autonomous looking ahead both features will debut on a new midsize electric pickup in 2027 part of
Ford's push to pair advanced tech with a roughly get this $30,000 starting price instead of
reserving it for higher-end vehicles last up today auto tech auto technician satisfaction is
slipping that according to the latest survey data from Wrenchway only 58% say they're paid fairly
and barely half are happy with their benefits the problem is flat rate compensation is still
treated like the default in many shops even though only about one in five technicians
actually prefer it now and the disconnect matters more than it used to the work mix has changed
there's more diagnostics more technology and more complexity but pay structures haven't kept up
leaving techs feel feeling exposed to downtime and variability they can't control training is
another pressure point while 67% of techs say paid training is essential only about half feel
they're actually getting it mentor mentorship is uneven too often informal and dependent on
who happens to be available what's the big picture here well for early career techs especially the
message comes through loud and clear without a defined training path clear expectations and a
visible link between skills and pay it's hard for techs to see a long-term future in the store and
that's our wrap on today's industry headlines yuli welcome back to the show happy to be here
so yuli we had a cool show last week what do you think of that that technician data that's
interesting career pathing training it's all important and they're all topics we heard a lot
an awful lot about on our uh fixed ops friday this past friday they're dealer groups that are
winning at that because they're training their career pathing and then there are others that
aren't they're treating techs like any other employee tough to get they've got to pay but
they don't necessarily need a career path thoughts on that yeah 100 we've been talking
about this for 103 episodes now that you know pay isn't necessarily top of mind for everyone if you
saw on that chart it was time off so we just have to start rethinking how we can compensate and
incentivize our personnel yeah all right as a reminder to everybody out there watching this
daily deal live episode the co-video cdg dealer value excellence contest is on
we're taking submissions through i think wednesday like midnight and you know what if you send one
across thursday all arm wrestle and make sure it gets in thursday or friday so you've got some time
but it the deadline is drawing near get this send in a video that you create that's customer
facing so it has to connect with a customer of service so it could be a video mpi it could be a
sales mpi or it could be some sort of a sales intro video product video it could be a walk
around on a vehicle it could be an invitation to come into the dealership a introduction to the
service department to the finance department to your manager the deal is it's using video as a sales
person or a service rider a technician to connect with the customer in a way that only that technology
can do send it in to us and i've got the different ways to do it send it to dealer video challenge
dot com dealer video challenge dot com or you can send it to our own hannah farmer at hannah
h at cart dealership guy dot org hannah h at cart dealership guy dot org you can also
select the qr code there to send it in and we're exciting so we're going to pick the top four videos
we're going to have those four uh video creators on the show uh and they're going to be given a
final uh challenge so that they'll all compete on and we will dub a nationwide cart dealership guy
video dealer champion uh as a result of that they get a little bit of cash but that's not a big deal
it's the props of winning a nationwide contest david thank you for uh coming into the uh the
channels by the way he says hey guys i submitted and we are ready to win and by the way you know
what i feel like this is almost not fair but david's video was pretty cool we had him on
fixed ops friday on friday um i was gonna say we were gonna show yours in my video but i actually
want to show his and i don't think we're giving you any trade secrets we're not giving him a
disadvantage or anything else but this is an example of just the type of connecting video you
can send to your customers to up our game in automotive and by the way transparency in automotive
makes us all better if we can get really good at creating videos to communicate with customers
that's more transparent and we want to show you an example of it right now so julie
should we hit it should we show them david's video let's go all right let's go this is from
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 summer your fluids under the hood like your coolant and your washer fluid
which you have right over here i also corrected your vehicles tire pressure very important to
note that during the spring summer and fall mercedes benz recommends 32 psi and 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 and all of your tires just for the winter time i also performed
an overall vehicle multi-point 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 drivetrain components etc i found no leaks nothing broken
out of place in regards to all of your vehicles 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 percent 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 multi-point 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 the before and here's the after thank you very much i love that
i love that i love that what do you think setting expected yeah it's great setting expectations
and there's nothing wrong with a clean bill of health so lauren Klein says in the comments
cleanest shop i've ever seen i think that's another great side of the video there's so
much myth behind what it means to come into a service department to get service done
letting consumers see the shop see the facility see you and connect with you when they're outside
the shop or outside the store that's huge i love that so this is a submission we're putting it into
the competition david great job at benzil bush thanks for sharing that video with us
you we we don't have time today to share the video that you and i did but we will share on
wednesday's show so we'll give everybody one chance to see our videos respectively and then
and then you can compete up but there is one other way you can submit a video so you can go to
dealervideochallenge.com you can email direct to hannah which her email address is the one i
just gave it's hannah at cardiolorshipguy.org or you can upload the video um and you can uh
tag at cardiolorshipguy and you can tag at covideo dancy has a great comment on here and i
like this he says personally i'd like to see them use a gimbal to add some stability to the video
otherwise i believe it was pretty good now listen one of the cool things about this is
we're going to be able to give feedback by seeing a bunch of these end end end end it's
going to make us all better so yes dancy thanks for the comment and david no fear because it's
actually pretty cool to be able to see a video um that everybody can give feedback on the uh
gimbal thing is a cool idea the other thing i've heard that's i think it's pretty cool is using
like meta glasses yeah the glasses yep you just click here and then you're wherever you go with
both hands it's right there you don't have to balance stuff uh you can do it so uh david says
thank you guys thank you david for making sure that's out there but um you'll see we'll show
ours next time yeah so yeah we we uh we we're competing in this thing too all right first
up today let's go straight to steven hill managing partner at oaks auto ink steven welcome to the show
hey how's it going hey thanks for being here you're in the kansas city uh Missouri kansas
city kansas area um first up first question is how's biz and as part of that tell us a little
bit about yourself and what you do out there yeah man business is uh business is good we just came
off a really good month uh in december so uh we got three stores here and um we just acquired our
third store uh in september uh this year and uh it's just kind of off to the races nice and and
what's the performance been over these past 60 90 days uh for you increasing flat decreasing what's
business like yeah there's certainly areas where it's been tough but uh from a volume perspective
it's uh it's gotten pretty good uh you know our our store that we purchased in aleta which is the
key of store we have two key of stores and one gmc store uh it was doing about 50 cars a month
when we purchased it in september and uh you know we just kind of try to take what we think we have
figured out which is a lot we don't but the things that we do we think we have figured out we brought
to that store and um you know it's just kind of been uh kind of a rocket ship since we started
and last month at 225 cars 165 of those being new so uh yeah good job we're pretty pleased with the
direction that we're headed there huge increase you know i'll tell you what in my role across
ziggler auto group we bring in i it's not me it's the team right erin ziggler leads the deal we've
got a team of excellent gms and and leadership team you come in and you implement processes that work
and it's cool to see the bump what's one process for you that allows you to go into a key of store
like that and see such a huge turnaround so quickly that others could learn from yeah i mean i think
the uh the the biggest piece that uh we put in place there is just our sales process uh we use
auto fives it's kind of in store process um and the purpose is just trying to speed everything up
right reduce friction in the uh experience for the customer and that's been huge for us um you know
obviously to sell that many cars you gotta uh or sell that many in in that short period of time you
have to kind of change what the experience is like at the store for the customer so uh
i was pretty proud that happy to see how that that worked out there so it's interesting i coincidence
or whatever friday we talked to a dealer that has the new four 2.0 facility who's implemented
auto fi as well it's a it's a it's a cool process as you went into a new facility with that what was
the biggest pushback you got and then tell us a little bit about what that looks like now versus
what it was before in that dealership yeah i mean there there wasn't a ton of pushback actually
because when we acquired the store um you know there was a there was uh not to speak
you know too negatively but there's just kind of an attitude of i can't right that store and what
possible uh we knew what the market opportunity was there but uh you know we brought team members
from our store that already experienced the processes that kind of stuff and put it in place
and um there wasn't there really wasn't a lot of pushback um in fact uh we hired a lot of new
new team members who who frankly have not had car business experience so they don't have a lot of
bad habits and you stick them in a process that's very customer friendly easy for them uh it worked
out really well all right so what's your dms and crm that backs up to auto fi in this case
we use teccheon as a dms okay so uh we're pretty happy with that and then for crm we use drive
centric we love drive centric just the ability for managers to see what's happening inside
deals and inside conversations and the seamlessness between the bdc and sales uh the ability to use
video which you guys obviously uh talking about but yes engage with customer video
you're going to send us a video right we will yeah absolutely love it all right you're in
and as many of your sales folks or services want to be included we're taking all the submissions
it's going to be a huge it's going to be a ginormous trophy if you've ever seen the movie uh zoo lander
we have to have a big trophy big big big big trophy so we can have a big trophy so hey auto
fi as we've been learning about it it's it's on an ipad and it allows you to prescribe to the
customer and create a more contiguous uh kind of experience from online into the showroom
where does the crm end and where does this auto fi process start and why not use teccheon's version
of that ipad on the showroom floor yeah well i'm not i'm not sure that the the difference with the
auto fi is the connection with the lenders right um i've been probably trying to work on this for
about 10 years right as i just feedback from customers are talking about how um experience
to be easier they want to be feel like a little bit more like they're in control uh and so i've
efforted towards a shared process the benefit with auto fi is um they can do it you know alongside
with the salesperson um go ahead and submit through and actually get an approval from a bank
and they can see multiple different lender options and it kind of removes them from running back and
forth with the manager um wondering what's going on any of that type of stuff so that's probably the
biggest key is auto fi's connection with uh the actual lenders and getting a live approval with
the customer right there so instead of going back and forth so units sold aside that's the
that's a big kpi of success implementing this new process and your new process is into the store
what are a couple of other big kpi indicators that show that what you're doing is are successful
there yeah i mean we we believe that uh if if we can reduce the friction for the customer right
and we make it a little bit quicker customers more apt to listen to us when we have uh
ancillary products and f and i um that type stuff we offer a vip program that we sell up front
we just believe that if we eliminate some of the uh unnecessary friction with a customer um that
there'll be more apt to listen to us on maybe some higher margin products as we know that
margins on cars are getting tighter and tighter yeah they are well speaking of margins on cars and
tight margins so you've said use cars are where most of your leadership attention is right now
as we start 2026 what specific metric or failure point for stop focus uh well i mean i think i think
it's mostly just as it gets harder and harder to chase down new core growth um and at the same
kind of grow that volume in a competitive market you got to get in the areas that are
more in your control all right use cars is definitely our control so that's it we're
just trying to chase down what uh what we might be losing in other parts of the business so
use cars is a big area that we have we have control and how we acquire and where we acquire so
we have a dbc a full team buyers that you know kind of held accountable to those results and yeah
what so what are you doing in use cars to win uh in 26 versus 25 well just mainly from an acquisition
focus um so we have a bbc and we work uh you know ico leads and and private seller applications
the entire team that works on that along with a use car buyer that's um buying about 150 cars
from the auction a month across our group and the bbc um buying about 65 cars a month so
that's the big deal just trying to get the throughput um obviously making better decisions
when we're acquiring cars all kind of stuff but again we believe that uh we'll have better luck
doing that when we have a a less friction process for the customer so is that uh is that center for
buying used cars is that new to this year or late last year or is that something you've had for a
while it is it's expanded this year yeah so we had one one one individual across the store now
we have one in every single store we kind of decentralized that a little bit um it's just
kind of in our approach we believe there's more success when somebody's actually in the store
working alongside the gms and the sales managers and that kind of stuff so
so you mentioned this frictionless process multiple times but you know i would suppose the auto fi
piece is part of it but also your overall mentality is a big part of it did you have to go in and
change pay plans from the tradition the more traditional negotiation type thing and if so
what did that look like what did the people look like before with salespeople and after
you made that change yeah so we don't we don't uh we just don't believe the salespeople have a lot
of control over the gross profit of the car so um we paid them off volume um and bonuses around that
and then obviously if we sell oncillary products then they have some um some little bonuses or
spiff based off of that so that's the main thing it's just kind of focused on the volume and the
customer experience um and then you know the quality of a deal there's certainly um you know
while we're trying to eliminate friction there's still deals that are better than others right
so deals that have a trade in and deals that the customer is more apt to to look at incillary
products and f and i and that kind of stuff so we reward them that way as you made that transition
to uh a frictionless process and frictionless pricing which i assume is also one price is it
pretty much one price we are yes okay did you have salespeople that are like hey i don't like
selling like this and who ultimately left or what did the pushback look like during the transition
yeah we we did um you know for the most part the salespeople um those that had more traditional
car business experience for a long time um they don't necessarily like that that process of that
pay plan right those who uh who are outside the business seem to be a lot more uh willing to
embrace it and uh and end up you know ultimately normally having better results for sure which is
strange right because we always harp on when we're training it's not about the price you have to sell
value so regardless of your ability to negotiate shouldn't really change the process right i mean
if you dial in on that value proposition and setting yourself aside from the the competitors
it's just something i never understood yeah i mean that's the biggest the biggest thing when
there's variability of the price are we going to allow that um that is a lot of time salespeople are
just like anybody else they go to the path of least resistance and uh they they start moving on price
when they don't have that option um then the strength comes in i hey i have to present value i
have to present value in the car and myself and the company or you mean you have to be a salesperson
that's right yeah yeah with such a huge increase in your new car sales with with kia
what is kia doing to win in the marketplace today what do most people not know about kia that you
like yeah i mean kia's got a a great lineup i've been i've been around kia for i think 18 years now
so uh i've seen it from uh all phases yeah they uh they call them golden cycles of inventory
and uh you know the big one is obviously the telluride was huge when that came out they got
the new 20 27 telluride coming out which i think will be um really huge but just having a big lineup
across a lot of different segments right they've got hybrids they've done a great job with and the
sportage and um the serento and then also the telluride coming out with the hybrids so really
kia from a product standpoint there's still a a younger manufacturer compared to some but from
a product standpoint um i think they're probably one of the best out there all right lightning
round as we wrap up we appreciate your time with us today what's one i have three questions for you
as part of the right lightning round if we can get to them all what's one process you'd never go
back to that you've done in the past but today you say does not fly an automotive 20 26 oh i don't
know if there's anything that doesn't fly because there's a lot of ways to uh i guess skin the cat
right but uh i think uh us us and frictionless pricing and and that kind of stuff is something
that we're pretty much committed to i don't i don't suspect that we would change that now you say
pretty much in suspect is there a degree of doubt in that no that's that's the sales in here we're
committed to a corner all right and then what's one metric or kpi that most dealers obsess about
that you say does not matter that's a good one um
man i think today in today's day and age it's just like outbound phone calls they get obsessed
over that and uh understand how people communicate right through text message or uh they get hyper
focused on somebody making outbound phone calls where they sit there and make you know a hundred
phone calls and they connect with two people right and there's so many other ways that are
are willing to engage that would be a big piece and then given the success that you've had in 2025
as you come into 26 what do you see as your next big hurdle to overcome what are you working on next
uh i mean ultimately i think things will probably still get tougher i think new car supply is uh is
continuing to to grow and in every manufacturer there's certainly some that are on their uh
on their butts and they're they're trying to get back share right so i think it gets more
competitive with incentives and that kind of stuff so the biggest thing is just focused on the
areas that are completely under control and not necessarily aligned on our manufacturers i mean
that we got great partners with key and gm but uh you know service operations and use cars f and i
the areas that the manufacturer uh doesn't really get to have a lot of say in all right
steven i lied one more quote what the heck happened to the chiefs this year man come on
it's that you know when the when the chiefs are winning our customers are happy our employees
yeah everybody's in a bad mood i would imagine in your marketplace right well i think we had
a great december so maybe that just allowed them to get a little more focused hey guess who's not
in a bad mood speaking of a dealer group based in well i'm not going to quote the michigan side
because uh the the uh you know nobody's happy on that side but uh chicago bears go bears that's
right yeah he saw the wild card game this past yeah this past weekend what a what a what a weekend
so all right steven hill managing partner oaks auto group thanks for being on the show and we're
excited to see your videos send your videos in we will thank you all right all right thank you
dan c 9 4 4 0 says solid interview with steven lauren kline says to 2026 motto control the
controllables i agree 100 that's gotta be a new motto yuli let's talk experience today's episode
is brought to you by xperian nearly 90 of dealers say fraud is rising and 75 say it's already impacting
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with steven hill and all the success he's having in the kia world he's definitely a huge kia advocate
so thanks xperian appreciate you supporting the show all right yuli uh let's keep it going today
because we've got packed content next up we turn to dav thomas director of content and marketing
at cdk global dave welcome to the show hey dave hey thanks for having me back
hey so thank you for being back and uh to our audience that may or may not know you uh give
us house biz and tell us a little bit about yourself um business is great i work on the um
insights part of cdk so um on the marketing side developing content around our research and and data
insights uh we've been really busy on that side of the house um and releasing a number of reports
in the past few months uh the one out right now is around ai it's came out last week it's it's very
popular um and and it you know we interviewed dealers about use of ai going really well so
very busy obviously nada planning and prep uh is also keeping us busy uh my background uh
i've been in the automotive world for about 20 years i started off as a
manager of cars dot com went on the agency side worked for some oems and i've been at cdk for
over four years now um working on on the dealer side of the business and it's been great well
you've had quite an experience like alex vetter's gone right as cars dot com has a new ceo so i
don't know if you can talk about that publicly or not but you were there long enough i would
presume to get to know alex well so a lot of change in the industry yeah alex is great i
sent him a note and um you know it seems you know it seems it's as good as it's going to be and
we i wished him well and he did the same and he's always been that type of guy i haven't
been at cars for like eight years um and he's always you know right to reply and see how you're
doing and and whenever you see him at an event he's the same way so um you know i was there
before he was ceo of the company um and so it was i remember when he took over and it was a very
natural yeah that makes a lot of sense when he took the reins um and he was there a long time so
in that role so uh nothing but best wishes for for him and car zaka well dave uh we have our video
contest ongoing we seek to crown the champion of dealership video whether it's in service or sales
or bdc or wherever and i stumbled a little last week talking with a uh service uh manager who said
they used cdk and it wasn't co-video i was totally confused will you clear that up for us so that we
know what the heck is going on there sure i'm not in charge of either product but i'll put it this way
a lot of automakers use different suppliers for their transmissions in different vehicles think
of it the same way so yes it's true video doing the uh the video mpi is on the service side and it is
now co-video doing the um the crm video that we have just rolling out now okay awesome all right so
we want to get into the ai results but talk to us what did 2025 actually look like in the data
where did dealers outperform expectations and where were the big opportunities in 2025 when we
think about uh how to how to crush it next year i think i think the biggest surprise was honestly
the number at the end of the year being high um just having a positive sales number we just we
just focus so much even on economic news and stuff if you stay out of the political news
not a lot of good um happening you know when you look at the headlines but we were still able to
sell quite a few vehicles a lot of that was due to terafeers and people kind of point for demand
but even in december you just had someone from kia on kia and hondi had record december's
so so there was robust sales throughout the year and as you mentioned it was a little uneven per
brand but um overall i think that had to be you know knowing what we know about what's going on
outside uh our world i it's got to be a positive and i think when you look at 26 i don't expect
all that to stop i don't think anyone does uh and and just like there is really um you know what
would be unsettling news overnight or this weekend on in the markets and they were down like 500
points this morning and they already rebounded i mean it so our economy is is taking a lot of hits
from different things and um and i think the auto industry is is way outperforming what
you would think it could do so i think that's the positive and you and your show does such
a great job talking to dealers of what are they doing to improve and and just hearing
how focused they are at it um they just need to keep doing that and and it will i think
that's going to get them through 26 well that was going to be my next question
Dave is based on the data for 2025 where's one or two areas dealers could focus on in 2026 that
maybe they're not thinking about right now what in the data what what should we focus on
well well i don't want to say what you should focus on but two of the areas that we're definitely
seeing intensity is obviously an f and i which isn't new but it is something where car shoppers
are are leaning into those products more than they had in the past and that is part of that economic
you know kind of malaise or whatever you want to call it out there people are still a little
fearful when they put down a big purchase 30 40 50 thousand dollars they want to ensure that purchase
so obviously you know the extended warranty being the top you know product that's being sold
went up even higher and same with prepaid maintenance which i've always recommended
especially now with with tariffs still happening those prices will go up so lock in that price
when you buy the car makes a lot of sense and people have been doing it that's going to continue
and then on the AI side it's that's where dealers i think are going to find not necessarily
you know they are showing that it's it's unlocking performance for their business
but it's probably going to have more of an impact on how their employees feel and taking
actual stress off of them you know throughout the the business so i think that's where you're
going to see some more use and adoption of it but yeah i think those are two two good areas
what is a speaking of the AI piece what surprised you most about the data we talk about it's
interesting because in my mind we talk a ton about AI it's so quickly developing we almost
talk about it too much it feels like at moments and yet we don't always know exactly how when
to to best implement it what surprised you most about the AI tech survey at this point
it's somewhat of a surprise but i think i think it's just how many people are are moving into it
quickly so almost 40 percent of the dealers we surveyed wow are using AI now 77 percent of that
group has you know has integrated that into their existing systems so i think the other group is
just using chat gbt basically on its own so when you think 40 that's really good number
another 26 percent said they're going to add it in 26 so that's you're looking at when this
year ends you're probably going to be up in the 60 percent area of dealers using AI in their business
so i think the surprise is it's here everyone people are using it they're not slowing down
and then the other thing is last year when we asked like are you familiar there were people
who still said they weren't familiar with AI last year like six something percent that number is
gone it's no one's not familiar with AI now so it was it is here and it's i think it's you know
a dealer's due diligence to see how it could help them whether through products like ours or many
many others out there did you get a sense in the data where dealers are most successfully
implementing the AI technology the ones that are doing it best yeah i mean the top three areas are
you know are pretty what i think most people would guess it's it's the you know the virtual
assistants um like rava you know it's helping you with um questions things like that that's
appointment scheduling is number two and i am drawing a blank on what number three is at this
moment but those two are were pretty high and then it kind of spreads out after that but
where we see the the businesses or dealers say the business is doing best it is again on that
that employee side of the house of it is helping our employees whether it's um you know with with
helping with training and some of those stress things like that and time um it's that seems to
be the big areas that they're happy with dave paul solzman online is asking is the increase in fni
products coming from more younger buyers entering the market or how do you make us make sense of
that increase i have my own opinion but let's hear yours it's um there's a couple but he's correct
yes younger people are are buying them more frequently they buy not just like the two popular
ones we talked about but they're also a little more focused on protection around theft um and
some of those products um and so they they opt for those more than other generations
and then i do just think it's this you know economic world we live in where people are
trying to protect that purchase i joked and i i probably said on your show so forgive me but
it used to be that in the auto world we said it's the second biggest purchase outside your house
no one's buying houses right now so this is the big purchase everyone making and they want to secure
yeah yeah i i echo that i i also think the inflation and just the astronomical rising
cost of repairs and labor and technology and all the things these vehicles are extraordinarily
expensive so you look at even most dealers you know if if they reinsure if they own their own
program the loss ratios have just shot through the roof and uh the cost of those products has as well
so yeah i uh i think it makes the finance job tougher and easier all at once like there's a
greater desire for it but you've got to be better in advocating for it as well um with with sam my
curiosity there just since we're back on this subject i i didn't want to jump into it when
we moved on to ai would be are we seeing that people are keeping their vehicles longer because
this would be something to prepare for right or is it just a blend in relation to the payment
meaning that when payments were in the twos a fifty dollar bump was massive right but now
that payments are in the sevens and eights fifty bucks a month is like it just gets absorbed pretty
i mean much easier so you know do you have any indication as to you know what's leading that
shift in in the higher adoption on finance or products rather no i there's not a real
real you know perfect you know answer i don't know how to say it um i do i i do think there's a lot
of kudos to go to dealers who are preparing to sell those products earlier in the process that
is one of the things we advocate they do so the buyer is more familiar with what's coming when
they hit the fni office um that we hear pretty consistently if the dealer is doing that they're
going to be more successful closing the deal in the office so i think it's just part of those things
where people are a little more informed and a little more apt to to pull the trigger there
so let's let's transition to ease of purchase score tell us for a dealer principle what is it
what goes into it what does a good score look like what is the data looking like in that right now
yeah he's a purchase score we've been doing it for gosh over three years now we started we started
just to track inventory availability like how because there was a supply shortage and so we
we asked one simple question was it easy to buy your car or not and then we asked a bunch of
other questions about the entire purchase process to see how they how they're doing if those steps
are easy as well um and boy i'm gonna i'm gonna blow the most recent score of that as well but
uh over 2025 we had seen that score hit the 90 percent range which had never happened in the
three years so dealers are doing a great job and then it fell off a cliff after october
it just totally shifted uh you know there was the the ev thing going on but are the people
we we survey are buying all types of different cars and it and it fell dramatically and and
you know so we're we were in those 60 percent numbers and so the the average for the year
wasn't as high as we would have liked but it'll be interesting to see things go back
december and it's hard to say why it fell off the cliff so much but inventory is part of it
people are having a hard time finding the car they want and inventory is this is new cars is
decently high um but we think it's the vehicles that are in demand people are having a hard time
getting the ones they want so you know if you're going to survey and we can talk about affordability
next and and these certain models but people are out there we know what the big sellers are and
they're out trying to find them and they're having a hard time uh and so whether it's getting
you know the color or the trim or what have you that they want and that's that's taking the glow
off the entire experience so i think last month our number of in transit shoppers was over 30 percent
you know buying the car in transit to the store that's really high that's that's high like it used
to be after with the supply chain issue so um this is it's it's a it's a constantly moving
number it it had kind of studied for a while but in the past few months maybe six months it's really
been um pretty all over so Dave Morgan bird came to your rescue Morgan bird says i got you Dave most
recent ease of purchase score is 69 percent there you go up from 66 percent in november overall
average for 25 was 84 so that's a significant drop do you you know you said there are several
friction points that drag that score down including inventory availability and just ease of access
are there any takeaways for dealers in terms of simplifying the process we talked to
that the key dealer about that frictionless process so there any takeaways for increasing that and
i assume that there's a correlation between ease of purchase and profitability csi and retention
yeah so yeah the higher the your ease of purchase score um your your mps would would likely increase
as well so you know the omni channel experience you know how much people can do online before
coming in and the seamless handoff obviously something cdk is very focused on we we we firmly
believe that's that's the way to go in terms of improving whether it's ease of purchase or the
entire process so yes definitely thinking in those ways where we see it on the scores most most
frequently is around credit applying for credit um people have issues with that you know they get
if they wait all the way until they're in the fni office and then there's issues it's it's not going
to go well so making sure those things and and at the same time there were studies they that's one
of the steps they don't want to do online you know they have a little bit of trust issues in terms of
doing that credit application online um so easing those fears around the credit application is a big
deal i've been on the show before i've advocated boy if people just opened their bank app they could
probably see their credit score pretty quick yeah have a better understanding of where they
really stand because that's going to move the needle you know on those monthly payments so
the credit i mean we we track a lot of things but when it comes to that mix of
how can you know get that omni channel right it's getting that credit application done
all right credit app done let's transition to a project you've got coming out next week
and it ties to a subject you brought up which is affordability you've got an affordability
project coming out next week affordability is the pressure point what problem is this new project
solving that dealers can't see clearly today yeah so this has been a pet peeve of mine for
many many years before i came to cdk and it's really around this average transaction price
that is so widely reported um and i kind of frame it this way you know the word average is
is really hurting the industry because the average transaction price is a mathematical
average it is not what average the average joe is spending on a car and we in this room understand
that you know it's k shape recovery luxury sales are going to be way up here so when you talk about
what's the monthly payment this month and why is it so high why is the atp so high
a lot of people buying very expensive vehicles etc so we're trying to break down
you know what is the average joe spending you know what cars are they buying and we're
going to use obviously the best selling cars in the country um and how much is that and i can tell
you you know we're hoping to have this out in a few days um it's not that bad it's actually quite
good so we we have this doom and gloom a lot um i i sometimes joke you know dealers are
remind me i used to be a journalist you know we kind of always think look at the the you know
the dark side of things so try to be optimistic as hard for me as a former journalist but when you
look at these numbers um it's pretty positive and these are the cars that are that are moving the
most right they're the highest volume now as a dealer you're like well i might not make the most
money on these vehicles but still understanding that we're getting out there with with the number
in the 30s versus the 50s it's a big difference psychologically to people um you don't want some
using that 50 000 average transaction price again i'm sure it's it's it's it's accurate um but using
that all the time to say what's average psychologically that's stopping people yeah i'm even
looking yeah we you know we almost shouldn't talk average we should talk median right or
banded as as you're talking about which yeah so the results of this survey which should be out
next couple days could change the way you use car buyers buy or new car buyers for that matter buy
cars right it could shape how we look at the price points we sell cars dave yeah i'm hoping that you
know by tracking that every month like we do is a purchase um that that you get a real sense of
what is really changing um because over 20 years i've been doing this you look back at inflation
on a Honda cord Toyota Corolla whatever you want to do they are less today than they were 20 years
ago taking in inflation and they've always been that way so it's a lot about sticker shock just
from inflation sure but it's really and we've never had this many high-end vehicles on the market
right so there's 250 models on the market 14 of them those 14 because we're going to track the
four best selling trucks as well um they make up 26 percent of all car sold 14 vehicles yeah
out of 250 so it's it's it's a different way of thinking now automakers aren't going to stop making
250 models because you know there's whatever array of SUVs that like let's say a Land Rover has or
Mercedes they all make money people like having the variety they're going to keep building them
that's not what we're suggesting but we're talking about getting people off the sideline it's not
just because their cars last 12 years and that's why they're on the sideline it's it's the economic
issue of can i even afford it yeah yeah and do you believe that there's quite a few people
that are on the sideline waiting for it to better lower rates lower price economic downturn oh yeah
do you have a projection about what percent of the buying market is sitting on the sides waiting for
their economic fortunes to change i could probably come up with a percentage but i can say this i've
been saying that we've been we've been waiting to bust a 17 million because of those people
staying on the sideline since covid yes and if we if we can stop getting hit with so many uh
headwinds that you know that you know we have no control talk about uh control the controls we
have no control over what's going on in that big part of the world but um if any of that started
to settle even with the unemployment rate where it is right now which isn't good um
you people start coming off the sidelines but there's just the uncertainty is outside price
part is is pretty pretty tough well you appreciate your insights today last question and then we've
got to jump um and if you can do this in fairly brief you said dealers don't need 15 different
vendors to run a store which we believe in that consolidation as well where does that belief break
down most often um it's it's not really a belief it's it's you know at cdk obviously we have many
products so it's it's a little i'm not gonna say it's not self-serving in some ways but you know
when you when you talk about the dealer tech stack um you talk about ai and a lot of these new
vendors like they're they're looking at it and they're just kind of stacking stacking stacking and
that could maybe get you a tiny thing that's a little faster you know today or what have you but
you're dealing with more invoices you're dealing with more contracts you're dealing with all these
other things and do they all talk to each other really well um so that's that that is something
we we've always tracked in our friction point study which is our you know our halo study for
every year before nada um the number is going up in the in the front office especially so they're
using over um four four products just on the front office just to sell a car so more than more than
half a dealer so um we do see that ticking back up which is interesting because there's kind of
like waves to this um happening yeah ultimately i think there will be more consolidation in that
space right like we can't have more logins more disparate systems working against each other
like people either need to find a way to have different systems work better together
or have fewer systems that just inherently work well together so dav thomas director of content
marketing cdk global we expect a video from you on your cdk co video platform as part of our contest
so send that in and we'll make sure we get that aired at some point dav thomas thanks for being
on the show and sharing your perspectives thank you thanks dav that's a great conversation by the
way i love the talk about f and i being up so that's a yeah product center that's near and
dear to my heart and one that i agree with him like it is there's a need for it but as prices
get more and more expensive and things get higher and higher it's tougher for a lot of these guys
and gals to stomach exactly what is going out there eager case is happy monday everyone happy
monday eager kepp we're diving straight into our next interview and our final one of the day
greg smith vice president of operations leavens automotive welcome to the show thanks for having
me nice to see you welcome to meet you with our signature question house biz and as you're
answering that just tell us a little bit about yourself house biz biz is snowy i'm up in canada
so uh december we came off a really strong november uh december was a little bit lighter
we did see i don't i hate to use this as an excuse but it was snowy snowy snowy up here
roads closed um you know people stranded i think i was caught in my house for a couple
days just with roads closed um so december was a little bit lighter we're we're back in the game
in january um things are going well a couple weeks in now um my role i'm vice president of
operations for seven rooftops um we're in southwestern ontario um i look after so seven rooftops uh
two being volkswagen two mazda one chrysler one volvo and one subaru so uh a little bit of everything
there i love it now i know you were on the podcast the cdg podcast pretty recently right i'm trying
to look at the note here it's a little small yeah i was i think yes six six months ago or so yeah
yeah it was it was a you were talking about your transition as a former bmw canada executive to
leading this team so i guess in the transition what's the most important decision or strategy
you've implemented that's uh recently driven growth or performance in your store aside from
you know obviously focusing on cdg as your source of truth but yes absolutely yeah um yeah so it's
it's funny that that was really the direction we were taking on the podcast and we ended up diving
into uh the money ball uh of pre-owned operations and had a really good conversation about that
because the store that i was looking after we were 13 months in a row being number one
cpo retailer in canada out of 150 stores so that definitely got the attention of a lot of people
and we talked about it um but the biggest thing for me was um i'd never led people before uh so
when i worked at the oem i i had a small team i had two analysts that worked for me and then a lot
of my time was also spent in a field role looking after um dealership so if anyone listening to this
if you're thinking about your field rep or your dealer rep that's something that i that i was doing
um so i never had a big team and now under my watch i think it's it's like 300 employees that
work for all seven stores we're we're gearing up to sell close to 7 000 cars this year so
managing people and the outcomes and their behaviors and their actions was something
i really had to learn um and i i ended up doing some leadership courses to uh to hone in my skills
on that um but as we go into 2026 i think we we reflected a lot on 25 and we said what
what worked and what didn't um and what worked uh we definitely are process driven uh group
what didn't work uh i think we bit off way too much and more way too many hats um so our our
president and dealer principal asked all of us at the beginning of the year what is something
that we want to work on or change going into this year and that was what i kind of piped up and said
is i want to really get focused on the outcomes um and inspecting the the process and then make
sure that i'm moving the needle so when i go into stores now i've got something called an impact
dashboard um and it's something that's kind of driving my conversations with everyone to make
sure that when i leave and days afterward that we're still moving the needle so expand on that
so you're saying you shifted from uh focusing on managing activity to managing outcomes what are
the three outcome metrics that i assume we're living in this dashboard that you're holding people
accountable to so more than i guess there's more than three but what we're really dialing in on is
the ncm uh metrics and making sure that we're on the left of the book uh we want to win the ncm
book so if we're winning an ncm we're winning in business that's how we look at it so we're going
to start high level and look at things like how are we performing in terms of new car use car
gross profit csi all those high level kpis how are we looking year over year how are we looking
versus our budget um how are we looking on a month's date basis and a year-to-date basis
we color code everything in terms of red yellow green so red is that we're below last year and
below budget yellow is that we're ahead of last year but below budget and green is that we're
beating both um and then from there we've got a good snapshot of where's where's the red and
where do we need to work on then we'll dive in and look into what are the actions and the behaviors
that are driving those outcomes and then we'll build 72 hour commitments so that's three days
speed of business it might be one thing it might be five things but these are things that
you're putting in writing and you're saying who's going to own it what are you going to do
and what are you going to deliver to me in 72 hours um and these things are going to move them
move the needle so it might be something small we might be inching toward more of a 30 day plan
but it's something that we're not just going to talk about it and then forget about it we're going
to talk about it fix it follow up on it pivot if we need to um and then deliver those results to
actually see at the end of the year these are all the things that we've we've accomplished and how we
did it well that's tremendous and even tying it to a 72 hour speed of execution i assume you're
having success with that because we talk about this all the time in the show that it's not enough to
talk about it you have to execute so how's your team handling that deadline well we just started
this so we just started this in january and it was one of my things that um when i look back at
things that i'd implemented and or you know people would ask questions about where did this go or
where did that go and it's kind of like oh head scratching yeah well that was a good idea what
why don't we do that anymore um this is really why uh we implemented this because we know what
we need to do and the processes are generally are already there but it's just following up on them
and holding the team accountable so i've i've done a couple of visits so far and so far so good they
like it in my uh in my rounds i found that general managers which is primarily who i'm working with
are high performing um driver personality type of people so they like to be held accountable
they like to be shown where the opportunities are um and you know the fame is saying the more
the more you learn the more you earn so last time i checked general managers like to make money so
if i'm helping them do that then they're they're all they're all yours so it's interesting it looks
like one of the tools you've implemented monthly mystery shopping across all your channels i think
that means every single store that's a fascinating kind of old school tactic what does that look like
and what have you learned from that and how's that increased your performance at stores so it's a ton
of work um and we actually hired a an executive assistant to help us out with it because we have
to create a persona every single time that we do it um so we go in and create a fake email address
phone number name number all that etc the whole the whole bit and we make up a um a question that
we want to ask um we submit a lead via the the website and then we watch it we'll engage a little
bit but then we watch um whether the salesperson is following the process that set out by that store
because our stores operate very individually um the one thing that we mandate from a group
level is that everybody responds within 20 minutes and that everybody responds with a personalized
video so are you part of our contest no but we should be you need to be all right yeah will
you send in a video this week we would actually love to see a winner from canada how cool would that
be like that'd be great yeah that would be great so all right so so that's part of your bench
park you have 72 hours to send us a video that's right get give us a uh give us a an outcome from
one of your mystery shops has it made you better it's made us so much better everyone in the group
are in the dealerships know that we're we're watching so to speak and um we have monthly gm
meetings where we pull up the data and we uh it's it's either you're a hero or you're a zero and
we show exactly all the red and the green um of how you performed you only get one shot um we don't
do multiple mystery shops the odd time we will do two we'll do one on a new car one on a used car
just because we want to see how those are handled um but really we want to make sure that people are
professional that they're prompt they're personalizing their responses they're adding value um and that
they're doing their follow-up and it's not just oh you know i'm putting it in the crm saying i'm
doing it but that you're actually doing it so it's it's the ultimate inspect which you expect um
and we've done it consistently now for over a year i am sometimes surprised by the results a lot of
times it might be just somebody who's new um to the the sales floor um but it's a great coaching
opportunity it's a good example to show that we we will watch you and make sure that we're uh we're
following through on what we say we're going to do so Greg a few comments from online yoga car says
tax task replete with tasks to do this mystery shopping so i think that's some suggestion or
help help that you can get help from uh chat gbt or other ai to do that sort of thing so let's
transition a little bit from the operational to just some curiosity on the canada side so
you represent multiple oems Volkswagen Volvo Subaru Mazda Chrysler uh cdjr the full the full group
there who is winning in your mind in canada from an oem perspective right now and why
from an oem perspective it's a good tie between uh Mazda and Subaru okay um i would say they're
and i've worked at the oem level so and i was bmw and the expectations were very very high from
bmw in terms of what the relationships were like and what we were doing when we were into the stores
i would say Mazda and Subaru have a very similar uh way of being as does Volvo Volvo is very strong
as well um i would just say what those are you know the Subaru and Mazda are two of our
volume brands so we see and hear from them a lot more who struggles uh stilantis i would say struggles
yeah yeah they're the one the so what do you think what would you like what did you wish
most dealers in the us knew about doing business and automotive uh in canada
no spots uh no spots no same day delivery right we don't do that no um we don't do spot delivery
i think that's a really good question i'm not super familiar with with the us way versus canada
i do talk to my ncm moderator a lot uh just to chat with him about some of the subtle differences
but um i have mystery shopped a couple stores in the states um and i'll maybe just share this kind
of uh anecdote here but i there was a gentleman on linkedin and he said that his link or his uh
his lead process was the best and he was really proud of it and he said that he was using ai
um and that it was really really good so i mystery shopped his store and it was hilarious
because i wanted to get the bot and i didn't get the bot i got a live person oh however this person
responded back and was like i've never been asked that before but like oh let me let me go overboard
to show you that i am a human and sent me all of these texts and videos and wanted to FaceTime with
me um it was hilarious so anyway she i didn't respond and she ended up going um to humor a
little bit which i thought was was hilarious because a lot of times in this setting we're
so professional we might be you know a little too professional um she just let down her guard
and she wrote me an email pretending to be a robot um and had all this kind of anecdotes in there about
like being ai and trying to trying to spiff it a little bit i thought that was hilarious and
was sharing that with rcoo this morning so that was a good one it's really fun they incorporate
humor into their lead process so personality so in the ncm side are you part are you in that ncm
group with dealers both sides of the border or is it canadian only how does ncm work that group
no ours is canadian only okay yeah so we don't our moderators are often from from the us but
it's just canadian groups yeah yeah interesting and any uh any tariff related trauma drama
challenges as related to being an auto group in canada versus the us
not a lot right now we were seeing some of the normal customer behavior um on the folks wagon
side it was a supply issue for a little bit uh took us some some time to get folks wagon atlas
cross sport which in the canadian market an all-wheel drive family hauler is really something
that people like um so that hurt us at our two folks wagon stores um we lost the cx 50 at the
mazda stores um which was a which a mid-size crossover that did very well for us too so
we've seen it it hasn't been a big impact for us other than mainly just a conversation
piece for a lot of people so yeah uh scout uh is folks wagon attempting to bring scout in
direct to consumer uh via or through outside the distribution model in canada how do the
canada franchise laws differ from the us not that i've heard there hasn't been too much on
that front yet um nothing nothing to really report on it with with that respect so all right
lauren kline asked maybe our last question of the day lauren kline says how is auto theft and
fraud up there as we see increasing prices of vehicles and repair is auto theft a big deal
in canada um yes i haven't seen it in our group we make it a topic of discussion um i when i was
at bmw that was really where where things were or were happening in with that brand a lot of times
on the x5 and x7 um fraud theft um you know just we would have a whole process that was rolled out
by bmw canada um kyc you know your customer um they even had like things like reseller lists and
you know things process that you had to go through to make sure that you were following
through on that i haven't heard of anything too crazy in southwestern ontario um we did have a
Porsche that was stolen from our Porsche store here um i guess that was a couple years ago and
we did have a bmw in our bmw store here in the city um that was stolen but otherwise it hasn't
been too too bad uh knock on wood so yeah yeah very good when you get you into cg circles i think
us uh uh excuse me i'm getting over a cold us canada whatever the case uh it would be a heck
of a lot of fun to get your perspective the business side is a little different i went up
and spoke to a group of canadian lexus dealers and was talking about you know i so yuli mentions the
spot delivery thing you know there's a sense of urgency it's got to be sold today uh i think in
our group and in many groups and and the canadian lexus dealers were kind of like you know what
it's not quite that way like we'll schedule it we'll take a couple days and that might be one thing
that that that is a differentiator and it might be more cultural than anything else any perspective
on that uh spot deliver uh the speed of delivery i guess i think that that could be true um
you know even with like when it comes to the lead process when we compare
to how things are done in the us i think we are a little bit more laid back than the us
anytime i mystery shop a us store it's immediate uh but you know it's it's not in 20 minutes it's
five minutes um and i'm getting it from all sales channels i'm getting it text email phone call
and then there's also multiple people involved with it so it could be the sales agent it could
be the bdc agent that i'm hearing from the sales manager that i'm hearing from the general manager
so yeah it's it's like a dog on a bone whereas i think up here in canada we might be a little bit
more uh relaxed about it um which could be good could be bad um we're up tight down here yeah we
got to sell that car maybe yeah yeah i guess so i i feel like i'm probably more a little
in line with the us but you'll hear like you'll talk to a lot of canadiens and they think they're
bothering people or that they're gonna turn people off or that they're gonna offend them but
yeah i always say well they sent the lead in they're asking questions they want to be
don't get them yeah yeah i have noticed that well greg smith north of the border vp of operations
leavens automotive group we absolutely appreciate you being on the show and we're gonna wait for
your video we want to see the winner 72 hours cdg video contents come from canada that would be
a heck of a lot of fun okay i'll do it and just just so you know it's 72 biz 72 hours business
day so that works okay that works that also works very good thanks for being on the show
thank you so much nice to see you all all right few good comments uh lauren client says buy or die
lol and eager case says mazda's always getting also getting brand new uh uh redesigned cx5 model so
you guys should be expecting more sales eager says spot deliveries are now more riskier and more
dealers and most dealers will do a spot delivery on customers with tier one tier two cred ftc is
really cracking down on spot deliveries and spot delivery policy lately which is absolutely right
the end of the day we want to do the right thing paul solzman another fantastic show thanks for
doing it the week after week and uh dancy says thanks sam and julie thanks for the props from
dan so yeah to our audience what we heard today is clear growth doesn't come from more tools it
comes from less friction better inspection and leadership that stays focused on outcomes so
if you're serious about winning 2026 clip up this uh episode forward it to your friends so they can
listen and julie as always to our audience thanks for watching the daily deal live we break down the
biggest moves in the car business as they happen don't forget we're here live every monday wednesday
and friday one p.m eastern so if this is your world hit like hit subscribe turn on those notifications
so you never ever miss beat we'll see you back here wednesday next episode thanks everybody thanks guys
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