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Live at Digital Dealer InterBrew Series feat. April Simmons

Car Guy Coffee Nov 28, 2023 25 min

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About this episode

April Simmons shares her insights on the dynamic energy of the Digital Dealer conference, emphasizing the importance of clear communication in the automotive industry. She discusses the need for dealers to engage more in conversations and understand the jargon that often alienates customers. The episode highlights the significance of education and collaboration among dealers and vendors to enhance customer experiences and foster a better understanding of the industry. April also touches on the challenges dealers face today and the necessity of adapting strategies to thrive in a changing market.

Topics: dealer communication industry jargon customer experience education and training collaboration market challenges strategic adaptation

Car Guy Coffee Podcast Live at Digital Dealer Interbrew Series feat. Steve Roessler

Welcome to the Car Guy Coffee Podcast Live at Digital Dealer Interbrew Edition, where we interview Dealers, Vendors, Sales Guys and Gals as well as incredible Voices in our industry that are committed to seeing the Upshift and Uplift of our culture. Featured in this episode is April Simmons, Corporate Internet and Marketing Director at HORNE AUTO GROUP, LLC. Let’s Brew!

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Hello, and welcome to the Car Guy Coffee Podcast. This digital dealer interview

series is brought to you by our friends and partners at Pure Cars, n Q team, MXS, Fixed Ops, Digital and one Data and Analytics at Drive Center. If you want more information or want to partner with the group,

go to carguy Coffee dot com. Let's brew. Hey, what's going

on with car guys in cargles. It's sure as the Car Guy and it's

frelin ArbCom hero. We are bruined solutions and we are excited to be ruined

solutions with you and this superstar right here, go on the only seven my favorite paper. That's right, that's right. We are excited to have you,

and one of the favorites of this event is you. You are on

panels, You're on main stage, little stage, little rooms, and on our wee little podcast. You are giving us a little bit of time.

We're excited that you are having some fun with us. But what is the

energy like for you? Jumping from place to place and discussion discussion person person.

What has this world been like for you? Oh? Yeah, I

absolutely love it and I think that the most about it is just the energy.

We talk about how we love the pop peoples and other people. Part

of the reason I'm in all these sessions is I have a problem, but I think that it's important for more dealers to get involved in the conversations.

I joke sometimes that I'm the dealer and I'm there to bring the good life to what maydia vendor is talking about what they're trying to train and explain, and I can translate it into the real world. And I tell my proof

a lot of the power that what makes me good at things is my ability to trade, to take what one person says and then put it in a way to everyone else. Then you start using You got to bring it down

in the way that they know. It has to be a language, right

and you you said it so right. The acronyms at all levels, from

a from a vendor to a dealer, from a dealer to the salespeople, from their salespeople to the customer. You can't talk about the customers. Everyone

feal what a pi U C I. They don't know what all this stuff

is, even Ethni. They just have an idea of what that is.

So let's just speak what really what it is. We're talk to finance let's

go talk. Let's get a pre deliberate inspection on your vehicle. We do

use inspections, whatever it is. They want to know that when you use

those words a little bit longer, it has more clouds to people, especially the ones who don't speak on Parlament, right, so it's really important.

And then we get into the dealer level. We're talking about s c O.

We're talking about all this so many acronom It seems like say that, but it's actually more difficult when you say, somebody doesn't get it. Now

the next five word you say, they're trying to figure out what that meant.

Telling you. I think that you can put together a panel if anybody

can. But you can put together a panel and it'd be a forty minute

session of just Hey, come for acronym training. Everybody, come learn these

acronyms. Hey Dealers, Car Guy, Coffee podcast and Certified Solutionaries are honored

to be part of team. Thank you. The solutions they've been ruined for

you to acquire more vehicles, advertised merchandise, and manage those vehicles has made them one of the most sought after VELA partners in the marketing. They are

one hundred percent CG see it proved, And when you visit them at Benji dot com you'll see a whole hill of beans worth of reasons why Tan, let's prove if you're watching this line, that's my session of solutions, going through all of the sit down and find out specifically what does that Well, maybe you need a strategy or the other they I personally find at a conference,

there's this where we don't remit I go with the intense words a session and perhaps I go back to my room and I'm like, okay to do it because it doesn't or there's a line of people try to have that and there's no time right, and then I try to go back and find you and all that. It's amazing, but typically that people have the station or

salespeople, so they may not fully get to answer the question. So literally,

so dealers can come and sit down with them and sit down with the day and questions and strategize so that they can come back down here into this crazy world at the ASCO hall and actually get a strategy done. That.

I love that and that's a great idea. I know that I know a

bunch of people are in that panel and you brought a lot of experts.

It's we got Aaron Cheeks, who's right here. He's the CEO up in

your cars. He's going to be on there. And Aaron has a wealthy

knowledge. And that's just one person. There's so many to name. And

the best part what I love about that is that it's no one's in there.

There are a lot of more competitors in a lot of ways, but they're in there to share information. For you, dealers, it's important that

we get you understanding what it is. It makes it easier for us to

explain our products. Right, So when we can educate and empower you,

it's it's it's definitely going to make you feel so much more for to go out and talk to the vendors and be able to speak their language. And

I feel like we're done. I think if you're instancelitic. Also, it's

the reason why we get held back right Nutlike he's where you're saying, dealers or even those vendors or even salse people, what I'm saying is that we just don't know, simple right, Like if we don't know, we just don't We just don't go. So if you do know, you'll start to

go that way. So it's it's important that we go in this direction.

It's not just for your dealership's help, it's for your community's help. They

need people out there that are going to speak their language so that they can be the worst thing in the world is when a customer comes in there's no idea what they're doing, but they're forced to buy because that's the only place that they know that you get it done. And then they leave and they

feel like they have very increas where they felt with question marks you were, so guess what, they're probably not coming back to your store the next time.

So it's important that we keep speaking to people the level where they the words speaking and know what it really is going to give them a men.

So I love that stuff. I'm and then I think there's also ability the

dealers. Unfortunately, a lot of times because we don't have you don't take

the time to cause and come and educate ourselves and come to these kinds of things we're along to the world. You know, people come in and sell

it and they don't know what questions as you don't know how to hole the under accountable to what the eplications are. I think that's another level of the

key point of it all is also one of those things is that you're making sure you're getting what you're paying for and you actually have a good strategy and part I just gotta say that I was I am so humbled by the fact that all these amazing people, well, I literally have the top dealer partner, literally that every the owner of that president. I have all the people

who genuinely can can change our industry, right, so if something's not working, they can actually go back and fix it. I think it's also very

powerful they hate Oh I didn't look at it from the dealer's I can now go back and make an adjustment in my product that will make the pay dealers franchise and independent. We have some great news for you and your number one

sales pro, your website partner. With Team Mxcess, we have the ability

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the ever changing partner to you and your team to at least let us do a quick and free check up on your website. We can't wait to hear

from you the teams back to the show. And that's exactly what we're even

doing in this booth speaking of getting what for The whole reason for your cars as it is teamed up with them is to be able to convey that language of dealership talk to their people so that they understand what is being worried about, what is being the kind of the glitches for the maybe the snags inside of the business. To get them saying, oh, wait a minute,

you mean they don't care about this. They do care about that. How

would you go about talking to them about this? All of these different things

are the intentionality that a car guy inside of a VNOR business is now starting to say, they need to know what I know as a car guy, but I think I don't want to convey to them and us we're real boots on the realm. You take the time out of your busy dealership like to

come out here to be intentional about learning, meeting people in the conversations and then conveying what it is that you're seeing. What do you feel is one

of the biggest things that's happening right now with understanding the yes interest rates to still product supply. But what is the issue that right now is happening inside

of scores that has dealers kind of reaching for help or shutting the door and just saying, we're gonna just try to figure this out. And what do

you feel like are some of the biggest things. There's a massive jump jump

chance tell people then all the time, all the universe is literally the rush me out there, let me up, and you talk about she is real.

Every time I have a chance, and usually I always know that I'm probably gonna get a message or call from Laurie about a week or two for an event. But she's always trying to connect this with people, like she'll

say, hey, Fred, what do you think about doing this with that?

And I'm always like yes, and that I want to take because she has a very good because she sees what's going on out there. So we

love you, Laurie so much. She's always connected you and so many others,

and she's gonna never stop doing that. That's what makes you so special

in such a great asset for our business. There's so many amazing they talk

about it. I'm so glad that there is more talk about it, but

we going women like you and Laurie. Oh guys make me so proud.

And then we have Courtney sitting here a little bit ago. It's just start

too. I'm so proud of all these women things and taking stages of putting

panels together. And like new said, you are the master of getting people

to get together to share information. Both. There's the thing. The more

that we give us members, the more that we give as dealers, the more that we get as people. What we're gonna get, it's not about

to get back pretty good out and then you get just one little So here's the thing sails at the court. And this is something as I was doing,

you know, to your question at the core, I was telling everybody last week, I said, look, you have to give to get.

I made him write it down, and it was like that. Every time

we talked about the friend a little the next little layer said, okay, you have to give to get. You ever earned the right to ask for

the sale until you've given enough, whether it's a value or what have you.

If I'm going to try to go acquire a vehicle out of service, I need to provide something to that customer. Maybe offer redelivery or even something

like those things go along the way. But you don't just go in there

and say hey, give me, give me, give me. No,

you need to earn the pro get have to give to get. And I

think that even as vendors or any other relationship, right we have to give to get. And I just feel like that in one that you really strategize

so much of you. We know you're joing the show so far. We

just wanted to quickly remind you about our partners at fixed Ops Digital and how they are automotives premier service marketing and technology company not only crowd sponsors of the Car Guy Coffee podcast, but they also serve as your dedicated point of contact for all your online service marketing related needs servicing dealerships throughout the US and Canada.

The mission is to create a better online experience for your service customers while using data intelligence to drive more fixed operations revenue. If you want to take

your service marketing efforts to the next level, go to fixed ops Digital dot com. Back to the show, let's go, really, but in the

source right now. That's so you got a little bit of negativity going on,

a lot of people are business stood and styptic. We just have an

industry right now people who don't have a lot like there's so many people that just never have been through a math economic again and it's creating a lot of clear desperation those kind of things. So now we're not on one side.

On the other side, Okay, what do we have to do? Can

we train? Can we do this with asking a strong time person? The

biggest thing that everyone really needs to do Takenity Brad right, Tagnity Brad.

We said the perverse system. Assume, don't assume have everyone down to get

right and then have a strategy and say what is the most important thing that's gonna help us right now? And it's the basics. Don't go by the

pine. There is some solution that I feel like that and had everything magically

going to be back. No buried does down there. If you believe that

they're I'm selling it, I'll give you a good right now. But it's

all about the or basics, the fundamental and companies have the right foundation and also the right mentality. And that's something that you guys do a great travel

with. But I don't even start treating sale skills until I make sure that

their mind is reading and cod people because they off you can't get through the train a bring that doesn't have you're one hundred percent If the un villain don't, they won't do it. They to be ready for it, and you

can find those people. That's got to me, that's my hiring strategy is

not necessarily the skill set. It's their mindset. They have the right mindset

through the questions that I asked. If you can ask their interviews, I'm

like, we have something here. I could teach them skill. I could

teach them how to sell a car. I could teach them how to give

me some service rep. But I can teach them how to do But can

I teach the have that once actually want to put people in front of themselves, to people built instead of being transactional. I think that's a huge part

of what we need. And that's why people like you leading the way talking

about this stuff and hearing that and knowing that if we do this, it's going to be better. It's if we do this the future of one and

the other future. We mean, if we needed to just s feel set

at a young age, like in our homes, right, we need to make sure people understand that you only get like to get out there. You'll

never get back something just because were lucky once in a while. But at

the end of the day, if you do it all the time and you're consistent love out there, you're consistently with just giving and knowing that that will be there, but just to give you would loves that write a book that was one of the hardest ones Fast Marion, because we got and I had

a team and they're mentally they went literally getting four to five books today to one of every horrify you want. And you start telling him it looks to

this, we look to that, but they're not mentally ready to try different things. They'd rather than stop their feet and say, but has a team.

We read the book and my team had the team one chapter every day, talked about it changed the mind. And so this last week is that

pot read you read it, read it again. It's a little book.

So even those hate reading, no big deal and really hate audible, so there's no reason not to like a lot. I would like to read the

book. Not everybody, yes, but it is one that I think is

so powerful right now to set the stage of being doing to there's still out there and change our strategy on how we're going to go about. You can't

and wait for. If you can master both sides of that, be really

good with the cheese that comes to you, but also be able to be a master of finding more cheese, your life will always be well rounded.

You always have a business, a book of business. You always have the

clients coming to you. But it's important that we don't just rely on what

others are. Once again, it's what we I want what people give me,

Yes, but I also want to go out and get my own.

That's called the film, right, that's called excitement, and that's called broke.

That's called living a life. That's business and financial freedom, my friends.

This business is automotive industry that we're in provides financial freedom, which only to the ones who put the work behind it. Right with the work behind

it, do the right things and don't rest on your morals. Don't expect

the dealer to be I'm gonna give you some or find your own. There's

nothing better than sitting at in the months say hey, I sold twenty five cars, but these are my own leads that I think. Quick question,

do you know what smart pixel? Two point zero Location IQ and Audience IQ

have in common. You know I do. They are solutions that our friends

and proud sponsors and one Data and Analytics are brewing for automotive anon. Once

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at m one hip Data dot com. Let's brew. Come on now back

to the show. Done the most amazing literally felt an amazing personal brand.

And there's no reason that person so so with that you're saying so much.

It's so good, but with everything that's always that we're hearing, and whether it's the salesperson, boards, leadership, each of them have a choice.

We can choose to participate in the recession. In any calamity. Now government

coming in and saying you can't go to work, that's something we never seen.

But any here in these positions that we're in in in any time, we're always telling people hate whatever the calamity was of this year. Next year,

we're gonna have a whole new challenge, a whole new thing, and we can decide where our attitude is. The understanding that we either feed our

fears. We can encourage education, wrapping that book, learning a little bit

of something, becoming a little bit better at what we do, or we can keep feeding the big bear monster that's coming to attack us. It's coming

to get us. Right. But if you're in an education position, when

you're learning and your encourage, every time that you learn little something, you're a little more, You feel a little bit stronger, you feel a little more ready to take on the day. Incourbage your people, educate your people,

and that will empower your people, or you're just gonna empower the big bad fear monster. That is really just your decisions, our decisions. It's

still to let it happen to us. And it's so freeing when you realize

I don't have to be a part of that. I don't have to do

that. Actually, get she's only twenty seven years old, she's born into

this generally generally generally love this business work. It was the one business I

said, you're never going to get bored. Yeah, So that's that's what

this is all about, and that's why I am basically my own entrepreneurs without thereneur Oh true, you are preaching what we preached every sales person we meet.

But speaking of piccheck, just real quick, because some people may not know. You know, Dusty will appreciate you watching brother, Thanks you so

much. What's with that? Because you do get to kind of do what

it is to do. What is that you do? You're in this position

that the automotive industry is just now starting to really recognize that they needed.

I served in that role without having a title behind it, but help us understand what's the position that you you do and why more dealers need somebody that's that's a quick like you know, it's kind of a funny. First they

were interviewing me for general managers and I said, I mean, I'm not really interested in that kind of and they said, yeah, let me tell you what you need. I lined out my job for them that this is

you. They're growing. I have a company that's growing. They're having more

dealerships, they need to build internet department, they need to need somebody that can understand all these things books and speak the language and leg the general managers.

And so I'm basically created this job when they quitted me. And so

they said Okay, well, how about can come into the internet work build it, let's get to know each other and then eight nater all and now I get the opportunity to my hands and everything. That's because I've done something

different job. I know a little bit about the law, I don't know

a lot about somebody. I lean on the people who know a lot and

one because they can help me get it to the finish line. But you

know enough time, you know enough to hold accountability. That's what a leader

does. A leader surrounds themselves with people that are a in departments their vision

and then they use them to help say, they apply them to be able to make it better for everyone. So when you do that, everyone feels

elevated, everyone feels field, like they've done the work something right. It's

so massive, but like you said, knowing a little bit's really important to position right. You know enough to be able to ask the right questions and

know what the bull crap specially right. That's massive a lot of times these

days. And one and you don't realize how the Times office from this department

of this person having enough knowledge where I can look at the whole spec looking at this one, looking at the entire spect to make sure that nothing's going to bring as it's the whole process technically helps manager, but more a strategy which is what details all that really And you know, I say that I can see yourself getting more involved like anything else. You stretch out. You've

got this going and you're like, oh, I could do more, I could do more, right, and and you and you are able to do more, and you're out and you do so much now you're sharing it with the automotive industry. So I want to think you, but I want to

thank you for all this the industry. I want to think for all the

information and the way that you gather people together. You are you might glorious.

You are just taking that role on and I'm telling you you are doing some big things. Very proud to be able to say you're my friend.

My wife thinks she's an amazing for so my wife has a great So no doubt you know what to do as we finished off focus flock so we can keep growing. Folks, if you want to know more about this solution,

make sure that you reach out that make sure that you grow up out of the show and let her know that you're encouraged we can sit here and talk oh days such we literally like across information Expresso but one of the bigger shows that we've done before while being here. But you are one of the superstars

of this entire event that we're honored moment. Let's fly everybody on three,

one, two three again fly browing. Thank you so much. Tune in

everybody. I'm going the rest of the car. Guy, I'm throwing our

stuff you love and love. It is the one, the only right.

Lata be out.