Russ Richardson joins Car Guy Coffee at the NCM Client and Friends event to talk dealership social-media strategy and why leadership-by-example matters. He argues “branding yourself on social media should be mandatory,” but also says owners can’t force it—only recommend it. The hosts connect the dots between consistency, edutainment, and lead generation, plus real-world proof like a video “did over 10 million” views and was reposted by Jim Farley. Networking and outreach via DMs and a form wrap things up.
NCM Event Conversations feat. Russell “Russ Flips Whips” Richardson
In this special Series NCM Event Conversations we grabbed a few of our favorite guest to talk about their experiences and whats happening in our Industry. In this interview Lou Ramirez and Fred Lennartz speak with Russell “Russ Flips Whips” Richardson about building a personal brand through social media in automotive. Russ explains that social media activity should be mandatory in dealerships only if leaders are willing to lead by example, emphasizing consistent posting on workdays and authentic “edutainment” over repetitive sales pitches. Join us at NCM’s first-ever Fuel the Future May 18th-20th – An NCM Fixed Ops Summit, an experience built for leaders ready to elevate performance, profitability, and the customer journey through modern systems and by utilizing AI-driven innovation. Register Now!
"I'm not saying social media is the only way but it is definitely one of the easiest barriers to entry"
A “barrier to entry” just means what makes it hard to start. Here, they’re saying social media makes it easier for car people to get started without spending a lot up front.
In marketing, a “barrier to entry” is anything that makes it harder for new people to start participating—like cost, access, or know-how. The hosts argue social media lowers that barrier for car enthusiasts and small businesses because it’s easy to begin with.
"this doesn't necessarily become an instant gratification thing you're not going to go viral overnight on your first video"
“Instant gratification” means wanting results right away. They’re saying social media usually takes consistency and time, not one overnight viral hit.
“Instant gratification” refers to expecting quick results right away. The hosts emphasize that social media growth—especially for car sales and community building—usually requires repeated posting and time rather than going viral immediately.
"you're not going to go viral overnight on your first video"
“Go viral” means your video suddenly gets a lot of views and attention fast. They’re saying you can’t count on that happening immediately.
“Go viral” means a post spreads rapidly and widely, often through shares and recommendations. In this context, they’re warning that relying on virality is unrealistic for new creators and car sellers.
"think of it like this say your store or the OEM you work for tomorrow says 0% for 96 months you're gonna go call all of your customers"
“0% for 96 months” means the loan has no interest, paid back over about 8 years. They’re using it as an example of a big promo that makes dealerships call customers.
“0% for 96 months” describes a financing offer with a 0% interest rate over 96 months (8 years). The hosts use it to illustrate how OEM promotions can trigger sales outreach to existing customers.
"say your store or the OEM you work for tomorrow says 0% for 96 months you're gonna go call all of your customers"
OEM means the company that actually makes the car. Here, they’re saying the automaker can announce special deals that push dealers to contact customers.
OEM stands for “original equipment manufacturer,” meaning the company that makes the vehicle (or the parts it’s built with). In the transcript, the hosts use OEM to describe the automaker that can offer financing or pricing incentives to dealers.
"Lincoln came out with employee pricing for every model like sync except the new 25 navigator one of all my co-workers do call every single person"
The Lincoln Navigator is a large luxury SUV. They’re using it to show that special pricing deals don’t always apply to every model.
The Lincoln Navigator is a full-size luxury SUV from Lincoln. Here it’s referenced as the one model that didn’t get the employee pricing example, highlighting how incentives can vary by model.
Select text to request an explanation
Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee podcast. You are listening to the interbrews at the NCM
Client and Friends event. Enjoy these conversations. Let's brew! What's going on CarGuy's and CarGuy's?
It's the Ramirez the CarGuy. It's Fred Lenard's subprime hero. We are brewing solutions at the
NCM Associates Clients and Friends event here in Kansas City and we are having a great time
brewing solutions with the one, the only Russell Richardson. I was going to say Russell
but yes Russell Richardson the one the only Russelips whips brother and you are out there
making a huge splash in automotive right now and you've been doing it for a while but you are doing
it big right now and people are seeing you everywhere and you're showing people how to get
themselves out there everywhere man. I respect the game. I see what you're doing and man mad mad
mad mad mad love to you for this brother seriously this is what the industry needs right now we
need more of this inside stores and what you're teaching is right on the money of what we need
currently so it's hot. Yeah we love what we're doing we're super blessed to have kind of taken
an opportunity in life and leave I don't want to call it a cushy job but was doing pretty well
and amen even on autopilot months which every car salesman has that were still pretty good months
for me to go out and do my own thing which is a very scary decision I'm blessed to have received
the feedback and the opportunities that the orchards across the country and even some groups
in across the world have given us so it's really exciting time my life. Yes so much respect to that
and it does it takes a lot to jump out especially when you have such a great following that can
keep feeding you car deal after car deal you all can do the same thing and Russ you just lit up the
stage in there you got everybody in there wow oh my gosh look at the potential and the ability
and we are we're part of this revolution that's happening of awakening people to the power of
social media and what they can do inside of their store but a couple of questions popped
up inside of there which are key questions and for us as solutionaries when we teach it inside
of stores these are mandatory but you had somebody asked do you make it mandatory for your people
or do you not make it mandatory for your people to actually be active inside of social media
break down a little bit more of your philosophy of why it's so important that they do it. Yeah so
I'll give you one answer as it should be mandatory just like you expect people to show up on time
you expect people to wear their uniform you expect people to greet people at the front door and say
hey welcome to Beyond Lincoln my name is Russ that is all mandatory so branding yourself on social
media should be mandatory with one role as a sales manager general manager owner for the most part
you have done everything you're gonna mandate mandate people do you agree to customers you
have shown up on time for years on that you have pulled a car around back and cleaned it by hand
because the detailer was off so for you to tell sales gotta do that yes you can tell them that
you've done it most of you have never done social media it aren't willing to even do it and it will
never work if you don't start first in every group we train I say that exact thing to them
and there are big groups we haven't worked with because the owner is just not I totally understand
I'm just telling you I because I don't want to be known as the thing that you pay a bunch of money
for I come out do it and it doesn't work it won't work if you don't do it and that is one thing
we're a firm believer in if you look at our track record almost every manager or owner that has been
involved in the training is actively doing it so if you are willing to commit to it what my
philosophy is very simple once per working day you're off don't post once we're working different
people it's five days a week that's 20 videos a month that's 240 in a year it's really not that many
and if you are willing to do that as an owner you cannot mandate your people do it you should only
recommend because they're going to resent you for oh man I know my manager he's never made a cool
call in his life and he wants me to make 300 but hey if you're like by GM my old GM he would go do
it with me so I knew he was about it I knew I've seen my GM pull people out of service to sell
them a car I've seen my GM stay two hours late the day before Thanksgiving to help me sell a car
so when he would ask me to do that I know he would bingo and that where he just said there is what
it's all about fish rots from the head down but also stays fresh if the head's right and the head
has to be right and it's all you leaders out there if you're not sitting there and you're not leading
by example then they're not gonna do it it's to his point if they're not doing it then why should I
have to do it right if he's being successful that but the other side is you managers who don't know
how to do it it's okay go learn how to do it learn with your team they'll be more excited seeing you
stumble through it they're like wow he's willing to get uncomfortable then I should be willing to get
uncomfortable I have one point too for the managers out there we have found that with all respect to
my salespeople we have some awesome salespeople the managers are actually just better at it you're
more confident on camera you know what you're talking about you have good ideas there's a
reason you're a manager because you've excelled at everything you've done my top students I'm talking
200,000 followers in less than a year fixed ops director 40,000 followers just on TikTok
dude posts on everything probably 60,000 on everything in three months director of variable
ops was his job title Jamie Lane owner at Sunrise 4 I think he got for the last two and a half weeks
I'm trying 4,000 followers he just never thought to even do it he thought this was a salesperson's
game you know really owner your salespeople are going to be recycled it's the name of the game
it's the industry we work in you are always going to be there and if you aren't doing social media
you aren't taking your business serious enough and that's not from me that's from Alex Ramosy
who just broke the record for most books sold in a day and generated $150 million in revenue
and this is a guy who didn't want to do social media but saw it as the only way to get people
who he doesn't know to know him like him and trust him in the last two years I didn't know
did you know Alex Ramosy two years ago no I did not does everyone know who he is today oh yeah
just because you aren't in the know you should know who he is he's going to be one of the richest
guys in the world and one of the best entrepreneurs of all time in my opinion wow wow strong especially
because it's something that anybody can get started on anybody can get it going and it is
great that's the biggest thing you got to put the effort into it not a lot of time I had over a
million followers before I ever even bought a microphone and we still just use my iphone
love it love it I love it and I use free cap cut amen to that
I'm that guy and I love that but it's the truth you can do so much with just consistency pay
attention to what's hot and put it out there be you authentically that's what you are you're you
authentically Russ man I love seeing that happen you show people what it's like I love your satire
that you do you'll make fun of what's happening inside stores what customers are like to but
you're bringing something different all the time that's the secret recipe it's not to always do the
same pay-come-buy card for me today it's show people who you are and you've done it really well
you know I'm a firm believer and some people educate through being meaning and making people
I like to educate through entertainment and I think it's
edutainment edutainment yes I'm gonna steal that word exactly what it is well and you bring some
great edutainment you've made me laugh multiple times watching your videos you've made me think
too so you actually bring provoked thought to also what you're doing brother and more importantly
you're showing people really a blueprint on how to build themselves as a brand and that's what
each person inside of stores they're all individual businesses they are literally
micropreneurs inside these stores trying to become something that they have zero overhead all they
got to show up they get all this inventory and they get the profit share right so why not promote
yourself why not get yourself out there why limit yourself to the leads that your dealership provides
when I know that I could provide myself with double the leads if I put myself out there so I had a
guy we trained recently who was like Russ love what you and I have a lot of these stores and this
one's really good say Russ I just don't know if it's for me a 19 year old kid super good I'm talking
should probably just go be a model and I'm like first off bro you're good looking that makes it
secondly and if you're watching this is Jose we got to do social media
Jose at sunrise for I said how cool would it be if everybody in Fontana knew who you were and
did knew that you really got to come by for you change my life I go so what are you gonna do go
door knock on everybody's door I am Jose right there's only two options you stay restored for 30
years and wait till you build your name from that over time it can happen about 30 years
or the only way I think of the scale that's super quick is with social media they're sure you
could put a billboard up sure you can go to these events and meet people that's one way to do it I'm
not saying social media is the only way but it is definitely one of the easiest barriers to entry
it's free Russ 100% the cost up front is nothing it stays there for the most part you can do so
much organically like he just said he still keeps it pretty primitive with that there are the people
that have put 20 30 years inside of this business you talked about mr beyondy and how it is that he
started his social media activity I've also heard you explain before how true it is and we try to
tell you all the time this doesn't necessarily become an instant gratification thing you're not
going to go viral overnight on your first video the important thing is like the president of
consistency said is stay consistent stay at it but when you are that car dog that does have
all of these people you do have a name in the community you could all of a sudden go live we
had a student at bozard Ford down in Florida who killing it car guy through and through
eventually the light bulb went off and said guys teach me the social media thing in his first video
he started getting car deals he started to get known a little bit more in the community for people
that just forgot where he was forgot about him and he didn't have the chance to follow up with them
because it is also a follow-up tool and then the ultimate follow-up yeah based on what you talked
about with mr beyondy he then said what I just sold what you had somebody come from Cal or somebody
that was referred by somebody that's in California that's never met you come buy a car from us today
I want to start it and then he started moving units and it really didn't take him that long
because he already had an actual following of people in just the community what do you say for
the people that are kind of slow to move into it and for the car guys that have a bank of business
that they can tap into it's easy and think of it like this say your store or the OEM you work for
tomorrow says 0% for 96 months you're gonna go call all of your customers because that happened to me
at my Lincoln dealership Lincoln came out with employee pricing for every model like sync except
the new 25 navigator one of all my co-workers do call every single person they're working by the
time they had their first phone call done I had a video up posted that video did over 10 million
views across all social media platforms I got over 500 leads I didn't include that and that was
another video that went crazy Jim Farley CEO of Ford reposted it on his Instagram and thank you
pretty crazy thing awesome guess what I did next then I just started calling my customers
then I just started calling them that's hilarious that's hilarious man because we love it we love
your energy we love what it is that you're doing in the industry each and every one of you could
activate your personal brand because each and every one of you have something to contribute
to this industry we love what you're doing here and we're so thankful that you're actually out here
now you get the opportunity to like you said go around the world seeing different things you've
gone to different events have different speaking engagements lined up but you had the chance to
be part of this event which to us is special it's originated inside of Kentucky David Kane is the
gentleman of automotive and we are so thankful to be part of this event and last night you got into
town you got told to go meet over at Arrowhead thinking that it was just like a bar or thing it
was just a place and then rose up what was it like just being part of your first ever basically
this is our clients and friends event we're just going to keep calling it that there's so many
words to say but what is it like being a part of this event specifically oh it's phenomenal I flew
in a little late yesterday evening and I texted a good buddy of mine Sean Hopper and I was like hey
he texted me you go to Arrowhead and I said what's that I was like at the bars no the stadium and
then I'm like I Google it because I'm like not like that but oh the chief stadium and I texted him
and said do I have to get invited to that no one because I'm a really last minute guy like I do
yesterday all I knew was I had four meetings a haircut and fly to Kentucky yeah man
Kentucky be all right though yeah that'd be cool too I took Sean I said is there gonna be food
and he just sends a laugh at pace emoji he said no I'm dead serious I have 10 minutes to change
you go upstairs if there's not food I'm not coming yes bro there's gonna be food and then I realized
how legit of an event this was there was food there was barbecue drinks we got tour of the chief
stadium what was that that was amazing that was a great time and that's what this event's about man
it's not just about the education we get it's the network and we do later on I'm sure you made
some connections last night I know a lot of people were pulling you hey I went I had friends from
Kentucky that are at stores they're going can you introduce me to Russ I'd like to get a picture
with them I was like sure yeah I just met him too though but it was really cool but no that's really
awesome that you're making a splash like that that you're at this event I know there's a lot of
people who are excited that you're here what you're pouring out to them and putting inside their cups
is very important for them to go back and forth to their team's cups so I'm excited that you're
doing that brother I know NCM was lucky to have you here and I know David Kane was excited to have
you here too so that's great awesome stuff yeah Russ we do have a lot of people that are out there
that do love this industry do want to go to the next level but do want to know how do they connect
to you tell them how they can find out how you can possibly work with them inside of their stores
yeah what I recommend is either DM me on social media Instagram right now Facebook I'm using AI
which not everyone's a fan of me using AI to answer my messages but I get so many I'm trying it
I'm trying it but well it's funny you got an experiment not to go on a tangent here but somebody
message me because I put on Instagram or my Facebook met a story like hey should I use AI
and I put up a screenshot of a guy talking to the AI like it was a pretty funny conversation
somebody DMs me like no AI so stupid everyone knows the difference this dude had an hour-long
conversation with the AI I think and it was I think it distorted dude AI stupid yeah I agree I
we had to work with DM me on Instagram or any link in my bio there's a form fill where you
can reach out for more information for me so there are lots of ways to get a hold of me I'm
I try to be personally involved in every deal because that's what Mr. Biondi taught me I know
it's not scalable but at this point in my career I do think that's important to provide that personal
touch so I do try to be personally involved in everything your personality matters we appreciate
your personality we're so thankful for you to be in this industry taking people to the next level
and to go to the next level to keep growing everybody you know what we got to do we got
to drop some f-bombs yes we got to go ahead and forgive that's right these are the f-bombs that
don't offend the moms everybody let's forgive focus fly on 3123 forget it
focus fly and keep growing keep growing thank you so much for tuning in everybody here in Kansas
City at the NCM clients and friends event we are so thankful that for just the moment we had
the opportunity to brew solutions with one of the best in the business the one the only
and you can follow them by going to rustlipswitch.com check them out
Request an explanation for:
1 cars
1 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark.
Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
