Ashley Cavazos from NCM Associates discusses the critical need for marketing leaders to have a strategic seat at the dealership table to drive growth effectively. She emphasizes that marketing now touches every aspect of dealership operations, from inventory to customer experience, and alignment across all departments is essential. Ashley shares insights on anticipating potential failures, the importance of clear processes, and how AI should complement rather than replace people. She advocates for leadership to understand each role’s KPIs and foster collaboration to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving automotive landscape.
What if the reason your marketing isn’t driving growth… is because it was never invited into the strategy conversation in the first place?
That question sits at the heart of this conversation with my good friend Ashley Cavazos, Digital Performance Consultant and Moderator at NCM Associates. We recorded this one live from the NADA show floor in Las Vegas, and within minutes we were digging into something I see happening in dealerships all the time.
Leaders expect marketing to deliver results.
But marketing often isn’t sitting in the room when the decisions that shape those results are made.
In this episode, Ashley and I talk about why that disconnect still exists and what has to change if dealerships want marketing to actually drive growth instead of constantly cleaning up problems after the fact.
"Now you are the digital performance consultant and a moderator at NCM Associates, and we know just how much data points NCM is looking at and how many conversations are happening daily with dealers..."
NCM Associates helps car dealerships use data and smart ideas to sell more cars and make customers happier.
NCM Associates is a company that provides data-driven consulting and performance solutions to automotive dealerships to help improve their operations and marketing strategies.
"I have been in multiple different facets of, you know, my roles in the dealerships from BDC to marketing to digital operations."
BDC is a team in a car dealership that talks to customers and helps set up meetings to sell cars.
BDC stands for Business Development Center, a department in car dealerships focused on managing customer communications, lead follow-up, and appointment setting to increase sales.
"We talk about the buzzwords of CDP and, and everything that encompasses, you know, making"
A CDP is a tool that helps companies gather information about their customers so they can send better and more personal messages.
CDP stands for Customer Data Platform, a system that collects and organizes customer data from multiple sources to help businesses personalize marketing and improve customer experience.
Intro
Why Marketers Need Seats
Inventory Firefighting Reality
Connecting Teams And Journey
Plan For Failure Points
Process Before Mindset
Alignment Beats AI Hype
Leadership And KPI Clarity
Advocating With Data Proof
Contact Info And Closing
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I'm here with Ashley Kovazos, who is the digital performance consultant and moderator at NCM
Associates.
I'm so excited.
We're on the show.
She is a good friend.
Welcome to the dealer playbook.
Hi.
I'm so excited to be here.
Oh my gosh.
Look at, look at, what are we doing here?
Look at this.
I feel like a WKRP in Cincinnati.
Hello, live from NADA in Las Vegas.
That's right.
We're here at Auto Media Marketplace booth.
They are hosting the dealer playbook.
And along with iHeart Automotive, iHeart Media Automotive rather, I want to get into this
with you because when I only get a few minutes with the one and only Ashley Kovazos, first
of all, I'm so excited for you in your new role.
I just got to get that out there.
I'm so excited.
They're, Geely, Geely is the word I will use, but I want to ask you this because I can't
even like stop smiling.
Thank you.
Well, listen, and we're all happy about this, but also now I'm really curious.
I mean, here you are.
You've had a very amazing career so far from a marketing perspective.
Now you are the digital performance consultant and a moderator at NCM Associates, and we
know just how much data points NCM is looking at and how many conversations are happening
daily with dealers, with operators, with many different facets of the dealership.
So I want to ask you this question.
And I know you and I have talked about this before offline.
Many marketing leaders are being asked to drive growth without a true strategic seat
at the table.
And I mean, gosh, I think this goes back like five years where we're like, marketers need
to have a seat at the table when the conversations are happening, when the decisions are being
made.
So from your vantage point, what has to change organizationally for that to work?
You know, I love this question because I have been in multiple different facets of,
you know, my roles in the dealerships from BDC to marketing to digital operations.
And when you're asking your marketing leadership team to drive growth, to drive strategic results,
you can't expect them to drive these strategic results if you're not putting them at the
strategy table.
Like at the end of the day, that's what it is, right?
So how can you expect these results if they're not a part of that strategy?
And we know where marketing is today.
And if you don't know where marketing is today, it covers every facet of your operation.
Not just, we're not just talking sales and service marketing.
The customer experience revolves around everything that marketing touches.
We talk about the buzzwords of CDP and, and everything that encompasses, you know, making
sure that you have that life cycle of the customer.
But when it comes to inventory, where do we stand for market share?
Where do we stand financially, right?
Are we in a part where maybe we're going to have budget cuts coming?
How can I plan anything if I'm not sitting at the table, just being an ear?
For me, it's like, well, and, and if I'm the one you're going to blame when things don't go
right, then I definitely needed a seat at the table so that I could be a part of the conversation.
Like you said, strategy, and what is everybody looking for from a marketing perspective?
They're like, well, what's the strategy?
And it's like, well, you didn't even include me when you created the thesis of what we're supposed
to do.
Exactly. Or, hey, we are overloaded in inventory.
Our floor plan is through the roof.
We need to move X unit, put a plan in place.
But now you brought me in three months into the problem.
If I had known right a days ago, I could have started.
I'm the perpetual cleanup crew now.
Exactly. I mean, that's exactly what it comes down to.
We throw in our marketing hazmat suits.
Well, and then I'm also thinking about the far reaching impact beyond that.
So maybe you've got a marketing team or you're a marketing professional at the store,
or maybe you've been given the title marketing director ahead of marketing or whatever.
So you're not a part of that high level conversation where the, the, the direction is set.
Then you're, that, that means you're also not in a conversation with the other people
that are going to be responsible for helping.
Like we always forget about, well, what's the responsibility of the sales team?
Right.
What's the responsibility of the fixed team?
What's the responsibility from like everybody in the dealership?
And how does that contribute?
I mean, honestly, and, and that has been the biggest part of,
I feel the success of my teams, right?
When I started an automotive, I was a receptionist doing internet marketing
and getting involved in the events and social media.
But I had that little touch of it from my past background.
Then when I moved to Minnesota and I joined auto group,
I was helping them build BDCs.
And when I got into the BDCs after having that little bit of marketing experience,
I would get a lead and I'm like, okay, well, where did this lead come from?
Right.
How did they get to me?
And so what did I do with email marketing?
Hey, tell me more about ex third party provider, right?
How did that lead come to me?
How did, um, how did they submit their requests on the website?
Right.
Um, what form did they fill out?
Yeah.
What, like, what was their journey even before they got to the website?
Exactly.
And so it was creating that dotted line to the BDC and the sales team
that helped improve performance.
But if we're, if we're not working together as a team,
and I feel really fortunate because I've been a part of really great
organizations that have brought everybody together to sit at the table
and talk about the problem.
And everybody has a piece of, you know, hey, what have we did this?
Oh, you hear that feedback?
You're like, oh, and then if I do this and then I can train this sales process
or we need to pivot the showroom experience to be like this.
But if you're not, it's not even just having marketing at the table.
It's having your whole team together at the table.
And then you have everybody singing the same song.
Yeah.
So then what happens?
Your, your sales team or service team, everybody from the ground level up
knows what they need to do because everybody is talking.
Do you think it's, it's, um, oh my gosh, I can't even believe this is where,
you know me.
My brain goes to, what's that dude's name that just climbed,
climbed the, the Netflix guy, the Netflix guy that climbed the building.
And he said something, and I want to tie it back to this.
He said he's actually visualized himself falling to his death.
Oh, like he, I know this is really stay with me for a minute.
Okay.
I know it's grim, but you just said every bringing everybody together that needs to
be involved from your experience.
Should we not also consider potential points of failure so that we can come up
with our mitigation plan?
I mean, I'm a, I'm a military kid.
Like, I didn't know that.
Yeah.
My dad is retired that and when you come from that life, you learn, I got a
facey exit.
I see the exit door.
I know my exit, right?
We are taught at an early age, always think five to 10 steps ahead, always be prepared.
Right.
And so that's how my brain works.
When we start thinking of introducing a tech, a provider website, whatever it is,
I'm already thinking, okay, what's going to go right?
What's going to go wrong?
How do I prepare for that?
Right.
Why do you think, I mean, bring me as much into the room now of the conversations you're
having with dealers or dealer groups.
Is there any hesitancy to this idea of, wait, you want us to think about points of failure?
How do you navigate that with them to say like, no, you got to lean into that?
I mean, I'm going to be honest.
It starts with just knowing what your process is first.
And that is what I see a lot as I talk to different dealers is they know what's expected
to answer Lee.
They know what their OEMs are telling them, but they don't have that process itself.
And it's just getting the groundwork done.
Do we have a process?
Right.
Okay.
So now let's talk about process and mindset alignment.
What's the biggest mindset shift?
Dealership leaders need to be considering, as you said, three to five steps ahead.
What are the mindset shifts for the next three to five years in order for them to stay competitive
with everything that's going on?
I mean, gosh, we're at NADA right now and it's AI this and it's, you know.
It's AI everything, right?
And AI.
Yeah.
So what's the mindset shift here?
What do you really encourage your dealers to be thinking about as you consult with them?
This kind of weaves into what we just talked about, but alignment is a competitive advantage.
Is that the title for this episode?
Alignment is the competitive advantage.
I'm going to say it again.
So when we think about three to five years, AI is the buzzword.
Everybody's talking about it.
Every email I received is like, come see our new AI.
Look at what we're doing with AI.
Right.
And I don't disagree.
I love AI.
I utilize a heck out of AI.
AI is not going to replace people.
It shouldn't replace people.
But there needs to be alignment in that.
So if you're working like, I was just talking with, oh gosh, I'm blanking on his name, but we were
just talking about how dealerships are using AI avatars.
right now right like that's becoming a thing I was just at ATI and we were
talking there was a product that was like total AI showroom experience
customer scans code no people in the showroom enters information verifies
who they are go into the showroom they have cars there for them to look at I
mean there's a lot of things happening but I think at the end of the day we
still need people involved and if they're not aligned and if your teams
aren't aligned it's gonna fall apart like it's just going to fall apart but
like what I'm like what really needs to be said or what really needs to be done
in order to get that message across the top it starts at the top it if your
leadership is not your leadership is not one open-minded to understanding the
value right of what you have to know what every person brings right if you are
assigning somebody to be your CMO or your marketing director some to be your
internet director your service fixed ops director your new car director F you
have to understand what everybody's role is they need to understand what that is
of each other if they don't know what each other's jobs and responsibilities
are they don't know what their KPIs are for each other how can I help you and
fix stops if I don't know what your goals are yeah oh my gosh I mean I think
about this from even just an HR perspective like if if people don't
know actually what their role is and what's expected from them how could I as
a leader or could any leadership team have a meaningful discussion with people
about where they should be performing and then to your point having them
aligned to the strategic vision that's being said because like I know you've
worked you've worked in some large dealer groups you've worked in some really
amazing dealer groups and now at NCM I mean you know better than anybody how
important alignment is to the success of the game right how do you advocate for
it if you're not the leader at the top I mean show up ready to fight everything
it's really it I think it's bringing the case study it was from an NCM
perspective I will tell you as somebody who was had a marketing and running
digital operations going to a 20 group and sitting in that 20 group room and
seeing people who did have you know we we just worked with each other people who
had voices people who didn't we talked together and then you find people who are
doing things successfully honestly getting them in front of your leader hey
I was at my 20 group meeting and this store is closing 15% internet and their
cost for so it is $250 I think we should sit and talk with them right look at our
composite look at our data and look at what we're what we're seeing happen and
I think that's how you get that conversation started just from like
just the operators I've worked with they want to know what other people are doing
yeah it's not just me saying I know this is the right way to go yeah you got to
have something to back it up we're here at the auto media marketplace booth we
are hosting the dealer playbook podcast here live from NADA with auto media
marketplace and I heart media automotive Ashley Kovazos I want to thank you so
much for joining me on the dealer playbook and those listening and watching
get in touch with you LinkedIn find me on LinkedIn shoot me a message I love to
chat NCM woke hand if you're not familiar with it check it out and we'll
talk if you like what I said today I'd love to chat more about it also I'm
going to do a quick plug but we are a lot if you are a marketer if you don't
know we do have marketing 20 groups we're launching a brand new 20 group
called 20 and 4 for brand collaboration strategy or teaming up with foundation
data it's really exciting so did we hear at first are we breaking news you're
breaking news oh my gosh it's the first time guys we're breaking new live Ashley
Kovazos my good friend thanks so much for joining me on the deal thank you hey
thanks for listening to the dealer playbook podcast if you enjoyed tuning
in please subscribe share and hit that like button you can also join us and the
DPD community on social media check back next week for a new dealer playbook
episode thanks so much for joining
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