The Walk Around

Latest Episodes:

S01E21 - How to Market Your Dealership Efficiently Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

Bob Lanham started his career selling cars at a Toyota dealership in the Southeast part of the country. Since then, he has risen through the ranks of the dealership, eventually becoming the Sales Director at Hulu which led him to his current position as the Head of Automotive Retail at Facebook.

Having worked closely with dealer groups, manufacturers, franchise dealers, and OEMs, he brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. Bob shares his take on how the industry reacted to the pandemic and what shifts he’s seen.

With sales volume cut by 70+ percent for some, dealers learned quickly that they had to understand marketing and media in a way that cut costs but still allowed for an effective return.

His team believes that the average dealer can cut about 30- 50% of their marketing spend and still market effectively by leveraging a media mix marketing strategy.

Bob shares steps that the GMs of today can take to drive this strategy in their stores:

Step 1: Outline all your marketing and advertising expenses. Including cost! Map it all out.

Step 2: Ask a lot of questions and make sure your expenses are, in fact, investments. What is your return? Are the people handling your marketing and ad spend up to the task?

Step 3: Never look at what media you buy in a silo. This includes all media and advertising initiatives. Media platforms do not work in a silo they work together and drive each other.

Step 4: Keep an active role in communicating if you use a vendor for your marketing and media.

Bob Lanham left us with two principles to keep top of mind:

Your advertising and marketing spend is not meant to be a tax.

When you take away the bias of how you buy media and look at what you should and should not buy, your media mix becomes more powerful.

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S01E20 - Exploring F&I Trends: What Happened and What to Expect Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

Joining us on The Walk Around is one of our very own, Elliot Schor, AVP of Sales Operations with JM&A Group. Elliot’s role within the company gives him the opportunity to help dealers, groups, and OEMs grow their profitability while retaining customers. He is a trusted advisor and strategic partner to dealers of many different sizes, and works with them to reach the goals they set out to achieve.

Elliot recalls how the last year went through the lens of his dealer partners. From both an industry and personal perspective, dealers were unsure of how the future would shape up, but through it all, F&I shined and a huge focus on digital was solidified. Dealers were able to compensate for the reduction in volume with increases in gross. There is no doubt that the consumers’ need for automotive retail and support continues.

From the rise of digital retail, to meeting customers' demands, Elliot dives into the top things for dealers to keep an eye on as we lean into 2021.

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S01E19 - Overcoming Turnover in the Dealership Mar 15, 2021

Show notes

Joining the podcast today is Adam Robinson, CEO and Founder of Hireology a people solutions company that has worked with 1 in 5 dealerships across the country. Joining him is Matt Ellmer of Priority Automotive, 20 store group with locations in throughout Virginia including Hampton Roads, Roanoke and the DC area. In this episode we explore new and effective ways dealers can start executing the hiring process in a better way.

Did you know it costs an average of about $16,000 per head turned over in the first 90 days of employment and dealers lose 35% of new hires within the first 90 days? That is a staggering statistic that can hurt dealers in the short and long term. To avoid a loss like that, it’s all about giving a new hire a great experience and opening the door for financial benefits to follow.

Here are some thought starters you can use to start maximizing your hiring process:

Start thinking of recruiting as a part of the sales and marketing process
Realize people are the only determining factor in your business
Adopt tools that make sense for your business
Make your job roles as attractive as possible
Maximize the first 90 days as that is the golden window for new hires

The most influential thing you can do to get someone to the 3-year mark at your dealership is by making day 1 as great as you can. This means creating a structured onboarding program that is built around both the dealer’s and new hire’s success.

You can learn more about Hireology's solution to turnover and retention here.

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S01E18 - Building a Diverse Dealership with Jorge A. Plasencia Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Joining the Walk Around Podcast today is entrepreneur and civic leader Jorge A. Plasencia. He is chairman and CEO of Republica Havas, a creative media and communications agency. He provides strategic brand communications and growth counseling to fortune 500 companies like Toyota, Walmart, and Google.
With humble biggening's doing radio live remotes at car dealerships in Miami to working for The Florida Marlins alongside entrepreneurial legend Wayne Huizenga, he has seen the inside of dealership a few times and learned first-hand how the industry works from a different perspective.
A master of multi-cultural marketing, Jorge and his team are subject matter experts in communication and reaching the people that matter most for businesses.
Jorge shares how his background and culture shaped the way he communicates brand messages to audiences of all types.

Here are a few key takeaways from the episode:

Great marketing starts with understanding the people in your audience. You must truly understand the consumer and what makes them tick.
Marketing becomes successful when you are catering to your audience and providing the content they love and need.
Good creative must be born on strategy. Who is your ideal customer? Who isn't your ideal customer?
When building a team, you need to have diversity of thought present and every type of person and customer needs to be considered. This becomes achievable when you have an inclusive and diverse team.

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S01E17 - Innovating to Meet Consumer Needs with Brent Sergot Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Brent Sergot is the Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC. the world's largest independent distributor of Toyota’s and a subsidiary of diversified automotive corporation, JM Family Enterprises, Inc.

An associate since 2001 Brent has held many positions within JM Family. Prior to joining the organization, Brent was already an established automotive thought leader having made his mark in various industry organizations focused on wholesale remarketing fleet and retail. In his current role he manages the day-to-day operations of Southeast Toyota. His mission? Driving a complete focus on the dealership.

Get the 50,000-foot view of the Automotive industry with Brent. From modern retail, to industry disruption, and pivoting during a pandemic, there is a ton of valuable insights to unpack in this episode.

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S01E16 - Removing Friction from the Customer Experience with Brad Title Feb 15, 2021

Show notes

Brad Title is the Founder and CEO of Gubagoo, a conversational-commerce platform designed for dealers. You can find Brad most comfortable at the intersection between automotive and technology where he has been an industry innovator for over 30 years and has helped over 6,500 dealers worldwide connect with consumers.

He walks us through how Gubagoo assists dealerships in aligning with the customer experience.

Car buyers have many options outside of the traditional phone call, website form, or email. Brad and his team offer solutions to integrate all methods of communication like text, video, and chat, making the car buying experience less daunting for the buyer while connecting the dealer with the customer seamlessly.

About 5% of consumers are completing the car buying process fully online but 95% are having a blended experience where they started online and finished in the store.

In this episode you will learn how the way you integrate technology is the key to building the bridge between the consumer gap that exists online, offline, and in-store.

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S01E15 - Implementing Culture Change in Your Dealership Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Chris May is the Director of the Performance Development Center (PDC), a professional services department of JM&A Group that helps dealers drive results. He is an automotive futurist with his eyes set on helping dealers “future proof” their business.

With the industry getting more complex each year, dealerships need partners that have their best interest in mind. Chris and his team at the PDC help thousands of dealers every year achieve their goals through training, consulting, talent, technology, strategy, sales, service, and F&I offerings and solutions.

In this episode you will get insights into:

New perspectives on implementing culture change
Breaking large goals into smaller tangible steps
Defining your plan to grow your dealership
Accelerating desired outcomes

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S01E14 - How to Leverage Google Search in Your Dealership with Tony Carroll Feb 01, 2021

Show notes

Tony Carroll is a Senior Automotive Strategist at Google. He collaborates with individual dealers and OEMs to consult on Google’s digital solutions and to develop scalable programs that support brands and drive results.

With 12 years in the OEM space before his arrival at Google, Tony has an extensive automotive background. In this episode, he walks us through his journey and explains how Google has its sights set on aiding the Automotive Industry and what that means for dealers. He also sheds light on how a strong e-commerce presence can lead to more effective tracking and accountability in the car buying process.

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S01E13 - The Secret to Growing This Year – Building Your Growth Mindset Jan 25, 2021

Show notes

Joining us on The Walk Around this episode is Eduardo Briceno. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Mindset Works, a pioneer in growth mindset development services and programs. Since cofounding Mindset Works in 2007, he has served and influenced thousands of organizations in their advancement of learning oriented cultures and systems.

Learn first-hand how an open growth mindset can help you identify mistakes you are making in your personal and professional lives and how to pivot those behaviors and live a more productive and happy life.

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S01E12 - Diversity in the Dealership with Damon Lester of NAMAD Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

Join us as we take a Walk Around with Damon Lester and explore how NAMAD is paving the way for diversity and advocating for minority inclusion throughout the industry.

Damon Lester is the President of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers or NAMAD, a respected advocate for ensuring diversity remains a priority in the automotive industry. In his current role, Damon’s responsibilities encompass membership outreach and recruitment, industry relations, and dealership development as well as government and media affairs.

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