Send us a text Have you ever wondered about the journey from being a vendor to retail? Andrew Diffenderfer, the mastermind behind Foundation Direct, pulls back the curtain on this transition. Join us as we take a walk down memory lane, reminiscing about Columbia House subscriptions and multi-disc CD changers, and discussing the roots of vendors and dealers in the industry. Andrew's rich experiences have not only shaped Foundation Direct but also allowed him to foster deep and enduring relationsh...
Sep 15, 2023•27 min
Send us a text Rock climbing, mortician, automotive photographer. That all tracks for our next guest. Today, we navigate the exhilarating journey of Peter Duffy, whose transition from rock climbing to automotive photography is as gripping as it is inspiring. We'll unravel the symbolism behind his iconic photo of Half Dome from Yosemite, a reflection of his life's journey, and delve into his early days in automotive, where weathered keys and boxes served as his trusty companions. Peter's career p...
Sep 14, 2023•26 min
Send us a text Join us for a riveting ride to the era of the 'Google Dance' with digital veteran Melissa Cartagena. Expect to be enlightened by Melissa's candid revelations about her early career, where SEO and web ranking were quite different than they are today. She offers a unique perspective on AutoNation's low-key approach, including their commitment to being present at nearly every industry event. Melissa's rich experience across various sectors sets the stage for an engaging conversation,...
Sep 13, 2023•24 min
Send us a text Struggling to strike a harmonious work-life balance? Ever wished you could disconnect from the whirlwind of everyday life and truly enjoy your vacations? Don't miss our chat with seasoned auto industry entrepreneur, Danny Zaslavsky. He'll be sharing personal and professional insights, giving us an intimate look into his approach towards achieving equilibrium. With his advice on disconnecting from the everyday grind and staying present in the moment, this episode will help you find...
Sep 11, 2023•23 min
Send us a text Have you ever wondered what hospitality, construction, and car sales have in common? Join us for a dynamic chat with our guest, Evan Riley from FlickFusion. Buckle up and prepare to explore the quirky differences between Texas and Canadian grass, and get ready for a quick trip down personal grooming lane as Evan shares his hilarious NADA ear-shaving mishap. It's all in a day's work for Evan. We'll follow his journey from humble beginnings to landing a job at a Chevy dealership. Al...
Aug 31, 2023•27 min
Send us a text Just imagine having a dream so powerful that you'd risk everything, even mortgage your home and live on a shoestring budget to make it a reality. This episode's guest, Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas, took that bold leap and is now reaping the rewards with a waitlist for tickets nearly hitting 900,000! Tune in to hear his inspiring journey of grit, determination, and a love for Banana Ball that overcame naysayers and doubts. But it's not all about baseball. Jesse's retai...
Aug 30, 2023•30 min
Send us a text Picture this: you're sipping a cup of coffee, flavored by a unique machine, while listening to engaging tunes. That's just a small taste of what our guest, Steve Laureys, immerses himself in daily. This episode invites you on a journey through Steve's experiences in the automotive industry, complete with his attendance at countless auto conferences and a rich collection of lanyards to prove it. Ready to learn how to gain more while spending less? We're taking a deep dive into the ...
Aug 28, 2023•27 min
Send us a text Ever imagined buying a car 100% online? Lucas Neiderer, the Director of Marketing for the Dolan Group, takes us on a fascinating journey through their unique remote purchase teams and buying centers where this could be your reality. Unleashing innovative marketing strategies, Lucas elaborates on his team's ability to push the boundaries, bolstered by the trust they've earned from their owners to explore fresh and exciting ideas. Prepare to be inspired by their nimble approach to m...
Aug 24, 2023•24 min
Send us a text Could you ever imagine making a daily commute from the Poconos to New Jersey just to pursue a career in the automotive industry? That's the story of Felicia Rey, who climbed the ranks from cashier to service advisor and beyond, all in the name of her passion. This episode has us chatting with Felicia about her fascinating journey, filled with unique challenges and triumphs. She offers an insider's view on the automotive industry and takes us through her days in different roles, of...
Aug 21, 2023•25 min
Send us a text With a story that's both compelling and inspiring, we sit down with author and seasoned leader, Ed Roberts, whose journey from non-writer to author of leadership book "Mile One: An Endless Journey to Effective Leadership" is truly an interesting one. He gives us a sneak peek into the 'Mile One' concept from his book--the idea that each new mile is a fresh opportunity on an unending journey, a strategy that helps break down big, looming goals into achievable steps. Moving on, you'l...
Jun 29, 2023•24 min
Send us a text Ever wondered how car dealerships make informed decisions when purchasing cars? Join us as we chat with Chris Adams, Matrix Operations Director at Car Offer, who provides valuable insights into the fascinating world of car market analytics. Discover how Chris's team helps dealerships predict buyer preferences and stay ahead of market trends, even down to the most popular car colors! Not only do we dive deep into car market analytics, but we also get to know Chris's background and ...
Jun 08, 2023•27 min
Send us a text What happens when you combine a thrilling 2000 km electric vehicle adventure with the rugged beauty of Newfoundland? You get the captivating journey of our guest, Devin Sooley, a talented Canadian automotive marketer who recently embarked on a mini tour of Canada in a Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV. We sit down with Devin as he shares the incredible details of his three-day expedition, including how he and his team relied on EV charging points and managed to create an impressive array of cont...
Jun 06, 2023•26 min
Send us a text What if you could create a workplace culture where employees were not only valued, but truly cared for? Dive into the world of automotive leader Bruce Miller, as he shares his journey from sales to becoming his own boss, and how his experiences of being misunderstood and mistreated in the past have shaped his approach to management. With a focus on non-transactional relationships, Bruce emphasizes the importance of building a strong, supportive team culture and treating employees ...
May 31, 2023•25 min
Send us a text The first repeat guest on Auto Collabs. Of course we mean the one and only Rick Ricart, President and Chief Vision Officer of Ricart Automotive Group. Every time we get the chance to talk with Rick, the conversation is packed with insights, and today is no different. We touch on the challenges of the EV market, negative equity woes, trends in the showroom, and the all-important power of training. Key takeaways from this episode: 1️⃣ EV Conundrum: Navigating the EV market is akin t...
May 26, 2023•32 min
Send us a text We threw some hard questions around. And Ron Smith aced them all. Ron is the Enterprise Sales Director of Stella AI, a fully AI telephone answering system for dealerships, and joins the show after winning a recent month of Pitch Tank. We learned a lot about Ron's background, what dealers and vendors really dislike about each other, and have a lot of laughs. Here's what we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo 3:41 Ron and Stell...
May 18, 2023•21 min
Send us a text What do you get when you mix an automotive marketer, a graffiti artist, and meme expert? Jordan Cox, obviously. He's energetic, always smiling and full of ideas. In fact, he just won the Best Idea Award at David Kain's Clients and Friends Digital Success Workshop for his work on Gates Car Talk, a podcast produced inside of the dealership. Jordan joins to the show to talk about what challenges he's solving, how to tell better stories and seeing people blossom. Here's what we talk a...
May 16, 2023•25 min
Send us a text Here is how retail automotive can learn from Amazon. While Ben Ayed worked at Amazon, he learned that the customer was number one, and so even though they had over 1 million phone calls a day, every single call was answered. Fast forward to when Ben noticed a 72% drop rate in customer booking on Xtime, he was ready to answer the call and come up with a solution. He’s an entrepreneur, an inventor and his company Autoservice.ai was the first winner of our Pitch Tank tournament. What...
Mar 01, 2023•28 min•Ep. 58
Send us a text What do mountain drives have to do with bachelorette parties in downtown Nashville? Plenty, if you’re using them as analogies for the customer experience. Alan Krutsch joins the show, complete with a black baseball cap to fit in. Alan is the type of guy who you can talk to about the same topic for 3 hours without getting bored. He’s the Director of Marketing & Industry Relations at FUSE Autotech and is always able to take a question and zoom out to consider all the implication...
Jan 24, 2023•28 min•Ep. 57
Send us a text She’s the new interim CEO of National Independent Automobile Dealers Association. Melanie Wilson didn’t choose automotive, but she’s here! We caught up with her to talk about why she now loves the industry, what NIADA offers to its members and the world at large, and how car dealers are super resilient. What we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier. 4:16 Melanie begins by talking about how she didn’t pick automotive. Automotive...
Jan 19, 2023•29 min•Ep. 56
Send us a text One of the most measured men in automotive. Santosh Viswanathan is not only an auto dealer, but also the legislative chairman of the Delaware Auto Dealers Association. Delaware is currently considering outlawing the sale of ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles in the state by 2035. It’s an issue that many states are considering, but have significant ramifications for dealers and customers alike. Santosh joins the show to discuss the pros and cons of the regulations and why h...
Jan 16, 2023•32 min•Ep. 55
Send us a text The winner of the 2022 Automotive News All Star for Fixed Ops Vendor. Amir Hever and UVeye have been growing leaps and bounds. The company was originally founded as a homeland security solution for scanning cars for potential threats. But they realized there were a lot more applications than that. Amir joins the guys to talk about where UVeye is growing, helping ease a technician shortage, and what an Automotive News award actually looks like. What we talk about in this episode: 0...
Nov 28, 2022•28 min•Ep. 54
Send us a text Like eating your own cooking or living in the house you built. A tech company that is using its product regularly is going to understand what the end user faces and make sure that it works well. So when DriveCentric started, they used their CRM product as their CRM. Steve Roessler, DriveCentric’s Chief Evangelist Officer joins Auto Collabs to talk about how we can rethink CRMs and how to communicate with today’s generation in a way that they want to be communicated to. What we tal...
Nov 16, 2022•29 min•Ep. 53
Send us a text This might be the most we’ve laughed on a podcast. Normally, Auto Collabs is hosted by Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo, but during a special in-person recording in Atlanta, Paul and Kyle turned the tables on Cirillo, interviewing him. It almost doesn’t need to be said, but what followed was full of laughs, Cirillo’s amazing word pictures and a lot more insight into the Real MC. What we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intro with Kyle Mountsier. 2:10 The interview s...
Nov 03, 2022•21 min•Ep. 52
Send us a text It’s an Auto Collabs first! We have 2 guests joining us today. Michael Lucki and Matthew Vollmers are NADA Academy Instructors, helping to mold and develop the next generation of dealers. They talk about their experiences in the program, how they’ve seen it change and shift, and what it takes to stay relevant in an ever changing landscape. Michael Lucki also spoke at ASOTU CON during the Managing Profitability During an Inventory Shortage panel in the Sales and Culture room. What ...
Oct 13, 2022•33 min•Ep. 51
Send us a text There’s a through line here somewhere. Mike Colacchio has gone from minor-league baseball to selling snowboards to Dealer.com to DealerInspire to AutoLeadStar, where’s an advocate for connected data and Customer Data Platforms. He joins us on Auto Collabs and shares his story, plus his vision for the future of data. Mike also spoke at ASOTU CON on “Our Data Has An Automotive Problem.” Get access to the entire Marketing/Tech room today! What we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intr...
Oct 11, 2022•29 min•Ep. 50
Send us a text A tech person for tech people. Ben Hadley has led an influential journey through automotive. He’s worked with Clarivoy and CreditIQ and helped found Auto Genius. He knows the definitions to all the big words and has a way of communicating almost in parables to bring that heady knowledge down to earth for the layman. And he believes we’re only about 5 years away from a major breakthrough in the way automotive technology works. What we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intro with Mic...
Oct 06, 2022•35 min•Ep. 49
Send us a text He might be the handsomest man in automotive. Durran Cage is someone you want to be around. He oozes kindness and has a genuine passion for people. He pours himself into his work, mentally and emotionally. As a consultant, he sees a lot of what is working and what isn’t working, and is able to speak to dealers out of his own personal experience. What we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier. 4:30 Durran shares about the 3 phase...
Oct 04, 2022•24 min•Ep. 48
Send us a text Tom Ryan likes change. And Tom Ryan knows he can navigate through change. He’ll figure it out. He’s been doing it his whole career, and figuring it out over and over again has given him a directness and an optimism that’s infectious. To him, automotive is a simple place: Let the customer buy the way that they want. We talk about that plus a lot more. What we talk about in this episode: 0:00 Intro with Michael Cirillo, Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier. 2:53 Paul and Kyle both share s...
Sep 29, 2022•31 min•Ep. 47
Send us a text From the outside looking in, auto is a curious industry. Whether it's the dealership dialect of tech and service or that dealers bring home a variety of makes and models, retail auto is unique. And once you’re in and you’ve caught the bug, it stays with you. That’s the story of Jason Stein. He traces his journey from newspaperman to Automotive New Retail Forum to where he is today at Flat Six Media. And along the way, he shares insights about the reputation of the industry and the...
Sep 27, 2022•27 min•Ep. 46
Send us a text When we asked Charlie Chesbrough about the key economic indicators he’s watching… We expected a completely different answer. Charlie, Senior Economist with Cox Automotive, pointed us to consumer-facing indicators. It was a real reality check moment, and a reminder of what this podcast is all about. It’s about getting everyone, from OEMs, dealers, industry partners, to press in and work together for the consumer’s sake. Charlie also tells us about his journey to the automotive indu...
Sep 23, 2022•30 min•Ep. 45
