¶ Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo - Opening thoughts and memories of Greg's now-legendary "paper scroll" moment.
Guys, I still can't get over the fact
this is Auto Collabs, that
if you stack up all the paper produced by Greg's company, that it will go to the moon, you could climb it to the moon. And I think that's the first thing he ever said to us on the first time we met.
And you're right, still reeling. Record
now, is he the most? Is he the most popular returned guest to the I think
he is nada saying we're seeing in the background. Yes, he is the most popular return guest. I just realized I forgot to ask again this year before ASOTU CON next year, Reynolds and Reynolds, you must bring the scroll, the long grid scroll that has like, you know, thinking, 30 feet of paper back to back. And this is the length of paper you need to do a car deal. It's so entertaining and amazing. And if we put that sucker on that big stage, it is gonna crush Greg. We're calling you
out for any more though. Don't need paper anymore. We're replacing that stuff. That's what I'm saying, Please and thank you. Please. No paper.
That's gonna be the Dead Sea Scrolls of the future. Somebody's gonna stumble like, 1000 years from now, they're gonna double on that scroll and be like, What says this thing? Do you this gap
insurance? Someone's gonna be like this one. This thing doesn't say blockchain anywhere. What happened?
Which gap are we insured? He had to drive on the ground. Ew, I think we better
get in this interview quick. I hope you enjoy this interview with Greg Ulen and with Reynolds. And Reynolds, Greg, it feels appropriate that we have an early summer check in, right? Because so much as I feel like the first half of this year is been an absolute whirlwind that's felt like a total of like three or four years. So it's always, it's always good to touch base, because there's a lot of stuff that is going on in the second half of this year. I mean, we're
not even halfway through yet. I still feel like it's the end of June, but it's not,
¶ Summer momentum and Amplify preview - Greg outlines the excitement around the August event, including record signups and a packed venue.
yeah, you're right. I mean, it's early June when we're recording, at least, I'm not sure when we're gonna we're gonna release this. Yeah, me neither. But no. I mean, you know, nada obviously marks sort of the beginning part of the calendar ASOTU CON is kind of late, late spring, early summer. And now we head into, head into summer, and there's all kinds of things going on. And obviously we're looking forward to amplify, kind of dead, dead center this summer, a little
later in August. So we're, we're rocking and rolling, and everything's heating up, which is exciting across the country. Yeah,
talk about, talk about, amplify for a second, because we had the pleasure of attending last year, and it felt really good to be an environment that was crafted for the users of the product to go a step deeper, to connect with the people, to like, figure out how, how do you like, mix and match and get the other people that are doing well and interact like, the energy around A User's Conference is always a little bit different. So talk about this year.
So a couple things. First of all, registrations that I think you guys saw this too, with record registrations at attendance at ASOTU CON. Yeah, we are exploding. I mean, golf's already sold out. We're two months out and golf is sold out, which very nice course. I'll tell you that. You know, it's the TPC los colinas, which is where the Byron Nelson classic was played for years. Yes, so it's a beautiful course, but yeah, we're basically on a wait list now for for golf, and we're
filling up block of rooms. Is almost sold out, and we're starting to monitor space and making sure that we're gonna be able to fit anybody, everybody. So, and it's
at the Ritz Carlton, yeah, really slumming it this year.
It's a decent venue, you know, in Dallas, easy to get in and out of, and just a beautiful, beautiful venue. So, really excited. But as far as environment goes, I mean, you guys were there last year, hopefully we figure out a way to get you there this year too. But you know, we're looking at, certainly, user groups and and we're excited about that. We get a lot of our customers that come in, but also others throughout
the industry. So we'll have actually a lot of OEM partners that will be attending this year for kind of some breakout sessions, a lot of dealers coming in, at least based on early registrations that aren't, aren't our customers today. So checking out the products that we have available that that don't necessarily require a Reynolds DMS, or, you know, a lot of them are interested in seeing what we have and interested in looking at a
Reynolds DMS. So we should have a really diverse group this year, which I think, and I think you guys would attest to this based on your experience. You know, the more diverse the group, the one, the more fun it is, because you get different people bouncing different ideas off of each other, always. And two A lot of times, you get to learn things that maybe you weren't thinking about
before. Yep, yeah. Well, I think you know that the idea of a user conference, you know, cross vertically, is not a net new idea, right? I mean, we think of the Apple event every single year as like, the Apple event, but. It's really a users conference, right? And afterwards, all the users are testing out the new product. And
so it's not anything new. But I think in auto, you know, a lot of times we can be, we could be held captive to like, oh, A User's Conference should just be for the users of that product. But you know, especially when you all touch so many elements of the store. It's not just like, Oh, you got to have the DMS, no. It's like, it and, you know, web and all of the things, right? It's, it's a really unique position that you have to play. And again, like, you know, everybody wants to golf at a
nice golf course. What? What are some of the conversations that that you all are having internally that are going to be important to, kind of like, you know, have sparring partners for at that event, as opposed to only announcing things. Because I know that it's not just about big announcements. It's about like, having sparring partners in dealerships that are aren't using your product, or at OEMs that are saying, like, Hey, here's what to look for next year? Yeah,
¶ Building community through user conferences - A look at why this year's Amplify will feature more external voices and hands-on engagement.
so there's, there's definitely a lot of layers to it. So I'll hit on a couple of them. One, when we think about dealers, a lot of it is okay, what's working, what's not, and where are the opportunities for us to increase efficiency and
increase productivity? I mean, that's where we're at in today's world is, you know, from a workflow perspective, where can we allow people, help people to do more with less, whether it's in sales, whether it's in service, whether it's in service, whether it's in the business office, how do we get people to be more productive? So yeah, and a lot of that in today's world is based in okay, how do we leverage artificial
intelligence? How do we leverage, certainly from our perspective, our spark AI data layer, which is our unified data layer for all of our AI tools. How can we create these unique workflows that allow people to do more with less and and that's where a lot of the conversations that we have day to day stem from. But, you know, obviously, when we can get three or 400 people in the same room having these conversations, it really has a big impact.
You know, last year, last year, I'm thinking about, like the closing keynote, and like the opportunity to have to bring some texture into an event with a keynote speaker. This year you have several keynotes, or, I don't know if it's one session, talk a little bit about that, because I think the proper placement of keynote speaker should get everybody thinking a little outside the boundaries of how we're usually thinking. But like, who did you select this year and
why? Yeah, so our opening keynote is actually going to be a panel. It's got two pretty strong dealers. So Patrick York, who's the COO at Gilman Automotive Group, and Nata, who's the CEO at at, oh, my goodness, I'm blanking bird. I can. Thank you. Yeah, so she's, she's gonna be up there as well. And then we, we have a consultant, actually, from McKinsey and Company, Inga Moore. I don't know if you've talked to Inga before, I've had the opportunity to have her unconnected. And she is sharp as
all get out. I really like the way she thinks about a lot of things. So I'm interested in what she's gonna bring to the table from more of a consultant's perspective versus an operator's perspective. I'm really excited about the dynamic that those three will have.
Yeah, that's really cool. Go ahead, Paul, I was gonna say bringing the consultant side is something that you don't see very often you've had on the show. How do you feel that, like that level of over overarching thinking is deployed like you had a conversation, and we'll link to it in the comments to go back to
it. But what are give us, like, the high level takeaway of what you think her insight into the industry, you know, how could benefit dealers and people like wading through these AI, you know, technologically shifting waters, yeah.
So she works with with a lot of dealers. And she's actually been with McKinsey Company for right around 15 years, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, at the link to our bio, but she runs kind of their automotive segment, so she works with a lot of retailers.
Also works with OEM, so she gets this sort of global view, and she it's interesting, because you hear somebody who isn't necessarily in it every day, necessarily in it every day, but gets exposure to a lot of different types of people that operate. And she sees a lot of the things that we talk about, right? And she talks about so much segmentation in our industry and so much disparate information in our industry, and and then she also sees the positive of there's so much
opportunity, right? No matter what happens in this industry, we're going to power through, and it's going to go to the next level. It's just, we're going to find those operators that find ways to get there, and once they do, everybody else can join in. So it is really interesting hearing, you know, I'll call it an outside perspective. Obviously, she works inside of her industry, but she's not an
operator. So an outside perspective to say, you know, we need to fix some of these things where we have all these silos all over the place, both inside the store, but then also across a larger enterprise, and even throughout the industry. When we talk about manufacturers and lenders and all these pieces of the puzzle, the more we can tie everybody together, the more effective everybody's
going to be. You know, you guys have really. Really overlaid so much of what you do with a lot of the heart that we have, which is that more than cars mentality, and, you know, more than technology, whatever it may be, right? That that you all overlay that. And I see you're bringing back the automotive amplifiers contest. Speak to that a little bit, and like how you are celebrating some of the work that dealers are doing across the country,
yeah? So you guys were gracious enough to be judges in that contest last year. Fun, and we're gonna actually have a couple of our winners come back to judge this year. We thought that that was a great way that's real smart, yeah, great way to bring them back. So looking forward to it. You know, the contest is really designed to highlight some some great contributors and some great ideas. I mean, at the end of the day, if you have a great idea that's working at your store, by all means, run with
it. But share that thing. Let everybody get better. Because once you know, once we're all at the same level, then it will go to the next level, and the next level, the next level. This industry never stands still. So the more we can share these best practices, share these ideas, the faster we're gonna be able to grow. We're gonna go up. I mean, it's going to happen. We're going to get better every single day, but the faster we can do that, the better it is
for everybody. So it's an opportunity for the industry to rise, but also for these individual contributors to get their day in the sun right, to get their spotlight and and really show off what they've been been working hard at. So we loved it last year. Really appreciate you guys judging last year and and looking forward to this year to getting a lot of submissions already, this
mission window is still open. So if anybody's interested in submitting, just go to rarer.com/amplify and you can, you can submit your your idea there, and all of our finalists will get, you know, flight, travel, hotel, everything for for amplify, access to all the sessions and golf, and golf, and we'll make sure to take care of you while you're there, and then present on stage. And we'll pick a couple winners, and it'll be a lot of fun. Well, what
I loved about it last year, and so, like, if you're listening to this, and you're not an owner operator, you know, there was, like a service manager, there was, there was someone that, I think one of the presenters was, like a warranty admin, right? And they just had, they were the ones that came up with the idea. So it doesn't have to be an owner operator, like, if it's a sales person or a warranty admin or a BDC rep that has come up with something to, you know, create or make
better within their store. Like, that's the things that you guys are after. So I think that's super cool. Yeah, without a doubt. I want to go back to something you mentioned, as we were just talking about what people are looking for, what dealers are looking for, and the challenges that we're facing. You said several times, do more with less. Yep, right? And I think that that that, I guess that's kind of always the plight of a business owner, right? How do I do more with
less? But it feels even more specific in this day and age, when we have all these external pressures that are now forcing us to find a way to do more with less, to squeeze margin, to be more efficient, we have all
these technology tools. You have a lot of exposure to dealers challenges just because of the seat you sit in and because of the number of dealers that are in your ecosystem, yeah, what were some of the areas you feel that are like the top two or three on the list where dealers are like you have, we have to figure out how to do more with less in this area.
¶ Areas where dealers are doing more with less - Spotlight on service tech efficiency, CRM streamlining, and smarter business office processes.
Yeah, I think, you know, the the easy one to point to, invent of a raise. I shouldn't say easy. That's a bad word, word choice. But one of the ones that are most was most apparent to point to is tech productivity, right when you go back to the Service Drive, how do we enable our technicians to turn more hours in the window that they're in the store? I mean that at the end of the day, how do we take some of those tasks out of their hands that
aren't producing revenue? And how do we give them tools to be as efficient as possible? We've talked a lot about reload the parts delivery robot, which will be on display at amplify, for sure, the more we
deliver and drinks around a table, right? Yeah, that that is telling you, I'm a sucker for a robot man, tell me what?
But, but, no, it's, it is really an apparent area to focus on. I mean, it's, it's, quite literally, we talked about this, I think the last time we chatted, you know about you have inventory that you sell in the service drive, and it comes in six minute increments, right? A 10th of an hour, six minutes. So once that six minutes is gone, it's gone, it's spoiled inventory. So how do we make sure that we're not wasting that inventory? So that's one that's that's really apparent. Another
is certainly in sales. How do we streamline a lot of these tasks that we need our sales people to do for a lot of different reasons, and a lot of it's centered around the CRM. But how do we streamline a lot of these tasks so that they can be more effective, so they can spend more time with customers, so they can close more business, versus kind of chasing around,
doing the admin stuff? And then the third one that I think can be overlooked, because a lot of times it's not right in our faces, is in the business office, right? So how do we take the business office from being a money counting and posting operation to being a cash flow management office, right? How do we take them to being more impactful in the dealership by eliminating a lot of that kind of manual stuff they shouldn't have to get a deal, tear it apart, fix whatever mistakes.
Made, and then re key it back in, and then then post it, you know, and so let's say that takes, I don't know, seven minutes, seven minutes times, you know, a lot of deals. They can use other things done. So really focusing in those three areas that just, they kind of pop out at you when you take a step back and you look at it and and honestly, those are the ones that that hit and resonate, especially when we have customers in here and we just talk about, like, what, what do
you need? And when I say in here, I mean, obviously our headquarters in Dayton, you know, what do you need? And those, those three buckets, are the ones that are, seem to be at least always top of mind.
You know, I love the business office conversation, because from working in the store, you know, you typically think of the business office as just like the task management arm, right? Get things in, get it out, finish the job, and then move on to the next task, right? But actually, what I remember is when I would go through that office and start to ask things like, Where can we be more efficient? Where can we pick up dollars? They see everything.
And so if you can offload the task management and and enable them to, kind of, like, visualize the business and make active part, and create active participation in the businesses results, right? Because they're seeing the overview, oh, the connection between service and sales and parts, and the connection between consumer getting title and a deal getting closed, like those connections aren't seen elsewhere in the
store. So it really is a tie up where you can use the analytical minds to create efficiencies in the rest of the store. So I love how you're like, now that you're saying, you're saying that I'm thinking about all of the things that that office could create in like, not reactive, but proactive productivity.
¶ Evolving the role of the business office - How reducing manual tasks unlocks broader financial oversight and decision-making.
Won't even think about, you know, just a tangible example, expense management, right, expense approval and management. Think about payables and the process to approve a payment, right? Or a proven invoice, that's a pain. It goes to three different people. You know, it's a piece of paper. Half the time we got to look at it, and then there's no real tracking to know, oh, Jimmy's using that vendor, Johnny's using that vendor, and Billy at the other stores using that
vendor. Maybe we should consolidate those bills and get a discount, right? So why can't we do that, especially in the world that we live in today, and that that is a function where somebody the business office is really bringing value and not just posting a deal into the
DMS, yep. So Kyle and I were just having a conversation. We were looking over some data, and it was talking about the number of calls that were or email correspond that were unanswered, things that weren't picked up or answered appropriately. And as you're talking about freeing the people up to do what they could be doing, yeah, instead of dealing with efficiency minutia like that is a very clear and present need just better response times return calls. Better lead, you know, better
lead handling in general. And so I'm just tying the two, because we were just having this conversation about an hour ago. Yeah. And as you talk about efficiency, like the downstream effect of better efficiency allows your people to do the things that you know your people should be doing best, yeah.
And most of the time, you only get one shot, right if somebody's reaching out to you, they want to talk to you now, and that, that's your opportunity, and it may or may not come back. And if you try to call them, so they call you once they can't get a hold of somebody, or they reach out on your website, or whatever the medium is, if they don't get what they need, they're probably
not calling back. And then you're just trying to get a hold of them, trying to get a hold of them, and they're probably not going to they've
moved on. It's funny, we were literally having this exact same conversation, and then that's it. And the person brought up, they were like, yeah, it's not like, your family dentist where, like, if you don't call your dentist and you don't get them, you're not calling the one next door, right, right? You're gonna try them again, and you're gonna be a little patient, because that's the dentist that you know, you
trust has your records. But like, if you're selling, you know, if you're selling jeeps, it's like, there's a guy right there selling Jeeps too, yeah, and if they call you back, then that's, that's kind of the essence of conquest in this day and age. Yep, it's wild. Gosh, that's absolutely wild. Yeah. So give us the dates again on amplify
¶ Tying it all together with integrated tools - Real examples of cross-brand efficiencies, like claims processed directly through the DMS.
August 18 and 19. It's a Monday, Tuesday. So kind of first day is, you know, welcome, check in, golf, nice reception, dinner. And then day two will be, you know, jam packed with all of our sessions, with kind of our expo, where you can see all of our brands, which is actually kind of fun for me, to see them all in one place, right? You think, oh, it
was fun for us to see them all in one place, because you're on the show floor. It feels like a show floor, yeah? But it's not, it's all it's all your stuff. The best show floor I've ever seen in that scenario, tell me about, like, the interaction of the teams, because the teams probably don't get to spend a ton of time together either.
Yeah, not a ton. I mean, you know, when you bring in folks from, you know, proton dealership, it and cyber security, they have a very specific focus, as compared to auto vision, who's handling inventory? Management and recon, right? Like, those are two very different functions, so being able to get together and kind of catch up and share best practices too is a lot of fun.
You also what, what I've found, at least, is we, every year, at every event that we're at, when we have a lot of our brands, we figure out different ways that they work together, right? Like, you think about just these brands in the overlap, and it's
like, oh my goodness. I don't know how, how we missed that, but, you know, you look at, I don't know, agws, right, which is our company that we sell insurance products for, for F and I, and you look at AWS, and what can a GWS do in combination with docupad or in service with era Ignite, where, oh my gosh, we can actually process a claim as the as we're processing the arrow inside of Ignite, we can click a button and the claim gets processed through AWS. We don't have to send it off
anywhere. We don't have to go to another portal. We don't have to do anything and and that, that efficiency gain, like we were just talking about for, you know, the service writer is massive. And you know, you come up with these, these things that seemingly are a little but then you put them into practice and a dealer season, they're like, where has this been my whole life? So that's a big benefit. It's a lot of
fun. Yeah. So it's almost like a users conference and developers conference wrapped into one, right? All in one, yep, yeah. Well, I love the concept. I'm so glad that you guys are committing to this year over year and excited to see what comes out of it, not just what gets announced, because I think that that is the true horsepower behind that sparring partner, whether it be developers or users or anything like that. And really wish you all the best.
And hey, if people haven't registered, make sure you go to Ray, ray.com, forward, slash, amplify. Check it out. Greg, thank you so much again for joining us here on Auto
Collabs. Thanks guys. Always my pleasure. We'll catch up again soon.
Yeah, let me just say I love the fact that they are bringing the contestants who won, or the contestants from last year in the amplify contest back to be the judges this year. I think move, super savvy move. I mean, we got to meet the contestants last year. These aren't like, this isn't like three dealer principles. These are people that are doing the job, getting
the job done. They're going to look at other people that are getting the job done, doing the doing the hands and feet work every single day in a dealership, looking at the next generation. How cool does that make you feel? Too right? If you're day in day out, you're in day out, you're in a parts department, or you're doing something and all of a sudden, like you're
in the judge's seat? Oh my gosh.
Oh, con,
our closing keynote was about built different and really the thread that drove through it was how the the generation, the preceding generation, sets up the upcoming generation. Kind of remember, this is how it happens, guys, come on. Oh, from last year, helping winners for this year. Oh, because this industry
is built. Come on. Everywhere.
I got nothing. That was it. I'm all fired up. Let's go.
And I think we need to end with that, Kyle take I hope y'all are all fired up. You should join us on the next Auto Collabs, because that's all we do. We get fired up. We're excited about this industry, and that's why we have conversations with people in this industry, figuring out what makes them tick and why they're here on behalf of Paul, Jay Daly, Michael Cirillo and myself. Kyle Mountsier, thanks for joining us.
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