Latest / Auto Collabs / The First Rule of Sales with Art Dessein

Transcript

The First Rule of Sales with Art Dessein · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  So like eight or nine years ago [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs I got a text on my way home from work, and this is back when I was just in the reconditioning business, and my wife was like...
• 0:16
  And, and there's probably some people who can relate to this. My wife texted me and said, "Hey, I saw this item on Craigslist. Can you go pick it up?" "Sure." [laughs] Right? Yeah, okay. Fine. Sounds good. Got it.
• 0:28
  Get cash. I didn't know what it was. I just was, like, kind of looking at it over the way.
• 0:31
  I go downtown Syracuse, and I have to, like, walk up to the second, second floor of this, like, apartment spot that's over top of, like, a nice coffee shop and knock on the door. I have no idea.
• 0:41
  You know, it's just like, it's always weird when you visit somebody.
• 0:44
  I think it's weirder when you visit somebody in an apartment, because you're already in, like, this hall, and it's, like, kind of quiet and, like, there's just nowhere to go. Right. Some dude opens the door.
• 0:55
  He's got a bu- there's, like, all these shoes outside, and he's got a bunch of, like, you know, young 20-somethings or early 30-somethings in there, and everybody's kind of buzzing and just kind of, it's after work.
• 1:04
  And he's like, "Oh, yeah, here, the coffee table's in here." I was like, "Oh, okay." Look at the coffee table. I'm like, "I guess that's what we bought." I gave him the money for it.
• 1:10
  [laughs] And he was like, "It's pretty heavy. You need a hand?" I was like, "No." He's like, "You wanna stay and have a beer?" I was like, "No, that's really nice, but I gotta, I gotta go home.
• 1:18
  My wife needs this coffee table today." [laughs] Right? [laughs] Turns out, years later, I'm at a digital dealer, and there's a company called SpinCar. You're like- And I see the guy again. Wait a second.
• 1:31
  And I was like- [laughs]... "I bought a coffee table from you." Turns out it's today's podcast guest. [laughs] That's nuts. Also, so quintessential because, like, Art is the essence of hospitality.
• 1:44
  I think nine times out of 10, if I'm talking to Art, he's inviting me somewhere, inviting someone else somewhere, or asking if I wanna come in and have a beer. Like, it's just- [laughs]...
• 1:54
  his nature to kinda, like, be a people connector, gather people together, and, uh, that's what I love about it. He's just got this big old smile, and he's just gonna bring you into the fold, you know?
• 2:04
  Um- I, I was, I have yet to be invited for a beer. Well, then maybe you haven't met him in person. You're about to meet him, and you're probably gonna get invited, Michael Sviglo. Okay.
• 2:14
  [laughs] Hope you enjoy this episode with Arthur. [upbeat music] All right, we are hanging out with Art today. Uh, not, not, I don't think you... Y- are you an actual artist?
• 2:29
  Like, that would be really, really fun if you actually were, like, you could sketch. I can cook. I can cook, but I can't sketch. He can... Hmm, that's more my vibe. Wait a second. That's... Okay.
• 2:36
  I was thinking maybe recording artist. I could see you dropping some great Michael Buble tracks. When you say, when you say cook, are you, like, a throw it on the grill guy? Or are you like- Oh, no, I can chef it up...
• 2:44
  I'm gonna do the spices and the- Chef it up, he says. Yeah. When we have our executive team in town, I, they come to my house and I, and I cook. Oh. Yeah. Oh, oh. Oh.
• 2:54
  'Cause you can make a lot more drinks when you cook yourself than at a restaurant where you have to wait for the waitstaff. [laughs] Yeah, right. He's like, "Wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait.
• 3:01
  Were we talking about, like, food or drinks?" Yeah. Yeah. I can make some cocktails too if it comes to that. I'm a drink chef. Yeah, a drink chef. That's awesome.
• 3:09
  So Art, uh, you know, the, the, the people in the industry probably know you, uh, uh, from being around conferences and, and, uh, seeing Impel, formerly SpinCar, uh, kind of stuff, but maybe not know how, how did, how in the world did you get into software as a service
• 3:28
  in the automotive industry? Where did that come from? Yeah, somewhat kind of by happenstance. So, uh, Devin and Mike, who founded- You don't say. [laughs] We've gone into it.
• 3:41
  De- Devin and Mike, who founded the company and I all went to high school together in Syracuse. Um- Okay...
• 3:47
  and they started a company that was, at first, the, like, the, the, the germ of it was, like, um, augmented reality.
• 3:54
  So you guys remember when you used to put your camera over, like, um, uh, not even a QR code, but an image, and then this virtual reality thing would kind of pop out?
• 4:02
  And that was, it wasn't really, like, a marketable thing, but it was something. Not- Hmm. Like, then it pivoted into, like, a, a 360, uh- Wait, was the purpose of that for auto?
• 4:13
  Was that, like, a- No, nothing with au- nothing with auto, right? Like, it was like, they f- were trying... This is cool technology. Back then, it was, like, revolutionary, right?
• 4:21
  Oh, you put your phone, this, like, thing. We could probably do something with it. I wasn't part of it back then. Then it moved into, it pivoted into, like, 360, but not for auto. It was, like, for merchant...
• 4:33
  It was, like, for, uh- For, like, eBay and stuff, right?... uh, watches- Product shots... clothes. Yeah. You know, like, a $5,000 purse, you'd want a 360, like, view of it.
• 4:43
  Um, so it pivoted into that, and th- that's kinda difficult to scale, right? Like, it's kinda difficult to scale both in terms of product... It's not recurring. It's a one-time thing.
• 4:52
  You're dealing with these big organizations like Bergdorf's and stuff like that, very, like, hierarchical and very political. Um- Yeah... and then we had a, they had a friend who worked for Reynolds- Nothing like auto...
• 5:03
  and, uh, yeah, very unlike auto. [laughs] And this friend that we had from, that worked at Reynolds was like, "Guys, like, people are buying, like, $50,000 vehicles. Like, you should have 360s of cars."
• 5:16
  So a quick MVP was built that was very rudimentary, and it was presented to,
• 5:23
  uh, a Honda dealership in Jersey, and they signed up for it, by the way, which is more than the, uh, per month than what we're currently charging for the product, which is actually kind of funny.
• 5:32
  But they signed up for it, and that was kind of like, "Oh, okay, we kind of have product market fit. Oh, it's recurring revenue? That's kind of nice. You don't have to keep reselling it."
• 5:40
  And so that kind of took off the story of us pivoting to auto, rebranding as SpinCar. Then obviously a couple years ago rebranding as Impel, but that's, like, the super short. It's not as organized as that.
• 5:51
  It, it was very much- [laughs]... left, right. It's, it's- How, how closely do you s- keep an eye on those other verticals to this day? Um-Not a lot.
• 6:03
  I mean, we do a lot of, um, like, work in different, like, mobility spaces. Like, we do a lot of work in RV, planes, boats, international markets. We do some stuff in different industries. But, um,
• 6:16
  in terms of the progress that, like, some- some of these e-commerce sites are doing around, like, virtual stuff, yes. You know, like, computer vision stuff.
• 6:25
  But aside from that, we don't keep, like, um, you know, we're not on top of it. How does... Uh, okay. So because let's... Because you do have other verticals in mobility that, like, present particular challenges.
• 6:40
  Seeing 360 around an RV is a lot different than three- seeing 360 [laughs] around a vehicle. What, like, what are the things that, that, uh, you're able to draft from the way that those industries, or the things that...
• 6:54
  And not even just, like, in merchandising, but the things you le- learn ancillary to, like, your core tech.
• 7:01
  What are the things that you're drawing in or, or seeing and going, "Hey, this is something we might need to be paying attention to in the, in the retail auto space"? Yeah. I mean, for RVs, for instance, like,
• 7:13
  the RV's not necessarily the exterior, it's the interior. There's so many rooms. Like, you guys know Matterport, right? You go in the house- Mm-hmm... and it kind of walks you through a building. Yep.
• 7:20
  It's kind of a similar thing that we can do through our technology where we can walk the person through a RV. And that has, like, some direct correlation, like SUVs, for instance, third row seats, folding, not folding.
• 7:32
  But I think it's also a lot of the computer vision stuff around, like, the exterior. 'Cause if you, you go to the RV park, and when you shoot the RV, it's generally not as clean, um, as like a dealership.
• 7:43
  There's, there's stuff everywhere, right? And there's this huge lawn. Yeah. So we, we did a lot of work through, like, exterior computer vision.
• 7:51
  Like, we just recently rolled out this, like, computer vision virtual booth, which is actually pretty, pretty sophisticated. And that kind of, the genesis was in RV.
• 8:00
  Uh, 'cause you're not gonna put an RV in a, on a turntable or in a booth. [laughs] So- You may gonna- There's small, there's small stuff, right? But a lot of it's not driven, like, through the, the, the core tech.
• 8:11
  It's driven more through, like, uh, some of the stuff that we're doing around, uh, computer vision.
• 8:16
  So we've applied some of those learnings, um, especially like, uh, motor sports a- and power sports, so Harley, things like that, that have helped us kind of enhance the product for, for dealerships.
• 8:28
  You, I always see you at events. It's funny, you and I both live in Syracuse, and we only see each other in like- Never run into each other... Las Vegas, Tam- But, like, we've never...
• 8:36
  I don't- When you're buying things on Craigslist. Aside from that one time. I was like... Yeah, [laughs] yeah, I think that's the only time we ever- The one, the table exchange was the only- Yeah.
• 8:43
  I bought, my wife bought a table off Craigslist, like, eight, nine years ago, and we didn't know each other. I wasn't even in, like, marketing or tech or any of that.
• 8:51
  And, uh, and I just knocked on the door and you answered. I didn't know who you were. You were really cool. You're like, "Table's in here." You had friends over.
• 8:57
  You're like, "Hey, you wanna come in and have a beer with us?" I was like, "I can't. I gotta get this table home, but you've been really nice." [laughs] And then years later I'm like, "Oh, we kind of know each other."
• 9:06
  [laughs] Yeah. It's funny. But, so I always see you at events, and you're always talking with dealers. You're always traveling around talking to dealers.
• 9:12
  You're developing these tech products that has evolved over time, um, you know, from this practical application to marketing applications. What is your...
• 9:20
  Like, what are you seeing and hearing as, when it comes to the dealer mindset approaching merchandising in general? What are the conversations that are happening? You got kind of two sets.
• 9:30
  Like, for groups, think about, like, name any group in the US.
• 9:33
  They're all trying to provide, they're all trying to get consistent with how they merchandise their car, and that's really hard to do, 'cause oftentimes they're very kind of, like, balkanized or decentralized, right?
• 9:44
  They have this libertarian mindset, which is like you let the, you let the dealer make their own choices. They run their own P&L. They make the decisions.
• 9:52
  But that results in a very inconsistent way of shooting, like, a car, right? If you're talking about merchandising and, like, they're, they're placed differently. The backgrounds are different.
• 10:01
  And a lot of these groups are pushing the inventory to a group site. And so when you're all pushing to a group site- Yeah, it looks like a mess. Right... then you really notice, like, how inconsistent the, how- Right...
• 10:10
  the vehicles are shot or how they're not shot. So I think one big push that we've seen, I mean, from big, you know, publicly traded groups to, to smaller groups, is, like, this push to... It's not really about the 360.
• 10:20
  That's all great, right? Trying to, like, replicate the same experience they have in store online, and why not give them a 360 when- [laughs]... in just pictures.
• 10:29
  I think the big push is, like, trying to create a process that makes it really easy for any dealerships to shoot the car quickly.
• 10:37
  And then moreover, for the, for the customer to be able to present their vehicles in a consistent way, no matter if they have a store in Alaska or if they have a store in Florida.
• 10:47
  So w- we've seen that be a big push, that consistency in photography and consistency in how it's, uh, you know, the user experience on the VDP. Gotcha. Gotcha. And so you see this push for consistency.
• 11:00
  What are, what's the... I don't know. Like, what's the stuff that every other dealer needs to think, like, "I'm not, I'm not alone in this struggle"? You know what I mean? Yeah. Is it just the consistency in photos?
• 11:14
  Are there other things? Or is it like, we kind of have this mostly figured out, we just need some consistent implementation? It's too...
• 11:21
  [laughs] There's not, like, a, like, as you know, there's not, like, a silver bullet, 'cause some have, like, lot service providers and some do it in-house, you know. Some have a turntable, some don't. Um,
• 11:34
  I do think kind of, like, the, the mindset should be, and I think is the same as we continue to have these talks with, with groups, which is like, yes, we're trying to get consistency, but also, like, we're trying to get our cars up on our...
• 11:46
  Like, simple things, like we're trying to get our cars on our, up on our website much faster. And you guys all know the delay in that, right?
• 11:52
  Like, Kyle, you may have a DSLR camera, and you go and you shoot a bunch of photos. And yeah, they're high rise, but they get compressed anyway when they go through the supply chain.
• 12:00
  But you're taking a bunch of pictures and you grab your SD card, you plug into your computer, you reorder the images, you send it to the feed provider, then the feed sends it to theThe, to the web, and then it's up on your website and it takes, like, 24 hours, right?
• 12:12
  So, like, if you think about something as simple as, Paul, you sell 100 cars a, a month, and you shoot your cars. And you may have a consistent process, but it's just photos.
• 12:22
  But every single car takes a day to get up on your website. Imagine the power of not only just having photos, but a 360, but getting that car up on your website in 15 minutes instead of a day.
• 12:32
  If you're selling 100 cars, theoretically you're gaining 100 days of exposure just by, you know, not having to go through all this, like, latent, like, feed to web, web to, to, to being displayed to the user.
• 12:43
  That's an interesting way to think about days of exposure. Yeah. So there's a lot- Days of exposure...
• 12:47
  there, there's a lot of, like, small operational efficiencies that in an, in, like, isolated, like, in a vacuum seem unimportant, but collectively have a huge impact on, on the store's operations.
• 13:01
  You think of the collateral impact of that alone. It, you know, we're talking about speed to market.
• 13:05
  The slower it takes them to merge the vehicle and get it online means they're gonna be even slower syndicating that vehicle out across the web, limiting their ability to market it.
• 13:15
  And by the time that life cycle happens, the vehicle's already 30 days old. Yeah. I mean, every day counts. Well, that happens all the time. Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:25
  Now, the other thing that I think is really cool about, because you've had to build a sales team from zero to however many salespeople you guys have running around the country right now, which is, like, a lot of times I think in, in auto, uh, people are like, "Ah, sales in SaaS is different than sales in, you know, in a dealership" and, and all that type of stuff.
• 13:45
  But building a sales organization is, is a unique thing. It, it, it requires, like, not just people management, but process management and also, you know, like, understanding of product knowledge and all that.
• 13:58
  What have been, like, some of the key m- moments along the way of you building from maybe just you, you and the guys, and now it's, like, an entire team?
• 14:07
  Um, what have been some of the key moments that you've seen that have really, uh, helped you build the right way to scale the sales side of the organization? Yeah, that's a good question.
• 14:18
  Yeah, sales is definitely hard, right? [laughs] Like, people always underestimate, like, they have a great product and they can't get it to market. It's 'cause sales is really, really difficult.
• 14:29
  Now, I think process is still really, really hard for us. Like, simple stuff.
• 14:33
  Like, so we present AI to a lot of, like, dealership groups, and it's all about process and improving the process and putting AI in, like, their workflows to improve, you know, their day-to-day responsibilities and make them more efficient.
• 14:45
  And some of the things that we say is like, "Look, they're not great at using the CRM as it is," right? Like, most salespeople at a dealership may not be great at using this. It's the same with us.
• 14:55
  Like, and I think, like, even though we have- So true... and we don't have that many sales reps. Universal. Gosh, yeah. Oh, yeah, it's universal. Now we're... That's a huge focus.
• 15:03
  Like, you're taking, what are some key moments.
• 15:04
  Like, I think now, well, as of, like, probably 16 months ago, we've, we've had a big push in doing the fundamentals really, really right, 'cause that prevents you from scaling to the next level.
• 15:16
  But, like, even Salesforce entry is, like, a painful process to get, to get people to, to adopt.
• 15:24
  I think, like, going from, you know, five sales reps where you have, like, a, a individual relationship and you're, you're on a first name basis, you get invited to their weddings, it's super easy.
• 15:35
  They can come to their, to your house. To having... Again, we don't have that many sales rep. I think we're re- we're, we're relatively disciplined about hiring. We have, I think, 20 sales reps maybe.
• 15:47
  Um, and none of them are, like, full cycle sales reps. But it, it becomes, like, I think a key challenge is, like, how do you maintain, like, the same startup.
• 15:58
  Like, I know Kyle, I know Paul, I know Michael, the same way that when you have 20 people, which is much harder.
• 16:04
  What's become even, even harder is you have this working from home thing, which here we do, like, uh, three days in the office. T- you can select two days to work from home. But then we got a lot of remote people.
• 16:15
  And if you think about- Right...
• 16:16
  the products we offer, we have merchandising, you know, your 360, your featured tour, your virtual booth, some of the computer vision, background removal stuff, AI for variable, for sales, and all these little things that, you know, chat now.
• 16:29
  It's a lot of content to be able to, like, train somebody on remote. So we're going through that, like, learning stage of, like, how do we properly onboard these people that are not in the office.
• 16:40
  'Cause a lot of the learning from sales, as you all know, is, like, by osmosis.
• 16:44
  Like, you're sitting next to someone, you get feedback, you're listening to their call, you understand how they're framing it and positioning it. You're getting direct feedback.
• 16:51
  Like, the kid touching the stove will never touch the stove type of analogy, and that's the best way for him to, instead of you telling him 20 times not to do it, let him do it, and then he'll get immediate feedback.
• 17:01
  And that's how, that's how you learn how to drive so quickly. You turn the steering wheel left, the car goes left, and then you know not to do it. [laughs] Um, you miss that when you're remote.
• 17:10
  Like, it, that doesn't exist. So, like, the- That's wild... the, the curves- Yeah... the learning curves and, like, the onboarding is much faster.
• 17:17
  So what, for us, what used to take three months to be able to get a rep to do okay now takes them eight months. How many- So- Wow. H- how many of regular life... I, I, so here's the preface to the question.
• 17:30
  You're a sales professional.
• 17:32
  You know, whether we talk to sales professionals or medical professionals or BDC professionals or dental profe- or chiropr- everybody looks at life through the bias of their profession, I find.
• 17:43
  So my question to you is, how many of life's challenges do you think could be easily solved if there was just some salesmanship involved? Like, you brought up a wedding before.
• 17:55
  Do you go to people's weddings and be like, "You could have totally had more people at this wedding if you just..." [laughs] Oh, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 18:01
  Or I, actually, it's funny, I just had this discussion 'cause one of our new sales, uh, reps is getting married next week and she just started three weeks ago. And I'm joking, I'm like, "You didn't even invite us?
• 18:11
  You shouldJust create a table for eight people. And then I had this discussion, I'm like, "You sh- your invitation should be based on how much you think that person's gonna give you, because if you break even-" [laughs]
• 18:22
  He's like, "Let's build a probability matrix." [laughs] We're gonna weigh each of these invitations. Eh. He's like, "This person makes half a million, this person makes 50 grand. They're out."
• 18:33
  [laughs] Yeah, no, 'cause then- "Stand by"... what we tend to find is the people who make a lot of money are actually the cheapest in giving, like, gifts for weddings. That's what I tend to find. My light went out.
• 18:41
  But, um, I just had that discussion, so yeah. [laughs] I echo on that. I'm like- Well, 'cause, you know, I bring up the medical professionals 'cause they would be like, "You know why more people aren't at this wedding?
• 18:52
  'Cause they have fatty liver." You know? It's like- Yeah... there's always, like, a, an answer through the bias. So, like, what, what's another thing that you... Like, 'cause I know I do this all the time.
• 19:01
  I'm like, "Oh, I could totally turn this struggling business around. Their marketing sucks." Oh, dude, restaurants. Oh, like, restaurants, flights, you know, like, how people board. Here's one thing that drives me crazy.
• 19:12
  Oh. How is that not fixed yet? Yeah. Like, how people merge in- Yes... on the highway, you know? Oh.
• 19:18
  They, they think they're polite by merging early when they're, when, when there's, like, a- Not designed for that, right... a junction. It's literally the, the...
• 19:23
  In Europe, if you've traveled to Europe, and there's, like... The merge, by the way, is not like this long half-mile. It, like, ends, and you... And they go all the way to the end, and they merge, right?
• 19:32
  The zipper tactic. And here they're, they're... They don't do it. They, they actually get mad at you. I'm sure you guys have experienced this where you're- Yeah...
• 19:39
  you're going all the way to the end of the merge, and then they pull in front of you, right? Like- Doing 43 miles an hour and it should be 70...
• 19:46
  this dick's not, like, gonna go past me, and they pull in front of you, when actually it's the most inefficient way to merge is, like, doing it early.
• 19:51
  But they're thinking it's polite, but it's actually impolite 'cause you're actually causing, like, much thicker delays. We need a sales and marketing campaign around- How do we fix that?...
• 19:59
  indoctrinating people about their stupidity. I mean, if you guys, you, you guys all travel a lot. Like, that is the most- Yeah. That, like- You know what I thought was really interesting?
• 20:10
  So I gr- grow- growing up in Canada, the propaganda around speeding, obviously, like, I... We get it. It's unsafe, this, that, and the next thing. The propaganda around speeding- The payable...
• 20:19
  they're like, "Okay, the, the speed limit is, you know, 60 miles an hour." And the, the number of people that go, "Oh my gosh, I'm doing 75. We're totally gonna die in a car wreck," and they z- you know, quickly.
• 20:31
  Then, and then I go to Europe, to your point. I go to, to Germany, and I'm in at a v- event there, and I'm in a little... I don't even know what this thing is. A Fiat
• 20:42
  500 with my wife, and we're on the Autobahn going 227 kilometers an hour, and an elderly couple passes us doing what seems like- Yeah... 300 kilometers, and having a leisure conversation. Like, "No, no problem."
• 20:57
  And I found it fascinating through the lens of if you just remove that thing, that speed limit, then it all of a sudden feels incredibly safe. Yeah. Yeah. They don't even need hospitals at the Auto- on the Autobahn.
• 21:09
  [laughs] Safe. Just right to, right to the mortuary. [laughs] People know how to merge, too. Never ask any questions. To your point, touching the stove. Maybe we just need to remove speed limits- Yeah...
• 21:17
  and people will be forced to merge properly. Yeah. How to merge properly.
• 21:22
  Gosh, I bet if we just sat here for longer, which we don't have the time today, but we could probably identify three to five places in automotive where the merge, quote unquote, is inefficient, right?
• 21:34
  We're trying to- Absolutely. We're gonna unpack that, but, uh, we're out of time for today.
• 21:38
  Art, thank you so much for spending some time and just kind of, like, pondering some of these things and sharing your insights about- Yeah, of course... you know, what you're doing and what the industry's wrestling over.
• 21:46
  Of course. Anytime. Thank you for having me. [upbeat music] Do you still have that coffee table? I absolutely still have the coffee table. It- And y- you know, earlier you said that you guessed this is the one we bought.
• 22:04
  Is, is, was that because you were still being acclimatized to your wife's taste in furniture, or what? No, it's like- Has it grown on you? I, I... No.
• 22:14
  I mean, I just, you know, I just showed up and my wife bought something off Craigslist, and I was like, "Hey, whatever it is, that's what we bought."
• 22:20
  [laughs] And so, like, I knew it was a coffee table, and it was sitting there, like, kind of near the door. So it was like, you know, like the first time you, you see that new puppy. There you go. Right?
• 22:30
  Like, it looks up at you, and you're like, "I guess you're part of the family now." [laughs] You know- Are you one of those kinds of people that place human emotion on inanimate objects? No. Okay. I definitely do.
• 22:39
  I definitely do not. Couldn't even say the word. I, I mean, I am still surprised.
• 22:43
  Because of the way that Art is just so attuned to sales, like, I love his mentality of the wedding, and he's like, "Oh, yeah, I was totally talking to someone about that the other day," I'm surprised he wasn't like- That was a great question you asked...
• 22:54
  "Here's a coffee table. Oh, and also let me sell you these three other things-" Yeah... [laughs] "while you're here," you know? Yeah.
• 22:59
  Uh, like, he is just tuned in, and I think, you know, you're thinking about, like, if, if, if he's thinking about that, of a wedding of one of his people, uh, he's probably just thinking about the way...
• 23:10
  I, like, I, the reason I asked him that question about sales is I do think we, we don't cross-pollinate, like, how to sell things from industry partner and dealer and vice versa. Like, it's almost like- Oh...
• 23:23
  two totally different roadmaps of sales strategies. That is, that is a great insight. It totally is. Yeah. And I think we have a lot to learn both ways, right? Because- Yeah...
• 23:33
  there are things that dealers execute really well on, and there are things that industry partners and SAS companies execute really well on in the sales engagement, and I think we need to respect each other in those and also learn from each other, right?
• 23:45
  Like- Yeah... follow-up patterns or the way that we acquire leads or anything like that. Like, I, I mean, I remember so many companies, it's like, "Oh, no, you should, you should do your website like this," right?
• 23:56
  And then it's like, you go to their website and it's like, "And you don't. Why?" [laughs] You know? Oh, man. That's it. You know what? It unders- That's always. Always. Yeah.
• 24:03
  It, it underscores for me, too, the, the simple point that both of your first impressions of Art is that
• 24:13
  he, he naturally abides by, like, it's become natural motor, motor skill for him, the first rule of sales, which is sell yourself. You know what I mean? Yeah.
• 24:25
  Like, he, he's a galvanizer, which is like a, a, he pulls people in, right?
• 24:29
  He immediately sells you a coffee table on Craigslist, and he's like, just this natural instinct to be like, "Nope, I need to deepen the relationship with this person that's transacting with me or else it's not a legitimate transaction."
• 24:39
  [whistles] And that's something that we tend to forget about. We're like, "Oh, what about the word tracks? What about the negotiation tips? What if I had a script in front of my BDC?"
• 24:47
  It's like, no, the first rule of selling anything is to sell yourself, and it's so clear that- Yeah... that's exactly what Art does. Absolutely. I don't think we can, uh, end that any better way.
• 24:58
  Thank you for spending a few minutes with us today. On behalf of Kyle Mountainseer, Michael Cirillo, and myself, thank you for listening to Auto Collapse. Beep bop, bep, bezeep, beep, beep. Bow. Beep.
• 25:12
  [laughs] That actually ending was pretty good. [laughs] [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collapse. Welcome to Auto Collapse. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling? Yeah.