Latest / Auto Collabs / The Data That Stops Wasted Follow-Ups (and Saves Your BDC) with Kristine Lentz

Transcript

The Data That Stops Wasted Follow-Ups (and Saves Your BDC) with Kristine Lentz · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  [laughs] [upbeat music] This is AutoCollabs. [laughs] My favorite's when we start any of these laughing.
• 0:14
  Actually, our guest today- [laughs] The very, like, literally the first time I met her was just a little over a month ago, and within 13 seconds of us meeting, we were laughing.
• 0:25
  So I'm sure that this might be the thread that carries today. We'll see. Well, it just might be. I mean, we're, we're gonna be talking about customer defection. Oh.
• 0:33
  So what's more of a laughing matter than customer defection? Customer defection. [laughs] What do you- Super serious, Paul. Oh, sorry. We're serious now. We're super serious. We're serious over here, Paul.
• 0:40
  Customer defection. Yeah. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. [laughs] I don't even know what to say.
• 0:48
  I, I'm not sure if I'm laughing because the, the way you said that or the fact that there's no way you've been thinking about that recently. [laughs] Just as much as I've been thinking about, you know, like, web tech.
• 0:59
  Red sheets and other things that, you know- Right after my time in the morning where I think about web tech, I switch to customer defection. [laughs] That's great. That's why I have you. [laughs] Oh, man.
• 1:11
  Well, we hope you enjoy this conversation with a new friend we're gonna make today, Christine Lince. [upbeat music] Aw, man, Christine, it is so good to have you here today.
• 1:24
  Uh, thanks for joining us today on AutoCollabs. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. All right. So there's two things that, that we gotta g- we gotta, like, tick off first.
• 1:33
  This is the very first podcast you've ever been on. Is that correct? That is correct. Um, but it's with the podcast that I watch the most, so- Whoa... thanks for inviting me here. We did it.
• 1:45
  [laughs] Well, she knows how to start this podcast the right way. [laughs] See, that's all I needed. See, that's...
• 1:49
  I'll, I'll, I'll take that as the good because I also found out you're from Michigan, which as an Ohio State and Ohio person, is maybe the bad. Aw. Uh, but we'll get over that. I wanna get into, uh, give us...
• 2:03
  Because, like, m- the audience wouldn't know you because you've never been on a podcast. Give us the background. How did you get in auto, and, and how did you get where you're at today? Yeah.
• 2:13
  So I have a sales background. Um, and one of my old coworkers gave me a call one day and said, "Hey, I'm working at an awesome company. You should come and join us."
• 2:22
  So I started at Urban Science, which is the wonderful platform to start your career in automotive, and I've been here for about six years now, so it's history since then. [laughs] Did you... Let me ask you this.
• 2:35
  Had you ever thought about the car industry before that? Were you in the car industry before that? So being, you know, close, growing up close to Detroit, it's always a possibility, right?
• 2:45
  [laughs] Most people I know are in the automotive industry. I grew up going to the auto show every year, so it's kind of in my blood. Um, it wasn't a far leap for me. What did you think about car dealers, though, before?
• 2:57
  Like, the auto industry is one thing, and now, like, I f- I frame of reference Detroit, right? The auto i- industry means something totally different when you're in that area than most of the rest of the country.
• 3:07
  When you think the auto industry, you think dealerships and dealers. When Detroit, you're thinking all the manufacturing. And so did you have a perception of car dealers before you worked? I mean, you did. Yes.
• 3:19
  What was it? [laughs] Yes, yes. So, of course, I've purchased a car before, you know, and so you, um, you know, it's... Everything seems much simpler on the outside when you're just being the customer.
• 3:31
  And talking to the dealers and understanding how many levels of obstacles they're overcoming, the things they're following and tracking and diving into really gives you an entirely different perspective of what they're trying to do every day to day.
• 3:46
  So I have way more appreciation for them. Um, and yeah, it's been awesome. It does have to be interesting to start.
• 3:55
  Like, I think about really any industry that you look at that you haven't been a part of, and when you start in auto at a data company- Mm-hmm... and, and you start to think, "Oh, this is, this is, like,
• 4:10
  a ridiculous amount of data floating around and being looked at and watched," that I would've ne- you know, 'cause, like- Yeah...
• 4:20
  the car business is like, oh, they make cars, and those salespeople are out front, and the technicians are underneath.
• 4:26
  But, like, the data that day one you started having to understand and consume, give us a little bit of, like, that history of, oh, I came in, and d- did you...
• 4:37
  Was there kind of this like, "Whoa, this is, this is a lot more than I thought," and what are...
• 4:42
  Maybe give us some of the things, like, along the way the last six years that you've been like, "Man, I didn't even know that that data could even exist or be available," that is now kind of, like, part of just, oh, that's everyday life for me.
• 4:54
  Yeah. Well, like I said, I'm privileged to start my journey at Urban Science because there's so much data here, so many cool things. Um, and so yeah, I...
• 5:03
  When anyone starts new at our company, I say, "You're drinking out of a fire hose to try to understand all of this," but somehow in the blink of an eye you can catch it all.
• 5:12
  And so we have really great people who have guided me through, you know, kind of understanding all of this.
• 5:18
  But I actually started on our support team, so I didn't work on the data side as much, but I knew it and could kind of, you know, um, continue to understand how it impacted our business.
• 5:28
  And then as I continued to grow, I would be like, "I'm gonna jump in that call, and I wanna know more about what's this is," you know?
• 5:35
  And so I continued to pick that up, and then that has guided me along to now managing the team that I started on. Yeah. I, I gotta know. Hmm? You have such a happy disposition. Yes.
• 5:49
  [laughs] But you just said you started on the support side of things. [laughs] So I will say that was one of my favorite roles. So- That's why they put her there, Michael.
• 5:59
  [laughs]Tell me more I love working with people It, it, were you raised with a happy disposition? Is this something- [laughs]... you learned to develop?
• 6:06
  I mean, I, I've gotta ask because we're big on unreasonable hospitality. AMJ, who you know, um, one of our directors, she, she's very big on the hospitality side of things.
• 6:16
  And, like, but this doesn't look like a forced smile. You said- Yeah... support with a smile. I need to know where that- Yeah... comes from. Yeah. So I would say I'm very passionate about people.
• 6:26
  I love to understand what makes people tick, what makes them grow, what they like.
• 6:30
  And so I find it super rewarding to work in a role of, um, I call it, like I always say right now, my style of leadership is servant leadership. I wanna understand how to grow others, help and support others.
• 6:44
  And so, you know, working in a support role, there is a lot of difficult things. People are usually not calling just to say hey, right? Something's usually going wrong or they wanna tell you they need something.
• 6:55
  But the opportunity to be able to help and grow somebody, that feels super rewarding to me.
• 7:00
  So, you know, now in my role I'm able to do that with my team and through clients, and so that really, you know, jazzes me and makes me excited.
• 7:10
  Um, you know, we have to work to live, but we should work at jobs that fulfill us and make us happy. And I'm- I mean-... fortunate to do that... I have a follow-up here. I have a follow-up here. I, I [laughs]
• 7:19
  it's fantastic. Christine. Christine, this is the first time you've done this. Is that right? Yeah. Oh, oh, got it. Yeah. Got it. All right. [laughs] Very funny. Got us. [laughs] Where's the cameras?
• 7:30
  [laughs] She actually had a checklist in front of her. The, the first checklist item- Yeah... she started with was make Paul, Kyle, and Michael blush, and then she was like- Yeah. Done.
• 7:38
  [laughs] And then, okay, but I, I gotta ask you about this. So coming into the industry, to, to Kyle's question, starting on the support team, what were...
• 7:47
  Y- you know, you mentioned that s- that dealers have a lot of different problems that they're trying to solve. When they come to you, they're looking to solve a problem.
• 7:55
  What, what are maybe some of the common problems you saw at first that the data you guys supply was able to solve for them? Yeah. So dealers are coming to us, and they wanna know how they can be the best, right?
• 8:07
  And they wanna know what they can do, you know, to continue to grow themselves.
• 8:11
  And I think a lot of dealers, right, they have a feeling of like, "Oh, my, you know, dad owned this dealership, and he's done it this way for 100 years," or, "This is the way we've always done stuff.
• 8:22
  Why is it not working now?" And we face some huge changes in the automotive industry, right? COVID flipped things upside down. You couldn't even go in and do a test drive.
• 8:32
  You couldn't, you know, you're, you know, passing along keys through containers. Like, all this crazy stuff was going on. [laughs] I forgot about that. Chip shortage was, like, another huge hurdle.
• 8:43
  You know, one of my favorite sayings is that, um, dealers are, like, and anyone in the automotive industry, we're like cockroaches. Like, you can throw anything at us, and we will survive.
• 8:52
  [laughs] That's kind of true, actually. That is the most positive way I've been called a cockroach. Yeah. [laughs] In a cute way, right? But that's all the best qualities of a cockroach. The easiest way, yes.
• 9:01
  It's the best qualities of a cockroach. Right, yeah. So, yeah, we've been able to survive everything. And so, you know, times change so quickly in automotive. And so our defection data has changed the game.
• 9:13
  I call it our North Star because, you know, it will guide you into success every time.
• 9:19
  It's hard to look at sometimes at first, 'cause it's telling you what you're not doing well at or where there's some opportunity, so, you know, you gotta kind of put your ego, you know, out the door, check that out, see where that opportunity is, and then you're really able to grow from that and say, "Okay, you know, is it a staffing, you know, thing where somebody maybe is taking care of internet leads when they're better at showroom, or is it inventory?
• 9:44
  You know, is it, um, our marketing in certain areas?" And so we're able to uncover all of that for dealers. So it's not a guessing game. It's not following something you've done that you're frustrated about.
• 9:56
  But it's really guiding you to actual success through the data. Hm. It's a, it's, it's actually a really tough thing.
• 10:04
  Like, you say it, you kind of said it with a smile with like, "Ah, you know, you gotta set your ego aside. We're about to tell you all the bad areas." [laughs] That's not a...
• 10:12
  I don't think that's easy for any person- Yeah... especially a car dealer, especially someone that's maybe in sales, to kind of look at that and go...
• 10:21
  Y- you know, I think our, our typical tendency, and maybe you hear this a lot, is to go, "Well, I, I see that that's what the data says. But no, this one you don't, you don't understand.
• 10:30
  The data doesn't understand that this is the truth." But over broad s- spectrum of, of data, especially how many leads that we have coming into the CRM, you can really start to get a bead on, like, where...
• 10:42
  But, you know, we talked to the, the team at Widewell on, like, the post-sales type stuff even, or the, or the customer interaction from a, from a review perspective. And, and every time there's a bead.
• 10:52
  And sometimes it's not even where you thought that you had an issue. Do you have any stories of, like, dealers that are like, "Oh, I'm convinced this is where my team has issues"?
• 11:01
  And you look at the data and you're like, "Actually, that's, that's going pretty well. Over here is actually... Kind of we're missing this on the side."
• 11:08
  What we get a lot of times when we're even doing the setup, we haven't even started showing them everything yet, they're like, "Cut out these lead sources. They're all, you know, crap. They don't bring us anything.
• 11:18
  They're not real leads," right? And I always say, "Give us a shot. Let us take a peek at them. Let us just have everything in there. We can take things out and, and edit it."
• 11:27
  And we'll open that, you know, Pandora's box, and we'll say, "Uh-oh. So yeah, they're not purchasing from you, which you already know, but they're purchasing, and these leads are buying in brand.
• 11:39
  And look how much opportunity you had." And we can dive it all the way down to when that customer does purchase.
• 11:45
  And so, you know, maybe you guys only reach out for the first week, and these customers reach out on the sec- or purchase on second week. So you stopped reaching out when you needed to. So, you know,
• 11:57
  yes, it is hard to kind of-... digest that and take that hit to your ego, but you're gonna gain so much more when you do. What we've found is about 20% of leads in your CRM have already purchased elsewhere.
• 12:10
  So even if you're having a hard time swallowing that pill- Mm...
• 12:13
  understanding that I can take 20% of the leads that I'm right now having to follow up with, which are burning me out, and you can make me, you know, actually follow up with things that have more of a chance of actually giving you, um, a bonus of money, you're probably gonna wanna at least do that.
• 12:28
  So it gives you some opportunity there. Look, anybody who's been in a BDC ever is, like, clapping right now. They're like, "Make-- Don't give me the ones that have already bought." That's amazing.
• 12:37
  But then stop following up with them, right? So it's not only about just not following up with them anymore and burning out, but it's also about pivoting your m- messaging, right?
• 12:46
  If I'm, you know, spam texting you, you're probably gonna block me. You're like, "Get out of here. Stop bothering me" Mm-hmm And that breaks the line of communication for the future.
• 12:55
  So if I know, hey, you've purchased somewhere else, Kyle, but I know that you've purchased in brand, then I can say, "Hey, I'm gonna send you, um, a congratulations on your new vehicle," and maybe an offer to come, you know, to my dealership for service.
• 13:09
  And then I can build a relationship with you, and then hopefully sell to you in the future. So it's really about being able to do a step from learning from that defection. Does...
• 13:20
  Like, if someone opts out of communication, like text messaging for instance, does that have a shelf life? Like, does that reset after, like, two years, or is that forever? I'm not sure if it's forever.
• 13:31
  What I do know, though, you know, um, personally, when I've purchased a car and they spam me for 100 years, when I put leads in, I do block you. [laughs] I'm like, "Get out of here." Nice. "Leave me alone."
• 13:43
  Uh, not all caps. [laughs] Yeah. When you block that phone number or that email address, right, like, I'm totally done with it. Mm-hmm.
• 13:51
  And so that I know is forever, and that chance of getting in touch with me in the future, you know, is none. You know what's super fun? When you're getting reached out to by two different tools the dealership using.
• 14:02
  [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Oh, that's a nice one. Yeah. Double the spams. You guys, I still get reached out to for a lead on a 2010 Nissan- [laughs]... Pathfinder that I submitted 15 years ago. Yeah.
• 14:14
  [laughs] Dude, I'm still... They're still trying to get me to trade in my 2012 Nissan Sentra. [laughs] That's not- Oh, I'm absolute- No, I'm getting handwritten letters.
• 14:22
  Well, handwritten letters from Driver's Village in Syracuse telling me that they need my Dodge Durango that I haven't owned for- They do... like, nine years now. They need that car right now. Exactly. Mike Ashby.
• 14:34
  I'll tell you his name, too. I'll say it right there. Mike Ashby. Oh, wow. Hand-wrote me a letter. Just called him out. [laughs] Yeah. I've known Mike for a long time.
• 14:41
  [laughs] M- But once you know that, and they've sent you that wrong messaging, like- Mm-hmm... just like we're laughing about here, but you now don't think of them as cr- as credible, right? No, you don't trust them.
• 14:51
  You've just had for that- You're like, "You don't know anything. Trust. Trust is thrown out the window. You're just a dealer trying to, like, throw something random over and hoping I bite on it. Yeah.
• 14:57
  Like, I don't think anything you're gonna offer me is right. Yeah. You're just trying to see if I bite. [sighs] Of course. So sending that right message at the right time is important to know and get back to. Yes. Yeah.
• 15:08
  Uh, I think our work here is done. [laughs] Yeah, I know. I'm, I'm- We're just gonna run that segment right there and we'll all get in trouble. It'd be awesome. Well, yeah. Oh. What? I hope that didn't come through.
• 15:18
  I got a phone call and it sounded like it came through in my ears. Didn't come through to you? Well, if you didn't tell us, we wouldn't have known. Ah. [laughs] Well, okay. So, so the...
• 15:27
  I, I wanna go to something that you talked about, uh, about earlier, 'cause it actually relates to this a li- or, or you talked about in, in some of the questions that we had beforehand.
• 15:36
  And you have a particular desire to see the human touch, you know- Mm-hmm... like accentuated in, like, the, the human-to-human interaction accentuated in, in the car buying process.
• 15:48
  Um, with a company that's so obsessed with data, how do you personally keep that at the forefront, and then think about that when it comes to the retail environment? Yeah. So that's our...
• 15:59
  the way my entire team is structured is about being there and, you know, actually talking to a human. When you're frustrated and you get an AI bot, how annoying is that? You're like- [laughs]...,"Get me to a human.
• 16:11
  What is happening?" So if you call our support team or you chat in or you email, there is a live person talking to you.
• 16:19
  And if you sign up with us as a client, you get assigned one of my specialists who's gonna break down the data, show you the most important things, and you have access to their phone number and email as well.
• 16:30
  So, you know, that needs to be at the forefront. And we hear about that from, you know, um, people who are using competitors, right? It's like... And they'll tell us, "Hey, can you help me with this?"
• 16:39
  I said, "I wish I could, but I don't work at that company. I don't have access to anything there." [laughs] And then they'll say, "Okay, well, we're gonna come over to you." I'm like, "Well, I am a human.
• 16:47
  You can find me. Um, I am real." So, you know, that human touch makes all the difference. And when we look at outreach too, right, dealers have the same, the same thing, right?
• 16:58
  If they're are selling a vehicle, they wanna talk to somebody and say, you know, "I need to understand what features this car has," or, you know, "I want to be walked through this process of, you know, financing," or whatever it may be.
• 17:11
  And it can be a big decision in order to purchase this car.
• 17:14
  So, you know, making sure that you know when your customers and that life cycle of a customer is key in this, 'cause then you know when to use AI and when not to.
• 17:24
  So, you know, you can hone in and say, most of the, you know, defections are in this window. We're gonna put our people on that to really capture it.
• 17:32
  And then if we have, you know, much less loss in this time period, then maybe that's when we throw in the AI bot. But, you know- Mm...
• 17:38
  using that defection data to really hone in on, you know, when are they much likely, less likely to purchase versus when they're actually, you know, still there.
• 17:46
  And then, like I said, taking out that 20% of the leads makes you not have to just spam everyone.
• 17:51
  And you have the opportunity to then say, everybody I'm talking to right now hasn't purchased, and it's a smaller pool, but I can actually have the time and energy to send them something personalized instead of having, you know, hundreds of leads that I just write a copy and paste, you know, thing too, because I'm burnt out- Right...
• 18:09
  and tired, and I know none of them are gonna answer me. I think, I was actually thinking about this this morning. I... It was crazyI was trying to consider, because Sora came out, right?
• 18:20
  And it's like this, this idea of just a blitz of AI-generated content, blitz of AI communication and I think the flip is that, you know, the...
• 18:35
  A- and, and this is similar to, like, anything that has to do with speed or volume. Y- when you remove speed and volume, you, you increase, uh, premium.
• 18:50
  And so I think what, what I'm hearing you say is this thing that I'm gonna start running with a little bit, is that, is that to be human or interact with human is actually premium. Mm.
• 19:02
  That's what you get when you get premium. Everything else is just volume and speed and meant to i- increase the transactional side of things. Mm. And to be human will be premium. Like, people will pay more.
• 19:14
  Would you say, maybe put that as, like, hospitality is the new luxury maybe? Yeah. My kids would do this. They'd be like this. Ah. Fuck that. They snap like that. Fuck that. They're gonna snap like that.
• 19:25
  They're gonna Gen Z. [laughs] Do you know what that means? I just went around. I learned that just last night, so I'm trying to flex on everybody. [laughs] I know you know what that means, though. Yes.
• 19:33
  She's like, "I know." And I just learned, um, this as well. [laughs] So I'm learning all the fun things. What's this? What's this? [laughs] What's- It is, um, it's a heart. So you do a little heart with your hands. Paul.
• 19:44
  Oh, no. Come on, K-pop. What is going on, Paul? Can we rewind, can we rewind the tape to yesterday when I was standing in your office, Paul, and your daughter did that to me, and I'm like, "Oh, no" No, no, no, no, no.
• 19:56
  This is wrong. What, what- It's this. > [laughs] We call it the full thing.
• 20:02
  The first, Christine's, uh, she's the, uh- And then Christine, I kid you not, I was like, "I'm still trying to wrap my hands around that." Yes. And you just- There we... And it's a heart. I call it...
• 20:11
  Guys, can we- See, I- Yeah. We did everything we needed to for the people today. Can we wind this down with some, like... They got the Gen Z snap got the Gen Z heart.
• 20:18
  Yeah, let's wind this down with some- I'm about to make an ed- I'm about to make an educational LinkedIn post. What? [laughs] Unbelievable. Talk about hand signs. And see, it's communication at the right point.
• 20:26
  You gotta get the right kind of thing at the right time to the right person. Yeah. And, and, and I've learned to keep my mouth shut when I do it, because if I say the thing that they say- Oh...
• 20:34
  it's gonna be all wrong, so. You can't try the, yeah. You can't try this, the lingo, because I can't... I, um, I learned this from my coworker, from my employees.
• 20:43
  We have amazing staff, and they are teaching me, um, how to be a better manager and these fun little things, too.
• 20:51
  My- So in our one-on-ones, as we go back to saying, um, I'm an animal lover, I do one-on-ones with my team, and then sometimes an, a fun pet might jump in, too.
• 21:01
  So I usually have that on request, like, "Let me see your cat. [laughs] Let me see your dog. Like, let's connect." Um, and so I virtually, um, will say, you know, "And this is my favorite employee.
• 21:12
  Your cat is my favorite." Yes. So, um, you get a little bit of everything with us, but, um, yeah. Well, I'm glad I derailed us completely, but we were talking about hospitality being the new luxury.
• 21:22
  Well, I- Would you say that? That hu- Can, can I derail us even further? Because I feel like- Why not? While I'm at it. Go ahead...
• 21:28
  we're, we're talking about, we're talking about human connection here in the end, and I agree with everything that's being said, but I feel like it's only fitting, guys, as we wind this down,
• 21:36
  to, b- si- since it's your first podcast appearance, that we just barrage you with get to know you questions. All right. Do it. Oh, yes, yes. All right. [laughs] I like it. I like it. Let's do it. You know what I mean?
• 21:46
  Like, I need to know, like- Yes... pop it up, pop it up, pop... yeah. Uh, sports, are you into sports? Who's your team? Not into sports. That's a no. I'm not into sports- Are you-... but Lions. Lions are...
• 21:56
  'Cause I'm a Detroit girl, so and they are making a comeback, so I'm rooting for them. It's fun to be- They mean a lot for the city. Okay. So I'm a Lions- Yes. Okay, Lions...
• 22:04
  I don't know what's happening, but I'm, I'm celebrating. But everyone seems excited, so, so am I. I- [laughs] Guys can expect that. Music, are you into music? Yes. I like all different kinds of music.
• 22:15
  Um, I just went to a Sombra concert, if you guys have heard of him. I was definitely the oldest person there, though. Oh.
• 22:22
  So, you know, it's a little bit, but, uh, he makes amazing music, and I would say if you saw him at the VMAs, give him another shot, because that was not, that was not him. [laughs] There's a caveat. Okay.
• 22:34
  She's not only a fan, she's defending him. Wow. You gotta go all out. Yeah. Okay, Sombra. Sombra. Um, I don't know what other questions. Favorite candy, snack, whatever. Oh, my gosh.
• 22:43
  What's, what do you, what do you go with? I mean, is there any other option other than Nerds Clusters? I mean, they- Oh, wow. Oh, what a call. That was, that was expecting. What a call. My goodness. Nerds Clusters. Okay.
• 22:54
  Um, hold on. I have one. First car? Uh, Ford Fusion. Oh, wow. What col- which color? Black. I can see this. Ah. Ford Fusion. So Detroit. So Detroit. Yeah. That's great. [laughs] It is very Detroit. I'm so city born.
• 23:06
  I mean, how controversial is the pizza question? I'm a local girl. [laughs] Uh- How controversial is the pizza question? The Detroit style versus Chicago versus New York.
• 23:17
  You know, so I'm Italian, so this is where we get real dicey in here, okay? Um- Oh, no. [laughs] We've done lost Michael. [laughs] You need wood-fired oven or nothing. This is what I'm saying. Wood fire. Oh.
• 23:34
  Oh, we got this place- Yeah... we gotta take you in Syracuse. It's absolutely amazing, by the way, so. Yes. Oh, my gosh.
• 23:40
  Christine, this is the new, this is, instead of this, it's the- Ah, it's Italian for I love you twice. The double hearts. [laughs] Oh, no. Okay, okay. I'm gonna go to sleep after this one. Oh, my, okay.
• 23:51
  So this is where I have to jump in, because we are past time. We're having so much fun, which is fantastic.
• 23:57
  Uh, Christine, thank you so much for giving some of your time and honoring us by being the very first podcast appearance anywhere in the world. May it be the first of many. Thanks for joining us today on Auto Collabs.
• 24:07
  Thank you, guys, so much for having me. This has been a blast. [upbeat music] Guys, I don't know if you had the same thing happen during that interview, but she smiles so much that my cheeks hurt. That's it.
• 24:24
  Right?And this has been happening a lot lately, by the way. Right. We- we're seeing comments on our social profiles about people clapping, but they're sitting in their rooms by themselves clapping.
• 24:32
  Why am I clapping by myself in my room? [laughs] Yeah, why am I cl- [laughs] And, and smiles are infectious.
• 24:38
  Like, we need- there needs to be, like, some sort of a, a More Than Cars shirt that's, like, something to do with smiles. I don't know, like Chief Smile Officer or, like, I don't know- Hmm...
• 24:48
  because they're so contagious. That could- Smiles are contagious. That could be a thing. I, I- You used to have a podcast called Contagious. Yeah, you know. Yeah. And a company. It all comes around somewhere.
• 24:58
  Here's the thing that I... Well, one, to be able to w- walk up to or into a meeting with a dealer and go, "This is where it's not going well for you" Mm-hmm...
• 25:11
  and them come out hopeful as opposed to defeated is a, it's gotta be a serious art. And it sounds like she has got that team dialed into that, which is really hopeful for me for the industry. Yeah.
• 25:24
  You know what it, what, what strikes me is this: there, it, it's 2025. There are still people in this world, this bl- blows my mind, that are making gut decisions. Hmm. Like, think about that.
• 25:39
  Even a gut decision, if you peel back that onion layer, even a gut decision is based on trillions of data points that you're not even realizing you're intaking that have created a bias in you, that has given you that.
• 25:50
  It's still all data. Logic. But when you talk about, you know, the, the kind of data we're talking about here, the degree of conclusivity behind it- Hmm...
• 25:59
  that that's a good decision, that's not a good decision, this is an area of growth, development, opportunity, this is not.
• 26:05
  To remove the visceral kind of, like, I don't know where I'm getting my data from, but I'm getting data, to a more, a more authoritative source is, is, it, it should, it should be commonplace.
• 26:18
  It should be more commonplace than it is. Well, I think there's a lot to think about here. I think also there's a lot to do.
• 26:25
  This is one of those things where every dealer, I think, can look at this data and say, "You know what? I can do something about this to make it better." Like, it makes a lot of sense.
• 26:34
  I don't want my BDC to be burnt out. I don't wanna be wasting my time. Yep.
• 26:38
  And in an era when people are looking at AI for, like, efficiencies, paying attention to, like, how can I maximize the value of the human-to-human connection I can get and create inside my business by not spinning my tires, not closing doors on my team?
• 26:52
  And so, um, I think this is an, an episode that's applicable to just everyone that's running a store right now. So all that being said, we have to go smile somewhere else.
• 27:00
  [upbeat music] On behalf of Kyle Mounts here, Michael Cirillo, and myself, thank you as always for listening to Auto Collabs.
• 27:07
  Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a free shot of relevant news in automotive, retail, media, and pop culture. You can get it now at asotu.com. That's A-S-O-T-U.com.
• 27:20
  If you love this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with a friend. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
• 27:28
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs. Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet.