Latest / Auto Collabs / Just Take Good Pictures of The Cars with Jason Tropp

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Just Take Good Pictures of The Cars with Jason Tropp · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  Kyle, what's the meanest thing you've ever said to a friend? [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. [sighs] I'm just kidding. I'm not gonna make you answer that on the podcast.
• 0:13
  [laughs] Well, I, no, I'll tell you what it w- I, it wasn't something I said, but, like, basically I remember the moment where... 'Cause I, I was, like, a real scrawny dude growing up.
• 0:25
  Like, tiny, was three to four inches smaller than anybody in my, in my grades, right? And I think it was, like, sophomore year, I went from, like, 5'9" to 6'1" in, like, a couple months, right?
• 0:40
  [laughs] And, and dudes were used to picking on me, right? 'Cause I was, I was a little scrawny kid, I was quiet. I never, never really talked much, and dudes were used to picking on me.
• 0:52
  And I was playing basketball, and this dude just, like, full swipes my legs, right? Like, it, very intentionally. Everybody's, "Oh, got him," you know? Oh, no.
• 1:02
  And I just come up, all 6'1" of me, that used to be smaller, now taller. [laughs] And I just come, and I just, like, get real ready to just light this guy up. [laughs] And he was down on the ground a little bit.
• 1:14
  And I remember the, like- [laughs]... fear in this guy's face. [laughs] And I didn't, I didn't even need to hit him. I had all the- And you're like-... satisfaction in the world right there, so.
• 1:24
  And then he did the, like, "That's what I thought." That's what I thought, bro. [laughs] So that's probably the meanest, like, quote-unquote, "thing" that I've done, you know? Oh, that's a good story.
• 1:32
  There's, there's my, there's my deepest story for you, bro. I, we never really know how we're gonna open these shows. [laughs] Just so everyone else knows, someone of us will just, like, flip some random question- Bro...
• 1:42
  like that, and now we're into an episode of Auto Collabs. There it is, yep. Are Canadians mean to one another, Michael? Uh, oh. He said, "Sorry." Um, I would- [laughs] Y- you know, Canadians have a rap for being
• 1:57
  very nice. Yes. But bro, they will be the first one to stab you in the back of the head the minute you turn around. [laughs] Whoa. [laughs] Yeah. Okay. I was gonna say- I mean, I-...
• 2:06
  not for the Canadian in me, but, like, the Italian in me- That could-... I got rude words at the ready whenever you need them, bro. I... [laughs] Your internal dialogue in hand.
• 2:18
  The self-control, the self-control is on point. [laughs] Oh, no. It's great. Now, see, so now I'm trying to think about how we transition into today's guest. We don't. We don't. You just go straight there.
• 2:28
  Well, be- because he's, he's got a background in creative- Oh, there's gotta be a, speaking of being rude to people. Yeah. [laughs] No. Get. Speaking of, speaking of b- being the nicest guy we- There you go...
• 2:41
  spoke to today on a podcast. [laughs] We don't know. I'll see myself out. Hey, look, we're talking to Jason Chop over at, uh, Car Cutter.
• 2:50
  We really hope you enjoy this conversation, and we promise it won't be quite as ridiculous as the intro today. [laughs] I don't know. Kyle promises. [upbeat music] All right. Jason Chop, what's going on, buddy?
• 3:03
  Welcome to Auto Collabs. Hey. Thanks, Michael, really appreciate it, man. Wait, wait. Where did you say you're, you're from? Uh, I'm working from the house. I'm up in Portland, Maine. Portland, Maine.
• 3:14
  [laughs] It's good this time of year. That's near Canada, Michael. Which is a confusing thing, right? Right. Because- Most people, yeah, they think West Coast when you say Portland, so you always have to throw- Right...
• 3:23
  the Maine at the end, and they're like, "Oh, the opposite side of the country." I have a feeling that the... I have a feeling just the whole atmosphere is a little different between the two. I, I would say so, yeah.
• 3:33
  [laughs] It has to be. Except for m- still a lot of rain. Little more snow- Still a lot of rain... in Maine. Did you grow up there? Yeah. Like, what brought you to Portland, Maine? No.
• 3:40
  Um, I grew up, really, my family's from New York. I grew up in Virginia. But I came to Maine probably a little over between eight and nine years ago, and it was for automotive. Oh.
• 3:49
  So I had an opportunity to come up and work for a New England auto group, and I just got lucky and was able to sort of land in Portland, Maine to, uh, to do that job, which was super sweet. What was the job?
• 3:59
  So I came aboard as... It's kind of a funny story. I had asked to come aboard on this, uh, internal marketing team to be the creative director for this auto group, but I- Oh my gosh, say that again.
• 4:09
  So- That position exists in the industry? What is it? Whoa. Internal marketing team has a creative director? Internal marketing team, yeah. It was great.
• 4:16
  So it was like, um, so it was back in the day when, when Prime Motor Group was around and they had start, when I came on board, it was, like, between 25 and 30 stores. Yeah.
• 4:23
  And during my time there, they sort of, you know, expanded their portfolio, got up to 60 stores.
• 4:27
  And I did that for, you know, the first four years I was in New England, so I was going down to Massachusetts, traveling all over, which was super cool. But yeah, we had this internal marketing team.
• 4:36
  Uh, it just so happened to be that it can function out of Maine because, you know, marketing can happen from anywhere. And the home offices are down in Massachusetts, so you know, that's a two-hour drive from Portland.
• 4:46
  Not a big deal. But it was super cool. Uh, but that job kind of transitioned from a creative direction to really digital direction.
• 4:54
  So it was making sure all the websites worked, all the third-party integrations were firing, doing email marketing. You know, we were taking everything- I feel like that's the flow. Yeah, man.
• 5:02
  I feel like that's just the flow. It's like, "Ah, you know, we like the whole creative everything-" [laughs] "... but you should do some analytics," you know? Yeah. It's like- I mean, it makes sense... who's the...
• 5:12
  It's like one day someone was like, "Can you prove that what Jason is doing is actually working?" And he was like- [laughs]... "Well, I'll try," you know?
• 5:18
  And then- And you're like, "But look at the kerning on that font." Be like, "Oh, you should see these reports." How could that not be working? Yeah. [laughs] Oh, no. No, it was, it was really great.
• 5:27
  We had a whole team of, you know, internal team. I think the coolest part about this job is just it is, as long as you're not gonna say no to something, there's always an opportunity to learn.
• 5:37
  And so that job really sort of launched me further into the automotive space because it's just, you're going deep and you're going deep really fast to make heads or tails of everything, and you realize just how interconnected it all is.
• 5:49
  And that really plays sort of into the whole mindset of, like, what is automotive marketing today? It's, it's not one thing. There's not one answer. It's figuring out how the whole puzzle comes together.
• 5:57
  I'm still stuck on, I gotta be honest with you, I'm still stuck on the fact that you were like, "I moved to Maine for automotive, and then drove two hours south."Uh, it wasn't every day.
• 6:08
  [laughs] My instinct, like, I can't get that out of my... Like, I'm like, "Well, I, I don't-" Yeah... think that actually works that way. [laughs] No. So- Was it, like, an acquisition or something like that?
• 6:16
  Is that what- Uh, so there's stores in Maine. So they had a whole collection of stores in Southern Maine. Okay. Um, and- Yeah... they had stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont.
• 6:24
  So the corporate offices were down in Massachusetts. So I'd go down a couple times a month, stay for, like, a night or two- Got it... kind of knock some stuff out.
• 6:31
  But then the majority of my team, for the marketing side, was actually located in Maine.
• 6:35
  So we kind of had this split office, and it was, you know, early days remote work, essentially, but we had space above one of the dealerships. So we sort of had a little microcosmal marketing up there.
• 6:45
  And then we would just sort of, you know, do early Zoom with the team down in Massachusetts. If it was something we needed more hands on, just shoot down there for the day. Stay two days if you need to. Yeah.
• 6:54
  It was good. Let, let- So-... me ask you this. I, I gotta... I'm dying to ask you this. From your vantage point working in a group, working in stores, what do you think it is
• 7:06
  that makes dealers believe that marketing will solve all of the world's problems? I think- You know, 'cause it's like- Yeah... sales are down, marketing's fault. [laughs] Salespeople can't close.
• 7:18
  Mike, I, I feel like you've got some pain in that question. There is. He's like- Yeah. [laughs]... sales are down, marketing's fault. It is. It's, it's- Sales are up, sales team's fault... the thing. Right.
• 7:25
  My, my, my thing back in the day was like, okay, so, like, dealer has an argument with their spouse the night before, comes in huffin' and puffin', and the marketing team's on the chopping block.
• 7:34
  [laughs] I think it's one of those things- That was the first one... like, I think it's kind of like last man in, first man out a little bit. Mm.
• 7:40
  You know, marketing isn't necessarily thought of as, as a frontline, uh, effort. It's sort of brought into the business as it matures. It's like, "Oh, yeah, we should be paying more attention to marketing.
• 7:49
  Let's internalize this. We want more control."
• 7:51
  But I think it's also, there's less understanding about it than a lot of the other operations because sales managers, parts managers, service managers, those are all very tangible things that are happening in front of you every day.
• 8:03
  The marketing stuff is more ethereal in that sense because it's digital. It's a lot of, you know, what's happening with the algorithm is what we're doing- But everybody has an opinion on it.
• 8:12
  Everybody has an opinion on it because we all are consumers. We're all just seeing this all the time. So it's really easy to say, "Hey, I have an opinion." Yeah. It's like, "Hey, did you like that movie last weekend?
• 8:20
  Well, let me tell you how I would've shot that movie." You know? It's- Right. [laughs]... there's always gonna be the two cents of I have, I have taste and I want to express that.
• 8:29
  And sometimes that comes across as, "I have ideas for marketing." And sometimes those ideas are, are really worthwhile, and sometimes those ideas just,
• 8:37
  they're ideas that haven't been tested and tried, and they don't necessarily make sense. And I think there's also, again, the experience of maybe one market's different than another.
• 8:46
  So you've got, you know, the movement in the automotive space where you go from a small store or domestic to a high line. You come from an outside market to a major market.
• 8:53
  You know, those marketing things, there are some truths that play through, but then there are also the nuances of, you know, what works here, and you have to figure that out.
• 9:01
  So I think everybody wants to contribute is kind of what that comes down to. But the chopping block- Yeah, no, I, I mean- Oof.
• 9:06
  [laughs] I don't know if you ever experienced this, but it, like, the chopping block is also related at some, at some level to, like, "What, so what did you do today?" Right? Yeah. Is- Yes.
• 9:18
  You know, how did d- how did you and your team... Yeah, 'cause I think there's a lot of marketers that kind of, like, listen and they're trying to figure out- Yeah... how do I prove my worth- Yeah... prove my value.
• 9:28
  Like, the things that I'm asking for, the things that I'm doing, the things that I'm responding to actually have, like, value to the business today, not just...
• 9:37
  You know, 'cause every marketer l- loves to say, like, "I'm building brand. I'm building a big thing." Yeah. "It's coming soon," right?
• 9:44
  And that, those are realities, but there's the proof in the, like, "I sold-" Right... "a car today.
• 9:49
  There's a X on the board because I did some level of work," and that X is harder to find sometimes in the marketing- Big time... persona. Yeah.
• 9:58
  No, I mean, that's, that's the forever challenge, right, is sort of marrying what's happening in marketing to is it having effect on the sales floor.
• 10:04
  And there's so many layers between we put a marketing messaging out there and someone signing the paperwork. Yeah. You know, that is a journey. I think that, you know, there's a couple things marketers can do.
• 10:14
  I think one is, it's, it's certainly more work, but I think it's part of the job, is if you are in-house marketing,
• 10:22
  and really if you're any marketer, it doesn't have to be in-house, but if you're marketing for a client, whether it's internal or external, not only are you doing that job of making your marketing perform, you also have to do the secondary job of marketing the work that you're doing internally, right?
• 10:37
  So just because you're doing the job doesn't mean that anybody knows you're doing the job. They don't know the work or the effort or sort of the effect. You might be saying, "Hey, we have our monthly meeting.
• 10:45
  Here's the reports." That's kind of baseline helpful. You know, I had those standard operations with a lot of the different website providers I use, the advertising agencies we use. We get those sort of ongoing reports.
• 10:57
  But it was the consistent conversations, the team going out of their way to sort of paint the picture, "Here's how it all comes together," until we get to that report.
• 11:05
  Instead of just saying, "Hey, I'm gonna grind, and then here's the report at the end of the month," I think being able to sort of build that internal marketing message of the value of marketing and how everyone is involved in that and how it kind of all ties back, because we put marketing in this bucket of ad spend, creative, and that, that's true.
• 11:23
  That's a huge part of it. But the other part is what is happening at the store? What is the attitude at the store?
• 11:29
  What is the energy going into sort of living the messaging that you're putting into your marketing, right? Mm-hmm. Is that all coming together? And I think- Come on now...
• 11:37
  you just have to have- But you obviously understand-... have all that there... the entire- I'm enraged... ecosystem, right? Like, every marketer- Right... is, like, they have, they're waving their hanky.
• 11:44
  [laughs] They're like, "This guy knows me," right? Yeah. "He knows me." Um, you made the jump, though, from dealer marketing to industry partner side. What- I did... how did that come about?
• 11:55
  So it's actually, it's really interesting. So my whole journey in a nutshell was I actually started in automotive on the agency side. So I kind of saw how the agency life played out- Ah...
• 12:03
  supporting dealers in, like, major markets and small markets. This all makes sense now. Mm-hmm.
• 12:07
  [laughs] And then I took a, you know, I took a hiatus, worked for a nonprofit for a couple years, but then I got the calling card to be like, "Hey, we've got some, uh, opportunities, New England Auto Group."
• 12:15
  So I jumped into that.And after that, you know, that was, like I said, the digital director stuff, really making sure the integration's working.
• 12:21
  From there, went to a smaller group in New England where it was handling the marketing fully, so budgets, et cetera. But when I was at my last group, we were really looking for... Well, let me back up.
• 12:33
  In all my reporting and everything that we were doing, it was kind of like I'm turning all the right levers. I'm, I'm allocating the funds where it makes sense. We've got, you know, smart messaging. What, what can we do?
• 12:42
  Where are things breaking down? Like, why are my ad dollars not performing to the level I think they should be?
• 12:47
  And one of the things we identified is that our inventory has a heavy effect on that advertising, which should be a no-brainer. But it's not simply the inventory itself, it is taking photos of the cars.
• 13:00
  So when I was there, I was really looking for a situation where we could improve the photo situation, get those on the website, improve the quality, to then improve the performance of all our ad dollars hitting those third-party marketplaces, hitting our retargeting ads.
• 13:14
  Uh, whenever we brought traffic back to the website, having that VDP be a clean and solid experience. And the thing is, we all shop online. It's all visual.
• 13:23
  So if you're not prioritizing visualizing your product, you're sort of diminishing your ad dollars all downstream when it comes to merchandising and sort of re-advertising that inventory online. Mm-hmm.
• 13:35
  So I've, you know, came across Car Cutter as a solution for that, and I had a couple of highline stores, and we were shooting at different places, and we cross-shared that inventory.
• 13:43
  So we have mixed inventory showing up online. We want to make it look like it's one collection, not like, hey, this car is being treated differently than this car, or they appear that they may be in different locations.
• 13:53
  And really for the customer, it doesn't matter 'cause we'll bring the car to you. Mm-hmm. Sure. And this, this turned out to be a tool that was really beneficial for some of the problems I was running into.
• 14:02
  And I liked it so much, I was talking to, uh, you know, the team. And at that point in time, you guys know Daniel. I was talking to him. And he was like, "Yeah, man, you know, it's great. Keep your eyes out.
• 14:11
  You know, we're definitely growing and making moves in the US." And so I was like, "Yeah, I think this is awesome." So there's an opportunity, and I put my hat in the ring, and now here I am.
• 14:18
  [laughs] So it's really cool because I've, I've seen the benefits- Well-... of using it as a dealer and- This is-... now I get to talk about it... this is one thing that, like- Yeah... typically
• 14:26
  the marketing persona, like, kind of gets this, you know what? Just, like, make sure the cars sell. We'll take care- Mm-hmm... of the inventory.
• 14:34
  We'll take care of the cars, like, as a sales management staff or as a management staff, as an owner/operator, whoever's managing specifically the used cars. Um, and it's kind of like,
• 14:44
  "Man, boss, you had 100 less cars last month than what you normally do. And, uh-" Yeah. "You don't think that might have something to do with it, could it possibly?" Maybe that, you know, or- "And they're all"- Yeah...
• 14:53
  $50,000 SUVs." Right. Mm-hmm. So, but then also- It's the marketing. Yeah... and, and I say this all the time, like, this is, this is the biggest...
• 15:02
  Like, this is the hardest thing for me to reconcile as a marketer, and especially when I was at a dealership group, is that it is so tied to merchandising, right? Mm-hmm.
• 15:13
  What inventory you have in and what inventory is merchandised. You know, you hear these people, like, coming off a, you know, reducing ad spend on digi ad and reducing spend on, on third-party marketplaces.
• 15:26
  And you go look at their inventory and it's, it's just tight, right? Oh, yeah. They have the right cars, the right price, the right pictures, the right merchandising, and, and they're still selling cars. Mm-hmm.
• 15:37
  Well, because, like, people have to buy cars, and if they're merchandised well, now you can layer onto that great brand, great advertising, great digital strategy.
• 15:45
  But if you don't have the cars merchandised well, like, you're, you're done at square one. Mm-hmm.
• 15:51
  That- And I think that that's what you're pointing out is like, hey, look, we, we went back and realized we were not, we weren't handling square one right.
• 15:59
  And so all of our efficiency downstream that we could have gained was just lost. 100%. Yeah, that's, that's exactly it. I mean, when I was with Prime, a big part of my job was traveling to all these stores.
• 16:11
  We had set up sort of like best practices for how to photograph, how to merchandise your cars, how to use the systems that the stores were putting those cars into. And it was, it was a heavy lift.
• 16:20
  And trying to train everyone to do that is a monumental task. But when everyone starts doing it, there's such a power in consistency in prioritizing that stuff.
• 16:29
  And unfortunately, I think, like, the industry sort of treats...
• 16:33
  This might be a broad statement, but it's been my experience that getting photos of cars is sort of considered a low priority in a lot of places because there's so many bigger issues that you have to tackle at the store.
• 16:43
  Mm-hmm. But again, it's just sort of- Right... it's your merchandise.
• 16:46
  Everyone starts online, so at the end of the day, your digital store is store number one before anybody sets foot in your actual store where the actual cars are. So what do you do to get them there?
• 16:58
  So it's always been, it's always been a challenge. You know- And I think it's- I, I tell this story-... industry wide... and I'll, I'll back y- I'll continue to back you up on this because, like, I, I agree.
• 17:07
  I think it is a... Well, one, getting cars frontline ready, it has... Like, everyone wants to say, "We get our cars frontline ready in 72 hours," right? But the reality is, is that just- Mm-hmm...
• 17:19
  doesn't happen in broad, broad stroke across the industry. I always... I, so I, uh, had a buddy probably eight or nine years ago, uh, that went to church with him.
• 17:29
  And I found out that his entire job is to take photos of shoes for, uh, like, a, a bunch of different marketplaces that are like, um, like department stores, right?
• 17:47
  And literally, they start photographing prototypes of shoes a year before the release so that they can get impr- approved in time for the merchandising effort. Wow. Right? That's amazing. Yeah.
• 18:04
  Like, so that's the, that's the level of care that these merchandisers that are merchandising, like, 50 to $200 pair of shoes- Items, commodities...
• 18:13
  that they have s- a dedicated warehouse in Nashville full of five photographers only thinkingAbout how these things are photographed and edited, right? So cool. For $200 shoes, right? Yeah.
• 18:30
  And we're out here like, "Yeah, you know, just throw it there against the back lot." [laughs] Throw it in the wash bay. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. We, we all know the pain.
• 18:40
  [laughs] So- Yeah, we know the pain. You know, just thinking about, like, all the different photo experiences in automotive and, like, just evaluating my personal behaviors 'cause I'm kind- I'm,
• 18:52
  I'm kind of in the market for a car. Like, my, my family wagon just, you know, it's like 100- Oh, brave. [laughs]... 103,000 miles on it, and I'm like, "Ah, do I wanna get out of it before something expensive breaks?"
• 19:03
  Because there's nothing worse than something expensive breaking. Announcing it on the pod, dude. I know. Announcing it on the pod. People- You're about to get DMs like, "I can sell you a Kia Telluride."
• 19:13
  You know, just saying. It's a... What, what can, what can you pay for my Lincoln Navigator, though? That's the real question. There you go. Mm. [laughs] Ah, it's all about the accepting bids. The trade is what you say.
• 19:21
  It's about the appraisal. No, but the, the reality is I know the difference. Like, I know the tools that are out there. I know, and I am still staggeringly shocked
• 19:34
  because I'm looking to replace the Navigator or, or maybe looking at another Navigator. They haven't really changed anything, so it's kind of like a bummer to just buy a newer version of what you already have.
• 19:44
  [laughs] So, like, so, like, the Escalades or, like, a Suburban are the only, like, vehicles big enough to fit all my family and all the stuff.
• 19:51
  Um, and they're not cheap cars, and I can't believe how bad some of the photos are. Oh, yeah. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, it doesn't matter. It, it's, it's everywhere.
• 19:59
  It's like- Like, I can't believe it's a Cadillac selling, like, an $80,000 used car, and, like, I'm like, "I can't believe anybody buys this," but they must. Oh, man.
• 20:09
  But just, like, I, I don't usually interact as a consumer, right? You got me all in a heart-issue place here. Only once every three or four years. I know. Yeah.
• 20:15
  But then there's a part of it too where it's like, you know what? I might actually be able to get a better deal because they're so bad at photos. [laughs] Right? Like, this is a- Well, I mean, that's, that's a thing.
• 20:24
  This is a, this is a good- This is a good negotiating tactic... no one knows it. Oh, yeah. [laughs] No, that's not what I'm talking about.
• 20:31
  He's like, he's like, "So what I was thinking is you guys-" "You see this right here?" "... suck so bad at photos." "This is a terrible photo. Terrible photo." [laughs] "Yeah, but the car's right here."
• 20:38
  "This photo is disgust- it's trash can," right? [laughs] "I'm not paying that." And they'll be like, "But it was enough to get you sitting in front of me having this conversation," right? Yeah. So... Exactly. Yeah.
• 20:47
  Oh, yeah. See, so- Yeah, no... he's at this dealership. He's like, "Yes, this conversation where you're about to discount this vehicle." [laughs] No, no, but really- That's amazing...
• 20:55
  like, part of me thinks that at some point, like, I'm gonna find, like, a gem because they just took it, you know, took the photos like trash. Mm-hmm. And I'm like, "It's actually a nicer car." I don't know.
• 21:05
  Just a little anecdotal- You might. Fingers crossed... anecdotal mentality, but when I go through, I cannot believe that some pictures are still so bad. So- Yeah, no, it's, it is, um- Take it for what it's worth.
• 21:15
  And if you wanna DM me what you think the Navigator's worth, just, you know. [laughs] I won't give you any more information on it. There you go. That's awesome.
• 21:25
  Well, hey, Jason, we've, uh, we've thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with you.
• 21:29
  Love your journey, and, uh, y- you know, just the passion that f- from, for you to go from, you know, adopting a technology to being a part of the technology's growth is a really, really unique story, and I think something that a lot of people can, uh, can, can get sticky to.
• 21:45
  Uh, we've had a ton of laughs and always enjoy that one. So, Jason, thanks for joining us today on All Our Labs. Yes. Thank you, guys. It's been a pleasure. [upbeat music] Okay, I have to say,
• 21:59
  he's probably one of the nicest guys we've talked to in a really long time. [laughs] We nailed it. We got that right off the bat. He was super... He was, like, yeah, just so kind about the disposition of being a...
• 22:10
  I mean- I know... like, if I know any marketer that's been through his thing, like, there's some anger somewhere deep in there. They're yelling at the screen as he's bringing some of these wounds up.
• 22:18
  And he's just like, "You know, it's okay." It's the y- what, what's it called, like, when you're so angry, you don't have words, you just make sounds? You know, like- Just-...
• 22:24
  just getting that email from your owner being, and then you're just like, "Ugh. Ugh." "Ugh." You know what? That's what happens. I love...
• 22:35
  I, you know, I've seen a bunch of stories in auto where people, uh, you know, get a product, like, they're the champion of a product into a store or a group, and then get so caught up in its efficiency and effectiveness that they're like, "I have to go help build that."
• 22:51
  Mm-hmm.
• 22:52
  And just that story alone is really, really cool to me, to see someone get go- so caught up in the effectiveness of a thing that they brought in and championed, that they were, that they said, "Yep, that's the thing that I wanna go be a part of to grow."
• 23:05
  It means that they've, there was a lot of efficiency. They really believe in it. Yeah. Absolutely. They really believe in it. Yeah. I do, I also wanna add, like, you know, it's,
• 23:13
  through that episode, we, we talk about, like, the, the friction in the relationship and the expectations, and half of it's joking, half of it's serious, though.
• 23:22
  Um, and we can say that the situations, you and I, you, the three of us, have a lot of inside insight into dealer groups all across the country, and marketing departments, how they operate. Yep.
• 23:34
  And the very best ones we see have, the marketers have a seat at the table, at the strategy table- That's right...
• 23:41
  and are seen as a very strategic partner in sales and fixed ops and service, um, all the way across the board in community involvement.
• 23:49
  And when that is the case, we can't advocate for that enough because in all the best scenarios, the marketer has a seat at the strategy table.
• 23:56
  And so, um, I think it's important to say that and remind people of that because it's easy to get caught up in the velocity of the game and forget that the person who is maybe easy to blame sometimes, or maybe on the outskirts, or, like, the person that makes the creative stuff, or that you call when you have, you need to reset your password 'cause they're usually pretty good with tech as well- [laughs]
• 24:16
  ... that the best dealers- That's so right... in the country have them at the strategy table. So I don't know, maybe that moves the needle a little bit, too.
• 24:23
  I mean, also just on the merchandising side of things, transitioning from, from that to just the practicality ofSpeed to market Mm-hmm. Yes And how often, I know all three of us have experienced,
• 24:38
  um, um, situations where the dealer has 30 units that haven't been reconned yet. They're still sitting out back. They haven't been merchandised. They're not ready to go.
• 24:48
  And the, just the real impact of what that's costing them per day- Ah... not being online and marketed right. And just your experience of, it's 2024, and we're still not taking good pictures.
• 25:00
  Like, just at its most foundational level, a 60,000, 80, $100,000 vehicle that we, we, we're... You know, our human nature is that we're always looking for what's the big pie in the sky fix. Yeah.
• 25:14
  And most often it's the small and simple things that compound that make the greatest effect. It's just taking better pictures. Like, flipping pictures. I mean- Yeah... that's not a way to wrap up the show.
• 25:23
  I don't know what is. On behalf of Kyle Mountsier, Michael Cirillo, and myself, thanks for joining us and spending some time with us at, at Auto Collapse. Is it at Auto Collapse? Listening to- On. On? At on. At on.
• 25:37
  I don't know. Nathan's waving his hands. I botched that. Thanks for being here. Welcome to Auto Collapse.
• 25:45
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• 25:59
  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.
• 26:08
  [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collapse. Welcome to Auto Collapse. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet.