Latest / Auto Collabs / How Mobile Service Won Back Dealership Customers Who Disappeared | Amir Alahwal

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How Mobile Service Won Back Dealership Customers Who Disappeared | Amir Alahwal · Auto Collabs

• 0:00
  [upbeat music] People like to manage things by feelings, and I think that's extremely dangerous. I'm, I'm not about feelings. I'll go straight to the data and, and prove it.
• 0:08
  I put on my only suit that I owned, which was, you know, my high school prom suit, [laughs] slicked back my hair, put on a bow tie, and all of a sudden they have me build this infrastructure for IT and the call systems and hiring.
• 0:20
  It taught me how to be universally resourceful. [upbeat music] This is Auto Collabs. I feel like I wanna sing, "The boys are back in town." [laughs] But I feel like- That baby...
• 0:36
  it's so long since we've been together on an intro. Like, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. Where have you guys been? [laughs] I know. Michael's been sitting in this room all by himself. [laughs] All by myself.
• 0:47
  Michael, Michael, just so you know, he just only sits at his podcast mic and just waits for someone- That's true... to turn on the camera. He's waiting for that FaceTime call. That's his whole, whole entire life.
• 0:54
  I have a w- a blankie over here. I sleep here. [laughs] Put on my Scrooge hat for sleeping. You can only find him internationally traveling or at his podcast. No, he's actually- That's all you get...
• 1:03
  on a MrBeast challenge right now. How, like, who's sitting- [laughs] I'm gonna sit in front of this podcast microphone until I turn 83. For 1,000 hours. Yeah. [laughs] That's amazing. So I've... How long is 1,000 hours?
• 1:16
  What is that? Lots. A lot. That's a lot of days. I don't wanna count that. That's a lot of days. I'll leave that up to the YouTubers. [laughs] Oh my God. Yeah, leave that up to the people that have now asked you.
• 1:25
  I'm, I'm loving these guests that we're having on lately because we're leading up to the biggest AutoCon West reveal, where
• 1:30
  I feel like not only is our community getting to meet a lot of new people, and especially in the areas of mobile service and AI implementation and used EVs and leadership and team dynamic, but, [laughs]
• 1:43
  but we are also getting to meet a lot of new people this time around.
• 1:48
  We know so many people collectively that it's rare that we get on a show with somebody that is, like, just crushing it in one of these topics that we haven't met.
• 1:56
  So today's guest, uh, Amir Alawal, is, uh, an amazing, fairly recent automotive story, right? I guess we're at the age now where we can say 10 years is fairly recent. Would you guys agree? For sure. Yeah.
• 2:06
  I even feel like- We're getting old... I can be at that age. Okay, Kyle. Fair. [laughs] I feel like that was- Come on, I've been in the industry 17 years. I know. Like, that's almost double 10. Double 10. You know?
• 2:15
  That is almost double 10. We're doing math today. We're doing math. You know- Well, you have more gray in your beard than I do, and- I do. I've, yeah. Michael has... See, Michael's beard is, like, middle solid color.
• 2:25
  He has to turn his head before- Yeah... you see the gray. Yeah. Yeah, it's so nice. Fair enough. [laughs] Well, hey, look, we hope either way
• 2:32
  you enjoy us shutting up and, uh, letting Amir do the talking and enjoy this conversation that we got to have. [upbeat music] Amir, thank you so much for joining us today on Auto Collabs.
• 2:47
  I can't wait for this conversation. Yeah, I can't wait either. Thanks so much for having me. Uh, and, and just as we were getting on and getting ready for the show, you said, "I'm sorry.
• 2:54
  Apologize for nothing being hu- hung up on the wall behind me." [laughs] You said, "But I've been displaced again for a second time."
• 3:00
  To which I was like, "Well, there's probably some good things going on around the office." He's like, "Well, this is my home." [laughs] [laughs] And, and [laughs] so, uh, already, like, and it's because you haven't...
• 3:09
  You know, I'll, I'll let you decide whether or not you're gonna share why you're being displaced again. Yeah.
• 3:13
  Well, half the office, which you can't see, is actually storage for baby stuff, and so this will eventually be a new nursery or second nursery. Oh, yes. So my third office location will be downstairs. All right.
• 3:24
  And we'll see how long that lasts. [laughs] Well, then it's g- it sounds like at that point you're gonna need a bigger house. Yeah. It's a- Well, yeah...
• 3:29
  but, like, it's, it's like classic signs of homeownership though, because, like, I swear there are still picture frames in my house that still have the, like, Walmart family, you know, like, you know. [laughs] You...
• 3:41
  Okay. Yeah, 8x10s. Okay, this tracks. Okay. I, I'm not, I'm normal. Okay. Got it. All right. So we're- Yeah. I hope, I hope my, uh, office looks, has as nice of a background as you guys one day. [laughs] There you go.
• 3:51
  Yeah. [laughs] There you go. Well, Kyle, Kyle's the only one in his home at this point. Yeah. I am in my home. Kyle- It's magical. But he's done with the babies. This is my home office. He's done with the babies. Yes.
• 3:59
  Right? Done with the babies. Tapped out. [laughs] Yeah, he is. He is. Well, let's talk about, uh, we're so excited that we get to spend some time together this year. Um, you know, you're new to our ecosystem.
• 4:08
  We have never had a conversation. So, um, our audience probably doesn't also, already also know a lot about you.
• 4:13
  Can you just tell us how you got into the automotive industry to begin with, and just give us that little background and intro story? Yeah, absolutely. Um, I had kind of a weird intro to the automotive industry.
• 4:24
  I, my first job out of, out of high school was actually at Wells Fargo as a teller, and so I did that for a little bit, um, while trying to go to college.
• 4:32
  And, um, you know, I did that for about a year and then I was like, "You know what? This is very difficult. Let me try to go to fall, college full time," you know. So I moved back home, tried that again.
• 4:41
  After the second failed attempt at college, I was unemployed, [laughs] you know, for six months. [laughs] Um, and you know that unemployment money runs out pretty quickly.
• 4:50
  [laughs] So you start getting desperate and looking for a job. And, um, you know, I was living with, you know, family at the time, and so I had very minimal bills.
• 4:58
  And so I said, "You know, why don't I look at, you know, the Mercedes-Benz dealership in town?" You know, I've always loved cars. You know, I watched Doug DeMuro in high school.
• 5:07
  Um, you know, so I picked up the phone, I called, and I got ahold of the HR manager at the time, and, uh, you know, introduced myself and s- you know, asked if there's anything available. And she said no.
• 5:17
  And I said, "Okay, well, that's fine, but is, is there any way I can just come down and meet you anyways?" And she- You just passed the first test. Yeah. [laughs] That's perfect. Right? [laughs] Nailed it. [laughs] Yeah.
• 5:27
  You know, and, and she invited me in and, you know, I step into this beautiful dealership with, you know, fountains in the front. Felt like I'd walked into a five-star resort. Um- Yeah.
• 5:36
  It has that smell to it, a Mercedes dealership. Yeah. Just, yeah. Yeah. I put on my only suit that I owned, which was, you know, my high school prom suit. [laughs] Slicked back my hair. That's perfect.
• 5:47
  Um, put on a bow tie and, you know, and, and by the end of the interview, um, you know, met with the GM and everybody, and they said, "You know, we weren't lying.
• 5:54
  We didn't have a position open, but we'll, we wanna create one and, and put you on board," so. That's amazing. Uh, that was the- What did they create?
• 6:01
  That was, uh, the first impression, so they made another spot for me as a receptionist Ah, started as a receptionist Wow. Yeah. So that was December 2016.
• 6:10
  Um, so this December will be 10 years in the industry, and just it's been a wild ride. Very surreal. Congrats. Yeah, it sounds like on, on both the, the business front and the personal front. Yeah.
• 6:21
  No, the family side too has been incredible. [laughs] That's kinda wild actually. If you think- [laughs]... if you could've seen your life right now 10 years ago- Yeah...
• 6:29
  right as you were walking into that dealership for the first time, you probably would've been like, "I don't believe any of it." [laughs] No, there's, there's absolutely no way.
• 6:36
  In fact, um, wh- when they told me about that job and, and they wanted to hire me as a first, you know, the receptionist position, I was actually, like, disappointed in a way. You know?
• 6:45
  Because I was, you know, worked at Wells Fargo. I had, you know, was thinking so highly of myself. [laughs] And, um, now I was taking a step back both financially and, you know, from a career standpoint.
• 6:55
  Um, but you know, beggars can't be choosers, [laughs] so I just took it, and I ended up loving it. You know, ended up being, in my opinion, one of the best, uh, teaching roles I've ever had.
• 7:04
  You know, was at the center of it all. You know, consulted with all the different departments, including the owner, who I became very close with eventually.
• 7:11
  [laughs] I, I, the, I always tell any new general managers, owners, GSMs, managers, like, if you wanna know everything about the store, you just kinda said it in a very, uh, kind way.
• 7:22
  You were like, "I consulted with everybody." Yeah. Which really means you were the cons- You were all the crap. Yeah. [laughs] You were actually everybody's therapist. Right. [laughs] Yeah, customers included, you know?
• 7:32
  And so- Yeah. Facts. Right. Yeah, you're like, you're like, the, the receptionist is like the Switzerland of the dealership. Yeah, it's true. Right? That's right. It's also like- You're the center of it all. Yeah...
• 7:40
  you, you were saying- So, so-...
• 7:41
  you felt like you were walking into this five-star resort, and I'm thinking about, like, the experience the three of us had overseas going into I don't know how many dealerships we visited in- A lot... Kazakhstan.
• 7:50
  Dozens... 30? Yeah. And reception was the first introduction into what the rest of that experience was gonna be like, and I'm like, I don't know if we've ever really thought that deeply about reception.
• 8:02
  Even in, uh, in our narratives, we're like, "Oh, setting the tone, customer experience, reception," and how that's probably a great place for anybody to start in a dealership that, that wants to be at the nucleus, as- Right...
• 8:15
  Nacho Libre says. Yeah. [laughs] I see that picture in the back.
• 8:18
  And I didn't realize it at the time, but I think it would've been limiting, uh, limiting for my trajectory if I would've started in parts or service or sales.
• 8:25
  You know, you kinda start in this silo, and it's very hard to branch out. You know? Mm-hmm.
• 8:29
  I think when you see a lot of general managers, th- a lot of them have this, uh, sales arc, right, where they start in sales, sales manager, general manager, finance, whatever.
• 8:38
  Um, and you don't really see somebody with that, uh, broad sort of, uh, almost like a generalist approach.
• 8:44
  And I'm very thankful for it, because I think I would've gotten really bored if I just stayed isolated to one department, frankly. Yeah, you- Yeah...
• 8:50
  and, and, uh, like, you would've started to see opportunity in the store through the lens of that one department. Right. Right?
• 8:57
  Because that would've been your day in and day out, where at this, the center point, you were able to see all the departments, all the opportunity, understand how the machine works. Yeah.
• 9:03
  I mean, you- And that's n- and that's sort of how I'm able to, you know, effectively, you know, be a part of the team and the group now, is I'm now able to, I, I'm able to sort of,
• 9:14
  uh, look at the dealership as a whole and assist with any department no matter what. I'm not limited to, to, to one silo. Well, give us the fast-forward. Have you always- Let's get to- Hey... let's get to where you are.
• 9:23
  I'm trying to ask- You will stop. You stop... damn questions. Blah, blah, blah. I keep saying, "So," I keep saying, "Questions." I need to, I w- I have a question. [laughs] Fine. Kyle- Kyle... ask your question.
• 9:32
  My, oh- Okay. Yellow flag. [laughs] I was gonna get to this, because,
• 9:37
  uh, when, when I look at your title right now, I think, a- and maybe it has changed since we got it, but director of development and customer experience.
• 9:45
  Have, have you always, since that time, tended to create kind of, like, net new opportunities? Because when I look at that title, that's not something that you see broad scale.
• 9:55
  Like, it's not like there's 30, you know, job opportunities for director of, you know, development and customer experience across.
• 10:11
  Yeah, I think outside of, you know, the receptionist role, I've never really had a traditional job title, and I think that's always been difficult for me to describe exactly what I do and how I do it.
• 10:21
  Oh, we lost, uh, Kyle. You've offended him. Oh, it's okay. Keep going. [laughs] He'll, he'll come back. I saw him glitching out.
• 10:26
  [laughs] No, see, here's, while he's not here, we convince him that it's because he's on a beta operating system, but he refuses to accept that.
• 10:33
  [laughs] So when he comes back in, just ask him, say, "Are you on the beta operating system?" He's back. Oh, my goodness. [laughs] I... So annoyed at my technology.
• 10:41
  [laughs] For the, all the audio people, my video just went complete kaputs, so I apologize. [laughs] All right, let's continue.
• 10:49
  Um, so anyways, outside of that first receptionist role that I was given, you know, that was sort of the last traditional role I feel like I've ever stepped, you know, my shoes in, because, uh, or my feet in.
• 11:00
  After that, I got, uh, recruited by the Fletcher Jones Management Company. Uh, you know, Fletcher Jones Motor Car's number one Mercedes Benz dealership in the country. Audi Beverly Hills, number one, um, and so on.
• 11:11
  You know, a very coveted group. Um, and their task was they developed, uh, they wanted me to develop a receptionist call center.
• 11:20
  So they wanted to consolidate all of the front desk, um, receptionists from all their Southern California stores into the call center.
• 11:27
  And so as you always say, I had to grow up in this industry very quickly, and I had to learn.
• 11:32
  [laughs] Um, because I was only, like, you know, 20, 21 at the time, and all of a sudden they have me, you know, learning how to build this infrastructure for IT and the call systems and hiring 20 people when I've, you know, barely just started in, you know, a b- a year ago.
• 11:47
  It was, um, it was a lot. And, um, but I'm very thankful for it, because it helped me, like I said, it, it, it be- it taught me how to be universally, um, resourceful. Oof. That's a good word. That's good right there.
• 12:04
  So now track to that, because if you've kind of built the current role- What, what are some of the things that you've begun to tackle in the current role that you're in, the non-traditional title, that are kind of net new or, or required you to be universally resourceful, right?
• 12:19
  Right. And, and so that's where if, you know, in the last, like... It's been a tough last three years, I would say. Very unusual, and I think we've been...
• 12:28
  It, it sort of forced us to become very innovative, more innovative in the last year, for sure, than we have been, uh- Mm... since I started, no doubt about it.
• 12:36
  Um, so that's kind of the positives about having a tough industry. Um, you know, attached to a lot of, uh, cashflow and, um, dealership profitability is these manufacturer and OEM incentives and bonuses, right?
• 12:51
  Um, a lot of people don't realize that that's where we really, uh, depend on our profitability is these massive bonuses. Um- Mm...
• 12:59
  one of them, for Mercedes-Benz specifically, is called aftersales loyalty, and there's all these different segments that they grade you on.
• 13:05
  Essentially, if there's a VIN in your area of influence or units in operation, you need to service them with one customer pay RO within a year, right?
• 13:14
  Otherwise, if you don't see them after a year, they're considered not loyal, right? Even if they come for warranty or prepaid maintenance or whatever. Mm.
• 13:21
  And so, you know, we lost this bonus, um, at the end of '25, and it was a huge, you know, six-figure bonus that really impacted our business.
• 13:31
  And so, you know, we're just coming out of, um, you know, an- again, another tough year, and we're looking at, how can we make sure that we achieve this moving forward and that we never lose it again?
• 13:42
  You know, we can cheat our way through it and sell people, you know, key chains [laughs] and ship them to their house. [laughs] But, you know, how, how can we really provide... And, and that's a, a...
• 13:51
  I won't say it, but that's [laughs]... Uh, sometimes they recommend doing that. But, you know, I came off of N- NADA Academy, and there was a classmate who does over 800 mobile ROs a month, right?
• 14:03
  And he's been a- Wow... a, a very good person in terms of a, a good resource. And so we knew we wanted it, and we said, "This could actually help us." We just didn't know where to start. And so I reached out to him.
• 14:15
  He referred me to a company called Kirby, which is, like, a logistics and, um, mobile service partner. And, um, December of 2025, we launched our first, uh, mobile service van, um, against...
• 14:28
  You know, it w- it was, it was not easy at all. We didn't know what the hell [laughs] we were doing, to be honest with you. [laughs] And, um, we had some...
• 14:36
  You know, we had the service manager and the shop foreman, which, you know, didn't seem like they were all in it. In fact, um, they even said at one point, "Yeah, it's not really good for customers.
• 14:45
  Maybe it's good for fleet." And then you really start doubting yourself, you know, because- Yeah... like I said- Oh, man...
• 14:50
  these, you know, these guys started in service, and they've been in service their whole lives, you know. They probably know a lot more than I do about service. Um, and so, you know, we just kept, kept away at it.
• 15:03
  And, uh, the first thing we said is, "Let's target all of the customers we haven't seen in over a year." And so we built- Right... text campaigns, hit, hit all of those customers.
• 15:14
  Um, and this has been our biggest month yet. I was just checking this morning. We had 37 appointments, uh, for the month of September, our largest, uh, yet.
• 15:23
  Our second highest month was 26 appointments, uh, a couple months ago. Nice.
• 15:27
  And I pulled all of the appointments year to date, and 70% of the customers that we serviced remotely we hadn't seen in at least a year, some- Mm... as, uh, as long as, uh, 2021, so five years. Mm.
• 15:40
  Which is just incredible. Um- Yeah... and so, you know, that's when I f- I saw the...
• 15:47
  When I shared this, uh, these results with the service manager and shop foreman, I saw their eyes kind of glow, and it turned out- They forgot them. Yeah.
• 15:54
  [laughs] Well, it's kind of proving that it's no longer a vanity project, you know? It's not this $100,000 van that just sits there, you know, getting dusty. [laughs] It's, it's the- Mm-hmm. Yeah...
• 16:03
  it's a real life, um, you know, customer experience thing. And, and the customers want it. Every, you know- For sure... the main thing is, um, w- are we really relying on our BDC to spread the awareness?
• 16:16
  So if they get a call about service, and they qualify the call that they're, they, you know, we can service the car remotely.
• 16:23
  The moment they offer the customer mobile service, one of the first things they say is, "Is there a c- is there a cost to that?" You know? [laughs] And so they're already building the value in their head.
• 16:33
  They're assigning value to this, uh, service. And when we tell them no, they're, they're so beyond stoked. Um, the gross retention is a lot higher on these mobile appointments.
• 16:43
  I just pulled service A, for example, and, you know, when they're coming into the dealership, we're offering a, a minimum 5 to 10% discount. We're, we're having 100%, uh, gross retention on mobile. Wow.
• 16:56
  [laughs] Well, look, it, it's, it's the same reason why, like, video NPI, uh, sees more lines per RO and more gross dollars and, and, and higher effective labor rates. Because- Right...
• 17:05
  when you, when you, when you remove the barriers of, like, you know, "A- are you willing to sit in this, this lounge that is beautiful, but are you willing to sit here and not get on with the rest of your day while we do this thing," right?
• 17:19
  Right. And, and that completely changes. Defenses are down when all I have to do is pull my car out of the garage or hand you the keys to do it in the lot, uh, at my work.
• 17:28
  And, and I think, like, I keep saying this, and, and this is me personally, so look, if anybody listening in Nashville is doing this, uh, which I can't find anyone- Let Kyle know. [laughs] I will pay extra.
• 17:40
  Like, I, I will- Totally... I don't even care about the cost. Like- Right... come out to my dang house, you know? [laughs] Yeah, so. Okay, I, I have a question. Oops. #AskingForAFriend. Here you are.
• 17:52
  [laughs] Um, you, you bring up, you know, you, you bring up briefly, Amir, this, this exchange between yourself, i.e. the universal resourcefulness guy.
• 18:03
  Given your lived experience in the dealership, you're seeing things from a different vantage point. You, you mention this brief exchange with your service manager where there's that, that hesitancy What's...
• 18:14
  A- a- and, and I like that you did create a through line. You said, "Well, then I showed them," right? "I, I dismantled them with proof." Mm-hmm. Yeah.
• 18:22
  My question, my question is what did that actual in between look like? How long does that take?
• 18:29
  What, what's going through your mind as a leader where you're seeing, "No, this is gonna be beneficial to the business, but I need to get buy-in from my team"? 'Cause I, I think- You know-...
• 18:37
  a lot of people are struggling with that piece right now. Yeah, and it, and it's not gonna launch right away. I mean, you'll get... And here's the thing. We were getting immediate responses right away.
• 18:47
  Customers were giving us five-star reviews, the best comments. I mean, you'd think that I wrote these comments of h- how, how good they were. [laughs] But it was slow, right?
• 18:55
  It was a very slow start because there's a lot of adoption it has to, you know, go through. You know, you have service coordinators who are taking hundreds of calls with the same script over and over for years, right?
• 19:05
  Right. Now you're all of a sudden asking them to do something completely different. Um, for us, I mean, this is the first month where I really feel like it's taken off. We had...
• 19:12
  It, it kinda went like this, then it went down. Now it's, like, really taking off. Mm. Mm-hmm. Um, but for me, a- and I think you guys can attest to this, in, in our industry,
• 19:24
  people like to manage things by feelings, and I think that's extremely dangerous. And they'll change- Mm... processes just by the way they feel. And I'm very technical, you know, and so I hate that.
• 19:36
  It bo- bugs me when, you know... 'Cause I'm, I'm not about feelings. I'll go straight to the data and, and prove it, right? And so, you know, we pulled all of the ROs.
• 19:44
  We showed, you know, when was the last time they were in service before we serviced them remotely, and then the comments on top of that. And it was just one after another after another. Um, I used to call it perfect CSI.
• 19:56
  Now I have to say almost perfect CSI, um, because we had one four-star review. Um... [laughs] Ah. That actually makes it more believable, actually. It's more believable. Ah. Yes, exactly. Yeah.
• 20:09
  But there was perfect comments.
• 20:10
  And so this specific guest, you know, she actually bought her car in 2014, in April 2014, when the dealership opened, Mercedes-Benz of Temecula, and serviced her car every single year loyally until 2023. Mm.
• 20:28
  After 2023, no contact with the guest. We have not heard from the guest. We're reaching out to them via phone call, email, text, and just a ghost, right? Finally, we, we have this mobile service offering.
• 20:40
  We send the guest a text, and they respond back to the text saying, "Absolutely. I moved to Encinitas," which is, you know, almost 50 miles away. Wow. "Are you guys able to service my car here?"
• 20:53
  Now, this guest actually... This kinda shows how the, um, after sales loyalty thing can be very skewed.
• 20:59
  And this guest was still being counted against us even though they moved three, three years ago, and we had no idea why. We couldn't get ahold of them. And so we said, "Absolutely."
• 21:08
  So we drove an hour away and serviced the guest's, [laughs] you know, car. Um, and extremely happy. And so I have the verbatim. I'd love to read it to you. Um- Do it. Please do. Yeah. This is perfect. This is perfect.
• 21:21
  Okay. So, "I have taken my current MB to the Temecula service center for its annual maintenance since purchasing it from them as a new car in 2014. They have always provided me excellent service.
• 21:33
  This year, I tried their mobile service and was even more pleased." Wow. "Not only did they provide excellent service, I also did not have to leave my house." And she put a little emoticon of, like, this smiley face.
• 21:45
  Four stars. [laughs] I'll take it. [laughs] I'll take it. That's a misclick. That's a misclick all day. Had to be. That is. They, I don't think they knew. [laughs] I was so twisted.
• 21:55
  I was so twisted when I saw the four star that I did all... I di- I dove in, I looked at the Carfax, I looked at all the history. [laughs] And after I read that comment, I said, "You know what? I'm so happy.
• 22:05
  I'm so happy that she gave me a four star," [laughs] 'cause I would've never looked into it that deep. And so- Yeah. Oh, that's so cool... it was perfect, you know? Totally perfect.
• 22:11
  Yeah, 'cause you would've never read it if it was a five star. Five star. But now you get the story. Perfect. Now you get, now you get to tell the story, which is so beautiful.
• 22:17
  I, I, I'm so obsessed with the dealer owning the c- owning the retention path. Mm-hmm. Right? We- Right. I, I've said this over and over and over.
• 22:26
  In our industry, we have handed over the keys to retention to our clients, to our customers.
• 22:31
  We have said, "Hey, look, you're responsible for owning your retention as, as a loyal participant in this business transaction." And, and mobile service just, like, completely disarms that. You go text.
• 22:44
  You make it low barrier. You, you meet them where they're at. All the sudden, you are completely in control of, of that situation, and it gives them this ridiculously incredible experience- Right...
• 22:56
  where you don't have to leave your home. You do not... I, I just... That story- And it's-... alone is, is worth its weight in gold and- Absolutely... and should carry anybody into this.
• 23:05
  And it's breaking the trust barrier. I mean, you're meeting with the technician that's actually working on your car. I mean, I don't think- Yeah... we talk about that enough. When you go to a dealership- No...
• 23:13
  as beautiful as it is- Actually, I've never heard that mentioned. Right. I've never heard... I, I'd love to hear your perspective on this, 'cause I've never once heard that mentioned.
• 23:20
  We talk about videos increasing the trust between the technician- Now you've, you've broken that even further. I mean, so you go to our- Mm... beautiful dealership, right? You drive through the service drive.
• 23:28
  You meet our really nice, you know, valets. You, you know, you go to your advisor. You play tel- he plays telephone with the technician. When you come back, you drop your car off at the loaner car rep.
• 23:39
  You go check out with your advisor. You might check out with another cashier. And then hopefully, you know, everything [laughs] goes well in between all those touch points.
• 23:47
  But as you guys know, you know, communication is probably where we, you know, every dealership breaks down. Um, and especially on the service side when you have...
• 23:55
  You know, we have a massive service department, and these guys are, you know, doing so many ROs. No matter how perfect they are- Right. Yeah... they're, it's gonna, it's gonna fall, break down eventually. And so
• 24:06
  it, this just, you know, breaks all those barriers and, and the trust is, is, um, is increased and, uh, the customers are so much happier. How...
• 24:14
  Uh, that, that's one last question that I have, and I know we're going a little bit long, but- Tell me what the process and, like, do you have more technicians on the bench that are willing to go do this?
• 24:25
  Because it's a different persona too, right? You have to be willing to greet the guest.
• 24:28
  You have to be willing to go over the vehicle with them, which has really been a split personality between the advisor and the technician.
• 24:36
  How are you thinking about, like, training up or building a bench of technicians that can be drafted into the next service van, right?
• 24:44
  Well, so we just hired our first dedicated mobile service technician, you know, after 10 months almost o- of doing it. At first, we were just using our, um, you know, tire techs, lube techs type people.
• 24:56
  And, and they were doing fantastic at it. You know, they were the ones getting all those reviews in the beginning.
• 25:01
  Um, our tech that we just hired most recently was a former Mercedes-Benz technician and an Amazon lo- logistics driver, [laughs] so- Oh my gosh... he was, like, the perfect- Okay. Yeah.
• 25:11
  [laughs] But, you know, what I like to tell people is, 'cause, you know, we're looking to launch this. Actually, we just acquired the van for our Fresno dealership up north, um, yesterday.
• 25:21
  You know, they're so worried about we need to hire the right person to do this. And I, I don't believe it.
• 25:25
  I think every dealership actually has the resource already in their dealership, whether it's a technician that's, you know, C level, lube technician, somebody that's willing to do it, that's comfortable.
• 25:35
  You know, not every tech is comfortable being on camera, so why would they be comfortable in, in front of the phone? But I do believe that person exists in each dealership. We've had success- Yeah...
• 25:43
  with it at, at all of our launches so far. And, um, and you just need that one person, you know? And if you just have that one appointment, they can come back and do everything that they need to do for that day. So.
• 25:54
  Amazing. I feel, I feel like we need to give Michael a closing question, because this is one of those conversa- And it doesn't always go like this, Amir.
• 26:01
  Is that we're, like, all really excited to ask questions because- All the questions. [laughs]... you're dropping so many, like, new, fresh things in our mind.
• 26:09
  And so I thi- I feel like Michael should get the final question. I, I was just gonna say that I think the four-star review is actually more perfect than a five-star review. It is. Like, it's almost more believable.
• 26:19
  I totally agree. Like, I believe Dave Portnoy's pizza reviews more because he doesn't go to 10. You know? Yeah. Right. Like, it's, it's almost unachievable.
• 26:28
  So maybe it was a misclick, but I think who- they were actually just being truly honest. And, and so I, I mean, and you've already answered how you feel about it, so I don't really have a question. Mm-hmm.
• 26:36
  Other than that's, that's kind of what's been replaying in my mind. I'm like, "This is more perfect than, than five star." Maybe, maybe we need to- Right. I absolutely agree...
• 26:43
  decommission the coveted five star and open that one up. Oh, I totally agree. Ooh. I totally agree. Wow. Well- Well, that's good. Well, Amir, man, it's been a pleasure.
• 26:52
  We're gonna get the opportunity to hang out with you in person on November 18th. You're coming to ASOTU CON West. Gonna be talking more.
• 26:58
  If people are interested in learning more about this, the nits, the details, the things, the setup stuff that aren't u- that we can't get to on a podcast, I'm sure you'll be willing to hang out with them there.
• 27:06
  But for now, thank you so much for joining us today on this edition of Auto Collabs. Thanks so much for having me, guys. It's been a pleasure. [upbeat music] Just when you think you've heard 'em all, you hear a new one.
• 27:22
  You know what's going through my mind? I'm like, "Why couldn't I go to a mall administrator?" Like, all these outlet malls. Mm-hmm. Thousands of cars in a parking lot.
• 27:34
  Why couldn't I go to the mall administrator as a dealer- And just rip... yeah, and be like, "Hey, yo, we wanna do a co- like a" whatever. Not complimentary. I shouldn't say that. But, like- It's not even complimentary.
• 27:44
  It's just a joint partnership. Throw it up everywhere. Come here. Get your oil changed in the shop. Right. I mean- Come and shop. We'll change your oil while you're shopping.
• 27:52
  And, like, that thing just ripping up and down aisles in the- No-brainer. Yeah. Is that a thing? Gosh. Could that be possible? Next. I think you'd have to have a station. You couldn't go up and down aisles.
• 28:02
  You'd have to have a spot you bring the cars to, like a sta- like, you know, normally- Yeah, that's fair. Yep. You don't wanna block the roadways.
• 28:06
  Park it here, put the little hat on it, and then you're next, you're next, you're next, you know? There's always that, that section- They do that with de-...
• 28:11
  of the mall parking lot that no one wants to park in They do it with detailing. They do it with detailing?
• 28:13
  In places, not in Syracuse places, but in other places where it's nice outside more of the year, they do- I feel like there's a goldmine there. There is. It's easy. No one's stopping you from doing it.
• 28:21
  Look, I'm, I'm here for finding... Like, someone send us... I wanna do, like, a co- a content series on perfect four-star reviews. Like, go digging in your store, because there's so many good stories.
• 28:35
  And probably the four-star reviews, if there is any level of gripe in there, it's the best possible gripe- Right... for you to actually execute on. It is. Right?
• 28:46
  The three and the f- two stars, like, you know there's a good chance those were the one-offs, right?
• 28:51
  But the ones that go, "No, I'm gonna give 'em a four star 'cause they were really great, but there's this one little thing. If you got that one little thing better, I guarantee-" Right...
• 28:57
  "the rest would be just fine" It's, it's, like, more honest or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's more believable without a doubt. Yeah. Tell the OEMs. Yeah.
• 29:04
  Well, look, uh, all said and done, we hope you join us at ASOTU CON West so you can meet Amir in person. We can hang out, and, uh, we can talk, like, a deeper level of shop than we can on a podcast.
• 29:14
  You can go to asotuconwest.com and get your tickets before they're gone, 'cause it's smaller than the east one. Smaller, less seats, but you get to meet Amir at this one. Uh, and go follow Amir on LinkedIn.
• 29:26
  Uh, definitely somebody worth paying attention to. On behalf of Michael Cirillo, Kyle Mountsier, and myself, Paul J. Daly, thank you as always for joining us on Auto Collabs. [upbeat music] Welcome to Auto Collabs.
• 29:42
  Welcome to Auto Collabs. [laughs] Why are we recording? Are we rolling yet? Not yet