The Dealer Playbook

The vendor hype machine has dealers buying AI SEO, GEO and AI visibility on faith. Brooke Furniss shows you what to verify before you write the next check. Every few months there’s another marketing acronym dealers are told they need to understand. And with each new term comes another vendor promising to get your store ahead. Brooke Furniss, founder of BZ Consultants Group and host of Facts Not Fe...

Could your dealership be missing out on 50 additional car sales every month? Luke Godwin, a third-generation car dealer, founder of Godwin Consulting Group, and co-host of the Independent Dealer Podcast, believes many franchise dealers are overlooking an opportunity sitting right inside their existing operations. Luke has managed a buy here, pay here business with over 900 customer accounts. And h...

This is one of those episodes where you'll want to pull up your own website halfway through. Michael sits down with his neighbor, Wade of Kerzie.ai, to talk about why AI keeps skipping right past dealership websites. Wade's been tracking how fast search is shifting. A year ago, 6% of people were using ChatGPT to search. Now it's 45%. When one of those people asks ChatGPT to find them a...

Kevin Rudolph sold 64 cars in a month and worked 14 or 15 days to do it. He didn't chase ups, and he didn't wait on the BDC. Kevin is a top-producing salesperson at a single-point Buick GMC store in rural northwest New Jersey. Before sales, he spent 13 years as a master tech and shop owner, and he only stepped onto the sales floor because his wife pushed him. He had one condition. His kids...

Charlie Czerniawski, better known as Emcee Charlie, has spent more than two decades in automotive retail and built a significant following across Instagram and TikTok. But this conversation is much bigger than follower counts. Charlie explains how salespeople can use social media to become known in their market before a customer ever walks into the dealership. That familiarity changes the interact...

Hank Ebeling is the Owner and Lead Coach at H4 Training. With a background in the fitness industry and a deep understanding of hospitality, Hank has honed his skills in delivering exceptional customer experiences. His expertise has helped numerous small businesses differentiate themselves through superior service, making him a sought-after consultant and author of "Crushing the Competition wi...

How do you sell 300+ used cars a month in a town of 2,900 people, and buy 240 vehicles off the street without relying on auctions? In this episode, Rob Ruth the President / Owner of Bob Ruth Ford, Dillsburg PA breaks down the real playbook behind scaling a pre-owned-first dealership inside a franchise system, and why a startup mindset, disciplined acquisition, and a culture built on partnership ca...

Travis Baldwin started detailing cars at his family's independent dealership in 1999. He worked his way up through buyer, sales associate, sales manager, area manager, and eventually Vice President at Best Deal Auto Sales, all while serving on the board of the Indiana Independent Auto Dealer Association and spending time as a reserve police officer. Travis joins Michael to talk about something...

Most dealerships want more visibility. The interesting question is whether they’re fully using the visibility they already have. In this episode , Michael Cirillo breaks down an overlooked opportunity inside Google Business Profile and how dealerships can use it to get in front of more high-intent local car shoppers. Google Business Profile is already helping shoppers find the store, read reviews,...

Most people assume the biggest problem in retail auto is inventory, rates, or competition. But every time I walk into a dealership, I see something else at the core of the struggle. It isn’t obvious on the surface, but you can feel it in the turnover, the burnout, the “busy but not fulfilled” pace that too many teams are stuck in. In this week’s solo episode, I share what I believe is the biggest...

This week Michael talks with a Cadillac Sales Consultant at Andrews Cadillac in Brentwood, Tennessee, who spent years ranked in the top 100 nationally before ever posting online, and then built 150,000 followers in a single year without her numbers dropping. She walks through the moment she realized being good at her job wasn't enough to stay on top. She needed more people to know it. That&#39...

Most dealers are fighting over a sliver of traffic while the majority goes unclaimed. Matt Copley, Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Revenue Officer of Hrizn, joins Michael to unpack it. With over 25 years across media, adtech, and martech, including a decade working inside retail automotive itself, Matt's built a career watching how dealers show up online, and now builds the platform to fix it....

Average production has a cost, and it usually shows up long before someone notices it in their paycheck. After 18 years in automotive retail, Raul stepped away from the general sales manager position and returned to the showroom floor as a client advisor. He wanted to reconnect with the customer experience and find out what separates someone selling ten cars a month from someone consistently produ...

Every operator has felt it: too many fires, no clear order of attack, and the creeping sense that whatever you fix first is a guess. This episode centers on a simple decision-making framework: plot every project against how easy it is to achieve and how big the return would be, then go after the highest-value, lowest-effort work first. It's borrowed straight from corporate America, and it works be...

Jonathan Dawson has spent over 20 years training dealerships as the president and founder of Sellcology and co-founder of the Pinnacle Society. A year ago, he became an owner and operator himself at Cherokee Mitsubishi. This episode centers on one story: a 10 year veteran salesperson who'd been chasing 40 cars a month for a decade, topping out at 39, and told Jonathan flatly that the only way...

Rob Dell runs a Ford store in a town of just 2,700 people, boxed in by a competing Ford dealer every seven miles. Instead of fighting for new car volume he could never win, he rebuilt his store around used cars, taking monthly volume from around 175 to close to 400. Rob Dell is the Vice President at Bob Ruth Ford, and he's spent almost 30 years figuring out what actually makes a dealership wor...

There's a moment in this conversation where Charlie Spradlin says something most GMs would never admit out loud, and it's the reason his multi-rooftop dealer group keeps adapting faster than everyone else around him. He's not running things the way you'd expect for someone breaking records the way he is. This episode gets into how he actually leads his team through constant market...

Is your dealership struggling to move used EVs while your competitors are banking big? It's time to stop letting inventory sit and start capitalizing on the massive opportunity in the pre-owned electric vehicle market. In this episode with Lyteflo Co-Founder and CEO Ryan Osten, you'll discover: Why used EVs are consistently delivering up to $5,000 in total gross profit per unit. The critic...

Are the "AI zealots" and "AI doomsayers" clouding your judgment about what artificial intelligence actually means for your automotive retail business? It’s time to move beyond the hype and fear and discover the practical, actionable ways AI can elevate your dealership and refocus your team on what truly matters: human connection. What you will get from this episode: - Understand how AI can free up...

Are you still relying on outdated inventory practices that drain your profits and time? Many general managers and dealer principals dismiss inventory operations as "not super exciting problems," yet these foundational issues are costing your dealership hundreds of thousands in wasted ad spend and lost sales opportunities. It's time to stop the bleed and optimize where it matters most...

In this episode, automotive F&I expert Adam Marburger reveals how leveraging data and accountability is generating a nearly $400 lift in F&I PDR per transaction for dealerships. Discover how top-performing dealers aren't chasing the next shiny object, but instead focusing on human capital and systematic processes to protect and grow their bottom line. What you will get from this episod...

In today's rapidly changing automotive retail landscape, are you positioning your dealership for unprecedented growth or an inevitable decline? Many long-standing car dealerships are facing a market that’s poised to create a “bloodbath for many,” while simultaneously launching others to unprecedented success. The question isn't 'if' the market will change, but whether you're re...

Are you leaving money on the table in a flat market? While some see limited growth, others are leveraging technology to find profitability others miss. The key isn't working harder, it's working smarter. In this episode, Greg Uland, VP of Marketing at The Reynolds and Reynolds, reveals how unified data and AI can transform your dealership's operational efficiency. He breaks down how AI goes far be...

Is your dealership spending more on ads but selling fewer cars? Many automotive retail leaders pour massive budgets into marketing, hoping to generate more traffic, only to find their ROI shrinking. What if the answer isn't "more" but "smarter" – starting with your own backyard? From this episode, you’ll discover: Why "owning your backyard" is the most profitable, yet overlooked, growth strategy i...

Are you tired of hearing the same old talk about how "hard" automotive retail is? Everyone acknowledges the challenges, but few are willing to roll up their sleeves and actually do the hard work that creates real, sustainable dealer growth. This isn't about avoiding difficulty; it's about making deliberate choices that set your dealership apart. Here's what you'll get fro...