Beyond The First Pencil

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Do short skirts equal leads?  Does hiring actors to pretend they’re employees send the right message to car buyers? Does anyone else think this trend is not worthwhile? (ie: Does it pencil??) Kathi and Mike discuss the poorly-conceived trend of dealers posting on TikTok and Instagram going for “viral” clicks (while likely not considering important business...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 We miss Klout. Do you remember it? Social media nostalgia: it’s difficult to understand how we got here today, but boy, it sure used to be fun. Discussing fake followers and reviews: Fact - It’s always a bad idea. Highlighting Rand Fishkin’s insights on the decline of clicks, attribution, and traditional digital marketing methods. The way we've done d...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Kathi and Mike share our insights on the latest of several disappointing changes to the Google Business Profile platform. Google Places > Google Maps > Google Local > Google My Business > Google has failed us all. Google has a new core update coming in a “couple of weeks.” Let’s hope it corrects the myriad of issues created by the last two.  Th...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Kathi and Mike talk about the micro-actions we take everyday on social and other platforms that provide value to others. Dealers tend to only care about leads and sales, which are uber important, but there are other metrics in mix that can guide where we spend our resources. Also, we are in the midst of an AI bubble. When will it burst? Who will be left wi...

👉 Get Kathi’s ebook: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI for Automotive Retail 👈 This week, Kathi and Mike cover: The CDK fallout and who it’s falling on: updates on what’s happening in real time with the real people on the front lines Zero-Click Search: what it is and what it really means for anyone who isn’t a big brand. Google Business Profiles - are they still relevant? Here’s a link to the SparkToro...

👉 Get Kathi’s ebook: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI for Automotive Retail 👈 At our core, we are car people. We are upset to witness what’s happening to our fellow car people at CDK dealerships. This fact is the driver for this week’s episode.  While the CDK cyber attack is causing major disruption to sales, service and parts, there will be even more challenging times ahead for the accounting departme...

👉 Get Kathi’s ebook: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI for Automotive Retail 👈 This week we chat about Kathi’s trip to Vegas for NIADA where she spoke about online reputation management.  Then we share our thoughts on the CDK outage debacle and what it means for dealership personnel. (of course, the debacle was not over at the time of taping) Mike recommends a Hulu documentary. Kathi recommends a Netfli...

👉 Get Kathi’s ebook: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI for Automotive Retail 👈 Let’s talk about the recent changes Google is making to search. It’s a wild ride and it’s not at all over yet.  Music segment: Siouxsie Sioux B-day Beach Boys documentary (thumbs down) 100 ft Wave documentary 👉 Get Kathi’s ebook: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI for Automotive Retail 👈 Got a question? Email either of us! Kathi: ka...

👉 Get Kathi’s ebook: “A Beginner’s Guide to AI for Automotive Retail 👈 Why women dislike service departments = Failure to meet their needs The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence states that women represent between 65% and 80% of automotive service customers. This means the female customer experience is directly related to service department revenue. Kathi and Mike  the subscrib...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Beyond the obvious homage to Bon Jovi in this episode's title - in honor of the new Bon Jovi documentary - Kathi and Mike discuss the fallout/repercussions of the last 3-4 years of dealer markups. Of course the market often required markups due to supply chain issues and low inventory, but what comes next is that customers who want to get into a new c...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life. It can also be the difference between you and the competition.  Kathi and Mike share some real time stories about employees that have gone the extra mile, and in the process made themselves memorable. We also share some examples of what happens when poor management, lack of training and a culture tha...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Spring is always a good time to review and reflect on what’s working for you, what’s not, and what needs more attention. Kathi and Mike share a few “Spring Cleaning” stories and best practices at the dealership.  Music segment:  Alanis Morrisette on David Letterman: You Oughta Know Milli Vanilli documentary The bizarre untold truth behind the greatest con...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 This week, Kathi and Mike share insights on Rand Fishkin’s SparkToro’s website traffic sources study. Some surprises, great data. Then we talk about the valuable company assets known as social media business pages. It’s no longer simple or easy to retrieve them if you don’t have login credentials so we share our best practices for how to never find yoursel...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 As we witness every social media channel changing and shifting, so goes the user experience and behavior on each one.  Kathi and Mike try to make sense of the current state of social platforms, how to navigate the changes and what we can expect for the foreseeable future.  One thing that doesn’t change? The need for outstanding, relatable, educational cont...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Mike gives us a breakdown of the goings-on at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention from his view as an exhibitor.   As introverts, we both share certain traits (that are completely normal BTW) that make large groupings of people (like conferences, conventions) sometimes hard to navigate and are often draining. In our music segment: The Ro...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Kathi and Mike are back with an episode to catch you up on what’s hip and what’s not in the world of using AI. We both come from dealerships so our perspective is different from that of a vendor’s. There’s a lot to learn and say about this exciting new tool but for now, here’s what we’re seeing as a practical way of incorporating AI to enhance operations w...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 The 2023 Cox Automotive Service Study reveals a significant shift in consumer preferences regarding vehicle service providers and customer experience. While dealerships historically led as the preferred choice, they are now facing increasing competition from general repair shops. This change is driven by a decline in consumer trust towards dealerships. Mus...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 We’re back after a short hiatus. Thanks for listening! In this episode, Kathi and Mike reminisce about their journey through automotive social media and online reputation management.  Music:  RIP Shane MacGowan/The Pogues FairyTale of New York (1988) The Dubliners and The Pogues (1987)  The Irish Rover Here’s one with Joe Strummer (The Clash) (1987) I Foug...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Mike just got back from the Digital Dealer Conference in Las Vegas. We have thoughts. Twitter, the platform we’ve loved for 14+ years, is officially dead. While both of us are still there, we are down to about 5% of the amount we used to be. Many sane users have been looking for a place to go. We’ve tried most of the new platforms and we think one has the...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 For some reason, Kathi and Mike have both been witnessing a lot of disturbing customer treatment lately. This week, we share a few stories and then discuss how that’s a losing proposition in today’s retail environment. Then, we discuss why it’s important to have a written social media policy and some training to mitigate online crisis management. And final...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 One of the most important parts of social media strategy is to monitor comments. It can be as simple as taking a few minutes out of your day to review comments and respond where appropriate, or advanced as using online marketing and data analytics tools. All of it will provide valuable insights into customer sentiment, customer experience and perception of...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 We can all agree that change is hard, right? It’s super easy to retreat into the comfort of old habits (we’re all guilty of it!). Change is often accompanied by uncertainty, discomfort, and even fear and so resisting seems like the easier route. But when we view large and small shifts as opportunities rather than setbacks, new worlds open up.  Kathi shares...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 You should consider your social media profiles as company assets. Don’t run the risk of losing them by giving outsized access to vendors. You wouldn’t give a vendor keys to the store so they can work on the vending machine, right?  Mike got a new mic! Music segment: The Cure Elvis Costello Got a question (or two or three)? Email either (or both) of us! Kat...

👉 Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here 👈 Kathi and Mike believe delivering the very best customer experience is crucial to dealership profitability. When it comes to selling cars, not all customers are created equal. Some approach the dealership with a lack of trust and the expectation of an adversarial buying experience. Sometimes, people are just shady, which happens in any business that deals...

Kathi and Mike are car biz veterans. We strive to make the car biz a better place. Mike shares his less-than-5-star dealer service experience and as with all things dealership customer related, we are inspired to share content ideas for service dept personnel and the marketers who love them. Kathi shares her experience running the Hanaeleh horse rescue’s Hay Fundraiser on social media. She conduct...