ConnectedPodcast

On today's Connected, Greg sits down with James Dieli, warranty administrator at Beau Townsend Ford and Automotive Amplifiers contest winner. From serving hotdogs at the dealership as a kid to steering his career in the automotive industry today, James embarked on his journey early and continues to drive forward with passion and dedication. He and Greg discuss a number of topics, including: -The s...

On today's Connected, Greg sits down with Shawn Concannon, president of TSD Mobility Solutions, a leader in fleet management software Reynolds and Reynolds acquired back in August. Shawn got his start in automotive renting cars right out of college, building a foundation in the industry that eventually led him to TSD. Shawn shared a lot of great insight into these areas of rental and fleet managem...

Today on Connected, Greg speaks in studio with two guests: Jean Ings and Katrina Ness. Although Jean and Katrina come from diverse paths—Jean as a talented scriptwriter at Quantum5 and Katrina as an ambitious Junior at Northwood University—they share a remarkable journey ahead: becoming rising stars in the dynamic world of the automotive industry. They cover a number of topics including: -How to c...

On today's episode of Connected, we're shining a spotlight on the winners of our Automotive Amplifiers Contest! At Reynolds Retail Summit: Amplify 2024, we held a best practices contest to share great ideas across the automotive industry. We highlighted ideas from three different categories: fixed operations, variable operations, and people. In this episode, you'll hear from the three winners. -Va...

In honor of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Greg is joined this week by Brad Holton, founder of Proton Dealership IT. Since starting Proton in 2013, Brad has seen an evolution in the nature of cyberattacks and cybersecurity. He's got a great handle on how cybercrime has changed and what we can all look out for moving forward. Brad and Greg discuss: -When a cyber event happens, how do you make it a...

Today on Connected, Greg talks with Alan Amici, president and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), a 501c3 organization with the mission to inform and advise to create a stronger and more viable automotive industry. Alan joined CAR after a 35+ year career with Stellantis. His wealth of experience has given him so much knowledge and insight into what's next for our industry. Alan and Gr...

On today's Connected, Greg sits down with Cheryl Thompson, founder and CEO of the Center for Automotive Diversity, Inclusion, and Advancement (also known as CADIA). Cheryl has had a 30+ year career in automotive, primarily working with the Ford Motor Company. Her time in this industry has taught her a lot about leadership, DEI, and the value of automotive careers. Greg and Cheryl discuss: -How to...

Today's Connected is a big milestone — it's episode 150! Greg sat down with Richard Greene, fixed ops director at Parker Lexus, Parker Cadillac, and Audi Little Rock to celebrate. Richard started his career in service right out of college, and since then he's worked in just about every role in the department. These experiences have helped Richard create an extremely successful service apprenticesh...

On this extended episode of Connected, host Greg Uland sits down with Steve Greenfield, general partner at Automotive Ventures. Steve has held many roles within the automotive industry and is probably a familiar face for some of you from countless conferences and events. In his current role in the venture capital space, Steve spends a lot of time on current and future struggles impacting dealers a...

The FTC estimates that synthetic identity fraud now accounts for 80-85% of all identity fraud. On this episode of Connected, Greg sits down with Frank Toms from Auto Data Direct to talk about what kind of challenges this type of fraud presents for dealers. Frank and Greg discuss everything dealers need to know including: -What constitutes synthetic fraud. -The risk synthetic fraud poses to dealers...

On this episode of Connected, Greg is joined by Dusty Weis, president of Podcamp Media and host of the award-winning Lead Balloon podcast. Dusty has quite the background in media and public relations, and he shared great insight into how dealers can be communicative and transparent with their customers when faced with a PR crisis. Dusty and Greg discuss: -Creating a proactive crisis communication...

Today's Connected episode is a little different than what we had planned. Dealerships are some of the most resilient businesses out there, but recent events have left a lot of dealers with understandable concerns about their system's security. Greg is joined in studio by Chris Gologanoff, Sales Director of Communication Services here at Reynolds, to talk about: -How dealers are reacting to their s...

On today's episode, Greg is joined by Cory Coler, a supervisor on the Product Management team at Reynolds and Reynolds. He handles fixed operations products from the beautiful Reynolds office down in Tampa. They sit down to chat about the influence of different retail experiences on consumers' service expectations, creating a 'no sales pressure' environment, and utilizing technology to build trust...

On this episode of Connected, Greg is joined by Mike Martinez, COO of DealerOn. Mike has been working to help provide quality websites to dealerships since the early days, back when many dealers didn't even have a site. And since then, he's been a part of every update to keep up with shifting consumer behaviors. Mike and Greg discuss: -Personalizing the shopping experience for consumers on your we...

On this episode of Connected Greg is joined by Sandra Gonzalez, also known as "The Fleet Queen." Sandra is the national government and commercial fleet manager at Peoria Ford out in sunny Arizona. Since 2019, Peoria Ford's government fleet sales have tripled with the help of Sandra and her team. She and Greg chat about: -Establishing your brand in a niche space like the fleet market. -Keeping up w...

On this episode of Connected, Greg is joined by two guests from Automotive Warranty Network Inc. — Jake Trott, the vice president of account management, and Jason Tuck, the sales and marketing manager. Warranty claims work isn't talked about very often, but it can be critical to your bottom line. Jake and Jason sat down to talk about: -Common issues to look for before submitting warranty claims. -...

On today's episode Greg is joined by Glenn Mercer, long-time automotive researcher and the author of the popular blog, Car Charts. Glenn has been a part of the automotive space for decades. Before turning to automotive research and starting his blog, Glenn worked in the automotive consulting space with McKinsey & Company for over 20 years. In this conversation, he offers some great insights and id...

The average car deal requires 39 feet of forms, and with regular updates to state and federal regulations, it can be a challenge for many dealerships to keep all those documents up-to-date. On today's episode, Reynolds VP of Marketing Greg Uland is joined by another Greg: Greg Schaeffer, Vice President of Compliance. They discuss some ideas for how dealers can protect themselves by identifying are...

This week's episode of Connected is one for the record books. Greg welcomes two in-studio guests for the first time and it's one of the longest conversations we've ever had! Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier from Automotive State of the Union (ASOTU) visited the Reynolds and Reynolds headquarters for the first time to talk about building a macro-brand, creative storytelling, and the role dealerships...

On this episode of Connected, TrueSpot CEO/Founder Mike Hanna joins Greg in studio to discuss his experience working in a dealership and how the company got started. Watch the entire conversation to hear some of Mike's stories about how tracking down keys can put you in some unexpected places...like digging through a dumpster!

This week's episode of Connected is a bit of a special one. A few weeks ago at NADA, we had 11 great conversations in our booth on the show floor with people from different parts of the automotive industry: dealers, students, influencers, ADA presidents, vendors, and CEOs. Each conversation discussed a new and fun topic from service efficiency to AI, eContracting, and more. In this episode, Greg g...

"For over 125 years dealers have been successful and adapted to every technological change in our industry. Whether it's how vehicles are sold or the technology used in the vehicles, dealers are constantly updating their ability to reach their customers." On this episode of Connected, Greg sits down with Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association and outgoing ATAE chairman...

On today’s episode, Greg sits down with Jose Mendoza, general manager at San Leandro Honda. With inventory levels beginning to stabilize, Jose offers some great tips for navigating the used vehicle market. Hear his thoughts on: -Selling new vs. used. -Finding profitable inventory. -Pricing to your specific market.

On today's episode, Dan Shine, senior editor of Automotive News, joins Greg in the Connected studio.  As a Detroit native and experienced journalist, Dan has great insight into what’s going on in the industry and how’s it being talked about in the media. Get Dan's insight on: -Important topics that aren't being talked about enough. -Subjects to keep an eye out for in the future. -How he identifies...

Today on Connected, Greg sits down with Curtis Lewsey, the founder of DealerCards and bestselling author of Appreciation Marketing. Curtis has figured out how dealerships can turn a simple "thank you" into a competitive advantage. Listen as they discuss: -What you can do to increase repeat business. -How to earn customer referrals, not just ask for them. -How to build a lasting customer relationsh...