The Dealer Playbook

What if the reason things didn’t click in 2025 has less to do with your tools and more to do with your willingness to change? In this solo year in review episode, I’m slowing things down to reflect on what 2025 actually taught us. Not the highlight reel. The real stuff. The hard conversations, the uncomfortable growth, the moments where leadership, culture, and discipline mattered more than any sh...

What if your success today could quietly sabotage your future, unless you build a plan beyond the next car deal? In this episode of The Dealer Playbook , I sit down with Tustin Ulrich , General Manager of Roper Kia (one of the most dominant Kia stores in Missouri) and founder of The 1% Effect , a real estate investor concierge designed specifically for high-earning operators who don’t want to lose...

What happens when precision from aviation meets creativity in automotive marketing? In this episode, Ashley Brockhurst , Director of Marketing and Health & Safety at Charlesglen Toyota in Calgary, Alberta — “Alberta’s Celebration Destination” — shares how her dealership’s community-first philosophy is redefining what automotive retail can look like. From aviation safety to dealership marketing...

What happens when a dealer group bets big on hospitality, culture, and process, instead of pressure, price, and tradition? Today, multi-store operator JB Burnett joins me to unpack the launch of his brand new Ford Signature 2.0 store , the first of its kind in the world , and why the guest experience is now his most powerful competitive advantage. We dive into how he moved an entire dealership eig...

If you’ve ever wondered how a small-town Ford store ends up going mega-viral , builds a loyal community, and turns everyday dealership life into must-watch content… this episode is for you. Today I’m joined by the brilliant, hilarious, and wildly creative Noella Salter , the marketing manager behind Lang & Fetter Ford’s social media presence that the entire industry can’t stop talking about. S...

What if your biggest dealership problems aren’t “market problems”… but creativity problems? In this episode of The Dealer Playbook , Michael sits down with Nir Bashan , world-renowned creativity expert, founder & CEO of The Creator Mindset, LLC , Clio Award winner, and Emmy-nominated former Hollywood/advertising executive to show car dealers how to use creativity as a practical business tool ,...

How should Canadian dealers REALLY be using data to price, appraise, and move inventory in 2025? In this episode of The Dealer Playbook , Michael sits down with Yolanda Bishwah , President of Canadian Black Book (CBB) , the data backbone behind used vehicle valuations and residual forecasts for OEMs, lenders, and retailers across the country. With 65+ years of market data at her fingertips, Yoland...

Guest Marion Cain (ACE founder; creator of Kharisma Mastery ) breaks down a science-based playbook for dealership sales and F&I teams to own the room , deliver luxury touchpoints (on any brand), and turn trust into revenue . We cover the first 90 seconds, nonverbal cues, “portable stories,” True Cost of Ownership framing, and how to use GPT/AI to tailor your pitch to any buyer’s personality, w...

AI vs. Google isn’t theoretical anymore; your buyers are already switching how they search. In this episode, Marcus Sheridan (author of They Ask, You Answer and Endless Customers ) shares fresh data from ~3,000 pros on how often they now use ChatGPT instead of Google , what that means for SEO, content, and lead gen , and how car dealerships can pivot now to stay discoverable. You’ll learn: Why “ex...

Curiosity beats fear in modern retail automotive. In this episode of The Dealer Playbook, Michael Cirillo sits down with Sebrina Westbrooke, Program Manager at Georgian College’s Automotive Business School of Canada and lead for the Canadian Dealer Academy, to unpack how car dealerships are future-proofing leadership teams for AI, electrification, digital retailing, and connected services—without...

There’s something special about people who build where no blueprint exists. My guest today, Alex Lawrence, is one of those people. He’s a tech veteran, tenured professor, and serial entrepreneur who co-founded EV Auto, one of the first dealership groups in the U.S. dedicated entirely to used EVs and plug-in hybrids. But what really stands out about Alex isn’t just what he’s built, it’s how he’s bu...

What makes someone dream of being in the car business, and then actually make it happen? In this episode, I sit down with Tara Willis, a seasoned automotive professional who turned her childhood love for cars into a 20-year career working with major automotive brands like BMW, Subaru, Nissan, and Infiniti. Tara now leads product marketing and incentives planning at Infiniti, and she’s using her vo...

Selling more cars isn't for the faint of heart. It requires daily commitment, discipline, and genuine human connection. In this episode, my guest is Jean-Pierre Lacroix , president and founder of SLD, a global branding firm that’s spent more than 30 years helping businesses win customers by tapping into what really drives decisions: emotion. He’s the author of Think Blink Manifesto , a book th...

In this episode my guest is Brad Gelber , Digital Media and Content Marketing Manager at West Herr Auto Group, the largest privately owned dealer group in New York. Brad and I dive into what it really takes to market a dealership in today’s world without sounding like every other store in town. We talk about the role leadership and culture play in shaping a brand’s voice, why raw phone-shot conten...

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. We love to talk about legacy in this industry. The photos on the wa...

In this episode my guest is Jimmy Douglas , founder and CEO of Plug and former Tesla exec. Jimmy’s one of the sharpest voices in the pre-owned EV market, and he’s here to break down what most dealers are missing, and what a small group is quietly getting right. We talk about why nearly half of dealers still won’t touch used EVs, what it actually takes to build a profitable EV business inside your...

In this episode my guest is Ondar Tarlow, a marketing strategist with more than 20 years of experience working with brands like Fastlane Drive, Pacific Premier Bank, and the LA Chargers. He’s built a career on creating events and campaigns that actually move people—sometimes literally into showrooms. We dig into the big question dealers wrestle with all the time: what actually makes an event memor...

In this episode, my guest is Shasta Haddock , Chief Operations Officer at Epic BDC and host of I'm A Car Chick Podcast. With over a decade in automotive, she’s built high-performing BDC teams and even created the industry’s first elite response team that turns social media traffic into real showroom appointments. We get into some very real challenges that are still holding dealerships back in 2025...

In this episode my guest is Janis Showers, founder of The Car Girls, who has spent more than 25 years helping dealerships turn phone calls and customer conversations into lasting relationships and profit. We dig into why the simplest interaction—the phone call—is still one of the biggest stumbling blocks in 2025, and what that says about the way dealers connect with their customers. Janis shares w...

In this episode, my guest is Megan McDowell, Vice President of Operations at TrueCar. Megan’s career started on the sales floor at Lexus of Austin and took her all the way to the executive table without leaving the automotive industry. We dig into what she learned from those bell-to-bell dealership days that gave her an edge in leadership, and how skills you might take for granted—like reading peo...

Let’s just be real. The ground has shifted—and it’s not just a ripple. It’s a full-blown seismic shift under every industry, every role, every business model. In this episode, I’m unpacking what that actually means for those of us in the retail auto world and beyond as we navigate artificial intelligence. You’ve seen the AI overviews show up before Google search results. You’ve heard the noise "AI...

We’re throwing it back to one of the most practical and actionable episodes of MC on the Mic—and for good reason. This strategy is so simple, it almost feels too good to be true. But it's exactly the kind of innovative (not inventive ) move that the top 1% in sales and service swear by. In this solo episode, I break down a three-step framework that anyone —yes, even if you're not in sales—can use...

In this episode, my guest is Gary Graves ,  the kind of guy who can build a SaaS platform by day and grade a dirt road by night. One foot in the tech world, the other in the real one. Equal parts futurist and hands-on problem solver, he's spent years collecting and analyzing the conversations dealerships have with their customers—and the insights he’s uncovered are eye-opening.  We first aire...

In this episode, my guest is David Pulla, President of Dynamic Tire, one of Canada’s largest tire distributors. We dive into a part of the business that most dealers overlook—tires—and explore how they’re not just rubber on a rim, but one of the most practical tools for increasing retention, profitability, and service traffic. We talk about how dealers can rethink their parts and service strategy,...

In this episode I’m joined by Arthur J. Madjarian, a guy who’s been neck-deep in retail automotive, pivoted into mergers & acquisitions, and now helps dealer groups grow, exit, and scale smart. If you’ve ever wondered how M&A works in the auto industry, or whether dealership ownership is still worth chasing in 2025, this is your episode. Arthur talks about real-life strategy, timing, red f...