February 13, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode, my guest is Chance Mayfield, founder of Carfluent - we sit down to talk about how dealerships can better connect with Spanish-speaking buyers, create a seamless customer experience, and ultimately drive more sales.
Here’s the deal… The Spanish-speaking car market in the U.S. is MASSIVE yet it remains one of the most underserved consumer groups in the auto industry. Dealers are either ignoring it or flat-out getting it wrong. And that? That’s leaving a TON of money on the table.
Here’s what we cover:
- The biggest mistakes dealers make when marketing to Spanish-speaking customers
- Why just “translating” your website isn’t enough (and what ACTUALLY works)
- How to eliminate the “fire drill” that happens when Spanish-speaking customers call in
- Why staffing up the right way can transform your sales numbers
- The hidden opportunity that most dealers don’t realize exists—and how to capitalize on it
The kicker? The U.S. is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world after Mexico—yet most dealerships aren’t making the right moves to serve this massive customer base. The dealers who lean in and get it right are seeing insane close rates and next-level referrals.
If you’ve ever wondered how to stand out in a competitive market and tap into a high-intent, high-ROI customer base, this episode is for you.
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This Episode's Sponsor
FlexDealer Need Better Quality Leads? FLX helps car dealers generate better quality leads through localized organic search and highly-targeted digital ads that convert. Not only that, they work tirelessly to ensure car dealers integrate marketing and operations for a robust and functional growth strategy.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode is brought to you by FlexDealer hey
auto industry.
My guest today is ChanceMayfield, the founder of
(00:20):
CarFluent.
We're going to explore theSpanish car shopping shopping
market in particular, what youneed to be thinking about and
doing to maximize opportunities,as well as the mistakes to
avoid chance.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
welcome to the dealer playbook oh, thanks for having
me, man I'm.
I couldn't be happier to behere, brother, all right yeah,
let's do it um you.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You are.
Wait, are you us?
Are you in the south too?
Um you, you are wait.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Are you us?
Are you in the south too?
Yeah, yep, we're probably.
Are you in texas?
So we're in dallas, yep, yep,so I, I actually didn't realize
you were in dallas untilrecently, right, what the heck?
Yeah, so okay, hold on, okay,listeners can just stop for a
minute.
We're going to sidebar for aminute wait, so we're in dallas,
all right, like yeah, so we'rein a small town called canton
right now we're a little biteast of dallas.
Okay, uh, our team is gosh yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.
(01:11):
Uh, plaino and mckinney hasreally been our hood for the
last no kidding 10 years or so.
Yeah, yeah, we kicked out overhere for why did I think we were
somewhere else?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
uh, in the no talent man, you know people.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I walk into dealerships and there's this guy
don hearing who looks at me.
He goes.
Where are you from, man?
You know, like you, I can'tplace you, you know anyway, yeah
yeah, I mean we're.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I mean, in the grand scheme of the broader United
States, we're pretty close, dude, you know.
I mean I'm up, I'm up north ofFort Worth, we're in Argyle, got
you?
Yeah, so the other side my wifesays 25 minutes pretty much
from everything, including basicamenities which people are
getting used to.
(02:00):
But here we are, everybody'slike why are you guys talking
about this?
Well, it's important.
You got to understand geographyand you need to understand your
consumer segments in particular.
I want to kick it off this way.
I mean, um, our CRO at Flexdealer is Emerson Abria.
He's born in Bolivia, citizen,20-year retired Marine combat
(02:25):
veteran and since the day hestarted, he's like telling you
Cirillo, whatsapp, whatsapp,whatsapp.
The Spanish market is notserved, it's underserved, and I
know this is something that youare particularly intimately
involved in with CarFluent.
Tell me what you're seeing in a2025 world.
(02:50):
What are the most commonmistakes that need to be avoided
from a dealer's perspectivethat are like, maybe just quick
tweaks, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I mean tweaks are just being aware, right?
John Duran has a great way oftalking about this, right,
everybody.
You know, we all know John,right, not when we're talking
about Spanish specifically, john, you know his.
You know be intentional, right,be intentional.
It's not something we can flipon, right?
You know dealers learn thatlesson quickly, I think.
(03:20):
But the other side of it isjust being aware, right, I think
.
But the other side of it isjust being aware, right, and not
really.
You know not treating.
You know Spanish marketing,hispanic marketing.
You know the same way we doEnglish, because the gaps are
man, just very you know theyoccur in unusual places.
You know what I mean.
And I think dealers, you know,have been sold products in the
(03:40):
past that don't really provide,like a, you know, a
comprehensive experience inSpanish, but they're assuming it
does you know, because theyhandle my English site, you know
the home run.
Right, it makes perfect sensefor them to handle my Spanish
site, but it's, it's just.
It doesn't really work that way.
You know what I mean.
So, being aware of those gaps,I'd say you know from.
You know, actually, I click thead.
(04:02):
If I'm advertising in Spanish,I click the ad.
I should be presenting thatuser.
You know a page in the language.
You know what I mean.
That's contextually relevant.
You know, um, and I thinkthat's really you know that's
the message we're going to keeppushing this year.
You know what I mean Is youknow this is a group of
consumers really worthy of ourinvestment as a dealer body.
(04:25):
And if we just stay aware anddon't bullshit ourselves, right
like, let's stop BSing ourselvesabout you know what we're
seeing on screen.
Right, it's a great group ofconsumers to you know to invest
time in.
Right, build someinfrastructure around uh uh with
you know, some crazy returns onthe investment, man.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
You know, yeah, do you think?
Generally speaking, do youthink people uh tend to be
afraid of this because politicaldivide, not understanding
culture, political divide notunderstanding culture, not
wanting to say or do the wrongthing, like what are your
(05:08):
thoughts.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I think there's there's like two, there's a
couple sides to it, right, um,you know some dealers, you know
they see, like it's a huge left,you know what I mean that, like
I gotta you know all theseresources are going to and
that's true.
Right, like it's not somethingyou're going to be able to build
overnight.
Right, I think the hesitationis can be there, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, Like just understanding the culture, like
our what, what creates hesitancy?
So you're talking aboutperception that it's a huge lift
.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It is.
And the other side is, like youknow, experience in the past,
experience, right.
The other side is, like youknow, experience in the past,
experience, right.
You know I've talked withnumerous dealers over you know
numerous different roles, youknow, and a lot of them have
tried it and feel like it's amess.
You know, I've hadconversations on Clubhouse man.
You know what I mean.
You know, back in the day whenthat thing came out, where you
(06:01):
know dealers felt like they wewere investing money in it but
not seeing the return.
But the issue there, right, iswe're not like, it's not a
comprehensive experience, right,if we're not driving that user
somewhere they can actually readand understand, ok, we're
wasting their time.
So they're going to bounce, goback to Facebook or wherever it
was you know into like what kindof reporting can we actually
(06:23):
get?
You know what I mean.
Even if we get, like,behavioral data from the visit,
you know we can see what'sactually happening they're
trying to battle through, likehow effective is that actually
for the dealer?
You know what I mean In termsof pivoting, you know.
So it's like to me it's likethe bad experience, you know, in
combination with this, Well, wemay need to staff up.
(06:46):
You know we may need to do somethings, you know, but the
dealers that do man, they'reagain cranking deals out, pretty
often to Spanish speakers.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I think too.
I mean so upbringing for me,european immigrants Italian,
portuguese, you know, born andraised in Canada, but in a very
culturally aware home, right,and one of the things I'm so
(07:21):
grateful for know, like all ofthese things that I feel the
born and bred North American isafraid of because they don't
want to come off the wrong way.
Which then puts us in mythought here where I'm going
with this is then it puts ouradvertising into like a vanilla
(07:42):
envelope, right.
Going with this is then it putsour advertising into like a
vanilla envelope, right, or it'slike oh, it's very
transactional then, and it'svoid of the ability to build a
relationship.
So what do you say to that?
I mean, do, do I need to staffup?
Do I need to?
How do I mitigate thatchallenge so that I can truly
connect with, with my, thespanish market?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
yeah, I mean the culture is.
You know there's yeah, I saythis is the white guy, right,
you know, um, I'm comfortablewith that at this point, you
know.
But you know there's some.
I'm saying you know just,there's some cultural
differences that we need to beaware of, not just you know
day-to-day stuff, but just likeyou know how we actually build
the deal or different ways toconfigure a deal, you know, when
we're actually in F&I ready togo, right, I mean that.
(08:23):
So that piece of it is you know.
I mean, yeah, that ties intothe culture, right, language,
all that you know.
But the staff, yeah, yeah, yougot to have the staff.
You know what I mean.
It's just, and I would honestlysay receptionist is one of the
best places to start.
Man, you know I'll brag aboutBeaver Toyota again.
Caitlin, shout out.
She does a great job.
They are the best calls Ilistened to, man, of all of our
(08:46):
customers.
Caitlin has this great becauseshe's just a sweet you know
sweet person, right, overall.
But when she can flip toSpanish you know what I mean and
eliminate the fire drill thathappens with some others.
It's just amazing how, howdifferent, that conversation
goes.
You know, they've they'vereally done a great job staffing
(09:08):
up the right places.
You know, um, you knowreceptionist is is pretty great,
cause that fire drill is, is it?
I hear the irritation you knowwhat I mean On on on recorded
calls.
So yeah, and I mean, the otherthing is we don't really want to
invest a ton of money into thisIf we can't, you know, actually
do the handholding that we needto in some cases, you know, at
(09:30):
store Right To make peoplecomfortable.
We got you, we can handle this,all that.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Hey, does your marketing agency suck?
Listen before we hop back intothis episode.
I know you know me as the hostof the dealer playbook, but did
you also know that I'm the CEOof FlexDealer, an agency that's
helping dealers capture betterquality leads from local SEO and
hyper-targeted ads that convert?
So if you want to sell morecars and finally have a partner
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(10:02):
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Yeah, that makes sense.
I like how you say eliminate thefire drill.
People don't realize that'sexactly how it feels.
And it feels that way even morewhen English is not your first
language and you're in anEnglish environment.
Like, had I not, had I not goneto the Philippines for a couple
(10:25):
years to do Mission work, Iwould not understand firsthand
what it feels like to haveeveryone around you speaking a
different language.
Sure, and feeling like yourhuman nature is.
You feel like they're talkingabout you.
Yeah, like it just did.
And then to go and do somethingas potentially stressful as
buying a car on top of that, um,adds to that.
(10:48):
So I love the.
The visual of a fire drill.
Yeah, um, I like how you'realso cautioning not to invest in
this if you're not prepared toactually make the investment,
because the investment goesbeyond money, right yeah, I mean
it.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Just we're trying to build goodwill.
You know, we're trying to buildcredibility where you know, if
we're saying we've got you, Imean let's, let's make sure we
do Right.
You know, and I think that'sjust you know, there are
operators out there that areabsolutely going to, you know,
(11:20):
think that way anyway.
You know, but these cart beforethe horse scenarios or it's,
it's just not gonna work anymore.
You know what I mean.
Like we, we really have tounderstand experience, um, and
take it serious.
Like we gotta discount it, man.
You know, if I've got googletranslate on my site, it's
breaking the vdp.
Do something about that.
Just get rid of the thing, man.
You know what I mean.
Find a better option.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And your your take on .
That is, you take what existson a website and you create a
whole uh native Spanish versionof the exact same website, the
exact same kind of a.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
When we started, we, we really the idea thesis, if
you will, was it's great, we cando these things on a website.
Right, I'm a website guy, okay,all right, I know I'm talking
to another website guy, but tous, the core, the biggest
disconnect is like the inventory, right, you know what I mean.
So that's really where westarted was making sure we can
(12:18):
actually connect the dots.
Right.
If I'm marketing, I've gotoutreach, aia, whatever kind of
ads going, let's like close theloop here a bit.
You know what I mean.
We've been specific pages orbeen specific ads, whatever.
You know we've, we've built outsince then, you know, and are
going to continue, but we, wespecifically didn't want to like
try to replicate an entire siteone cause it's, you know, an
(12:39):
easier thing to build.
Okay, you know.
But also, dealers want tomarket.
Generally, we found dealerswant to market a separate
message to Spanish speakers, youknow, right, and you know it's
not the largest group ofconsumers in their market, right
?
So in terms of like timecommitment, you know, want to
make it as easy as we can, butalso I imagine it's.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's gotta be a pretty substantially sized
market.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I mean, and even if it's not okay, like,
even if it's, it's got to be apretty substantially sized
market.
Yeah, I mean, and even if it'snot okay, like even if it's not,
if the strategy is the correctone, right?
Um, I hear dealers say a widerradius, go wider.
Right, go more, go moreevergreen.
Lean into video is like themove for spanish speakers
specifically go ahead I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I was just looking this up as as you were speaking,
because what you're saying Imean you know to your point
about, like yeah, it's not goingto be as big as your, your
english speaking audience, but Imean what I'm seeing here.
This is on spanish languagehistory from a school district,
the san jacinto school district.
(13:48):
The united states has around 41million native spanish speakers
.
This makes the united statesthe second largest
spanish-speaking country in theworld after mexico yeah, you
know like.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
so opportunity is there.
You know it's scattered,scattered across.
You know there's sure there'sdifferent densities of
population right In differentareas, but the opportunities are
everywhere, man.
I mean dude, I know of dealers,you know Spanish speakers
accounting for like 30% of theirsales man, which is monthly,
north of you know a hundredunits a month, man, you know,
yeah, that's an insane number.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Yeah, it's enough to want to invest in properly,
because, I mean, the competitiveadvantage to me is is mind
numbing to think about, causeit's like, well, if everyone
else is shying away from it andyou're the one that's leaning
into it, yeah, what are thepretty unique?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
yeah, for that reason it's pretty unique too, right.
I mean, your cost per lead is,you know, gonna be a little
lower.
You know I can generate somemore opportunities out of the
same type of budgets.
And the intent is the intentwithin the weeds.
I, I think is is reallydifferent and, like Luis Delgado
over at Altura Social, alturaAuto, he's got a great way of
(14:59):
talking about this.
I say it as a white guy.
It won't hit the same, right,but he says you know, white
people have the white folks havethis way of, they're very picky
, right.
You know, I want this, I wantthat red, you know blue,
whatever this package that, asopposed to, you know a Spanish
speaker, hispanics there's likea thankfulness, almost an
appreciative, appreciativeness,almost Right, and we see the
(15:23):
intent and the leads, right Likethat, are submitted through,
you know, any car fluent sites.
You know we have, you know,some dealers closing just crazy
high close rates on these thingstoo.
Anyway, for those, reasons.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Is there nuance in the type of messaging that works
like from a targetingperspective?
Yeah, are there different typesof messages that would resonate
with a spanish consumer versusan american consumer?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
the, I'd say it's.
It's almost like the, the careffect.
I hate to say that word, right,but I'm just saying you know
it's experience, right, you knowwhat I mean.
And very generic soundingstatement there.
Ok, but what we hear, what wesee, a larger radius than your
typical DMA, significantly,right, you know, because you've
got a smaller group of peoplewe're going after.
(16:11):
So let's have a larger radius,let's have our message.
Lean into video.
You know video, heavy, right,aia is a good form of generate.
You know it does generateopportunities as well.
But video, specifically onsocial channels, wider radius,
right, that can, just, you know,continue to run, continue to
just tell the message look at,we can, we can take care of you
(16:33):
if you come in and talk about we.
You know we're familiar with it, right, we, we've built deals
like this, justin, you know,just last weekend, you know,
whatever, right, look at, no onewants to go anywhere where they
feel like they're going to beuncomfortable.
You know what I mean.
And if you're not really saying,hey, we're familiar with i-10
tax id, you know type deals thatwe need to build.
(16:55):
We have banks that can get youdone.
You know it's, it's, there'sthis perception, you know, with
a lot of people you know, butSpanish speakers specifically,
there is a perception that buyhere, pay here, kind of tote the
note approaches, is the way togo Right, and that's just not
the case.
You know a lot of people can, alot more people can get
(17:16):
approved for a new car that youknow than realize um, and with
spanish speakers I think likethat kind of that's our go-to
market right is, we're familiar,you know.
We know how to get it done.
We do it all the time again.
Wider radius, lean into video.
Social is great.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I hope I've given some info here that's somewhat
useful you know useless foreverybody listening, except for
what you're talking about, whichis, I think, of the, the
Cascade of this right.
So, for example, I know from myown experience that experience
(18:02):
that ethnic groups sticktogether and word travels really
fast.
When something works, whensomeone discovers a path, that
word travels really, reallyquickly.
And and you know, because, likelook, I'll just speak to myself
, but insert any ethnicdemographic here yeah, when my
dad immigrated from italy theywent to two places toronto or
(18:24):
vancouver.
Right in vancouver they allgravitated to new westminster,
east vancouver, and you knowqueensborough areas.
To this day the italiancommunity is in that area and at
the time of immigration it waslike you could have been worst
(18:46):
enemies with that guy in italy,but because he was here five
years before you and you werethe newcomer, you all of a
sudden trusted everyrecommendation that that guy
made, because it's just like you, it's because you understand
each other.
So I can only imagine the samething in this market.
So what you're saying isleaning into video automotive
inventory ads.
Show them that you're familiarwith itin and tax id deals and
(19:12):
things of that nature.
None of these things mean theydon't have the money to purchase
a vehicle.
What it does mean, though, isthat you are potentially tapping
into a well of individuals thatare like hey guys, I'm telling
you go buy your vehicle fromBeaver Toyota, because they know
how to work deals for us, andthey made it really easy Boom
(19:33):
Wildfire, literally, you know,and I'm actually I was just the
other day trying to find a statfor that specifically Right know
how to work deals for us andthey made it really easy boom,
wildfire, literally.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
You know, and I'm actually I was just the other
day trying to find a stat forthat specifically right, like
what's the?
You know, I know it's high.
Right, like an actualpercentage.
Right versus you know, englishspeakers versus you know
whatever, um, you know, how muchmore likely are they to refer?
Because the stories I hear aremuch like a ton more likely.
(19:57):
Right, um, right, right, youknow, john will tell you, luis
will tell you, some of ourbuddies over at Friendly
Chevrolet tell you the samething.
The referrals are, you know, itreally means something you know
, especially for, like a newvehicle.
Buying a new car is cool man,you know, and it's exciting to
think I could go actually get anew one.
Man, they've got a way for meto get the new right, rado, you
(20:19):
know from what I understand,they like they.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
So emer I was telling you about him earlier.
Um, after he retired from themilitary, his wife's from brazil
.
They went back to brazil, theylived there for a couple years
and he tells me all sorts ofthings like and I know you know
it's a similar consumer profile.
Let's just say that they theywill have a party to celebrate
(20:45):
the purchase of a new vehicle.
Like they will invite peoplewant to come over and sit in the
car and sit in it andcongratulate them and, like they
, bring a gift and like all ofthese, these sorts of things and
I know that that kind of stuffhappens here like it is an
exciting event when they drivehome in a new vehicle.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, the experience itself.
Right, you know there's there'snothing better than buying a
new car when you've got, likethe fun sales guy you know, f
and I it's no.
I mean, there's seriouslynothing better, man, you know,
and I think just taking that,you know, trusting that they'll
take that message to friends andfamily is, you know, a big deal
when it comes to Spanishmarketing and just like the
(21:25):
whole operations, making surewe're connecting dots, spanish
speakers answering the phone,grabbing web leads, you know,
whatever it is Right, justmaking sure they're part of the
process.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
I love it.
Um, so at a time of recording,we are on the toes of nadia.
You're going to be doing aeducation session there, um,
which we're talking a little bitabout pre-show.
At the time of publishing this,we will be on the heels of
nadia.
Yeah, what did you for future,you?
What did you hope yourattendees took away from your
(22:00):
session?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
uh one, you know that it wasn't a snooze.
You know we want to have fun.
I'm curious about that.
What's that rating meter theyhave in there?
Speaker 1 (22:12):
what I'm'm curious about that.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Yeah, that whole thing.
So hopefully they don't hitthat.
I hate this guy button.
You know that.
I guess really takeaway thereis again this is a group of
consumers seriously worthy ofour investment as a dealer body,
you know, and it there is a bigROI.
(22:34):
At the end of whatever process,whatever journey you're on
towards doing this, you knowthere's an ROI you're going to
get to, as long as we just stayaware we're intentional and how
we go about it.
And dude, there's just, there'ssome serious, there's a serious
opportunity out there thatwe're not tapping into on the
(22:56):
franchise side, right there,just as right if we can better
tell our story as to how we canhelp get these kind of deals
done.
You know, I mean, it's it's,it's just more gross, more units
, you know yeah, it gives me alot to think about.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I I mean, especially here at the playbookbook, we
love thinking about the thingthat nobody else is thinking
about.
You know, it's like socialmedia Everybody's trying to go
viral on TikTok, doing weirddances and then forgetting about
their Google business profile,and this feels like one of those
things to me.
(23:31):
It's like, hey, for those thatare listening and watching, pay
attention to this.
Maybe you're in Canada, maybeyou're're in Europe, maybe
you're in whatever.
Insert consumer, underservedconsumer demographics here.
You lean into them.
You're going to have anopportunity that your
competitors aren't.
I love that.
I love that visual of like yourcompetitors looking over here
(23:52):
and you see the opportunity inthat direction.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I was just gonna say it's almost like when we started
talking.
I'll talk about this at theworkshop as well, right, but you
know, if you remember, like 10years ago, right, we, we really
started leaning into responsiveTech, right, you know we, we
know everyone, and it's this isnot the exact same, but there
are similarities here.
All right, we start buildingtech to fit where consumers are.
(24:18):
Okay, it started making surethe tech we're using as a dealer
body is able to meet consumerswhere they are.
If so many this 41, 42 millionpeople are speaking Spanish at
home to us, that says this is alanguage they're comfortable in
and we should meet them wherethey are Right.
This is the language they'recomfortable in and we should
(24:38):
meet them where they are right.
So, not not exactly the same.
As you know, eventually 70 ofyour traffic is going to be on
mobile, right, but there is theguys who adapted fast back then.
They won, you know, and I I seethat just kind of repeating
itself here.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You, know that's a mind blower for me to to wait a
minute.
We are the second highestSpanish-speaking country in the
world after Mexico.
Yeah, like, when you put it inthose terms, it's like whoa, why
wouldn't we like it?
You know what I mean.
It like it becomes a no brainer.
Why wouldn't I be serving thisdemographic?
(25:13):
Um well, I'm excited.
I'm excited to catch up withyou at NADA.
I'm excited for everybodylistening in the future that
knows what you talked about atNADA in 2025.
How can those listening andwatching connect with you?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Man hit us up on LinkedIn.
I'm always there right Chanceat carfluentio via email.
Check out the websitecarfluentio.
I'm on TikTok.
I dropped I don't know.
Sometimes I think some funnystuff you know, so give me a
follow.
Man, follow you back.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Chance man thanks so much for joining me on the
Dealer Playbook Podcast.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, brother, thanks for having me, man.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Dealer Playbook
Podcast.
If you enjoyed tuning in,please subscribe, share and hit
that like button.
You can also join us and theDPB community on social media.
Check back next week for a newdealer playbook episode.
Thanks so much for joining.
This episode is brought to you by FlexDealer hey
auto industry.
My guest today is ChanceMayfield, the founder of
(00:20):
CarFluent.
We're going to explore theSpanish car shopping shopping
market in particular, what youneed to be thinking about and
doing to maximize opportunities,as well as the mistakes to
avoid chance.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
welcome to the dealer playbook oh, thanks for having
me, man I'm.
I couldn't be happier to behere, brother, all right yeah,
let's do it um you.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You are.
Wait, are you us?
Are you in the south too?
Um you, you are wait.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Are you us?
Are you in the south too?
Yeah, yep, we're probably.
Are you in texas?
So we're in dallas, yep, yep,so I, I actually didn't realize
you were in dallas untilrecently, right, what the heck?
Yeah, so okay, hold on, okay,listeners can just stop for a
minute.
We're going to sidebar for aminute wait, so we're in dallas,
all right, like yeah, so we'rein a small town called canton
right now we're a little biteast of dallas.
Okay, uh, our team is gosh yeah, oh, yeah, yeah.
(01:11):
Uh, plaino and mckinney hasreally been our hood for the
last no kidding 10 years or so.
Yeah, yeah, we kicked out overhere for why did I think we were
somewhere else?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
uh, in the no talent man, you know people.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I walk into dealerships and there's this guy
don hearing who looks at me.
He goes.
Where are you from, man?
You know, like you, I can'tplace you, you know anyway, yeah
yeah, I mean we're.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
I mean, in the grand scheme of the broader United
States, we're pretty close, dude, you know.
I mean I'm up, I'm up north ofFort Worth, we're in Argyle, got
you?
Yeah, so the other side my wifesays 25 minutes pretty much
from everything, including basicamenities which people are
getting used to.
(02:00):
But here we are, everybody'slike why are you guys talking
about this?
Well, it's important.
You got to understand geographyand you need to understand your
consumer segments in particular.
I want to kick it off this way.
I mean, um, our CRO at Flexdealer is Emerson Abria.
He's born in Bolivia, citizen,20-year retired Marine combat
(02:25):
veteran and since the day hestarted, he's like telling you
Cirillo, whatsapp, whatsapp,whatsapp.
The Spanish market is notserved, it's underserved, and I
know this is something that youare particularly intimately
involved in with CarFluent.
Tell me what you're seeing in a2025 world.
(02:50):
What are the most commonmistakes that need to be avoided
from a dealer's perspectivethat are like, maybe just quick
tweaks, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I mean tweaks are just being aware, right?
John Duran has a great way oftalking about this, right,
everybody.
You know, we all know John,right, not when we're talking
about Spanish specifically, john, you know his.
You know be intentional, right,be intentional.
It's not something we can flipon, right?
You know dealers learn thatlesson quickly, I think.
(03:20):
But the other side of it isjust being aware, right, I think
.
But the other side of it isjust being aware, right, and not
really.
You know not treating.
You know Spanish marketing,hispanic marketing.
You know the same way we doEnglish, because the gaps are
man, just very you know theyoccur in unusual places.
You know what I mean.
And I think dealers, you know,have been sold products in the
(03:40):
past that don't really provide,like a, you know, a
comprehensive experience inSpanish, but they're assuming it
does you know, because theyhandle my English site, you know
the home run.
Right, it makes perfect sensefor them to handle my Spanish
site, but it's, it's just.
It doesn't really work that way.
You know what I mean.
So, being aware of those gaps,I'd say you know from.
You know, actually, I click thead.
(04:02):
If I'm advertising in Spanish,I click the ad.
I should be presenting thatuser.
You know a page in the language.
You know what I mean.
That's contextually relevant.
You know, um, and I thinkthat's really you know that's
the message we're going to keeppushing this year.
You know what I mean Is youknow this is a group of
consumers really worthy of ourinvestment as a dealer body.
(04:25):
And if we just stay aware anddon't bullshit ourselves, right
like, let's stop BSing ourselvesabout you know what we're
seeing on screen.
Right, it's a great group ofconsumers to you know to invest
time in.
Right, build someinfrastructure around uh uh with
you know, some crazy returns onthe investment, man.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
You know, yeah, do you think?
Generally speaking, do youthink people uh tend to be
afraid of this because politicaldivide, not understanding
culture, political divide notunderstanding culture, not
wanting to say or do the wrongthing, like what are your
(05:08):
thoughts.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I think there's there's like two, there's a
couple sides to it, right, um,you know some dealers, you know
they see, like it's a huge left,you know what I mean that, like
I gotta you know all theseresources are going to and
that's true.
Right, like it's not somethingyou're going to be able to build
overnight.
Right, I think the hesitationis can be there, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, Like just understanding the culture, like
our what, what creates hesitancy?
So you're talking aboutperception that it's a huge lift
.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It is.
And the other side is, like youknow, experience in the past,
experience, right.
The other side is, like youknow, experience in the past,
experience, right.
You know I've talked withnumerous dealers over you know
numerous different roles, youknow, and a lot of them have
tried it and feel like it's amess.
You know, I've hadconversations on Clubhouse man.
You know what I mean.
You know, back in the day whenthat thing came out, where you
(06:01):
know dealers felt like they wewere investing money in it but
not seeing the return.
But the issue there, right, iswe're not like, it's not a
comprehensive experience, right,if we're not driving that user
somewhere they can actually readand understand, ok, we're
wasting their time.
So they're going to bounce, goback to Facebook or wherever it
was you know into like what kindof reporting can we actually
(06:23):
get?
You know what I mean.
Even if we get, like,behavioral data from the visit,
you know we can see what'sactually happening they're
trying to battle through, likehow effective is that actually
for the dealer?
You know what I mean In termsof pivoting, you know.
So it's like to me it's likethe bad experience, you know, in
combination with this, Well, wemay need to staff up.
(06:46):
You know we may need to do somethings, you know, but the
dealers that do man, they'reagain cranking deals out, pretty
often to Spanish speakers.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I think too.
I mean so upbringing for me,european immigrants Italian,
portuguese, you know, born andraised in Canada, but in a very
culturally aware home, right,and one of the things I'm so
(07:21):
grateful for know, like all ofthese things that I feel the
born and bred North American isafraid of because they don't
want to come off the wrong way.
Which then puts us in mythought here where I'm going
with this is then it puts ouradvertising into like a vanilla
(07:42):
envelope, right.
Going with this is then it putsour advertising into like a
vanilla envelope, right, or it'slike oh, it's very
transactional then, and it'svoid of the ability to build a
relationship.
So what do you say to that?
I mean, do, do I need to staffup?
Do I need to?
How do I mitigate thatchallenge so that I can truly
connect with, with my, thespanish market?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
yeah, I mean the culture is.
You know there's yeah, I saythis is the white guy, right,
you know, um, I'm comfortablewith that at this point, you
know.
But you know there's some.
I'm saying you know just,there's some cultural
differences that we need to beaware of, not just you know
day-to-day stuff, but just likeyou know how we actually build
the deal or different ways toconfigure a deal, you know, when
we're actually in F&I ready togo, right, I mean that.
(08:23):
So that piece of it is you know.
I mean, yeah, that ties intothe culture, right, language,
all that you know.
But the staff, yeah, yeah, yougot to have the staff.
You know what I mean.
It's just, and I would honestlysay receptionist is one of the
best places to start.
Man, you know I'll brag aboutBeaver Toyota again.
Caitlin, shout out.
She does a great job.
They are the best calls Ilistened to, man, of all of our
(08:46):
customers.
Caitlin has this great becauseshe's just a sweet you know
sweet person, right, overall.
But when she can flip toSpanish you know what I mean and
eliminate the fire drill thathappens with some others.
It's just amazing how, howdifferent, that conversation
goes.
You know, they've they'vereally done a great job staffing
(09:08):
up the right places.
You know, um, you knowreceptionist is is pretty great,
cause that fire drill is, is it?
I hear the irritation you knowwhat I mean On on on recorded
calls.
So yeah, and I mean, the otherthing is we don't really want to
invest a ton of money into thisIf we can't, you know, actually
do the handholding that we needto in some cases, you know, at
(09:30):
store Right To make peoplecomfortable.
We got you, we can handle this,all that.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Hey, does your marketing agency suck?
Listen before we hop back intothis episode.
I know you know me as the hostof the dealer playbook, but did
you also know that I'm the CEOof FlexDealer, an agency that's
helping dealers capture betterquality leads from local SEO and
hyper-targeted ads that convert?
So if you want to sell morecars and finally have a partner
that's in it with you thatdoesn't suck visit flexdealercom
(10:02):
.
Let's hop back into thisepisode.
It with you.
That doesn't suck.
Visit flexdealercom, let's hopback into this episode.
Yeah, that makes sense.
I like how you say eliminate thefire drill.
People don't realize that'sexactly how it feels.
And it feels that way even morewhen English is not your first
language and you're in anEnglish environment.
Like, had I not, had I not goneto the Philippines for a couple
(10:25):
years to do Mission work, Iwould not understand firsthand
what it feels like to haveeveryone around you speaking a
different language.
Sure, and feeling like yourhuman nature is.
You feel like they're talkingabout you.
Yeah, like it just did.
And then to go and do somethingas potentially stressful as
buying a car on top of that, um,adds to that.
(10:48):
So I love the.
The visual of a fire drill.
Yeah, um, I like how you'realso cautioning not to invest in
this if you're not prepared toactually make the investment,
because the investment goesbeyond money, right yeah, I mean
it.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Just we're trying to build goodwill.
You know, we're trying to buildcredibility where you know, if
we're saying we've got you, Imean let's, let's make sure we
do Right.
You know, and I think that'sjust you know, there are
operators out there that areabsolutely going to, you know,
(11:20):
think that way anyway.
You know, but these cart beforethe horse scenarios or it's,
it's just not gonna work anymore.
You know what I mean.
Like we, we really have tounderstand experience, um, and
take it serious.
Like we gotta discount it, man.
You know, if I've got googletranslate on my site, it's
breaking the vdp.
Do something about that.
Just get rid of the thing, man.
You know what I mean.
Find a better option.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
And your your take on .
That is, you take what existson a website and you create a
whole uh native Spanish versionof the exact same website, the
exact same kind of a.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
When we started, we, we really the idea thesis, if
you will, was it's great, we cando these things on a website.
Right, I'm a website guy, okay,all right, I know I'm talking
to another website guy, but tous, the core, the biggest
disconnect is like the inventory, right, you know what I mean.
So that's really where westarted was making sure we can
(12:18):
actually connect the dots.
Right.
If I'm marketing, I've gotoutreach, aia, whatever kind of
ads going, let's like close theloop here a bit.
You know what I mean.
We've been specific pages orbeen specific ads, whatever.
You know we've, we've built outsince then, you know, and are
going to continue, but we, wespecifically didn't want to like
try to replicate an entire siteone cause it's, you know, an
(12:39):
easier thing to build.
Okay, you know.
But also, dealers want tomarket.
Generally, we found dealerswant to market a separate
message to Spanish speakers, youknow, right, and you know it's
not the largest group ofconsumers in their market, right
?
So in terms of like timecommitment, you know, want to
make it as easy as we can, butalso I imagine it's.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
It's gotta be a pretty substantially sized
market.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, I mean, and even if it's not okay, like,
even if it's, it's got to be apretty substantially sized
market.
Yeah, I mean, and even if it'snot okay, like even if it's not,
if the strategy is the correctone, right?
Um, I hear dealers say a widerradius, go wider.
Right, go more, go moreevergreen.
Lean into video is like themove for spanish speakers
specifically go ahead I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
I was just looking this up as as you were speaking,
because what you're saying Imean you know to your point
about, like yeah, it's not goingto be as big as your, your
english speaking audience, but Imean what I'm seeing here.
This is on spanish languagehistory from a school district,
the san jacinto school district.
(13:48):
The united states has around 41million native spanish speakers
.
This makes the united statesthe second largest
spanish-speaking country in theworld after mexico yeah, you
know like.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
so opportunity is there.
You know it's scattered,scattered across.
You know there's sure there'sdifferent densities of
population right In differentareas, but the opportunities are
everywhere, man.
I mean dude, I know of dealers,you know Spanish speakers
accounting for like 30% of theirsales man, which is monthly,
north of you know a hundredunits a month, man, you know,
yeah, that's an insane number.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Yeah, it's enough to want to invest in properly,
because, I mean, the competitiveadvantage to me is is mind
numbing to think about, causeit's like, well, if everyone
else is shying away from it andyou're the one that's leaning
into it, yeah, what are thepretty unique?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
yeah, for that reason it's pretty unique too, right.
I mean, your cost per lead is,you know, gonna be a little
lower.
You know I can generate somemore opportunities out of the
same type of budgets.
And the intent is the intentwithin the weeds.
I, I think is is reallydifferent and, like Luis Delgado
over at Altura Social, alturaAuto, he's got a great way of
(14:59):
talking about this.
I say it as a white guy.
It won't hit the same, right,but he says you know, white
people have the white folks havethis way of, they're very picky
, right.
You know, I want this, I wantthat red, you know blue,
whatever this package that, asopposed to, you know a Spanish
speaker, hispanics there's likea thankfulness, almost an
appreciative, appreciativeness,almost Right, and we see the
(15:23):
intent and the leads, right Likethat, are submitted through,
you know, any car fluent sites.
You know we have, you know,some dealers closing just crazy
high close rates on these thingstoo.
Anyway, for those, reasons.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Is there nuance in the type of messaging that works
like from a targetingperspective?
Yeah, are there different typesof messages that would resonate
with a spanish consumer versusan american consumer?
Speaker 2 (15:50):
the, I'd say it's.
It's almost like the, the careffect.
I hate to say that word, right,but I'm just saying you know
it's experience, right, you knowwhat I mean.
And very generic soundingstatement there.
Ok, but what we hear, what wesee, a larger radius than your
typical DMA, significantly,right, you know, because you've
got a smaller group of peoplewe're going after.
(16:11):
So let's have a larger radius,let's have our message.
Lean into video.
You know video, heavy, right,aia is a good form of generate.
You know it does generateopportunities as well.
But video, specifically onsocial channels, wider radius,
right, that can, just, you know,continue to run, continue to
just tell the message look at,we can, we can take care of you
(16:33):
if you come in and talk about we.
You know we're familiar with it, right, we, we've built deals
like this, justin, you know,just last weekend, you know,
whatever, right, look at, no onewants to go anywhere where they
feel like they're going to beuncomfortable.
You know what I mean.
And if you're not really saying,hey, we're familiar with i-10
tax id, you know type deals thatwe need to build.
(16:55):
We have banks that can get youdone.
You know it's, it's, there'sthis perception, you know, with
a lot of people you know, butSpanish speakers specifically,
there is a perception that buyhere, pay here, kind of tote the
note approaches, is the way togo Right, and that's just not
the case.
You know a lot of people can, alot more people can get
(17:16):
approved for a new car that youknow than realize um, and with
spanish speakers I think likethat kind of that's our go-to
market right is, we're familiar,you know.
We know how to get it done.
We do it all the time again.
Wider radius, lean into video.
Social is great.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I hope I've given some info here that's somewhat
useful you know useless foreverybody listening, except for
what you're talking about, whichis, I think, of the, the
Cascade of this right.
So, for example, I know from myown experience that experience
(18:02):
that ethnic groups sticktogether and word travels really
fast.
When something works, whensomeone discovers a path, that
word travels really, reallyquickly.
And and you know, because, likelook, I'll just speak to myself
, but insert any ethnicdemographic here yeah, when my
dad immigrated from italy theywent to two places toronto or
(18:24):
vancouver.
Right in vancouver they allgravitated to new westminster,
east vancouver, and you knowqueensborough areas.
To this day the italiancommunity is in that area and at
the time of immigration it waslike you could have been worst
(18:46):
enemies with that guy in italy,but because he was here five
years before you and you werethe newcomer, you all of a
sudden trusted everyrecommendation that that guy
made, because it's just like you, it's because you understand
each other.
So I can only imagine the samething in this market.
So what you're saying isleaning into video automotive
inventory ads.
Show them that you're familiarwith itin and tax id deals and
(19:12):
things of that nature.
None of these things mean theydon't have the money to purchase
a vehicle.
What it does mean, though, isthat you are potentially tapping
into a well of individuals thatare like hey guys, I'm telling
you go buy your vehicle fromBeaver Toyota, because they know
how to work deals for us, andthey made it really easy Boom
(19:33):
Wildfire, literally, you know,and I'm actually I was just the
other day trying to find a statfor that specifically Right know
how to work deals for us andthey made it really easy boom,
wildfire, literally.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
You know, and I'm actually I was just the other
day trying to find a stat forthat specifically right, like
what's the?
You know, I know it's high.
Right, like an actualpercentage.
Right versus you know, englishspeakers versus you know
whatever, um, you know, how muchmore likely are they to refer?
Because the stories I hear aremuch like a ton more likely.
(19:57):
Right, um, right, right, youknow, john will tell you, luis
will tell you, some of ourbuddies over at Friendly
Chevrolet tell you the samething.
The referrals are, you know, itreally means something you know
, especially for, like a newvehicle.
Buying a new car is cool man,you know, and it's exciting to
think I could go actually get anew one.
Man, they've got a way for meto get the new right, rado, you
(20:19):
know from what I understand,they like they.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
So emer I was telling you about him earlier.
Um, after he retired from themilitary, his wife's from brazil
.
They went back to brazil, theylived there for a couple years
and he tells me all sorts ofthings like and I know you know
it's a similar consumer profile.
Let's just say that they theywill have a party to celebrate
(20:45):
the purchase of a new vehicle.
Like they will invite peoplewant to come over and sit in the
car and sit in it andcongratulate them and, like they
, bring a gift and like all ofthese, these sorts of things and
I know that that kind of stuffhappens here like it is an
exciting event when they drivehome in a new vehicle.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Yeah, the experience itself.
Right, you know there's there'snothing better than buying a
new car when you've got, likethe fun sales guy you know, f
and I it's no.
I mean, there's seriouslynothing better, man, you know,
and I think just taking that,you know, trusting that they'll
take that message to friends andfamily is, you know, a big deal
when it comes to Spanishmarketing and just like the
(21:25):
whole operations, making surewe're connecting dots, spanish
speakers answering the phone,grabbing web leads, you know,
whatever it is Right, justmaking sure they're part of the
process.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
I love it.
Um, so at a time of recording,we are on the toes of nadia.
You're going to be doing aeducation session there, um,
which we're talking a little bitabout pre-show.
At the time of publishing this,we will be on the heels of
nadia.
Yeah, what did you for future,you?
What did you hope yourattendees took away from your
(22:00):
session?
Speaker 2 (22:02):
uh one, you know that it wasn't a snooze.
You know we want to have fun.
I'm curious about that.
What's that rating meter theyhave in there?
Speaker 1 (22:12):
what I'm'm curious about that.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Yeah, that whole thing.
So hopefully they don't hitthat.
I hate this guy button.
You know that.
I guess really takeaway thereis again this is a group of
consumers seriously worthy ofour investment as a dealer body,
you know, and it there is a bigROI.
(22:34):
At the end of whatever process,whatever journey you're on
towards doing this, you knowthere's an ROI you're going to
get to, as long as we just stayaware we're intentional and how
we go about it.
And dude, there's just, there'ssome serious, there's a serious
opportunity out there thatwe're not tapping into on the
(22:56):
franchise side, right there,just as right if we can better
tell our story as to how we canhelp get these kind of deals
done.
You know, I mean, it's it's,it's just more gross, more units
, you know yeah, it gives me alot to think about.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I I mean, especially here at the playbookbook, we
love thinking about the thingthat nobody else is thinking
about.
You know, it's like socialmedia Everybody's trying to go
viral on TikTok, doing weirddances and then forgetting about
their Google business profile,and this feels like one of those
things to me.
(23:31):
It's like, hey, for those thatare listening and watching, pay
attention to this.
Maybe you're in Canada, maybeyou're're in Europe, maybe
you're in whatever.
Insert consumer, underservedconsumer demographics here.
You lean into them.
You're going to have anopportunity that your
competitors aren't.
I love that.
I love that visual of like yourcompetitors looking over here
(23:52):
and you see the opportunity inthat direction.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
I was just gonna say it's almost like when we started
talking.
I'll talk about this at theworkshop as well, right, but you
know, if you remember, like 10years ago, right, we, we really
started leaning into responsiveTech, right, you know we, we
know everyone, and it's this isnot the exact same, but there
are similarities here.
All right, we start buildingtech to fit where consumers are.
(24:18):
Okay, it started making surethe tech we're using as a dealer
body is able to meet consumerswhere they are.
If so many this 41, 42 millionpeople are speaking Spanish at
home to us, that says this is alanguage they're comfortable in
and we should meet them wherethey are Right.
This is the language they'recomfortable in and we should
(24:38):
meet them where they are right.
So, not not exactly the same.
As you know, eventually 70 ofyour traffic is going to be on
mobile, right, but there is theguys who adapted fast back then.
They won, you know, and I I seethat just kind of repeating
itself here.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You, know that's a mind blower for me to to wait a
minute.
We are the second highestSpanish-speaking country in the
world after Mexico.
Yeah, like, when you put it inthose terms, it's like whoa, why
wouldn't we like it?
You know what I mean.
It like it becomes a no brainer.
Why wouldn't I be serving thisdemographic?
(25:13):
Um well, I'm excited.
I'm excited to catch up withyou at NADA.
I'm excited for everybodylistening in the future that
knows what you talked about atNADA in 2025.
How can those listening andwatching connect with you?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Man hit us up on LinkedIn.
I'm always there right Chanceat carfluentio via email.
Check out the websitecarfluentio.
I'm on TikTok.
I dropped I don't know.
Sometimes I think some funnystuff you know, so give me a
follow.
Man, follow you back.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Chance man thanks so much for joining me on the
Dealer Playbook Podcast.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Yeah, brother, thanks for having me, man.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Hey, thanks for listening to the Dealer Playbook
Podcast.
If you enjoyed tuning in,please subscribe, share and hit
that like button.
You can also join us and theDPB community on social media.
Check back next week for a newdealer playbook episode.
Thanks so much for joining.
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