June 26, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode, my guest is Sam Maimone from Activix, and we’re diving into a part of the car business that most people think they’ve figured out—but really haven’t: CRM.
We talk about why most CRM setups are missing the mark and why buying more leads won’t solve the real problem. Sam shares what he’s seeing inside hundreds of dealerships and the small shifts that can completely change how your CRM performs. We also explore why skipping proper discovery can cost you, and what a good CRM process actually looks like when the people, the process, and the tech finally click.
Sam’s story is packed with hard-earned lessons—from DJ booths to dealership desks to the corporate world and back. This is a real conversation about what works, what doesn't, and how to spot the difference.
If you’ve ever wondered:
- Why your CRM feels like a to-do list instead of a growth tool
- What it actually takes to get your team to buy in
- Why speed matters in lead handling more than ever
...you’re going to want to lean in for this one.
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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.
MC (00:00):
This episode is brought to you by FlexDealer.
Auto industry, what's going on?
Welcome to this episode of theDealer Playbook Podcast.
We are at the TorontoInternational Auto Show.
(00:22):
I actually said it like anAmerican there, Emer.
I said Toronto.
We're at the Toronto...
International Auto Show.
Sitting down with my new pal,Sam Maimone.
Sam (00:33):
You got that right.
Things are going well.
All right.
As we would say.
That's it.
You know what my parents taughtme?
MC (00:40):
Yes.
Yes, I love it.
I'm excited to have you on theshow today.
We're going to dig into, youknow, some CRM process and
things of that nature,especially how important that
CRM process is going to be in a2025 world.
But first, I got to know, a DJ,how does a DJ...
How do you go from being a DJto getting into the car
(01:01):
business?
That's a
Sam (01:03):
great question.
You know, when we were youngeras teens, we, and I say we, my
best friends and I decided toPut a crew together and become
DJs.
And that's kind of how itstarted.
And then I ventured off intoradio broadcasting school.
Oh.
Worked at a radio station.
No kidding.
And that was fantastic.
(01:24):
Three years of my life.
I was in sales.
I was a sales manager.
And I also did a stint on theradio called Club DJ.
No kidding.
And it was live DJing, mixingat night.
And at the same time, I wasalso...
A nightclub DJ.
And I did that for many years.
It was great.
And the radio station thenclosed down.
I didn't know what to do.
(01:45):
And a lot of my friends were inthe car business.
And they say, you know what,Sam?
You'd be great for the carbusiness.
And that's how it
MC (01:51):
started.
This is so interesting.
First of all, had you not said,I'm a DJ, I might have picked
up on it because of your radiocadence.
Oh.
In the way that you...
Oh, there's a tonality to thecadence of the way that you
speak that people often pointout in me.
(02:12):
They're like, you speak likeyou're singing almost.
And I think it's just beautifulto listen to.
And this is the first time I'vebeen on the opposing end of a
beautiful voice to listen to.
So this is, this is interestingnew experience for me.
I want to key in on somethingyou just said.
A friend said, I think you'd begreat for the car business.
And we talk so much in thisindustry about recruiting and
(02:36):
that this is a good industry forpeople to come and work in.
And obviously part of ourmantra with the More Than Cars
Media Network and what we dohere on the Dealer Playbook is
to be a positive advocate forthe industry, that you can make
this a home, that there isunlimited opportunity.
When you came into thedealership, what did that look
like for you?
(02:56):
What role were you in?
How did you come into it?
And maybe give us some insightinto why.
when you realized that youwanted to stay in this industry?
Sam (03:05):
You know, I, the first place that I worked at was a
used car operation and I, itdidn't fit.
It was one of those used caroperations that were not very
honest, weren't transparent.
MC (03:19):
Yeah.
Sam (03:20):
And you know, the friend of mine who said you'd be good in
the industry said, you knowwhat, you should come to work at
the dealership that I'mmanaging.
It was a OEM store.
And that's where, you know, Igot in there and started selling
cars.
I was like, this is it, youknow, this is what a difference
between the other place I wasworking at.
(03:41):
Sure.
And you know, that's where Ifell in love with it.
And as I progressed into it, ofcourse, there's bumps in the
road and you learn these things.
And that's when I startedlearning about CRM, which we're
going to talk about today.
And after going there, a coupleof other dealerships i moved up
the ranks and became a managermanaged a team and that kind of
(04:05):
brought back memories of memanaging the team back at the
radio station i was at and thenout of nowhere this opportunity
came up i was working at adealership and i had no crm no
computer at my desk so i boughtmy own and the reason i did it
was I wanted to be moreefficient.
It wasn't just about customerrelationship management.
(04:27):
It was about making me moreefficient as well.
Right.
So it was a combination of bothbecause the CRM tool is not
just managing relationships.
It's about making things easierfor staff management and things
like that.
So I got this opportunity.
Somebody said, you know what?
Reynolds and Reynolds islooking for a CRM specialist.
I think you'd be great at it.
Again, another person.
(04:47):
And.
I went in for the interview.
It was corporate, completelydifferent than the dealership
world, multiple interviews.
Again, not like the dealershipworld.
You have an
MC (04:56):
interview and you get hired the same day.
Yeah.
They put a stethoscope to yourchest and say, yep, you'd be
good.
Absolutely.
Sam (05:03):
And he said, we'd love to bring you on board.
I like your story that you hadthe initiative to do that.
Perhaps you could tell otherdealers about our CRM.
And that's when I started atReynolds.
It was great.
It was fantastic.
Great company.
But then they said, you knowwhat?
Let's expand your role.
So not only did I did CRM invariable operations, I started
(05:26):
learning about parts serviceaccounting.
And that really gave me a goodfoundation of how a whole
dealership works with andwithout the silos between
departments.
And while I was at Reynolds, Imean, it was there for 10 years.
There was a couple ofindividuals that worked at the
OEM level.
They were OEM executives.
And they used to talk abouttheir meetings at the OEM.
(05:48):
And they pulled me in to dopresentations at head offices at
the OEMs.
And I thought to myself, it'dreally be nice to see what the
business is from an OEMperspective, the manufacturer
side.
And again, another opportunitypresented itself to me.
And I looked at my wife and Isaid, I really enjoy where I am.
I said, but here's anothergreat opportunity.
She said, go for it.
I think you would excel and youcould broaden your, you know,
(06:12):
your knowledge.
And I became a district managerat an OEM and it was fantastic.
It was, it gave me anotherinsight.
So, you know, I was in adealership.
Then I worked for a major SaaScompany and dealership
management provider likeReynolds.
And then I worked at an OEMand, you know, I started loving
(06:34):
the business even more.
And although I couldn't reallytalk about CRM A lot with my
dealers when I was a districtmanager, I would bring it up.
You had other duties andresponsibilities, of course.
Sure.
And it was fantastic.
I really enjoyed that role.
It gave me another perspective.
And then it came to a pointwhere vehicle merchandising came
(07:00):
on the horizon.
And Michael, I don't know ifmany of you will remember, but
back in the day, vehiclemerchandising was one photo.
And you had to grab this littlecamera.
Yeah.
There was no iPhones back then.
And I remember doing this atthe dealership I worked at.
Yeah.
And you'd go outside and takeone photo.
And you'd go to the next car.
(07:21):
And, you know, wherever it wasstanding.
And then you'd bring it back tothe computer.
You'd pull it out and you'dupload it.
MC (07:27):
The memory card was like this big, I remember.
Yeah.
Sam (07:30):
Right?
Yeah.
And then each site had toupload everything manually.
It was slow.
And...
This vehicle merchandisingorganization, not only did they
do vehicle merchandising, theyalso do inventory syndication.
And I thought, wow.
And another area of interest tome.
(07:51):
I mean, it was always aboutlooking at different sides of
the automotive industry and justlearning and growing.
And I've been blessed.
Yeah.
Been blessed that I've beengiven those opportunities.
And then someone reached out tome and said, again, someone I
worked at before and said, hey,you guys should hire Sam.
(08:13):
I worked with him when I was atReynolds, CRM specialist.
Maybe he'll go back to hisroots.
And that's when Activix came aknocking and I'm back to my CRM
roots.
Has it settled in?
MC (08:26):
So maybe I'm a slow learner.
But for me, I might have beenin this industry for...
13, 14 years before it dawnedon me that I worked in the
automotive industry.
Has it sunk in for you?
Like, when did you realize I'min the auto industry?
I am a part of a really bigindustry.
(08:47):
Hey, does your marketing agencysuck?
Listen, before we hop back intothis episode, I know you know
me as the host of the DealerPlaybook, but did you also know
that I'm the CEO of FlexDealer,an agency that's helping dealers
capture better quality leadsfrom local SEO and
hyper-targeted ads that convert.
(09:08):
So if you want to sell morecars and finally have a partner
that's in it with you thatdoesn't suck, visit
FlexDealer.com.
Let's back into this episode.
Sam (09:19):
It really hit me when I worked at Reynolds.
And the reason being is that'swhere I started learning about
all the different departmentsand how they work together.
And not only that, I workedwith a little mom and pop store
to large dealer groups.
And that's when I knew this isa huge industry.
There's a lot of players.
(09:39):
There's a lot of competitors.
There's a lot of money to bemade.
That's when I really realizedhow big it was.
Working at the dealership, yes,you're selling cars, you're
moving metal, as we call it, butit did dawn on me when I first
started at Reynolds and thenstarting to visit with all these
different players within theautomotive landscape
MC (10:00):
across Canada.
Interesting.
Now you're back at a CRM.
I want to pick your brain onthis.
As you look across yourportfolio, you work with, you
know, hundreds of dealershipsand if not thousands, what are
you seeing from a CRMperspective that I call it small
tweak territory?
(10:20):
It's like, man, if you justmade that small tweak, your
whole process would just evolve.
What do you notice is thecommon thing?
Let me put it this
Sam (10:29):
way.
CRM, CRM process, that wholeworld really needs three things.
You need the people, you needthe process and you need the
technology.
If you don't have the rightpeople, it'll never work.
We all know that.
Sure.
So that's the first thing.
The second thing is the processand having the right processes
(10:51):
based on the dealership and theterritory or where it's at.
Because something that is in asmall town up in Kapiskasing
versus a store in the GTA,different processes.
And then, of course, thetechnology that'll fit and marry
those together.
So those are the three mostimportant things that are
necessary for for CRM.
(11:13):
And there's another reallyimportant factor to help with
that.
And what I found most criticalis something that we did early
on or I did early on and learnedabout called a discovery.
And that is before even buyinga CRM or talking about a CRM or
even changing what you havetoday, if you do have one, it's
(11:35):
important to get a consultant,or somebody like myself or your
account executive at yoursoftware company to really sit
down and spend time with thedealership management staff and
write everything down.
What are you doing today?
What is it that you thinkyou're missing?
Perhaps I could show you whatyou're missing.
(11:56):
And with that, you could seewhat they're doing today, where
they want to be, where the gapis, and how the CRM can tie that
in.
And when you do this discoveryand you write it down and you
actually show a dealer thefinancial impact of what they're
doing wrong or what they'redoing right, it hits them.
And at that point, that's whenthey say, I see the light now a
(12:20):
little better.
So a discovery, I believe, isof utmost importance before even
buying it.
And there are times where I'vedone a discovery with a dealer
or a dealer group, and thenthey'll say, Okay, let's sign.
And I'd have to give them thebad news.
(12:41):
You're not ready.
Why?
Three of your managers won'tbuy in.
And it's difficult to have thatconversation.
But I think as a person in thisindustry, sometimes you need to
push back versus getting a saleand letting them know that they
don't have the right staff andthat they could implement it all
they want, but it'll never workbecause you have...
(13:05):
you know, so-and-so at the usedcar department or so-and-so the
assistant manager, whoever itis, they're going to be
blockers.
They're not going to care.
Right.
And I'm sure you've heard ofthat, you know, in the past and
it gets interesting.
MC (13:22):
Well, this is unique to me because most salespeople just
want to get a sale, right?
Most people will say, let meget the commission check.
And if you guys have a problemwith this on the back end, we'll
deal with that problem when thetime comes.
That's when I'll break the newsthat you're not ready for this,
which I think creates a weirddynamic, this vendor concept,
(13:45):
right?
I mean, I tend to think interms of partnership.
Partners always have theirpartner's best interests.
You know, they put theirpartner's best interests ahead
of anything else.
You're telling me somethingunique right now that I think a
lot of people feel, right?
but don't have the courage tosay, which is, I'm actually
(14:05):
going to be the reason that youdon't sign up right now because
you're not ready for it.
How do you balance that in abusiness that's, like you said,
move more metal?
Get the check mark on thebalance sheet.
Sell that
Sam (14:20):
CRM.
Just sign it on the dottedline.
You know, I had some skin inthe game as well.
because obviously in thosepositions that you're in and
you're doing that, of course, apaycheck comes into your pocket
as well, or the accountexecutive or whoever it was.
But the challenge that, or whatwould happen in some of those
instances where, you know, theaccount executive would say,
(14:43):
Sam, we just got to, we got toget them to sign it.
And I say, listen, it's goingto bite you in the, you know,
what?
And it's happened.
MC (14:49):
Yeah.
Sam (14:50):
And guess who starts to yell and scream six months
later?
I want to get out of mythree-year contract.
It ain't happening.
I told you.
We documented it.
Your team's not ready.
You wanted to go ahead with it.
And, you know, after a coupleof hits over the head with that,
it's not a good conversationwith the dealer principal.
Right.
You know, you're sitting in theoffice and here's somebody
(15:12):
who's obviously amultimillionaire, been around
the block, knows his stuff, andyou're telling him you can't get
out of his contract and thatsome of his staff actually suck.
And they suck and they suck.
And you just, again, if you'vedone it right and you pull up
that discovery document, say, doyou remember we talked about
(15:32):
this?
Do you remember we talked aboutthis?
Here's the opportunities you'remissing.
Here's how it's impactingprobably from a dollar
perspective or a customerexperience perspective.
Here's another tangible.
How is it affecting your staff?
They're not efficient.
Efficiency is a big word now in2025.
Yeah.
I want to be more efficient.
So, you know, theseconversations then can lead to,
(15:57):
okay, what is it that I reallyneed to do?
Or, you know, maybe I need tohire a new manager.
Maybe I need to hire a CRMchampion in my store.
Now let's kind of transitionto, hey, okay, we've signed it.
Now what?
Well, that's where, you know,implementation and training and
(16:18):
what I see as, you know, veryimportant factors in launching
it.
Now, Again, you tie it back tothis document you've had.
This is what you do withwalk-ins.
This is what you do with yourweb leads.
Pardon the pun, but before youlaunch the CRM, you need to
build a dealer playbook.
You need to build a CRM dealerplaybook.
(16:39):
And you need to sit down,again, with management and say,
okay, when we were talking, whenwe were doing the demo, after
the demo, this is what we wantto do.
This is how we want toimplement it.
These are the steps.
And these are the people thatare...
going to handle it.
You build the CRM playbook, youbuild your CRM, and then you
train based on that playbook.
Those are the bestimplementations.
(17:02):
And then you take a crawl,walk, run approach.
It's interesting.
Some dealers say, turneverything on.
Let's assign a thousand tasks.
The challenge again with thatis it's too much.
Right.
And a lot of people don't likechange.
Right.
In dealerships.
(17:22):
They just don't.
It's an industry that doesn't.
I don't think most people do.
Most people don't.
But in the auto industry, it'sprobably a little more so.
And when you've done that andyou've implemented it, one of
the areas I find where thingscan fall off is dealerships
don't invest in training.
Continuous CRM process
MC (17:44):
training.
Now you're preaching tooff-camera over here.
Okay.
They love this topic.
Sam (17:49):
So let's talk about that.
Hey, you know what?
There's a guy who's going to beat the convention center and he
sold a thousand cars and I'mgoing to pay for your two-day
seminar to go there.
And you're going to write allthis stuff down and then you
might retain 5% of it.
Half of your sales staff don'treally care.
Others will.
(18:09):
And you've just spoken to aguru and that's it.
But you won't invest in monthlytraining for a tool that you're
paying for monthly that isactually going to help you.
So I truly believe in trainingand training programs and
onboarding programs.
I'm gonna share a best practicethat I seen one of my dealer
(18:32):
principals do.
He wouldn't let nobody sell fortwo weeks, three weeks, four
weeks.
You actually had to go to eachdepartment and learn every
department and you had to get asign off from that management.
Interesting.
And they would say, okay, whatdoes obsolescence mean in parts?
What are turns?
(18:52):
What's...
MC (18:55):
Got to be able to answer it.
Sam (18:56):
What's
MC (18:56):
hours per hour row?
Sure.
I mean, this is...
Which is interesting because Idon't think most people on the
variable side have even heardthe word obsolescence.
No.
Sam (19:06):
No.
Right.
What's obsolescence?
You know, what's door rate?
You know, all these things.
And we all thought that, youknow, he was being this, you
know...
Ironclad, yeah.
But it was a great bestpractice he picked up from a 20
group.
And I thought, you know what,that's a great onboarding
(19:26):
program.
He also had training, you know,that he would implement, you
know, on a, I guess a quarterlybasis.
He'd all hop into the boardroomand he'd bring in someone,
phone training, anything,closing techniques.
I still remember some of thoseto this day.
Wow.
And You know, I've even sharedsome of those with some of my
(19:49):
dealers, some of the salesstaff, you know, Sam, you know,
what is it like to besuccessful?
I mean, I know you've beensuccessful.
What are a couple of things youcan tell me?
And I'd relay some of thosestories and some of those tips
and tricks, as we call it, thatwould help them become more
successful.
I mean, Not everyone has amentor or somebody that can help
(20:12):
or someone that comes in forcontinuous training.
But if I can provide that tosomeone and make their life
better, all the power.
I mean, it's our industry,right?
MC (20:22):
Right.
Sam (20:23):
Let's give back.
MC (20:24):
Yeah.
Let's pay it forward.
Yeah.
It makes sense.
I mean, why do we love a goodsports analogy?
And whiz past the part wherethat sports team that we're
using as an analogy now trainsnearly every minute of every
day.
Some of which those teamplayers will only get like five
(20:46):
minutes in a game if they'relucky.
And yet they show up day afterday training, preparing for when
they get to be on the field.
It actually blows my mind.
So the fact that you'respeaking about you pay for this
tool.
You hope it's going to lassothe sun, moon, and stars for you
just by having it.
The dose of reality, Sam, Ithink is refreshing to say it's
(21:10):
not about what you have.
It's about what you do withwhat you have.
And you need to train on it.
Training is the differencebetween being okay and surviving
and being lethal.
Sam (21:25):
Right?
Lethal.
Some people just use the CRM.
They don't manage the CRM.
And you need to manage the CRM.
Sure, you could enter data, youcan put in notes, but you need
to look at the data.
You need to manage the system.
You need to inspect what youexpect, which is a very common
(21:46):
phrase you hear out there.
You need to look at, and Ithink what's really important
nowadays is, sure, you got a weblead, but how many engagements
did you get?
Engagements are important.
How many times do they try toengage?
How many times do they try toattempt to reach that customer?
The thing that boggles my mind,Michael, is I'll go into a
(22:08):
dealership and I'll pull up theCRM and I'll see leads that
haven't been touched.
They're in what we call pendingstatus.
How can you let a pendingstatus?
You know what?
Let's just buy more leadsbecause that's going to help.
No.
No.
why don't you just take care ofyour own backyard?
You have your leads.
You need to work those leadsand you need to work them
aggressively because if acustomer is sending in a lead,
(22:32):
they're buying a car or they'reinterested in a car.
They're not doing one or theother.
MC (22:37):
Yeah.
Sam (22:38):
Right.
They're not, it's not like backin the way back in the day
where, you know, a kid wouldcome in cause he wanted the
brochure.
And I remember this at the GMstore.
I worked at a lot of kids wouldcome in cause they wanted the
Corvette brochure.
I mean, that that's not thecase now.
I mean, if a lead is set injust because they're sending in
that lead for sure.
Maybe they want to trade intheir car and they want an
(22:58):
evaluation.
Maybe they're looking, youknow, to upgrade.
Maybe they got a family now andthey need a minivan.
Like there's so much.
So this 20% closing ratio,where's the other 80%?
Do you think they're not buyinga car?
They are buying a car.
Sure.
It's just, they're not buyingit from you.
Right.
Cause maybe you're not doingthe right things.
You're laughing.
MC (23:18):
I'm laughing out of frustration and anger.
As we wind down, I want to pickyour brain on this.
And I know I'm about to ask aquestion that's going to enrage
me, not because of you, butbecause I think I might know
what the answer is.
10, 15, 20 years ago, thestatistic was that phone leads
will outnumber web formsubmissions like five to one.
(23:41):
Is a phone lead still moreprominent than a web form in a
world where we're starting toeven get out of web forms and
it's like chats and WhatsAppsand things of that nature?
Sam (23:53):
Based on what I'm seeing, it's difficult because it's hard
to track.
It's really difficult to trackphone leads, even though there
are some integrations that areout there with CRM tools.
I'm finding web leads, there'sa lot more web leads than there
are phone-ups, as we call it.
And Again, the challenge I'mfinding with that is, is how are
(24:13):
you handling those web leads?
How are you engaging?
And are you doing it quickly?
Boy, are we so impatient now,Michael.
Even myself, when I'm callingsomeone or texting someone or
submitting something for, youknow, someone to come do
something at my house, I'mexpecting a response in five
minutes.
And it's interesting because Iwouldn't be that.
(24:33):
20 years ago, I wasn't likethat.
But now, just the expectation.
Yeah.
And it's interesting that a lotof the OEMs are now into this
game of measuring response timesand hammering down on their
dealer bodies to say, and theirdealerships, you didn't answer
these leads in a certain amountof time.
We're going to penalize you insome way, shape, or form.
(24:57):
And I think it's still somewhatof an issue with a lot of the
dealerships out there.
You'd think that in today's dayand age, Everything would be
answered within five minutes,but it ain't the case.
It's not the case.
It's not the case.
And it's difficult to try andhelp them to understand that.
And, you know, with the chat,sure, you're getting some
(25:22):
information, but sometimes achat can go away.
If you're not capturing thatperson's email address or phone
number, it's in the wind.
You've had a conversation, butwith who?
It's not a real lead at thatpoint.
I mean, you could build sometype of a relationship through a
chat, but how often do theyactually convert?
MC (25:41):
Right.
Well, I knew it was going tomake me mad.
I don't know why I asked thequestion.
I knew I was going to get madat the answer, but it's valid
and it's something that we needto be thinking about.
I can't thank you enough forjoining me.
How can those listening andwatching get in touch with you
and connect?
LinkedIn.
He's on LinkedIn, folks.
Like a true Italian, just gotright to the heart of the
(26:05):
matter, right?
Sam, thanks so much for joiningme on The Dealer Playbook.
Thank you, Michael.
Hey, thanks for listening toThe 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.
Auto industry, what's going on?
Welcome to this episode of theDealer Playbook Podcast.
We are at the TorontoInternational Auto Show.
(00:22):
I actually said it like anAmerican there, Emer.
I said Toronto.
We're at the Toronto...
International Auto Show.
Sitting down with my new pal,Sam Maimone.
Sam (00:33):
You got that right.
Things are going well.
All right.
As we would say.
That's it.
You know what my parents taughtme?
MC (00:40):
Yes.
Yes, I love it.
I'm excited to have you on theshow today.
We're going to dig into, youknow, some CRM process and
things of that nature,especially how important that
CRM process is going to be in a2025 world.
But first, I got to know, a DJ,how does a DJ...
How do you go from being a DJto getting into the car
(01:01):
business?
That's a
Sam (01:03):
great question.
You know, when we were youngeras teens, we, and I say we, my
best friends and I decided toPut a crew together and become
DJs.
And that's kind of how itstarted.
And then I ventured off intoradio broadcasting school.
Oh.
Worked at a radio station.
No kidding.
And that was fantastic.
(01:24):
Three years of my life.
I was in sales.
I was a sales manager.
And I also did a stint on theradio called Club DJ.
No kidding.
And it was live DJing, mixingat night.
And at the same time, I wasalso...
A nightclub DJ.
And I did that for many years.
It was great.
And the radio station thenclosed down.
I didn't know what to do.
(01:45):
And a lot of my friends were inthe car business.
And they say, you know what,Sam?
You'd be great for the carbusiness.
And that's how it
MC (01:51):
started.
This is so interesting.
First of all, had you not said,I'm a DJ, I might have picked
up on it because of your radiocadence.
Oh.
In the way that you...
Oh, there's a tonality to thecadence of the way that you
speak that people often pointout in me.
(02:12):
They're like, you speak likeyou're singing almost.
And I think it's just beautifulto listen to.
And this is the first time I'vebeen on the opposing end of a
beautiful voice to listen to.
So this is, this is interestingnew experience for me.
I want to key in on somethingyou just said.
A friend said, I think you'd begreat for the car business.
And we talk so much in thisindustry about recruiting and
(02:36):
that this is a good industry forpeople to come and work in.
And obviously part of ourmantra with the More Than Cars
Media Network and what we dohere on the Dealer Playbook is
to be a positive advocate forthe industry, that you can make
this a home, that there isunlimited opportunity.
When you came into thedealership, what did that look
like for you?
(02:56):
What role were you in?
How did you come into it?
And maybe give us some insightinto why.
when you realized that youwanted to stay in this industry?
Sam (03:05):
You know, I, the first place that I worked at was a
used car operation and I, itdidn't fit.
It was one of those used caroperations that were not very
honest, weren't transparent.
MC (03:19):
Yeah.
Sam (03:20):
And you know, the friend of mine who said you'd be good in
the industry said, you knowwhat, you should come to work at
the dealership that I'mmanaging.
It was a OEM store.
And that's where, you know, Igot in there and started selling
cars.
I was like, this is it, youknow, this is what a difference
between the other place I wasworking at.
(03:41):
Sure.
And you know, that's where Ifell in love with it.
And as I progressed into it, ofcourse, there's bumps in the
road and you learn these things.
And that's when I startedlearning about CRM, which we're
going to talk about today.
And after going there, a coupleof other dealerships i moved up
the ranks and became a managermanaged a team and that kind of
(04:05):
brought back memories of memanaging the team back at the
radio station i was at and thenout of nowhere this opportunity
came up i was working at adealership and i had no crm no
computer at my desk so i boughtmy own and the reason i did it
was I wanted to be moreefficient.
It wasn't just about customerrelationship management.
(04:27):
It was about making me moreefficient as well.
Right.
So it was a combination of bothbecause the CRM tool is not
just managing relationships.
It's about making things easierfor staff management and things
like that.
So I got this opportunity.
Somebody said, you know what?
Reynolds and Reynolds islooking for a CRM specialist.
I think you'd be great at it.
Again, another person.
(04:47):
And.
I went in for the interview.
It was corporate, completelydifferent than the dealership
world, multiple interviews.
Again, not like the dealershipworld.
You have an
MC (04:56):
interview and you get hired the same day.
Yeah.
They put a stethoscope to yourchest and say, yep, you'd be
good.
Absolutely.
Sam (05:03):
And he said, we'd love to bring you on board.
I like your story that you hadthe initiative to do that.
Perhaps you could tell otherdealers about our CRM.
And that's when I started atReynolds.
It was great.
It was fantastic.
Great company.
But then they said, you knowwhat?
Let's expand your role.
So not only did I did CRM invariable operations, I started
(05:26):
learning about parts serviceaccounting.
And that really gave me a goodfoundation of how a whole
dealership works with andwithout the silos between
departments.
And while I was at Reynolds, Imean, it was there for 10 years.
There was a couple ofindividuals that worked at the
OEM level.
They were OEM executives.
And they used to talk abouttheir meetings at the OEM.
(05:48):
And they pulled me in to dopresentations at head offices at
the OEMs.
And I thought to myself, it'dreally be nice to see what the
business is from an OEMperspective, the manufacturer
side.
And again, another opportunitypresented itself to me.
And I looked at my wife and Isaid, I really enjoy where I am.
I said, but here's anothergreat opportunity.
She said, go for it.
I think you would excel and youcould broaden your, you know,
(06:12):
your knowledge.
And I became a district managerat an OEM and it was fantastic.
It was, it gave me anotherinsight.
So, you know, I was in adealership.
Then I worked for a major SaaScompany and dealership
management provider likeReynolds.
And then I worked at an OEMand, you know, I started loving
(06:34):
the business even more.
And although I couldn't reallytalk about CRM A lot with my
dealers when I was a districtmanager, I would bring it up.
You had other duties andresponsibilities, of course.
Sure.
And it was fantastic.
I really enjoyed that role.
It gave me another perspective.
And then it came to a pointwhere vehicle merchandising came
(07:00):
on the horizon.
And Michael, I don't know ifmany of you will remember, but
back in the day, vehiclemerchandising was one photo.
And you had to grab this littlecamera.
Yeah.
There was no iPhones back then.
And I remember doing this atthe dealership I worked at.
Yeah.
And you'd go outside and takeone photo.
And you'd go to the next car.
(07:21):
And, you know, wherever it wasstanding.
And then you'd bring it back tothe computer.
You'd pull it out and you'dupload it.
MC (07:27):
The memory card was like this big, I remember.
Yeah.
Sam (07:30):
Right?
Yeah.
And then each site had toupload everything manually.
It was slow.
And...
This vehicle merchandisingorganization, not only did they
do vehicle merchandising, theyalso do inventory syndication.
And I thought, wow.
And another area of interest tome.
(07:51):
I mean, it was always aboutlooking at different sides of
the automotive industry and justlearning and growing.
And I've been blessed.
Yeah.
Been blessed that I've beengiven those opportunities.
And then someone reached out tome and said, again, someone I
worked at before and said, hey,you guys should hire Sam.
(08:13):
I worked with him when I was atReynolds, CRM specialist.
Maybe he'll go back to hisroots.
And that's when Activix came aknocking and I'm back to my CRM
roots.
Has it settled in?
MC (08:26):
So maybe I'm a slow learner.
But for me, I might have beenin this industry for...
13, 14 years before it dawnedon me that I worked in the
automotive industry.
Has it sunk in for you?
Like, when did you realize I'min the auto industry?
I am a part of a really bigindustry.
(08:47):
Hey, does your marketing agencysuck?
Listen, before we hop back intothis episode, I know you know
me as the host of the DealerPlaybook, but did you also know
that I'm the CEO of FlexDealer,an agency that's helping dealers
capture better quality leadsfrom local SEO and
hyper-targeted ads that convert.
(09:08):
So if you want to sell morecars and finally have a partner
that's in it with you thatdoesn't suck, visit
FlexDealer.com.
Let's back into this episode.
Sam (09:19):
It really hit me when I worked at Reynolds.
And the reason being is that'swhere I started learning about
all the different departmentsand how they work together.
And not only that, I workedwith a little mom and pop store
to large dealer groups.
And that's when I knew this isa huge industry.
There's a lot of players.
(09:39):
There's a lot of competitors.
There's a lot of money to bemade.
That's when I really realizedhow big it was.
Working at the dealership, yes,you're selling cars, you're
moving metal, as we call it, butit did dawn on me when I first
started at Reynolds and thenstarting to visit with all these
different players within theautomotive landscape
MC (10:00):
across Canada.
Interesting.
Now you're back at a CRM.
I want to pick your brain onthis.
As you look across yourportfolio, you work with, you
know, hundreds of dealershipsand if not thousands, what are
you seeing from a CRMperspective that I call it small
tweak territory?
(10:20):
It's like, man, if you justmade that small tweak, your
whole process would just evolve.
What do you notice is thecommon thing?
Let me put it this
Sam (10:29):
way.
CRM, CRM process, that wholeworld really needs three things.
You need the people, you needthe process and you need the
technology.
If you don't have the rightpeople, it'll never work.
We all know that.
Sure.
So that's the first thing.
The second thing is the processand having the right processes
(10:51):
based on the dealership and theterritory or where it's at.
Because something that is in asmall town up in Kapiskasing
versus a store in the GTA,different processes.
And then, of course, thetechnology that'll fit and marry
those together.
So those are the three mostimportant things that are
necessary for for CRM.
(11:13):
And there's another reallyimportant factor to help with
that.
And what I found most criticalis something that we did early
on or I did early on and learnedabout called a discovery.
And that is before even buyinga CRM or talking about a CRM or
even changing what you havetoday, if you do have one, it's
(11:35):
important to get a consultant,or somebody like myself or your
account executive at yoursoftware company to really sit
down and spend time with thedealership management staff and
write everything down.
What are you doing today?
What is it that you thinkyou're missing?
Perhaps I could show you whatyou're missing.
(11:56):
And with that, you could seewhat they're doing today, where
they want to be, where the gapis, and how the CRM can tie that
in.
And when you do this discoveryand you write it down and you
actually show a dealer thefinancial impact of what they're
doing wrong or what they'redoing right, it hits them.
And at that point, that's whenthey say, I see the light now a
(12:20):
little better.
So a discovery, I believe, isof utmost importance before even
buying it.
And there are times where I'vedone a discovery with a dealer
or a dealer group, and thenthey'll say, Okay, let's sign.
And I'd have to give them thebad news.
(12:41):
You're not ready.
Why?
Three of your managers won'tbuy in.
And it's difficult to have thatconversation.
But I think as a person in thisindustry, sometimes you need to
push back versus getting a saleand letting them know that they
don't have the right staff andthat they could implement it all
they want, but it'll never workbecause you have...
(13:05):
you know, so-and-so at the usedcar department or so-and-so the
assistant manager, whoever itis, they're going to be
blockers.
They're not going to care.
Right.
And I'm sure you've heard ofthat, you know, in the past and
it gets interesting.
MC (13:22):
Well, this is unique to me because most salespeople just
want to get a sale, right?
Most people will say, let meget the commission check.
And if you guys have a problemwith this on the back end, we'll
deal with that problem when thetime comes.
That's when I'll break the newsthat you're not ready for this,
which I think creates a weirddynamic, this vendor concept,
(13:45):
right?
I mean, I tend to think interms of partnership.
Partners always have theirpartner's best interests.
You know, they put theirpartner's best interests ahead
of anything else.
You're telling me somethingunique right now that I think a
lot of people feel, right?
but don't have the courage tosay, which is, I'm actually
(14:05):
going to be the reason that youdon't sign up right now because
you're not ready for it.
How do you balance that in abusiness that's, like you said,
move more metal?
Get the check mark on thebalance sheet.
Sell that
Sam (14:20):
CRM.
Just sign it on the dottedline.
You know, I had some skin inthe game as well.
because obviously in thosepositions that you're in and
you're doing that, of course, apaycheck comes into your pocket
as well, or the accountexecutive or whoever it was.
But the challenge that, or whatwould happen in some of those
instances where, you know, theaccount executive would say,
(14:43):
Sam, we just got to, we got toget them to sign it.
And I say, listen, it's goingto bite you in the, you know,
what?
And it's happened.
MC (14:49):
Yeah.
Sam (14:50):
And guess who starts to yell and scream six months
later?
I want to get out of mythree-year contract.
It ain't happening.
I told you.
We documented it.
Your team's not ready.
You wanted to go ahead with it.
And, you know, after a coupleof hits over the head with that,
it's not a good conversationwith the dealer principal.
Right.
You know, you're sitting in theoffice and here's somebody
(15:12):
who's obviously amultimillionaire, been around
the block, knows his stuff, andyou're telling him you can't get
out of his contract and thatsome of his staff actually suck.
And they suck and they suck.
And you just, again, if you'vedone it right and you pull up
that discovery document, say, doyou remember we talked about
(15:32):
this?
Do you remember we talked aboutthis?
Here's the opportunities you'remissing.
Here's how it's impactingprobably from a dollar
perspective or a customerexperience perspective.
Here's another tangible.
How is it affecting your staff?
They're not efficient.
Efficiency is a big word now in2025.
Yeah.
I want to be more efficient.
So, you know, theseconversations then can lead to,
(15:57):
okay, what is it that I reallyneed to do?
Or, you know, maybe I need tohire a new manager.
Maybe I need to hire a CRMchampion in my store.
Now let's kind of transitionto, hey, okay, we've signed it.
Now what?
Well, that's where, you know,implementation and training and
(16:18):
what I see as, you know, veryimportant factors in launching
it.
Now, Again, you tie it back tothis document you've had.
This is what you do withwalk-ins.
This is what you do with yourweb leads.
Pardon the pun, but before youlaunch the CRM, you need to
build a dealer playbook.
You need to build a CRM dealerplaybook.
(16:39):
And you need to sit down,again, with management and say,
okay, when we were talking, whenwe were doing the demo, after
the demo, this is what we wantto do.
This is how we want toimplement it.
These are the steps.
And these are the people thatare...
going to handle it.
You build the CRM playbook, youbuild your CRM, and then you
train based on that playbook.
Those are the bestimplementations.
(17:02):
And then you take a crawl,walk, run approach.
It's interesting.
Some dealers say, turneverything on.
Let's assign a thousand tasks.
The challenge again with thatis it's too much.
Right.
And a lot of people don't likechange.
Right.
In dealerships.
(17:22):
They just don't.
It's an industry that doesn't.
I don't think most people do.
Most people don't.
But in the auto industry, it'sprobably a little more so.
And when you've done that andyou've implemented it, one of
the areas I find where thingscan fall off is dealerships
don't invest in training.
Continuous CRM process
MC (17:44):
training.
Now you're preaching tooff-camera over here.
Okay.
They love this topic.
Sam (17:49):
So let's talk about that.
Hey, you know what?
There's a guy who's going to beat the convention center and he
sold a thousand cars and I'mgoing to pay for your two-day
seminar to go there.
And you're going to write allthis stuff down and then you
might retain 5% of it.
Half of your sales staff don'treally care.
Others will.
(18:09):
And you've just spoken to aguru and that's it.
But you won't invest in monthlytraining for a tool that you're
paying for monthly that isactually going to help you.
So I truly believe in trainingand training programs and
onboarding programs.
I'm gonna share a best practicethat I seen one of my dealer
(18:32):
principals do.
He wouldn't let nobody sell fortwo weeks, three weeks, four
weeks.
You actually had to go to eachdepartment and learn every
department and you had to get asign off from that management.
Interesting.
And they would say, okay, whatdoes obsolescence mean in parts?
What are turns?
(18:52):
What's...
MC (18:55):
Got to be able to answer it.
Sam (18:56):
What's
MC (18:56):
hours per hour row?
Sure.
I mean, this is...
Which is interesting because Idon't think most people on the
variable side have even heardthe word obsolescence.
No.
Sam (19:06):
No.
Right.
What's obsolescence?
You know, what's door rate?
You know, all these things.
And we all thought that, youknow, he was being this, you
know...
Ironclad, yeah.
But it was a great bestpractice he picked up from a 20
group.
And I thought, you know what,that's a great onboarding
(19:26):
program.
He also had training, you know,that he would implement, you
know, on a, I guess a quarterlybasis.
He'd all hop into the boardroomand he'd bring in someone,
phone training, anything,closing techniques.
I still remember some of thoseto this day.
Wow.
And You know, I've even sharedsome of those with some of my
(19:49):
dealers, some of the salesstaff, you know, Sam, you know,
what is it like to besuccessful?
I mean, I know you've beensuccessful.
What are a couple of things youcan tell me?
And I'd relay some of thosestories and some of those tips
and tricks, as we call it, thatwould help them become more
successful.
I mean, Not everyone has amentor or somebody that can help
(20:12):
or someone that comes in forcontinuous training.
But if I can provide that tosomeone and make their life
better, all the power.
I mean, it's our industry,right?
MC (20:22):
Right.
Sam (20:23):
Let's give back.
MC (20:24):
Yeah.
Let's pay it forward.
Yeah.
It makes sense.
I mean, why do we love a goodsports analogy?
And whiz past the part wherethat sports team that we're
using as an analogy now trainsnearly every minute of every
day.
Some of which those teamplayers will only get like five
(20:46):
minutes in a game if they'relucky.
And yet they show up day afterday training, preparing for when
they get to be on the field.
It actually blows my mind.
So the fact that you'respeaking about you pay for this
tool.
You hope it's going to lassothe sun, moon, and stars for you
just by having it.
The dose of reality, Sam, Ithink is refreshing to say it's
(21:10):
not about what you have.
It's about what you do withwhat you have.
And you need to train on it.
Training is the differencebetween being okay and surviving
and being lethal.
Sam (21:25):
Right?
Lethal.
Some people just use the CRM.
They don't manage the CRM.
And you need to manage the CRM.
Sure, you could enter data, youcan put in notes, but you need
to look at the data.
You need to manage the system.
You need to inspect what youexpect, which is a very common
(21:46):
phrase you hear out there.
You need to look at, and Ithink what's really important
nowadays is, sure, you got a weblead, but how many engagements
did you get?
Engagements are important.
How many times do they try toengage?
How many times do they try toattempt to reach that customer?
The thing that boggles my mind,Michael, is I'll go into a
(22:08):
dealership and I'll pull up theCRM and I'll see leads that
haven't been touched.
They're in what we call pendingstatus.
How can you let a pendingstatus?
You know what?
Let's just buy more leadsbecause that's going to help.
No.
No.
why don't you just take care ofyour own backyard?
You have your leads.
You need to work those leadsand you need to work them
aggressively because if acustomer is sending in a lead,
(22:32):
they're buying a car or they'reinterested in a car.
They're not doing one or theother.
MC (22:37):
Yeah.
Sam (22:38):
Right.
They're not, it's not like backin the way back in the day
where, you know, a kid wouldcome in cause he wanted the
brochure.
And I remember this at the GMstore.
I worked at a lot of kids wouldcome in cause they wanted the
Corvette brochure.
I mean, that that's not thecase now.
I mean, if a lead is set injust because they're sending in
that lead for sure.
Maybe they want to trade intheir car and they want an
(22:58):
evaluation.
Maybe they're looking, youknow, to upgrade.
Maybe they got a family now andthey need a minivan.
Like there's so much.
So this 20% closing ratio,where's the other 80%?
Do you think they're not buyinga car?
They are buying a car.
Sure.
It's just, they're not buyingit from you.
Right.
Cause maybe you're not doingthe right things.
You're laughing.
MC (23:18):
I'm laughing out of frustration and anger.
As we wind down, I want to pickyour brain on this.
And I know I'm about to ask aquestion that's going to enrage
me, not because of you, butbecause I think I might know
what the answer is.
10, 15, 20 years ago, thestatistic was that phone leads
will outnumber web formsubmissions like five to one.
(23:41):
Is a phone lead still moreprominent than a web form in a
world where we're starting toeven get out of web forms and
it's like chats and WhatsAppsand things of that nature?
Sam (23:53):
Based on what I'm seeing, it's difficult because it's hard
to track.
It's really difficult to trackphone leads, even though there
are some integrations that areout there with CRM tools.
I'm finding web leads, there'sa lot more web leads than there
are phone-ups, as we call it.
And Again, the challenge I'mfinding with that is, is how are
(24:13):
you handling those web leads?
How are you engaging?
And are you doing it quickly?
Boy, are we so impatient now,Michael.
Even myself, when I'm callingsomeone or texting someone or
submitting something for, youknow, someone to come do
something at my house, I'mexpecting a response in five
minutes.
And it's interesting because Iwouldn't be that.
(24:33):
20 years ago, I wasn't likethat.
But now, just the expectation.
Yeah.
And it's interesting that a lotof the OEMs are now into this
game of measuring response timesand hammering down on their
dealer bodies to say, and theirdealerships, you didn't answer
these leads in a certain amountof time.
We're going to penalize you insome way, shape, or form.
(24:57):
And I think it's still somewhatof an issue with a lot of the
dealerships out there.
You'd think that in today's dayand age, Everything would be
answered within five minutes,but it ain't the case.
It's not the case.
It's not the case.
And it's difficult to try andhelp them to understand that.
And, you know, with the chat,sure, you're getting some
(25:22):
information, but sometimes achat can go away.
If you're not capturing thatperson's email address or phone
number, it's in the wind.
You've had a conversation, butwith who?
It's not a real lead at thatpoint.
I mean, you could build sometype of a relationship through a
chat, but how often do theyactually convert?
MC (25:41):
Right.
Well, I knew it was going tomake me mad.
I don't know why I asked thequestion.
I knew I was going to get madat the answer, but it's valid
and it's something that we needto be thinking about.
I can't thank you enough forjoining me.
How can those listening andwatching get in touch with you
and connect?
LinkedIn.
He's on LinkedIn, folks.
Like a true Italian, just gotright to the heart of the
(26:05):
matter, right?
Sam, thanks so much for joiningme on The Dealer Playbook.
Thank you, Michael.
Hey, thanks for listening toThe 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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