July 31, 2025 • 23 mins
We’re throwing it back to one of the most practical and actionable episodes of MC on the Mic—and for good reason. This strategy is so simple, it almost feels too good to be true. But it's exactly the kind of innovative (not inventive) move that the top 1% in sales and service swear by.
In this solo episode, I break down a three-step framework that anyone—yes, even if you're not in sales—can use to stand out, build trust, and dominate your market. No budget increase, no fancy tools, no permission slips needed. Just your brain, your phone, and about 10 minutes a day.
Here’s what we cover:
- Why innovation isn’t about inventing something new, and what that really means for your career
- A Facebook groups strategy so human and so obvious, your competitors will never think to use it
- The step-by-step for becoming the go-to person in your community, even if you’ve never posted online before
- How to create real-world value in an industry that often gets stuck in the "sell, sell, sell" loop
And hey, I get it. Everyone wants the secret sauce. We want the next big hack. But sometimes, the most powerful move isn’t in a webinar or paid ad—it’s in showing up where people already are and being genuinely helpful.
So, if you’ve ever found yourself saying, “How do I get more leads without throwing more money at ads?”—this episode is your answer.
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FlexDealer Need Better Quality Leads? FLX helps car dealers generate better quality leads through localized organic search and highly-targeted ads that convert. They also help integrate marketing with internal operations for optimal results, and unparalleled growth.
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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.
All right, gang, on thisepisode of MC on the Mic, I'm
going to share one of myfavorite strategies that's going
(00:22):
to blow the lid off of yoursales and service business.
Stay tuned, okay.
So I I'm gonna get to it andI'm gonna lay this out in a way
that that is super clear.
You're gonna be like, really,cerullo, it's that easy, I
promise you.
What I'm about to share withyou today is that easy.
Um, you know, recently we had myman, char Charles Cannon, on
(00:43):
the show, and this guy is ajuggernaut when it comes to just
personal branding and laying afootprint on the community with
which he works in to the degreethat I don't think anybody in
his sphere of influence thinkabout anybody else when it comes
to buying or servicing avehicle, and I think that's kind
(01:04):
of the golden nest egg, if youwill.
We've all kind of coveted beingin a position like that, where
we are the go-to, where we arethe resource, and I think
oftentimes, as we do, our humannature always kicks in.
We ruin everything, we make itmore complicated than it needs
(01:25):
to be, and I think that's whatexcites me about this.
I don't know if it's humannature or if I'm just revealing
something about myself that Ilike easy and simple, but what
I'm going to share with youtoday is an inside look, my top
three tips that I could sharewith you that guys like Charles
Cannon and Ali Rita and FrankCrenniti and some of these
(01:46):
really top performers use aspart of their tool chest to
absolutely crush their sales andservice goals.
Now you're probably saying,well, cirilla, why do you keep
saying service on the end?
I thought this was for carsales people.
No fact, this works for everydepartment, for every individual
.
If you have a brain and a heartand air in your lungs, what I'm
(02:10):
going to share with you todominate today will work All
right.
So here it goes.
I'm just going to lay it outbecause I love just getting to
the point, but I want to startwith this.
Sometimes, I think in ourindustry, we misunderstand
simple and basic words.
For example, you remember thedisruption phase we went through
?
Oh my gosh, disruption.
(02:30):
And as I listened to thearguments around this concept of
disruption because it was thebuzzword we latched onto what I
realized is that we were talkingabout disruption as if it was
interruption, not the actualthesis of disruptive innovation,
as authored by ClaytonChristensen, and it got me
(02:51):
thinking.
Well, if we're talking aboutthis word wrong, what else are
we talking about wrong?
And I know if you've been to awebinar or a conference or a
seminar, you've probably heardthe word innovation.
Companies like Uber and Airbnbare brought up and discussed.
Look at them they have abillion-dollar business and they
(03:12):
don't own a single vehicle.
We've all heard things likethat, but as I listened to the
way people talk about and orperceive innovation, something
became clear to me, and it'sthat we are understanding it to
mean invention.
We talk about Uber and Airbnband the likes of those types of
(03:33):
companies like they inventedsomething, and so I want to get
clear, because what I'm going toshare with you today, I believe
, is innovative in its truestsense, and it's so simple.
It's unbelievable almost.
But to get there, I need toshare with you why I believe
Uber didn't invent anything.
(03:53):
In fact, they innovated.
First and foremost, innovationis the assembly of tools and
resources that already exist,packaged together in a new and
fresh process or a workflow.
Well, when you look atinvention, this idea of net new
creation, I think there's somany people in our industry that
(04:16):
are like I'm never going to beable to innovate because
everything already exists.
This is a good thing thateverything already exists.
Pat yourself on the back thehardest part of the equation
already exists, um.
But we get discouraged becausewe think, well, I'm never going
to be able to invent anything.
But no, invention is thecreation of a net, new concept
(04:41):
or thing or product or whatever,taking things that already
exist, packaging them in a newand a fresh workflow.
So when you look at Uber, whatdid Uber invent?
They didn't invent smartphones.
They didn't invent the internet.
They didn't invent mobile apps.
They did not invent paymentprocessing.
(05:03):
They didn't invent ride sharing.
They didn't invent automobiles.
They sure as heck didn't inventpeople.
What they did do is theyassembled all of these existing
elements into a fresh and newworkflow that was easier, that
had less friction, that was easyto understand and, in so doing,
(05:27):
not only created amulti-billion dollar company
that doesn't own vehicles, buthad a happy side effect in which
they created a new economy.
They were able to put people towork, also utilizing something
that most people already have avehicle and I think that's so
fascinating.
(05:48):
Well, now you're probably saying, cirillo, get to the point.
Well, here's what I want toshare with you.
What do we know about ourindustry and our role in the
industry?
We know we want to grow.
We know that we're trying tofind things that our competitors
are not doing.
We're always looking for thatcompetitive advantage.
We know that we're trying tofind things that our competitors
are not doing.
We're always looking for thatcompetitive advantage.
We're always trying to get aleg up, and we're always
(06:12):
wondering well, how much more doI have to spend on Google ads
in order to bring this to life?
And that's where I want to goslam the brakes.
You don't need to spend more onyour Google ads.
What you do need to do is takeaction that I'm going to refer
to as hand-to-hand combat.
(06:33):
If you will Just follow me herefor a second and this brings me
to the first step when you comein in the morning, I want you
to really audit what you do withyour time.
Do you sit down at your desk?
I want you to really audit whatyou do with your time.
Do you sit down at your desk?
Do you doom scroll for a fewminutes?
You go to the coffee machine,you get your cup of coffee, you
sit down.
You kind of wait for yourmorning meeting if you're doing
(06:55):
that, or a training meeting ifyou're doing that, and you just
kind of you know, huddle withthe dudes, grab a smoke,
whatever it might be.
If you pay attention to howyou're utilizing your time, you
realize there's actually waymore time to do what I'm about
to share with you than you mightthink.
So what I would recommend is thefirst thing that you do when
you get in in the morning, overyour morning cup of coffee, is
(07:19):
go to Facebook, facebookcom, oropen the app on your phone.
Then you're going to click onthe search bar and you're going
to type in the name of your cityand your state.
So for me, I'm near Dallas,texas, so I would write Dallas
Texas, I would type in DallasTexas and I'm going to click
enter.
What you'll notice along theleft-hand side of your screen,
(07:40):
if you're on desktop, is, youknow, different filters, pages,
people, et cetera, et cetera,events, and down near the bottom
you'll see groups.
Some of you might already knowwhere I'm going with this, so
click on groups and what Iguarantee you're going to find
are dozens and I mean dozens, ifnot multiples of dozens that's
(08:07):
called hundreds, cirillo ofgroups relevant to your
community and if you're like me,what you'll see is groups with
30,000 people, groups with12,000 people, groups with 500
people, and it'll show you howmany posts per day on average
(08:30):
are happening in that group.
So let's just say I'm going togo to a fringe case for just a
second, because they tend to notget a lot of love.
You're an RV dealer and you'relocated in Dallas, texas.
Go and search for Texas RVs andgo to groups.
(08:51):
You're going to see dallas,texas rv enthusiasts.
You're going to see go rv intexas.
You're going to see things likediscover texas, go rving all
these sorts of things.
Well, what's my point?
You are discovering communitiesof people who are having active
(09:11):
conversations about your nicheor niche depending, depending on
where you're located and you'regonna see how many posts per
day are happening there.
The next part of this strategy,once you've discovered some
groups that stand out to you, isyou're gonna join them, join
these groups and over yourmorning cup of coffee, you're
(09:32):
going to scroll through theposts and you're going to scroll
through the posts and you'regoing to leave meaningful
conversation, continuing levelcomments on the things other
people post.
What you will not do is go hotinto the group and be like hey,
everybody, I'm Michael, I'm asalesperson at ABC Motors and
(09:52):
I'm going to be your bestresource for buying.
That's how you get kicked outof the group.
What you're going to do andstick with me here because I'll
explain the simple brilliance ofthis strategy in a minute.
You're going to just engagelike a real human being on
somebody else's content.
Hey, does your marketing agencysuck?
(10:13):
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
(10:33):
FlexDealercom.
Let's hop back into this episode.
Why this is so powerful?
A most people are notaccustomed to having other
people engage on their stuff.
Okay, that's the first reasonwhy this is brilliant, because
if you are the one that engageson somebody else's post, you
(10:54):
have immediately unlocked thelaw of reciprocity, the law of
the universe in which you givesomething of value and get
something of equal or greatervalue in return.
In this scenario, you havegiven something of precious
value to somebody else yourattention and in return they
will give you something ofprecious value to them their
(11:18):
attention Guaranteed.
They're going to come andthey're going to be like wait a
minute, who's this guy?
I don't know this guy.
And they're going to, first ofall, probably reply to your
comment, especially if you madeit thought provoking or
meaningful or asked them aquestion in return.
The same way, you would have aconversation in real life.
(11:39):
Then they're going to go andclick on your profile and see
what you're all about.
This is kind of subsection step2A, where I would say make sure
your profile is legit, likegood bio, good presence where
you work.
Most people on Facebook don'tput the company they work at.
(12:01):
Make sure all that stuff isfilled out.
So when they come to yourprofile which they inevitably
will they get an understandingof who you are.
And now, all of a sudden, youare on somebody's radar that you
were not on the radar of before.
You have made your presenceknown.
Well, imagine how thatmultiplies very simply over your
morning cup of coffee or yourmorning lemonade or whatever you
(12:23):
drink in the morning, by simplygoing through and leaving
comments and engaging inconversation with people who
live in your community, in yourcity, in your town, in your
metro, whatever.
The second reason why thisstrategy works is because it
(12:44):
eliminates the negative stigmaassociated with the car business
.
Everybody thinks that we justcome in hot and loaded every
time we do something that all weknow how to do is talk about
selling cars and moving metal orservicing cars.
But, holy crap, there's such ahuge opportunity here to join
automotive repair groups Ifyou're a technician or a service
(13:06):
manager or a parts enthusiastor just a general car enthusiast
.
To join car enthusiast groups.
To join in conversations toshare value, because you know,
in these groups people are.
To join in conversations toshare value Because you know, in
these groups, people are goingto be posting like hey, there's
a weird knocking sound comingfrom my rear three-quarter panel
on my 2019 whatever expedition.
(13:27):
You can pop in and you can belike hey, I've seen that a lot.
I'm actually a technician overat ABC Ford and that can be one
of two or three things.
If you want to learn more, feelfree to DM me or you can ask me
here in the comments.
I'd be happy to answer and helpyou out as best as I can.
How does that eliminate thenegative stigma?
(13:48):
Because now you're just beinggenuinely human, you're offering
value, you're engaging innormal, everyday conversations
and you might be saying, well,hold on a Cirillo.
So let's just say I joined theCastle Guard British Columbia
Facebook group and the onlything people want to talk about
(14:08):
is local politics or the potholeon 17th Street.
Be, be a human, engage, Don't.
Don't really get into thepolitics, I would say, but the
pothole, be all over thatpothole.
Hey, yeah, I found thatpotholes getting bigger and
bigger by the day.
You know what I do now and itactually saves me five minutes
(14:30):
on my commute I go down to 12thstreet, hang a left on Broadway
and then I hit the main drag.
From there People are going tobe like, oh well, that's
actually a good idea, thanks,and you'll be like, hey, no
problem.
Then you come back tomorrow andyou see what people are posting
and you follow the same process.
(14:50):
If you're sitting there saying,well, I don't know how to have
conversations with people, getthe balls out of sales, do
yourself a favor.
You can see.
I look to the side here to seehow Joe and Arnold took that
advice.
Like are they smiling?
I work for Joe.
(15:13):
My producer's approval always,but it's kind of true, right
Like controversial opinion ofthe day.
If you don't know how to have aconversation of people, are you
good at math?
Go be an accountant, I don'tknow.
Do something where you don'thave to have conversations.
But if you're in a positionwhere you need to talk to people
every day, converse, engage.
(15:36):
These are real people in yourcommunity.
This is not pie in the sky.
Followers on TikTok who don'tlive in the same country.
Half the time I wonder if theylive in the same universe as us.
These are real people in eitheran enthusiast group ie
community or your physicallocation community.
(15:58):
Get to know them.
The third reason why this isbrilliant, and this might go
without saying your competitorswill never, ever in a million
years, think to do this.
How do we know?
First way, we know they wouldhave already done it by now.
Facebook's what?
(16:19):
20 something years old?
They'd be doing it already.
They'd be all over theseFacebook groups.
Heck, they probably would havestarted their own groups.
I wouldn't recommend that atthis point.
I would recommend getting in ongroups that are already active,
are already established.
You'll feel less discouraged,but they'd be doing it by now.
They'd be in these groups,they'd be engaging.
(16:39):
They're not doing it.
Your competitor down the streetthat you think is completely
dominating.
They're never going to think todo this.
They're never going to thinkoutside of the 30-day cycle of
but.
But how does that sell me morecars?
That's where their brain'sgoing to go.
They're going to get allphilosophical about it.
What you're realizing is, forevery one person that I have a
(17:03):
conversation with, 10 otherswill.
At least 10 others will see theconversation happening and not
engage yet.
Least ten others will see theconversation happening and not
engage yet.
Or they will engage, in whichcase now, multiples of people
now know you exist.
Now click through to yourprofile to see what you're all
about and now know you are aproud ambassador for the
(17:27):
dealership you work at that youmake a living at um.
This is such powerfulhand-to-hand I call it
hand-to-hand combat but it'shuman to human and we often
overlook this because maybewe're looking for the easy way
out, maybe it's easier to spendall of our net profit earnings
on more ads to get more traffic,but there's acres of diet b.
(17:53):
Brian Benstock, who's been onthe show as well, powerful
operator says there's acres ofdiamonds in your own backyard.
And that's what I think is sobrilliantly simple about this
strategy.
The people are already there.
Facebook is already there,facebook groups already exist,
your store already exists, theinternet already exists, your
(18:14):
smartphone already exists.
And you are now an innovatorbecause you are following
through on a process or aworkflow that will help you
dominate, build deeperrelationships with real people
in your community who are goingto buy a car sometime or another
, who are going to need servicesometime or another.
And now you have just firmlyplanted your feet, or you're
(18:37):
planted your stake in the ground, saying I exist here.
There is a real soul here.
You can trust me, I'm a realcool guy.
By the way, I didn't know ourkids play on the same softball
team and, oh, I didn't know wego to the same school.
And now I put a face to thename when I go to the kids
Christmas concert orThanksgiving play or whatever it
(18:58):
might be.
Real connections with realpeople, in a way that your
competitors will never do it.
Now, the last thing I want toleave you with I think this is
part three, or this is stepnumber three.
Do that for 30 days.
Do not talk about what you withI think this is part three, or
this is step number three Dothat for 30 days.
Do not talk about what you do.
Do not say you are a carsalesperson.
(19:19):
Do not do any of that, notbecause we're trying to be
deceiving, simply because I wantto throttle what I believe is
your carnal appetite to makemoney and to not know how to do
it in any other way, but sayingyou know, like the wacky, wavy,
inflatable, flailing arm tubeguy, but after 30 days of
(19:41):
engaging and having built somerelationships, you're going to
pop onto this bad boy, yoursmartphone, and you're going to
open your video app, your cameraapp, and you're going to open
your video app, your camera app,and you're going to film a
simple video to finally formallyintroduce yourself to this
group.
Hey, everybody just wanted tohop in here.
I've had so much fun getting toknow some of you in this group.
(20:04):
It's cool to see how connectedactually we all are.
For those of you that don't knowme, my name is Michael Cirillo.
I work at ABC Motors up inlocation.
I really love what I do.
I love being a member of thiscommunity.
We've lived here for five years, my wife and my kids.
We go to school here.
I coach part-time for the kidsyou know softball league or
(20:26):
whatever it might be, and I justwanted to say hey and just
introduce myself.
If you're in this group andmaybe you're sitting on the
sidelines and you'd like tointroduce yourself too, leave a
video comment, and if you don't,that's totally cool as well.
Look forward to continuing toengage with you guys.
It's been fun Post.
Watch what happens.
Watch what happens.
(20:48):
It might be a week from now, ortwo or six.
You're gonna you're gonna startgetting DMS from people.
Hey, I saw your post a littlewhile back and you were doing a
workshop at your dealershipabout.
You know mechanics and are youdoing that again?
Or hey, my sister andbrother-in-law are looking for a
(21:09):
vehicle and I was curious if,if you could help them out.
Or hey, I'm a local businessowner and I think it's so cool
what you do.
We should collaborate.
You're going to get a lot ofthat kind of stuff, because
that's just human nature.
That's what we all desire.
And, on the back of thepandemic, I can't believe I've
even uttered that word.
The one thing that shinesthrough from that experience is
(21:32):
how deeply and how innate adesire it is for us to connect
human to human, how much desirethere is for us to actually look
somebody in the eye and shaketheir hand and get to know them.
We are designed to connect andin this way you've now become an
(21:55):
innovator.
Let me recap the strategyFacebook groups find a group,
join group, engage with peoplein a real, human-like way on
their posts, their posts, theirposts, their posts for 30 days
and after 30 days, do a videointroduction and continue to
(22:15):
engage in this group.
Be helpful, be conversationaland I promise you people will
turn to you as the go to expertin your market for all things
car buying and car servicing.
All right, I hope you enjoyedthis episode of MC on the Mic.
I'm trying to make them aspractical and tangible as
possible.
And, gosh, it does not get anysimpler than joining a Facebook
(22:38):
group.
It's available for you rightnow.
Listen, if you're deploying thisstrategy, I want to hear from
you, ask me your questions.
You can hit me up on all of thesocials and on YouTube.
Leave me comments, send meemailsael at the
dealerplaybookcom.
I would love to hear from you.
We're here to help.
Until next time, keep thatplaybook open and dominate.
Hey, thanks for listening tothe Dealer Playbook Podcast.
(23:01):
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.
All right, gang, on thisepisode of MC on the Mic, I'm
going to share one of myfavorite strategies that's going
(00:22):
to blow the lid off of yoursales and service business.
Stay tuned, okay.
So I I'm gonna get to it andI'm gonna lay this out in a way
that that is super clear.
You're gonna be like, really,cerullo, it's that easy, I
promise you.
What I'm about to share withyou today is that easy.
Um, you know, recently we had myman, char Charles Cannon, on
(00:43):
the show, and this guy is ajuggernaut when it comes to just
personal branding and laying afootprint on the community with
which he works in to the degreethat I don't think anybody in
his sphere of influence thinkabout anybody else when it comes
to buying or servicing avehicle, and I think that's kind
(01:04):
of the golden nest egg, if youwill.
We've all kind of coveted beingin a position like that, where
we are the go-to, where we arethe resource, and I think
oftentimes, as we do, our humannature always kicks in.
We ruin everything, we make itmore complicated than it needs
(01:25):
to be, and I think that's whatexcites me about this.
I don't know if it's humannature or if I'm just revealing
something about myself that Ilike easy and simple, but what
I'm going to share with youtoday is an inside look, my top
three tips that I could sharewith you that guys like Charles
Cannon and Ali Rita and FrankCrenniti and some of these
(01:46):
really top performers use aspart of their tool chest to
absolutely crush their sales andservice goals.
Now you're probably saying,well, cirilla, why do you keep
saying service on the end?
I thought this was for carsales people.
No fact, this works for everydepartment, for every individual
.
If you have a brain and a heartand air in your lungs, what I'm
(02:10):
going to share with you todominate today will work All
right.
So here it goes.
I'm just going to lay it outbecause I love just getting to
the point, but I want to startwith this.
Sometimes, I think in ourindustry, we misunderstand
simple and basic words.
For example, you remember thedisruption phase we went through
?
Oh my gosh, disruption.
(02:30):
And as I listened to thearguments around this concept of
disruption because it was thebuzzword we latched onto what I
realized is that we were talkingabout disruption as if it was
interruption, not the actualthesis of disruptive innovation,
as authored by ClaytonChristensen, and it got me
(02:51):
thinking.
Well, if we're talking aboutthis word wrong, what else are
we talking about wrong?
And I know if you've been to awebinar or a conference or a
seminar, you've probably heardthe word innovation.
Companies like Uber and Airbnbare brought up and discussed.
Look at them they have abillion-dollar business and they
(03:12):
don't own a single vehicle.
We've all heard things likethat, but as I listened to the
way people talk about and orperceive innovation, something
became clear to me, and it'sthat we are understanding it to
mean invention.
We talk about Uber and Airbnband the likes of those types of
(03:33):
companies like they inventedsomething, and so I want to get
clear, because what I'm going toshare with you today, I believe
, is innovative in its truestsense, and it's so simple.
It's unbelievable almost.
But to get there, I need toshare with you why I believe
Uber didn't invent anything.
(03:53):
In fact, they innovated.
First and foremost, innovationis the assembly of tools and
resources that already exist,packaged together in a new and
fresh process or a workflow.
Well, when you look atinvention, this idea of net new
creation, I think there's somany people in our industry that
(04:16):
are like I'm never going to beable to innovate because
everything already exists.
This is a good thing thateverything already exists.
Pat yourself on the back thehardest part of the equation
already exists, um.
But we get discouraged becausewe think, well, I'm never going
to be able to invent anything.
But no, invention is thecreation of a net, new concept
(04:41):
or thing or product or whatever,taking things that already
exist, packaging them in a newand a fresh workflow.
So when you look at Uber, whatdid Uber invent?
They didn't invent smartphones.
They didn't invent the internet.
They didn't invent mobile apps.
They did not invent paymentprocessing.
(05:03):
They didn't invent ride sharing.
They didn't invent automobiles.
They sure as heck didn't inventpeople.
What they did do is theyassembled all of these existing
elements into a fresh and newworkflow that was easier, that
had less friction, that was easyto understand and, in so doing,
(05:27):
not only created amulti-billion dollar company
that doesn't own vehicles, buthad a happy side effect in which
they created a new economy.
They were able to put people towork, also utilizing something
that most people already have avehicle and I think that's so
fascinating.
(05:48):
Well, now you're probably saying, cirillo, get to the point.
Well, here's what I want toshare with you.
What do we know about ourindustry and our role in the
industry?
We know we want to grow.
We know that we're trying tofind things that our competitors
are not doing.
We're always looking for thatcompetitive advantage.
We know that we're trying tofind things that our competitors
are not doing.
We're always looking for thatcompetitive advantage.
We're always trying to get aleg up, and we're always
(06:12):
wondering well, how much more doI have to spend on Google ads
in order to bring this to life?
And that's where I want to goslam the brakes.
You don't need to spend more onyour Google ads.
What you do need to do is takeaction that I'm going to refer
to as hand-to-hand combat.
(06:33):
If you will Just follow me herefor a second and this brings me
to the first step when you comein in the morning, I want you
to really audit what you do withyour time.
Do you sit down at your desk?
I want you to really audit whatyou do with your time.
Do you sit down at your desk?
Do you doom scroll for a fewminutes?
You go to the coffee machine,you get your cup of coffee, you
sit down.
You kind of wait for yourmorning meeting if you're doing
(06:55):
that, or a training meeting ifyou're doing that, and you just
kind of you know, huddle withthe dudes, grab a smoke,
whatever it might be.
If you pay attention to howyou're utilizing your time, you
realize there's actually waymore time to do what I'm about
to share with you than you mightthink.
So what I would recommend is thefirst thing that you do when
you get in in the morning, overyour morning cup of coffee, is
(07:19):
go to Facebook, facebookcom, oropen the app on your phone.
Then you're going to click onthe search bar and you're going
to type in the name of your cityand your state.
So for me, I'm near Dallas,texas, so I would write Dallas
Texas, I would type in DallasTexas and I'm going to click
enter.
What you'll notice along theleft-hand side of your screen,
(07:40):
if you're on desktop, is, youknow, different filters, pages,
people, et cetera, et cetera,events, and down near the bottom
you'll see groups.
Some of you might already knowwhere I'm going with this, so
click on groups and what Iguarantee you're going to find
are dozens and I mean dozens, ifnot multiples of dozens that's
(08:07):
called hundreds, cirillo ofgroups relevant to your
community and if you're like me,what you'll see is groups with
30,000 people, groups with12,000 people, groups with 500
people, and it'll show you howmany posts per day on average
(08:30):
are happening in that group.
So let's just say I'm going togo to a fringe case for just a
second, because they tend to notget a lot of love.
You're an RV dealer and you'relocated in Dallas, texas.
Go and search for Texas RVs andgo to groups.
(08:51):
You're going to see dallas,texas rv enthusiasts.
You're going to see go rv intexas.
You're going to see things likediscover texas, go rving all
these sorts of things.
Well, what's my point?
You are discovering communitiesof people who are having active
(09:11):
conversations about your nicheor niche depending, depending on
where you're located and you'regonna see how many posts per
day are happening there.
The next part of this strategy,once you've discovered some
groups that stand out to you, isyou're gonna join them, join
these groups and over yourmorning cup of coffee, you're
(09:32):
going to scroll through theposts and you're going to scroll
through the posts and you'regoing to leave meaningful
conversation, continuing levelcomments on the things other
people post.
What you will not do is go hotinto the group and be like hey,
everybody, I'm Michael, I'm asalesperson at ABC Motors and
(09:52):
I'm going to be your bestresource for buying.
That's how you get kicked outof the group.
What you're going to do andstick with me here because I'll
explain the simple brilliance ofthis strategy in a minute.
You're going to just engagelike a real human being on
somebody else's content.
Hey, does your marketing agencysuck?
(10:13):
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
(10:33):
FlexDealercom.
Let's hop back into this episode.
Why this is so powerful?
A most people are notaccustomed to having other
people engage on their stuff.
Okay, that's the first reasonwhy this is brilliant, because
if you are the one that engageson somebody else's post, you
(10:54):
have immediately unlocked thelaw of reciprocity, the law of
the universe in which you givesomething of value and get
something of equal or greatervalue in return.
In this scenario, you havegiven something of precious
value to somebody else yourattention and in return they
will give you something ofprecious value to them their
(11:18):
attention Guaranteed.
They're going to come andthey're going to be like wait a
minute, who's this guy?
I don't know this guy.
And they're going to, first ofall, probably reply to your
comment, especially if you madeit thought provoking or
meaningful or asked them aquestion in return.
The same way, you would have aconversation in real life.
(11:39):
Then they're going to go andclick on your profile and see
what you're all about.
This is kind of subsection step2A, where I would say make sure
your profile is legit, likegood bio, good presence where
you work.
Most people on Facebook don'tput the company they work at.
(12:01):
Make sure all that stuff isfilled out.
So when they come to yourprofile which they inevitably
will they get an understandingof who you are.
And now, all of a sudden, youare on somebody's radar that you
were not on the radar of before.
You have made your presenceknown.
Well, imagine how thatmultiplies very simply over your
morning cup of coffee or yourmorning lemonade or whatever you
(12:23):
drink in the morning, by simplygoing through and leaving
comments and engaging inconversation with people who
live in your community, in yourcity, in your town, in your
metro, whatever.
The second reason why thisstrategy works is because it
(12:44):
eliminates the negative stigmaassociated with the car business
.
Everybody thinks that we justcome in hot and loaded every
time we do something that all weknow how to do is talk about
selling cars and moving metal orservicing cars.
But, holy crap, there's such ahuge opportunity here to join
automotive repair groups Ifyou're a technician or a service
(13:06):
manager or a parts enthusiastor just a general car enthusiast
.
To join car enthusiast groups.
To join in conversations toshare value, because you know,
in these groups people are.
To join in conversations toshare value Because you know, in
these groups, people are goingto be posting like hey, there's
a weird knocking sound comingfrom my rear three-quarter panel
on my 2019 whatever expedition.
(13:27):
You can pop in and you can belike hey, I've seen that a lot.
I'm actually a technician overat ABC Ford and that can be one
of two or three things.
If you want to learn more, feelfree to DM me or you can ask me
here in the comments.
I'd be happy to answer and helpyou out as best as I can.
How does that eliminate thenegative stigma?
(13:48):
Because now you're just beinggenuinely human, you're offering
value, you're engaging innormal, everyday conversations
and you might be saying, well,hold on a Cirillo.
So let's just say I joined theCastle Guard British Columbia
Facebook group and the onlything people want to talk about
(14:08):
is local politics or the potholeon 17th Street.
Be, be a human, engage, Don't.
Don't really get into thepolitics, I would say, but the
pothole, be all over thatpothole.
Hey, yeah, I found thatpotholes getting bigger and
bigger by the day.
You know what I do now and itactually saves me five minutes
(14:30):
on my commute I go down to 12thstreet, hang a left on Broadway
and then I hit the main drag.
From there People are going tobe like, oh well, that's
actually a good idea, thanks,and you'll be like, hey, no
problem.
Then you come back tomorrow andyou see what people are posting
and you follow the same process.
(14:50):
If you're sitting there saying,well, I don't know how to have
conversations with people, getthe balls out of sales, do
yourself a favor.
You can see.
I look to the side here to seehow Joe and Arnold took that
advice.
Like are they smiling?
I work for Joe.
(15:13):
My producer's approval always,but it's kind of true, right
Like controversial opinion ofthe day.
If you don't know how to have aconversation of people, are you
good at math?
Go be an accountant, I don'tknow.
Do something where you don'thave to have conversations.
But if you're in a positionwhere you need to talk to people
every day, converse, engage.
(15:36):
These are real people in yourcommunity.
This is not pie in the sky.
Followers on TikTok who don'tlive in the same country.
Half the time I wonder if theylive in the same universe as us.
These are real people in eitheran enthusiast group ie
community or your physicallocation community.
(15:58):
Get to know them.
The third reason why this isbrilliant, and this might go
without saying your competitorswill never, ever in a million
years, think to do this.
How do we know?
First way, we know they wouldhave already done it by now.
Facebook's what?
(16:19):
20 something years old?
They'd be doing it already.
They'd be all over theseFacebook groups.
Heck, they probably would havestarted their own groups.
I wouldn't recommend that atthis point.
I would recommend getting in ongroups that are already active,
are already established.
You'll feel less discouraged,but they'd be doing it by now.
They'd be in these groups,they'd be engaging.
(16:39):
They're not doing it.
Your competitor down the streetthat you think is completely
dominating.
They're never going to think todo this.
They're never going to thinkoutside of the 30-day cycle of
but.
But how does that sell me morecars?
That's where their brain'sgoing to go.
They're going to get allphilosophical about it.
What you're realizing is, forevery one person that I have a
(17:03):
conversation with, 10 otherswill.
At least 10 others will see theconversation happening and not
engage yet.
Least ten others will see theconversation happening and not
engage yet.
Or they will engage, in whichcase now, multiples of people
now know you exist.
Now click through to yourprofile to see what you're all
about and now know you are aproud ambassador for the
(17:27):
dealership you work at that youmake a living at um.
This is such powerfulhand-to-hand I call it
hand-to-hand combat but it'shuman to human and we often
overlook this because maybewe're looking for the easy way
out, maybe it's easier to spendall of our net profit earnings
on more ads to get more traffic,but there's acres of diet b.
(17:53):
Brian Benstock, who's been onthe show as well, powerful
operator says there's acres ofdiamonds in your own backyard.
And that's what I think is sobrilliantly simple about this
strategy.
The people are already there.
Facebook is already there,facebook groups already exist,
your store already exists, theinternet already exists, your
(18:14):
smartphone already exists.
And you are now an innovatorbecause you are following
through on a process or aworkflow that will help you
dominate, build deeperrelationships with real people
in your community who are goingto buy a car sometime or another
, who are going to need servicesometime or another.
And now you have just firmlyplanted your feet, or you're
(18:37):
planted your stake in the ground, saying I exist here.
There is a real soul here.
You can trust me, I'm a realcool guy.
By the way, I didn't know ourkids play on the same softball
team and, oh, I didn't know wego to the same school.
And now I put a face to thename when I go to the kids
Christmas concert orThanksgiving play or whatever it
(18:58):
might be.
Real connections with realpeople, in a way that your
competitors will never do it.
Now, the last thing I want toleave you with I think this is
part three, or this is stepnumber three.
Do that for 30 days.
Do not talk about what you withI think this is part three, or
this is step number three Dothat for 30 days.
Do not talk about what you do.
Do not say you are a carsalesperson.
(19:19):
Do not do any of that, notbecause we're trying to be
deceiving, simply because I wantto throttle what I believe is
your carnal appetite to makemoney and to not know how to do
it in any other way, but sayingyou know, like the wacky, wavy,
inflatable, flailing arm tubeguy, but after 30 days of
(19:41):
engaging and having built somerelationships, you're going to
pop onto this bad boy, yoursmartphone, and you're going to
open your video app, your cameraapp, and you're going to open
your video app, your camera app,and you're going to film a
simple video to finally formallyintroduce yourself to this
group.
Hey, everybody just wanted tohop in here.
I've had so much fun getting toknow some of you in this group.
(20:04):
It's cool to see how connectedactually we all are.
For those of you that don't knowme, my name is Michael Cirillo.
I work at ABC Motors up inlocation.
I really love what I do.
I love being a member of thiscommunity.
We've lived here for five years, my wife and my kids.
We go to school here.
I coach part-time for the kidsyou know softball league or
(20:26):
whatever it might be, and I justwanted to say hey and just
introduce myself.
If you're in this group andmaybe you're sitting on the
sidelines and you'd like tointroduce yourself too, leave a
video comment, and if you don't,that's totally cool as well.
Look forward to continuing toengage with you guys.
It's been fun Post.
Watch what happens.
Watch what happens.
(20:48):
It might be a week from now, ortwo or six.
You're gonna you're gonna startgetting DMS from people.
Hey, I saw your post a littlewhile back and you were doing a
workshop at your dealershipabout.
You know mechanics and are youdoing that again?
Or hey, my sister andbrother-in-law are looking for a
(21:09):
vehicle and I was curious if,if you could help them out.
Or hey, I'm a local businessowner and I think it's so cool
what you do.
We should collaborate.
You're going to get a lot ofthat kind of stuff, because
that's just human nature.
That's what we all desire.
And, on the back of thepandemic, I can't believe I've
even uttered that word.
The one thing that shinesthrough from that experience is
(21:32):
how deeply and how innate adesire it is for us to connect
human to human, how much desirethere is for us to actually look
somebody in the eye and shaketheir hand and get to know them.
We are designed to connect andin this way you've now become an
(21:55):
innovator.
Let me recap the strategyFacebook groups find a group,
join group, engage with peoplein a real, human-like way on
their posts, their posts, theirposts, their posts for 30 days
and after 30 days, do a videointroduction and continue to
(22:15):
engage in this group.
Be helpful, be conversationaland I promise you people will
turn to you as the go to expertin your market for all things
car buying and car servicing.
All right, I hope you enjoyedthis episode of MC on the Mic.
I'm trying to make them aspractical and tangible as
possible.
And, gosh, it does not get anysimpler than joining a Facebook
(22:38):
group.
It's available for you rightnow.
Listen, if you're deploying thisstrategy, I want to hear from
you, ask me your questions.
You can hit me up on all of thesocials and on YouTube.
Leave me comments, send meemailsael at the
dealerplaybookcom.
I would love to hear from you.
We're here to help.
Until next time, keep thatplaybook open and dominate.
Hey, thanks for listening tothe Dealer Playbook Podcast.
(23:01):
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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