Full podcast can be heard here: https://bit.ly/3oCbkm2

Laurie Halter, CEO of Charisma! Communications and host of Carearing, joins the KPI Cafe to talk about creating a balanced work and home life. As an entrepreneur herself, Laurie brings plenty of perspective from her own experiences, but she also leverages conversations with other industry leaders to further the discussion and provide concrete examples. Throughout this episode, you'll hear insights on myriad ways to not sacrifice your career or family time: routines versus spontaneity; staying connected when traveling or working long hours; what companies can do to be competitive to bring in and keep talent.

So many in automotive retail live the entrepreneurial life. Whether you're on the floor as a salesperson or in the office as a General Manager or Dealer Principal, this episode has plenty of insights to help all of us do better with managing our home and work responsibilities.

Here's what you can expect:

5:30 Introduction of Laurie Halter

6:07 Laurie Halter's Automotive Origin Story

8:20 What Does It Mean to "Have It All"?

9:34 Why Do Women Often Feel Overwhelmed Their Goals?

11:22 Setting Up Today's Content

11:47 Tips for Entrepreneurs to Plan a Balanced Work Life

14:35 Routine vs. Spontaneity

16:48 How Smaller Companies Can Compete to Bring on Experienced Professionals

19:21 Ways to Stay Connected to Family When Traveling

22:04 Diving into Carisma Communications

23:37 Most Poignant Takeaways from Carearing, Laurie's Podcast

I closed out this season of the #KPICafe with a topic quite personal to me: letting go of the vine. Understanding what this means is a vital and foundational piece to good leadership. If you want insights on how to empower your team and focus on your most important tasks, this is for you.

You can check it out here: https://bit.ly/3lY1c4N

In this episode, KPI Cafe Host Dane Saville discusses the concept of "letting go of the vine." He uses his experience as Co-Founder of and former Content Director for Reunion Marketing prior to the company's evolution that saw the Content Department transform into the SEO Department. Throughout this episode, Dane shares what it means to let go, how to let go, and the benefits of letting go of the vine, including real-life examples of it. This is an opportunity to engage about beginning true leadership and empowering your team -- that can start today.


0:20 Context for the Episode

• Founding Reunion

• Solo Act on Content

• Set in My Ways

1:53 Things Change as You Build a Team

• Now There’s a Content Team

• The Obstacle

• The
•  
•  
•  
• Missing Pronoun

3:07 Traction: Letting Go of the Vine

• Our Department

• Take the Ball and Run

• Work Smarter, Not Harder

• Asana

• The Benefits

5:08 How to Let Go of the Vine

• This Works for Anyone

• The Process to Let Go

9:00 G.W.C.

• Get It, Want It, Capacity to Do It

9:56 How This Helps Build True Leadership

• Your Time

• Empowerment

• Not Simply Being a Boss

11:19 Honest Introspection

• Letting Go of the Vine is Ongoing

• Take the Time to Do This

• Find the Right Seat

13:40 Concluding Thoughts

I want to give a final thanks to Brent Wees, Laurie Foster, Matt Sneed, Steve Roessler, Stephanie Singletary, Jeff Elhart, Chelsea Nodine, Brian Brockman, and Andrew Kocha for making this season so insightful and valuable.

The #KPICafe will return on Wednesday, January 6th.

You can listen to the full podcast here (and subscribe!): BE NICE KPI Cafe

In this episode of the KPI Cafe, "Playground Director II" Jeff Elhart of Elhart Automotive joins host Dane Saville to discuss how he managed to navigate the pandemic, laying off nearly 75% of his staff, and his efforts to lead with compassion for his people and community with Good Grief. In addition to that, Mr. Elhart opens up about his family's tragic loss of his brother and how that lead him to implementing the Be NICE program that helped steward Elhart Automotive's mental health awareness. 

5:54 Origins of Jeff’s Title “Playground Director II” and Role in Automotive

• Managing the Fun in the Sandbox
• Family Business

10:00 Context of Today’s Episode: Compassionate Leadership

• Laying off ¾ of staff
• Concern: mental well-being
• Good Grief

12:10 Highlights of Good Grief

• Background of Losing His Brother, Wayne
• Distribution of Copies
• Examples of the 10 Steps of Grieving Well

13:55 The “BE NICE.” Program

• Mental Health Foundation of Western Michigan
• BE NICE. Acronym Breakdown
• How to Learn More About BE NICE.
• Letter from Wayne

15:44 Reaction to BE NICE. and Compassionate Leadership

• Those Reaching Out to Jeff
• Various Issues Affecting the Community

23:12 What Can Dealers Do to Begin Leading with Compassion

• Be the “Lifeguard”
• Don’t Have to Invent the Wheel
• How to Launch the Program
• The BE NICE. Champions

28:48 True Story from the Dealership

• Service Technician
• Underlying Cause

32:08 The Benefit of Today’s Technology for Mental Health

34:55 Concluding Thoughts

All content provided in these videos, publications, and interviews were created for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of rendering medical advice. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you read or viewed as part of this content. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, go to the emergency department, or call 911 immediately.

Reunion Marketing, Inc. does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned in this content. Reliance on any information provided by Reunion Marketing, Inc., its employees, presenters, interviewees, or medical professionals presenting content for publication is solely at your own risk.

You can listen to the full podcast here (and subscribe!): https://bit.ly/3iHEkVW

In this episode of the KPI Cafe, Stephanie Singletary of Covideo and Steve Roessler of Drive Centric offer up their insights on leveraging video.  Whether you're just considering integrating video into your sales and service strategies or have already begun using it, there's definitely value here for you: getting more buy-in to have more people adopt video, the balance of canned versus truly personalized videos, where to start, which have the greatest impact, using it for service customers, ideal video length, and so much more. 

3:37 Stephanie Singletary’s Automotive Origin Story

4:43 Steve Roessler's Automotive Origin Story

6:18 Dealer Apprehensions to Fully Adopting Video

• Resistance
• Uncomfortability
• “Hollywood”

9:50 Balance of Canned vs. Personalized Video

• Variables
• Situational
• Awareness

14:30 Other Means of Personalizing

16:00 Secret Shopping Example

• Best Practice with Texting
• Phone Security

18:10 Where is Best to Start Video Strategy?

• Early Adopters
• Cognizant of Process
• Plan, Plot, and Execute
• Metric Samples
• Dealership Accountability

22:15 Video Types with the Most Impact for Salespeople

24:10 Video Types with the Most Impact for Fixed Ops

27:00 Other Opportunities to Engage Members Across Dealership

• Ubiquity
• How Video Makes Customers Feel

30:24 Results from Leveraging Video for Service

32:43 Rental Example

33:44 Managing Any Disconnect Between Video Vendor and Dealer

38:45 Parameters for Video Length

41:34 Reaching out to Stephanie and Steve

The podcast episode can be found here: Activating Your F&I and BDC to Improve Dealership Performance

Be sure to subscribe to the KPI Cafe on your favorite podcast platform!

In this episode of the KPI Cafe, Laurie Foster of Foster Strategies Group challenges the status quo to dealerships' sales process. With compressed margins, increased competition from new players like Carvana, and the fluctuating circumstances of the economy, it's more important than ever that your process gives you more at-bats with every opportunity. 

Part of that means activating your finance managers earlier in the process because you know that in-market car shoppers have questions regarding financing and leasing; part of that means thinking about your Business Development Center as more than a call center. 

Laurie also gives insights about how to get buy-in from your team with these fundamental questions, as well as some tips about compensation for the new duties assigned. In the end, it's all about alignment.
 

3:22 Laurie’s Automotive Origin Story

• Furniture Sales

• Projected Growth Path in Automotive

• Possibilities

4:45 Foster Strategies Group

• Leadership

• Serving Others

• Maximize Management
•  
• Potential

• Vendor Partnerships

6:37 Context for the Episode

• Inventory

• Margin Compression 
• Issues

7:03 Activating Your F&I

• Role Redefinition and Clarification

• Current Process and Its Issues

• A Fresh Approach

16:40 Good Customer Experience. Better Results

• Customer Intent

• Friction
• Dollars and “Sense”

• PVR

• Less Time

• Product Penetration and Revenue Projections

21:18 Getting Buy-In

• Know Your Audience

• Measurement

24:00 Training for Comfortability

• Roleplay

• Priming the Customer

25:26 Managing Other Staff Concerns

• Getting the Help Wanted

• Greater Communication

27:53 What Does the Whole Process Look Like

• Forward Momentum

• BDC Statistics

29:40 Optimal BDC

• Break It Down

• Current Role / Responsibility

31:41 Alignment on Shifts in Roles

• Top-Through
• Cohesion

• Tap the Brakes

33:51 Perception vs. Reality

35:43 Customer-Centric. Dealer-Centric.

• Good Experience Across Touchpoints

• Dealership Customer

37:17 Better Together

• More Opportunities
• Market Statistics
• The Right Principles

38:45 Breaking Down the Silos

• Value and Elevation

• Business. Development. Center.

• Football Analogy

44:06 The Hiring Process

• Change Our Words

46:01 What’s Coming Up with Laurie

In this episode of the KPI Cafe, Matt Sneed from Power Ford joins Host Dane Saville to dive deep into the weeds about the proper way to leverage Facebook advertising. In this hour-long session, a great number of topics from Facebook's purpose to traditional advertising to the strategy itself to measurement; literally, no stone is left unturned in this discussion about how your dealership can benefit by following the guidelines laid out.

You can use this link to listen to it on any of your favorite podcast platforms. Be sure to subscribe/follow on the platform of your choice to never miss an insight: KPI Cafe

In this return episode of the KPI Cafe, Dane Saville and Brent Wees start off discussing how much car dealers are expected to multitask, even in the face of "right-sized" staff, but quickly dive into different paths of thought as unexpected insights, questions, and concerns pop up throughout this hour-long session of impactful takeaways will have you thinking about your own dealership's internal processes.

You can use this link to listen to it on any of your favorite podcast platforms. Be sure to subscribe/follow on the platform of your choice to never miss an insight: KPI Cafe

We're back! The #KPICafe returns on Monday with a truly impactful session that features one of our favorite people, Brent Wees. The title might not sound sexy, but I promise that you'll end the episode with some introspective takeaways that will make a difference.

Remember, we've pivoted to an audible podcast (as well as continuing with video series consisting of some really poignant snippets).

You can use the following link to add the KPI Cafe Podcast to your preferred podcast app: https://bit.ly/2Eu2Qvp

If you prefer video or want to check out the snippets before diving into the whole podcast episode, you can subscribe here: https://bit.ly/2ZNIV2i

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Dane Saville

Reunion Marketing

dane@reunionmarketing.com

919-413-1975
 

Reunion Marketing Ranks #1481 on 2020 Inc. 5000 List 
 

RALEIGH - August 13, 2020 — Reunion Marketing, a data-first automotive digital marketing agency, has been awarded the 1,481st position in Inc. Magazine’s prestigious Inc. 5000 List. In Reunion’s first year of eligibility for the Inc. 5000 award, the placement and acknowledgement from Inc. Media comes after a three-year growth rate of 299.69%. With this appointment, Reunion will join the ranks of notable companies such as Microsoft, Timberland, Patagonia, Intuit, Chobani, and Oracle.

Not only have the companies on the 2020 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, this list holistically highlights staggering growth compared with prior years’ lists. The 2020 Inc. 5000 achieved an incredible three-year average growth of over 500 percent and a median rate of 165 percent. The Inc. 5000’s aggregate revenue was $209 billion in 2019, accounting for over 1 million jobs over the past three years.

Reunion CEO and Founder, Dave Spannhake, says, “This achievement is another reinforcement to the power of goal setting and building company-wide alignment and direction. Earning a spot among the country's fastest growing companies on this list was a goal we outlined for ourselves in our three-year picture, just two years ago. We are a team that continues to grow and improve, and setting and realizing multiple major goals is what created the environment for this to become a reality. The most exciting part of this accolade: we are confident that we are just getting started in our long-term growth goals!”

You can view Reunion Marketing’s company profile here.

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000

Methodology

The 2020 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2016 and 2019. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2016. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2019. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2016 is $100,000; the minimum for 2019 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.’s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.

About Inc. Media

The world’s most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit www.inc.com.

For more information on the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. 

To learn more about Reunion Marketing, visit www.reunionmarketing.com.

ABOUT REUNION MARKETING. Reunion Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency, specializing in automotive SEO, SEM, and social media marketing. Reunion has provided comprehensive strategies to increase its partners’ website traffic and conversions. Reunion Marketing also works with local nonprofits and small businesses across the US that has fostered its expeditious growth and development.

To round out our season, Reunion's own Chad Graves and Andrew Kocha join the KPI Cafe to discuss a wealth of topics regarding how dealerships can best market their fixed operations. They offer best-in-class tactics and strategies that will help you drive more qualified parts and service customers for ROs and revenue.

—— Topics Covered ——

1:47 Meet Chad and Andrew

3:07 What does a holistic marketing strategy look like for fixed operations?

6:58 What does it look like to "optimize" SEO for fixed ops?

9:43 Why Divide GMB Listings into Sales, Service, and Parts?

11:50 Breakdown of Landings Pages for Fixed Ops

13:14 Facebook Ads for Fixed Ops

14:50 Retargeting: What Does It Look Like for Fixed Ops?

15:40 How Does Market Demand and Supply Affect Fixed Ops Paid Search?

18:10 what is the Marketing Message for fixed ops?

21:50 What does conversion rate optimization look like on service pages?

25:55 Example of Innovating the Mobile Experience for Customers