The First Pencil
Kathi Kruse and Mike The Car Guy Correra are best friends, with many many years of retail experience in the car biz. "We decided to get together and talk about the things that are important to us in the auto industry, and hope you’ll come along for the ride. We’ll cover auto industry stuff, dealership profitability, and digital platforms, all with a dose of humor and our love for 80s/90s music. Join us!"
The First Pencil
Building a Community to Increase Sales (Guest: Bill Playford)
We stirred up some things with last week’s episode about building a community rather than an audience…and we loved it. This week, we invited our friend and amazing car guy, Bill Playford to pick up the conversation where we left off!
The invincible strength in relationships within communities leads to higher sales. Bill shares examples of how, when he was working at dealerships, this powerful tool can be deployed at the dealership level or at the salesperson level.
There’s a void right now in car people identifying and communicating why people should buy from them and taking the time to articulate your unique value is what will make you successful.
When you connect with people with similar interests, sales become an organic extension of that experience. These relationships break down barriers, they remove the friction that’s almost inherent in car buyers’ minds.
The goal is to get customers to buy from you, not just buy.
In our music segment:
Terry Hall (lead singer, songwriter, The Specials, Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield) has passed away suddenly from pancreatic cancer. It’s hard to miss the influence he had on Mike and Kathi’s teen years.
Here’s Terry at his best: “Too Much Too Young”: HERE
The Specials on Letterman in 2009: HERE
About Bill:
Bill Playford is Vice President and Partner at DealerKnows Consulting. As a fourth generation auto worker, Bill brings a unique automotive perspective, with a background in training, consulting, and process design at the retail, manufacturer, and technical supplier level.
Throughout the last fifteen years, Bill has worked with the likes of AutoNation, Asbury Automotive, Lithia Motors, BMW, Hyundai, Google, and a bunch of smaller dealerships you’ve never heard of. Throughout twenty-six states, and four provinces, he’s committed himself to helping dealerships bridge the gap between time-tested sales traditions and today's digital-first customer.
Bill resides near the Motor City with his brilliant wife, three gifted sons, a princess, two fancy cats, and a goofy dog. He holds an MBA from Texas Christian University and a BA in Political Science from St. Edward’s University.
Bill can be reached at bill@dealerknows.com or the handle wplayford across all the social mediazzz.
Get in touch with us!
If you're a car person (worked in dealerships like us) we want to hear from you.
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com
Want to learn more about automotive social selling? Download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 HERE