Beyond The First Pencil
Beyond The First Pencil is where dealership operations meet financial reality.
Hosted by Kathi Kruse, of Kruse Control and Automotive CFO-To-Go™, this podcast is for dealers, OEMs, GMs, and controllers who want more than surface-level advice. You’ll get straight talk on financial statements, internal controls, cash flow, and the operational gaps that quietly erode profit.
From gross to net, from process to profit, each episode delivers real-world insights on how dealerships actually make money… and where they lose it.
Because selling cars is one thing. Keeping the profit is another.
Beyond The First Pencil
ABC: Always Be Connecting
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Throughout this podcast, Kathi and Mike have shared techniques and tips on how to make social media effective throughout the entire sales process. It works well in building a pipeline, nurturing leads, giving and getting referrals and achieving sales goals.
The more things change, the more they remain the same. You can’t close the sale without connecting first.
Valuable content (that customers need and appreciate) is still at the forefront of getting noticed online. Kathi and Mike share why content is still so important and illustrate that fact with an awesome real-time example.
In our music segment:
RIP Sinead O’Connor. Sinead sang at Shane MacGowan's 60th birthday party in 2018. This comment on the video says it all: "She sings from the inside, and never cheats a single note. Her spirit transcends all that is common, small, and mean." It gives you the chills!
A Classical composer experiences Emerson, Lake and Palmer for the first time.
The Rob Squad reacts to ELP Karn Evil 9 Pt 2
Here’s JayveeTV getting emotional about The Seekers and their harmonizing. (It’s so nice to see!)
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If you're a car person (worked/working in dealerships like us) we want to hear from you.
Got a question (or two or three)? Email either (or both) of us!
Kathi: kathi@krusecontrolinc.com
Mike: mikethecarguy@outlook.com