CUE The Next Leader

Michael Cirillo, the driving force behind FlexDealer, a family business that has transformed from publishing telephone books to becoming a powerhouse in the automotive industry. Michael shares his journey of evolution and how he's embraced the automotive world with passion. He also discusses his role as Chief of Staff at ASOTU and shares the importance of caring for people within an organization. Tune in to discover Michael's approach to empowering individuals, the value of transparency in leadership, and his vision for the future of FlexDealer. Join us for an insightful and inspiring conversation with Michael Cirillo.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

It’s no secret that car dealers have had a reputation problem for years. Kyle Mountsier is on a mission to change that perception. He and his business partner, Paul J. Daly at Automotive State of the Union (ASOTU) are working tirelessly to share the real stories of people who work in dealerships. They highlight how dealership employees interact with their customers and their impact on their communities.It was the start of the COVID pandemic. Paul J. Daly was brushing his teeth one day when he asked himself, “How can I help the automotive industry during this unprecedented time?” His answer was to connect car people over Zoom to make their good stories louder and to connect progressive dealers to progressive industry partners. Before he finished his dental routine he already knew what he would call this new idea: Automotive State of The Union. Thousands of people showed up to the first live-stream. ASOTU was born.ASOTU has now grown to provide daily emails, regular webinars and podcasts, and an annual conference to thousands of subscribers. Paul and his business partner, Kyle Mountsier, recently added regional events that capture the content for an ASOTU-produced TV show called, “More Than Cars,” featuring inspiring stories showing how people in real car dealerships are changing lives. Paul describes More Than Cars as a mash-up between Comedians In Cars getting Coffee + Diners Drive-Ins and Dives + Hip Hop soundtrack. This is all designed to change the public perception of car dealerships and provide an on-ramp to draw more people interested in careers in the auto industry.As an artist and a musician, Paul is excited to work in an industry that values creativity. Users can subscribe via YouTube to watch the first episode, with more episodes to come.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

With a career spanning over 25 years, Jasen has witnessed the evolution of the industry, from pioneering internet leads to embracing cutting-edge inventory management strategies.  Over the years Jasen's career has shifted from selling cars off the internet to running internet departments for various dealerships. In this episode, we will dive into lead management, inventory optimization, data-driven decision-making, and more. #VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Gabe Levy has spent the last 26 years selling Volvo’s. He loves the brand and he especially loves working at Stillman Volvo, the privately owned dealership in south east Pennsylvania. Named the #1 Certified Pre-Owned store in Philly and #11 Nationally, Gabe takes pride in the great reputation that Stillman, a multi-generational dealership, has built over the past 70 years.Gabe uses his servant-leadership style to help the team deliver on the promise of increased inventory, increased turn, and providing the one price / best price to their customers. Every pre-owned vehicle is fully reconditioned to the highest standard so that customers can count on the quality of their purchases at Stillman.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

With over ten years of experience in automotive, Kaylee Felio runs sales and marketing at PartsEdge. She is known in the industry as “The Parts Girl” bringing awareness to the importance of managing parts in dealerships. PartsEdge provides the data and insights that helps parts managers set up their DMS to be more efficient to stock their parts allowing them to buy the right inventory at the right time.Kaylee started “The Parts Girl” podcast about one year ago focused on parts because she saw a gap in the industry. People like to talk about Fixed Ops and Service, but dealerships have significant costs tied up in parts, anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars based on the size of the dealership. She uses her podcast to get to know people in the industry and to amplify their stories. This summer she’ll be focusing on a summer camp for fixed ops, and with an emphasis on - you guessed it - parts!#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Steve Roessler (pronounced wrestler) is the Chief Evangelist Officer for DriveCentric. DriveCentric is the leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - the first to build A.I. (Powered by ChatGPT-4) and engagement tools into one platform. Listen in as Steve tells us about some exciting new capabilities DriveCentric recently released that leverage Chat GPT to enable interactive conversations with their customers. These AI-driven sessions will then automatically flow into conversational streams with live agents.Steve is the architect of DriveCentric's DC-20, which is held 3 times per year.  Dealers will gather in St. Louis July 17-19 to collaborate in interactive sessions to learn how to get the most value from the DriveCentric CRM.  The focus is to help dealers learn modern approaches to sell more cars such as eliminating business rules and templates, building culture with personalized video, & working with GPT4 technology. Steve and his family recently moved to Nashville to help his 18-year-old daughter, Jenna, launch her singing career. Be on the lookout for Jenna Roessler’s first 5 songs which will be available soon on Spotify.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #CuetheNextLeader

Fred Lennartz and Lou Rameriz have each been in the automotive business for over 20 years. They ended up meeting each other at the same dealership after serving in the military. Fred was Air Force and Lou was in the Army. Both quickly realized that if you hustle and put in the work then you can build an amazing career in automotive.They started the Car Guy Coffee podcast and from there a media agency. The focus of their podcast is to uplift dealers, their stories, and to share with the world how great the people are in automotive. In their agency, they work with Buy Here Pay Here dealers to multi-franchise dealership groups to solve problems and to build strong cultures for their customers.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Pride is more than just a colorful parade; it symbolizes a movement built on authenticity, empowerment and the pursuit of equality.Our CMO, Angela Rizzo had the opportunity to sit down with Michael Hopkins, Chief Client Experience Officer of VINCUE to shed light on the importance of Pride from our personal perspectives as members of the LGBTQ+ community. In this episode, they discussed the impact Pride has on individuals, communities, and society as a whole and how Pride plays a vital role in breaking down stereotypes and challenging the invisibility often imposed on the LGBTQ+ individuals. #VINCUE #VINCUEauto #PRIDE2023 #Equality #CuetheNextLeader

Wendy Reeves was born into the auto industry and considers herself a passionate BDC enthusiast. Wendy spent over 30 years on and off in the same dealership, and 4 years with DealerStrong building the client portion of their dealer portfolio and speaking at industry conventions. She founded BDC Angels in 2019 to teach others how to take their sales or BDC teams to new heights using proven processes and best practices she has honed over her 30 years in the automotive business. She also spent several months as VP of Outbound Operations with Strolid, building their outbound calling division for internet lead management, sales and service BDC, data mining and introducing Volie as a valuable campaign management tool as she continued her duties with BDC Angels.  Wendy’s team also provides resources to build and run a Vehicle Buying Center (VBC) allowing dealers to acquire cars from the public. BDC Angels focus is on building, strengthening, and sharpening the skills of the BDC, VBC, internet department, sales, marketing, and service departments for automotive, RV, and Powersports. Whether your dealership needs help onsite or remote, Wendy and her team are ready to help drive more showroom traffic to your dealership.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Aladdin Kasran has spent over 25 years in the automotive industry. He believes his innovation, DealerCards.com will help improve customer relationships, dealership loyalty, and repeat business.The idea is simple. Automate the sending of high-impact, handwritten notes from the sales rep to their customers based on life events including birthdays, anniversaries, service reminders, car purchases, etc. DealerCards.com marries the data from the dealer DMS to set the reminders to send the cards over a 3-5 year period.Born in the real estate industry connecting brokers to homeowners, this process is now gaining traction with dealers. Aladdin likes to say, “you cannot outsource your heart,” but with DealerCards.com you can outsource the actual greeting cards. #VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Starting something new is  always very exciting. Dana Randazzo, Chief Operations Officer recently celebrated her one year anniversary at Auto Hauler Exchange. Through their innovative, one-of-a-kind digital dashboard, Auto Hauler Exchange is transforming the way shippers and carriers connect with one another providing data and a level of transparency not seen to date in the auto hauling industry.Auto Hauler Exchange digitally procures only vetted, highly rated, and continuously monitored carriers to one network. There is no cost to the carrier for participating.Available shipments come directly to the carrier from the shipper. There is no middleman and carriers see available shipments. Dana is able to take her 12+ years of experience in the logistics industry and apply it to create a service that meets the needs of their customers. Dana enjoys the collaboration between customers, engineering, marketing, and sales all in an effort to streamline the processes to make them more efficient.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

At 19 years old, Tianna Mick decided to sell cars. That journey led her on a three-year journey to build her personal brand “T’s Got Your Keys.” She exploded onto the car scene leveraging TikTok to grow her followers to over 20,000. Her last post had 40,000 views and more than 1,500 interactions.In her new role as Chief Marketing Officer at Dealer Synergy, Tianna spends her time working with dealers to build their personal brand while also educating consumers on good and bad dealership practices. A very small percentage of dealerships are considered shady or bad, but they’ve given consumers the idea that most dealerships are bad - when in fact most dealerships are good!Tianna’s goal is to help teach other sales reps how to leverage social media to grow their personal brand. Her advice is simple - find your niche, stick to it, and use your favorite platform (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) to amplify your message.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

It was the start of the COVID pandemic. Paul J. Daly was brushing his teeth one day when he asked himself, “How can I help the automotive industry during this unprecedented time?” His answer was to connect car people over Zoom to make their good stories louder and to connect progressive dealers to progressive industry partners. Before he finished his dental routine he already knew what he would call this new idea: Automotive State of The Union. Thousands of people showed up to the first live-stream. ASOTU was born.ASOTU has now grown to provide daily emails, regular webinars and podcasts, and an annual conference to thousands of subscribers. Paul and his business partner, Kyle Mountsier, recently added  regional events that capture the content for an ASOTU produced TV show called, “More Than Cars,” featuring inspiring stories showing how people in real car dealerships are changing lives. Paul describes More Than Cars as a mash up between Comedians In Cars getting Coffee + Diners Drive Ins and Dives + Hip Hop soundtrack. This is all designed to change the public perception of car dealerships and provide an on-ramp to draw more people interested in careers in the auto industry.As an artist and a musician, Paul is excited to work in an industry that values creativity. Episode 1 of More Than Cars is set to premier on May 24, 2023. Users can subscribe via YouTube to watch the first episode, with more episodes to come.

It’s no secret that car dealers have had a reputation problem for years. Kyle Mountsier is on a mission to change that perception. He and his business partner, Paul J. Daly at Automotive State of the Union (ASOTU) are working tirelessly to share the real stories of people who work in dealerships. They are highlighting how dealership employees interact with their customers and the impact they have on their communities.The first ASOTU documentary, called More Than Cars, just released in May 2023. Of the three stories featured, one story is of a service manager who has worked at the same dealership for 27 years. Her story includes her service to three generations of the same family. She has supported the grandparents, their children and now their grandchildren. She’s considered an extended member of the family who is sometimes relied on for advice and encouragement. With over 14 years in the auto industry, Kyle believes his mission is to help people to be seen by others inside and outside of the industry. Sharing their stories is one big way that he can deliver on his mission.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

As Director, of Customer Success, Yolanda Mays is responsible for representing several brands for Emerald. These brands include Digital Dealer, Prosper, and RFID. Yolanda was interviewed at the May 2023 Digital dealer show in Tampa. She spearheaded a new Hosted Dealer Program which provided vendors three minutes to pitch their products to 50 dealers one dealer at a time. Think speed dating with dealers to assess new technology or services.She utilizes her experience in customer service and operations to connect with others. It’s easy to see why she’s so approachable and kind.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Allie Peters started her career in automotive in 2011, after she received a call from her cousin who was in her second week interning at a dealership in Dallas. Allie’s cousin urged her to get into automotive because it played to Allie’s strengths which are staying busy and talking to people. Fast forward twelve years to find Allie running Fixed Ops at Cavender Auto Group’s Land Rover and Jaguar store in San Antonio, Texas. Allie enjoys meeting with customers and leading the associates in the shop, parts, and service drive departments. The favorite part of her role is coaching and praising associates in real-time.Allie enjoys planning for the future, setting her vision for Fixed Ops, and doing the hard work to drive her vision forward. Her focus is to provide each customer with an exceptional experience in order to properly represent the owners of the 80-year-old generational family business.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Seven years ago, Crissy Burton patiently spent 9 hours on a Saturday in a dealership working on a deal to buy her first car. She left with a brand new car and her life changed forever. The car salesman contacted Crissy a few months later to offer her a job as his assistant, but the GM decided that Crissy was destined to sell cars. This month Crissy celebrates her largest milestone in six years at the dealership - selling 74 cars in one month.Crissy is known as “The Car Fairy” and her focus is selling cars to her community, specifically to people with a special financial situation. Crissy loves selling, she loves taking care of her family, and she loves taking care of her customers. Her goal with every customer is to have them leave the dealership with a car.In addition to selling cars at Hubler Chevrolet, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Crissy is working with Dealer Synergy to build her brand and train other dealers on her techniques. Crissy’s objective is to put a “Car Fairy” in every city in America. Now that is a great idea!#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

As the BDC Director of Wondries Toyota in Alhambra, California, Martha Alvarado leads the Sales and Service BDC. She uses her 23 years of experience and her passion for automotive BDCs to not only provide the best support to her customers but to grow her own career and to develop the people who report to her.Martha started her career in telemarketing. At the time she did not speak English. Her GM saw her potential and put her in charge of talking to the Spanish-speaking customers. Martha knew that she had to work harder and focus on being proficient in English if she was going to grow her career and support her family. She made a commitment, was disciplined in her approach, put in the work, and now she is reaping the rewards.Martha’s advice to other leaders is to believe in your people, give them the encouragement to reach their full potential and watch them grow.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

April Simmons is the Corporate Internet and Marketing Director at the Horne Auto Group responsible for 15 rooftops. With over 26 years of experience in the automotive industry, April knows her way around a dealership having spent time in virtually every function of the dealership.A self-described “human sponge” April loves to learn, lead and leverage her skills to drive her dealership forward. It’s her focus on tried and true processes and her ability to leverage new technology to improve those processes that have made her so successful. April encourages everyone to never stop learning. Whether it’s listening to podcasts, going to seminars, or taking online learning classes. She also focuses on “being a customer” by following the path a customer would follow to make sure that the customer experience is working as designed.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader

Zack and Troy are Performance Managers at Glenn Lundy’s 800% Elite Automotive Club. They worked for Glenn at his small town dealership in Kentucky, where they experienced first-hand 800% growth over five years from selling 120 cars a month to a record 1,043 cars sold in March of 2018. Now they are both Performance Managers at Glenn’s consulting business supporting dealers striving to achieve the same explosive growth.Both Zack and Troy embody the 800% Elite Automotive Club core values of Rise, Evolve, Impact and Together to provide consulting services to their dealers to achieve success and profitable growth.#VINCUE #VINCUEauto #dealership #CuetheNextLeader