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PODCAST

The Dealer Playbook

Michael Cirillo

The Dealer Playbook is the top-rated podcast for automotive professionals who want to dominate the retail industry. Hosted by Michael Cirillo, this show delivers expert interviews, proven strategies, and actionable insights to help you sell more cars, lead stronger teams, and grow thriving dealerships. Whether you work in sales, service, F&I, marketing, or management, you’ll gain the tools and confidence to excel in a rapidly evolving market.Join thousands of listeners every week who trust The

leisure automotive

All Episodes

00:35:11

“Luxury Isn’t About Price” How to Deliver Premium...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/11/11

Guest Marion Cain (ACE founder; creator of Kharisma Mastery) breaks down a science-based playbook for dealership sales and F&I teams to own the room, deliver luxury touchpoints (on any brand), and turn trust into revenue. We cover the first 90 seconds, nonverbal cues, “portable stories,” True Cost of Ownership framing, and how to use GPT/AI to tailor your pitch to any buyer’s personality, without losing the human.You’ll learnWhy buyers now follow salespeople and how to stand out in a saturated

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01:02:04

“Extremes Get Clicks”: What 3,000 Pros Just Told Us...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/11/04

AI vs. Google isn’t theoretical anymore; your buyers are already switching how they search.In this episode, Marcus Sheridan (author of They Ask, You Answer and Endless Customers) shares fresh data from ~3,000 pros on how often they now use ChatGPT instead of Google, what that means for SEO, content, and lead gen, and how car dealerships can pivot now to stay discoverable.You’ll learn:Why “extremes get clicks” (and how to win with balanced, trust-first content)The real timeline for AI in customer

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00:27:09

“Curiosity Beats Fear Every Time”: How Dealers Are...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/10/27

Curiosity beats fear in modern retail automotive. In this episode of The Dealer Playbook, Michael Cirillo sits down with Sebrina Westbrooke, Program Manager at Georgian College’s Automotive Business School of Canada and lead for the Canadian Dealer Academy, to unpack how car dealerships are future-proofing leadership teams for AI, electrification, digital retailing, and connected services—without losing the human connection that drives performance.You’ll hear how the Academy builds real operators,

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00:44:27

Alex Lawrence: The Playbook for Selling EVs in a...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/10/21

There’s something special about people who build where no blueprint exists.My guest today, Alex Lawrence, is one of those people.He’s a tech veteran, tenured professor, and serial entrepreneur who co-founded EV Auto, one of the first dealership groups in the U.S. dedicated entirely to used EVs and plug-in hybrids.But what really stands out about Alex isn’t just what he’s built, it’s how he’s built it. With patience, conviction, and a willingness to play the long game while everyone else chases

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00:27:20

Tara Willis: How to Build a Culture That Sells Cars |...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/10/14

What makes someone dream of being in the car business, and then actually make it happen?In this episode, I sit down with Tara Willis, a seasoned automotive professional who turned her childhood love for cars into a 20-year career working with major automotive brands like BMW, Subaru, Nissan, and Infiniti. Tara now leads product marketing and incentives planning at Infiniti, and she’s using her voice to shape what leadership looks like in today’s auto industry.We talk about how she found her footing

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00:33:40

Jean-Pierre Lacroix: The Most Underrated Tool For...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/10/07

Selling more cars isn't for the faint of heart. It requires daily commitment, discipline, and genuine human connection. In this episode, my guest is Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president and founder of SLD, a global branding firm that’s spent more than 30 years helping businesses win customers by tapping into what really drives decisions: emotion. He’s the author of Think Blink Manifesto, a book that lays out seven powerful ways brands can create lasting connections in an instant.We get into some big

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00:31:51

Brad Gelber: How New York’s Largest Auto Group...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/09/30

In this episode my guest is Brad Gelber, Digital Media and Content Marketing Manager at West Herr Auto Group, the largest privately owned dealer group in New York. Brad and I dive into what it really takes to market a dealership in today’s world without sounding like every other store in town. We talk about the role leadership and culture play in shaping a brand’s voice, why raw phone-shot content often outperforms polished commercials, and how to uncover stories that are hiding in plain sight

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00:30:44

Michael Cirillo: The Biggest Problem In Retail Auto...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/09/18

Most people assume the biggest problem in retail auto is inventory, rates, or competition.But every time I walk into a dealership, I see something else at the core of the struggle. It isn’t obvious on the surface, but you can feel it in the turnover, the burnout, the “busy but not fulfilled” pace that too many teams are stuck in.We love to talk about legacy in this industry. The photos on the walls, the family names on the buildings. But the truth is, legacy can’t just be something we inherit or

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00:35:15

Jimmy Douglas: Why 49% of Car Dealers Struggle to...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/09/11

In this episode my guest is Jimmy Douglas, founder and CEO of Plug and former Tesla exec. Jimmy’s one of the sharpest voices in the pre-owned EV market, and he’s here to break down what most dealers are missing, and what a small group is quietly getting right.We talk about why nearly half of dealers still won’t touch used EVs, what it actually takes to build a profitable EV business inside your store, and why “dipping your toe in” may be worse than not playing at all. Jimmy also shares how culture

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44:16

Ep. 676 - How to Create Dealership Events That Sell...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/09/04

In this episode my guest is Ondar Tarlow, a marketing strategist with more than 20 years of experience working with brands like Fastlane Drive, Pacific Premier Bank, and the LA Chargers. He’s built a career on creating events and campaigns that actually move people—sometimes literally into showrooms. We dig into the big question dealers wrestle with all the time: what actually makes an event memorable? Ondar breaks down why so many VIP activations fall flat, and what it takes to craft experie...

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31:44

Ep. 675 - How to Convert Social Media Leads Into Car...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/08/28

In this episode, my guest is Shasta Haddock, Chief Operations Officer at Epic BDC and host of I'm A Car Chick Podcast. With over a decade in automotive, she’s built high-performing BDC teams and even created the industry’s first elite response team that turns social media traffic into real showroom appointments. We get into some very real challenges that are still holding dealerships back in 2025. Things like response times that feel “fast” but are actually losing sales, CRM processes that qu...

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34:05

Ep. 674 - The Most Overlooked Profit Center in Your...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/08/21

In this episode my guest is Janis Showers, founder of The Car Girls, who has spent more than 25 years helping dealerships turn phone calls and customer conversations into lasting relationships and profit. We dig into why the simplest interaction—the phone call—is still one of the biggest stumbling blocks in 2025, and what that says about the way dealers connect with their customers. Janis shares what she’s seeing inside stores right now: why younger staff avoid the phone, how lease renewals ...

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26:01

Ep. 673 - Why Your Dealership Experience Is Worth...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/08/14

In this episode, my guest is Megan McDowell, Vice President of Operations at TrueCar. Megan’s career started on the sales floor at Lexus of Austin and took her all the way to the executive table without leaving the automotive industry. We dig into what she learned from those bell-to-bell dealership days that gave her an edge in leadership, and how skills you might take for granted—like reading people, asking the right questions, and understanding the flow of a deal—can open doors you didn’t e...

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23:10

Ep. 672 - If you believe AI will replace your job…...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/08/07

Let’s just be real. The ground has shifted—and it’s not just a ripple. It’s a full-blown seismic shift under every industry, every role, every business model. In this episode, I’m unpacking what that actually means for those of us in the retail auto world and beyond as we navigate artificial intelligence. You’ve seen the AI overviews show up before Google search results. You’ve heard the noise "AI is coming for your job." But here’s the kicker: whether you believe it will or won’t, you’re pro...

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23:18

Ep. 671 - The Secret Car Sales Strategy Your...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/07/31

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 permiss...

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26:32

Ep. 670 - GET OUT of the Customer's Way, for crying...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/07/24

In this episode, my guest is Gary Graves, the kind of guy who can build a SaaS platform by day and grade a dirt road by night. One foot in the tech world, the other in the real one. Equal parts futurist and hands-on problem solver, he's spent years collecting and analyzing the conversations dealerships have with their customers—and the insights he’s uncovered are eye-opening. We first aired this episode a while back, but honestly, it’s been aging so well we figured more people nee...

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24:14

Ep. 669 - Why Tires Might Be Your Dealership’s Most...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/07/17

In this episode, my guest is David Pulla, President of Dynamic Tire, one of Canada’s largest tire distributors. We dive into a part of the business that most dealers overlook—tires—and explore how they’re not just rubber on a rim, but one of the most practical tools for increasing retention, profitability, and service traffic. We talk about how dealers can rethink their parts and service strategy, use data to move inventory smarter, and turn something as simple as a tire rotation into a reaso...

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24:37

Ep. 668 - Should You Buy a Dealership in 2025? with...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/07/10

In this episode I’m joined by Arthur J. Madjarian, a guy who’s been neck-deep in retail automotive, pivoted into mergers & acquisitions, and now helps dealer groups grow, exit, and scale smart. If you’ve ever wondered how M&A works in the auto industry, or whether dealership ownership is still worth chasing in 2025, this is your episode. Arthur talks about real-life strategy, timing, red flags to avoid, and why culture and “friendly money” might just be the most underrated forces in a...

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47:20

Ep. 667 - The New Rules of SEO for Car Dealers in...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/07/03

In this episode, my guest is Colin Carrasquillo, Digital Marketing Manager at Nielsen Auto Group. We’re diving into some of the real challenges and solutions that most dealers are thinking about but rarely talk about out loud. We talk about what it actually looks like to get your vendor partners working together instead of pulling in different directions. Colin shares how he’s doing this at scale across 14 rooftops and why it’s changing the game for their group. We also get into why most deal...

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26:28

Ep. 666 - What Most Dealerships Gets Wrong About CRM,...

The Dealer Playbook ·

2025/06/26

In this episode, my guest is Sam Maimone from Activix, and we’re diving into a part of the car business that most people think they’ve figured out—but really haven’t: CRM. We talk about why most CRM setups are missing the mark and why buying more leads won’t solve the real problem. Sam shares what he’s seeing inside hundreds of dealerships and the small shifts that can completely change how your CRM performs. We also explore why skipping proper discovery can cost you, and what a good CRM pro...

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