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Adam Marburger redefines F&I leadership with a servant’s heart and a black belt mindset.

In this episode of Auto Collabs, Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo sit down with Adam Marburger, President and CEO of Ascent Dealer Services, to delve into his unconventional journey through the automotive industry. Starting as a porter, Adam's ascent to a top-tier F&I leader is a testament to his dedication and innovative approach. His new book, The Servant Leading F&I Manager, encapsulates his philosophy of leadership that prioritizes service, collaboration, and purpose.

Adam shares insights on transforming F&I departments into hubs of trust and long-term customer relationships. He emphasizes the importance of early involvement in deals, continuous training, and the adoption of a servant leadership mindset to enhance both customer satisfaction and dealership profitability. Listeners will gain valuable perspectives on how empathy and accountability can revolutionize the traditional F&I role.

Timestamped Takeaways:

0:00 – Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo.

1:47 – Adam recounts his accidental entry into the automotive industry and his progression from porter to F&I expert.

4:06 – Discussion on building a massive referral base and the significance of genuine customer connections.

7:27 – Identifying common issues in F&I departments, including lack of process and accountability.

10:04 – The necessity of continuous development and training for managerial staff in dealerships.

15:05 – Exploring the principles of servant leadership and its impact on F&I operations.

Learn more about Adam Marburger:

LinkedIn: Adam Marburger

Company: Ascent Dealer Services

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Attention-grabbing creativity, franchise fatigue, and the art of brand-building in the modern age.

Glenn Lundy isn’t just a podcaster or speaker—he’s a professional attention architect who’s been helping auto dealers think differently for years. With thousands of episodes under his belt and a heart for growth (and a growing family, literally), Glenn joins Paul, Kyle, and Michael to riff on why the rules of attention have changed and how creative thinking can outperform a fat ad budget. From Burger King's moldy Whopper to AI-powered robot dogs, this conversation is a masterclass in making people look your way without selling your soul to Facebook ads.

But it’s not just about flash. Glenn gets real about the human side of leadership—especially in an industry filled with third- and fourth-generation owners who might not actually want to grow. They talk about the psychological ceilings we impose on ourselves, the trap of “just enough” success, and why authentic, creative messaging is the dealership's best bet for long-term retention. Oh, and there's a mosquito attack that turns into a branding metaphor. You can’t make this stuff up.

Timestamped Takeaways:

0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

2:24 Glenn introduces his newest baby—number nine—and how family fuels his hustle

4:01 The ASOTU CON robot dog story: how a cyber-dog turned heads and taught lessons in grabbing attention

6:30 Burger King's moldy Whopper ad and the shift from traditional ads to organic, bold creative

11:18 Glenn and Paul dive deep into the tension between creativity and substance in a noisy digital world

19:02 Why many dealership owners say they want to grow—but secretly don’t

21:36 The dealership mindset trap: silos, financial statements, and being “number one” in tiny ponds

Learn more about Glenn Lundy:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennlundy/
• https://join.800eliteautoclub.com/

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Alain Nana-Sinkam’s automotive career began with a childhood passion—organizing Matchbox cars into a meticulously curated dealership on his bedroom floor. That early fascination evolved into a dynamic career spanning retail, finance, and tech, culminating in his leadership role at TrueCar, where he’s redefining how consumers and dealers connect in the digital age.

In this episode, Alain joins Paul, Kyle, and Michael to discuss the evolving landscape of car buying. He emphasizes the industry's shift from focusing solely on price transparency to addressing the total cost of ownership, including financing and protection products. Alain advocates for empowering consumers with tools that provide clarity and confidence, highlighting the importance of dealers in facilitating a frictionless buying experience.

Takeaways:

0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo

1:20 Alain reflects on his early days in the industry, starting as a lot attendant and how that experience shaped his understanding of dealership operations.

5:10 A nostalgic look at Alain's childhood photo, revealing his early passion for cars and dealership setups.

8:29 Discussion on the importance of recognizing the emotional and practical significance of car ownership for consumers.

13:34 Alain shares insights on the need for the industry to focus on total cost transparency, not just vehicle pricing.

18:27 The conversation turns to the challenges and opportunities in providing real-time, personalized financing options for car buyers.

Follow Alain Nana-Sinkam at https://www.linkedin.com/in/alainnanasinkam

Learn more about TrueCar at https://dealerportal.truecar.com/

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Chad Graves, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Reunion Marketing, joins the Auto Collabs crew to talk shop about what really moves the needle in automotive marketing. With over a decade of experience guiding digital strategy for dealerships across the country, Chad breaks down how his team is pushing past surface-level metrics to deliver true business outcomes. Spoiler: it’s not about the flashiest dashboards—it’s about asking the right questions and making sure your SEO works just as hard as your sales team.

In this episode, the crew digs into Reunion's newly launched platform, Altitude, and how it's helping dealers connect marketing actions directly to sales and inventory performance. Chad offers a grounded take on the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, arguing they enhance—but don’t replace—the fundamentals of solid SEO. The conversation gets real about shifting consumer behavior, the surprising persistence of Google search dominance, and why making your website frictionless is more important than ever.

Takeaways:

0:00 – Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo

6:19 – Chad explains how Reunion balances a scalable SEO blueprint with localized customization by asking deeper questions

10:17 – The team discusses the resurgence of new car leads and the importance of simplifying website experiences

14:44 – Chad shares insights on how AI tools like ChatGPT are influencing consumer research and the continued relevance of SEO

17:34 – Reunion’s new Altitude platform integrates sales and inventory data to provide dealers with actionable insights

23:07 – The conversation turns to the growing importance of online reviews in influencing AI-driven search results

Learn more about Chad Graves and Reunion Marketing:

• LinkedIn: Chad Graves
• Company: Reunion Marketing

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Carol Marshall unpacks how culture, trust, and hospitality can supercharge your dealership.

In this episode, Paul, Kyle, and Michael sit down once again with the ever-insightful Carol Marshall, COO of ActivEngage, to talk about the power of intentional hiring and world-class hospitality. Carol shares the secret sauce behind her company’s team-building approach—spoiler alert: it involves “hiring for attitude,” a heat-packed conference room, and a pair of brown shorts. Drawing inspiration from industry classics like Be Amazing or Go Home and The Speed of Trust, she dives deep into how great workplace culture and thoughtful recruiting aren’t just HR buzzwords—they’re how you build a business with staying power.

From making ASOTU CON attendees feel like VIPs to setting up dealers for lead-gen success, Carol and her team aren’t just talking the talk—they’re walking it (in comfy shoes, ready to help). The trio reflects on what it means to really show up for your industry, how customer experience starts well before the sale, and why “fit” can trump even the best qualifications. This one’s got real takeaways for leaders, operators, and anyone who’s ever tried to build a team worth trusting.

Books Referenced In The Interview

• Hiring for Attitude by Mark Murphy 
• Be Amazing or Go Home by Shep Hyken
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

Timestamped Takeaways:

0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

2:41 Carol Marshall joins to talk growth at ActivEngage and what makes team expansion exciting—and tough

4:58 Why hiring for attitude beats hiring for skill, and how Carol’s team smells out drama before it starts

10:52 Behind-the-scenes of how ActivEngage owned hospitality at ASOTU CON with cross-functional team support

13:48 Productizing service: from sticky website chats to flip-to-text, ActivEngage is all about real customer connection

17:18 A fresh client wins big: 8 appointments, 8 sales—how quality conversations can drive real ROI for dealers

Learn more about Carol Marshall:

• Carol Marshall on LinkedIn
• ActivEngage

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F&I veteran Rudy Graff brings decades of grit, grind, and gut checks into a conversation that reveals the high-stakes game behind the deal jacket.

Rudy Graff—aka “Rudy Boss”—joins the crew to unload decades of wild, real-world experience from the F&I trenches. From his early days dodging lemon law landmines and printing contracts with a daisy wheel, to leading compliance initiatives at one of the country’s largest dealerships, Rudy’s journey through automotive finance is anything but boring. He shares how a recession pivot turned into a career, why he operated under an alias in the Wild West days of F&I, and how working the phones and fighting for a spot gave him a front-row seat to the evolving auto landscape.

Now with ComplyAuto, Rudy breaks down the modern compliance tightrope, the hidden costs of a single digit typo, and how AI is changing the game—one autofilled form at a time. He peels back the curtain on how even tiny address mismatches can snowball into repo-level disasters and explains why today’s F&I professionals need more than sales chops; they need tools, process, and precision. If you’ve ever wondered what F&I actually does or why compliance is everyone’s business, Rudy makes it clear: protect the store, protect the customer, and never underestimate the power of automation.

Timestamped Takeaways:

[0:00] Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

[3:02] Enter “Rudy Boss”: Rudy shares how his F&I alter ego was born out of early dealership antics and the need to fly a little under the radar.

[5:47] From Phones to Frontline: His improbable entry into auto, starting with cold calls and ending in battle-tested F&I leadership.

[10:47] First Rule of F&I—Protect the Store: Rudy emphasizes that compliance isn't optional—it's mission-critical.

[15:12] Real-Life AI Impact: How AI is catching human errors—like address mismatches—that can trigger costly customer blowback.

[19:22] Why Your Next Repo Might Be a Data Entry Problem: The ripple effects of a single mistake and why AI is essential to clean deals.

[23:37] Looking Ahead—AI, Blockchain, and Bulletproof Compliance: Rudy and the team envision the future of document validation and regulatory tech.

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Monik Pamecha is turning chaos into clarity with AI that actually understands what customers need.

In this episode, the Auto Collabs crew welcomes Monik Pamecha, co-founder of Toma, for a deep-dive into the noisy, often-overlooked world of dealership phone calls. With a background in engineering and a journey that spans from health tech to nipple covers on Amazon (yes, really), Monik shares how he and his team stumbled into the auto industry and found their niche by transforming chaotic call data into actionable AI. Through humor and honesty, he recounts the growing pains of early development—including one rogue cowboy-themed AI voice—and explains why dealerships were the perfect testing ground thanks to their willingness to embrace fast-paced innovation.

The conversation shifts gears into the philosophy of building with AI, where Monik emphasizes separating what should be automated from what needs a human touch. Having listened to over 4,000 calls (often at 3x speed), he reveals just how much of dealership communication is repetitive and ripe for automation. From reducing friction in service booking to futureproofing voice AI with better data integration and customer intent understanding, Monik paints a vision of a dealership experience that’s faster, smarter, and still deeply human where it counts.

Timestamped Takeaways:

[0:00] Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

[4:08] Cowboy AI Goes Rogue: Monik shares a hilarious early bug where a forgotten prompt turned the AI into a Western character—proving even bad builds can lead to great stories.

[5:32] Why Dealers Move Faster Than Banks: Monik explains why dealerships were quicker to test voice AI compared to risk-averse industries like healthcare and banking.

[14:30] The Real First Step to AI in the Dealership: He outlines a simple rule: if a task doesn't need creativity, it's a candidate for automation.

[19:41] Beyond Voice—The Real Work of AI: Monik emphasizes that voice is just a channel; the real innovation lies in what the AI does after the call starts.

[23:24] Plumbers of the AI Age: As AI capabilities explode, Monik likens his team to plumbers—connecting tools, data, and insights to create seamless customer experiences.

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David Steinberg returns with the data-driven truth bomb that 88% of your leads might be telling you something you're ignoring—and it's costing you more than sales.

David Steinberg is back—and he’s not holding back. From his childhood days as a SAG card-carrying actor to founding FourEyes, David brings a mix of storytelling charm and ruthless data clarity to this episode. He dives deep into why dealers are drowning in leads but still missing sales, how bad CRMs are sabotaging great salespeople, and why marketing might be the most over-served segment in auto retail.

The conversation unpacks the dangerous comfort of “cherry-picking” leads, the myth that more traffic solves sales slumps, and the growing power of consumers in a reputation-driven market. With smart takes on AI, CRM failures, and why your sales process matters more than your ad budget, David makes it clear: the water’s rising in automotive retail, and it’s time to fix the foundation.

0:00 - Intro with Paul J Daly

6:01 – David’s unusual journey from software developer to lumber entrepreneur and how it birthed the idea for FourEyes.

8:48 – The sales process is the hardest—and most neglected—pillar of dealership success.

10:08 – Why flooding the pipeline with more leads almost never fixes a slow sales month.

12:59 – Only 2.3% of leads close after day 4; the industry’s cherry-picking model is a long-term liability.

15:08 – AI can supercharge your sales follow-up—if your CRM isn't a garbage fire.

20:42 – Customers have more power than ever, and ignoring the 88% creates ripple effects that cripple your future.

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Unpack how robots, data, and AI are quietly transforming the dealership—from the parts department to the showroom floor.

Greg Uland is back on the mic with Paul, Kyle, and Michael, and he’s bringing high-tech vibes straight from the Reynolds and Reynolds innovation lab. This time, they’re talking about RELO—a robot that delivers parts right to the service bay without breaking stride. It’s more than a novelty; it’s a tactical answer to the question every dealer should be asking: “How much money am I losing every time a technician leaves the bay?”

But that’s just the start. The crew dives into the real conversation: why dealership tech stacks are often bloated and broken, and how Reynolds is solving that through acquisitions and a focus on clean, connected data. Greg explains how unique identifiers, unified systems, and thoughtful AI deployment can actually drive efficiency instead of creating digital noise. It’s a look behind the curtain at how fixed ops and front-end retail are converging in the era of smarter software—and smarter strategy.

Timestamped Takeaways:

0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

4:30 RELO the Robot: Reynolds’ parts delivery robot automates the journey from parts counter to service bay, letting techs stay put and keep turning hours.

7:00 Minutes as Inventory: Greg reframes technician time as a sellable unit, emphasizing how reclaiming just 20 minutes a day can significantly impact dealership profitability.

8:30 The Productivity Slide: Tech productivity has actually declined over the last decade—Greg and the crew discuss why, and what’s needed to reverse the trend.

14:00 Unified Data Strategy: Reynolds is stitching together its software ecosystem (CRM, DMS, rentals, and more) into a single source of truth to eliminate duplicated work and bad data.

18:00 Smarter AI Needs Smarter Data: Greg explains that AI isn’t magical—it only works when it’s built on accurate, integrated dealership data. Otherwise, it just makes the wrong decisions faster.

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Eric Flow is building a dealership legacy rooted in promises, not just profits—and his take on vendor partnerships and culture is anything but ordinary.

Eric Flow of Flow Automotive joins the crew for a conversation that reaches deep into the DNA of one of the most intentional dealer groups in the country. With roots tracing back to a post-WWII used car lot and a family legacy that includes working for Douglas MacArthur and Henry Ford II, Eric doesn’t just represent the third generation of dealers—he’s pushing the business forward with a distinct blend of care and challenge. His use of the word “covenant” isn’t marketing fluff; it’s a framework for how Flow engages both customers and employees with a sense of sacred responsibility.

The episode also dives into how Flow Automotive integrates tech like CarCutter to maintain quality merchandising across 50 rooftops. Eric explains why vendor flexibility, API access, and store-level execution matter more than just off-the-shelf functionality. He’s not chasing shiny objects—he’s looking for tools that align with their culture and empower their people. From evolving customer touchpoints to developing a scalable LMS, this conversation is a deep-dive into how values-driven leadership meets the realities of modern auto retail.

Timestamped Takeaways:

1. [0:00] The gang kicks things off by reflecting on their own family histories—and sets up the challenge to learn about Eric Flow’s great grandfather.
2. [4:48] Covenant over contract: Flow Automotive treats customer relationships as sacred, promise-based commitments.
3. [14:32] A legacy of leadership: Eric’s grandfather served MacArthur and worked for Henry Ford II before launching a used car lot with purpose.
4. [20:50] Scaling culture: As Flow grows, their learning management system is key to training and maintaining a values-first mindset.
5. [22:55] People-powered tech: Eric explains how automation frees up time for human-centric service—and how the right tools make that possible.
6. [23:37] CarCutter in action: A look at why Flow chose CarCutter for consistent, enterprise-wide vehicle merchandising—and how ease of use for store teams sealed the deal.
7. [28:28] Autonomy with alignment: Eric unpacks the balance between giving store leaders ownership while maintaining brand and cultural cohesion.

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