If your service managers and advisors can't explain Effective Labor Rate in one sentence, money is leaking out of your shop every single day.

In this episode of Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki, Jen breaks down the most misunderstood yet most powerful performance metric in the service department: ELR (Effective Labor Rate). While advisors often track CSI, gross, and hours per RO, ELR quietly tells the real story of how the shop is performing, how advisors get paid, and how profitable the operation truly is.

Jen simplifies what ELR actually is (and what it's not), why it matters more than the posted labor rate, and how everyday advisor behaviors like discounting, incomplete presentations, weak explanations, and missed opportunities directly drag it down.

This episode connects the dots between ELR and advisor income, shop absorption, and leadership discipline. Jen also outlines practical coaching strategies for service managers, including daily visibility, advisor-level tracking, role-play, discount accountability, and how to celebrate ELR wins so strong behaviors get repeated.

ELR isn't a scary accounting term. It's a performance mirror. If you understand it, you can influence it. If you can influence it, you can control profitability.

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

This one was different, we recorded an in-person (we are both within minutes of each other in CO!) episode in a studio (yes, the kind rappers use 😄) with a dealer/general manager from a 100+ year family dealership story that started back in 1922.

Meet Fred Emich from https://www.emichauto.com/

We get into what most leaders don't talk about: the daily pressure to stay relevant, how to keep people invested across multiple rooftops, and why the service department deserves way more leadership attention than it usually gets.

Then we go deep on tech adoption, how to vet new tools, why "shiny object" purchases fail, and the non-negotiable rule: if your team won't use it day-to-day, don't buy it.

We also tackle the big debate: "customers don't want calls anymore." Spoiler: they don't want robocalls… but they do want real explanations when it matters, especially in service.

If you're trying to modernize your dealership without sacrificing the human connection that built your reputation, this episode is a roadmap.

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

There are two sacred moments in every service visit and if you miss them, nothing else matters.

In this episode of Dealer Talk, Jen Suzuki breaks down the most overlooked, most powerful moment in the service lane: the check-in.

This isn't about speed. It's not about scripts, numbers, or reports. And it's definitely not about rushing customers through like a transaction.

Jen shares what she's seeing on dealership drives across the country: walk-arounds disappearing, advisors glued to iPads, low energy, rushed tones and customers quietly losing trust.

You'll learn why the check-in is where trust is either built or broken, how a proper walk-around isn't an upsell but an education, and why customer involvement early makes approvals easier later. From eye contact and body language to flashlight moments under the hood, this episode dives into the small, human details that drive retention, loyalty and long-term relationships.

If you're a service advisor or manager who wants better inspections, smoother MPI conversations, stronger surveys, and customers who come back asking for you, this episode is required listening.

Because when customers feel seen and heard, everything else gets easier.

AI isn't here to replace service advisors, it's here to protect what they do best.

In this episode of Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki, Jen speaks directly to service leaders navigating the overwhelming wave of new AI tools flooding the automotive space. While the industry is being told to move faster, adopt more, and automate everything, Jen challenges leaders to slow down and ask a more important question:

Is this technology protecting human connection or eroding it?

Service advisors sit at the center of the customer experience, yet their role has been stretched beyond sustainable human limits. Between check-ins, walk-arounds, technician communication, approvals, loaners, follow-ups, explanations, CSI pressure, and emotional labor, advisors are maxed out and piling on more systems isn't innovation. It's overload.

Jen shares real-world observations from working in service departments over the past year, including her experience building AI to assist with one very specific task: MPI approval calls. What became clear is that when advisors are freed from repetitive, draining work, approvals move faster, technicians wait less, shops flow better, and advisors can be present where they matter most with customers.

This episode reframes AI's role in service: not as the hero, but as the quiet support system working in the background so advisors can lead with trust, clarity, and confidence.

Because the future of service isn't human or AI, it's human + AI, used wisely.

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

In this episode of Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki, I sit down with Jessica Colan, who leads one of the biggest BDC departments in the country and works in the #2 Kia store in the nation. I've known Jessica for more than a decade and trained her team for years and what makes her different is simple: she doesn't chase shiny toolsshe tests them against real processes until they perform.

We talk about what's actually working with AI inside a high-performing dealership BDC—specifically how Jessica has used Matador AI hands-on for the last two years to revive stagnant leads, re-engage "ghosted" customers and target low-hanging fruit without wasting human time on dead ends.

Jessica breaks down her "sacred" strategies:

• Building custom workflows and sequences by lead source (Trader, Sam's Club, etc.)

• Training the AI to sound like your store—not generic dealership spam

• Setting up human alerts so the team tags in fast when AI hits a boundary

• Running CSV-based campaigns (loyalty, lease maturity, unsold visits) with the right staffing so replies don't overwhelm the team

• Using AI-driven engagement to turn "closed" opportunities into open, actionable leads—and pushing hot conversations into the CRM for history

• Pairing engagement with quick, targeted video from product specialists (30–40 seconds, not a full walkaround) once the customer shows real intent

This is a real-world look at the truth most dealers are learning the hard way: AI tools don't work without a human behind them. You have to train it, guide it, and integrate it into your process because the goal isn't to automate relationships…it's to protect them.

If you're a GM, BDC director, sales leader, or operator trying to revive leads and stop wasting time, you'll want to hear exactly how a top Kia store is using AI to create speed, engagement, and competitive advantage.

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

This episode is all about the kind of AI dealers actually need not another shiny chatbot, but a real assistant built inside the DMS and grounded in real dealership data, real workflows, and real accountability.

I'm joined by AJ McGowan, VP of Research & Development at Reynolds and Reynolds and co-founder of AutoVision, to talk about Reynolds' newest reveal: Rey, a tailored AI assistant integrated directly into the Reynolds ecosystem.

We get super practical on how leaders, managers, and frontline teams could use Ray day-to-day:

• Service teams asking real-time status questions without leaving the bay

• Used car managers making smarter auction decisions by cross-referencing market intelligence with store performance

• Multi-store operators pulling up-to-the-second answers mid-meeting (instead of printing reports that are outdated the next morning)

• Teams using Ray to learn Reynolds tools, message each other, and even connect with Reynolds support with context already included

Bottom line: the dealer's job isn't to use software, it's to take care of customers. Rey is designed to remove friction, reduce report-chasing, and help dealerships make faster, more confident decisions using the data they already own.

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

In this episode of Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki, I sit down with Kerri Wise, Chief Marketing Officer at LotLinx, to unpack one of the biggest problems I've seen after decades of training sales teams: wasted time chasing the wrong leads while real opportunities sit right under our noses.

Kerri brings a rare perspective, deep automotive experience from brands like TrueCar and Edmunds, paired with a clear understanding of how AI and machine learning can actually support dealership operations, not complicate them.

We dive into LotLinx's newest product, Revive, launching at the NADA Show, which helps dealers reclaim "closed-lost" leads that sales teams have already moved on from but shoppers haven't. The data may surprise you: nearly 20% of those leads return to the dealership website within 45 days, often unnoticed.

This conversation covers:

• Why most follow-up strategies waste salesperson time
• How AI identifies high-intent shoppers the moment they re-engage
• The difference between top-of-funnel noise and bottom-of-funnel gold
• Why AI adoption fails without human execution
• How dealerships can give their teams time, focus, and humanity back

We also talk about what LotLinx is unveiling at NADA—including one of the biggest giveaways the automotive industry has ever seen. A $148,000 prize and let's just say Jetson 1, aerial vehicle that for anyone else is a 2 year waitlist!

If you're a dealer, GM, sales leader, or operator thinking seriously about efficiency, AI, and profitability in a tightening market—this episode is a must-listen.

🔥🔥

Lotlinx is heading to NADA with its biggest giveaway yet! Visit Lotlinx at Booth #2743WStop by for a demo and receive a $75 gift card plus a chance to win a Jetson ONE personal eVTOL aircraft valued at $148,000. Double Your Chances to WinPre-schedule a demo with the Lotlinx team before the event to earn an additional entry into the giveaway. Lotlinx LIVE at NADAJoin Lotlinx at the live stage for real conversations about the automotive industry. The team from Car Dealership Guy will be hosting their show live from the Lotlinx booth, along with interviews featuring automotive dealers and industry influencers. Win With Every VIN at NADA with Lotlinx.

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Today we're bringing a new angle to Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast!

The capital side of dealer tech. I'm joined by Keith Style from Presidio, an automotive-focused investment advisory team that's been quietly shaping the next wave of dealership technology. Keith shares what Presidio looks for in early-stage AI and software companies, how they diligence founders (spoiler: customer calls are everything), and why "strategic capital" matters more than flashy valuations.

We break down the metrics that actually predict whether a tech company will last: recurring revenue, revenue growth, churn, runway, and even the Rule of 40 and why dealers should care.

We also talk about the real risk in early-stage AI (not everyone survives), the funding models dealers should demand, and why the best investors want dealers to be active partners with feedback loops, not passive checks. Then we zoom out into 2026: convenience-driven customer expectations, marketplaces, online buying behavior, and how this next wave of tech may finally drive productivity in dealerships without losing the customer experience.

If you're heading into NADA and trying to separate "AI noise" from real outcomes, this is your checklist!

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

Every time a service advisor discounts too fast, something bigger than money is lost — credibility.

In this episode of Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki, Jen tackles one of the most overlooked performance indicators in the service department: the discount line. After years of training advisors on the drive and working shoulder-to-shoulder with service teams, this is one of the first places she looks because it tells a story.

A story about confidence. A story about perceived value. A story about how the advisor, the technician, and the dealership are being positioned in the customer's mind.

This conversation isn't about being rigid or unsympathetic. It's about understanding that discounting is rarely about the customer, it's usually about discomfort. Discomfort with holding value. Discomfort with pushback. Discomfort with confidently saying, "This is what it costs, and here's why."

Jen breaks down why fast discounts quietly devalue the work, the technician, and the entire service operation and how strong advisors protect value without sacrificing trust. She also speaks directly to service managers and Fixed Ops leaders about why discounting is a leadership issue, not an advisor flaw, and how coaching, language, and support change behavior.

If you want to elevate advisor confidence, protect margin, and build trust that actually lasts, this episode is for you!

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Reynolds and Reynolds is a leading automotive DMS platform that helps dealerships run more efficient, connected, and customer-focused sales and service operations.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

ZukiTalk helps service advisors by making clear, consistent MPI calls that educate customers and increase approvals.

We've never had a CTO on Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki! So we went full behind-the-scenes with Kelvin Pho, CTO & Co-Founder @ Mia Labs!

Kelvin pulls back the curtain on what's happening in AI tech right now. He shares his insights on what matters, what's hype, and what dealers should actually be asking before they buy another "AI tool." We talk real-world dealership problems like missed calls, after-hours coverage, messy data, and integrations across CDK, Reynolds, Tekion, Xtime, and more. Then we get into the stuff nobody explains: why "built on Azure" matters, how safety and content controls prevent AI from going rogue, and why "bank-level security" isn't just a buzzword. Kelvin also shares a dealer-friendly AI maturity test (latency, P90 latency, interruption/turn detection), plus the #1 misconception: AI doesn't arrive perfect, it's like hiring a new employee and it needs training. If you're heading into 2026 trying to modernize your communication stack without getting burned, this is your vetting checklist.

[email protected] | www.mia.inc

Dealer Talk with Jen Suzuki Podcast | 🎧 https://apple.co/38lmHM1 🎧 https://spoti.fi/3uQ2nd1 | [email protected] | 954-873-8029 | edealersolutions.com | Meet me! bit.ly/3J7011t | Loyalty-Based Selling Strategies on CBT News | https://bit.ly/3JlcXAx

🔥Check out our sponsors!🔥

Matador.ai, AI That Fully Automates Sales & Service Conversations For Dealerships.

LotLinx.com is a VIN Management Platform that enables precision automotive retailing via /AI/ technologies that improves dealership profitability.