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What if one number could cut burnout, fix your follow-up, and turn “lost” leads into lifetime service customers?

Kristine Lentz from Urban Science joins Auto Collabs for her first-ever podcast—and promptly makes everyone smile while talking about the least smiley topic in retail: customer defection. From starting in support to leading a team, Kristine lays out how dealers can spot where customers slip away, why our instincts often lie, and how to turn cold data into warm conversations that actually convert.

We get into the uncomfortable stuff—ego vs evidence, “those lead sources are trash” (spoiler: they’re often not), and why about 20% of the leads in your CRM may have already purchased elsewhere. The unlock? Use defection as your North Star to stop chasing ghosts, redirect messaging, and re-humanize sales. In a world racing toward AI-everything, Kristine argues that human is the new premium—and shows how to deploy people exactly where they matter most.

Timestamps

0:00 — First-Time Guest, Big Topic

2:12 — Salesperson to Data Sherpa

3:53 — The “Dealer Reality Check”

8:53 — Your North Star Isn’t Sales—It’s Defection

10:07 — Ego Off, Evidence On

11:20 — The Lead Source Myth

12:28 — The 20% You Should Stop Calling

12:57 — Flip the Script, Win the Relationship

15:57 — Human > Bot (Used Wisely)

18:45 — Human Is the New Premium

21:17 — Culture That Connects

24:50 — Action List for Dealers

Connect with Kristine Lentz at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-lentz-a2582910b/

Learn more about Urban Science at https://www.urbanscience.com

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