The Sensei Playbook

Dimitrius Naylor discusses entering the automotive industry by accident after leaving the Marine Corps and experiencing nearly two years of homelessness while working various jobs in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before being recruited from a restaurant into car sales in 2008. He credits early mentors for teaching sales, finance mastery, discipline, and leadership, describes setbacks getting stuck in finance, and outlines his path to sales manager, GSM over two stores with about 30 employees near the start of COVID, and a first GM role in Las Cruces, New Mexico where he failed due to inexperience and operational issues. He explains building customer experience through daily training and "standards over shortcuts," highlights Beaver Toyota's employee-first culture and onboarding, and details founding SOS Performance Group to coach dealership middle management. He also launched the Clubhouse show Cars and Coffee for structured, inclusive industry discussions and created Out the Door, a platform for live dealer bidding on customer purchases and trade-ins.

00:00 Intro

00:20 Getting Into Automotive

03:54 Early Mentors & Learning the Business

05:36 Climbing the Ladder: Finance to GM

12:12 First GM Role & Learning from Failure

14:54 Building Culture & Standards Over Shortcuts

18:27 Beaver Toyota & Patrick Abad's Leadership

21:14 SOS Performance Group

24:40 Hiring & Finding Your Why

26:43 Social Media in Sales

28:40 Cars and Coffee Community

32:28 Vendors & Neutral Ground

34:48 Out the Door: New Car Buying Platform

38:46 Vehicle Acquisition: The Auction Killer

42:18 Personal Habits & Favorite Books

43:37 Legacy & Impact

Follow Dimitrius:

www.linkedin.com/in/dimitrius-naylor-3728372b/

www.instagram.com/dimitrius_naylor/

More about SOS Performance Group: www.sosperformancegroup.com/

In this episode of the Sensei Playbook, host Chris talks with Tim Hayden of BrainTrust Partners about how AI is reshaping the car-buying and service experience and why dealerships must treat customer and vehicle data as highly sensitive "fuel" for the future. Hayden describes the disconnect between brand promises and the transactional reality customers often face, and argues that improving CX starts with dealership culture built on shared, integrated "sources of truth." He outlines a three-part framework—unify and resolve data into golden records, create a data layer that captures signals across touchpoints, and label data to improve machine learning and AI model efficiency—citing benefits like reduced media waste and fewer redundant messages. They also discuss using negative feedback to recover customers, the limits of automated outreach, and how connected vehicle data and autonomy may change service over the next few years.

In this episode of The Sensei Playbook, host Chris interviews Greg Stegman, General Manager of Wharton Chevrolet, GMC and Ram Country in Wharton, Texas, about building dealership success through people-first leadership. Stegman shares how he entered the car business from restaurant work, rose quickly into sales and finance, and credits mentors and a personal "book" of lessons—reminders of what he vowed never to do as a future GM. He explains how authentic recognition, visibility, accessibility, and individualized motivation create trust, accountability, employee retention, and a stronger customer experience, emphasizing that culture drives sustainable results and OEM metrics. He also outlines a social media approach focused on real people, entertainment and education over constant ads, and says he wants to be known for treating people well and assembling elite teams.

00:00 Don't Forget Your Book

00:19 Podcast Intro

00:44 Meet Greg Stegman

02:09 From Restaurants to Cars

05:19 Dad's Influence and Integrity

07:39 Chasing the Finance Office

11:09 Mentors and the GM Notebook

14:19 Becoming GM and Staying Grounded

16:50 Authentic Recognition and Trust

20:51 Personalized Leadership and Motivation

24:37 Culture Drives Customer Experience

29:31 Circle of Trust and Cici's Concept

31:56 Welcome to CiCis

33:01 Make Guests Feel Seen

33:59 Culture Meets Conflict

35:17 Accountability Builds Trust

36:28 Lead With Care

38:07 Saying I Love You

38:21 Family Roots of Empathy

42:58 Circle of Trust

43:44 Social Media With Culture

48:59 Content Mix That Works

50:36 Jab Jab Right Hook

53:16 One Habit for New GMs

56:11 Legacy and Closing

Connect with Gregg:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/htown.carguy/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gregg.stegman/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stegmangregg/

In this episode of the Sensei Playbook, Katie Naughton shares her upbringing in an automotive family, including a grandfather who rose through Ford with Lee Iacocca and helped turn around Chrysler, and a father who ran Mike Naughton Ford for 47 years and modeled hard work, relationship selling, and customer-first service. Katie describes carving her own path, training through NADA Dealer Academy, then moving to Toronto at 32 to buy and operate a Kia dealership as part of the less-than-1% of female dealer principals, navigating intimidation in a male-dominated industry by reading the room and building allies. She explains shifting from a tough management style to employee-first leadership, removing toxic performers, and using culture standards like constant hospitality and "Cinderella doesn't have a bad day." After COVID border constraints, burnout, and selling both the family Ford store and later her Kia store, she joined DSMA to guide M&A and valuations, and founded Drive Her Forward to provide deeper, community-based leadership development for women.

00:39 Introduction 01:55 Growing Up in the Car Business 12:38 Navigating as a Female Dealer Principal 16:03 US vs Canada Operations 16:58 Leadership Evolution 24:18 Building Culture 27:55 The Decision to Sell 38:05 Drive Her Forward 49:21 Legacy and Impact

Connect with Katie Naughton

Website: https://www.driveherforward.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiemnaughton/

Watch more episodes of The Sensei Playbook Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiR2e-qlKR_6tb99b9j2kuiovVry89fCL

In this episode of the Sensei Playbook Podcast, Chris Snellgrove interviews Jean Reitelbach, a seasoned automotive marketing strategist with over 12 years of experience in the industry. Jean shares her journey from traditional marketing to automotive marketing, emphasizing the need for a strong connection between brand and operations. She discusses her role as an independent consultant assisting organizations in amplifying their brand messaging and operations. Jean also highlights the importance of leveraging technology, developing proactive strategies, and fostering a trust-based team culture in dealerships. The conversation delves into effective reputation management, conflict resolution, using reviews as data points, and the potential of AI tools in enhancing customer experience.

Welcome to The Sense Playbook! In this episode, we sit down with Larry Feldman, a 30-year veteran of the automotive industry. With experience ranging from salesperson to dealer principal, Larry shares his passion for recruiting, training, and developing talent within dealerships. We discuss his recent busy schedule, including training sessions across states and handling over 100 ads for various dealership positions. Larry also opens up about his positive experience at NADA, the importance of customer experience, the symbiotic relationship between sales and fixed operations, and his philosophy on staying optimistic and hard-working in the industry. Additionally, Larry and Chris Snellgrove discuss the value of video testimonials and effective customer engagement strategies. Don't miss out on Larry's invaluable insights and upcoming events aimed at enhancing dealership operations.

In this episode of the Sensei Playbook, listeners are treated to an invaluable discussion with Ali Reda, the current world record holder for the most cars sold in a year, and his mentor Damian Boudreaux, a top automotive trainer in the US. They delve into the transformative power of relationship selling, emphasizing the importance of community involvement, personalized customer care, and the immense value of believing in one's potential.

Ali shares his journey from selling 30 cars a month to over 100, attributing his success to a customer-centric approach that avoids transactional sales methods in favor of building lasting relationships. The episode provides actionable insights for general managers of car dealerships on enhancing customer experience and leveraging community engagement for sustainable success in the automotive industry.

Auto Training Academy - https://autotrainingacademy.com/

Damian Boudreaux - https://damianboudreaux.com/

Reputation Sensei - https://reputationsensei.com/

Welcome back to the Sensei Playbook! In this exciting episode, our host Chris sits down with Tim Hayden, the CEO and founder of Brain Trust Partners. Tim shares invaluable insights into transforming the automotive industry with AI and data-driven strategies. Discover how to train AI models securely to know your business, improve customer experience, and boost sales.

Learn about the critical role of data, entity resolution, and personalized engagement in modern marketing. Whether you're a general manager or owner of a car dealership, this episode is packed with actionable insights to elevate your business. Don't miss out on this deep dive into the future of automotive marketing!

Peter Smith, founder and managing partner of Lion Partnership, shares his extensive journey in the automobile industry, from his early love for cars to building a successful consulting service aimed at transforming the industry.

During the discussion, Peter recounts his innovative approaches in car sales, touching on his role at Ford in Europe, as well as his remarkable success in selling a large volume of Volvos across the U.S. Peter emphasizes the importance of improving customer experience and the necessity for change in dealership operations, advocating for transparency, trust, and better training for dealership staff. He criticizes the traditional fear-based models and highlights a need for a more customer-centric approach.

Peter also delves into the role of technology and social media in modernizing the sales environment and stresses the significance of internal culture in affecting external customer perceptions. His ultimate goal is to create a more respectful, efficient, and trustworthy car-buying experience.

This episode of the Sensei Playbook features Steve Roessler, a Chief Evangelist Officer with a deep background in technical sales and the medical industry, who transitioned to serving the automotive industry.

Steve discusses the importance of customer engagement over traditional metrics in automotive dealerships and shares insights on how modern tools like AI, video messaging, and CRM platforms such as DriveCentric can vastly improve customer interactions and engagement rates.

The conversation also touches on the cultural shift required in dealerships to prioritize customer behavior and experience to achieve higher sales and better retention. The podcast is aimed at professionals in the automotive dealership industry, emphasizing the role of effective customer communication, reviews, and testimonials in building trust and driving referrals.