What's Going On? with Shaun

What's Going On?...with Shaun is back with one of the brightest minds in the automotive industry. Bill Playford, is a Founder at Dealerknows and a deeply experienced veteran of the car business. I've known Bill long enough to not remember how many years it's been. His automotive experience includes retail inside dealerships, technology providers, true data science, and expert, results-based consulting. If you're not connected with Bill, start with Linkedin as this is where he drops thought provoking articles he doesn't need chatGPT to write and they are worth reading.

During the episode, we talk about Bill's journey in revolutionizing car sales through online transactions and lead scoring technology, his evolving views on Business Development Centers (BDCs), management challenges within dealerships and advocacy for a fresh approach to training staff to be the best version of themselves. We also talk about the upcoming Dealerknows Summer Camp event and invite automotive professionals to attend. I hope you enjoy this listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed capturing it.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Bill Playford.

Shoutout to Hired Guns for producing this podcast.  Check them out for yourself at www.hiredgunsagency.com

In this podcast episode, Shaun finds out what's going on with the CEO of Reunion Marketing, Dave Spannhake. After a brief chat about their shared love for the Texas Rangers and their first ever World Series win, the discussion quickly turned to Google and the automotive industry. Dave, expresses frustration over Google's decreased support and increased automation, and reduced assistance for dealers. He criticizes Google's verification process and the impact of their policies on small businesses. 

They also discuss the evolution of Google Ads, its impact on small businesses, and the potential reputation risk for Google. The episode concludes with hopefulness and a call for more transparency and open communication from Google. It's clear to see and hear Dave's passion and care for the businesses that trust his company to provide premium quality services. Enjoy!

Well it's about time!!!  Long overdue, but worth the wait, my long-time friend from the car business Eliana Raggio finally joined me for an episode.  Eliana is well known in the automotive industry as the Webinar Goddess.  In addition, she is an intelligent, thoughtful marketer, public speaker, US Navy Veteran, wifey of Mike, mother of Tristan and the kind of friend and colleague we all wish we had more of.  Recently, Dealer eProcess recruited Eliana to join their leadership team as Chief Marketing Officer and I'm still cheering the decision.  In this episode, we cover a lot of ground and I guarantee you'll enjoy finding out What's Going On with Eliana Raggio.  Enjoy!  

When you need someone who can and will fight like hell to help you find success, improve your business and be a better human...look no further than Mike Donovan and Cody Jerry from SearchEnginesMD!  On this episode we talk about the origins of their company, SEO, digital marketing, music, MMA and much more.  I'm blessed to know guys like this and they have so much to offer.  Their approach to business is grounded in true effort to do the right things for the right reasons.  Knowing that, it should be no surprise that they have a killer team and a growing list of very happy clients.  I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we did creating it.  Episode 1 of What's Going On With Shaun 2023 kicks off with two diamonds from a company you should get to know.  Let's get into it with Mike Donovan and Cody Jerry of SearchEnginesMD...

No matter how much I wanted to end 2021 with an amazing podcast episode, life (covid) had other plans.  Recorded in November of 2021, this episode features someone who has been blazing trails since the day he snapped off his training wheels.  Bill Wittenmyer is a friend from the car business who I never seem to have enough time with.  For more than 25 years, Bill has been an industry leading revenue, performance and profitability driver.  His unique value comes from years spent on both the retail and vendor side of automotive.  Ask anyone who knows him and everyone who simply knows of him and they'll affirm his tenacious approach to sales, business development and executive strategy.  Sales professionals along with marketers and of course the automotive industry will all enjoy this podcast episode very much.  Enjoy hearing and seeing a Bill Wittenmyer you may have not experienced before.  He absolutely hit a grand slam on this episode of What's Going On?...with Shaun.

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I couldn't start Season 2 of the podcast with a better guest.  Mike Shaug is the founder of Premier Online Marketing and no surprise...one of my best friends.  I met Mike when he was 20 years old making balloon animals for my kids at a TexMex restaurant in Frisco, Texas.  We talk about that story and a few others in this episode, but we also cover a lot of digital marketing ground.  With no disrespect to my many friends in the digital marketing world, Mike is hands down the best PPC/SEM/GoogleAds expert I know.  When I say best, I mean most intelligent, thoughtful, creative, effective, results oriented and honest.  He and his company specialize in Automotive, Real Estate, Multi-Family and Powersports industries, but serve just about every business in need of digital marketing services.  My life is blessed to have crossed paths with Mike.  He is certainly an impressive, ambitious young professional and I have no doubt you will enjoy this episode!

Count it as a blessing when you meet someone in Marketing who you can also call a friend.  Not like a Facebook "friend", but a real friend you can drink a Bud Light with.  A friend who will reach out and ask how your mom is doing because they know she's fighting cancer.  I'm blessed to know Dave Spannhake and Dane Saville of Reunion Marketing.  Dedicated to results driven by data, appreciative of honest marketing practices and hell bent on making a difference for each and every one of their clients, Dave, Dane and the Reunion team are the real deal.  On this episode we talk about the origins of Reunion, prioritizing options and maximizing budgets.  We also talk about how political opposites like and respect each other without agreeing on all the issues.  This one was informative, fun and way too short.  I hope you enjoy listening or watching as much we did recording it.

On this episode, I'm joined by Steve Roessler from DealerCentric.  Steve is not only the Chief Evangelist Officer at DriveCentric, he's a passion sales person who also loves family, dogs and karaoke.  Steve's professional experience includes an engineering degree and many successful years of sales in the medical industry.  Long before he took a crazy pill or lost a bet and wound up in the automotive industry, Steve had learned how to blend knowledge, skill and talent with his magnetic personality.  It's good to have people in your life who are not only smart, but also fun.  I know you'll love this episode.  Enjoy! 

On this episode of WGOWS, I welcome Blake Norberg.  Sales professional, young hustler, road warrior, super BAMA fan and all around great guy.  Blake is passionate and polite.  He commands knowledge without making people feel intimidated and this guy simply will not be out worked.  No stranger to the road, Blake has taken to the road to help car dealers utilize technology that improves their business results and increases their profits.  From sharing and ice cold beer talking sports to discussing how priority mail delivered research packets open sales opportunities...I always enjoy the time spent with Blake and this podcast is no exception.  Enjoy! 

When a conversation covers marketing, music, family and friendship it is usually great.  This episode was exactly that!  What a pleasure to spend some time with Pogo Parr.  Pogo is a passionate, driven business professional.  His sales experience includes a customer focused, solution oriented approach and he impresses from greeting to goodbye.  He leads the sales and business development for the company that invented call tracking...CallSource.  A loving husband and father, Pogo allows his life experience to make all things around him better.  I love his enthusiasm for helping car dealers dramatically improve all aspects of their business relative to the phone.    You will hear him talk about OWN. SET. CLOSE. and the timing couldn't be better for businesses (especially car dealers).  Pogo and his team are making great impact for car dealers.  It was a great time finding out What's Going On with Pogo Parr.  Enjoy the episode!