The Dealer Playbook

Is your dealership losing customers you thought were gone for good? Every automotive professional knows the sting of a "lost" sale, but what if those defections weren't permanent goodbyes, but instead, opportunities for powerful comebacks through fixed operations?
In this episode, Kristine Lentz, Product Operations Manager at Urban Science, reveals how using precise data can transform your view of customer defection from a failure to a strategic advantage.
What you will get from this episode:
Understand why traditional "defection" metrics might be leading you astray.
Discover how leveraging sales data can pinpoint exactly why and when customers leave.
Learn how to use fixed ops as a potent reactivation tool for "lost" customers.
Redefine your follow-up strategies to recapture customers and build lasting relationships.
Strategically deploy AI in your sales process to close crucial gaps.
Kristine Lentz is the Product Operations Manager at Urban Science, bringing years of expertise in leveraging data to drive actionable insights and improve dealer performance.
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:42 Defection Defined
02:43 Finding the Leak
04:35 Days to Sale Insights
05:32 AI as a Partner
07:26 Empathy Still Matters
08:57 Facing the Fear
10:26 Stop Chasing Sold Leads
10:59 Service Reactivation Play
12:31 Data Plus Human Response
13:55 Outro

Matt Lasher pulls back the curtain on one of the most expensive and preventable problems in automotive retail. The moment a customer falls in love with a car, spends five hours at the dealership, and then the deal collapses in finance because nobody asked the right questions early enough.
In This Episode
What the great train wreck actually is and why it is happening at every dealership every single day
How the affordability crisis is creating a tidal wave that dealers need to start preparing for now
Why lenders and dealers are like Mars and Venus and what it costs everyone when that gap stays open
The hidden bias toward customers with credit challenges and why 40% of consumers have a credit score of 680 or less
Why empathy is not just a soft skill in automotive retail but a business strategy
How technology should be used to enhance human connection rather than skip over the people that make the deal happen
Matt's perspective on why dealers are resilient and why this crisis is no different from every other one they have survived
About Matt Lasher
Matt Lasher is President at Streamline Auto and a people first advocate in automotive retail. With a background rooted in dealership operations, Matt now sits at the intersection of auto fintech and the dealer lender relationship, working to make it easier for dealers to serve every customer that walks through their door.
Key Quotes
"The great train wreck happens not because we want it to but because sometimes there is just a lack of information at the point that they need it."
"40% of consumers have a credit score of 680 or less. If you are not thinking about the affordability problem you are just servicing the people that have buckets of cash."
"Dealers are resilient. There is just no stopping the dealer."
Resources and Links
Connect with Matt Lasher on LinkedIn
Learn more about Streamline at streamline.auto
Subscribe to The Dealer Playbook newsletter at thedealerplaybook.com
Join the Dealer Playbook community for more conversations that matter
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:48 Dealer to Vendor Shift
02:17 Affordability Train Wreck
04:26 Time Kills Deals
05:50 Lenders vs Dealers Gap
08:58 Tech With People First
11:32 Empathy for Buyers
15:21 Blind Spots in Credit
16:38 Connect and Wrap Up
17:22 Outro

What if the reason your marketing isn’t driving growth… is because it was never invited into the strategy conversation in the first place?
That question sits at the heart of this conversation with my good friend Ashley Cavazos, Digital Performance Consultant and Moderator at NCM Associates. We recorded this one live from the NADA show floor in Las Vegas, and within minutes we were digging into something I see happening in dealerships all the time.
Leaders expect marketing to deliver results.
But marketing often isn’t sitting in the room when the decisions that shape those results are made.
In this episode, Ashley and I talk about why that disconnect still exists and what has to change if dealerships want marketing to actually drive growth instead of constantly cleaning up problems after the fact.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:47 Why Marketers Need Seats
03:39 Inventory Firefighting Reality
04:06 Connecting Teams And Journey
06:22 Plan For Failure Points
08:04 Process Before Mindset
08:28 Alignment Beats AI Hype
10:37 Leadership And KPI Clarity
12:12 Advocating With Data Proof
13:18 Contact Info And Closing

What if your newest salesperson could perform like your best one every single time?
That's not a hypothetical. That's what Jay Ku, founder and CEO of Hey Greenlight, is actually building. And after sitting down with him at NADA, I have to be honest with you, this one stuck with me.
Jay spent years at TrueCar meeting with people representing thousands of dealerships, and he kept running into the same two problems. Salespeople had no idea who their leads actually were beyond a name and a phone number. And turnover was burning through training budgets faster than anyone could keep up. So instead of complaining about it, he built something.
In this episode we get into how Hey Greenlight pulls 25 plus data points on incoming leads income, credit, garage data — and uses that to build a personalized sales strategy for each one. We're talking about what to text, what to say on the phone, when to call, and even something as specific as which side of the lot to park the car on so the paint catches the afternoon sun just right when the customer shows up.
We also get into the AI conversation and I'll be straight with you, I pushed on this because I didn't want to just nod along and confirm my own bias. Jay's take on where AI is genuinely useful versus where it becomes a crutch is one of the more grounded perspectives I've heard on the show. He makes the case that booking appointments and answering questions is table stakes, and the real opportunity is in helping people connect.
That's the thread that runs through the whole conversation. Tech enabled, human delivered. And Jay makes a compelling argument for why that's not just a feel good idea but actually a smarter business decision.
If you've ever watched a great salesperson work a room and thought "how do I bottle that" — hit play.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:48 Why Hey Greenlight
01:28 Two Dealership Problems
02:51 Data Enriched Leads
03:30 Wingman Sales Coaching
06:03 Personalized Prep Examples
07:31 Question Based Selling
09:55 AI Debate Human First
13:45 Connection Still Matters
17:52 Scoring and Accountability
18:44 Operational Efficiency Wins
20:28 How to Connect and Wrap
21:05 Podcast Outro

Dealers are spending more on advertising than ever… and according to Subi Ghosh, many of them are still playing the game wrong.
This conversation from NADA 2026 might be one of the most important shifts we’ve discussed on The Dealer Playbook.
She believes the real issue in automotive advertising isn’t traffic. It isn’t creativity. It isn’t even budget.
It’s fragmentation.
In this episode Subi Ghosh who is the Head of Partnerships at Fullthrottle and one of the driving forces behind Auto Media Marketplace breaks down why dealers are often buying media in silos, relying on diluted data, and unknowingly limiting their own performance. She explains how platforms fighting each other instead of aligning is quietly costing retailers reach, influence, and ROI.
And here’s the part that hits hard.
While many dealers are still pouring money into search and social the way they always have, behavior has shifted. Discovery has shifted. AI has changed how people find information. And the brands that understand how to unify premium media, activate real data, and collaborate across channels are starting to pull ahead.
Subi makes the case that this is no longer about buying ads.
It’s about infrastructure.
It’s about coordination.
It’s about influencing buyers before they ever type into a search bar.
If you’ve felt like your ad spend isn’t stretching as far as it used to…
If you’ve noticed performance becoming harder to maintain…
If you’ve ever wondered whether the platforms are truly working together for you…
You need to hear this conversation.
Because the shift is already happening.
And the dealers who recognize it early will not just compete better. They’ll operate at an entirely different level.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:57 Auto Media Marketplace Explained
04:57 Why Streaming + Premium Inventory + Data Layers Are Changing Advertising
05:41 From Search & Social to Full-Funnel Media: Staying Top of Mind in a New Era
06:47 Real-World Targeting Story: ‘Landman’ Ads, Audience Data & Influence in Action
09:24 Competitors as Allies: How to Align, Take on the ‘Big Fish,’ and Win Together
11:52 Unity on the Show Floor: Building a Cohesive Strategy Across Channels
13:43 Connect with Subie + Final Wrap-Up and Podcast Outro