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Chad Graves, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Reunion Marketing, joins the Auto Collabs crew to talk shop about what really moves the needle in automotive marketing. With over a decade of experience guiding digital strategy for dealerships across the country, Chad breaks down how his team is pushing past surface-level metrics to deliver true business outcomes. Spoiler: it’s not about the flashiest dashboards—it’s about asking the right questions and making sure your SEO works just as hard as your sales team.

In this episode, the crew digs into Reunion's newly launched platform, Altitude, and how it's helping dealers connect marketing actions directly to sales and inventory performance. Chad offers a grounded take on the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, arguing they enhance—but don’t replace—the fundamentals of solid SEO. The conversation gets real about shifting consumer behavior, the surprising persistence of Google search dominance, and why making your website frictionless is more important than ever.

Takeaways:

0:00 – Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo

6:19 – Chad explains how Reunion balances a scalable SEO blueprint with localized customization by asking deeper questions

10:17 – The team discusses the resurgence of new car leads and the importance of simplifying website experiences

14:44 – Chad shares insights on how AI tools like ChatGPT are influencing consumer research and the continued relevance of SEO

17:34 – Reunion’s new Altitude platform integrates sales and inventory data to provide dealers with actionable insights

23:07 – The conversation turns to the growing importance of online reviews in influencing AI-driven search results

Learn more about Chad Graves and Reunion Marketing:

• LinkedIn: Chad Graves
• Company: Reunion Marketing

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Carol Marshall unpacks how culture, trust, and hospitality can supercharge your dealership.

In this episode, Paul, Kyle, and Michael sit down once again with the ever-insightful Carol Marshall, COO of ActivEngage, to talk about the power of intentional hiring and world-class hospitality. Carol shares the secret sauce behind her company’s team-building approach—spoiler alert: it involves “hiring for attitude,” a heat-packed conference room, and a pair of brown shorts. Drawing inspiration from industry classics like Be Amazing or Go Home and The Speed of Trust, she dives deep into how great workplace culture and thoughtful recruiting aren’t just HR buzzwords—they’re how you build a business with staying power.

From making ASOTU CON attendees feel like VIPs to setting up dealers for lead-gen success, Carol and her team aren’t just talking the talk—they’re walking it (in comfy shoes, ready to help). The trio reflects on what it means to really show up for your industry, how customer experience starts well before the sale, and why “fit” can trump even the best qualifications. This one’s got real takeaways for leaders, operators, and anyone who’s ever tried to build a team worth trusting.

Books Referenced In The Interview

• Hiring for Attitude by Mark Murphy
• Be Amazing or Go Home by Shep Hyken
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

Timestamped Takeaways:

0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

2:41 Carol Marshall joins to talk growth at ActivEngage and what makes team expansion exciting—and tough

4:58 Why hiring for attitude beats hiring for skill, and how Carol’s team smells out drama before it starts

10:52 Behind-the-scenes of how ActivEngage owned hospitality at ASOTU CON with cross-functional team support

13:48 Productizing service: from sticky website chats to flip-to-text, ActivEngage is all about real customer connection

17:18 A fresh client wins big: 8 appointments, 8 sales—how quality conversations can drive real ROI for dealers

Learn more about Carol Marshall:

• Carol Marshall on LinkedIn
• ActivEngage

⭐️ Love the podcast? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your LinkedIn or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally!

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https://www.asotu.com

✉️ Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a quick shot of relevant news in automotive retail, media, and pop culture.

🎧 Like and follow our other podcasts:

1. The Automotive Troublemaker
2. ASOTU CON Sessions
3. In the Dirt w/ ASOTU

Send us a text

F&I veteran Rudy Graff brings decades of grit, grind, and gut checks into a conversation that reveals the high-stakes game behind the deal jacket.

Rudy Graff—aka “Rudy Boss”—joins the crew to unload decades of wild, real-world experience from the F&I trenches. From his early days dodging lemon law landmines and printing contracts with a daisy wheel, to leading compliance initiatives at one of the country’s largest dealerships, Rudy’s journey through automotive finance is anything but boring. He shares how a recession pivot turned into a career, why he operated under an alias in the Wild West days of F&I, and how working the phones and fighting for a spot gave him a front-row seat to the evolving auto landscape.

Now with ComplyAuto, Rudy breaks down the modern compliance tightrope, the hidden costs of a single digit typo, and how AI is changing the game—one autofilled form at a time. He peels back the curtain on how even tiny address mismatches can snowball into repo-level disasters and explains why today’s F&I professionals need more than sales chops; they need tools, process, and precision. If you’ve ever wondered what F&I actually does or why compliance is everyone’s business, Rudy makes it clear: protect the store, protect the customer, and never underestimate the power of automation.

Timestamped Takeaways:

[0:00] Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo

[3:02] Enter “Rudy Boss”: Rudy shares how his F&I alter ego was born out of early dealership antics and the need to fly a little under the radar.

[5:47] From Phones to Frontline: His improbable entry into auto, starting with cold calls and ending in battle-tested F&I leadership.

[10:47] First Rule of F&I—Protect the Store: Rudy emphasizes that compliance isn't optional—it's mission-critical.

[15:12] Real-Life AI Impact: How AI is catching human errors—like address mismatches—that can trigger costly customer blowback.

[19:22] Why Your Next Repo Might Be a Data Entry Problem: The ripple effects of a single mistake and why AI is essential to clean deals.

[23:37] Looking Ahead—AI, Blockchain, and Bulletproof Compliance: Rudy and the team envision the future of document validation and regulatory tech.

⭐️ Love the podcast? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your LinkedIn or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally!

We have a daily email!

https://www.asotu.com

✉️ Sign up for our free and fun-to-read daily email for a quick shot of relevant news in automotive retail, media, and pop culture.

🎧 Like and follow our other podcasts:

1. The Automotive Troublemaker
2. ASOTU CON Sessions
3. In the Dirt w/ ASOTU