The Dealer Playbook

Ep. 666 - What Most Dealerships Gets Wrong About CRM, with Sam Maimone

• Michael Cirillo

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In this episode, my guest is Sam Maimone from Activix, and we’re diving into a part of the car business that most people think they’ve figured out—but really haven’t: CRM.

We talk about why most CRM setups are missing the mark and why buying more leads won’t solve the real problem. Sam shares what he’s seeing inside hundreds of dealerships and the small shifts that can completely change how your CRM performs. We also explore why skipping proper discovery can cost you, and what a good CRM process actually looks like when the people, the process, and the tech finally click.

Sam’s story is packed with hard-earned lessons—from DJ booths to dealership desks to the corporate world and back. This is a real conversation about what works, what doesn't, and how to spot the difference.

If you’ve ever wondered:

  • Why your CRM feels like a to-do list instead of a growth tool
  • What it actually takes to get your team to buy in
  • Why speed matters in lead handling more than ever

...you’re going to want to lean in for this one.

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MC:

This episode is brought to you by FlexDealer. Auto industry, what's going on? Welcome to this episode of the Dealer Playbook Podcast. We are at the Toronto International Auto Show. I actually said it like an American there, Emer. I said Toronto. We're at the Toronto... International Auto Show. Sitting down with my new pal, Sam Maimone.

Sam:

You got that right. Things are going well. All right. As we would say. That's it. You know what my parents taught me?

MC:

Yes. Yes, I love it. I'm excited to have you on the show today. We're going to dig into, you know, some CRM process and things of that nature, especially how important that CRM process is going to be in a 2025 world. But first, I got to know, a DJ, how does a DJ... How do you go from being a DJ to getting into the car business? That's a

Sam:

great question. You know, when we were younger as teens, we, and I say we, my best friends and I decided to Put a crew together and become DJs. And that's kind of how it started. And then I ventured off into radio broadcasting school. Oh. Worked at a radio station. No kidding. And that was fantastic. Three years of my life. I was in sales. I was a sales manager. And I also did a stint on the radio called Club DJ. No kidding. And it was live DJing, mixing at night. And at the same time, I was also... A nightclub DJ. And I did that for many years. It was great. And the radio station then closed down. I didn't know what to do. And a lot of my friends were in the car business. And they say, you know what, Sam? You'd be great for the car business. And that's how it

MC:

started. This is so interesting. First of all, had you not said, I'm a DJ, I might have picked up on it because of your radio cadence. Oh. In the way that you... Oh, there's a tonality to the cadence of the way that you speak that people often point out in me. They're like, you speak like you're singing almost. And I think it's just beautiful to listen to. And this is the first time I've been on the opposing end of a beautiful voice to listen to. So this is, this is interesting new experience for me. I want to key in on something you just said. A friend said, I think you'd be great for the car business. And we talk so much in this industry about recruiting and that this is a good industry for people to come and work in. And obviously part of our mantra with the More Than Cars Media Network and what we do here on the Dealer Playbook is to be a positive advocate for the industry, that you can make this a home, that there is unlimited opportunity. When you came into the dealership, what did that look like for you? What role were you in? How did you come into it? And maybe give us some insight into why. when you realized that you wanted to stay in this industry?

Sam:

You know, I, the first place that I worked at was a used car operation and I, it didn't fit. It was one of those used car operations that were not very honest, weren't transparent.

MC:

Yeah.

Sam:

And you know, the friend of mine who said you'd be good in the industry said, you know what, you should come to work at the dealership that I'm managing. It was a OEM store. And that's where, you know, I got in there and started selling cars. I was like, this is it, you know, this is what a difference between the other place I was working at. Sure. And you know, that's where I fell in love with it. And as I progressed into it, of course, there's bumps in the road and you learn these things. And that's when I started learning about CRM, which we're going to talk about today. And after going there, a couple of other dealerships i moved up the ranks and became a manager managed a team and that kind of brought back memories of me managing the team back at the radio station i was at and then out of nowhere this opportunity came up i was working at a dealership and i had no crm no computer at my desk so i bought my own and the reason i did it was I wanted to be more efficient. It wasn't just about customer relationship management. It was about making me more efficient as well. Right. So it was a combination of both because the CRM tool is not just managing relationships. It's about making things easier for staff management and things like that. So I got this opportunity. Somebody said, you know what? Reynolds and Reynolds is looking for a CRM specialist. I think you'd be great at it. Again, another person. And. I went in for the interview. It was corporate, completely different than the dealership world, multiple interviews. Again, not like the dealership world. You have an

MC:

interview and you get hired the same day. Yeah. They put a stethoscope to your chest and say, yep, you'd be good. Absolutely.

Sam:

And he said, we'd love to bring you on board. I like your story that you had the initiative to do that. Perhaps you could tell other dealers about our CRM. And that's when I started at Reynolds. It was great. It was fantastic. Great company. But then they said, you know what? Let's expand your role. So not only did I did CRM in variable operations, I started learning about parts service accounting. And that really gave me a good foundation of how a whole dealership works with and without the silos between departments. And while I was at Reynolds, I mean, it was there for 10 years. There was a couple of individuals that worked at the OEM level. They were OEM executives. And they used to talk about their meetings at the OEM. And they pulled me in to do presentations at head offices at the OEMs. And I thought to myself, it'd really be nice to see what the business is from an OEM perspective, the manufacturer side. And again, another opportunity presented itself to me. And I looked at my wife and I said, I really enjoy where I am. I said, but here's another great opportunity. She said, go for it. I think you would excel and you could broaden your, you know, your knowledge. And I became a district manager at an OEM and it was fantastic. It was, it gave me another insight. So, you know, I was in a dealership. Then I worked for a major SaaS company and dealership management provider like Reynolds. And then I worked at an OEM and, you know, I started loving the business even more. And although I couldn't really talk about CRM A lot with my dealers when I was a district manager, I would bring it up. You had other duties and responsibilities, of course. Sure. And it was fantastic. I really enjoyed that role. It gave me another perspective. And then it came to a point where vehicle merchandising came on the horizon. And Michael, I don't know if many of you will remember, but back in the day, vehicle merchandising was one photo. And you had to grab this little camera. Yeah. There was no iPhones back then. And I remember doing this at the dealership I worked at. Yeah. And you'd go outside and take one photo. And you'd go to the next car. And, you know, wherever it was standing. And then you'd bring it back to the computer. You'd pull it out and you'd upload it.

MC:

The memory card was like this big, I remember. Yeah.

Sam:

Right? Yeah. And then each site had to upload everything manually. It was slow. And... This vehicle merchandising organization, not only did they do vehicle merchandising, they also do inventory syndication. And I thought, wow. And another area of interest to me. I mean, it was always about looking at different sides of the automotive industry and just learning and growing. And I've been blessed. Yeah. Been blessed that I've been given those opportunities. And then someone reached out to me and said, again, someone I worked at before and said, hey, you guys should hire Sam. I worked with him when I was at Reynolds, CRM specialist. Maybe he'll go back to his roots. And that's when Activix came a knocking and I'm back to my CRM roots. Has it settled in?

MC:

So maybe I'm a slow learner. But for me, I might have been in this industry for... 13, 14 years before it dawned on me that I worked in the automotive industry. Has it sunk in for you? Like, when did you realize I'm in the auto industry? I am a part of a really big industry. Hey, does your marketing agency suck? Listen, before we hop back into this episode, I know you know me as the host of the Dealer Playbook, but did you also know that I'm the CEO of FlexDealer, an agency that's helping dealers capture better quality leads from local SEO and hyper-targeted ads that convert. So if you want to sell more cars and finally have a partner that's in it with you that doesn't suck, visit FlexDealer.com. Let's back into this episode.

Sam:

It really hit me when I worked at Reynolds. And the reason being is that's where I started learning about all the different departments and how they work together. And not only that, I worked with a little mom and pop store to large dealer groups. And that's when I knew this is a huge industry. There's a lot of players. There's a lot of competitors. There's a lot of money to be made. That's when I really realized how big it was. Working at the dealership, yes, you're selling cars, you're moving metal, as we call it, but it did dawn on me when I first started at Reynolds and then starting to visit with all these different players within the automotive landscape

MC:

across Canada. Interesting. Now you're back at a CRM. I want to pick your brain on this. As you look across your portfolio, you work with, you know, hundreds of dealerships and if not thousands, what are you seeing from a CRM perspective that I call it small tweak territory? It's like, man, if you just made that small tweak, your whole process would just evolve. What do you notice is the common thing? Let me put it this

Sam:

way. CRM, CRM process, that whole world really needs three things. You need the people, you need the process and you need the technology. If you don't have the right people, it'll never work. We all know that. Sure. So that's the first thing. The second thing is the process and having the right processes based on the dealership and the territory or where it's at. Because something that is in a small town up in Kapiskasing versus a store in the GTA, different processes. And then, of course, the technology that'll fit and marry those together. So those are the three most important things that are necessary for for CRM. And there's another really important factor to help with that. And what I found most critical is something that we did early on or I did early on and learned about called a discovery. And that is before even buying a CRM or talking about a CRM or even changing what you have today, if you do have one, it's important to get a consultant, or somebody like myself or your account executive at your software company to really sit down and spend time with the dealership management staff and write everything down. What are you doing today? What is it that you think you're missing? Perhaps I could show you what you're missing. And with that, you could see what they're doing today, where they want to be, where the gap is, and how the CRM can tie that in. And when you do this discovery and you write it down and you actually show a dealer the financial impact of what they're doing wrong or what they're doing right, it hits them. And at that point, that's when they say, I see the light now a little better. So a discovery, I believe, is of utmost importance before even buying it. And there are times where I've done a discovery with a dealer or a dealer group, and then they'll say, Okay, let's sign. And I'd have to give them the bad news. You're not ready. Why? Three of your managers won't buy in. And it's difficult to have that conversation. But I think as a person in this industry, sometimes you need to push back versus getting a sale and letting them know that they don't have the right staff and that they could implement it all they want, but it'll never work because you have... you know, so-and-so at the used car department or so-and-so the assistant manager, whoever it is, they're going to be blockers. They're not going to care. Right. And I'm sure you've heard of that, you know, in the past and it gets interesting.

MC:

Well, this is unique to me because most salespeople just want to get a sale, right? Most people will say, let me get the commission check. And if you guys have a problem with this on the back end, we'll deal with that problem when the time comes. That's when I'll break the news that you're not ready for this, which I think creates a weird dynamic, this vendor concept, right? I mean, I tend to think in terms of partnership. Partners always have their partner's best interests. You know, they put their partner's best interests ahead of anything else. You're telling me something unique right now that I think a lot of people feel, right? but don't have the courage to say, which is, I'm actually going to be the reason that you don't sign up right now because you're not ready for it. How do you balance that in a business that's, like you said, move more metal? Get the check mark on the balance sheet. Sell that

Sam:

CRM. Just sign it on the dotted line. You know, I had some skin in the game as well. because obviously in those positions that you're in and you're doing that, of course, a paycheck comes into your pocket as well, or the account executive or whoever it was. But the challenge that, or what would happen in some of those instances where, you know, the account executive would say, Sam, we just got to, we got to get them to sign it. And I say, listen, it's going to bite you in the, you know, what? And it's happened.

MC:

Yeah.

Sam:

And guess who starts to yell and scream six months later? I want to get out of my three-year contract. It ain't happening. I told you. We documented it. Your team's not ready. You wanted to go ahead with it. And, you know, after a couple of hits over the head with that, it's not a good conversation with the dealer principal. Right. You know, you're sitting in the office and here's somebody who's obviously a multimillionaire, been around the block, knows his stuff, and you're telling him you can't get out of his contract and that some of his staff actually suck. And they suck and they suck. And you just, again, if you've done it right and you pull up that discovery document, say, do you remember we talked about this? Do you remember we talked about this? Here's the opportunities you're missing. Here's how it's impacting probably from a dollar perspective or a customer experience perspective. Here's another tangible. How is it affecting your staff? They're not efficient. Efficiency is a big word now in 2025. Yeah. I want to be more efficient. So, you know, these conversations then can lead to, okay, what is it that I really need to do? Or, you know, maybe I need to hire a new manager. Maybe I need to hire a CRM champion in my store. Now let's kind of transition to, hey, okay, we've signed it. Now what? Well, that's where, you know, implementation and training and what I see as, you know, very important factors in launching it. Now, Again, you tie it back to this document you've had. This is what you do with walk-ins. This is what you do with your web leads. Pardon the pun, but before you launch the CRM, you need to build a dealer playbook. You need to build a CRM dealer playbook. And you need to sit down, again, with management and say, okay, when we were talking, when we were doing the demo, after the demo, this is what we want to do. This is how we want to implement it. These are the steps. And these are the people that are... going to handle it. You build the CRM playbook, you build your CRM, and then you train based on that playbook. Those are the best implementations. And then you take a crawl, walk, run approach. It's interesting. Some dealers say, turn everything on. Let's assign a thousand tasks. The challenge again with that is it's too much. Right. And a lot of people don't like change. Right. In dealerships. They just don't. It's an industry that doesn't. I don't think most people do. Most people don't. But in the auto industry, it's probably a little more so. And when you've done that and you've implemented it, one of the areas I find where things can fall off is dealerships don't invest in training. Continuous CRM process

MC:

training. Now you're preaching to off-camera over here. Okay. They love this topic.

Sam:

So let's talk about that. Hey, you know what? There's a guy who's going to be at the convention center and he sold a thousand cars and I'm going to pay for your two-day seminar to go there. And you're going to write all this stuff down and then you might retain 5% of it. Half of your sales staff don't really care. Others will. And you've just spoken to a guru and that's it. But you won't invest in monthly training for a tool that you're paying for monthly that is actually going to help you. So I truly believe in training and training programs and onboarding programs. I'm gonna share a best practice that I seen one of my dealer principals do. He wouldn't let nobody sell for two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. You actually had to go to each department and learn every department and you had to get a sign off from that management. Interesting. And they would say, okay, what does obsolescence mean in parts? What are turns? What's...

MC:

Got to be able to answer it.

Sam:

What's

MC:

hours per hour row? Sure. I mean, this is... Which is interesting because I don't think most people on the variable side have even heard the word obsolescence. No.

Sam:

No. Right. What's obsolescence? You know, what's door rate? You know, all these things. And we all thought that, you know, he was being this, you know... Ironclad, yeah. But it was a great best practice he picked up from a 20 group. And I thought, you know what, that's a great onboarding program. He also had training, you know, that he would implement, you know, on a, I guess a quarterly basis. He'd all hop into the boardroom and he'd bring in someone, phone training, anything, closing techniques. I still remember some of those to this day. Wow. And You know, I've even shared some of those with some of my dealers, some of the sales staff, you know, Sam, you know, what is it like to be successful? I mean, I know you've been successful. What are a couple of things you can tell me? And I'd relay some of those stories and some of those tips and tricks, as we call it, that would help them become more successful. I mean, Not everyone has a mentor or somebody that can help or someone that comes in for continuous training. But if I can provide that to someone and make their life better, all the power. I mean, it's our industry, right?

MC:

Right.

Sam:

Let's give back.

MC:

Yeah. Let's pay it forward. Yeah. It makes sense. I mean, why do we love a good sports analogy? And whiz past the part where that sports team that we're using as an analogy now trains nearly every minute of every day. Some of which those team players will only get like five minutes in a game if they're lucky. And yet they show up day after day training, preparing for when they get to be on the field. It actually blows my mind. So the fact that you're speaking about you pay for this tool. You hope it's going to lasso the sun, moon, and stars for you just by having it. The dose of reality, Sam, I think is refreshing to say it's not about what you have. It's about what you do with what you have. And you need to train on it. Training is the difference between being okay and surviving and being lethal.

Sam:

Right? Lethal. Some people just use the CRM. They don't manage the CRM. And you need to manage the CRM. Sure, you could enter data, you can put in notes, but you need to look at the data. You need to manage the system. You need to inspect what you expect, which is a very common phrase you hear out there. You need to look at, and I think what's really important nowadays is, sure, you got a web lead, but how many engagements did you get? Engagements are important. How many times do they try to engage? How many times do they try to attempt to reach that customer? The thing that boggles my mind, Michael, is I'll go into a dealership and I'll pull up the CRM and I'll see leads that haven't been touched. They're in what we call pending status. How can you let a pending status? You know what? Let's just buy more leads because that's going to help. No. No. why don't you just take care of your own backyard? You have your leads. You need to work those leads and you need to work them aggressively because if a customer is sending in a lead, they're buying a car or they're interested in a car. They're not doing one or the other.

MC:

Yeah.

Sam:

Right. They're not, it's not like back in the way back in the day where, you know, a kid would come in cause he wanted the brochure. And I remember this at the GM store. I worked at a lot of kids would come in cause they wanted the Corvette brochure. I mean, that that's not the case now. I mean, if a lead is set in just because they're sending in that lead for sure. Maybe they want to trade in their car and they want an evaluation. Maybe they're looking, you know, to upgrade. Maybe they got a family now and they need a minivan. Like there's so much. So this 20% closing ratio, where's the other 80%? Do you think they're not buying a car? They are buying a car. Sure. It's just, they're not buying it from you. Right. Cause maybe you're not doing the right things. You're laughing.

MC:

I'm laughing out of frustration and anger. As we wind down, I want to pick your brain on this. And I know I'm about to ask a question that's going to enrage me, not because of you, but because I think I might know what the answer is. 10, 15, 20 years ago, the statistic was that phone leads will outnumber web form submissions like five to one. Is a phone lead still more prominent than a web form in a world where we're starting to even get out of web forms and it's like chats and WhatsApps and things of that nature?

Sam:

Based on what I'm seeing, it's difficult because it's hard to track. It's really difficult to track phone leads, even though there are some integrations that are out there with CRM tools. I'm finding web leads, there's a lot more web leads than there are phone-ups, as we call it. And Again, the challenge I'm finding with that is, is how are you handling those web leads? How are you engaging? And are you doing it quickly? Boy, are we so impatient now, Michael. Even myself, when I'm calling someone or texting someone or submitting something for, you know, someone to come do something at my house, I'm expecting a response in five minutes. And it's interesting because I wouldn't be that. 20 years ago, I wasn't like that. But now, just the expectation. Yeah. And it's interesting that a lot of the OEMs are now into this game of measuring response times and hammering down on their dealer bodies to say, and their dealerships, you didn't answer these leads in a certain amount of time. We're going to penalize you in some way, shape, or form. And I think it's still somewhat of an issue with a lot of the dealerships out there. You'd think that in today's day and age, Everything would be answered within five minutes, but it ain't the case. It's not the case. It's not the case. And it's difficult to try and help them to understand that. And, you know, with the chat, sure, you're getting some information, but sometimes a chat can go away. If you're not capturing that person's email address or phone number, it's in the wind. You've had a conversation, but with who? It's not a real lead at that point. I mean, you could build some type of a relationship through a chat, but how often do they actually convert?

MC:

Right. Well, I knew it was going to make me mad. I don't know why I asked the question. I knew I was going to get mad at the answer, but it's valid and it's something that we need to be thinking about. I can't thank you enough for joining me. How can those listening and watching get in touch with you and connect? LinkedIn. He's on LinkedIn, folks. Like a true Italian, just got right to the heart of the matter, right? Sam, thanks so much for joining me on The Dealer Playbook. Thank you, Michael. Hey, thanks for listening to The Dealer Playbook podcast. If you enjoyed tuning in, please subscribe, share, and hit that like button. You can also join us and the DPB community on social media. Check back next week for a new Dealer Playbook episode. Thanks so much for joining.

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Michael Cirillo

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