03 / RETAIL OPERATIONS · LEADERSHIP
From marketing manager to running the store
I came into automotive retail from software as a dealership marketing manager, was promoted to general manager, then led digital marketing across a multi-rooftop group and co-founded the agency SearchDRVN.
PROCESS × PEOPLE × TECHNOLOGYA / 03
A different
kind of drive.
kind of drive.
DEALERSHIP OPERATIONSCONCEPTUAL ILLUSTRATION
- PROJECT
- Dealership operations
- MY ROLE
- Marketing manager, general manager, director of digital marketing
- DISCIPLINES
- Dealership operations · Digital marketing · Process design · Leadership
The challenge
Dealerships already own more technology than most stores consistently use well. The questions that keep coming back are operational — whether every lead got worked, whether the process was followed, whether the CRM was updated correctly.
The approach
- Brought an agile software-development process and a focus on operational efficiency into a role that had not been run that way.
- Defined what should happen before deciding what to automate, because automation reproduces whatever process it is given.
- Worked alongside a general sales manager whose strength was sales process and team leadership, which covered the side of the store I had not come up through.
- At the group level, took responsibility for digital budgets, the lead handling process, and technology implementations and integrations across rooftops.
What came of it
I was promoted from marketing into the general manager seat, later led digital marketing for a multi-rooftop group, and co-founded SearchDRVN with that group’s dealer principal to do similar work for other dealerships.
A broken process performed manually is frustrating. A broken process performed automatically can scale.