Colin Liss Shares Leadership Lessons from the NADA Academy

Affordability, employee expectations, and operational discipline are reshaping dealership management in today’s automotive market. On this episode of Inside Automotive, Colin Liss, General Manager of Green Mazda Lincoln and recent NADA Academy graduate, shares how his dealership is adapting to changing consumer behavior while maintaining stability and performance.

Liss discusses how rising vehicle prices and higher monthly payments are forcing dealers to focus on value-driven selling, product fitment, and customer retention instead of relying heavily on incentives. He also explores how leadership strategies are evolving as dealerships navigate employee retention, work-life balance expectations, and changing workplace dynamics.

Key discussion points include:

•  Affordability challenges and payment-sensitive consumers 
•  Managing negative equity and financing complexity 
•  Leadership lessons from the NADA Academy 
•  Employee retention, staffing flexibility, and workplace culture 
•  The role of urgency and consistency in dealership operations 
•  Using authentic social media engagement to strengthen customer relationships 
•  Why process discipline remains critical during market uncertainty 

Liss explains why dealerships that stay focused on fundamentals, leadership consistency, and customer alignment are better positioned to navigate ongoing market pressure.

Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick is powered by CBT News, your go-to source for the latest news, trends, and insights in retail automotive. Subscribe for more interviews with top industry leaders, dealership innovators, and experts shaping the future of automotive.

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Transcript

Welcome And Market Headwinds

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.

NADA Academy Leadership Lessons

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:11

Hey everyone, Jim Fitzpatrick. Welcome into Inside Automotive right here at cbtnews.com. The pressure is mounting from affordability challenges to changing customer expectations expectations, and dealers are having to rethink how they operate in real time. Joining us now is Colin Liss, general manager of Green Mazda Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, and uh a recent graduate of the NADA Academy, I might add. We'll talk to him about that. He's here to share areas that he's focusing on right now to help drive performance through these headwinds that we're seeing right now. And uh so thank you so much, Colin, for taking the time out of your schedule to join us on the show.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Hey, thanks for having me.

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:49

Sure. So um, as I mentioned, you did graduate from NADA Academy. How was that?

SPEAKER_03 0:55

Uh it definitely an experience of a lifetime. Uh super fortunate to have ownership that sponsored me to go through that program. Just obviously the tuition, the expenses, and more, more on top of that is really just the time away from the store. You're yeah, every six weeks, you're there for a full week, and that continues for a full year. So, you know, if if your wife's not on board and uh your ownership is not on board, that's probably not something you're gonna get to do.

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:20

That's right. But it but you know, for the for the owners of the dealership, that uh it it's got a tremendous amount of dividends and and uh they'll they'll get so much from you because you got so much from the course and from the from the uh you know from NADA on that. And uh so it's it's got tremendous payout over time, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:39

I think you're absolutely right. It gets lonely, you know. I think anytime you're uh you have expectations upon you uh to be a good leader, um, I think that sometimes uh just having somebody to talk to that might be in a similar position as you that's not the person that's necessarily holding you accountable, right? A different uh angle, a different side of things.

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:59

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

It means a lot. That means a lot to have those connections and those relationships.

Affordability Through Value And Fit

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:03

Yeah, no question. So there's uh there's only so much that we can control, as you know, in today's crazy market. Right now, I know that you're really focused on affordability, your people and urgency. Let's start with affordability. How is that changing the way your team approaches the sales process today? I know a lot of customers are coming in saying, you know, with payments at 800 bucks a copy and uh sale prices over$50,000. What are you guys doing to combat that?

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Well, I think the first thing that we all do when there's a new month is we rush to the incentive schedule. I mean, I think that's the first thing we do is we we we talk about, oh man, you know, but before it's about what can I do, what can my team do, those self-accountabilities and those changes that aren't always easy, we we run to the incentive schedule. But um the fact is, is that you know, sometimes that's not something that's gonna help you, you know, and and there's limitations on your on your OEMs in terms of what they're gonna be able to do to help too from that regard. But I think with affordability right now, the most important thing is value building. I know that might sound cheesy and it might sound old school, but we always seem to kind of go back to those same column or pillars, right?

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:18

Uh of the business, which are kind of the block and tackle, if you will, of the sales process.

Trade Reality After Peak Pricing

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Yes, absolutely. And I think uh fitment is key. You know, I think sometimes we we just we want to sell someone a certain car, but that might not be the car that they need. And I think with the right finesse, we can put them in the best option that's still gonna do what they need to do. Yeah, um, we're looking at trim levels again, and I know this is really product oriented, but we're we're looking at trim levels again. You know, that's something that when when it's feast, everybody wants all the stuff. Oh, yeah, right. And when it's famine, then all of a sudden, you know, the customer comes in and it's hey, well, you know, look, Bluetooth and power windows, and I'm I'm happy. So um I think really having the product knowledge to to to to to to send the customer in the right direction so that you're not overselling and then and then running into huge payment increase concerns. I think that's that's right.

SPEAKER_01 4:17

That's right. Yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:17

Are we now past the concern that customers the customers had when they bought cars in let's say 2020, 2021, maybe even 2022, um, and they've trade, now they go to trade them in, and it's like, wow, you paid sticker plus in many cases for this car, and now you're going to trade it in in a different market. Are we beyond that now, or are you still dealing with some of that having to explain to customers that, well, when you bought it, it was X, and now you're trading the car in. It's not it's not bringing that top dollar. Um, because we're four years, five years out, even six years out now of COVID, or or are you still seeing that?

SPEAKER_03 4:55

So I I think, at least in in my market, which the next thing without going down a rabbit hole too far here, yeah. I think a lot of the guys that I have good relationships with in my academy class, that's super market subjective, right? Yeah. Because some markets, people struggle to capture maybe 50% finance penetration, right? There's a lot of cash deals. Those markets, probably not a big deal. No, if you're in a finance market, our market, we're at about 85% finance.

SPEAKER_01 5:22

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

Our score 85 to 88% finance penetration. So, you know, we're still seeing a little of that trickle in because even if maybe they've gone through a trade cycle once because it's been five years, yeah. Obviously, they're carrying that over into that trade.

Jim Fitzpatrick 5:38

I think about that. Right.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

It's it's kind of a multi-cycle deal where, you know, to get the last deal done, you know, you still had to be in the right LTV position. But, you know, now you're in another deal where they were, they were really kind of, you know, they were they were high on the high side. So it's something that we got to work out together. The good news is I think every OEM is starting to become rate sensitive. They're incentivizing rates, and that's that's helping with payments and things like that too.

Jim Fitzpatrick 6:05

Yeah, we're starting to see, you know, uh 0% for 60 months, which is refreshing to see that once again out there. Not all OEMs are uh offering subventive programs like that, but when you know customer customers or I should say prospective buyers see that, uh whether it be in social media or on their TVs or what have you, then it puts them in the market to go, okay, well now I'm feeling a little bit better about things if I can get 0% for 60 months. And I even saw 0% for 72 months here on a truck recently. But uh so I think that maybe the consumer um sentiment out there is to say, okay, the things aren't that bad. I it's time to go buy a car, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:41

I would agree, 100%.

Staffing Up And Keeping Great People

Jim Fitzpatrick 6:42

Yeah, yeah. Everything matters from your perspective. Um, what are some of those small details that dealers can't afford to miss in this environment right now?

SPEAKER_03 6:52

You know, so I think for for me, uh people and urgency, those are those are just two things that are my personal focuses right now. Um we all have a tendency to talk about how, well, you know, people just don't want to work the way that they used to, yeah, and and and things like that. And what I would say to that is people want to work now more than ever. They just might not want to work for you. And if you find yourself in a situation, exactly that's right. If you find yourself in a situation saying that, you know, people just don't want to work anymore. People don't want to, well, number one, we have smarter people than we've ever had because of all of the Google AI answers and resources, right?

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:34

Yeah, good point.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Your people are not anymore just only relying on you for every questions answer for every training or teachable moment. They have this thing at their fingertips that's the smartest it's ever been.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

I know that can be dangerous, but a lot of the baseline informations that can be consuming as managers that we're trying to provide to our staff, it kind of helps get a lot of that out of the way. Let's get into the complicated stuff, right? So um I think number one is is that I think our people, I think ensuring that you're offering a value proposition to your employee right now, people want to feel like they get a good deal. And and in fact, I told my sales manager this recently. He's he's been a manager for two years. Okay, so we still talk about some things, and now we're kind of coming out of a we're coming into a window of time where it's not anything like it was really the last year, year and a half ago. Right. And so I told him, I said, you've got to, we our goal is we've got to make sure that at the end of the day, if we feel like somebody's kind of taking advantage a little bit, but as long as it's just a little bit, it's okay. Because if the employee feels like they're getting a good deal out of us, if they feel like they're getting a good deal, then they're gonna stay.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

If they feel like they're not, they're gonna look to find somewhere where they feel like they're getting the better end of the bargain out of you. So, you know, that's right now I think that's it. And it's little things. How do we structure better quality of life, offer more time off? A lot of the things that I'm sure that you've heard quite a bit from our industry.

Jim Fitzpatrick 9:05

Yes, yeah. And it's funny because you know, that's sometimes that's generational. You know, they we talk about Generation Z and of course millennials, and they want to work for a company that does appreciate them, but at the same time appreciates the fact that they do have a family at home and they need to, you know, hit little league games and things of that nature and spend more quality time with their family, and that does mean a lot to them. However, you know, you might have a baby boomer that's running the dealership or or a Generation X that that says, hey, hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. That's not the way you know we we you know that that I was brought up in the business. You know, it was key to key every single day, you know. If you're selling a bunch of cars, you don't leave. And if you're not selling a bunch of cars, you don't leave, which I never understood. You're always at the dealership for one reason or another. So there does have to be a kind of a mind shift in that for sure, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:50

You're absolutely right. And I think, you know, I've deduced it all kind of down to like number one, staff up, right? This old mantra that was all jammed down all of our throats back in the day about how, well, you know, you if if you divide your unit output divided by your staff, you know, it's you gotta be averaging 10 cars a man or something like that, or 12 cars a main. Right. Like, sure, that's the ultimate goal. But like in the beginning, right now, when we're kind of transcending into this pivotal environment, yeah, like it doesn't hurt you that bad. Staff up maybe a couple people heavy, right? Yeah, make the investment, train the people, spend the extra time, because now you you're not so worried about coverage, you're not so worried about, well, like I can't give them the time off to go to the little league game because who's gonna be here? We need coverage, we need coverage. Yeah, add a few people, show them the love. It thins out the requirements you have on your per employee, and everybody can uh can do the things that they want to do.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:46

Yeah, you've made the comment that your people are actually your customers, or at least that's the way that you look at them, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:53

I think more so than your actual customers, and I'm after this, I'm probably gonna get a lot of people telling me I'm ludicrous for saying that, but but yeah, it's uh it's so true because what type of customer experience does your customer get right if your first customer, right, is having a bad one? It it just makes no sense.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

They've at least got to be neutral about coming to work today. I mean, I you know what, no matter who you are, everybody doesn't wake up every day uh and say, like, oh, white radio, I'm just so happy. I'm ready, I'm ready to go to work, right? And uh but but they've at least got to have a feeling of like, oh yeah, I gotta go to work. We'll see what the day brings. I mean, there's got they have to be open if they're in that negative space, no chance.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:36

No shot. You want to, in fact, you want to send them home. If you can detect that from somebody, because then they come in and they spread that among the others, you're like, you know what, you're better off taking the day off, getting your head screwed on straight than trying to come in and sell a car, because that just kind of contaminates the rest of the team, right?

SPEAKER_03 11:51

And again, you know, if if if your attitude is nobody wants to work anymore, I'll remind you, it's just they don't want to work for you.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Right.

Social Media That Doesn’t Feel Spammy

SPEAKER_03 11:59

If that's your fear in staffing up, well, we try to staff up. You just can't find good people anymore. Well, like you gotta staff up because to your effect, yeah. How do you tell the guy in a nice way, man? I know you gotta show him some empathy. I know you got a lot going on right now. This isn't a punishment. Just take the day off, get your affairs in order, man, and we'll see you tomorrow. How do you do that if you can't? You're backed into a corner because you don't have enough people.

Jim Fitzpatrick 12:23

Yeah, yeah, no question about it. We're always running in lack rather than abundance in that area for sure. Let me ask you, do you uh do do your salespeople, are they now in as many uh salespeople are in social media? Are they using social media to drive more to connect with customers and prospects in that market? Um, how do you how do you feel about that? And are are are they currently doing that at your store?

SPEAKER_03 12:45

They they are. Now, that's something I would say that we're a little bit, we're a little bit conservative on. Um and the reason why is because I think the first thing that we do as managers, again, is we shout, well, you know, you need to be posting on Facebook. Post, post, post, post, post, right? You're not garnering the attention of your following if you're not posting at least X amount of times a day, right? You know, X amount of times a week. And we talk about that, but rarely is there a conversation of the quality of the posts or the posting. Right, you know, and and I and I think you know, that's something we laugh about together because we know that we encourage them to do it, do it, do it. And then they get out there and do it, and then we're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick 13:29

You're like, what was he thinking on that deal, right?

SPEAKER_03 13:32

And and and again, it's like it's people first. The the the the people first mentality is what's going to garner quality in everything that they do. If we don't sit down and take the time, if you don't have managers that are posting, how often are we talking about that? Every manager wants to tell their people that they're supposed to post.

Jim Fitzpatrick 13:53

I agree.

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Do do they post? Right, right. So you're you're too good to do it now.

Jim Fitzpatrick 13:58

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

But you're sending your fleet out there to go do it, and it doesn't make any you gotta show them you can do it. And if I as a manager think, you know, it's a little bit much to post four times a day, then why do you want your guys to go post four times a day?

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

So I think that there's that's a sensitive knob. But I I would say if you're asking your people to do something that you don't want to do, forget about it.

A Personalized Video That Gets Replies

Jim Fitzpatrick 14:19

I I agree, I agree with you. And I don't know why we don't see more managers out there. The managers that do do it, though, that I follow, do a pretty good job of it. And I feel comfortable, you know, if I were a consumer in that market, I'd feel comfortable going in and actually asking for the manager as well, you know, to say, well, this guy manages or this young lady manages the dealership, and I you get to know them if you're following them. You know, the other thing is that the more fun and entertaining you can make these posts, the better off it is, right? Rather than standing by a car and going, you can get this one for$4.99 a month, you can get this one for$599 a month, the more entertaining and fun you can make the ex look, make the experience look at the dealership, the better off you're gonna be, I think, with the prospects, right? That are that are tuning in.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

You're you're right. Uh, quick example would be the other day, uh, we've got a relatively newer internet guy, right? He's been at it for about a year, and I was trying to encourage him to send more video and and do more posting, right? So uh we we walked up to everybody's got the keeper system that beeps and you know holds your keys and everything like that.

Jim Fitzpatrick 15:19

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

And I told him, I said, watch this. It'll take you 10 seconds. We wrote the customer's name on a post-it note, right? We stuck it to the keys in the keeper system, and he came behind me and videotaped me. And I went up to the keeper board and I opened it up and I said, I was pretending that I was looking for the keys, and I said, Oh, wait, why does this say Jennifer Smith on the on the keys? And you can hear him from behind the camera say, Well, because that's for my customer, and I'm like, we don't hold cars, you know, and that was it. And so he took that little clip and he sent it to his internet lead that was non-responsive. Now, does it work all the time?

Jim Fitzpatrick 15:55

No, but of course not. Nothing works 100% of the time.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Because her name was it was a personalized video. Yeah, she knew there was no way that video was made for anybody but her.

Leasing Limits And Rising EV Curiosity

Jim Fitzpatrick 16:05

That's right. That's right. Clever idea, by the way. I think you just gave a great idea to many people that are watching right now to do that exact exact thing. Uh that's funny. Um, in terms of um the customers that are coming, are you by the way, are you guys doing much in the way of leasing?

SPEAKER_03 16:22

We're we're not a big leasing market in general. So, you know, our dealer group here has several stores. Yeah, um, even our Toyota store, which Toyota's tends to lease nicely, you know.

Jim Fitzpatrick 16:33

Oh, yeah, yeah, good residuals, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Yeah, nobody here is doing in excess of 10% of their total rate.

Jim Fitzpatrick 16:41

Really? 10%. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

We're 90% retail installment.

Jim Fitzpatrick 16:45

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

So wow, yeah. Okay, which I I I like leasing. I'm not a naysayer about leasing, but you know, we live in a in a more rural market. Okay. People make mutes for several reasons. Mileages are a concern, you know.

Jim Fitzpatrick 17:00

Okay. Um, how about on the E on the EV side, due to the high price of gas today, are you seeing an increase in interest from consumers coming in, going, hey, tell me about an EV, because four bucks a gallon isn't going to get it. And we don't know how long that's gonna last. Could be, you know, next week it ends, it could be, you know, six months from now. Who knows? But are is there has been an increase in in EVs?

SPEAKER_03 17:20

It's funny that you say that because last night, right before close, uh, there was nobody on the showroom. Everybody was tied up doing something, and I was kind of standing on the showroom, and a lady walked right in the front door, and she said, Hey, you know, I'm here to look at one of those PHEV plug-in Mazda CX90s. Um, and you know, she said, I have an appointment next week to go look at a Tesla. I'm not gonna be making any kind of buying decisions right now. Okay, I just want to look at the car. Um, and she's currently in a Durango.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

So um, you know, I think you're absolutely right. I think that we're gonna see, again, uh an influx of people that are willing to sacrifice a little bit of space for economy right now. I think we're also gonna see some people that were no way on the EV, no way on the P uh EV. They're they're they're gonna start begging for a little mercy, I think, especially if gas prices start touching that four to five dollars a gallon like they are now. I know in some of the metro areas they're six, seven dollars.

Jim Fitzpatrick 18:19

Yeah, I know. Incredible, incredible. Yeah, California's getting murdered for sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Crazy.

Staying Calm When Pressure Builds

Jim Fitzpatrick 18:24

Yeah, for sure. What uh with all that's going on right now, Colin, anything keeps you up at night that that uh out of the norm that you think, okay, the industry's got to be keeping stay focused on this because this could this might be an issue.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

Well, Jim, melatonin doesn't work anymore. My body rejects it. So um I think you know it's that's uh that is symptomatic of of of this in many businesses that are economically driven, I think. Um but you know, I think the main factor right now uh is is such a big broad statement, but it's just like Colin, what are you gonna do? Yeah, and I always seem to put myself in crisis mode way before anything's actually in crisis mode. Maybe that's why I've kept my job for 18 years. Um you know, but I I think that that sometimes uh we're a little oversensitive to things, but largely I'm just reminding myself like, hey, there's ebbs and flows. Yeah, you know, it was Christmas for four years. Yeah, um, you know, and I think that we need to remind ourselves sometimes to take a deep breath. Sure. And we radiate that back to our people again. If your managers are in a bad mood, if they're in a sense of panic, how are you gonna expect your people to have a steady totally agree and do the right thing? And you've got to have strength and leadership, or everything else is up for grabs.

Jim Fitzpatrick 19:50

That's right. Couldn't couldn't agree more. You got the great, great attitude. Control the things you can control and don't worry about all the other crap that you you hear out there in the media, you know?

unknown 19:59

Sure.

Final Takeaways And Thanks

Jim Fitzpatrick 19:59

So it's incredible. So Colin List, general manager of Green Mazda Lincoln. Thanks so much, man, for stopping by CBT News. Very much appreciate it. It's always great uh catching up with you. So thanks so much. Best of luck to you, and uh hopefully you have a great uh selling season ahead there in the summer. So thanks again.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

Hey, uh me too. And real quick before we hop off here, just want to say thanks to you guys up there at CBT News. Um, I think we all get your emails and everything like that, you know, and it's it's just a good, good program for our industry. Um, so just a quick thank you because there's not anybody in our industry that's doing what you guys do consistently in providing the awareness that you guys do. So I appreciate all of that.

Jim Fitzpatrick 20:35

Well, we appreciate those very kind words. It means more than you know. All righty, sir. Thanks. All right.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Thanks for watching Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.