17-Year-Old Leads, Broken CRMs, and Other Dealer Problems

Fun chat with Phil McTaggart, Director of Internet Marketing at Johnson Auto Plaza in Colorado.Phil has one of the more interesting jobs in automotive right now: helping a successful, old-school dealership figure out how to balance decades of traditional advertising with the realities of digital marketing in 2026.We talk about everything from convincing ownership that paid search is a thing, to cleaning up CRMs with 17-year-old service leads still sitting in them, to why so many dealers ignore their most valuable asset: their customer data.Along the way, we debate high-funnel marketing, why sales teams should know what marketing campaigns are running, whether Amazon really wants to sell cars, and how AI might eventually judge your dealership based on a random Reddit comment from someone you've never met.We also discuss why dealerships overcomplicate things, why "because I listen to that radio station" is a terrible advertising strategy, and how Phil reinvented his career after a serious health diagnosis forced him off the showroom floor.If you're in automotive, you'll probably find yourself nodding along. If you're not, you'll at least learn why car guys can spend 20 minutes arguing about a CRM.Enjoy the conversation.