The More Digital the Buying Journey Gets, the More Human It Needs to Feel

The way customers shop for vehicles may be changing quickly, but an opportunity to create meaningful connections and a memorable experience hasn’t.In this episode of Dealer Tech Tuesdays, Thomas Ieracitano, The Digital Car Guy, joins the conversation to explore what customer engagement looks like when the first interaction may happen online long before a shopper walks into the showroom.Stronger engagement is the goal and a more useful question to ask is: Are we creating conversations that actually help customers move forward?Thomas believes it's essential to ask customers how they want to communicate. Phone, text, email, video. Make it easy for customers to engage with the dealership.The episode also explores why a digital buying journey actually increases the need for authentic human connection. From personalized video to better discovery questions, technology delivers the most value when it helps dealership teams feel more accessible, useful, and human.The real win for leadership is using pipeline visibility as a coaching tool. When you stop just counting activities, you can zero in on what your best people do differently, see what triggers real customer engagement, and scale those winning patterns across the whole store.Throughout the conversation, Thomas and our CEO, John Acosta, explore:-Meeting customers on their preferred channels-Creating conversations instead of interrogations-Using video to build familiarity and trust-Measuring meaningful engagement instead of activity alone-Identifying and replicating successful BDC behaviors-Using data to improve coaching and performance-Making digital interactions feel more personalFor GMs, GSMs, BDC managers, and sales professionals, this episode offers a practical way to think about the relationship among customer preferences, human connection, the dealership process, and performance.Watch the full episode for actionable performance tips to bring into your own playbook, coaching strategy and team culture.Support the show