Beyond The First Pencil
Kathi Kruse and Mike theCarGuy Correra
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About This Podcast
Beyond The First Pencil is where dealership operations meet financial reality.
Hosted by Kathi Kruse, of Kruse Control and Automotive CFO-To-Go™, this podcast is for dealers, OEMs, GMs, and controllers who want more than surface-level advice. You’ll get straight talk on financial statements, internal controls, cash flow, and the operational gaps that quietly erode profit.
From gross to net, from process to profit, each episode delivers real-world insights on how dealerships actually make money… and where they lose it.
Because selling cars is one thing. Keeping the profit is another.
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Recent Episodes
S4E8 Is Social Media Still Worth It for Car Dealers?
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Social media isn’t dead—but it’s definitely not what it used to be. In this episode, we dig into the shifting landscape of social platforms and what it means for…
S4E7 Ego: The Hidden Expense Killing Dealership Culture
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈In this episode, we dig into one of the most overlooked threats to dealership performance: ego-driven leadership. From plummeting morale to costly turnover and…
S4E6 Desktop is Not Dead (and other marketing musings)
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Dealership marketers, buckle up—things are shifting again. A new study reveals that desktop usage is making a surprising comeback, throwing a wrench in…
S4E5 Likes Are Not Leads for Car Dealerships
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Many dealerships pour time and money into chasing likes, comments, and shares — but what happens when all that engagement doesn't move a single unit? In this…
S4E4 You Can’t Spell Tariffs Without FFS
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Let’s talk about the scary stuff—aka uncertainty. If you’ve been in the car business for more than a minute, you’ve seen your share of storms. We’ve weathered…
S4E3 Maximizing ROI in a Tightening Marketing Budget Era
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Marketing budgets are getting tighter, but the pressure to bring in leads hasn’t let up. In this episode, we break down how dealerships can stretch their…
S4E2 The High Cost of Brand Betrayal
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈What happens when beloved brands make moves that contradict their core identity? In this episode, we dive into Southwest Airlines’ quiet removal of its “First Bag…
S4E1 Does Great Customer Experience = More Car Deals?
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈We are back from hiatus and Mike’s got a new job!Kathi shares a story to introduce today’s topic around customer experience.Mike tells us how one simple…
S3E33 New Study Reveals Car Dealers’ SEO Blind Spot: Google Business Profiles
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈This week, we circle back to a subject that is near and dear to us: Google My Business, aka Google Business Profiles. These profiles are super helpful in local…
S3E32 Is Social Media Still a Smart Investment of Your Time?
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Instagram's recent decision to remove the ability to search by #hashtags marks the end of an era for social media users. In this episode, we reflect on the impact…
S3E31 Car Buyers Stick with the Brands They Love
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈How does a manufacturer create and sustain a vehicle brand that customers love? Kathi and Mike discuss manufacturer brands and re-branding (ie: Jaguar + more) and…
S3E30 Hey, Have You Heard About Video?
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Kathi and Mike are happy that more dealers are talking about the power of video, even if it’s nearly 15 years after we began urging dealers to welcome it.Mike’s…
S3E29 Social Media: Whose Feed Is It Anyway?
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Kathi returns from a great Used Car Week conference and shares a few tidbits.Then, we spend most of our time discussing this trend of companies forcing their…
S3E28 This Had to Be Said About Automotive Influencers
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Kathi and Mike take a detour from our regular topics to call out hate. Neither of us can stand what we witnessed at Madison Square Garden over the weekend and we…
S3E27 Prabhakar Raghavan Killed Google Search As We Know It
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Both of us are sad. The open web is no longer and while it’s not just his doing, Google’s Head of Search, Prabhakar Raghavan was certainly the catalyst to its…
S3E26 AI Mods, Restomods and The Beverly Hillbillies
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Kathi and Mike discuss the latest issues with Threads’ AI moderation, which has gone “CRACKERS” and rings the same bell as the experience Kathi continues to have…
S3E25 Building a Customer-First Culture in Car Dealerships
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈What did we do before social media to build a customer-centric culture? How did we get potential buyers to know about how unique the dealership was...and why…
S3E24 Facebook Ads Support Black Hole: Where Help Goes to Die
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈We promised you an update in the ongoing Facebook ads issues that Kathi (and others) are having and while it’s utterly disappointing, you won’t be disappointed in…
S3E23 How Car Dealers Are Failing Customers
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Not only are some dealers failing customers but they are failing themselves. The things we are witnessing now - the behaviors and lack of oversight - can only…
S3E22 The Approaching Wildfire of Car Loan Delinquencies
👉Sign up for Kathi’s newsletter here👈Kathi shares her experience fresh from evacuating the horse rescue after the Airport Fire got too close for comfort.Then, we talk about the concerning data around…
Frequently Asked Questions
Beyond The First Pencil has published 131 episodes since September 2021, covering topics in Automotive, Business.
Beyond The First Pencil is currently dormant with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 45m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Beyond The First Pencil, including email and social media links.
