Coming from outside the industry, what should a new Director of Marketing know before day one at a dealership?

[Generic Salesperson]

I have an interview coming up for a Director of Marketing. My background is not dealership marketing specifically, though I do have real floor level sales, management and finance experience.

Looking for the blind spots people like me usually don't see coming:

1. What do fixed ops and service teams most often wish marketing understood better, or stayed out of?
2. For anyone who has used CRM data to mine lease maturities, equity, warranty expiration, or lapsed service customers, what actually worked versus what sounded good on paper and flopped?
3. Multi rooftop marketing, same brand. What's the biggest mistake people make trying to run that as one campaign instead of one per store?
4. If you were hiring for this role, what would make you trust a marketing candidate without direct dealership marketing experience, versus what would make you pass?

Appreciate any real talk, good or bad.

 

[Alex Snyder]

1. Simply including fixed ops in a marketing conversation is a big first step. Too many dealerships separate sales and service in marketing.
2. Well, using a CRM is the first mistake. CRM data is trash for doing campaigns like equity mining. It is okay if you're generically looking for someone who owns a specific year make model. You need the DMS data to get the specifics of how the car was purchased to compare to current market values.
3. Each rooftop has different management and that creates a different culture. They also have different cars. If you're not clear to the customer which store this ad is for, they show up at the other store and the experience can turn sour fast.
4. Your personality.