Brian Pasch Podcast
TradePending Launches New Products for NADA
TradePending (now Protomiq) added 20-second trade-in videos and Value Watch for NADA 2025. Brice Englert explains how each keeps shoppers engaged.
- Released
- January 14, 2025
- Length
- 35 min
- Guest
- Brice Englert
- In collaboration with
Protomiq
In short
Brice Englert, CEO and founder of Protomiq, joins Brian before NADA 2025 to explain two launches: a 20-second video walk-around request inside the trade tool, and Value Watch, which sends owners their car's market value with service offers. They also cover why shoppers need affordability tools before digital retailing and why OEM programs shouldn't force one path.
- Answer the affordability question first. Brice says "what can I afford" tops his company's consumer surveys; shoppers come to research, not buy a VIN.
- Ask trade-in shoppers for a 20-second video walk-around instead of a long photo appraisal. Brice says multi-step processes lose consumers.
- When a customer sends a video, reply with one. Brian says only one or two people in most stores use video well.
- Send owners their car's market value alongside service offers each month. The ones who raise their hand become a used-car sourcing list.
- Brian and Brice argue that OEM programs requiring one digital retailing path cut off shoppers who aren't ready to transact.
Chapters
- 0:00Two priorities for 2025
- 3:11Affordability before digital retailing
- 8:22Dealer-branded tools vs. national sites
- 9:42Video walk-arounds in the trade tool
- 13:40Answer a video with a video
- 17:31Value Watch and service retention
- 21:17Where used inventory comes from
- 25:02OEMs and one-size-fits-all retail
- 30:49What to see at NADA 2025
The conversation
Shoppers want affordability answers before a digital retailing tool
Brian argues that shoppers need tools to explore affordability before they reach a digital retailing platform: what their car is worth and what that means for a payment. Brice says that was the company's founding idea. When he started it in 2014, trade-in leads ranked around eighth to tenth as a source in customers' CRMs because the experience was poor, especially on phones. In its consumer surveys, the top answer is what can I afford.
His thesis is that shoppers come to a dealer's site to research, not to buy a specific VIN. He cites the old in-store figure that 60% of buyers who came in for one vehicle switched to another, and expects more switching online. Brian's own search, trading a 2020 Corvette toward a midsize SUV, started with one question: what will this do to my payment?
Our thesis has always been, consumers are not necessarily going to your site immediately to purchase a VIN. They're going to your site to perform research.
A 20-second video walk-around, added to the trade tool at no cost
Brian raises the usual dealer objection to online trade tools: the store still can't see the car. Brice's answer for NADA 2025 adds video, from an earlier acquisition, to the trade process for trade and payments customers at no cost. About 70% of shoppers who use payments identify a trade, and they get a text or email asking for a 20-second walk-around, not an appraisal.
Brice says even 10% conversion would put tens of thousands of videos in dealers' hands, and the store can follow up with a shopper who is now engaged. He has tested 30-step photo processes and knows where consumers drop off. Brian says he would never photograph every door and tire on his phone but would gladly film a car he's proud of.
Answer a customer's video with a video
Brian's advice is to reply in kind. Dealers who use video in the CRM tell him only one or two people in a store do it well, and usage fades unless managers keep after it. A short video that mentions the car's color and low miles acknowledges the customer's effort. The shopper has probably entered trade values somewhere else too, he says, but you may be the only store that answers in video.
Brice says consistency is improving as more engagement data is shared with dealers. His model is an electrician who texted a short video introducing himself before an appointment, then another asking for a review afterward. It wasn't polished, but it was built into the workflow, and Brice still remembers it a year and a half later.
One thing that we can definitely say is that when you send a video, you can feel emotion, intent and focus.
Brian Pasch▶ 14:43Value Watch pairs the car's market value with service offers
Brian paid about $74,000 for his Corvette, saw similar cars bring $90,000 to $100,000, then got trade values around $55,000 to $60,000. Seeing the value fall month by month might have prompted him to trade at $75,000. All his local Chevy dealer ever sent was a generic "we want to buy your car" with no number. Value Watch came out of beta two weeks before the recording.
Brice, who ran a fixed ops marketing company before founding the company, compares it to Carvana's value tracker but pairs each month's value with the dealer's service offers. Owners who raise their hand become a used-car sourcing list. He cites NADA data showing 80% of used vehicles retailed in the latest year came from consumers and only 17% from auctions, down from about 34% 20 years ago.
Brian's warning to OEMs: be careful of one-size-fits-all
Brian points to Ford during COVID, when its CEO said everyone would buy online and only certain dealers could sell electric vehicles, as a mindset of knowing exactly what consumers wanted. He contrasts it with Toyota, which lets dealers use whatever tools they need alongside SmartPath and in 2024 had SmartPath support the Automotive Standards Council spec for GA4. He hopes dealers won't be forced to send every payment and trade question through a multi-step digital retailing platform.
Brice says dealers are demanding flexibility and some OEMs are listening. The company's values already feed every major digital retailing tool, naming CarNow, Gubagoo, Roadster and Dealer Inspire's Online Shopper, and are integrated with SmartPath and Shop-Click-Drive. He expects OEMs that require a single experience to learn they're cutting off opportunities for their dealers.
My message to OEM partners, be careful, be careful of this one-size-fits-all.
Brian Pasch▶ 25:02What to set up at NADA: video alerts, tags and ASC events for CDPs
Brice asks existing trade customers to stop by and configure alerts so the right people are notified when a shopper submits a trade video. The team will also review placements on the dealer's site, tags that keep advertisers informed, and data going to the dealer's CDP. Brian, who has worked with the team through the Automotive Standards Council, says the products now report more of each step in the trade and payments flows, so dealers with a CDP can run abandoned trade and abandoned payment journeys.
Mentioned in this episode
- VValue Watch
- TToyota SmartPath
- SShop-Click-Drive
- GGoogle Analytics 4
- PGAutomotive CDP Planning Guide Research
- PGnada Event
- PGDigital Marketing Strategies Conference Event
Questions this episode answers
What did TradePending (now Protomiq) launch for NADA 2025?
A 20-second video walk-around request inside its trade tool, included at no cost for trade and payments customers, and Value Watch, which sends owners their vehicle's monthly market value alongside the dealer's service offers.
How does the trade-in video request work?
When a shopper identifies a trade, they get a text or email asking for a 20-second walk-around video, not an appraisal. Brice says about 70% of shoppers who use payments identify a trade.
What is Value Watch?
A tool that tracks an owner's vehicle value month to month and sends it with the dealer's service specials. Brice compares it to Carvana's value tracker, with service offers added.
Why should dealers reply to a customer's video with a video?
Brian says video conveys emotion, intent and focus, and replying in kind acknowledges the customer's effort. The shopper has likely tried other trade tools, but you may be the only store that answers in video.
Where do dealers get their used cars today?
Brice cites NADA data: in the latest year, 80% of used vehicles retailed came from consumers and only 17% from auctions, down from about 34% from auctions 20 years ago.
Which digital retailing tools use Protomiq's trade values?
Brice says every major one, naming CarNow, Gubagoo, Roadster and Dealer Inspire's Online Shopper. Its trade values are also integrated with Toyota SmartPath and Shop-Click-Drive.
Transcript
Full transcript5,709 words · about 25 min read
Brian Pasch0:10Hi, this is Brian Pasch, and welcome to another exciting podcast interview I have on the show to close out my vision session for 2025. Brice Englert, he's the founder, CEO of TradePending. Longtime friend, Brice, welcome to the show.
Brice Englert0:28Longtime, Brian. It's great to be here. Thanks for everything you continue to do. Thanks for having me on the show.
Brian Pasch0:34Listen, as we open up 2025, just vision casting, you know, for the year ahead, we have NADA coming up. And then, of course, we roll right into a, you know, a very important time of the year, getting the first quarter set up right, retail operations, getting our processes really locked down for what some pundits saying are a very good year in automotive retail. Brice, when you look at the landscape of 2025, what's one message or theme at a very high level your team is working on? And then we'll get into the details.
Brice Englert1:12So I am very excited to hear what the pundits are saying. I think dealerships should be investing forward to make sure their processes are set up to handle what will be more volume, not only purchases, but also in shoppers, right? Competing for that increase in purchase volume more than ever. So I am very, very excited for 2025. And early NADA gets us the opportunity to be able to deliver messages and technology and enhancements sooner than ever for our dealership customers. So thematically, you know, I look at kind of two things, you know, you know, one, you know, our core solutions, you know, are so driven, as you well know, by website traffic and website conversion, creating more opportunities for dealerships.
Brice Englert1:55There's never been a better time to meet a consumer where they are, start a conversation, provide better information than you can get otherwise, you know, to see then your processes. So we can talk about enhancing processes, but really the second theme that I look for is how are we going to be setting up, you know, really better retention systems within the dealership in all retention, you know.
Brian Pasch2:19And, you know, retention has been a neglected topic for many reasons, right? Dealers rely on acquisition, hey, spend more on Google or Facebook, do more direct mail, do an e-blast, you know, get more customers in. But as I think dealers are focusing on their first party data, starting to investigate CDPs, they will be doing more retention thinking because in the past it was just pushed off to a service lifecycle marketing company. And, hey, if they come back, they come back. And if we have time to call them, we'll call them. But I think there's some new tools, especially some of the things you're working on.
Brian Pasch3:03Let's talk about this shopper experience and kind of helping dealers modernize that. Most consumers have a car. When they come to a dealer's website, they are interested in knowing first, I think, what can they afford? They maybe have an idea of what their payment is. So they need to know what their car is worth and how does that translate into a payment. So my mindset is, and a number of dealer principals I work with feel the same thing, is consumers need tools prior to a digital retailing platform to explore affordability. Where do you sit on that? Because you have trade, you have payments, which give consumers a quick and accurate answer to that affordability question.
Brice Englert3:57So this is our kind of founding principle, right? You know, we have to meet consumers, you know, where they are. We have to give them a simple experience to answer the most important questions. When I founded the company, the second question that was on the consumer's mind was, what's their trade? And then we went to our customers, which we didn't have a lot back in 2014. But we went to their CRM and looked at source of trade in leads. Guess where that was? It was number eight, number 10. And it didn't take a rocket to understand, holy cow, like the user experience is awful, especially on phones.
Brice Englert4:36So, you know, for us, we've always tried to meet consumers, you know, where their questions are. And there is no mistake, to your point, in the number one answer for all of our surveys from consumers is, you know, what can I afford? What can I buy? They're shopping for cars. That's why they're on the dealer's website. So that is our payment solution, you know, which pairs with our trade in solution incredibly well. So our thesis has always been, you know, consumers are not necessarily going to your site immediately to purchase a VIN. They're going to your site to perform research, give them something different than they can get at other sites, give them something that is relevant and accurate.
Brice Englert5:13And let's capture their information and their behavior, and let's share that with dealerships, so they can be even more efficient with their ad dollars, as well as more efficient than with their follow-up activities, understanding what a consumer is doing before they ultimately are contacted.
Brian Pasch5:28You know, the story that you just shared is exactly what I'm going through right now. I bought a 2020 Corvette when they first came out. Four years later, the car has 4,000 miles. So I haven't been driving it much. Of course, after the first year, the prices of the Corvettes went up above what I paid, and now they have what I would say a normal depreciation curve. So now I'm saying, look, I need a more practical car because we have two homes here in the U.S. now. So what am I going to get? And the first thing I wanted to know is, how much is my 2020 Corvette with 4,000 miles worth?
Brian Pasch6:13And it was very interesting that I tested a few different trade tools. And, you know, now it was like, wow, there's little differences in range here, and maybe a little less than I thought. And I put myself in this mindset, okay, if that's what I'm going to get, what is that going to do to my payment, right? So I'm kind of looking at, hey, if they're offering somewhere between 55 and 60 for the Corvette, I want to get kind of a midsize SUV, but maybe that SUV is 70K or 74K. What is that going to do to my payment? That's all I care about right now.
Brian Pasch7:00I don't know which midsize SUV I'm going to get. You know, I'm looking at Toyotas, looking at Cadillacs, looking at different vehicles. I'm just looking for some tools to help me, you know, understand what I can get. And that seems to align with what your thesis is, that DR at a VIN level comes much later in the shopping cycle.
Brice Englert7:27I think it should, you know, and the old stat, you know, back in the day when there was not as much online shopping was, you know, 60% of the consumers that came in to buy a specific vehicle switched to another vehicle.
Brian Pasch7:37Right.
Brice Englert7:38And that was in the store. So why would that not happen on your website times 10, you know?
Brian Pasch7:43That's right.
Brice Englert7:44You know, for your experience, though, what really struck me too is you're going to go to multiple sites, but if you do go to Brice's Cadillac, let me provide you with a unique experience, something different than I can get on a B2C site, cars.com, KBB. And let's certainly not remind you that you should be going to KBB or whatever. Like that's one day, I think there's, I'm going to write an article just about, you know, brand promotion and how, you know, dealers shouldn't conflict, you know, their brand promotion. You know, keep, you know, keep things, you know, organic within their own environment, much like they do in their own shop, you know, but that's, that's, that's not necessarily a key value prop.
Brian Pasch8:22But, you know, you know, TradePending has been integrated in so many digital retailing tools. And so, you know, I think the OEMs have something that they have to really reconsider. I get whether it's Toyota with SmartPath or any, you know, Shop-Click-Drive or whatever the OEMs want to build. And I understand that it could very well be important to have the same brand experience on tier one or tier three. I get that. But your really dealer branded trade process, like you said, doesn't promote them to go to a national website where competing ads and dealers are there. You know, it's customizable, it's customizable, you have APIs that can build into a dealer group's own custom retail process or into a DR.
Brian Pasch9:18But I think one thing that maybe dealers are thinking is price, love your tool, it's super high converting. But I still don't see the vehicle, right? You know, I have to trust that the consumer is, you know, presenting the vehicle for what it really is. And that's why I was excited to have you on just before NADA to talk about how a previous acquisition of a video platform has, well, now brought some new feature functionality to the trade process. Can we talk about how you're bringing video into trade?
Brice Englert10:02Absolutely. And this is the first time at NADA that we're taking our thousands of customers on trade and payments and providing them with a major enhancement at no cost. So we are integrating our video solution within trade opportunities. So between trade and payments, payments about 70% of consumers that go through that experience identify a trade. If you identify your vehicle, Brian, I am going to ask you via text, by email, give me a 20-second walk around. I'm not going to ask for an appraisal. Just give me a 20-second walk around. Most consumers can do this. And so literally we're going to have tens of thousands, even if we get 10% conversion, of videos landing in our customer's lap where they can see the car, they can get excited about it, and then they can have an improved follow-up because they have such an engaged consumer now.
Brice Englert10:48What are they going to do? Well, obviously, they should follow up with that consumer in kind.
Brian Pasch10:52Right.
Brice Englert10:53They should feel about how excited they are about, in your case, the Corvette. So, yeah.
Brian Pasch10:58And I love that because, you know, honestly, and this is just emotional attachment to cars, and that's why I was really glad you added video. Because I was saying, look, my car's been in the garage. It's special. It's my little baby. Well, shut it off. Yeah, it has 4,000 miles. It's really been only driven in Florida, good weather conditions. So I want to get the max, you know, value for my vehicle. It's never been in an accident. So if somebody said, look, take 20 seconds and do a quick walk around, you know, show me the interior, I'm going to do it. I don't think I would follow a 30-step trade process on my phone.
Brian Pasch11:50That's just me, like, hey, take a picture of the inside door, the left door, the front dash, the front of the car, the back wheel, the tire depth. I don't think I'm doing that. That seems like too much work. This seems like the perfect compromise for me. I could show, hey, let me see what the dealer will give me based on my video of my shiny red, you know, Corvette.
Brice Englert12:15100%. And, you know, I've always approached everything we've done with conversion in mind, as you well know. And that's, you know, the proof's in the pudding. Go look at your GA4, check out all the stats. But this is meeting where consumers are at today. And, frankly, I think consumers are going to be excited to merchandise their car. I think, actually, you would be one of the best consumers to merchandise a car.
Brian Pasch12:35That's right.
Brice Englert12:36But think about the emotional engagement now that I have to be able to show off why I love the car, you know. And, you know, every consumer wants to sell, you know, their car. And, oh, it's really bad. No. No one says it's in fair condition. They don't even know what that is. But I can think about all the good things that I've just done. Put on new tires like three months ago. Da-da-da-da-da. All these things are going to be pluses for the dealership to get excited and then, of course, get the car into the store and go through a formal and slow appraisal process.
Brice Englert13:05We've tested the 30-step process and things like that and understand very clearly at what stage consumers fall off. This is the best solution today to meet them where they're at. And it's included. We have almost 4,000 trade customers. They get that at NADA. We wanted them to come by our booth. Let us show you how it works so, you know, you're ready to go. We have almost 2,000 payment customers. You know, they get this, you know, as part of their solution. So I'm excited to help dealerships right out of the gates this year. To your point, it's going to be a big year. We're going to bring more information to them.
Brian Pasch13:38Great opportunity. You know, I think the video piece and the recommendation that you made, hey, respond back to them in video. You know, I've talked, you know, I've interviewed folks at Covideo. I've talked to dealers who use video in the CRM. And it's a strange thing. They always say there's one or two people in the dealership that do it well. And if the managers don't keep up with people, people don't use video. And I just want to say one thing to the dealers that are listening. Everyone's looking for a competitive edge. Prior to COVID, if you called a friend on FaceTime, it may have felt a little like, hey, you know, like, why is he doing FaceTime?
Brian Pasch14:29Today, I prefer only to do calls in FaceTime. I want to see the person and I use WhatsApp a lot for my international friends. But everyone's been on Zoom meetings, maybe even Zoom to death. But one thing that we can definitely say is that when you send a video, you can feel emotion, intent and focus. You know, how many times you've been on Zoom calling a dealer principals on their phone the entire time. And, you know, your people are doing the demo and you're like, man, that dude's not paying attention at all. But when you respond to someone who sends you a video with a video, I think you're acknowledging their effort.
Brian Pasch15:13And I think as a consumer, I'd like to see the person I'm talking to's face by saying, hey, Brian, thanks for sending that video over your Corvette. In fact, I love that color combination. That is awesome. And 4,000 miles. Wow. That's a gem of a car. We'd love to get that in on trade. Put that right on our showroom. If that comes back as a video, what type of experience does the consumer have? You know that they probably put in trade values somewhere else. Just let's be clear. But you're the only one who responds in video. I think that could be a significant change of opportunities in 2025.
Brice Englert15:53You know, what you said with the challenges in the dealership and having consistent process, you know, those do exist. Those are improving. You know, as we share more data about the engagement rates and success rates, it is being used more. So dealers have to be seated with, hey, what's working. But here's a cool story. I had an electrician. This is about a year and a half ago. And very much inspired me to go down this whole video path as well. Had an electrician appointment. He had to, you know, put in something on my panel. And I got a text from, I think it's a nationally franchised company.
Brice Englert16:23And it was this gentleman who said, hey, I'm Bob. I'm your electrician. I should be there about 9 o'clock today. And, you know, the job's going to take about two hours. Please text me if you've got any questions. Boom. I was like, great. It's not a stranger walking into my home.
Brian Pasch16:39That's right.
Brice Englert16:40I see Bob. I see Bob's shirt that says whatever. He was addressing me, Brian. It was already personal when he showed up. I'm like, Bob. Come on in. Thanks, Bob. Appreciate all the help. Guess what he did after?
Brian Pasch16:53Sent you a video to ask him for a review, right?
Brice Englert16:56You got any problems whatsoever? Here's a link. Please shoot me a review. Thanks so much. I mean, it was so simple. And it's integrated within their workflow. Bob was not the greatest on camera. It's okay. Consumers don't expect Bob to be, you know, a superstar. But it was a great experience. And I remember it today. And this is how I think that we should respect consumers and with what we're asking them to do, right? You know, take out big loans, you know, sell cars. These are big deals for consumers. You know.
Brian Pasch17:30That's right. You know, Brice, you mentioned 2025, not only meeting the customers where they are, but helping dealers with retention. And, you know, part of the dealership experience is maintain your car to keep the value high. But depreciation on cars really varies. And as I mentioned, I'm just going to use my Corvette story. I paid, I think, $74,000 for my Corvette. At one time, those cars were getting $90,000 to $100,000 because supply and demand. And then when I went and got a trade value that it was somewhere maybe in the $55,000, $60,000 range, I was like, wow, I missed a lot. Now, I wasn't really interested in selling.
Brian Pasch18:21But here's one thing. If I saw that going from $100,000 to $95,000 to $90,000 to $85,000 to $80,000 to $75,000 at that $75,000 mark, I might have said, hey, the trajectory of this car now is starting to dip under, am I using it that much? Is it time for the trade-in? You know, real time, in every market, what the value of cars are. It would seem to me that this data could be used in a lifecycle marketing campaign because the only thing I've gotten from the dealer, the local Chevy dealer is, hey, we want to buy your car. Hey, we want to buy your car, right?
Brian Pasch19:06Not what they're going to pay me. And of course, I wasn't ready to sell my car in year one or year two. Tell me what you're thinking and what your plan to release this year at NADA to help, well, this whole retention and lifecycle marketing process just have a new competitive edge.
Brice Englert19:30So I would tell you that I was most excited about a product launch about four or five years ago with a product called Superlatives.
Brian Pasch19:39Yes, I remember the day that came out.
Brice Englert19:41Late dealer group really inspired us for that. And the same things happen now. You know, we've seen the market move. And I ran a fixed ops marketing company before I started TradePending. I called it Auto Revenue. And we did a lot of email marketing. We did a lot of messaging to the consumer about service specials. And we saw the engagement in those. It's really good. But TradePending today has built a pretty good business focused on all of the transaction kind of conditioning. You know, providing information, seeding opportunity. Then we got into process with video. What do we do in the other 10 years that you're going to own the vehicle?
Brice Englert20:12And how can we help dealerships? In the end, create a relationship through communicating information that's in the end what we do. And so we launched Value Watch. We just came out of beta two weeks ago. And very excited about the product because it does compete with what I believe has been a very successful routine from Carvana.
Brian Pasch20:32Yes.
Brice Englert20:33Their value tracker. It's a great data. And it shows you month over month change. It shows you inflections in the market from supply and demand. All the data that we have. But for our dealer customers, you know, we're unique. And so far as we can marry that with our service offers. And while we're reminding you, Brian, the Corvette's worth this. By the way, here's what we're offering for these seasonal specials, for whatever routine maintenance may need to be, you know, done in your car. And the engagement is very high. For the dealership, they're building a very, very valuable list of consumers to raise their hand, like you could have when you saw the value tick down.
Brian Pasch21:08Yes.
Brice Englert21:10And eventually use Car Manager to look at as the primary source of used vehicle acquisition. And I'll cede this. So used vehicle sales volume has been going down over the last four or five years. 14 million, you know, kind of ticks up and down with supply. But the competition's never been more fierce.
Brian Pasch21:29That's right.
Brice Englert21:30Darcia, they are determined to execute incredibly well. Last year was the highest mark I've ever seen in the NADA data, where 80% of used vehicles retailed came from consumers. And so if we're not investing as dealerships and vendors into how can we help dealerships with that, only 17% came from auctions. 20 years ago, that auction percent was like 34%. That's like, yeah, because it's too competitive. It's too expensive. And I, as a dealer, I've got a service department. That's unique compared to the other virtual retailers. And I have information that I can share with the consumer to be able to keep top of mind. If you don't do it, the other guys are doing it through that ownership lifecycle, which creates, you know, frankly, them being a first consideration when you're ready to raise your hand.
Brice Englert22:17So very excited about Value Watch. The beta stores have been wonderful to work with. And this is one of those things. I love that. Brian, you know us. We love simple. You turn it on. You see benefits. You go. Boom. And that's how we're approaching this.
Brian Pasch22:29Yeah. And maybe dealers haven't been so aware of the acquisition strategy that you've executed in the last few years to adding more products, more diverse solutions. And the fact that you have a turnkey service offering now with the Value Watch in there, I think that's super important for me as I look back on my current journey, right? I think in January, I don't think I'll be able to, you know, may go into February. I don't know. January is a little busy. But, you know, I think I would have maybe acted last year if I saw that the Corvette's trajectory over the last 18 months was so sharp.
Brian Pasch23:20And, of course, some dealers may say, hey, Brian, you know, some of the cars that are coming in for trade are coming from that very high time, you know, where they paid over MSRP and, you know, values have dropped. Honestly, look, this is a byproduct of what the auto industry did. You can't hide from that. But I think if month after month, as you're providing service offers and you're showing the value of the vehicle, I think it takes the sting out a little bit as well to say, hey, this is, you're not saying this is what I'm paying you. It's just, hey, this is the market value.
Brian Pasch24:01And I think it's an important education, Brice.
Brice Englert24:06Eventually, this is, you know, just coming out of beta and the roadmap that we have for the feature set on this product is very robust. And so just like we were, you know, let's talk about engagement at a different level, you know, from your Value Watch, text message or email where Brian can say, you know what, I want to raise my hand. And you know what, I'll go take a 20-second video real quick. So, you know, we have so many opportunities. And I think the most exciting thing about TradePending for 2025 is dealers and partners are going to understand exactly what the acquisition thesis has been over the last three years as we finally pair these solutions together.
Brice Englert24:44We're just trying to make a video over here and values over there and trade and payments and things like that. We're just trying to help dealers, you know, you know, rise to the future challenge of shopping. And we can go back and talk about DRT and, you know, give them a competitive edge, you know, versus the other guys out there that are determined to grow too.
Brian Pasch25:02Yeah, and I think, you know, my message to OEM partners, be careful, be careful of this one-size-fits-all. That's all I'm just saying. I'm not going to rehash past failures. But, you know, during COVID, Ford CEO said, hey, everyone is going to buy online and, hey, you're going to have Mach-E dealers and only, you know, certain dealers can sell electric vehicles. This was a mindset of they knew exactly what consumers wanted. I kind of contrast that to Toyota. As they've been working on SmartPath, they told dealers, look, use whatever tools you need to transact. SmartPath is growing. Now there's SmartPath for service. And in addition to their retail process, recently in 2024, SmartPath decided to support the Automotive Standards Council spec for GA4.
Brian Pasch26:10Now every click, hover, and swipe in SmartPath can be seen in GA4. I want to just say Toyota set the bars, like, hey, dealers, we have a Toyota process, but, you know, feel free to use what other tools you need to help the consumer feel comfortable before they are ready to transact. And that's what I hope, Brice, is that dealers are not forced to say the only way someone can get a payment, the only way someone can get a trade value is if they go through a multi-step DRP, you know, digital retailing platform. What's your thoughts for 2025? Do you think we can get a little bit more flexibility in OEMs and understanding that not everyone's ready to speed date and buy a car?
Brice Englert27:01A hundred percent. And, you know, dealers are demanding it. And some OEMs are listening. But you know how the pendulum just kind of swings a little bit too far before it comes back into the rational middle and things like that. TradePending has long supported DR, not only through our API for values, literally for, you know, every major DR tool, whether it was CarNow or Gubagoo or Roadster or Dealer Inspire Online Shopper, you know, we've been there for the journey. We saw the COVID, you know, pop through all the provision dealers. We've seen the return to kind of, you know, normalize consumer behavior and dealer behavior change.
Brice Englert27:34Now we are seeing, you know, some OEMs getting a stronger hand at kind of demanding, you know, dealers have, you know, a singular experience. What I envision in 2025 is that, you know, they're going to actually then learn, wow, we're really cutting off a lot of opportunities for our franchise dealers. And dealers are going to abandon that. Remember back in the day when dealers used to have two websites?
Brian Pasch27:56Yes.
Brice Englert27:57I don't think we're going to go back there, but I do hope that OEMs look at solutions like we have and say, we are going to share all the data that we have and we are going to meet the consumer where they are. And when they are ready to transact on that VIN specific experience, we can seed the digital retail experience better than any other call to action ever could. Because we've seen the consumer, what they're looking at, how they're shopping, how they're identifying, you know, from a credit perspective, we're going to nail it, you know, and not put a consumer in the situation where they got to bounce in and out and in and out and all that.
Brice Englert28:31So, we look forward to partnering more today. Our trade values are integrated with SmartPath. Our trade values are integrated with Shop-Click-Drive. So, our customers can have confidence that we're showing consistency.
Brian Pasch28:42Right. That's the key.
Brice Englert28:45So, I have a lot of confidence we're going to continue to grow in that regard. And I think that's going to make, it's going to win for OEM dealers, you know, and consumers. And we can operate in the middle of that and share data, be transparent, let advertisers and other advocates, you know, for the industry like you, you know, have confidence in your recommendations with data, not just because we say so.
Brian Pasch29:11Well, listen, I love the fact you're continually iterating and improving the engagement or increasing engagement. I really think Value Watch is going to be a game changer in service marketing. Just for me, like I said, there's my journey. I'm just a consumer. But just to keep the dealership top of mind that my dealership knows how much my car is worth, they're educating me. I think that will give dealers more of a first crack, right, at, you know, having the conversation with their dealer because those emails aren't generic anymore. They're actually personalized. And I think that's another weird thing. You know, how many times you get a service email and you say, this email was sent to 1,000 people.
Brian Pasch29:57But if the email opens up, hey, Brian, just wanted to let you know, we have some current service specials for your 2020 Corvette. By the way, the current market value of that vehicle is X. If this is a time for you to consider trade or whatever, hey, just click this link, send us a video. We'd love to talk to you about that. But in the meantime, if you love your car, here's this month's, you know, service offerings. That's a completely different experience than a generic one-size-fits-all, hey, save $10 on a synthetic, you know, oil change. I don't even think consumers know the difference between synthetic and non-synthetic oil change.
Brian Pasch30:41And so it's like, I guess this was sent to everyone.
Brice Englert30:47100%. Yeah.
Brian Pasch30:49So, Brice, NADA is just a few days away. Why would you encourage a dealer to stop by the TradePending booth? Listen, it's always busy. That's the good thing. But for people who were former customers or never customers and want to see what's going on, tell them why they should be visiting this year at NADA 2025.
Brice Englert31:19I'd love to have a count over the last 10 years how many customers we've had. And I think it probably is approaching 8,000 to 10,000. Some of those customers we've had three, four, or five times. So, yes, everyone at NADA should come by the booth. They should learn what we're doing and how we're doing it. Number one, most customers understand our trade product, but they've got to understand the new features that we're providing them. We can set a few configurations to make sure alerts are going to the right people to get notifications that consumers are submitting videos about their trade. It's going to be great.
Brice Englert31:50And otherwise, just, you know, as always, you know, understanding, you know, how we can, you know, change placements on their site subtly, how we can add tags to make sure their advertisers are aware of what's going on. Let's, let's work, you know, continue to work with their CDPs to make sure that all the data needs to be where it needs to be. And just, you know, come say hi. We've got a cappuccino bar too.
Brian Pasch32:11Man, I love, I love my espresso. I mark the booths at NADA that have espresso machines, the real Italian espresso. That's what gets me through the show. And you mentioned CDPs, and I just wanted to close on one thing. I've been working with the TradePending team as part of the Automotive Standards Council to add some additional depths in each step a consumer takes on your products, both trade and payments. So I'm really excited for them to be able to share even at NADA the expanded support for the Automotive Standards Council so that dealers with CDPs can do abandoned trade journeys, abandoned payment journeys, and really work on elevating the customer experience.
Brian Pasch32:55So, Brice, hey, thanks for your time today. I want to encourage all dealers to visit the TradePending booth. Also visit me at our booth. I'll be releasing my new book on automotive CDPs. It is really a playbook for dealers who are thinking about investing in a CDP, how to plan, how to implement, how to activate their first-party data. But the book will be given out only to people who book an appointment. So go see Brice. Come and see me. And more importantly, get ready for a great 2025. Meet the customer where they are. Exceed their expectations of what a retail experience can look like. And that's through great partnerships like TradePending and the many, many OEMs that they're working with today.
Brian Pasch33:47Brice, thanks for your time.
Brice Englert33:48Thank you, Brian.
Brian Pasch33:49Are you excited for this NADA show?
Brice Englert33:53It's more than ever. I love New Orleans. I love the food. I love the vibe. It's always a good haul. I've never had really more positive messages to share with customers. And I can't wait to see a lot of good friends.
Brian Pasch34:04Right. Well, we'll definitely spend some time. I'm coming by for an espresso. For everyone who's listening, and make sure you listen to all the great interviews I have on my podcast channel, just search for the Brian Pasch Podcast. Until then, I hope to see you at NADA. If not, at a future show, don't forget the Digital Marketing Strategies Conference, end of April in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. That's where the latest in digital marketing strategies will be shared to help you sell more cars in a digital age. Thanks for listening in. I'll catch you next time on another podcast session.
Ask your AI about this episodeOpens your assistant with a summary prompt and a link to this page.
More episodes
All episodes- Apr 14, 2026Road to DMSC
J.D. Power More Than Just Trophies | Driving Dealer Success with Automotive Solutions
J.D. Power is now mostly a data company. How its sales, configuration and repair data can help dealers order smarter, fix cars faster and grow F&I.
Doug Betts
J.D. Power41 min - Nov 7, 2025Road to MRC
BLiNK AI Accelerates Growth in Fixed Operations Revenue
How BLiNK AI turns telematics alerts, inbound service calls and declined work into appointments booked straight into the DMS by voice, text and email.
Dan McAllister
BLiNK AI26 min - Sep 17, 2025Road to MRC
Spyne AI Changes the Rules for Online Merchandising, Conversion Rates, and Communications
Spyne turns lot photos into studio-style merchandising, then adds 24/7 AI agents that answer VDP questions and make recall and follow-up calls.
Sanjay Varnwal
Spyne36 min
Never miss an episode
Follow the Brian Pasch Podcast wherever you listen.
