Tina Tasche, innovation and technology specialist at Van Horn Automotive Group, has been extremely busy, helping the company grow and expand its footprint.
Rundown: Tasche has been involved in Van Horn’s opening of the auto group’s new Kia dealership; the buildout of a new 43,000-square-foot Honda store; and the rebranding of the auto group’s used car store into “Cars for 15K.”
Tasche is also revving up for the company’s 60th anniversary celebration next year.
“A lot of fun things are going on,” Tasche told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Yossi Levi.
Day-to-day: With all those wheels spinning, Tasche still lights up when discussing Van Horn’s day-to-day operations and the company’s sales success.
“Ford, with the employee pricing that they just had, that was really great for us. We actually got a CDP (Customer Data Platform) this year (which) was a huge, brand-new thing to us. And the marketing that we've been able to do with that influx with that campaign was great,” she said.
Van Horn Automotive Group is focusing a lot this year on the theme of “people, process, and technology”—zeroing in on the customer experience and improving facets of the company’s operations like missed calls.
“All that's gonna do is drive what we're talking about here is additional sales and service revenue,” she said.
Weighing the tech: Tasche added that the addition of a CDP has been hugely beneficial to Van Horn.
“Technically, the biggest change with that would just be the cleansing issuing of the data…making sure we have current addresses for customers, current phone numbers, email, current email addresses,” she explained.
The CDP has a better dataset that allows Van Horn Automotive Group to get more granular with its marketing, which is hugely beneficial across the company’s 15 rooftops and meeting its targeted forecast of 1,400 in monthly volume.
Putting AI in perspective: Van Horn uses AI for the more redundant tasks, then have the group’s agents handle the next level tier of creative engagement and opportunities.
“What we've found to be kind of the sweet spot between the entire mixture is just having AI be the leading point, and then humans take over when needed,” said Tasche.
Proof of the process? Van Horn’s BDC—centralized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin—has a 38% set rate and 80% shown rate, driven by extensive agent training and making sure they are setting up solid appointments.
The auto group’s Wisconsin-based CDC takes the majority of the phone ups, chats, and internet leads that work in tandem with the AI as well, explained Tasche.
“We're still extremely focused on everything that we're doing to help BDC, AI, dealership— everybody involved—to collaborate,” she said.
Being prepared: The shifting dynamics of the current market (driven by outside factors like the tariffs) require a much more cohesive and flexible approach to its marketing strategy.
“You never know—day-to-day—you make a campaign Friday, you're ready to play Monday, and something's changed,” she said.
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Sources: 1. Similarweb, Traffic Report (Cars.com, Autotrader, TrueCar, CARFAX Listings (defined as CARFAX Total visits minus Vehicle History Reports traffic), Q1'25, USA. 2. CarGurus analysis of US dealers that changed a vehicle price based on NBDR recommendations compared to vehicles without an NBDR- informed price change from Nov 2023 through Dec 2024.
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