Dustin Collins
Dustin Collins is VP of operations at Bill Kay Auto Group, which spans five rooftops across Illinois. And in March, he made a big bet: bring social media in-house to create real, authentic touchpoints with shoppers.
Think personalized appointment videos. Service walkarounds. Thank-you clips from managers after a sale.
Here’s how they brought it to life: Collins hired a salaried two-man crew to produce 35 videos per rooftop, per visit.
But the rollout wasn’t exactly smooth.
“When we first started this back in March, everybody was scared to get on [camera],” Collins told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D’Arc and Uli De'Martino.
So he led by example, arguing that if “the old guy” (aka The Carfather on social) could do it, the team could too. And it worked.
Even the group’s 78-year-old team member got hooked after his granddaughter spotted him on TikTok.
“Now, every time I see him, he stalks me down to try to get on camera. It’s pretty funny,” Collins said.
He added that that kind of momentum gave the initiative a lift. But he knew energy alone wouldn’t make it stick.
That’s why he brought in Russell Richardson from RussFlipsWhips to run training and add structure to the strategy.
“We brought him in, he trained for us, and it kind of energized the staff. Everybody knows who Russ is, so they got excited about it,” Collins said.
From there: The next challenge was consistency.
“Nothing’s worse than you pay for training and then it doesn't go anywhere,” Collins added. He called it one of the worst habits in the car business—finding something that works, then scrapping it.
Not something he wanted to happen here.
Which is why, to keep it moving, they nailed down the structure.
Now: A dedicated social media manager (someone to oversee the operations) decides who has permission to post, what content can go up, and which approvals need to be in place.
So far, Collins’ is not tying the strategy to a direct sales spike yet. That said, he did confirm that appointment show rates are up.
He said he’s not surprised by the shift, especially with the team going all-in on personalized videos, complete with the buyer’s name on a reserved tag. It feels like it was made just for them, because it was.
Zooming out: Collins sees his team’s social strategy the same way he sees leadership—as a way to meet people where they are. Whether it’s a customer or a team member, it’s about understanding what they need and showing up accordingly.
The more ways they can do that, the better.
“You have to have drive, and that's what I try to do with people around me. You have to be the head coach or the quarterback. It starts with that,” he explained.
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