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Most industries are still complaining about the talent shortage. New Jersey decided to fix it.

In this episode, Laura Perrotta, President of NJ CAR, breaks down a bold, fully funded technician training program that’s flipping the script on workforce development. Backed by state grants and built in partnership with dealerships, the program pays students to learn, trains them inside real service departments, and guarantees job placement—no debt, no guesswork, no fluff. It’s not just workforce development—it’s a full-stack solution to one of the auto industry’s biggest bottlenecks.

We also go deeper into how NJ CAR operates as more than a typical dealer association—running title and registration processing for the state, generating revenue, and reinvesting it into programs like this. The result? A scalable, repeatable model that could reshape how dealers across the country think about hiring, training, and long-term growth.

Timestamped Takeaways

00:00 Why New Jersey’s Reputation Is Completely Misunderstood—and Why It Matters for Dealers

01:22 Inside NJ CAR: The Hidden Infrastructure Powering 500+ Dealerships

03:59 What Truck Dealers Already Solved That Auto Dealers Are Just Facing Now

06:30 The 3-Day Title Processing System That Shouldn’t Work (But Does)

10:58 The Moment Dealers Realized the Technician Shortage Needed a Radical Fix

11:43 How a $665K State Grant Turned an Idea Into a Scalable Workforce Engine

12:50 The 18-Week Program That Replaces Years of Traditional Technical Schooling

13:37 Free Training, Paid Students, $3K in Tools—Why This Model Changes Everything

14:26 “I Thought It Was a Scam”: The Unexpected Talent Entering the Industry

16:07 Why Most States Haven’t Built This Yet—And What They’re Missing

17:56 The Shocking Number: 9,300 Technicians Needed in One State Alone

20:14 Why Hands-On Apprenticeships Are Outperforming Traditional Education

Connect with Laura Perrotta at https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-perrotta-cae-plc-585a6510/

Learn more about NJ CAR at https://www.njcar.org

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Most dealers think they’re losing on price—but the real reason customers walk away is far more human (and far more fixable).

Tom Kondrat, Advanced Analytics Director at Urban Science, joins Auto Collabs to unpack one of the most misunderstood problems in retail automotive: customer defection. Drawing on real-time sales data and post-purchase surveys, Tom reveals a surprising truth—price isn’t the main reason customers leave. Instead, the breakdown happens in something much harder to measure… and much easier to fix: communication.

The conversation dives into how AI has evolved from predictive analytics to hyper-personalized insights, and how dealers can now use sentiment analysis to understand customer behavior at scale. But here’s the twist: the biggest opportunity isn’t in better tech—it’s in better human connection. From the power of simply being remembered by name to the overlooked value of following up after a lost sale, this episode makes one thing clear: data doesn’t replace relationships—it sharpens them.

Timestamped Takeaways

0:00 Price Isn’t the Real Reason Customers Leave

0:28 Communication Breakdowns Are Driving Defection

1:15 AI Shifted From Scale to Personalization

2:09 Too Much Data Can Hurt Better Decisions

3:26 Predictive AI Was Built to Anticipate Behavior

6:25 Modern AI Needs to Focus on Human Moments

8:42 Dealers Default to Price but Miss the Truth

9:38 Slow or Irrelevant Responses Push Customers Away

11:34 Great Communication Is Timely and Precise

17:35 Fast Feedback Loops Improve Sales Performance

21:26 AI Can Turn Customer Feedback Into Action

22:44 Being Remembered by Name Drives Positive Experiences

Connect with Tom Kondrat at https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaskondrat/

Learn more about Urban Science at https://www.urbanscience.com

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Jen Suzuki doesn’t walk into a room, she revs it.

In this episode, she brings her signature “Jenergy” to a direct conversation about what’s really holding dealerships back: comfort. From outdated sales processes to leaders who’ve stepped too far away from the front lines, Jen makes it clear that if you’re not pushing yourself, someone else is already catching up.

This episode also dives into the role of mentorship in a world being reshaped by AI. Jen explains why leaders need to stay hands-on, how tools like GPT are changing customer expectations, and why ignoring them is no longer an option. AI isn’t just another tool. It’s exposing who is willing to adapt and who is not.

Timestamped Takeaways

0:00 Comfort leads to getting replaced

0:33 What “Jenergy” actually means

2:14 Learning the hard way without a mentor

3:04 Why one person believing in you matters

6:02 Where leadership development is falling short

8:02 Why leaders need to stay in the trenches

8:49 The sales process is outdated

9:32 Why templates are hurting your business

11:00 How to use AI in real conversations

12:23 Handling customers who use GPT

14:09 The risks of using AI without guardrails

16:14 Why AI is not going away

18:08 The cost of missed follow-up

20:22 Discipline does not change with the season

23:18 The real test of whether you embrace change

Connect with Jen Suzuki at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifersuzuki/

Learn more about ZusiTalk at https://www.zukitalk.com/

⭐️ Love the podcast? Please leave us a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your LinkedIn or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally!

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🎧 Like and follow our other podcasts:

1. Automotive State of the Union
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