Data is one of the most valuable assets in your dealership — but do you actually control it?
In this episode of Dealer Driven, we sit down with Joe Akers, NADA 20 Group dealership management consultant and digital marketing strategist with more than 30 years in retail automotive, to unpack one of the most urgent issues facing dealers today: data ownership.
As digital retailing accelerates and vendor relationships multiply, dealerships are generating massive amounts of customer data. But here’s the catch — many dealers are unknowingly oversharing that data, losing control of it, or failing to use it strategically.
Akers breaks down:
- What “owning your data” actually means in practical terms
- Why oversharing with vendors is a hidden risk
- The red flags buried inside vendor agreements
- Why emailing customer lists should be a thing of the past
- How poor data hygiene can quietly drain 30–35% of your marketing budget
- What a true “single source of truth” looks like inside a dealership
We also touch on practical tools and training opportunities available through NADA to help dealers strengthen their marketing analytics and protect their digital assets.
If you’re responsible for revenue, reputation or customer trust, this is required listening. Stop tolerating wasted spend and reactive strategy. Learn how to command your data and put your dealership back in the driver’s seat.
