Dealer Strong

What Dealer Strong does

DealerStrong (legally Used Car University, LLC dba DealerStrong) is a U.S.-based retail automotive training and consulting firm founded in 1998 by Greg Goebel and headquartered at PO Box 39113, Indianapolis, IN. The company provides expert consulting and coaching to auto dealerships across the country in six functional areas: Accounting, Human Resources & Employee Development, Special Finance (subprime), the proprietary Dealership Accountability System (DAS), Business Development Center (BDC), and Marketing & Advertising. The team is composed of approximately ten practitioner-operators, most with 13–20+ years of hands-on dealership experience as former dealers, controllers, F&I managers, and general managers. Underlying 'technology' is experience-based rather than platform-based: the firm works across nine DMS and accounting platforms (Dealertrack, CDK, Autosoft, Auto/Mate, Lightspeed, DealerCenter, Frazer, Motility, QuickBooks) without building its own software.

The business model blends professional services (project-based consulting, on-site and remote coaching, training workshops like 'Training the Trainer' and 'Special Finance SuperCharged') with subscription recurring revenue (Super Group tiered membership from Silver to Diamond, Special Finance Benchmark Reports in Basic/Plus/Premium tiers) and packaged one-time products (Employee Handbook, Employee OnBoard Manual). Go-to-market is sales-led, relying on industry reputation, content marketing via a substantial blog/resource library, conference presence, peer collaboration through 20-group moderation (NCM Associates), and direct referrals from satisfied dealer principals. Pricing is quote-based for consulting; subscription tiers and Super Group minimum qualifications (Diamond requires $2,000,000 combined dealer income or 2,400 retail units prior year) indicate meaningful per-account pricing power. The company has no disclosed external funding, no parent company, no acquisitions in its history, and operates as a privately held, founder/principal-owned firm whose scale is intentionally constrained by its practitioner-operator delivery model.

Name

Dealer Strong

Legal name

Used Car University, LLC

Website

https://dealerstrong.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DealerStrong is a U.S.-based consulting and training firm serving auto dealerships with practitioner-operator expertise in Accounting, HR, Special Finance, BDC, Marketing, and its proprietary Dealership Accountability System, monetizing via project-based consulting, tiered Super Group memberships, and subscription benchmark reports.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Evansville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Coaching Services: Ongoing consulting and coaching services for auto dealerships in areas of Special Finance, Accounting, HR, and BDC. Offered as both on-site and off-site services. Revenue generated through fee-for-service engagements with dealership clients.
2. Special Finance Benchmark Reports Subscription: Subscription-based benchmark reports with three tiers (Basic, Plus, Premium) providing industry data on Special Finance transactions, used car models, finance companies, and benchmarks. Recurring revenue from monthly/quarterly subscription fees.
3. Employment Products: Sale of Employee Handbook and Employee OnBoard Manual products - customized documentation for dealership onboarding and HR purposes. One-time or periodic license sales.
4. Super Group Membership Programs: Tiered membership program (Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond levels) providing benchmarks, consultation calls, Zoom training sessions, monthly composites, and in-person meetings for dealers. Higher tiers include exclusive market access and high-end speaker events.
5. Training Workshops and Classes: Revenue from training workshops such as 'Training the Trainer' and 'Special Finance SuperCharged' classes, offered as virtual or in-person sessions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

DealerStrong is a retail automotive training and consulting firm that provides expert coaching, on-site and off-site consulting, and structured training programs to auto dealerships across the United States. Its offerings span Special Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, the Dealership Accountability System (DAS), Business Development Center (BDC), and Marketing/Advertising, with supporting subscription reports and membership programs. The company sells fee-for-service engagements, recurring benchmark subscriptions, tiered peer-group memberships, and physical employment products (Employee Handbook, OnBoard Manual).

Product overview

DealerStrong is a retail automotive training and consulting company offering a portfolio of services for auto dealerships. The core offerings include consulting and coaching in Accounting, Human Resources, Dealership Accountability System (DAS), Special Finance, BDC, and Marketing. Supporting products include the Employee Handbook and Employee OnBoard Manual as employment products, plus the Special Finance Benchmark Reports as subscription-based data products. The company also offers a tiered Super Group Program membership and conducts workshops such as Training the Trainer. Rather than a unified software platform, DealerStrong operates as a consulting firm providing expertise-based services working with various DMS platforms including Dealertrack, CDK, Autosoft, Auto/Mate, QuickBooks, Lightspeed, DealerCenter, Frazer, and Motility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Accounting Consulting and Training Services Comprehensive accounting services for automotive dealerships including training, research, cleanup, reconciliation, DMS integration support, and short- and long-term gap-filling (interim controller) assistance, delivered to dealer principals, controllers, and office managers.
• Human Resource and Employee Development Services HR services for auto dealerships including policy development, employee retention strategies, recruiting/staffing support, and training programs such as the Training the Trainer workshop, designed for dealership owners, GMs, and HR leads.
• Dealership Accountability System (DAS) A comprehensive business operating system that drives dealership performance through accountability, providing structure including vision alignment, data-driven decision making, process streamlining, accountability charts, measurable commitments, KPIs and scorecards, issue solving, meeting cadence, and ongoing training culture.
• Special Finance Services Specialized consulting and training for automotive dealerships on Special Finance (subprime) operations, including webinar training series, Zoom workshops, phone coaching, on-site consulting, inventory analysis, and benchmark reports, targeted at dealers launching or growing subprime operations.
• Business Development Center (BDC) Services Resources and training for dealership BDC operations focused on phone skills, follow-up processes, and lead conversion to improve showroom traffic, delivered to BDC managers, internet sales teams, and dealer leadership.
• Marketing and Advertising Services Marketing services for dealerships including traffic and lead generation through customized auto credit websites, direct mail campaigns, and geo-fencing mobile advertising, delivered to dealer principals and marketing managers.
• Super Group Program A tiered membership program (Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond) providing dealer benchmarks, consultation calls, Zoom training sessions, monthly composites, and in-person meetings for dealers, with higher tiers including market exclusivity and high-end speaker events.
• Special Finance Benchmark Reports Subscription-based market data reports featuring average Special Finance vehicle transactions, Top 10 Used Car Models, Top 15 Finance Companies, Special Finance Index, and New & Used Benchmarks, available in Basic, Plus, and Premium tiers.
• Training the Trainer Workshop A one-day workshop teaching dealership personnel how to design, create, and execute an ongoing training program, covering why, when, who, how, and what to train, with actionable methods for profit impact and workforce performance.
• Employee Handbook A comprehensive employee handbook that clearly explains workplace policies, ensuring every employee receives the same information about rules and expectations while providing legal protection, sold to auto dealerships for HR and employee onboarding.
• Employee OnBoard Manual A customized onboarding manual for new hires that defines processes and procedures to maximize employee performance and success, quickly teaching store basics, sold to auto dealerships for HR and new-hire onboarding.
• Special Finance SuperCharged Class A training class that breaks down Special Finance topics from a different perspective, explaining the 'whys' of Special Finance and covering the process from initial phone call through to the sale, targeted at dealers and SF teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• Kim Baker grew a dealership from 50 units to 300+ vehicles per month under his leadership
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• NCM Associates: Long-standing operator of 20-group peer benchmarking and dealership performance programs. Greg Goebel currently moderates one of NCM's 20 groups, placing DealerStrong adjacent to NCM's flagship peer-collaboration model — overlapping service, customer, and channel DNA.
• Jim Ziegler / Ziegler Dealer Strategies: Independent auto retail training and consulting practice (sales, F&I, leadership) targeting franchise dealers. Directly competitive to DealerStrong in the dealership coaching/training market with similar high-touch, expertise-led delivery.
• DealerPRO Training Solutions: Specialized F&I, sales, and Special Finance training and certification programs for dealerships. Operates in the same niche as DealerStrong's Special Finance SuperCharged and Training the Trainer offerings, with overlapping buyer personas (dealer principals and F&I managers).
• Glenn Pasch / PCG Digital: Consultancy and training firm focused on dealership marketing, advertising, and lead handling. Competes head-to-head with DealerStrong's marketing/advertising and BDC service lines for the same dealer marketing leadership buyer.

Broad incumbents

• Kerrigan Advisors: Sell-side M&A advisory and consulting to auto dealers and dealer groups, including exit and succession support. Overlaps with DealerStrong's executive-programming content (Diamond tier covers M&A/succession/exit) and peer networking at the dealer-principal level.
• Cox Automotive / Dealertrack: Dominant dealership technology, data, and services conglomerate (Dealertrack, Xtime, Dealer.com, vAuto, Autotrader). Provides the DMS platforms DealerStrong consults against and increasingly bundles training/analytics content that competes with DealerStrong's advisory positioning.
• J.D. Power (formerly Autodata Solutions): Auto industry benchmarking and analytics firm whose syndicated dealership performance indices compete with DealerStrong's Special Finance Benchmark Reports at the data-product layer, even though J.D. Power operates at a much broader category.

Emerging players

• Standard Automotive Group / Hireology-style recruitment partners: Hireology is an automotive-specific hiring/recruiting platform that competes directly with DealerStrong's HR/staffing service line by productizing what DealerStrong delivers as consulting engagements.
• Rooftop / Kenect: BDC and dealer-customer communication software vendors whose embedded training, response templates, and coaching features overlap with DealerStrong's BDC services consulting. Threat vector rather than direct peer, but converging functional category.

Regional players

• Special Finance Insider / F&I Magazine: Trade publication in Special Finance / subprime auto lending; historically connected to DealerStrong's founder. Functions as adjacent media peer — competing for dealer attention and thought leadership rather than consulting dollars, but reflects content-channel overlap.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DealerStrong
• Facebookfacebook.com/dealerstrong
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/used-car-university

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dealer Strong