As an entrepreneur working under his brand, “Mike theCarGuy,” Mike Correra has helped increase dealerships’ online visibility through focused branding and engaging, promoting each store’s culture and uniqueness with specific social media management.

On Tuesday, auto dealer enterprise dealer management system company DealerBuilt announced the hiring of Correra as a client experience specialist. He will serve as a DealerBuilt subject matter expert for best practices and key metrics supporting one complete dealership workflow in areas such as sales, parts, service, and accounting.

“Keep an eye out as the adventures of Mike ‘theCarGuy’ and DealerBuilt Man come to a car dealer near you!” Correra said.

In his new position, Correra studies dealers’ use of the DealerBuilt DMS, offering them tips and techniques that he learned from many years using the system as a dealer to help improve their performance.

In joining DealerBuilt, Correa remembers a review he wrote in 2014 about its DMS when he was GSM at a dealership that converted to its system. Formed in 2008, DealerBuilt brought to market an enterprise DMS to provide automobile dealer and dealer groups a viable alternative to the traditional market offerings.

“One of the things that impressed me then, and still does, is what an awesome team DealerBuilt has,” Correra said in a news release. “The level of caring for their dealer partners and passion for building the best tools for auto dealers is second to none.”

DealerBuilt said it has seen increased demand over the years for its more modern, scalable platform, emphasizing being customer-centric and a dealer advocate for new DMS services. Now, the company said its DealerBuilt DMS known as ceDMS empowers the staff of hundreds of dealers to build processes best for them, using a system centered around their customers.

Correra’s career of more than 30 years in automotive retail started when he worked at a Ford store as a tune-up and drivability tech. After then taking a sales position at another Ford store, he was later promoted to assistant sales manager. He went on to become GSM at various auto groups and single point dealerships.

He helped one of those dealerships almost triple sales in slightly more than two years. That dealership averaged 50 to 65 units per month when he started, but it went on to consistently average more than 150 by the time he left.

DealerBuilt said that he played an important role in more than doubling annual new vehicle sales volume at another dealership, Raceway Ford, from 2013-2015. With growth in sales from 600 to more than 1,300, the dealership saw an increase in profitability and zone market share, according to DealerBuilt.

At other dealerships, Correra has worked as fleet/Internet sales director before his most recent work helping boost dealerships’ online visibility as Mike theCarGuy.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have Mike on board. He is one of the best possible people we could have as a specialist interacting with our clients,” said DealerBuilt/LightYear Dealer Technologies chief executive officer Mike Trasatti.

He continued, “Our mission is to make a difference in the lives of those we are fortunate enough to meet by utilizing our time, talents, and resources. Mike perfectly exemplifies this; it is his passion. Moreover, the fact that he has used our system for years as a dealer himself is rather the icing on the cake, both for DealerBuilt and for our clients.”

Correra added, “When I left the retail car business after 30 years of success, I felt I still have more to offer dealers. Working for DealerBuilt allows me to help more people than I ever could by working at one dealership, or on my own. Over the last year or so I have been in nearly 90 dealerships and have met hundreds of very cool car people. I am so grateful for the opportunity to help and look forward to helping many more increase their efficiency with their DMS, as well as get better at what they do. There is still much to be done and many places to go.”