Yates Creech

Carolina Volkswagen

05.2025 - Current

Manage a team of 30+ sales and service BDC representatives and customer care staff.
Lead all BDC strategy, appointment-setting, and retention initiatives across sales and service, significantly boosting lead conversion and customer satisfaction.
Implement cross-trained team structures and appointment-based incentives, driving higher productivity and accountability.
Streamline lead handling workflows in Elead CRM to improve response time, contact ratios, and sales opportunities.
Increase service lane utilization and upsell conversion, maximizing repair order revenue and shop efficiency.
Position Carolina VW as a local leader by leveraging unique differentiators like lifetime warranties, return policies, and transparent pricing to outperform competitors.

Driven By Yates

01.2024 - Current

Operate a boutique consultancy delivering fractional marketing director and operational support for dealerships nationwide.
Audit and optimize inventory strategy, ad spend, CRM usage, and BDC process to increase profitability.
Serve as a one-neck-to-choke partner, handling everything from strategy to execution across multiple rooftops.
Apply psychology-driven sales messaging to increase response and appointment rates.
Produce creative assets including website builds, landing pages, commercials, and digital campaigns without agency bloat.
Deliver the perspective of a 20 Group combined with real dealership execution and speed.

The Carolina Cottages

01.2021 - Current

Founded, scaled, and manage a vacation rental company spanning high-demand coastal and resort markets.
Personally purchased, renovated, and managed 16 properties as part of a personal portfolio before expanding to manage properties for other owners.
Built and supervised a full-time staff covering operations, cleaning, maintenance, and guest services.
Directed end-to-end operations including acquisition, renovations, marketing, pricing strategy, and vendor negotiations.
Drove occupancy and nightly rates above market averages through professional branding, dynamic pricing, and multi-platform listing optimization (Airbnb, VRBO, Guesty, Booking.com).
Transformed the business into a scalable, hospitality-grade enterprise with consistent revenue growth.

Sokal Advertising Agency

01.2011 - 04.2025

Served as the agency’s top-performing strategist, personally responsible for more than 40% of agency revenue through client acquisition, upselling, and retention.
Hired, trained, and coached thousands of salespeople, account managers, and marketing staff over 14 years, building a consistent pipeline of top performers.
Delivered keynote talks and training events for audiences of 500–1,000+, positioning the agency as a thought leader in automotive marketing.
Managed multimillion-dollar ad budgets for major auto groups across the Southeast, overseeing campaigns spanning digital, TV, radio, direct mail, and OTT.
Scripted, directed, and appeared in broadcast commercials and produced creative campaigns that boosted dealership brand recognition and showroom traffic.
Oversaw dealership website builds and redesigns, ensuring OEM compliance while optimizing UI, CTAs, and SEO for lead conversion.
Partnered with dealer principals and GMs to identify operational bottlenecks, delivering solutions in pricing, inventory, and sales process beyond just marketing.

Central Regional Hospital

01.2009 - 01.2011

Provided behavioral and psychological support in a high-risk psychiatric hospital setting.
Delivered crisis intervention, de-escalation, and behavioral modification therapy for patients with severe mental illness and co-occurring conditions.
Collaborated with psychiatrists and nurses to create tailored treatment plans.
Built skills in empathy, influence, and communication under pressure — directly transferrable to leadership, sales, and negotiation.
Developed a people-first approach that continues to shape professional interactions and leadership style.

Summary