From $4 an Hour to Industry Innovator: How Terry Doyle Transformed Fixed Ops with MyKaarma

In the late 1980s, Terry Doyle walked into a New York City dealership eager to start a career in automotive. He applied for a service advisor role but was turned down due to a lack of experience. Still determined to achieve his goal, he asked, “Do you have anything else I can do to gain experience?”

His tenacity earned him a $4-an-hour job as an assistant. “I didn’t even know what the job was,” Terry recalls. “I just said, ‘I’ll take it. I’ll show you what I can do and earn the job I’m looking for.’”

Even then, Terry was consumed with a relentless drive to improve processes. Assigned to follow up with customers about their service visits, he didn’t stop there—he analyzed trends in the feedback and presented actionable insights to his manager. “I felt like I had a purpose,” he reflects. “Hearing the voice of the customer was the best start in the business ever, and what I learned then still holds true today—communication is key.”

That early lesson became the foundation of his career, shaping his leadership style and fueling his passion for innovation.

Cracking the Communication Code

As Terry’s career progressed—from service advisor to service manager and into regional fixed ops director leadership roles—he repeatedly encountered one pervasive challenge: communication gaps between customers and dealerships. “Customers drop off their car, and then they can’t reach someone when they need an update,” Terry explains. “Communication issues have been around since the late 1980s. No one cracked the code until Ujj Nath with myKaarma.”

Terry first experienced myKaarma at Holman Automotive, where he saw its impact improving both customer interactions and internal processes. For Terry, the platform’s standout feature was its ability to streamline and document communication with transparency and accountability.

myKaarma’s Key Communication Features, according to Terry:

1. Time-Stamped Messaging: “If it didn’t happen in myKaarma, it didn’t happen at all,” Terry says. The platform logs every message, ensuring there’s a clear record of communication between the dealership and the customer. This eliminates the “he said, she said” scenario that often arises in a dispute .
2. Cell Phone Integration Without Compromising Privacy: myKaarma allows service advisors to take calls on their cell phones without revealing personal numbers. “This was huge for advisors who didn’t want their personal phones tied to work,” Terry notes. It ensures advisors can remain connected to customers, even when away from their desks.
3. Delegation and Backup Support: myKaarma’s ability to reassign communication to another advisor ensures no messages fall through the cracks when someone is out of the office. “There’s still nothing out there that does this like myKaarma,” Terry emphasizes.
4. Manager Visibility: For managers like Terry, myKaarma provides unparalleled visibility into customer interactions. “When a customer would say, ‘I tried and tried, but no one called me back,’ I could immediately verify if an advisor actually left a message,” he explains. “It made accountability a given.”

These capabilities not only solved long-standing communication problems but also fostered trust with customers and strengthened internal workflows. “myKaarma didn’t just improve communication—it set a new standard,” Terry says.

Reimagining Fixed Ops: A Paperless Future

While at Holman Automotive, Terry took his passion for innovation a step further. Inspired by the seamless customer experience of an Apple Store, he spearheaded a project to transform the dealership into a fully digital operation, eliminating paperwork entirely.

“I wanted everything paperless—seamless and efficient,” Terry explains. But achieving his vision required more than technology; it demanded collaboration and policy change. To enable a digital warranty process, Terry worked directly with Audi, drafting policy updates to accommodate digital workflows. “Covid accelerated everything,” he notes. “Suddenly, everyone wanted a touch-free experience, and we were ready to deliver.”

myKaarma played a pivotal role in this transformation. The platform supported digital workflows, time-stamped approvals, and audit-proof documentation, making it easier to transition to a paperless environment. “When the manufacturer audited us, they said it was the cleanest process they’d ever seen,” Terry says. “That’s the difference myKaarma made—it made the entire process authentic and seamless.”

Reflections on Leadership and Innovation

Today, Terry is back in a dealership role at Asbury Automotive, bringing the lessons he’s learned over his 34-year career to one of the nation’s largest dealership groups. While Asbury does not currently use myKaarma, Terry continues to advocate for solutions that enhance transparency and efficiency. His vision remains the same: a dealership experience that prioritizes trust, communication, and innovation.

Reflecting on his journey, Terry credits his success to listening to customers and embracing new ways to solve old problems. “myKaarma wasn’t just a tool—it was a game-changer,” he says. “It combined the best parts of trust, transparency, and communication in one platform.”

Lessons for Today’s Dealerships

Terry’s story offers key insights for fixed operations leaders looking to enhance their processes:

1. Communication is Key: “Hearing the voice of the customer is everything,” Terry says. Dealerships must prioritize transparent, accountable communication to build trust.
2. Embrace Digital Transformation: From touch-free experiences to paperless operations, the future is digital—and the benefits are undeniable.
3. Trust Technology That Works: For Terry, myKaarma was indispensable. Its ability to solve long-standing communication gaps made it a critical part of his success.

Final Thoughts

Terry Doyle’s journey—from a $4-an-hour assistant to a fixed operations innovator—demonstrates the power of persistence, innovation, and customer focus. Along the way, myKaarma helped him turn concept into reality, setting a new standard for operational excellence in the automotive industry.

The formula, he says, is simple: “Trust, transparency, and communication. That’s how you win with customers—and that’s what myKaarma delivers.”