Hospitality offerings, such as snacks and comfortable seating, combined with new technology, have led to a record-breaking three months at the relocated and newly constructed Boulevard Ford of Millsboro in Delaware, owned by Preston Automotive Group.
Specifically, the group is streamlining the sales process by using iPads and a product called AutoFi to make the customer-facing side of the deal easier.
How it works: “Everything’s done on iPads,” JB Burnett, executive general manager of Preston Automotive Group, told Daily Dealer Live hosts Sam D'Arc and Uli de' Martino. “You can do as much or as little from home.”
In the dealership’s showroom, those iPads have replaced traditional computers, Burnett said.
Customers can get their numbers for a possible sale and submit much of the information themselves.
“You can literally do as much as you want at home,” Burnett said. “And then when you get here, I know exactly what you've done. I just pick up the ball and roll…”
The breakdown: In the past three months, the store has increased its PVR from about $1,600 a car to an average of $2,100 per car, Burnett said.
On top of that, his finance managers credit the seamlessness of the process for the quick uptick.
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“It's not really a representation of anything in the technology side,” Burnett explained about the feedback he got. “It's more that the experience has been so seamless, that they don't even want to fight. Their guard is already lower when they walk in the door.”
Why it matters: Dealers are battling it all these days, from affordability issues to threats to the dealer model itself. Not to mention, the shrinking attention spans of anyone with a heartbeat. This means any product that puts a customer in a car faster with the least amount of struggle feels like a hug.
Between the lines: Once a customer gets going on any possible trade-ins and selecting a car, the numbers get prepared for the customer to review on the iPad. Including numbers such as the trade-in value or down payment. The iPad quickly helps the customer toggle between choices, helping eliminate the traditional unneeded back and forth, Burnett explained.
Looking ahead: The new process helps beyond the obvious by freeing up time for the salespeople to not “get bogged down in the fray,” as Burnett put it.
“We’ve eliminated 70% of that labor intensive work,” Burnett said. “Freed up my sales managers to do the important stuff, like more training, and paying more attention to the used cars…”
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