Consistent, transparent approach from online to the dealership more than doubles PVR
Iselin, NJ, Darwin Automotive today announced that by using an omnichannel strategy to selling through Darwin Automotive’s Digital Retailing platform, Qvale Auto Group is starting to see more vehicle sales with higher SSI and gross. The omnichannel approach ensures a completely seamless and transparent customer experience, tying it together across all channels and touchpoints. Anytime, anyplace the experience is the same regardless of if the customer is in store, on the web, interacting via social media, or using a mobile device.
Qvale Auto Group owns 14 dealerships across the U.S. Brands include Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, Bentley, GMC, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Pagani, Porsche, and Audi. The group spent over two years looking for a digital retailing solution that had the right omnichannel approach. “We saw many that were aesthetically pretty but did not work well from the efficiency standpoint. Then we started to focus in on Darwin’s Digital Retailing platform and have never looked back,” said Geno Walsh, Executive Manager of Retail Operations at the Qvale Auto Group.
“Consumers are saying this is what they want. When we use it in our dealerships, we see a higher SSI, but we are also starting to see higher profits, which is what the dealers like. The omnichannel experience with the salesperson has been fantastic. There’s no back and forth, there’s no confrontation, it’s a straightforward, streamlined process and a lot more efficient. The biggest thing for us is that it makes it transparent, and that’s what we are trying to do here. I think it’s going to be better for the customer, the dealer, and the OEM,” Walsh stated
The group first began using Darwin Automotive’s technology two years ago when it installed Darwin’s F&I Platform at its Texas store, which had lost its finance manager. Before any training, the new employee was able to use Darwin and produced numbers that were among the best in the entire group.
“When I saw the epic numbers for PVR and product penetration with a sophomoric person, I knew that the platform was excellent as people are not that lucky. We then rolled out the F&I platform in every store and saw a noticeable increase within 2-3 months. Our Jaguar Land Rover Steven’s Creek store doubled PVR year-over-year, from an average of $738 to $1442 per copy, and in December jumped even further to $2,390. Also, product penetration grew from 50% to 154%,” Walsh stated.
Upon release of Darwin’s Digital Retailing platform in October of 2018, Qvale started to install it throughout the group. Since then SSI and gross have further increased, and it has seen a 23% increase in positive DealerRater and Google reviews.
Today’s shopper can move between several different channels while interacting with a dealership. Throughout their buying process, a shopper might communicate with a dealer by email, phone, text message, on Facebook messenger, via a mobile app, and, of course, in person. They want their preferences to move with them. When someone communicates with a dealer via email, they expect that a follow-up phone call or that the in-dealership visit will be based on that previous conversation, even though it was on a different medium
“OEMs and dealers have long been searching for a true omnichannel experience. There are many different tools and technologies in the market place that dealers can plug onto their websites which allow customers to value their trade and create different payments. However, when the dealership responds to the lead, and they bring them into the dealership, it’s a completely different disjointed experience from what they had at home. Darwin’s Digital Retailing platform solves that problem. We want the experience the customer has at home to be the same as when they get into the dealership, and we are now able to provide that,” said Walsh.
The process is swift and user-friendly. The shopper goes onto the dealer’s website, selects a vehicle and then clicks on “Create my Deal.” A short series of questions appear including how many miles per year the consumer will be driving, how long they plan to own the vehicle and credit score, and from there they can get a trade-in value or enter a manual trade in value.
Next, the consumer is presented with five sets of options: an out the door price from a cash perspective; two financing options and two leasing options. They can either select to transact using one of the available options or customize it, such as by changing the down payment level
The system then moves the customer onto aftermarket sales. Here they can select options such as maintenance, vehicle service contracts, tire & wheel – any of those value-adds products for the customer. Then, all they have to do is go into the dealership, test drive the vehicle, sign the paperwork, and they can drive away in about 15-30 minutes.
Consistent, transparent approach from online to the dealership more than doubles PVR
Iselin, NJ, Darwin Automotive today announced that by using an omnichannel strategy to selling through Darwin Automotive’s Digital Retailing platform, Qvale Auto Group is starting to see more vehicle sales with higher SSI and gross. The omnichannel approach ensures a completely seamless and transparent customer experience, tying it together across all channels and touchpoints. Anytime, anyplace the experience is the same regardless of if the customer is in store, on the web, interacting via social media, or using a mobile device.
Qvale Auto Group owns 14 dealerships across the U.S. Brands include Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda, Bentley, GMC, Cadillac, Lamborghini, Pagani, Porsche, and Audi. The group spent over two years looking for a digital retailing solution that had the right omnichannel approach. “We saw many that were aesthetically pretty but did not work well from the efficiency standpoint. Then we started to focus in on Darwin’s Digital Retailing platform and have never looked back,” said Geno Walsh, Executive Manager of Retail Operations at the Qvale Auto Group.
“Consumers are saying this is what they want. When we use it in our dealerships, we see a higher SSI, but we are also starting to see higher profits, which is what the dealers like. The omnichannel experience with the salesperson has been fantastic. There’s no back and forth, there’s no confrontation, it’s a straightforward, streamlined process and a lot more efficient. The biggest thing for us is that it makes it transparent, and that’s what we are trying to do here. I think it’s going to be better for the customer, the dealer, and the OEM,” Walsh stated
The beauty of the system is that it is the same online as on a desktop, a mobile device, or in the store itself. “It is currently a training process for the customer, as most are not ready for a full digital retailing experience. The majority do not want to complete the whole deal online, but it is likely what will happen in the future, and we need to be ready for it,” said Walsh. “Should they chose their vehicle and then decide they want to visit the dealership before they select their financing options, the customer can save the vehicle and pick up right where they left off on an in-store iPad. Darwin Online sends the dealer information to the CRM so the customer can continue the process in-store at any point in the transaction. It is the most efficient hassle-free way to buy a vehicle. Just three minutes online saves an hour in the store,” Walsh explained.
Looking to the future, Walsh plans to further improve the process by having select stores adopt a single point of contact approach to selling, where one person handles the entire transaction from sales to F&I to delivery, as a single point of contact. Walsh is piloting a single point of contact at his British Motor Cars store in San Francisco.
“Using Darwin’s Digital Retailing platform and a single point of contact we are making numbers as high as $4,044 per copy and $2,000 of that is product. I have one person who has never sold cars before who is running at $2,100 per copy, and $1,250 of that is product.
These guys put $157,000 worth of product on the books in 90-days, and not one of them was previously an F&I Manager. If they follow the process 100% of the time the outcome is greater than with many of our seasoned F&I Managers,” Walsh stated.
