December 2011 Success Story

How Huffines Hyundai Increased Sales by 45% YTD and Doubled Service Volume Since 1924, Huffines Motors Company has celebrated the growth of thriving dealerships across eight brands. Most recently, the auto group is rejoicing in the success of Huffines Hyundai, the Plano, Texas dealership that reported an impressive 45 percent boost in new car sales year to date, outpacing Hyundai nationally by 25 percent, and more than doubling their service volume

for the same period over 2010. Roosevelt May, general manager of the Huffines Hyundai Plano store, attributes the growth to the recent shift in their marketing strategy, which helped the business attract, sell, service and retain customers more profitably for less money.

While automobile dealers are continuously seeking ways to grow their customer base

by attracting prospects and making them customers for life, the old ways of traditional mass media advertising, like television and radio, are too costly given the typical results.

Dealers face the expensive challenge of not being able to deliver an affordable message to target buyers without having to reach the entire population, which always includes those

Success Story who are not in the market for a vehicle or too far to visit the dealership for service. “The solution was obvious: to define our local market and identify who were our target customers in the Dallas/Fort Worth area,” says May. First, Huffines Hyundai completed a comprehensive, five-year analysis to determine customer trends; these included sales and service transactions, which were later compared to leading third party and industry data.

Accordingly, Huffines Hyundai could meet their goal of

identifying those customers with a greater tendency to purchase or service their vehicles at their store. In addition, the research also categorized Hyundai drivers who had never visited the Huffines store in Plano, as well as off-brand owners with a historical trend of switching to the brand offered at the store.

With the ideal buyer identified, Huffines could implement a comprehensive targeted marketing strategy using consistent mail and email campaigns customized to meet the individual needs of current customers and prospects.

Current customers receive

communications during the 60-month life cycle of their vehicle, including welcome messaging, maintenance reminders, and other custom variable service messages based on the status of the customer’s vehicle. For example, customers who actively service their vehicles at Huffines receive $24.95 oil change coupons, while those customers who do not regularly service their vehicles at the dealership are sent $19.95 oil change coupons.

“The combined messaging has dramatically saved my service department costs, while enabling to double their service volume

In a Nutshell Huffines Hyundai of Plano increased sales 45% YTD and doubled its service volume by replacing their existing marketing strategy with a targeted digital marketing strategy designed specifically to attract, sell, service and retain more customers for less cost.

• Conduct comprehensive market research to determine their primary marketing area and identify market consumers who hold the greatest tendency to purchase or service with their store.

• Apply a targeted marketing strategy using www.TeamVelocityMarketing.com to implement direct mail and email campaigns that contain custom sales and service messaging that appeal to the needs of a customer’s vehicle.

• Identify and consistently speak to in-market same-brand prospects and off-brand consumers with a historical trend to crossover to the brand they sell.

• Establish a Campaign Offer Site that is integrated with their targeted mail and email campaigns, as well as every sales and service offer being run by the store.

• Display in-store merchandising that aligns with current monthly offers to target visiting customers who did not receive mail or email offers.

Success Story

Promotional Materials

Success Story over the same time last year,” May says.

Budd Blackburn, owner of www.TeamVelocityMarketing. com, the targeted marketing company Huffines Hyundai uses, says active service customers are seven times more likely to purchase a vehicle from the dealership they service with. He adds, “Huffines saw their sales increase 45 percent year to date because they are reaching the right customer and prospects. And because Huffines already does a phenomenal job with customer service, they are likely to turn these prospects into customers for life.”

Healthier trade patterns have also emerged as a result of Huffines’ steady trade-in promotions like their Express Trade Program. Previously Huffines’ top trades were older models ranging from 2000, 2002, and 2003. Today their dominant trade-in models are 2008, 2007 and 2006 providing a much better return on resale.

With extra money to spend from lowered advertising costs, Huffines can invest in results-driven strategies, like

the store’s Campaign Offer Site, which is integrated with mail and email campaigns to maintain consistent messaging.

Currently the site is located at www.huffineshyundaioffers. com, which displays the featured promotions of distributed mail and email campaigns and other available offers. To ensure the site runs seamlessly, it is managed by a dedicated representative at Huffines’ marketing company.

In-store merchandise is an integral piece of the strategy as it reflects Huffines’ current monthly campaign.

The displays are designed to target and inform those customers who visit the dealership without having received any form of communications that announce current offers. The strategy is further upheld by employees who are fully knowledgeable of all offers and campaigns that are in effect at Huffines Hyundai, while their commitment to treating each customer properly ensures they will return to the dealership for future purchase or vehicle servicing.

Huffines surpasses the competition by staying

consistent in the households they target on a monthly basis.

Core models and combined messaging enable the delivery of consistent sales and service messages, and are complemented by a cohesive marketing strategy that includes target direct mail and email communications that are customized to match the service status of a customer’s vehicle. The strategy is reinforced by a professionally managed online offer site that promotes all available offers, as well as in-store messaging to assure customers and prospects stay in the know.

“While I am not spending more money, my results are up,” May says.

“The response is mind blowing with sales up 45 percent year to date and a service department that is busier than ever.”

Express Trade Program