AutoSuccess December 2014 Success Story

Success Story Mike Porro VP & General Manager Sam Swope Honda World

Sam Swope Honda World

Kentucky’s No. 1 Honda Store Has the Best Year Ever Using an iPad-Driven Sales Process

Sam Swope Honda World, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is successful by any definition. They are the No. 1 Honda store in Kentucky in sales, selling 65% of all new cars in their marketplace — regularly outselling Toyota and Ford. This year, they made six million dollars of net profit.

One of the reasons they are so successful is that they don’t rest on the methods that worked yesterday to sell to today’s consumers. Sam Swope Honda World uses an iPad based selling system, powered by IntellaCar, to connect with the modern consumer. The results have been incredible.

“Individual productivity is way up,” said the dealership’s VP/GM, Mike Porro. “We are having our most profitable year ever and we are doing it with a sales team that is 35 percent smaller.”

Why is such a system making so big of an impact on a dealership that was already successful? To answer that, you have to look at the changing consumer.

Today’s EducaTEd coNsumEr

It’s a given that the Internet changed the face of car sales. With so much information available to the consumer, the salesperson/customer dynamic has changed greatly. As much as the Internet transformed the sales landscape, however, the advent of smartphones might be a bigger factor, and change is coming more and more quickly. In May 2011, 35% of the U.S. population owned a smartphone. Just two years later, that number had jumped up to 56%. Studies have shown that 50% of mobile Web users now use mobile as either their primary or exclusive means of going online.

smarTpHoNEs aNd car salEs

What does that data mean when it comes to automobile sales? It means that salespeople now are facing far more knowledgeable customers.

Since they usually focus on a specific vehicle, frequently customers know more than your salespeople. Also, when your customer is left

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Success Story ä Continued froM tHe Cover

alone, 63% of them will pull out their cell phones and 50% will look at your competitors’ pricing/inventory while sitting in your dealership. This is called “showrooming.”

And this situation is only going to increase.

In 2015, 22% of buyers will be Gen Y, the largest base of potential buyers since the Baby Boomers, and right behind Gen Y are the Millennials. These generations are comfortable with their smartphones — in fact, they’re uncomfortable without them — and they demand a streamlined, transparent and honest sales processes.

So, what’s the answer? How can a dealership turn this problem into an opportunity? One of the most promising new solutions available to dealerships, and the one that Sam Swope Honda World uses to increase their success, is by equipping their sales associates with the same tools their customers are already using. They are using an iPad selling system.

sam sWopE HoNda World’s procEss

With Sam Swope’s process, the customer is never left alone – they are always left with the iPad to keep them engaged and off their phones. Whenever a salesperson

4.1 Hours

27% Decrease

In 2015, 22% of buyers will be Gen Y, the largest base of potential buyers since boomers. Other than when Gen Y’s are asleep -- there seems to be little or no time when they’re not connecting to their mobile devices. *2012 Cisco Connected World Technology Report

has to leave the customer unattended for whatever reason, it provides the customer an opportunity to disengage from the sales process, or worse, go showrooming.

salesperson conducts the initial interview, both to qualify them and to find out their preferences in vehicles.

At Sam Swope Honda World, the sales process has the following steps, each of which utilizes the iPad selling system to streamline the process:

Once the initial steps are completed, the customer then is shown an inventory search of Sam Swope’s vehicles. Using the iPad, the salesperson is able to drill down to specific vehicles that might suit the customer, using the information gathered in the previous step. The iPad also allows for side-by-side comparisons of different vehicles to allow the customer to see for themselves how different choices stack up against each other.

GrEETiNG THE cusTomEr

Getting information about customers into the CRM is vital for follow up and for maintaining relationships. When a customer first comes into Sam Swope Honda World, the salesperson’s first step, after greeting them, is to capture the customer’s information into the CRM via the iPad. Once that’s done, the

22% Increase

3 Hours

sElEcTiNG THE VEHiclE

Because all the specific information about a vehicle is literally available at the salesperson’s fingertips, questions the customer might have about features and specifications can be answered immediately, thereby increasing the customer’s trust in the salesperson’s abilities. The iPad selling system also allows the salesperson to show the buyer e-brochures and vehicle-specific video content, allowing for a professional presentation.

appraisiNG THE TradE Month 1

Month 4 2014

Transaction Time

January

June 2014

close rate increased

Once a vehicle is selected from Sam Swope’s inventory, the customer’s tradein is appraised. In this step of the process, the customer and the manager appraise the vehicle together. The manager is able to use the tablet to explain the offer, showing them the research used to come up with the offer. When a customer sees what goes into a decision, they are more

Sam Swope Honda World likely to accept it, rather than an offer that appears to be pulled out of thin air.

WorKiNG THE dEal Once a vehicle is selected, and the question of their trade-in is answered, the main negotiation begins. Again, surprises are the enemy, and the iPad selling system allows the process to run smoothly. Once the salesperson enters the buyer’s notes and actual selection into the CRM, via the tablet, the manager is again brought over and brings the first pencil. The negotiation goes from there, without making the salesperson check with the old-school “mystery manager” — and leaving the customer alone with their second thoughts — repeatedly. Once the deal is completed, the business manager is brought over to the sales associate’s desk and introduced to the customer.

prE-dEliVEry

The business manager interviews the customer and reviews the important information with them via the iPad. The customer is then introduced to the delivery specialist, whose job is to make sure customers get what they’re expecting when the vehicle pulls up. They utilize the iPad to go over a video explanation of the features and accessories available, and then are shown an F&I introduction video.

While the customer is excited about the vehicle, they ask them to post their experience on social media from the iPad while they are still at the dealership.

moNiTor aNd improVE

The process has one final step for Sam Swope Honda: monitoring the process and seeing where it can be improved.

Again, the iPad is a vital part of this step.

Managers can measure the iPad activity against the results in the CRM to see where the process can be improved. Because of the amount of data that can be captured thanks to the tablet-based system, the facts can be introduced at weekly sales meetings to discuss best practices, and information generated can be the basis of the ongoing training the dealership undertakes to improve performance and give the customer an even better experience.

rEsulTs oF THE TablET-basEd procEss

Keeping customers happy by providing them with the service they expect, or didn’t even know was possible, shows up in the dealership’s sales and marketing numbers.

Using the iPad selling system, Sam Swope

Hope World has seen impressive results: •units per salesperson of Heavy Tablet users | up 64% •close rates | up 22% •Transaction Time | down 25% •used-car profits | up 40% •social media Friends/Followers | up 900% The results, both in sales numbers and customers who are easier to sell to, have made Sam Swope Honda World’s salespeople quick to embrace this method of sales. “We have never seen such a fast change in our people and our processes,” Mike Porro said.

For the rest of this story or to learn more about the strategies used by Sam Swope Honda World, email: successstories@autosuccessonline.com

See video.

F&i

The F&I representative uses a custom menu presentation on the tablet to present products that might be of interest to the customer, based on the information they’ve already provided in the process, completes the paperwork and then facilitates the hand-off back to the delivery specialist.

dEliVEry

Using Honda’s interactive Personalized Selling sheets on the iPad, the Delivery Specialist sets up the vehicle to the customer’s preferences. They also explain all the features/technology and then equip the customer by emailing them a “How To” video library of the key vehicle technologies for later reference.

Success Story

Success Story

Sam Swope Honda World

8% Increase

1527

1656

$1.01 mil

$1.43 mil

2013

2014

2013

2014

“

unit sales

Total gross increase of almost half a million dollars.

Gross profit

Individual productivity is way up. We are having our most profitable year ever and we are doing it with a sales team that is 35% smaller.

“

40% Increase

Mike Porro, VP & General Manager Sam Swope Honda World

In a nutSHell

Kentucky’s No. 1 Honda Store Has the Best Year Ever Using an iPad-Driven Sales Process

• Turn showrooming into a sales opportunity by equipping their sales associates with the same tools their customers are already using.

• Get more leads into the CRM in real time by gathering customer information upon their arrival via iPad. • Minimize surprises by appraising trade-ins with the customer instead of behind the scene so that the customer is never alone with their second thoughts • Use iPads to outline the features and benefits of a vehicle during the pre-delivery process, ensuring every customer receives a consistent delivery process.

• Measure and monitor the iPad selling process by comparing activity against results in the CRM. • Increase sales and marketing numbers by giving them exceptional customer service that they expect, or didn’t even know was possible. å read fuLL Story