July 2011 Success Story

Fast Start, Staying Strong Nissan of Chantilly builds dealership in tough market; sales up 40 percent and 3,500 more ROs written over same period last year Since opening its doors in early 2008 Virginia’s newest Nissan dealership, Nissan of Chantilly, has been paving the way with innovative strategies for growth and success. Most recently the dealership implemented a new targeted marketing strategy that has boosted sales 40 percent and increased service revenue by over half a million dollars for the same period last year

by using an integrated marketing program that combines sales and service messaging to positively promote and affect all its profit centers, new, used, finance, service and parts, for less cost.

time during one of the toughest periods for the automotive industry, and consistently ranks in the top 5 for the state of Virginia. This article highlights some of their strategies for success.

Like many dealers, Nissan of Chantilly faces ongoing challenges of how to grow its sales and service business in a recovering economy surrounded by tough competitors.

A family owned and operated business, Nissan of Chantilly has taken great strides to build a successful dealership in a short amount of

Nissan of Chantilly set their plan in motion with a comprehensive 5-year historical analysis of their sales and service transactions to determine customer trends. The findings were then compared to leading third-party and industry data to determine consumer patterns within the local market to help

Success Story identify consumers with the greatest probability of purchasing or servicing a vehicle with their dealership, including off-brands with a pattern of crossing-over to Nissan.

Chantilly’s sales increased 40 percent in 2010, their active customer database doubled in the last calendar year and their customer sales retention is up over 107 percent.

“Our goal is to reach consumers who are most likely to buy or service with us before our competitors do, and then take them off the market before they buy or service elsewhere,” says Kim Danchulis, General Manager of Nissan of Chantilly.

“We also focus a lot of attention on owners driving off-brand vehicles that have a historical trend of crossing over to Nissan,” says Danchulis.

The results are apparent. Nissan of

“With a clear picture of our market, we are able to dedicate more of our marketing dollars where it really counts, and spend less on expensive mass marketing, like radio and television. We’ve found that targeted marketing generates better results and is more cost-effective,” says Danchulis.

Nissan of Chantilly’s service business has also steadily grown, and

last year they wrote over 3500 more ROs than the previous year, generating close to $700,000 in additional revenue. “We improved our service department customer retention by 44 percent over the previous year, and we’re already on track to beat that for this year,” he notes.

“Early on, we offered unbeatable service offers like $1.99 Oil Change Coupons to same-brand owners driving Nissans,” says Danchulis.

“We knew if we could get customers here, they would be customers for life because we pride ourselves on our attention to detail and honest, reliable customer service.”

In a Nutshell Nissan of Chantilly builds dealership in tough market; sales up 40 percent and 3,500 more ROs written over same period last year.

• Nissan of Chantilly conducted in-depth market research that included a 5-year historical analysis of their sales and service transactions, the local area market and emerging industry and market trends to identify their perfect market.

• Nissan of Chantilly works with targeted marketing company, www.TeamVelocityMarketing.com, to target customers who have the highest statistical probability of purchasing or servicing with their dealership.

• Nissan of Chantilly sends quality mail and email campaigns with custom offers and messaging that positively cross-promote all their prot centers.

• Nissan of Chantilly consistently speaks to in-market same-brand prospects, and consumers who drive offbrands with a historical trend of crossing over to Nissan.

• Nissan of Chantilly uses 800 numbers on all their advertising to track and monitor their in-bound calls to ensure leads are handled properly by staff and customers receive quality care and service.

• Nissan of Chantilly successfully attracts, sells, services and retains more customers for less cost while positively promoting all their prot centers, new, used, nance, service and parts.

Success Story

Marketing Materials

Success Story “Nissan of Chantilly does a great job of consistently communicating with their customers which helps keep customers active,” says Budd Blackburn, owner of www.TeamVelocityMarketing.com the marketing company Nissan of Chantilly uses.

banking institutions and lenders to help consumers who may not have Tier-1credit have the chance to buy a new car that’s affordable,” Danchulis says. “This program has been very successful and customers really appreciate the extra effort we take to help them buy a car.”

“They send Thank You and Welcome messaging to recent purchasers, regular maintenance reminders to customers for the first 24 months of ownership, and then once a customer’s vehicle is in an equity position they send combination messaging that includes a sales message, as well as a service message that fits the service status of the customer’s vehicle,” explains Blackburn.

“We are very mindful of our image. Whether it’s our New Start Program, or a BuyBack Program offering above fair market value for trades, we keep the look and feel of our advertising consistent. We want customers to think of us as their Nissan dealer,” says Danchulis.

“By combining our sales and service campaigns with custom messaging, we are able to reach more customers with the right message; bringing a greater return on investment for both sales and service,” said Danchulis. “I like knowing we’re not over-couponing our customers and we can customize coupon pricing which really helps us entice the not-so-frequent service customer back into the shop,” explained Danchulis.

Nissan of Chantilly promotes unique ad campaigns like the New Start Program. “We reach out to credit-challenged consumers by offering a special ‘New Start Program’. We work closely with local

“In the early days, we used different vendors for mail, email, and merchandising because we didn’t have one solution, but quickly realized we were confusing the customer and even our own staff because the messaging was not consistent,” explains Danchulis. “Today we make sure that everything we send is clear, consistent, and builds our brand image.

the customers to ensure that inbound calls are handled properly. Industry estimates show that the average dealer invests approximately $150 to generate one lead.

To make sure that their marketing and advertising efforts turn into results, Nissan of Chantilly uses toll-free 800 numbers on all their advertising to monitor and track in-bound calls to make certain that every customer is handled with the attention to detail and honest, reliable customer service that they pride themselves on.

“If we get them through the door we want them to be customers for life,” says Danchulis. “The customer is our lifeline. We can do all the advertising and special promotions to get them here, but if we can’t provide exceptional products and services we won’t keep them.”

Our materials have a cohesive look and feel that helps to build recognition and credibility with our customers.”

Implementing the right strategy has had a significant impact on Nissan of Chantilly’s growth and success. Equally as important as delivering the right message is tracking the response and listening to

New Start Campaign