Steve Loya has been with Griffith Ford of San Marcos for 7 years. Throughout that time, he has climbed the ranks.
At one point, the store did 200 units. But by mid 2023, the store was averaging 130 units per month. It had lost some of its momentum and Steve was trying to get it back! But he wasn’t exactly sure how…
120 days later, under the leadership of General Manager Steve Loya, Griffith Ford of San Marcos stands as a shining example of how fundamentals, when executed correctly, has propelled a dealership to reach new sales objectives and take market share!
What Happened (In Under Two Minutes):
Steve had heard of Fountain Forward through a 20-group meeting. He reached out to Fountain Forward to see how to get his store to consistently average 165 units.
To grow sales volume by 25%+, Steve needed a plan.
He wasn’t sure if it was the market, if the store had enough traffic, or if the store had the correct units in inventory. Steve wanted to know – it was time to take a look under the hood.
In our discovery call, Fountain Forward found the dealership had some great fundamentals to start with. Steve had built one hell of a sales team, which closed on opportunities at a high rate.
Improving Lead Make Up
The dealership was dependent on 3rd party providers generating opportunities, and too few of those opportunities were coming from the website. This was the first area of focus.
In September of 2023, Griffith Ford hired Fountain Forward to implement a new Media Mix with their marketing – and immediately we went to work and launched our proven Automotive Accelerator system with them.
Moving away from their previous agency and spending less on traditional advertising efforts like TV and Radio, Griffith Ford implemented an aggressive omni-channel strategy focused on driving more lead volume through their website.
Maximizing Opportunities
Steve Loya and Griffith Ford doubled down on the sales team’s efficiency.
As inventory levels have returned to pre-pandemic levels in recent months across the industry, interest rates have also increased – putting new pressure on their sales team. Their sales team could no longer be the “order takers” that they had grown accustomed to being during the COVID market.
Sales teams need to be at the top of their game in order to maximize the opportunities a dealership has.
Griffith Ford immediately took advantage of the sales training insights offered through Fountain Forward University, included in the Automotive Accelerator.
Every month, through the Fountain Forward University, their store is mystery shopped, and they are evaluated on their lead handling efficiency with different lead types. The first few mystery shops didn’t score very high. So what did Steve do? He used this data as a training tool!
Steve used the mystery shops with the entire sales team to point out what went well, and where to improve.
As a testament to the training, the sales team has become more and more efficient over the last 120 days.
The Results
- Throughout the first 120 days with Fountain Forward, New Sales increased by 55%, reaching a 24 month high in November 2023.
- The Closing Percentage on website leads increased by 70.25%.
- Their lead-to-appointment percentage increased from 26% to 34%.
- Their appointment sold rate increased from 31% to 56%.
