Imagine you just acquired a new Chevrolet dealership that has significant potential.
As you start observing the daily operation, you can’t help but notice that some things just aren’t right. To name a few, the store is closing early, the sales staff is light, and the inventory mix doesn’t match the market.
The store is in a fantastic location, located just outside one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the United States – Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas.
Fast forward just four months, and that same dealership has TRIPLED its sales.
For Hiley Chevrolet of Rockwall, that was reality in 2025.
What Happened (In Under Two Minutes):
The dealership formerly known as Lakeside Chevrolet was acquired by the Hiley Auto Group in late 2025.
The store had a great fixed operation, and untapped potential on the sales side and they KNEW it.
In September 2025, Ross Dionisi took the reins as General Manager at Hiley Chevrolet of Rockwall.
Ross knew how to build teams and turn stores around. He’s had a successful track record doing this with other stores within the group, which earned him the opportunity at this store.
He didn’t waste any time.
He immediately focused on staffing up, building his team of salespeople from 5 to 13+ people. Since staffing up, training and process improvement have been a focal point.
Aggressive inventory acquisition was key. Within his first week, Ross ordered 260 new vehicles that would arrived at the store in 8 weeks time.
Ross inherited a good amount of inventory from previous ownership. The mix was less than ideal, as the previous owner was selling primarily EVs.
Immediately, Ross got extremely aggressive on pricing. He was ready to turn the volume up.
While Ross focused on the key items at the dealership, he brought in Fountain Forward for consulting, advertising strategy, and our proprietary Automotive Accelerator system.
We dove in and analyzed the competitive landscape. There was a tremendous opportunity to outperform some of the closest competitors, but Ross had his sights set on something different.
Ross didn’t just want to be competitive with local dealerships; he wanted to compete with some of the biggest dealers in the DFW metroplex (which includes some of the biggest Chevrolet dealerships in the country).
After auditing the old store’s strategy, Fountain Forward implemented a new Media Mix Model to leverage high-ROI opportunities that their competitors were underutilizing.
We went all-in on scalable digital—primarily Meta (Facebook/Instagram) and Google—while layering in targeted campaigns like dynamic new-vehicle ads, VLA (vehicle listing ads), and even a high-performing Spanish Silverado campaign to tap the strong Hispanic community and increase opportunities for the bilingual staff.
No saturated, low-return channels. Instead, we bet big on proven, measurable digital to drive in-market traffic and convert demand into showroom opportunities.
The Results Speak for Themselves:
As inventory hit the lot with the pricing and merchandising strategy Ross and the Hiley Chevrolet team implemented, coupled with Fountain Forward’s Automotive Accelerator, lead volume started to skyrocket.
As the staff seasoned and became accustomed to the new culture, appointment volume and sales followed. Within 4 months, Hiley Chevrolet of Rockwall tripled is previous sales average in December.
Fast Forward to Early 2026…
With inventory ramped up, aggressive offers, and continued optimization, the store is positioned for even bigger quarters ahead. December 2025’s push set a strong foundation, and showed what this store is truly capable of.
The Fundamentals Where the Money Is Won and Lost:
Every dealership checks some boxes, but maxing profits requires perfect unison:
- Inventory — Does it match sales goals? Hiley Rockwall aggressively acquired to support 120+ new/80+ used objectives, turning heavy Silverado allocation into volume wins.
- Pricing and Merchandising — Vehicles priced sharply and aggressively to compete and win value shoppers.
- Sales Force — Staffed up meaningfully (13+ salespeople, bilingual team, added managers)—no more low-opportunity days.
- Sales Process — Aggressive, fast contacts, strong lead-to-appointment/show rates, consultative approach.
- Messaging — Clear, pain-point-focused offers (trade bonuses, low payments, model-specific pushes) that resonate in the market.
Ross and the team checked the boxes—and then aligned them ruthlessly. Fountain Forward provided the digital fuel: patient listening to market needs, proprietary modeling for budget allocation, and relentless execution on channels that delivered.
These results mirror patterns we’ve seen across our dealer partners: massive gains when an operator staffs aggressively, fixes fundamentals, and pairs it with smart, data-driven advertising.
If you’re curious whether we can help accelerate your dealership like this—whether you’re stabilizing a new acquisition, chasing market share, or scaling in a competitive metro—just click below.
Cheers.
