Imagine you’re a Mitsubishi dealer averaging 33 new units per month. You are CERTAIN you can double your sales and you know the market is primed for it.
Then, a breakthrough. You implement a new plan to change your marketing mix and 90 days in, your dealership has now taken over as the NUMBER ONE Mitsubishi dealer in Houston, Texas (previously 3rd) after increasing new sales by 54.5%. The dealership’s new marketing mix decreased the cost per car by 51%, saving $547.22 per car sold.
That’s exactly what happened to the team at Bayside Mitsubishi after they partnered with Fountain Forward to guide their automotive marketing strategy.
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED
Alex Sinno, dealer principal at Bayside Mitsubishi and his team have taken over as the NUMBER ONE Mitsubishi dealer in Houston, Texas for consecutive months. But how?
Fountain Forward performed a market and dealership analysis for Bayside Mitsubishi as part of their free strategy call. As soon as we looked at the market data and talked with the dealer, we knew this could be special.
We analyzed the cost to advertise in that market AND the advertising channels available.
We found that the current marketing mix at Bayside Mitsubishi was disconnected and had room for improvement. The dealership’s marketing mix was heavily focused on traditional media and 3rd party vendors that were not generating the kind of opportunity and ROI a dealership like Bayside needed to maximize units and gross.
Fountain Forward analyzed the cost to advertise in that market AND the advertising channels available and we realized the dealership was a great candidate for the Fountain Forward Automotive Edge.
At the start of our partnership, the dealership was spending too much money on certain marketing channels that were unprofitable for them, or brought in too low of an ROI to make sense..
Upon digging in and earning Alex Sinno’s trust, we drastically reduced their budget. Our team at Fountain Forward advised the dealership to reallocate some of the marketing and advertising dollars being spent on radio to a different marketing mix and save the rest of the money.
At the start of the year prior to working with Fountain Forward, Bayside’s average monthly marketing budget was $58,222. After putting the Automotive Edge in place, Bayside saw a strong increase in sales while their average monthly marketing budget fell to $45,086 per month.
Bayside’s new marketing mix created a significant increase in the dealership’s digital presence.
Our proprietary Automotive Edge increased the number of CORE Leads through a dealership’s website. Bayside’s new marketing mix generated a significant increase of traffic back to their website.
What are CORE Leads and why do they matter?
Fountain Forward’s analytics team has analyzed hundreds of dealership’s data from across the country. While every dealership is unique, we have found a common trend, with data to prove it. CORE Leads are objectively of higher quality compared to 3rd party lead providers. How so?
- CORE Leads close 37.5% faster than 3rd party lead providers.
- The average gross is 47.5% higher per car.
- The closing percentage for CORE leads is 2-4x times higher than leading 3rd party vendors.
- More likely to become a repeat customer.
Fountain Forward measured the impact of the changes at the website level as one of the benefits of the Analytics Edge, a bolt on analytics team to the dealership (think Moneyball). The increased traffic was converting into CORE leads at an extremely high rate. Bayside was able to increase their CORE lead percentage from 21% to 31% and now has a consistent, high quality lead mix.
The dealership has been able to consistently execute an aggressive pricing and merchandising strategy and the team is now reaping the benefits of their hard work.
Additionally, Fountain Forward measured and consulted the dealership’s key lead handling metrics to hold the sales team accountable and improve in key areas. As website traffic increased and converted into opportunity, the sales team did a phenomenal job capitalizing. Bayside Mitsubishi’s sales staff has been committed to improving and their hard work has made a noticeable improvement.
- The dealership’s appointment schedule rate increased by 8.00%.
- The appointment show rate increased by 13.27%.
- The appointment closing percentage increased by 26.61%.
After implementing Fountain Forward’s Automotive Edge at Bayside Mitsubishi, the dealership increased the amount of vehicles sold through their website by 106%, worth $200,156.71 in added gross!
Absolutely amazing work done by Alex Sinno and the entire team at Bayside Mitsubishi as they continue to climb the ladder.
Collaborating with dealers like Bayside Mitsubishi and watching them grow is exactly why we started Fountain Forward back in 2011.
These results are similar to other dealerships we have worked with around the country.
If you’re curious to see if we can help grow your dealership in a similar way, click the button below! At the very minimum, we’ll conduct a market analysis and conduct an audit of your dealership’s performance and marketing mix.
It’s proved to be an excellent decision for Bayside Mitsubishi!
