Allen Cadillac

Background

Founded in 1947 and located south of Los Angeles, Allen Cadillac began using Prospector in early 2003. By the end of the year, Allen had passed several competitors to become the number-one Cadillac dealership in California. It was an impressive start, and everyone attributed much of the growth to Prospector. But could the company use Prospector to continue growing sales and profits?

Business Challenge

Before Prospector, Allen Cadillac received plenty of Internet leads but was failing to convert a high number of these leads into sales. “We were really taking poor advantage of our Internet leads”, said Jim Loynes, Sales and Marketing Director. Jim could see that the problem was going to worsen as the number of Internet leads grew. Initially, Jim’s main challenge was to find a systematic way to manage Internet leads and convert a higher percentage into sales. “That’s exactly what Prospector provided,” Loynes said.

Once the company was up and running with Prospector, the challenge changed. Loynes recalls the shift. “In the beginning, our salespeople said Prospector wasn’t needed and would never work. Nine months later, they felt it was the end of the world if our Internet connection went down for an hour.” With everyone on board, Allen Cadillac was ready to move to stage two: refining the process and using the captured data to set and achieve specific goals throughout the sales process.

Impact on Business

Before Prospector, the company had no way to know exactly how many leads were being wasted. The business impact of not having a rigorous lead management process was difficult to measure; but the sales growth that immediately followed the implementation of Prospector suggested that it was huge. Loynes felt there was plenty of money still being left on the table, and improvements to the process would lead to additional sales and increased profits.

Solution

The steps taken by Loynes to optimize Allen Cadillac’s use of Prospector took several different forms. First was the hiring of a specialist to be the initial point of contact with all Internet leads. “When we realized that Internet leads should be treated like gold, we made this commitment to ensure that their first contact with the dealership was strong and consistent,” Loynes said. “Prospector helped identify points in the process where greater discipline was needed. Simply filling out a guest card correctly can make a big difference later in the cycle.”

Most important are the reports that allow the dealership to spot trends that both positively and negatively affect sales. Loynes relies heavily on the 70/70/70 report. The report measures performance against industry benchmarks to help salespeople meet goals and identify above-average and below-average performances. “Using Prospector, we can understand the importance of every step in developing a lead, and then work to improve in those areas. When our salespeople see that boosting appointments has a direct impact on sales, they find ways to set up more appointments.”

Results

The boom Allen Cadillac experienced in 2003 was no fluke. Loynes and his staff’s dedication to continuous improvement paid off with 2005 gross profits nearly 80% higher than 2002: $1.937 million vs. $1.084 million. The average gross profit for the three years using Prospector has been $1.76 million.

Does Loynes have advice for dealers considering Prospector? “Changing the way you work can be tough. A CRM tool means big changes,” Loynes said. “You and your team have to remember that, if you really commit to it, the big rewards come pretty quickly.”

Loynes attributes much of Allen Cadillac’s success with Prospector to the support provided by Cobalt. “Cobalt’s Process Improvement Consultants helped us find solutions that worked for our business, and the technical support we receive is unbelievable,” Loynes said. “The support is so much above anyone else in the industry.”

Key Highlights

Franchises

- Cadillac
- GMC

Cobalt Product

- Prospector

Results

- 79% gross profit growth, 2002 to 2005
- 81% three-year Internet sales growth