Congratulations to our September Partner of the Month, Ocean Honda of Burlingame. As a top Video for Sales dealership, they continue to raise the bar for video in automotive sales.
We had the chance to sit down with the General Manager of Ocean Honda, Joel “Smiles” Castro to learn more about how their dealership uses and approaches video. Joel has been with Ocean Honda since its inception in 2017 and was promoted to General Sales Manager in 2022.
How has it been working with TradePending?
Things have been going great. Our team has been absolute rock stars with using video, with a few people on our sales team really embracing it. We love the TradePending app features; it’s incredibly easy to use, and we love the automatic gif that appears when sending videos to customers.
What were you doing or using before starting with Video for Sales?
We were using Covideo which felt outdated and was no longer meeting our needs.
How has Video for Sales helped?
It’s been incredibly beneficial for me. I really appreciate the integration betweenTradePending and our CRM to completely eliminate duplicate entries of tasks from our sales team. The shared library is also really helpful, which allows our team to find, access, and use videos that other people have already created.
What do you measure to determine if you’re successful with video?
We focus on the watch rate, responses, and appointments set as our primary metrics for video.
How has your experience been working with the TradePending team?
The team is really good at helping out, and the response time when we have questions is really fast.
What strategies do you use to encourage your team to use the Video for Sales product?
When we get a lead, the BDC sends out videos immediately, keeping them short and sweet at 15-30 seconds. After that, they assign them to a sales rep to spend a little more time with the customer, personalize the experience, and showcase the car. I also set daily reminders to ensure that the team consistently sends them out.
What does the future hold?
Looking ahead, I’m incredibly excited. We’re focused on expanding both our sales and our team, with a goal of reaching 200 units sold each month. At this stage, the interactions with our customers have become much more comfortable, and a big part of that is our ability to use video during the sales cycle. It has streamlined many processes and enhanced the overall experience, both for our team and our clients.
Congratulations again to Joel and Ocean Honda of Burlingame!