Congratulations to Allen Turner Chevrolet, our July Partner of the Month!
We sat down with Matthew Kellar, Business Development Manager, to learn more about how Allen Turner Chevrolet continues to stay ahead of the competition.
Give us a quick intro. Tell us about Allen Turner Chevrolet, your career in automotive, and what you do now at your dealership.
I’ve been with Allen Turner Chevrolet since September. Before this role, I worked as an Internet Director at several dealerships. I have 11 to 12 years of experience in business development management and internet directing. Since joining Allen Turner, we’ve added Video for Sales and AutoBio. Before I started, video engagement wasn’t a part of our strategy. I totally understand the importance of video so I had my sales team integrate video into our CRM to enhance customer engagement. This solution worked initially but needed better tracking and integration with our website tools. Signing up with Video for Sales was an easy decision, and we’ve been very happy with it. Embracing video content has been essential, especially in today’s digital age where instant gratification is key. Providing customers with immediate video responses about the vehicles they are interested in helps bridge the gap to mental ownership.
What were you doing or using before starting with TradePending’s Video for Sales (formerly Snapcell)?
We used the mobile app where they would record a video and send it via SMS with the CRM app. But everything you can do with Video for Sales is heads and tails above just recording the video on your cell phone. The editing capability and tracking, being able to see when your customer watches it, is huge. The tracking ability is something you can’t get just from SMS. It’s been a big help, and we’re still in the beginning stages. It took a little bit to get the integration with our CRM up to date, but everything appears to be working now.
Going forward, it’s going be a big plus for us. Right now, just my BDC is using it. Once we get more comfortable, we’ll eventually have our sales team use it as well. I’ve been recording once or twice a week. I’ll go out and record 10-15 videos of our used cars to build a bank of our inventory. That way, when the sales team starts using it, they won’t have any excuses because they’ll already have the video of the product. They just have to make themselves an intro and then put it with the video of the product to send out to customers.
How did you get your team on board with sending videos?
I asked them, how do we separate ourselves if everyone’s doing the same thing?
It’s about building that VIP experience by sending personalized videos. We stage vehicles for our customers, but we need more to stand out from competitors. If we’re all using the same email templates, voicemails, and text messages, why come to Allen Turner Chevrolet? We have to do something different to make ourselves stand out.
How do you measure success with sending videos?
Making sure they are being watched. We try to keep the videos at 45 seconds and no longer than a minute. It has to be compelling enough for them to watch it and go over the highlights.
Could you share more about your success with TradePending products outside of video?
A majority of our internet business comes from our Payments leads, which is a crucial part of our business. Most customers in our area aren’t ready to go through the entire online car buying process, but having this platform allows them to do more research, play with some numbers, and get an idea of what to expect before they come in, preventing them from being blindsided.
This has been a significant factor for us. The majority of our internet business or leads come through Payments, where customers can structure a deal and have a better understanding of what they’re looking at before they walk in the door. For example, last month, we had 315 Payments leads.
Can you share more about your experience with AutoBio?
Our customers enjoy having all that information on the vehicle. It provides a reference point and includes both the video and the AutoBio, offering a lot of information. I’ve been wanting to add more details, especially for our used cars. We spend a significant amount on reconditioning and reflecting that in the AutoBio shows our commitment to quality. For example, showing that we’ve put $2,000 into fixing up a car demonstrates our seriousness and ensures customers understand the pricing. This level of transparency in the AutoBio will be big for us, especially given the number of used cars we have.
Congratulations again to Allen Turner Chevrolet and Matthew Kellar!