Four years ago, Jim Hudson Ford’s Internet Manager Chris Dawkins was grinding it out on the showroom floor, selling cars to the Lexington and greater Columbia, SC market. Eager to grow his sales, he had to navigate the struggles that all salespeople face.

The Struggle is Real

Building a book of business is both difficult and rewarding, and comes with many challenges. 

• Shoppers can easily become overwhelmed by phone, email, and text message outreach, which leads them to ignore much of it. 
• Until someone sets foot in the showroom, sales people need new approaches to build personal relationships, increasing trust and transparency in the car buying process. 
• Shoppers typically have to bounce around to numerous websites to complete their initial research. How can a salesperson answer those questions, and keep them engaged with their dealership exclusively?
• Finally, every salesperson also wants referral and repeat business, which works best when there’s a personal connection and a human touch involved. 

Dawkins, open to testing anything that would grow his business, saw opportunity in using video and digital brochures to overcome those challenges.

Working Together

As a sales person, Chris saw the value in standing out and providing a personal touch. He first started using TradePending’s Snapcell video platform to connect with leads and customers, and the results were immediate. His sales jumped 25%, from averaging 15 cars sold per month to over 20. 

If you could grow your monthly sales by 25% with one simple solution, wouldn’t you?

Dawkin’s GM had the same question, wondering what he was doing differently than his peers. Shortly after Dawkins shared his approach, the entire team adopted video.

Fast forward to today and Dawkins runs the internet team. He’s integrated video into numerous touch points, as well as the digital brochures known as AutoBio, overseeing their adoption and usage at the dealership.

More Sales

Rising above the clutter of phone calls, emails and texts, sending personalized videos that include detailed vehicle information gets responses.

“Traditional methods like phone calls and CRM systems often don’t yield responses,” continues Dawkins. “

“Our reports show that sending a personal video along with the digital brochure are achieving open rates of 70% to 80%. Our team effectively preps their customers by informing them they’ll be sending information in a non-invasive manner that respects their time. Every day we get customers telling us they appreciate the videos and getting all of the information up front. This approach is quite unique, as no other dealership around us is doing this.”

“While our CRM does feature a video platform, it simply doesn’t compare to what Snapcell offers.”

More Loyalty

Dawkins has also incorporated video into the post-sale process, using it to build long-term customer relationships. 

“By sending personalized videos for birthdays, anniversaries, or service visits, we acknowledge their loyalty. This leads to more sales as customers appreciate being valued and the personal touch.”

The End Result is Happy Customers

Dawkins concludes, “We’ve essentially shifted from waiting for customers to ask questions, to loading them up with detailed information about the car. 

By sending a personalized video with comprehensive vehicle information upfront, we’re not just answering customer queries, but also creating a more transparent and trustworthy buying experience.”

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