Penske Motor Group Case Study
How Penske Motor Group Increased Customer Satisfaction and Sped Up the Sales Process Using LotPocket
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Penske Motor Group (PMG) is a privately held automotive group with locations in California and Texas. PMG’s Toyota, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz stores sell over 33,000 new and used vehicles per year. PMG also operates Longo Toyota, the highest volume Toyota dealership in the world.
PMG turned to Makin Automotive Software’s LotPocket inventory search to empower their sales consultants with a cost-effective way to find vehicles and vehicle information. With LotPocket, PMG’s sales team no longer relies on asking a sales manager, accessing the DMS, or searching countless pages in OEM and third party websites to find information about their cars.
The Challenge
Looking to increase the productivity of their sales teams and offer a better customer experience, PMG began investigating how they could cut time from the sales process and improve profitability.
PMG knew they could address this issue by making it easier for their sales team to find the right car right away. PMG explored several RFID and GPS tracking systems but found them to be cost-prohibitive.
Cost aside, Penske Motor Group found that these systems allow sales consultants to look up a stock number and get the location, but salespeople still must return to the desk to find the stock number for a “RX hybrid with leather” or a “4x4 Tacoma long bed.”
The Solution
Penske Motor Group chose LotPocket as a cost-effective way of giving their salespeople easier access to their inventory. With the LotPocket app, PMG’s sales teams use their smartphones to find cars by model, color, and features right away, then see where those cars are located without ever needing to return to the desk or look up another source.
“Every time a sales consultant has to take a guest back to the desk to find a car,” says Doug Eroh, Executive Vice President of PMG, “it wastes at least fifteen minutes. With LotPocket, our team members can find the guest their perfect car, then give them the features and benefits and other important information right from their mobile device, anywhere, anytime.”
PMG’s salespeople are now able to see the manufacturer incentives, safety ratings, vehicle brochures, and more from the LotPocket app on their phone. Additional information such as Edmunds True Market Value, vAuto market data, and CARFAX reports can also be opened straight from LotPocket to help validate pricing through trusted third parties.
The Results
Eroh points out that “cutting interest costs is crucial in a rising rate environment,” and by showing the oldest cars first when salespeople search, PMG has significantly reduced the average age of their inventory. By selling aging cars earlier, Penske Motor Group has reduced their inventory interest costs and saved money.
By allowing their sales teams to engage with customers anywhere, PMG has reduced the amount of time it takes to buy a car and improved customer satisfaction at each of their stores. PMG’s Longo Toyota has seen the greatest improvement in customer satisfaction with a jump in Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) from 94.8 to 97.1 since implementing LotPocket.
When customers change their mind on the lot, even more time is saved as sales consultants can instantly find cars from their phone instead of wasting time walking back to the showroom. Even at just 15 minutes of time saved per customer, it only takes 32 customers to save a full 8 hours. PMG reports that on a busy Saturday LotPocket can pay for itself in just a few hours.
Learn more about how to save your dealership time and money at LotPocket.com
