Challenge
In late 2022, Orange Park Mitsubishi was experiencing a downtick in sales volume at the dealership. In order to grow sales, the leadership team – spearheaded by General Manager Lou Tilahun – knew they needed to uplevel their digital customer experience.
Solution
After implementing Upstart’s connected auto retailing platform, Orange Park Mitsubishi is now a top 20 dealership in the country in terms of sales volume and CSI scores and one of the fastest growing Mitsubishi dealerships.
By leveraging both the Online and In-Store Digital Retailing solution, customers can begin their car-buying journey online and pick up where they left off in the dealership, reducing time and manual data entry for both parties involved.
Results
50%
Upstart Auto Retail has cut the total deal time in half, saving customers over an hour
PVR has gone up
$300
per vehicle in back-end gross alone
10%
CSI scores have also improved, and their Mitsubishi Reputation Score has increased by ten percent
Improved the online and in-store buying experience
Tilahun explained that by enabling salespeople with iPads that have customers’ information prefilled, the dealership is able to establish credibility and engagement upfront that is on par with an Apple store experience. Upstart’s In-Store Digital Retail experience allows employees to seamlessly transition car buyers from the online to in-store experience based on where they left off in their journey, including viewing inventory, building deals, e-signature and more.
The Upstart solution is exactly tailored to our industry’s thinking, which is, ‘How do we keep the salesperson from going back and forth and find out where the customer really is in the sales process?’” Tilahun said. As a result, Upstart Auto Retail has cut the total deal time in half at Orange Park Mitsubishi, saving customers over an hour, in the process.
The processes are quicker, the salespeople are spending more time with customers and the customers are happier,” said Tilahun. “I’ve seen a lot of software, and it is the best upgrade experience I’ve had in my many years in the auto industry.”
Faster deal cycles
Additionally, with the Manager Portal, sales managers can interact with their sales representatives via chat to help them structure deals, process paperwork and answer questions, reducing the amount of back-and-forth for both customers and sales employees. In other words, the salesperson never has to leave the customer’s side to move the deal forward, thereby being more transparent and building trust with the customer.
Higher PVR
With features such as giving customers the ability to make a first payment or adding a family plan to the window sticker price, Upstart Auto Retail has added a level of credibility that puts customers at ease with the payment process. In fact, since implementing Upstart Auto Retail, PVR has gone up $300 per vehicle in back-end gross alone.
Improved CSI
As a result, CSI scores have also improved, and their Mitsubishi Reputation Score has increased by ten percent. “There are so many times that I’ve heard, ‘This was the easiest and best experience I’ve ever had at a dealership,” Tilahun said.
Happier employees
Tilahun explains that his sales team has completely bought into the Upstart solution since it has resulted in less manual work for them and more closed deals. “We forget that our salespeople are Millennials now, so they were lightyears ahead when navigating the Upstart tool.”
According to Tilahun, ensuring engagement from start to finish continues to be a main priority of the dealership moving forward, and Upstart Auto Retail is a central component of their digital strategy.
Download the full Orange Park Mitsubishi case study
