Challenge
Power Kia realized early on that the auto industry was moving towards a digital-first experience. To ensure they were staying current in the shifting landscape, they knew they had to make significant process changes within their stores and online experience to create a digital-first environment.
Solution
By leveraging Upstart Auto Retail’s digital retail platform, Power Kia improved their entire online process and streamlined the in-store experience for customers.
Results
25
minutes customers' avg. time spent on the showroom floor
90
minutes saved per deal
$1,600
more profit per car deal
40%
year-over-year gross profit increase
Streamline the process for customers and sales
With Upstart Auto Retail, Power Kia helped make the car-buying experience easier and more transparent for customers. The platform has increased efficiencies in closing deals for both seasoned and new salespeople.
The most important part is that Upstart Auto Retail makes everything easier for customers. You don’t always realize the hassles, hiccups, and wasted time in the process until you see how technology can improve it. The only way to raise gross profit is by making the customer happy. With Upstart Auto Retail, not only is our sales team able to take care of customers better, but it also makes it easier for our finance managers. Now, instead of spending 3 hours on the showroom floor, our average showroom time is 25 minutes.
With Upstart Auto Retail, we’ve been able to gather customers’ information before they ever step foot into the store. They’re able to select a car and fill out their credit and payment information before we speak to them. We also have all their documents uploaded into the platform so all the customer has to do is sign. This new way of putting the customer first has significantly improved our CSI levels.
Less time per deal
Power Kia was able to reduce the time it took to close deals by an average of 90 minutes per deal, which greatly enhanced their customer service experience. Before implementing Upstart Auto Retail, the process to close a deal from collecting paperwork to financing was long and required many unnecessary steps, which created a less than optimal car-buying experience.
More flexibility in building deals
Power Kia can now deliver a vehicle directly to a customer’s home and take care of their financing all in one place. The process is so simple that customers feel empowered to take control of their own deals. They can pick their down payment options and select F&I products with an intuitive display that shows them how everything works. This changes the role of the salesperson, who is now there to guide and explain everything about the deal, and puts the customer in control of the entire purchase. By leveraging technology to change the process of car buying, Power Kia has grown deals and gained new customers. Year-over-year, their gross profit is up by 40%.
By putting the customer first, Degele states, “our salespeople have been able to open up the customer’s mind when it comes to creating their deals because they’re involved in every step of the process. It opens up the gates to bigger conversations, and in turn, our finance numbers have increased from $1,400 per car deal to $3,000. We have been able to significantly increase our finances over the last six to seven months. And overall our finance numbers have soared. Customers are happier and it’s easier to communicate within the finance department. Our whole process is better with Upstart Auto Retail—from sales to finance—we work as one fully integrated team to deliver the best car-buying experience for every customer.”
Download the full Power Kia case study
