Dealership Success Stories

At Minnesota’s Rudy Luther family of dealerships you’ll find a family...really an actual family. Peppered across Luther’s two Toyota stores and a Chrysler store are stepfather, mother, and two sisters - all working in different facets with a common allegiance to the Luther brand.

That’s right--Luther Automotive presently employs the entire Cline family; a driven, passionate, [auto] enthusiastic group that any company would be fortunate to have. Toyota salesmen, Mark works alongside his wife and delivery coordinator Jennifer in Brookdale; while daughter Niki sells Chrysler's next door. Sister Amanda is just a skip away in Golden Valley personalizing Toyotas in the showroom.

Just a few months back, Insignia launched Jaguar Land Rover-branded virtual configurators to take JLR’s vehicle personalization market to the next level. Brenda Fevrier,Vehicle Accessories Sales and Marketing Senior Specialist at Jaguar Land Rover predicted “this innovative system will make average stores great, and excellent stores outstanding at satisfying the needs of their customers first.”

Luxury brand dealers know the art of the customer experience well and recognize perfection as a moving target. That’s why JLR took digital personalization in the showroom and turned it into so much more.

The famous marketing adage that quips “a good product will sell itself” holds a lot of weight in the vehicle personalization realm. Automotive accessories are a multi-billion dollar industry; any step in this giant’s direction will yield a few bucks.

When Adventure Subaru in Fayetteville, Arkansas, reviewed profitability on their accessory program, they saw that it was good. Without much concerted effort, General Manager Tim Hurd reported the dealership “stumbled over $20,000 in accessories each month.” Approaching Insignia Vehicle Personalization Expert, Kurt Daughtery with this finding, Hurd challenged Kurt with using the Insignia system to double monthly accessory profit. Kurt’s reply? “No pressure!”

No matter the brand, location, or dealership size, every dealer in America has common challenges they face. High turnover in the showroom and the illusive perfect CSI score do not discriminate--these are obstacles known by all.

There’s change in the air, and it’s been a long time coming. As the industry embraces the “customer experience over everything” approach, it’s increasingly evident the transformation has to come from within.

“This is absolutely a team effort,” says General Manager Bill Niemann, surrounded by his showroom staff and accessories team

Mark Miller Toyota of Salt Lake City, Utah, reached a milestone in 2016. For the first time in the duration of their accessory program, the dealership clocked over one million in accessory sales in the showroom. Reaching this level requires diligence, and as per norm, we were interested to find out the driving force in this store. As the entire sales team gathered for the presentation of the Insignia challenge coin, the inspiring support within this store proved itself evident as the foundation for success.

We have all seen the empires built in a day: pop-up fads bringing mega success that are here today and gone tomorrow. The lure of getting rich quick can lead organization’s astray from taking the proper steps, like adequate preparation and training, before launching a new program.

Toyota of Braintree in Braintree, Massachusetts didn’t take the bait. From the beginning, the Toyota dealer committed to waylaying fast results and laying a solid foundation to build upon. Month over month, the dealer built their personalization program--and their labor hasn’t been in vain. Toyota of Braintree, the longest standing member of Insignia’s million dollar club, just marked their sixth year of over a million dollars in accessory sales in the showroom.

Evolution: (noun) The gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.

Management at Morrie’s Minnetonka Subaru took the desire to add front end gross in their showroom and set it in motion. Starting with will, direction, and thorough training, the desire developed into a more complex form as a process unique to the store was realized. This Minnesota dealer is one to watch, as its success in accessory sales snowballs.

We talked with management about the birth of this process, and the impressive gains enjoyed over the last twelve months. A common theme emerged: the team is playing together. Comprehensive support for Vehicle Personalization laid a healthy foundation and allowed for continual, methodic growth that hasn’t slowed down.

If there were a school for how to master this car dealership thing, you’d read about Denver’s Mountain States Toyota in the history book. Consistent vision. Unrivaled dedication to the success of each team member. Well over two million dollars in accessory sales for two years running.

General Sales Manager Sean Kramer reflects on the incredible accomplishments of Mountain States Toyota.

"We’ve seen tremendous growth in sales volume and accessory sales since implementing our Insignia process about two and a half years ago,” Kramer explains.

Receptionist promoted to accessory manager.

Thirty dollars in increased per new vehicle retail.

Fourth out of ten dealers in a Subaru accessory challenge.

Increased sales in Subaru’s Care Connect program.

These are just the highlights of what’s happening at Brandon Tomes Subaru.

Jeff Belzer's of Lakeville, Minnesota is building an enterprise in its showrooms. The dealership has three showrooms.  They sell Chevrolet, Kia and Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram.  Belzer's has a fully loaded team of accessory sales consultants, car salesmen that support and complement the process, and a fully bloomed operation. Get used to hearing this dealership’s name.  Jeff Belzer's was a million dollar club member in 2015, and it is a multi-million jet setter in 2016.

Accessory Sales Manager Creed Medvec, Insignia President David Stringer, and Accessory Sales Manager Cole Hawkins