Checkered Flag Success Story
Dealer.com Builds New website for Checkered Flag Motors in Three Weeks
Va.-Based Dealer Group Gains New Site with Help of Dealer.com
Cutting through the clutter of automotive marketing can be a formidable challenge. According to MediaWeek, a leading publication tracking advertising industry trends, nearly $150 billion dollars will be spent on automotive advertising in 2006. The barrage on consumers is relentless. Endless television campaigns, page after page of newspaper advertising, and of course, the Internet. How can the automotive franchise cut through the clutter and get customers into the showroom?
For Checkered Flag Motor Car Corporation, a family owned and operated dealership group serving the Hampton Roads, Virginia area since 1964, the Internet is the company's most important marketing tool. Its CheckeredFlag.com website has been online since 1997. Today more than 90 percent of its customers use the site.
“We get a tremendous return from CheckeredFlag.com,” explains Alex Snyder, Checkered Flag's director of e-Commerce. “That's why we set out to build the most innovative, customer-friendly, feature-rich site possible and chose Dealer.com as the vendor most capable of achieving that goal for us.”
A History of Innovation
Checkered Flag has an interesting history of innovation. The company began as a specialty dealer of British Motorcars—MG, Austin Healy and Jaguar. However a limited market and poor reliability put a serious cap on growth potential. Ed Snyder, the company's founder and president, researched new car lines and made a decision many at the time considered fatal—to become one of the earliest east coast dealers of Toyota at a time when compact Japanese cars were the last thing on the minds of American consumers, particularly in a geographic area dominated by the world's largest US naval installations.
We know how the Toyota story turns out, and today Checkered Flag is a leading force in the sale of foreign automotive brands in the area, selling more than 1,000 cars per month at its five dealership sites. An integrated marketing program, particularly focused on the Internet, is a key factor of the company's success.
“Our in-house surveys show that more than 80 percent of the customers walking through our showroom doors use the Internet as a research tool,” Snyder says. “Our goal was to build a best-of-breed solution that incorporates all the features customers need accurate and current inventory, accurate prices, research tools, financial calculators, quick-response mechanisms to inquiries and more.”
The Need for a New Site
Snyder explains that its previous system had some serious limitations. Updating the system was difficult, particularly capturing current inventory, and rigid templates limited design and functionality. In addition, slow response to Checkered Flag service requests became unacceptable.
“We felt we were outgrowing a very small vendor with a very small support staff,” Snyder says. “We looked at many solutions, including taking a serious look at building the site in-house. We quickly determined that the cost, manpower and heartache were not worth the effort.”
“In our research of other dealer websites we kept coming back to the Koons Automotive Group site that was built by Dealer.com.” (Koons Automotive is a collection of 21 dealerships scattered throughout the Washington, DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas.)
“That particular site had the look, feel and features we were looking for. As we did more and more research, we found that Dealer.com was the right size company to handle our growth—small enough so red tape won't slow us down and large enough to meet our needs today and in the future. We got a strong sense of commitment, a sense they would go the extra mile to get the job done.”
Up and Running in Three Weeks
Checkered Flag's Dealer.com-built website came online the middle of September 2006. It went live with the functionality Checkered Flag was seeking, but even more important is the speed and success of the design and build process.
“Typically dealer websites, including our own, take three months or more to build,” Snyder explains. “Dealer.com originally estimated our site would take six to eight weeks to build, but unbelievably they got our site up and running in three weeks time—and it is the most complex site we have had. The commitment and willingness to get the job done was exemplary.”
Advanced Search Capabilities
The most critical aspect of the new site is inventory management. Today Checkered Flag customers can log onto the site and custom build a vehicle. The vehicle can be built by any number of specifications the customer requests—brand, price, features, best warranties, monthly payments and more. The system then scans the selection across Checkered Flag's dealerships and displays every vehicle in Checkered Flag's inventory that matches the search.
Customers can also use the system's CarFinder™ capabilities. This is an automatic feature that allows customers to plug in any vehicle he or she desires. If the car is in stock, the site will direct the customer to that particular vehicle. If it is not in stock, the system runs a “fuzz” factor that suggests other in stock vehicles that may suit the customer's needs. The system also sends the lead to the Internet Marketing Department and automatically notifies the customer when the vehicle is in stock. The same search capabilities apply to pre-owned vehicles as well. Customers can also search for vehicles based on monthly payment amounts.
“Dealer.com built the most comprehensive vehicle search tool I have ever seen,” Snyder says. “It is also a great research tool that I think is even more powerful than Edmunds.com and other national sites. We know these features will have a strong impact on sales.”
Now that the site is up and running, Checkered Flag is strengthening its commitment to a completely integrated marketing program focused around CheckeredFlag.com. The company employs a centralized Internet business development team staffed by full-time employees. A strong call to action to drive prospects to the website is present in every advertisement. Dealer.com reporting features will help the company better track and respond to incoming leads.
For even better customer service, Checkered Flag is planning to phase in the body shop, service and parts, finance, and outside vendors. Future integration with the company's back office CRM and sales force management systems will further enhance the sales and customer retention efforts.
“I'm proud to say we have a clean, easy-to-use site that gets customers the information they want quickly and easily,” Snyder says. “Dealer.com knew how anxious we were to get this site up and running and displayed an extraordinary willingness and level of commitment with its three-week-turnaround time.”