The Problem

For years, Fenton Family Dealerships sent out a generic email newsletter to customers and prospects in the community. All articles were written by Fenton staff – there was no OEM content. The newsletters were more about community than about auto sales and service, and required a lot of work, because so much content had to be created each month.

In 2015, George Thompson, Director of Operations for Fenton, decided he wanted to make their communications more targeted and relevant, but wasn’t sure how to start.

The Solution

An Outsell rep reached out to Fenton at just the right time. Outsell could auto-populate OEM content that was individualized for each consumer and could also accommodate a few localized pieces to keep that community vibe Fenton wanted for their communications.

On top of that, the Outsell platform sends content based on individual consumer behavior much like Amazon and Netflix – engaging customers and prospects the way they expect today. It was far less work for the Fenton marketing group and more effective.

“We wanted a way to get in front of customers with the right message, at the right time, and we knew our generic newsletter was never going to do that. When I learned of Outsell, I thought, ‘That’s just what we need’,”George ThompsonDirector of Operations, Fenton Family Dealerships

The Benefits

Deliverability & open rates.

Outsell is optimized for deliverability, and its experienced staff are adept at creating content and subject lines that garner high open and click rates – 36 percent and 21 percent respectively over a six-month period for Fenton.

Outsell ranks one of the top two drivers for non-search (paid and organic) website traffic for each store.

Positive ROI.

Outsell is also helping Fenton sell vehicles and repair orders to unsold leads who would have otherwise not been touched – more than a dozen combined sales and ROs in recent months.

When the Fenton team upgraded to Outsell 5.0, according to Thompson, they appreciate the new dashboard and how it made it easier for reps to see current opportunities.

In-market shoppers.

“Our most seasoned BDC reps love Outsell’s buyer detection. They know those are high-quality leads, and the reports help them get more appointments and ultimately more sales.”

Outsell identifies an average of 129 in-market consumers for the group per month – a run-rate of nearly 1,600 high-quality leads per year.

The Results

• Outsell is one of Fenton’s top sales impact tools, more than paying for itself each month
• Dealerships have also seen a boost in service bookings
• BDC reps actively seek out Outsell reports because they know they are high-quality leads

“Outsell more than pays for itself each month. Because it’s all digital and trackable, we can see that Outsell influences a heavy proportion of our sales and service bookings.”George ThompsonDirector of Operations, Fenton Family Dealerships