Customer Story - Lindsay CDJR's Dealership Turnaround: Accelerated by Covideo
Published Date: January 13, 2025
When Lindsay Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram (CDJR) in the D.C. metro area faced struggles with its internet lead conversions and sales performance, the dealership’s owners knew they needed to make a dramatic change. They reached out to Nino Sita, a top-performing executive manager at another CDJR dealership with a proven track record.
Nino’s success in leading his previous team to become one of the top stores in the country caught the attention of Lindsay CDJR, and in August 2024, he took on the challenge of turning the dealership around as its general manager.
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The Challenge
Before Nino’s arrival, Lindsay CDJR’s internet lead performance was below industry standards, and the store ranked just 31st in the region. Its owners were desperate for improvement. The store averaged:
4+ Hours response time
36.3% Lead to appt set rate
35.8% Appt set to show rate
6% Lead to close rate
The Solution
Upon his arrival, Nino wasted no time implementing the proven strategies that had driven success at his previous dealership. First up: Covideo. Having experienced remarkable results with Covideo’s powerful video messaging platform at his prior store, Nino knew exactly where to turn for an immediate impact at Lindsay CDJR. Covideo's intuitive interface and hands-on support made it easy for the team to hit the ground running. Within just two weeks of signing up with Covideo, Nino’s team was fully onboarded, trained, and leveraging the platform to improve key dealership metrics.
“People are always scrolling and watching videos – that’s the way of the world. We want to be that person – be that influencer.” - Nino Sita, GM at Lindsay CDJR
The Approach
Nino introduced a non-negotiable, video-first strategy powered by Covideo. "If they don't use Covideo, they don’t get leads."
For Nino, the key to success was accountability and tracking. He implemented a master report he pulls three times a week, tracking the number of leads, video touches, appointments scheduled, shows, and vehicles sold. What became clear from his data was a strong connection between video engagement and higher appointment and sales conversion rates.
"Everybody that has the most video views has the highest appointment set, show, and sold ratio,” said Nino. “The correlation is all right here. The more you do, and the more customized, personalized touches you have, the more appointments you’re gonna see and the more you’re gonna sell.
Tactic #1: Lead Response
While the team’s appointment set rate of 36.3% was strong, it wasn’t translating into shows. So Nino started at the beginning, requiring an initial video response to be sent to every internet lead.
Tactic #2: Vehicle Walkaround
Vehicle Walkarounds are the bread and butter of video messaging for the Lindsay CDJR team. Each lead that inquires about a specific vehicle receives a walkaround as a first or second video touch.
Tactic #3: Appointment Reminder
Lindsay’s appointment set-to-show rate was weak at 35.8%, so Nino implemented a very specific and personalized approach to video appointment reminders, filmed in front of the vehicle.
The Results
By the end of Nino’s first month the turnaround was undeniable. With a clear, consistent process in place and a commitment to video messaging, the team experienced a dramatic increase in internet leads performance. "We went from closing 6% to over 11%. From 31st in the region to 5th. In one month,” said Nino.
“Covideo has really elevated Lindsay’s performance, which put more money in a lot of people's pockets.” -Nino Sita, GM at Lindsay CDJR
Improvement with Covideo
18.2% Increase in lead to appointment set rate
47.8% Boost in appointment set to show rate
88.3% Improvement in lead to close rate
37 vs 77 Internet leads sold
Conclusion
Nino and his team saw first-hand the difference Covideo made in a struggling store like Lindsay CDJR. “Honestly, it IS the videos,” said Nino. “You could take a super underperforming store and if they send every lead a video and a walkaround, they’re gonna sell 50% of the shows. You can stutter through the video, stumble, shake your hand, and it's still gonna do better than not using video.”
Nino plans to expand the usage of Covideo at Lindsay CDJR to include other departments, as he did at his previous store. “The sales side grasped things pretty quickly,” said Nino. “We also have a BDC here. I’d love to get them trained and then get the service advisors on it. First sales, then BDC, then service - that’s my cadence.”
His message to other dealerships is clear: the more personalized and frequent the Covideo touches, the better the results. And for the team at Lindsay CDJR, those results were undeniable.
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