Episode 34: Will Cumming
02/13/2024 / Dealer Insider
Will Cumming, Owner Principal at Cumming Chevrolet in San Diego, has been floorplanned with GMF since shortly after he took over operations in 2018. In six years, he’s doubled monthly sales, attained 100% RSI effectiveness and started a lease program to generate a used car pipeline. And he hits Dealer Dividends® Platinum tier every month. With decades ahead of him, he’s not slowing down any time soon. Here’s what Will is doing right by making GMF part of his long-term play.
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Build a Legacy
"We didn't just try it; we tried to make it work. Which took buy-in from everyone.”
For dealers weighing the option of floorplanning with GMF, Will has one piece of advice: Don’t expect your numbers to skyrocket right away. “But when you look at the true benefits of the long-term gain, it’s hugely profitable and beneficial to the overall health of the business.” By tapping into many additional captive benefits, Will and his team are comfortable in their financial situation that they can look down the road and continue planning for decades to come. “If flooring with GMF should have failed, it would have failed with us. We made it work because we wanted to. And I had to.”
What you can do: If you’re considering GMF floorplan, get your team on board. It’s a long-term play that takes buy-in from all sides of the business.
Boost App Engagement
“The units start coming in and going out. Once you get rolling, it's hard to stop.”
Floorplanning may have been the first step in Will’s journey with GMF, but that was quickly followed by taking a hard look at app engagement. This deep dive helped Will and his leaders at Cumming Chevrolet identify where to adjust deals to gain long-term residual business. He attributes a huge jump in net, gross and unit sales to sending apps to GMF and analyzing the details of every deal to find opportunities. “When you look at the long-term benefits of getting app engagement up and sending all your deals to GMF, you’ll see that residual business coming back years down the road.”
What you can do: Engage your GMF Rep to consult in more areas of your business to find GMF products and solutions that may open up opportunities.
Drive Guaranteed Retention
“We had our entire staff go in and learn how to pitch a lease and explain it properly.”
About a year ago, Will and his GMF Rep evaluated their dealership’s lease penetration numbers as a way of naturally feeding his used car inventory pipeline, and they saw a lot of room for improvement. Despite being in a traditionally low-lease market, Will was confident the team had the skills and talent necessary to make small, consistent gains. They tapped the expertise of the GMF Dealer Training, and his sales team learned the basics on how to pitch and sell leases, “which is huge. Lease is guaranteed retention – they will come back. We are going to see that customer in three years.”
What you can do: Want to drive retention in a low lease area? Consider consulting with GMF's Dealer Training team to up your team's lease skills.
Prep your dealership for long-term success like Will by working with your GMF Rep to form a plan using our tools and solutions to build a custom plan for your store.