First, please allow me to take a moment to thank the management and staff at Rosedale Chevrolet in Roseville, Minnesota. Without your support and willingness to step outside of the box and take a few risks, I could not have done what we did. David Zirbes and Jeff Krapu were instrumental with this project with their willingness to hear out my ideas, allow me to take steps to activate those ideas and for putting the checkbook of the dealership behind me. Thank you Mike Skog for the extra time and effort that you put forth and thank you to Mark Vermillian for allowing us to buy a brand new vehicle, put it into your inventory (pre-owned) and holding it for two years.
I joined Rosedale Chevrolet with the idea of creating a marketing program for the upcoming release of the BoltEV, Chevrolet's first all-electric vehicle in America. My vision was to reach out to the public and create waves in the marketplace in anticipation of the arrival coupled with an expansive pre-order commitment list. We accomplished every goal and the results were remarkable.
Let's go over a few drives that worked well and a couple that did not.
"BoltE"
We purchased a BoltEV from a dealership in California. I negotiated the deal via email and the phone and we had a staff relative in California who was willing to title it for us. Chevrolet did not roll this vehicle out to the entire country, but rather the BoltEV and Volt saw staggered roll-outs to specific "Carb States" where manufacturers are rewarded to sell zero emission vehicles. California is the biggest state for this, which explains why there are so many electric vehicles there. Just a note: We broke the rules set forth by Chevrolet to do this, sort of. We, as a Minnesota Dealership (or individual), were banned from buying these vehicles from California by rules set by Chevrolet to it's dealers. Dealerships all over the country broke this rule and some were accused of buying truckloads for resale purposes. The problem with these vehicles being sold in states not authorized by Chevrolet was a lack of specialty tools delivered to local service shops. We did not buy our's for resale, but rather for demonstration purposes only. We kept that car for two years.
I brought our demo BoltEV (named BoltE moving forward) with the intent to get as many "butts in seats" as we could across the Twin Cities. BoltE was displayed at the TC Auto Show, Minnesota State Fair, energy fairs, environmental events and public and private events of all attendance levels. I provided over 1,000 test drives both at the dealership and at various events attracting the attention of local media resulting in multiple outlets featuring the "Exciting New All-Electric Chevrolet". I was pictured demonstrating the vehicle on the front page of the Star Tribune twice.
BoltE was the first BoltEV most people had ever set eyes on or sat inside of. During our "EV Launch Event" at the dealership, over 40 people won a raffle to take a 3-minute test drive. We displayed BoltE alongside many Tesla and other electric or hybrid models and we were often given prominence in parade route placement, partly because BoltE was the only one of her kind in a large area. In fact, we were receiving invitations to bring BoltE to events extending to a radius of over 300 mile.
I was shocked to discover infrequent less than supportive local dealerships during this process. If I was attending an event outside my dealership's "zone", I would request permission from the local dealership to come into their zone. I used a standard letter that expressed our interest, guaranteed to market their dealership rather than myself and I offered to bring BoltE to their dealership and to offer training or test drives for their staff. Many dealerships said "no". One General Manager went so far as to tell me that "nobody will buy them, so why waste time marketing something we won't sell?". (I printed his message as motivation) Overall, the majority of local dealers were okay with us visiting their areas, but the select few were certainly a surprise.
Community
One major goal for me was to fully emerge myself in communities that were most likely to support the BoltEV. I searched for and joined every EV related group or page on Facebook. I began attending community based group meetings around the Twin Cities. I planned and executed meet-ups in a non-sales environment. I attended conferences at utility companies, spoke at engineering meetings and joined boards that influence activities in the "green" community. BoltEV and Volt were displayed at colleges, churches, specialty high schools and campuses of Fortune 500 companies. I fully emerged myself in the world of electric vehicles, solar expansion, energy delivery and clean energy. Not only was I in attendance, but I was first to raise my hand to volunteer my time and I became a leader in my surroundings. This was not a sales technique without a genuine appreciation for the work of the folks I was associating with. I remain the #2 Auto Sales Professional on a list offered by the Minnesota Electric Vehicle Owner's Group, the most utilized list in the Twin Cities, even though I left the business in January 2018.
My involvement in these communities put my name front and center when folks were planning additional events or looking for an industry expert to join their panel. I accepted every invitation that my schedule allowed. I continue to make myself available for public and private events.
Why was this important? Because the public's perception about General Motors and Chevrolet are very negative in the Electric Vehicle arena and I found it imperative to have a voice at the table that would promote the vehicles that I believe GM and Chevrolet will eventually massively distribute in the Midwest. This common feeling is because folks in these circles remember the EV1 and they blame GM for it's demise. They blame GM for the slow roll-out of electric vehicles in the midwest because of how the Carb State rules affect distribution. They do not have faith that GM is operating in good faith because they don't see any advertising or other efforts to sell these vehicles in this market. Many folks do not understand why GM and Chevrolet are not in the charging business and why we wouldn't invest heavily in infrastructure. Another common concern is the lack of interest among dealerships demonstrated by the limitations of dealer inclusion. While I worked to discourage these beliefs, the opinion of many folks went unchanged.
Environment
I worked with top management, the Service Department and the controller at Rosedale to expand our infrastructure in a big way. We previously powered a single level two, sixteen amp charger that was often blocked by service vehicles or used by the service department. We added a DC Fast Charging device along with six 32 AMP Level 2 chargers. For the record, we had to add an entire transformer just for our electric vehicle charging wall!
We also committed three valuable parking spaces for "Charging Only" and an additional three as "Electric Vehicle Parking". We added signage onsite and welcomed public multi-brand charging by listing our charging capabilities on the popular charger infrastructure websites.
We made a pledge to offer free WiFi, snacks and our facilities to EV drivers whether they were simply charging their vehicle, shopping for their next EV or having a bit of work done in our service department.
We dedicated one of a handful of Service Advisers to become "EV Advisers", trained two full-time technicians and properly stocked tools and parts. No matter which department you visited, you could find a fan of EVs like the one that you drive.
This was a huge investment into EV's during a time when Rosedale Chevrolet was the only dealership in the entire Twin Cities making this type of investment. I was also the only guy in town saying, "I can pre-sell and deliver 100 BoltEV"!
Order
We accepted our first deposit for a BoltEV order almost exactly one year before we would receive the first deliveries in the Twin Cities. (Rosedale Chev also sold a Volt about a year before they became available.) We placed orders, traded allocations or otherwise obtained over one hundred 2017 BoltEVs through a well organized pre-order program and aggressively hunting down cars to deliver. I created brochures, flyers, forms and gimmicks. We accepted orders, including speculative colors and options, at events all across the area as well as at the dealership.
I provided appointment only detailed dealership visits to prospective buyers, answering all types of questions and spending an average of 68 minutes per appointment. The desk and walk around presentations were tailored to create trust in my knowledge of the technology and to show the public that they can benefit from this all-new vehicle. My designated test drive route included elements to highlight features specific to BoltEV or Volt, including regenerative braking and impressive acceleration.
Delivery
I created pre-delivery actions to help organize the delivery process. For example, once an order was accepted and verified by Chevrolet Production, I would send an template email update and it would ask about aftermarket products and accessories. I would include the first mention of select protection products. Once the order moved into production, I sent a template email with a form for the client to order items previously mentioned and I'd obtain information relevant to the next step including miles driven per year, any private discounts and other finance department items.
I was setting up the next step with every step completed. By the time the vehicle was on a transport to Minnesota, I already sold weather protection, decals and wraps, tint and accessories. I had already gathered a credit application and information needed to present lease and purchase figures. My intent was to simplify and streamline the delivery process and experience.
Once the client came in (or received off-site delivery), we had the paperwork ready or almost ready to go (except F&I items) and most aftermarket work could already be completed. I offered three delivery types including standard in-person delivery demonstration, express delivery and video delivery demonstration. I created 360° and standard videos that contained the same content as an in-person delivery including explanation of all features, how to work everything and best operating practices. These videos were also made available via YouTube. This allowed out-state clients the ability to complete their purchase remotely and folks who chose to skip the full demonstration could always refer to the videos.
Wrap
In the end, we sold and delivered a lot of Chevrolet's all-new fully electric car in the Twin Cities. Myself and Rosedale Chevrolet earned and remain number 1 in Chevrolet's electric vehicle sales. We sold more EVs than all other dealerships in our zone, combined. We made huge waves in this market and the activities of other dealerships after our efforts shows it. We could have sold more. We could have reached more folks. How?
Next
First, please let me clear up that neither Rosedale Chevrolet nor myself chose to part ways. I have a son who was hospitalized in January 2018 and required my full attention for over a year during his recovery. Deliveries of BoltEV began in late October 2017, so luckily I was able to fulfill my obligations to my pre-order clients. Unfortunately, after building this machine at Rosedale, it doesn't make sense to return after over a year to restart my sales program. I feel that it is time for a larger adventure; one with a wider reach for my audience. It would not be fair for me to collect a salary at Rosedale Chevrolet with dreams of all of our competition selling more EVs. I am not interested in simply selling vehicles. I want to create a massive impact bringing more and more electric and autonomous vehicle to our roadways. I believe in the Mary Barra's concept of "Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion" and I want to be a big part of it!
So, I am moving forward. Where? With whom? I'm not sure, yet..
I was planning to insert some of my concepts and ideas of how we get to Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion, but I've decided to save that for another article that I will write early this week. Stay tuned...
Please feel free to share, comment or otherwise enjoy this article. I am open to input and as a lifelong learner, I hope to expand my knowledge with your help.
