Optimizing Sales
with Measurable
Gains

20% Increased Retention

22% Increase in Productivity

$10M Additional Profit

Optimizing Sales Enablement & Productivity

Recognizing that simply presenting content in an e-learning course would not lead to behavior change, AutoNation needed to build confidence in Sales Associates, prepare them to present a sales menu to customers and discuss customer needs with the manager at the sales desk.

As America’s largest automotive dealer, with over 20,000 Sales Associates, AutoNation found itself facing a common organizational struggle—too much content, too many people to train, and too little time for training! Although they had already put some process and tool training online, AutoNation needed a more effective and efficient way to deliver advanced sales enablement training. They needed a method that was scalable, repeatable, and minimized the amount of time spent away from the sales door. A blended learning approach with spaced repetition seemed ideal.

Our Approach

With a solid understanding of the behavior and performance AutoNation sought to improve, we focused on conversations with subject matter experts, recent learners, supervisors of new hires, and project stakeholders.

The goal was to place salespeople in scenarios that mimic real-world events and to allow them to take risks in a safe environment. By witnessing the consequences of a chosen behavior, learners see how the decisions they make lead to a particular outcome. By making better decisions in the e-learning course, learners have the simulated experience of better consequences (closed sales, happier managers, increased customer satisfaction). Realistic scenarios allow learners to see how changing their behavior can lead to better performance– and therefore better commissions.

Construction of interactions within the e-learning course was guided by Allen Interactions’ Context, Challenge, Activity, Feedback (CCAF) Design Model.

Measurable Gains

The Fortune 500 automotive retailer needed a new way to build advanced sales skills in an engaging way that was scalable and repeatable.

They conducted a study that followed the performance of 100 newly hired Sales Associates for 6 months.

20% increase in retention
22% increase in productivity, equating to a 1.2 sales increase per person
10x in millions of dollars per year in revenue gains

AutNation-Sales-Course-Results-1

AutoNation Profit Per Vehicle

The Full Story

This white paper shares the Allen Interactions approach from start to finish with measurable results.

SAVVY Start
Behavior Change and Key Business Metrics
CCAF (Context, Challenge, Activity, Feedback)
SAM (Successive Approximation Model)
ROI and Measurable Results

quote-mark

Allen Interactions created an extremely engaging, interactive sales process course, with complex interactions between sales associates and customers. This pilot program resulted in a 22% increase in productivity, equating out to a nearly $3,000 incremental increase in per vehicle sales. The ROI from this learning initiative is over $10 million in additional annual profit.

- Kenneth Gregson, Director Variable Operations Learning & Performance, AutoNation

LEARNING SOLUTION Blended Learning; Social/Collaborative Learning; Competency & Skill Development

INDUSTRY/VERTICAL Sales Training, Sales Enablement

CONTENT AREA

Increasing Sales Retention and Productivity

TARGET AUDIENCE AutoNation Sales Associates

DELIVERY DEVICE Desktop/Laptop, Mobile, Tablet

PLATFORM/LANGUAGE

HTML5 (Flash Conversion)

AWARDS

Communicator Award of Distinction - Interactive
Silver Brandon Hall - Best Results of a Learning Program
Silver Omni Award - Educational
Bronze Omni Award - Internet Delivery
Bronze Horizon Award - Website -Training/eLearning
Bronze American Business Award

The secret to more sales starts with Deeper Learning™