LIVONIA, Mich. -

In some markets, it might take two days of driving around to find more than a handful of Ford or Lincoln dealerships, but that’s not the case for John Jestice and Livonia, Mich.’s Bill Brown Ford.

Just west of Detroit and in the stronghold of the domestic auto industry’s capital, Bill Brown Ford finds itself amid loads of competing Ford and Lincoln stores within a five-mile radius, says the dealership’s pre-owned manager.

“You have to be on top of your game here,” Jestice stressed, noting that he has found — based on his conversations with other dealers — that his market is more inundated with competing Ford or Lincoln stores than other areas.

“Here, you drive around two hours and you get to seven dealers. So the competition is a lot tighter and closer. A lot of times you get one shot to make the first impression on people,” added Jestice.

The store appears to be faring quite well at making good impressions all around, including in its certified pre-owned operations.

The Bill Brown dealership was the Ford brand’s No. 6 CPO store in 2011, having sold 689 units. This marked a strong improvement from 2010, when it sold 532 certified rides and placed 10th in the nation. It also sold 532 certified vehicles in 2009.

So far this year, Bill Brown Ford has jumped another 10 percent incrementally, having moved 111 certified units at the time of the interview in early March.
When asked what makes the dealership so strong in CPO, Jestice touted “our commitment to it” and stressed that the store has “bought into” the certified process.

“My team has bought into and it definitely gives us an advantage over the dealers around here that don’t buy into it,” he explained.

Challenges

Like any dealer, Bill Brown Ford faces certain obstacles in the CPO market. Interestingly enough, though, supply typically isn’t the most challenging issue for this store.

Jestice acknowledges that “at times” sourcing vehicles can be the most cumbersome obstacle. However, since the dealer is ranked so highly for new-car sales, “We have an advantage over most other dealers that don’t have that kind of volume coming in on trade.”

What’s more, Jestice has worked at four other dealers previously and said the used cars coming into this dealership are in better shape than anywhere else he has worked, particularly the two- to three-year-old returns.

In fact, off-lease and trade-ins are his biggest supply source.

“You’re not having to make a rough car into a diamond,” he said, noting that most have been serviced at the dealership. “When most of them come in, they’re already in better shape than what you’re going to find at most other stores.”

So what is Bill Brown Ford’s biggest challenge in CPO?

According to Jestice, it’s “dealing against dealers that take shortcuts.”

“We would stress here more of a quality over price. And we probably get a little more than most dealers do around here for the cars, but again, we put a better-graded car out there,” he continued. “That’s our philosophy, our strategy.”

Making Vehicles Presentable

When it comes to making sure used cars are ready to be sold on the lot as CPO rides, Bill Brown Ford conducts all mechanical reconditioning in house, either through the main service garage or the used-car reconditioning facility behind the store.

Jestice says he has some specialty vendors for some specific touch-up work like paint repair on a bumper.

When it comes to getting the car retail ready, Jestice reminds his staff to focus on the check-out process before the car is put out for retail display and to present the vehicle “in a CPO fashion” when it comes to the checklist, warranty and benefits all being displayed with the car.

And going back to what Jestice emphasized about making good first impressions, he said it starts with “the basics” of presenting a “clean, gassed-up car that starts.” That may sound simple, but given the sub-freezing weather that often visits Michigan, sometimes this can be a challenge, he stressed.

Selling CPO

On the sales front, the No. 1 channel Bill Brown Ford uses to get the word out about its CPO offering is the Web, Jestice said. The store employs its own website to advertise certified vehicles as well as third-party networks like AutoTrader.com.

As for training the staff on selling CPO, the store participates in an ongoing training program where a consultant from Ford comes in and works with the team.

While much of the training might be a refresher for employees, it often can present a different angle or different approach that may help the salesperson improve their CPO sales techniques, Jestice emphasized.

Changes in Ford, Detroit

Another element that certainly has helped Bill Brown Ford is the resurgence the automaker has made in recent years. The product and reputation improvements at Ford are bearing fruit on the certified side.

“With the better product and the improved quality of Ford, the average consumer coming in has more confidence in the product than in years past,” he said.

And in a shift from years past, customers are trading in imports for Ford products, Jestice noted. Based on his experience in the business, that previously was not the case at Ford stores.

“Very seldom did you appraise foreign cars,” he shared. “(Now) we appraise them and take them in all the time here on new and used Fords … You’re seeing people go back to Ford which is great.”

Things appear to be brighter overall in the Detroit area’s economy, and this has fared well for the dealership in its used-car operations.

“It was sure tough there a few years, but it’s coming back around,” Jestice said.

Consumers are in a better position to buy and banks have been “a little more forgiving than they were a few years ago.”

In more recent news to impact the dealership, the automaker announced upgrades to its Ford/Mercury and Lincoln CPO programs earlier this year.

During an interview with Auto Remarketing ahead of the program’s launch, Ford CPO brand manager Renee Godfrey counted the expanded warranties as the major highlight to the Ford/Mercury program.

The revamped program changed the comprehensive warranty for Ford/Mercury CPO to a 12-month/12,000 mile plan, when it had previously been a three-month/3,000-mile warranty.

Ford also upgraded the powertrain warranty to a seven-year/100,000-mile plan, where it had been a six-year/100,000-mile package previously.

Jestice echoed that sentiment, suggesting that for cars that are out of the “3/36” base factory warranty, “It’s an added feature, a great feature.

“You could have a three- or four-year-old car with 50,000 miles on it, but your first 12 or 12 is comprehensive,” he added referring to the 12-month/12,000-mile package. “That’s a great feature to put out there against not only your domestic competition, but your foreign competition, as well.”

And being in the market that three automakers call home, Jestice would certainly know a thing or two about competition.