Why Dennis & Co. Switched to RockED to Better Scale Group-wide L&D

3 Minutes Read

Client - Medium Dealership Group:

  • The Dennis & Co. Auto Group, Inc. is a dynamic automotive dealership group in the Metropolitan New York region. The group assembled 14 automotive brands across 10 locations, including Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Kia, Volkswagen, Ford, Buick, GMC, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Chevrolet, and Cadillac. It also has a used-vehicle dealership and two collision centers.
  • Founder Brian Dennis has ambitious growth plans and operates all locations with a technology-forward mindset. Although operated independently, all stores follow a shared operational model. Beyond, Dennis & Co. values its people as its biggest asset. As a customer-centric dealer, this means for their auto retail guests the departure from pushy salespeople to seamless interactions that can start online and pick up in person.
  • Brian Dennis: “Our focus on customer satisfaction and experience, as well as investing in training and creating opportunities for our employees, has, in turn, provided us the opportunity to accelerate our growth. […] We look forward to implementing our processes and digital strategy at our recently acquired locations and aggressively pursuing future dealerships within our core markets." (Automotive News: Dennis & Co. Auto Group adds six dealerships, 2/28/2022)

Situation and Challenges:

  • Dennis & Co. added six new dealerships under its umbrella since the middle of 2021. The group quickly grew to an organization with over 600 employees in a short period of time.
  • As a people organization, a main driver for operational improvements is talent growth through learning and development (L&D). Over the last years, Dennis & Co. utilized a sales training consultant with online Learning Management System (LMS) to provide Sales employees with self-learning opportunities.
  • When re-evaluating its situation in 2022, Dennis & Co. concluded its LMS should reflect the new organizational structure and strategy. First, they desired fresh content for their customer-facing staff in both Sales and Service. Second, the group transitioned from a PC-heavy setup to running showrooms without any computers but iPads exclusively. Hence, the new training solution was required to be mobile-first.
  • Dennis & Co. needed a modern L&D solution to be rolled out across all stores and brands to tackle two main challenges:
 
  1. Deliver a cutting-edge L&D approach that matches Dennis & Co.’s vision of a customer-centric and technology-forward organization
  2. Support the group with a scalable L&D model to mirror their store growth and touch all staff members creating customer experience
 

Solution and Results:

  • RockED replaced the LMS in all stores and was deployed in April 2022. Within 5 days, RockED onboarded over 170 Sales and Service experts at all ten locations. The Dennis & Co. implementation is RockED’s biggest rollout to date.
  • RockED delivers a state-of-the-art L&D solution that is easily scalable and highly utilized by Dennis & Co. headquarter, its individual stores, and learners:.
    • RockED’s short micro-learning guides create most value in learners’ palms. Busy Sales/Service staff can access RockED anywhere at any time.
    • The most successful dealer experts in Sales, Service and Leadership have core competencies. We resemble them to help our learners level up.

50%

Stickiness at Buick GMC of Mahwah  (Daily Active vs. Monthly Active Users)

  • Our RockED guides and interactions are well received from learners and consistently rated at 4.8 out of 5 Stars at Dennis & Co.:
    • RockED’s relatable and actionable content is the number one reason for high learner utilization and Return on Learning (ROL).
    • We are building both RockED’s content and software with our dealers and users in the center. That ensures we control the entire L&D experience.

1,700

Guide ratings from Dennis & Co. learners within 8 weeks at avg. 4.8 / 5 Star rating

Our client is highly satisfied with having made the switch to RockED:

RockED Content: “I like RockED more than some of the old feeling videos of the Incumbent.” (General Manager, Dennis & Co.)

RockED ROL: “I like the takeaways from it and the fact sales people can just go on their phones and use the tool.” (General Manager, Dennis & Co.)

RockED ROL: “The tips are absolutely priceless for someone onboarding a dealership & the auto industry for the 1st time.” (General Manager, Dennis & Co.)

RockED ROL: “The constructive videos that taught me information I otherwise would have learned after years of trial and error.”  (General Manager, Dennis & Co.)

RockED Micro-Learning: “RockED gives a more concise approach putting the Incumbent at that disadvantage.” (General Manager, Dennis & Co.)