Commercial Auto Lending

Background

A national commercial auto lender was experiencing a multi-year decline in dealer count — down 30% from January 2023 to December 2024. Operationally lean, the business had limited marketing infrastructure, no CRM or data systems to inform dealer strategy, and a brand position rooted in legacy rather than customer insight. The company's leadership recognized a need to re-engage the market and modernize its growth engine after three consecutive years of profit erosion.

Objectives

• Reverse the decline in active dealers and reestablish net growth
• Build a modern marketing and sales foundation to support national and regional efforts
• Develop a differentiated brand position rooted in the company's actual dealer strengths
• Unlock data visibility to support smarter prospecting and retention
• Launch a campaign to reactivate dormant or lightly engaged dealers

Strategic Actions

• Developed a full brand and territory map based on internal interviews, dealer insights, and market positioning analysis
• Built the business case and outlined ROI for tech investment
• Led a group learning session and ideation to outline initial sales & martketing workflows
• Led the adoption of HubSpot as the company's first integrated CRM and marketing automation system, enabling structured campaigns and lifecycle tracking
• Facilitated the first cross-functional workflow workshop across sales, ops, and marketing — aligning teams around shared processes and identifying key reporting automation to support daily performance huddles.
• Analyzed 2023–2024 dealer performance to define utilization thresholds and forecast upside potential, then layered in loan rate trends and consumer confidence data to craft a compelling case for increased floorplan usage.
• Championed the use of VelociFi to unlock lead-level insight and standardize performance tracking
• Launched “Life in the Cash Lane,” the first integrated campaign built to align sales and marketing efforts under a new brand promise emphasizing speed, service, and reliability.
• Defined campaign audience tiers based on historic dealer behavior and regional sales input
• Enabled cross-functional collaboration between sales, credit, and ops to support reactivation
• Helped Senior Leadership understand how the use of sales & marketing technology could offset workforce reductions without compromising performance

Outcomes & Impact

• Dealer network has grown 7% year-to-date in 2025, reversing a two-year contraction trend
• “Life in the Cash Lane” delivered the brand's first full-funnel campaign performance data, supporting future refinements
• Sales team now benefits from integrated CRM reporting and visibility into deal stage and performance
• Leadership now has the infrastructure to build and test new market strategies using insight, not instinct
• Company has achieved profitability in each of the last 3 months

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