Case Study, Nissan Dealership Renewal Uplift with AI, +17%

At-a-glance

• Store type: Nissan, Canada
• Annual new sales: 800
• Mix: 44% lease, 51% finance, 5% cash
• Historical renewal rates: 68% (lease), 30% (finance)
• Avg front/back gross per deal: $2,200
• Tenure: 10+ years of DMS history
• Measured uplift (renewal conversions): +17%

Background

Like many Nissan rooftops, this store was strong on first-cycle lease volume but inconsistent on when and how clients were contacted at maturity. Finance renewals were mostly reactive, handled after customers called in or showed up in service.

Challenges (Before)

• Late outreach windows and missed 6–9 month pre-maturity opportunities
• One-size-fits-all messages for lease vs finance
• Heavy manual work for BDC and F&I, causing dropped follow-ups
• Little Service→Sales handoff when equity appeared in the lane

What We Implemented

AI Renewal System tailored for lease and finance maturities:

• Data pass: 10 years of deliveries normalized; tags for maturity date, term, current mileage, equity signal.
• Playbooks by product:
  • Lease: 270/180/120/90/60/30-day sequences with model-specific swap offers (e.g., Rogue→Rogue, Sentra→Rogue).
  • Finance: equity-based refinance/swap offers triggered by mileage, payment history, and used-car demand.
• Multichannel execution: SMS first, then email, then human callback if no reply.
• Service→Sales triggers: When vehicles checked in with equity or end-of-term flags, a same-day renewal conversation was started.
• Escalation: Hot replies routed to the right person (sales or F&I) with a one-click appointment link.

Results (Year 1)

Volume impact (steady-state, per year)

Inputs

• 800 sales/yr → 352 lease (44%), 408 finance (51%), 40 cash (5%)
• Historical renewal rates → 68% lease, 30% finance
• Avg gross $2,200/deal

Before

• Lease renewals: 352 × 68% = 239
• Finance renewals: 408 × 30% = 122
• Total renewals: 239 + 122 = 361
• Gross: 361 × $2,200 = $794,200

After (17% relative lift in conversion)

• Lease conversion: 68% × 1.17 = 79.56% → 352 × 79.56% ≈ 280
• Finance conversion: 30% × 1.17 = 35.1% → 408 × 35.1% ≈ 143
• Total renewals: 280 + 143 = 423
• Incremental deals: +62
• Incremental gross: 62 × $2,200 = $136,400
• Total gross after: 423 × $2,200 = $930,600

Why it worked

• Right time: Pre-maturity sequences started earlier and never stalled.
• Right offer: Lease vs finance paths used different value props (payment-to-payment comparisons vs refinance or lower APR).
• Right lane: Service check-ins produced same-day renewal convos, not “we’ll call you later.”
• No leakage: Every no-response moved to the next channel automatically, with human escalation on interest signals.

Operational Impact

• BDC load: Fewer manual chases; reps focused on live hand-raisers.
• Consistency: Every maturity received a sequence with clear next steps.
• Speed: First reply on consumer texts in under a minute, even after hours.
• Visibility: Directors saw a daily digest of expiring contracts, replies, and set appointments.

Sample messaging (condensed)

• Lease, 120 days out: “Hi {{contact.first_name}}, your {{VOI MMYT}} lease ends soon. Want options to keep payments similar and upgrade? Pick a time here: {{booking.link}}.”
• Finance, equity detected: “Quick one, {{contact.first_name}}. You may qualify to lower your payment or swap into a newer {{model}}. Want me to run numbers? Reply YES.”

Reproducible math & assumptions

• Steady-state assumes the annual number of maturities ≈ annual originations given a 10-year history.
• 17% uplift is relative to prior conversion rates (e.g., 68% → 79.56%).
• All figures use whole-deal gross of $2,200/deal (front + back). Adjust easily by swapping your store’s gross.

Formulas you can reuse

• Lease maturities/yr = Annual sales × Lease mix
• Finance maturities/yr = Annual sales × Finance mix
• Renewals (before) = Lease maturities × Lease conv% + Finance maturities × Finance conv%
• Renewals (after) = Lease maturities × (Lease conv% × 1.17) + Finance maturities × (Finance conv% × 1.17)
• Incremental gross = (Renewals after − Renewals before) × Avg gross

Rollout Timeline (playbook)

Week 1: Data load, maturity mapping, message approvals
Week 2: Go live on lease sequences, Service→Sales triggers, and finance equity plays
Week 3–4: Tune copy, adjust offer logic by model/trim, add weekend catch-ups
Month 2+: Review conversion by touchpoint, reallocate volume to best-performing windows

Bottom line

On this Nissan rooftop, the AI renewal system lifted renewal conversions by 17%, yielding +62 additional sales and $136,400 in fresh gross annually, while lightening the manual workload and tightening the handoff between Service, Sales, and F&I.

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