Impel (formerly SpinCar) brings you a new Dealer Spotlight from our home turf in New York! This progressive, family owned and operated Volkswagen dealer has been using Impel since January 2015 and owner, Josh Lever, welcomed the opportunity to share his story with us!
Platinum Volkswagen in Nassau County, NY is one of the leading Volkswagen dealers in the region. Lead by Owner and General Manager, Josh Lever, Platinum has been in operation for 8 years, currently employing just under 50 employees. Josh entered the automotive industry in 2002 following his life-long passion for cars.
Working his way up the ladder to management at prominent luxury dealers in the New York area, he developed a strong sense of customer appreciation and dedication to making the car buying experience an enjoyable, premium experience for his shoppers. When you walk into the dealership, it’s clear that this mentality is reflected throughout the Platinum team with sales desks plastered in appreciative ‘thank you’ cards and photos. “We have a salesman here who has more ‘thank you’ cards around his desk than wall space.”
In addition to this family owned atmosphere, Josh believes in providing a “luxury experience at a Volkswagen price point.” Which is why when Josh saw Impel back in January 2015, he knew it was exactly what his website needed to give his customers a more immersive and overall better online buying experience and to drive the conversion rates they had been lacking. He and his photographer, Jim, were so excited to implement Impel’s 360° walkarounds, they were up and live on site in just two days!
Almost a year and a half later, Josh is still seeing a dramatic increase in conversion rates and on VDP activity with Impel. Being such a hands-on owner, he personally logs into the Manager tool to review conversion numbers and track VDP activity. In fact, based on their success using Impel products, when we develop a new feature like our Chrome Image Gallery stock spins, zoom and pan, and the new mobile app, Platinum is one of our first calls to test it out!
Q&A With Josh Lever, Owner of Platinum VW
Impel: What has been your most memorable experience as a dealership owner?
JL: Being Located in Nassau County, you can’t even imagine the stories I have! The best one would have to be when a guy came in to buy a car as a surprise gift for his mother. She was recently diagnosed with cancer and had limited time left. He wanted to give her something to enjoy and be comfortable in going to and from treatments.
Impel: How do you set yourself apart in the incredibly competitive Long Island market?
JL: We’re a family run business and we make sure our customers feel that and are really taken care of. It’s really important for us to give back to our community, we’re involved in a lot of charity events. Some of our annual events include Toys-for-Tots and we’re very involved in Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Impel: What’s the biggest benefit to your location?
JL: We have a ton of first time buyers. Many of our customers are buying cars for their kid’s graduation or going off to college. They’re usually really excited and it’s a fun experience working with them.
Impel: You mentioned the on-boarding process with Impel was seamless. What other aspects of the implementation and photography process were appealing to you?
JL: Located where we are, we don’t have a lot of space to photograph the vehicles. Being able to create spins working with the space we were used to was a big plus. The only real change was the photo line up but once we started using it, it actually made more sense than what we were doing before.
