When Cox Automotive says it offers “a comprehensive set of solutions” for the automotive industry, it means it.

The global company’s U.K. headquarters are in Leeds and operates a range of leading automotive brands across Europe including Manheim, an auction service for selling vehicles online and on site, Movex, software dedicated to vehicle delivery, and NextGear Capital, an inventory finance company offering flexible lines of credit to automotive dealers.

Its wide reach means Cox Automotive sells to almost every player in the industry — 30 global manufacturers and 16,500 global dealerships, including large dealer groups and independents. It also means Cox Automotive’s sales team needs to have the right marketing content to address a multitude of customer challenges.

For example, a salesperson may be in a conversation with a prospect regarding NextGear Capital about inventory finance until the conversation steers toward the need for a better solution for transporting vehicles to auction. Suddenly, Cox Automotive has an opportunity to sell not just one product, but three. But before Showpad, salespeople existed in silos. The only material they had access to related to only one Cox brand, not the whole business.

“It made us look very disorganized,” said Sales Enablement Manager Gavin Laubscher.

That ended once Cox Automotive implemented Showpad. The company rolled out Showpad to 137 salespeople in January 2018. The results were so positive that it increased its user license count to 150 for early 2019.

“Showpad gives our people all the content they need in one place. Not only that, it’s easy to navigate,” Laubscher said. “The feedback from both our sales people and our customers has been excellent.”

Showpad is a perfect solution for cross-selling. Cox Automotive found that out once its salespeople got up to speed. In a short period of time they were in the field with customers talking about Cox Automotive as a comprehensive solution provider instead of singling out only one brand at a time.

Cox Automotive’s sales team transformed into universal company experts. In the past, one customer might find five different Cox Automotive salespeople lined up to talk with them about different products. Now, they only need to see one. Not only has the buying experience been streamlined for customers, it also boosted the morale and efficiency of the sales team.

“It helped us not step on each other’s toes,” Laubscher said. “We are now working in tandem. There is more synergy, which is really important in showing our customers what our competition can’t — that we give them the complete package.”

What does this look like? One customer may be interested in auction services but the salesperson might learn that they also need a solution for transporting and storing their vehicle inventory. Not only that, but finding might be an issue too. Suddenly, the Cox Automotive salesperson can access videos, brochures, and more material articulating the strengths of a suite of products: Manheim, Movex, and NextGear Capital.

“Showpad makes them aware of everything we offer. It’s so easy for our people to raise opportunities,” Laubscher said.

Cox Automotive also is taking advantage Showpad’s Mapper Experience, which Cox Automotive uses to train salespeople by giving them a visual map of which pieces will work for which customer segment. It’s the kind of internal training aide that helps salespeople understand their responsibilities and gives the company proof of concept in showing what works and what doesn’t.

“As a salesperson, the Mapper is all about preparation,” Laubscher added. “If I’m seeing an independent dealer, it gives me critical details like the size of the business so I can talk with confidence about the common problems companies their size struggle with, and how we can fix them. That makes the prospect lead the conversation and the salesperson provide the knowledge.”

Because of Showpad’s intuitive interface and Cox Automotive’s improved visibility into content efficacy, Laubscher said during trial periods, customers don’t leave. They are now retained longer than before. The result: More sales.

“There are no longer surprises during the trial. Showpad helps us keep them engaged,” Laubscher said. “That is where we show value.”

Showpad’s reporting analytics gives salespeople visibility into what customers want. That insight has improved the quality of their presentations.

“We can see what they are doing, which helps us support the conversation in a much more informed way,” he added. “That’s something we never had before. Today, I can’t see being without it.”