McCloskey Motors builds a touchless car sale process with DocuSign

For customers and dealerships alike, car sale paperwork can be a major headache. Dealerships that streamline the buying process by digitizing their forms can gain a significant advantage in a crowded marketplace. 

McCloskey Motors is a family-owned independent car dealership in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Also known as Big Joe Auto, the company offers a wide selection of used cars, trucks, and SUVs. For more than 30 years, McCloskey Motors has made it as easy as possible for customers to find and purchase exactly the right used vehicle for their needs. But as with most dealerships, the company’s biggest bottleneck has always been paperwork.

“There’s a ton of paperwork when you purchase from a dealership, and it can vary by state or even by county,” explains Mike Phillips, Business Development Executive, Digital Sales, McCloskey Motors. “Customers are eager to test drive and buy, but they don’t always realize there are many other moving parts in the purchase process.”

Pandemic restrictions inspire a touchless car buying process

The COVID-19 pandemic forced McCloskey Motors to rethink its entire purchase process. When the state of Colorado ordered dealerships to halt in-person sales, McCloskey’s leadership had to think quickly. 

“How do you stop making in-person sales when there are at least 20 documents that have to be signed for every purchase?” asks Phillips. “COVID-19 made us realize we lacked a smooth, efficient way to launch an online car purchase.” 

McCloskey Motors began searching for technology that could help it digitize its purchase process—and found DocuSign eSignature. The dealership moved all its paper forms into the solution and tweaked its workflow until it had built a touchless car sale process. From a customer’s first inquiry to the finalization of a contract, everything happened online—except, of course, for the test drive. 

“The internet is great, but customers will always want to see their car in person and test drive it,” says Phillips. “So we placed disinfected keys in the driver’s seat of each vehicle, and customers continued to come by to try out our cars.” 

As soon as a customer initiates the purchase process with McCloskey Motors, DocuSign immediately notifies the sales rep’s manager. From there, documents automatically travel digitally among managers, salespeople, customers, and the business office, with each party seeing only the relevant forms for their role. 

“Uploading our entire car-buying process to DocuSign immediately enabled us to work more efficiently,” recalls Phillips. “It’s like an online file cabinet that knows exactly where each form should go and who should see or sign it. Our customers can now focus much more on the fun parts of the process: the car selection and test drives.”

Identity verification protects dealership from costly fraud

Moving the car buying process online involves more than simply digitizing forms. McCloskey Motors also needed a reliable way to verify the identity of each of its online customers. DocuSign ID Verification was a perfect fit. 

“As we do business online, we have to protect ourselves from fraud and demonstrate compliance with state regulations,” says Phillips. “DocuSign ID Verification provided the enhanced signer verification we needed. We can now clearly show that we’re complying with the state’s identity verification requirements. Just as importantly, we’re protecting ourselves from the high-dollar losses that can result from ID-based fraud.”

Going digital enhances connections with shoppers

Asked about the most significant benefits McCloskey Motors has achieved with DocuSign, Phillips highlights time savings and reduced paperwork. The dealership now completes the typical car sale one hour faster than before. 

“To put that figure in perspective, we may get 1,000 leads per month, and 500 of them will visit our dealership,” explains Phillips. “Of those 500, 350 will take a test drive or otherwise get close to a purchase. DocuSign is shaving an hour off each one of those interactions. We’ve not only given back the customer an hour of their time but also freed up 350 hours of staff time per month.”

The entire car buying process is now paper-free for McCloskey Motors and its customers. Far from making the process less personal, moving it online has helped the dealership make better connections with car buyers. 

“We can now tell shoppers they can start the whole process from their couch,” says Phillips. “By the time they visit the lot, they know a lot about us, and we know something about them. There’s no longer that tension when a salesperson approaches the customer because that customer is already in our system, and we know what they’re looking for. All parties can then work together for a frictionless purchase process.”

Paperless processes delight car buyers 

Even as business resumes in-person, today’s consumers still demand seamless digital processes from virtually every company. They’re expecting car dealerships to catch up with their peers in other industries—and Phillips believes DocuSign will help make that possible. 

“DocuSign has successfully entered so many industries that were previously paper-only, so I think the auto industry is a natural progression,” he remarks. “COVID gave us the push we all needed. And even as the world opens up again, once you’ve introduced digital capabilities, you can’t take them away. Our customers will continue to expect a touchless car buying process, and DocuSign enables us to deliver.”

Still, customers always look forward to the test drive. 

"As an industry, there is certainly still a desire to be able to see, feel, touch a vehicle," Phillips concludes. "However there is also a desire for customers to have transparency. DocuSign eSignature and ID Verification help removes an hour or more of paperwork time per car sale and give customers a digital experience when they want it."