David Dodge in Glen Mills wasn’t immune to the COVID-19 pandemic. Boss David Kelleher was forced to furlough the sales staff in March due to the state shutdown, writes Todd C. Frankel for The Washington Post.

Even after reopening, there were no personal showroom visits, no test drives, no handshake agreements.

“If I can’t connect with you, if I can’t do my showmanship, if I can’t see you,” said Mike McVeigh, David Dodge’s top salesman. “I thought I was done.”

He and Kelleher did some quick thinking.  Kelleher overhauled the online sales process during the lockdown.

Now, they’re selling more cars than ever.

McVeigh, who had been selling cars for 16 years, worked deals over Zoom, used text messages, and took advantage of FaceTime to join customers on test drives.

The customers responded. They liked doing the grunt work of buying a car at home without going near a showroom.

McVeigh went from zero cars sold in April to 58 cars in May, his best month ever.

The dealership thrived. It sold 216 vehicles in May, 253 in June and had its best month in 15 years for July, selling 289 cars.

Read more about David Dodge’s car sale success here.