Collier RV Super Center Trusted InteractRV to Rebuild Their Digital Presence and Brand Reputation

Collier RV Super Center was living every dealer’s nightmare after trying a marketing vendor that failed to deliver on their promises. They were faced with an onslaught of technical challenges without any way to self-resolve, and customer support wasn’t answering their calls. They felt helpless as, over the course of only six months, they watched their website traffic, leads, phone calls, and sales plummet.  

What happened, exactly? We sat down with Collier RV’s President and Co-Owner, Ed Collier; General Sales Manager, Chris Collier; and Marketing Manager Liz Collier to discuss their experience. We’ll dive into the challenges Collier RV faced, and what InteractRV was able to do to swiftly reverse the damage and get their digital presence not just back on track – but thriving. 

Collier RV Super Center is a family owned and operated enterprise since 1961, with locations in Rockford and Wadsworth, Illinois. They’re a prominent fixture in the local RV community, and they also happen to have one of the largest indoor showrooms in the state.  

When approached by a digital marketing and website vendor that promised them impressive results through AI-based software strategies, Collier RV decided to give it a try.  

Challenge After Challenge 

Collier RV’s first roadblock was their new website. It seemed impressive at first glance, but the aesthetic didn’t translate to functionality. The site was constantly crashing, especially on mobile devices, causing dissatisfaction for both customers and employees. They averaged a 70% loss in website traffic – and the issues only continued from there.  

The next major pain point was their online inventory. Rather than using a dedicated library to populate inventory listings with the correct specifications, their previous provider used an AI-powered tool to complete the spec list for each model. This resulted in empty fields, which prevented large numbers of units from showing up in inventory searches. Customers were then led to believe Collier had no inventory that matched their criteria, though there were plenty of available units that did. Their platform also didn’t support upload capabilities for the Collier RV team, so they were unable to improve their own listings. This meant that they had to rely solely on support to make these changes – however, they were immensely difficult to get ahold of. This translated to wait times long enough that Collier RV had to maintain their own “issue tracker” in order to not lose track of their open support tickets. 

As if the website’s performance wasn’t bad enough, their digital marketing strategy was performing poorly as well. Their paid ads were more expensive than they were used to, with lower conversions. Worse still was the fact that they were no longer listed on the first page of Google. The Collier RV team even tested local search results like “RV dealer near me,” and to their dismay, their dealership did not show up.  

The stealth AI software – a core selling point of this provider – didn’t produce any leads.  The Collier RV team soon realized that the “hot leads” they were being sent weren’t actually interested shoppers. 

It became clear to Collier RV that they were more valued as a prospective client to this vendor, because once they were a client, the support and customer engagement disappeared. They were left in a trail of unanswered calls, prolonged support ticket wait times, and an overwhelming feeling that their issues were not being taken seriously. 

Individually, any of these challenges could lead to the decay of a dealership’s reputation; but added up, they’re absolutely detrimental to success. Between their invisibility on search engine results, the inaccurate inventory listings and poor website performance, there’s no telling how many sales were truly lost in that time. Collier RV did know one thing: it was time to call InteractRV. 

Making the Switch to InteractRV 

Once Collier RV made the switch, InteractRV got right to work. The first fix was getting Collier RV onto a reliable website platform designed specifically for the RV industry, with easy navigation, fast page loading times, and mobile-driven design.  

Next up was resolving the inventory issues. Thanks to InteractRV’s RV Data Library, powered directly by manufacturer data, Collier RV’s inventory was automatically populated with brand logos, product descriptions, floor plans and complete specs. Now armed with an inventory integration system, their website instantly and accurately reflected their available stock.  

Even more comforting to the Collier RV team was getting control back in their hands, with the ability to easily edit and modify their listings, including uploading their own photos, videos or 360 tours.  

InteractRV’s industry experts were also hard at work repairing Collier RV’s digital marketing strategies. Working with a budget set by Collier RV, a paid search strategy was launched that immediately saw nearly double the click-through rates, at half the cost of their previous vendor. They were back at the top of Google search results, and they were finally appearing on local searches again. 

In just one month, their website traffic was up 57% and their leads nearly doubled.  

“It’s almost double and we’ve increased every month,” said Marketing Manager Liz Collier. But perhaps even more notable is that despite current market challenges – faced by nearly every industry – Collier RV’s units sold are up 10% from last year.  

The next biggest difference they noticed after switching was the attention and support provided by InteractRV. Not only were their technical issues being solved, but InteractRV provided the personable approach that let Collier RV know they were a valued customer. Gone were the days of waiting weeks for a returned call; now they’re working with a dedicated customer representative who is in tune with their unique business needs and invested in their success. They can rely on proactive and routine communication for updates – taking previous stress out of the equation. 

Remarking on the difference in experience compared to their previous provider, Collier RV noted how relieved their internal team was to make the switch to InteractRV. Company morale soared when their employees were able to leverage their website as a selling tool, rather than having to dedicate time and effort to explaining discrepancies and fixing errors. Chris Collier, GSM, quipped, “When sales go up, morale goes up!” and stressed how important the website was to the sales team on the floor, and how crucial it is to be able to show shoppers even more units or models than the one they came in to see.  

The InteractRV Difference 

The contrast between the two providers couldn’t be clearer: InteractRV is powered by real people, with real RV expertise. We don’t rely on artificial intelligence to make presumptions or empty calculations; we use real world RV industry experience to provide you with proven strategies tailored to your dealership’s unique needs. Our solutions are built specifically for the recreational vehicle market, which is why they work. You can trust InteractRV with your dealership’s digital success. 

“The turnaround was almost immediate, and we’re seeing it today. Our business is improved, and our leads are up.” – Ed Collier, President and Co-Owner of Collier RV

Read the Full Case Study Here