Case Study | Griffin Ford

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Griffin Ford Cuts eSignature Costs and Simplifies Compliance With PDCflow

Griffin Ford is a family-owned and operated dealership that has been serving the Waukesha, WI area since 1960. The Wisconsin Ford dealership offers a wide range of new and used vehicles, including sedans, coupes, SUVs, trucks, hatchbacks, and minivans, along with a full service department.

Loren Sweeney oversees store operations and technology choices that affect the finance and service departments. PDCflow is used where the store’s Dealer Management Software (DMS) does not support certain documents.

PRODUCTS USED

eSignatures

INDUSTRY

Automotive Dealership

Number of PDCflow Users

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The Challenge

Escalating software costs and poor support from their previous esignature solution

Griffin Ford had been using Docusign but encountered unexpected pricing changes and, ultimately, a long, frustrating cancellation experience.

Loren Sweeney
General Manager

“We used Docusign before. You’re paying a lot for the name, and our bill went up by $1000. I tried to discontinue service, and it literally went on for five months. They kept billing me, wouldn’t return my phone calls. It was a terrible experience.”

Compliance risk on 30-day rental agreements for loaners

Service loaner agreements must be renewed every 30 days. Lapses create coverage issues and financial exposure.

Loren Sweeney
General Manager

“If a customer has a car on the loan for more than a month, that rental agreement has to be renewed within 30 days. If it goes beyond 30 days, it’s null and void. If they get in an accident, it’s not covered.

We had an audit from Ford, and we had some of those rental agreements that were beyond 30 days. We were charged a bunch of money… We said, ‘How are we going to fix this?’”

Need for remote signing to keep deals moving

Customers often need to complete paperwork away from the dealership.

Loren Sweeney
General Manager

“We just had to be able to sign customers on documents when they’re away from the dealership.”

The Solution

Griffin Ford uses PDCflow for esignatures in two departments:

The finance department sends vehicle purchase/finance documents for remote customer signing, especially for forms that their DMS can’t handle.

The service department renews loaner/rental agreements every 30 days to maintain coverage and audit readiness.

Loren Sweeney originally signed up with PDCflow to replace Docusign for their finance department document signing. After experiencing an audit of 30-day rental agreements in their service department, which resulted in financial penalties for non-compliance, Loren implemented PDCflow esignatures for those team members as well.

Loren Sweeney
General Manager

“The service department’s rental agreements came up later. We realized we could do this workflow through PDCflow. That was just an added bonus that PDCflow would actually help with that system too.”

Rollout and training are extremely simple, with less than 5 minutes for new staff. Customers find the experience easy, and PDCflow’s competitive pricing meets the dealership’s cost goals while customer support delivers the responsiveness Griffin Ford needs.

Loren Sweeney
General Manager

“It takes literally five minutes to train someone how to do it. It’s pretty simple.”

PDCflow fills DMS gaps for finance e-signing and ensures on-time 30-day renewals for loaners, helping Griffin Ford:

stay compliant
keep deals moving remotely
control costs with a solution that’s simple to train on and easy for customers

The Results

Significant cost savings

Griffin Ford achieved material cost savings by moving from Docusign to PDCflow while maintaining feature parity for e-signing.

Fast onboarding and minimal training overhead

Operationally, the team reports near-zero training overhead (less than 5 minutes per new user), a smooth customer experience, and faster vendor responsiveness.

Reduced operational risk and better audit readiness

PDCflow supports the 30-day renewal workflow for service loaners, helping the dealership avoid compliance gaps and audit chargebacks.

Loren Sweeney
General Manager

“There's nothing better than if you're a customer, you want to buy something that solves a problem, and a company responds right away, walks you through the whole program, and helps you. It's like, okay, this is a no-brainer.”

Summary

PDCflow delivers significantly lower esignature costs, streamlined onboarding, and easier compliance for both Griffin Ford’s finance and service operations. Additionally, PDCflow support responds quickly when the dealership needs it.