Former Tesla president emulated Domino's online ordering to increase sales

Jon McNeill was tasked with enhancing Tesla's online sales platform.

Upon joining as the president in November 2015, the car manufacturer was attempting to sell luxury models like the Model S and Model X online, a concept not widely embraced by buyers.

"We need to work out how to sell vehicles online," McNeill explained during an episode of the "My First Million" podcast, aired on Thursday. 

"Not many people were willing to purchase $120,000 cars without seeing them first on the internet."

McNeill noted that his tenure at Tesla and his commitment to bolstering online sales refined his leadership skills in three main areas: aiming for lofty goals, valuing talent, and pinpointing issues through firsthand product use. 

He subsequently held the COO position at Lyft and joined the board at both General Motors and Lululemon.

As McNeill delved into Tesla's online platform, he and CEO Elon Musk recognised a key issue.

It required 64 actions to finalise a car purchase. Thus, he mentioned Musk decided to use Domino’s Pizza as their new standard.

"With each additional step you require from customers, the conversion rate dwindles," McNeill pointed out in the podcast episode released on Thursday. 

"At that time, ordering a Domino's pizza took just 10 clicks. He told us, 'We have 64 steps, while Domino’s uses 10. We need to match that.'"

Since then, Tesla has made its online buying process more efficient, exceeding the initial objective. 

As reported by Business Insider, acquiring a new Model 3 now takes about five clicks on Tesla's website.

Additionally, the emergence of single-click payment solutions like Apple Pay and Google Pay has accelerated the pace of online transactions.

For McNeill, these improvements on the website embody a broader mindset that he credits for turning Tesla into America's top electric vehicle brand.

Rather than focusing on gradual enhancements of faults, Tesla opted for transformative changes.

"If you're aiming for a 5 to 7% boost, typically you end up with 3 to 5%," he remarked during the podcast. "A facet of Elon's innovative strategy is establishing goals for 10x or 100x improvements—encouraging a drastically different problem-solving approach."

He further explained that such issues often remain undetected unless leaders actively use their own offerings. 

McNeill indicated that he and Musk identified the problem by navigating Tesla's site.

Moreover, McNeill stressed the significance of hiring the right talent to recognize and address challenges.