Pinnacle Sales & Mail: Dealer Events, Mail, BDC and Costs

What is Pinnacle Sales & Mail?

Pinnacle Sales & Mail is a marketing and performance company that works only with car dealerships. It is a business-to-business vendor: it does not sell cars to the public, and if you received a Pinnacle-designed mailer for a sale at your local dealership, the dealership is the business you would be dealing with.

The company's site frames its work around two questions a dealer might ask: "Do you need more leads?" and "Do you need help managing the ones you have?" The first is the original business: short, intense sales events staffed by Pinnacle's own desk managers, closers and salespeople, driven by direct mail, digital ads and a call center. The second is newer and sits under the Pinnacle Dealer Services name: an outsourced BDC (business development center, the dealership phone room), mystery shopping, process assessments and training for sales, BDC, F&I and service staff.

The site says the company has been a car dealership marketing company for 26 years, and older pages say "over 25 years." Its home page lists, as its own figures, 500 million or more mail pieces, more than 10,000 events, "$500,000,000+" in revenue driven for dealerships, 20 or more salespeople on staff, and a 98% satisfaction figure. Its lead generation and FAQ pages also say it sends "over 100 million pieces annually." These are the company's numbers; it does not publish the underlying data.

The office is in Cornelius, North Carolina, on the Lake Norman side of the Charlotte area. The About page says many of its event staff are trained "at our local dealership in Mooresville, NC" before they travel to client stores.

Pinnacle Sales & Mail vs Pinnacle Dealer Services: are they the same company?

They are presented as two sides of one business. The site's home page heading reads "Pinnacle Dealer Services: The Complete Dealership Performance System," and the lead management page says "Pinnacle Dealer Services is the operational side of Pinnacle." In practice:

• Pinnacle Sales & Mail is the name used for lead generation: staffed events, hosted events, off-site sales and direct mail.
• Pinnacle Dealer Services (PDS) is the name used for lead management: BDC On Demand, secret shops, assessments, training, DISC assessments, recruiting help and the PDS Boot Camp.

The FAQ says the company is "the only company in the industry that also delivers lead generation through Pinnacle Sales & Mail, so we can fix both sides of the equation." That is the company's own claim. A few training pages also use the name "Pinnacle Dealer Solutions." Both share the Cornelius address; the Boot Camp page calls it the "PDS Corporate Office." If the legal name on your contract matters to you, ask which entity you are signing with.

Who owns and runs Pinnacle Sales & Mail?

The About and Meet the Team pages name Joe and Julie Cox as the owners, with the title "Owners, CEO." The site says they have been in the staffed event and direct mail industry for over 20 years and "played a role in developing over 5,000 Direct Mail campaigns, staffed and non-staffed." Blog articles on the site carry Joe Cox's byline as Owner & CEO.

The team page lists these leaders and long-serving staff (titles and tenure as the site states them):

The page also lists senior salespeople and closers (Brian Fogelquist, Gary Young, Christopher Patterson, Robert D Cox and Dylan Alleman) and an intern. The Boot Camp testimonials refer to a trainer named Matt. The team page explains the structure: managers own each campaign end to end, marketing builds the list, mail piece and co-op paperwork, the sales crew travels to work your floor, and support handles accounting, contracts and logistics.

Is Pinnacle Sales & Mail legit?

Dealers usually ask this before they hand a vendor their floor for a week. Here is what can be checked from the outside:

• A physical office. The company publishes a street address (19600 W Catawba Ave, Building A, Suite 110, Cornelius, NC 28031), a toll-free number and a general email on every page. The Boot Camp is held at that office.
• Named people with tenure. The team page names the owners and more than a dozen staff, many listed with 5 to 15 years at the company.
• Published reviews and testimonials. The testimonials page shows 15 five-star reviews marked with a Google "G," plus a set of video testimonials. Some reviewers say they have worked with Pinnacle for more than a decade or across several sales. These are reviews the company chose to display.
• Clear privacy terms. A privacy policy (last updated 29 July 2026) lists exactly which outside services handle form data (Salesforce, Mailgun, Google Analytics, Calendly, YouTube and eSEOspace, the agency that maintains the site).
• A written guarantee claim. The $300,000 guarantee is stated on several pages, though the wording differs (see below).

We did not find a North Carolina Secretary of State record under the exact name "Pinnacle Sales and Mail" in a quick search, which can simply mean the legal entity uses a different name. Ask for the contracting entity's legal name and ask for references from dealers of your size and franchise, which the company's own guarantee article recommends doing with any vendor.

Services at a glance

Staffed events and the Gross Infusion Event

The staffed event is Pinnacle's core product. The FAQ describes the Gross Infusion Event as "a short-term, fully staffed revenue campaign designed to drive large amounts of traffic to your dealership and convert that traffic into gross profit." Pinnacle sends a team of desk managers, closers and salespeople to the store, supported by direct mail, digital marketing and call center work.

How long it runs. The FAQ and lead generation page say Gross Infusion Events typically run 5 to 8 days. The hosted events FAQ says "our events are typically 5-10 days," and the team page describes a crew that works your floor "for the three or four days it runs." Ask for the planned length in your proposal.

What goes into one. The staffed events page lists the pieces Pinnacle can bring:

• Sales reps and closers who greet customers and negotiate deals alongside your staff
• Targeted direct mail inviting local households to the event
• Social media, email marketing (with analytics) and Google Ads promotion
• Call center support before, during and after the event
• Sales training so your own people can handle the extra traffic

The hosted events FAQ adds that Pinnacle always holds an introductory training meeting with dealer staff before an event begins, and that it can fully staff a store if the dealer's own team is short, though it encourages the dealer's staff to work the event.

How success is measured. The FAQ lists "total ups, revenue, gross profits, units sold, net profits, franchise objectives met, and more." Prizes are part of the mechanism: the prize store page explains that the mailer names a giveaway, the recipient brings the piece in to claim it, and the crew has a reason to start a conversation.

How the $300,000 guarantee is described

Pinnacle advertises a $300,000 guarantee, and it is the claim dealers most often ask about. The site's wording varies by page:

• The home page and FAQ: "$300K gross or we work for free," and "We guarantee a minimum of $300,000 in gross profit from every Gross Infusion Event. If we don't deliver, we work for free." The FAQ says the company has offered this for over 20 years.
• The staffed events page: if the dealership "does not see an increase in sales that reaches at least $300,000 during the event, we will refund our fees."
• The direct mail page, quoting the owners: "if you don't bring in $300,000 in one staffed event, you get your money back."
• The hosted events and off-site pages: "we will pay you up to $300,000 in lost sales revenue."

Those are not the same promise (gross profit vs sales, waived fee vs refund vs payment). The company's own article on the guarantee advises dealers to ask "What are the exact terms if the guarantee is not met?" and notes that a guarantee is "not necessarily" the same as a refund promise, so "understand precisely what is owed and when." Follow that advice: get the measurement method, the remedy and any conditions (inventory, staffing, event length) written into your agreement.

Hosted events and off-site sales

Hosted events are, in the site's words, "a less intrusive type of staffed event with the same amount of mail and prizes, just with less of our staff." They suit dealers who are happy with their own desk manager and sales staff but want the traffic. Pinnacle might send just an event manager to greet customers and run the prizes, or add a few salespeople for volume. The page says a hosted event can "save up to 40% on event hosting," which is the company's figure.

Off-site sales move the sale away from the dealership to places such as fairgrounds, conference centers, auxiliary lots or a big-box store parking lot. The site says off-site events can be equipped with a tent, balloons, "an air-conditioned finance trailer," sales staff and a direct mail campaign. They are usually worked by outsourced staff so the home crew keeps handling normal traffic, and the company pitches them as a way to reach a new market without the overhead of another store.

Direct mail and co-op mailers

Direct mail can run with an event or on its own. The FAQ says many clients run standalone mail "for monthly traffic generation, service drive marketing, or conquest targeting." Campaign types on the site include:

• Conquest mailers aimed at owners who buy or service with other dealerships
• Service mailers: reminders, maintenance offers, recall and retention pieces
• Subprime and bankruptcy mailers for credit-challenged buyers; the company's article on these stresses avoiding misleading "pre-approved" claims
• Buy-back mailers offering to purchase a past customer's vehicle, to source used inventory
• Equity mining and lease pull-ahead campaigns built from your own customer data
• Video mailers: printed pieces with a built-in screen, which the site notes cost more per unit than a postcard
• Holiday and seasonal campaigns; the year-end page says holiday mail needs about four to six weeks of lead time

The company says it handles list targeting (by year, make, model, equity position and geography), custom creative and tracking through a client dashboard "from design to delivery," with results tracked by voucher redemptions, calls, car sales, revenue and ROI. Because of its volume, it says it buys mail at wholesale prices and passes the savings on.

Co-op mailers. Franchise dealers can often get manufacturer funding for approved mail. Pinnacle's FAQ says co-op mail usually has the same production price as non co-op mail, but costs the dealer less because the manufacturer covers a share. Its design team follows the manufacturer's guidelines and current incentives. Most independent dealers cannot get this funding; the site says Pinnacle offers "marketing credit to many of our independent dealers to help offset the cost of an event," and the independent dealers page adds that the credit "is not manufacturer money and it is not automatic."

BDC On Demand (outsourced call center)

BDC On Demand is described as "Pinnacle's outsourced call center built exclusively for automotive dealerships." The site says its agents are based in the United States and handle:

• Inbound sales and service calls
• Outbound follow-up sequences and internet lead response by phone, email and text
• Appointment confirmations, recall notices and declined-service follow-up
• Social media comment replies and Google review responses

Dealers can choose full outsourcing, overflow support, after-hours coverage or event-only call handling, and the FAQ says many use a hybrid (in-house agents for core hours, Pinnacle for overflow, after-hours and event spikes). During onboarding Pinnacle learns the store's processes, talk tracks, CRM workflow and appointment procedures, and reports through call recordings, performance metrics and regular reporting. Pinnacle also offers on-site consulting and training for dealers who want to keep the BDC in-house.

BDC pricing is not published. The site's Dealership BDC Guide explains the common outsourced pricing models (per seat, flat fee, per lead, per appointment and per show) and links a free BDC cost calculator that runs in the browser, so you can price your in-house phone room before you ask for a quote.

Dealership training and assessments

PDS training covers both the sales side ("variable operations") and the service side ("fixed operations"). Programs listed on the site:

• Sales consultant training: greeting, needs analysis, walkaround, test drive, first pencil, objection handling and post-sale experience, coached through role-play and "Hip to Hip Training."
• Sales management training: coaching vs managing, turnover (TO) strategies, floor management and daily activity.
• Sales BDC training: lead handling, appointment setting, CRM data discipline and follow-up.
• F&I manager training (listed as "Training Course + Certification"): financing, product presentation and compliance awareness.
• Service advisor training: customer concerns and repair orders, walkarounds, multi-point inspection presentation and retention.
• Service BDC training and service management training: scheduling, outbound campaigns, shop capacity and advisor leadership.

The method is called Measure, Fix, Sustain. Measure means secret shops, process mapping, a CRM review and an "AI integration assessment." Fix means custom in-store training, the Boot Camp, BDC On Demand and events. Sustain means ongoing monthly coaching, DISC behavioral assessments, recruiting help and performance tracking. The site says most training programs skip the third step.

Ways to start without a big commitment:

• Profit Evaporation Assessment: a free online quiz of 10 questions that the site says takes about 3 minutes and emails a report, with an optional 30-minute diagnostic call.
• Dealership Self-Assessment: a do-it-yourself online review covering sales, service, BDC, customer experience, accountability and digital marketing.
• Secret shop: an omnichannel mystery shop (web lead, email, phone and 14 days of follow-up) scored on responsiveness, response quality and phone experience, with recordings and an action plan.
• Improvement Assessment: an in-store evaluation the site lists as seven components and about five hours (leadership kickoff, process mapping, data collection, live observation, report, exit meeting) plus a follow-up review the agenda lists as "3 days."

PDS Boot Camp

The Boot Camp is a three-day, in-person training event for sales, BDC and management staff. When we checked, the Boot Camp page listed the next session as 10 to 12 November 2026 at the PDS Corporate Office, 19600 W Catawba Avenue, Building A, Suite 110, Cornelius, NC, with an "investment" of $1,995 for clients and $2,495 for non-clients.

The agenda runs in three blocks:

• Foundation and core skills: industry outlook, DISC assessment for your role, website optimization, the first 30 seconds of a phone call, a review of your store's secret shop results and the top five objections.
• Response and revenue systems: lead response, AI-assisted templates, phone skills using DISC, outbound campaigns and follow-up sequences.
• Leadership and accountability: a deeper secret shop review, coaching by DISC style, leading vs lagging KPIs, one-to-one meeting frameworks, scorecards and building a 90-day action plan.

Attendees take home a secret shop report, a playbook (response templates, call guides, AI prompts, KPI scorecards), DISC resources, a scripts and campaign library, KPI templates and a 90-day action plan. The page says a discounted hotel room block is available with details on registration, and that Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) is about 30 minutes away. Questions go to 833-699-6487 or training@pinnaclesalesandmail.com.

How much does Pinnacle Sales & Mail cost?

Most of Pinnacle's work is quoted per dealership. These are the only prices published on the site when we checked on 19 October 2026:

Prize prices are per unit at event quantities, and prizes are ordered as part of a campaign (there is no checkout). The event calculators on several service pages let you pick a budget band of $10,000 to $20,000, $20,000 to $30,000 or $30,000 and up, but those are inputs to an estimate, not a price list.

What drives a direct mail quote, according to Pinnacle's pricing article: mailing volume, audience targeting and data quality, the mail format (postcard, personalized piece, self-mailer, envelope, multi-touch sequence), campaign complexity, and how much BDC and follow-up support is built in. A quote may include targeting, creative, copywriting, list purchase, printing, postage, tracking and reporting, so ask which of those are in the number you get. The FAQ says the company will "design a campaign that fits your budget" and will tell you if the math does not make sense.

Funding help. Franchise dealers may be able to cover part of a mail drop with manufacturer co-op money. Independent dealers may be offered Pinnacle marketing credit toward an event; ask whether you qualify.

What happens step by step

For an event or mail campaign, the site describes this sequence:

1. Consultation. A free, no-obligation call where Pinnacle looks at your market, inventory, goals and budget. The FAQ also mentions a complimentary market analysis.
2. Proposal. A custom plan: event type, length, mail volume and targeting, digital support and staffing.
3. Lock the date and crew. The year-end page says event crews are booked nationally, so the date and crew get locked first, then co-op money, inventory, your own staff schedule and phone coverage.
4. Build the campaign. Marketing pulls the list, designs the mail and offer, handles co-op paperwork, picks prizes and schedules the drop so it lands at the right time before the sale.
5. Pre-event meeting. Pinnacle meets your staff before the event starts; the call center can begin outbound calls to build attendance.
6. The event. Pinnacle's crew works the floor with your team for the agreed days, while the call center handles the surge.
7. Follow-up and results. Post-event follow-up calls go to customers who visited but did not buy, and results are tracked through the client dashboard.

For BDC On Demand the steps are a complimentary consultation on call volume and staffing gaps, a custom plan (full, overflow, after-hours or event), then launch with recordings and reporting. For training, most dealers start with an assessment or secret shop, then move to in-store training and monthly coaching.

Franchise, independent or dealer group: what changes?

The site has a page for each kind of dealer:

• Franchise dealerships: the main difference is co-op money from the manufacturer, which must meet brand rules on creative, claims, logos and deadlines to be reimbursed. Campaigns often focus on lease retention, conquest, equity and loyalty, and events are also judged on whether they hit franchise objectives.
• Independent dealerships: no manufacturer funding, smaller and tighter mail drops, credit-challenged lists, and moving aged inventory. The page suggests that if leads are already arriving and dying on the phone, BDC help or floor training may be the cheaper first fix.
• Dealer groups: volume pricing and nationwide staffing make multi-store calendars possible; the page says the harder problem is consistent lead handling across stores and suggests starting with one store's event before a group-wide commitment.

How it compares with other options

Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere

Questions to ask before you sign

1. Exactly how is the $300,000 guarantee measured (gross profit or sales, front and back end, which days), and what is the remedy if it is missed: waived fee, refund or payment?
2. Are there conditions on the guarantee, such as inventory levels, event length or my staff's participation?
3. What is included in the price: mail, postage, prizes, digital, call center, travel and lodging for your crew?
4. How many days will the event run, and who will be the desk manager and closers?
5. Can you give me references from dealers my size, with my franchise or my type of inventory?
6. For co-op mail: who submits the paperwork, and what happens if a piece is not reimbursed?
7. For BDC On Demand: what counts as an appointment, how are calls reported, and how do I end the contract?
8. What is the legal name of the entity I am contracting with?

How to get started

1. Take the free Profit Evaporation Assessment if you are not sure whether your problem is traffic or lead handling.
2. Read the page for your type of dealership and the service you are considering.
3. Fill in the Get Started form (name, email, dealership, role and the services you want), or book a time through the site.
4. Call 1-888-524-4563 or email info@pinnaclesalesandmail.com. For the Boot Camp, call 833-699-6487 or email training@pinnaclesalesandmail.com.

Visit Pinnacle Sales & Mail

Terms you'll see on the site

• Gross: gross profit on a deal, the number dealers and event companies are measured on.
• Ups: customers who walk onto the lot or into the showroom.
• Desk manager: the manager who structures deals and approves numbers.
• Closer: an experienced salesperson brought in to finish deals.
• BDC: business development center, the dealership team that answers phones, responds to internet leads and sets appointments.
• Co-op mail: manufacturer-approved advertising that the manufacturer helps pay for.
• Conquest: marketing aimed at owners of other brands or customers of other dealers.
• Equity mining: finding existing customers who could trade up on similar or better terms.
• F&I: finance and insurance, the office that arranges loans and protection products.
• Fixed ops / variable ops: service and parts (fixed) vs vehicle sales (variable).
• DISC: a behavioral style assessment used for coaching and hiring.
• CSI: customer satisfaction index, the manufacturer's satisfaction score for a dealership.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

All pages checked on 19 October 2026.

1. Home page: pinnaclesalesandmail.com
2. About Us: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/aboutus/
3. Meet the Team: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/ourteam/
4. FAQs: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/faqs/
5. Lead generation: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/lead-generation/
6. Lead management: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/lead-management/
7. Event pages: Staffed Events, Hosted Events, Off Site Sales, Dealership Marketing
8. Guarantee article: What a $300,000 Sales Guarantee Really Means
9. Direct mail: Direct Mail Solutions, Co-op Direct Mailers, Automotive Direct Mail Pricing, Video Mailers, Buy Back Mailers, Bankruptcy Mailers
10. Prize Store: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/prize-store/
11. BDC: Call Center for Dealerships (BDC On Demand), Dealership BDC Guide
12. Training: Sales Training, Sales Consultant, Sales Management, Sales BDC, F&I Manager, Service Advisor, Service BDC, Service Management
13. PDS Boot Camp: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/boot-camp/
14. Assessments: Profit Evaporation Assessment, Dealership Self-Assessment, Improvement Assessment
15. Who we serve: Franchise, Independent, Dealer Groups
16. Year-End and Tax-Season Programs: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/year-end-and-tax-season/
17. Testimonials: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/testimonials/
18. Privacy Policy: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/privacy-policy/
19. Get Started form: pinnaclesalesandmail.com/get-started/
20. North Carolina Secretary of State business search: sosnc.gov