Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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industry expert / special finance How a Helium Tank Could Help Your Special Finance Department An 18-year former dealer principal with focus on Special Fi- nance since 1989, Greg Goebel is CEO of Auto Dealer Monthly, LLC, the parent company of Greg Goebel Training & Consulting. He is a leading industry consultant, trainer, author and speaker serving retail automotive dealers. Contact Greg at 941.685.9629. Greg@AutoDealerMonthly.com The sixth in a series of articles detailing the Ten Critical Components for Success in Special Finance. (SF customers) are blown out of showrooms after an unsus- pecting salesperson or desk manager allows a customer to select a vehicle, which in turn they present, sell and eventu- ally close subject to terms they can never get approved in finance. I have witnessed this happen in some of the most successful and profitable dealerships in the country. E very day, in nine out of 10 dealerships in the country, potential buyers There are many reasons it occurs, and many people realize that it occurs, yet most often it is allowed to continue. Whether special finance is a separate department within a dealership or functions as part of a blended floor, perhaps the most important step in the special finance sales process is to be able to identify the SF customer at the onset of the sale, before the customer is shown (and sold) a vehicle. The identification process is simple for those customers which the SF manager or department has attracted as The most important step in the special finance sales process is to be able to identify the SF customer at the onset of the sale, before the customer is shown (and sold) a vehicle. 14 leads, then contacted and set appointments to visit the dealership. The credit status of the customer has already been established, and once the customer arrives at the dealership, the sales process is already set. The sales team immediately moves into what I call the finance loop, where the customer completes a credit statement, a credit bureau is pulled and the combination is evaluated to see which finance companies' programs are the best fit. Once that is determined, the desk can then suggest the most appropriate vehicles for the salesperson to show. This gives the dealership the best opportunity to structure a win-win-win deal. Most sales teams have been taught a process involving the road to the sale. Depending on the source, it may involve seven steps, 10 steps, 11 or whatever. In most situations, they all work the same—start- ing with the meet and greet, investigating the needs and wants, and so on. When working with prime credit customers, this is tried and true and a very sound way of executing the sales process. The problem occurs when the customer has subprime credit. In most stores in today's market, that is over 50 percent of the time. That means more often than not, customers are being worked improperly. I have frequently written in the past that it would be ideal if dealers could place a balloon kiosk in the customer parking area, and customers would be required to select one of two colored balloons to walk around the dealership with (either a green balloon for those with prime credit or a red balloon for those with subprime credit). That would make the sales process so easy. It would help keep a salesperson from directing customers to and working deals on vehicles that the customer could never qualify for, nor afford. Red balloon (RB) customers would be identified immediately, and after the meet and greet, they would immediately be directed into the finance loop. With green balloon (GB) customers, nothing in the process would change from the tried and true. The key, regardless of the department structure, is to insert a simple, non-offending qualifying question or two into your meet-and-greet process. These questions are simple. It can be as simple as asking, "Are you here for the big sale today? Great! Are you inter- ested in our special insert the appropriate number] percent APR interest rate program for preferred credit customers?" (If the customer qualifies as GB, proceed with your tradi- tional road to the sale.) If the answer is no, "Then would you be here to take advantage of our special financing pro- grams to help you establish or re-establish credit? Great!