Your attitude toward yourself and your customers is critical to your success. Attitude influences our behavior and our actions, and ultimately defines what we can or cannot do. Once a negative attitude takes hold, success becomes an uphill battle. Much like a disease, a negative attitude can become a chronic problem, constantly eating away at your success. You become programmed to accept losing. Unless you break free of that cycle of negativity, you simply cannot succeed. Toward that end, it is essential that you leave personal and other problems at home. Customers don’t want to know about them – they want to interact with someone who is knowledgeable, and who exudes professionalism.
In business, image is everything. Your customers will make assumptions about you based on your image. If you look professional, they will see you as professional. This positive image sets the stage for sales success. Remember: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. The same hold true for the product as well, which is why the presentation should be polished and informative. Factors essential to creating a successful overall image include the quality of your wardrobe, grooming, politeness, voice, size, posture, body language, etc.
With the advent of every new year, most of us make new resolutions. Usually, they involve something that might improve our health: we will lose ten pounds (or more!), or cut out fried foods, or cut down on coffee, or quit smoking, or exercise more. Over the years, unfortunately, we’ve learned that our resolutions are made to be broken. No one holds us accountable for our failure to keep them. When no one cares about our success in such matters, we become lax in our efforts, and then we cease to put forth any effort at all. Little to nothing is changed. Once again, we settle for the status quo.
Dealerships and managers often make new resolutions, too. But, as happens with our personal ones, they quickly fail. Why? Because they are too general in nature. Because they are seldom written down or discussed or taken seriously. And, because no one holds anyone accountable for their achievement. Dealers, sales and finance managers say, “Let’s all work harder this year. Let’s sell more cars. Let’s sell more products. Let’s see if we can go over our quota this month.” Then they nod and initiate enthusiastic high-fives and pat each other on the back. This works . . . for about a minute! Once again, they settle for the status quo.
The salespeople are very important to the dealership in general and the finance department in particular. Nothing happens in a dealership until a vehicle is sold. The salesperson has the first opportunity to influence the position of the customer toward the Finance office and all the F&I products.
Salespeople must have confidence in their finance managers to support them in securing the vehicle sale. They must believe that the No. 1 priority of the finance manager is to protect the front-end gross profit. The finance manager can obtain the trust and support of the salespeople in a number of ways.
There are purely psychological barriers that could inhibit a smooth transition. Salespeople are protective of “their” customer, and are aware that the sale they worked so hard to achieve could conceivably fall apart in the Finance Office. Consequently, their reluctance to introduce their customers to a third party that was not directly involved in the vehicle’s sale is understandable.
F&I Managers can counter this reticence by maintaining open lines of communication. Combat the fear of the unknown – the sequestered transaction between the F&I Manager and the customer – by sharing that information with the appropriate salesperson. That information, however, should not include the customer’s financial particulars. That is a privacy issue that must be protected at all times. The F&I Department can further strengthen its relationship with the Sales Department by keeping it up to date on all deals. When word on a particular deal comes in, whether it’s positive or negative, it should be passed along. Processing all deals quickly and efficiently is also conducive to healthy inter-departmental interaction.
A Finance Department cannot operate alone. To fully realize its income potential, the Finance Department must have an outstanding working relationship with every other department within the dealership. This is accomplished by fostering a professional work environment among all dealership management and support personnel. This, in turn, helps generate sales. While this cooperation is required dealership-wide, nowhere is it more vital than between the Sales and Finance Departments. In fact, how successfully a dealership’s Sales and Finance Departments internally relate to one another largely determines whether or not the dealership itself will succeed.
Working with the Sales Department
The Sales Department sells the vehicle and secures the front-end gross. The Finance Department completes the legal paperwork to deliver the vehicle and secures the backend profit. In order to maximize the total profit both departments must work together on every deal.
A Finance Manager cannot operate alone. A large part of your success as a Finance Manager is determined by how well you develop professional relationships. This series of positive relationships extends beyond the dealership and its customers; in finance, in particular, success is dependent on many different service providers, all of whom must complete their tasks in a timely, professional manner in order for you to accomplish your goal – final approval and funding. No matter how hard you work or how proficient you become, you won’t be successful unless you have a strong connection with these lenders. This positive relationship is defined by two major factors: the quality of the relationship you create with your lender and how professionally you present your deals.
DEVELOPING RAPPORT, ESTABLISHING TRUST
Customers want to do business with people they know, people they like and people they trust. In fact, everyone prefers to do business with people they feel comfortable with; this holds true for lenders as well. Unfortunately, many Finance Managers set themselves up for failure by forgetting that, while they may be sending a deal to a large financial institution, they are working with individuals at that institution.
Dealerships throughout the country are taking a more serious look at lease alternatives. Statistics show that approximately a fifth of all new vehicles—including cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans—are leased in today’s market. It is a venture worthy of serious attention. This is especially so, because vehicle costs have spiraled upward significantly in recent years, often pricing a customer’s preferred vehicle out of consideration for purchase. With the interest rate on their loans no longer a tax-deductible expense, leasing provides customers with more options and, often, significant benefits over a purchase. There are as many benefits to dealers in such an arrangement as there are to these consumers.
First of all, customers are not typically in a negative equity position when they return their vehicle at the end of a lease; second, they are not concerned about the resale value of the leased vehicle. A lease expiration date assures them—and the dealership—of the opportunity to lease or buy/sell another vehicle, creating a mutually beneficial system. A significant number of customers find the choice to either purchase the leased vehicle or turn it in for a newer model very appealing. These same customers often prefer the shorter term options of a lease versus the longer terms that often accompany the purchase of a new vehicle.
Leasing is a great tool for dealers and customers . . . provided the customers are fully aware they have leased a vehicle and not purchased one. That’s the factor that needs strict consideration by every member of the dealership team—both sales and finance personnel. In this arrangement, as in every other one involving sales and contracts, honesty is the best policy.
Your Special Finance Office now has all the necessary components for success in the non-prime market. The staff is fully-trained and qualified to handle the challenges of serving special finance customers. They have established and maintain professional relationships with a network of lenders whose different special finance guidelines will cover a wide range of non-prime deals. They have conducted carefully researched and refined marketing campaigns to draw non-prime customers to the dealership, and have stocked appropriate inventory for these customers. Now these different elements have to work together in a seamless method. One of the main points in organizing the Special Finance Department is the ability to handle the work flow. Often, this means using the latest technology available to streamline the entire special finance operation. It also means having a well-established structure to the sales process.
The process of establishing a viable Special Finance Office began by focusing on the hiring and training of qualified staff. The next steps in the process were customer-related: using effective marketing strategies to target the special finance demographic, and stocking the dealership with inventory available to the non-prime market. The next step in the process is building and maintaining positive relationships with multiple lending sources. This is an integral part of a Special Finance Office’s success. After all, no matter how hard you work or how proficient you become, you won’t be successful unless you have a strong support network with your service providers. Without this support, a Special Finance Office has virtually no chance of achieving its ultimate goal: final approval and funding. Establishing and managing the proper lender relationships will put your Special Finance Department on the map.
Many finance managers choose to see lenders as unimportant or secondary to the overall process, or as simple service providers. The truth is, unless you have the assistance of these essential people, you cannot attain your goals. Their attitude toward you significantly affects their attitude toward your loan packages. By treating these providers in a respectful, friendly and considerate manner, you will establish a positive relationship, build rapport and create an overall spirit of cooperation.