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.
Sales Procedures
The non-prime sales process is completely different from the regular sales process. For successful non-prime sales, prospects must be worked backwards through the traditional sales cycle. It is absolutely essential that the customer’s credit be determined at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end. This is the only way to be sure that the customer is being directed toward a vehicle they can actually afford. The fastest way to sink a sale is telling a customer he can’t afford the car he just test-drove.
Initial customer interviews must be separate from the sales process. This separation provides an additional measure of control as you invite prospects to appointments where you can manage the process. Credit counseling is very important part of the overall sales process and the sales staff should be trained on it. They are responsible for helping customers re-establish credit by purchasing an appropriate vehicle. This vehicle should meet their needs and fall within their financial restrictions.
A typical introduction to the credit counseling part of the sales process is as follows:
“Mr. Customer, we need to first review the credit application and credit reports to determine the payment and vehicle selections that the lenders will approve.”
Control = Efficiency
Due to the sensitive nature of the typical non-prime deal, the entire process must be carefully controlled at all times. If prospective customers arrive on the lot and choose their vehicle without any regard to their credit score or payment history, the entire sales process is likely to be derailed. Evaluating credit becomes an exercise in futility. Not only is it waste of time, but it can also create ill will that can send that customer away from the dealership. Customers with strong credit may feel insulted or antagonized. Even worse, a special finance customer who may have selected a vehicle beyond their means may feel too embarrassed to ever return to the dealership.
The following are the steps for the non-prime sales process:
- Meet and Greet – Meet the customer and engage in a non-threatening conversation to establish rapport.
- Interview – Take a complete credit application and start collecting the necessary information and stipulations.
- Qualify – Obtain and review the credit report. Based on this information, determine the advance, down payment and budget in accordance with the lender’s guidelines. If a trade-in is involved, book and appraise the vehicle.
- Vehicle Selection – Based on the qualifying terms and conditions, select the vehicles from your inventory which fit these guidelines and provide the dealership an adequate profit. To minimize objections on selected vehicles, always keep control of both the deal and the customer.
- Test Drive – Involve the sales representatives with test driving and the collection of stipulations.
- Close – After the customer makes their selection, close the deal and initiate the finance process.
- Finance Process – When explaining the features and benefits of the F&I products, present them in a manner to stress their loan protection elements. When a customer recognizes the importance of these products, the transaction becomes a win-win situation: the customer leaves satisfied, and the dealership has enhanced its CSI while realizing profits.
Special Finance and Desking Software
Most non-prime desking software available in today’s market can be very helpful for structuring deals and maximizing profit. Special Finance software does everything electronically in seconds, and paves the way for instant approvals.
Products on today’s market are highly detailed: they have the ability to sort customers by salesperson, pull a bureau, make ongoing notes, submit apps to lenders and select vehicles according to the guidelines set forth by an approved lender. The most successful dealerships are embracing this new technology to efficiently manage and track their customers for maximum profits. This new, paperless automotive industry moves at an extremely fast pace, with virtually instantaneous results, a terrific asset in the special finance process. The less time the non-prime customer spends worrying about whether or not he will be approved, the better. It also eliminates the risk of incomplete information jeopardizing a deal after it’s been sent to the lender.
Ready for Success
Your Special Finance Office is ready. Your entire staff is trained in proper procedure and can work together as a whole to close non-prime deals. Your non-prime demographic has been drawn to your dealership through a series of carefully researched, well-timed multi-media advertising. The inventory on the lot offers a wide range of vehicles for credit-challenged customers; these vehicles will be attractive to the customers and fall within lender guidelines. Your staff is cultivating and maintaining positive, professional relationships with a network of lenders. This network is large enough to accommodate a wide variety of special finance deals, yet small enough to assure that each lender receives a satisfactory number of deals from. Finally, the Special Finance Office has created an effective operational structure for itself. The latest technology is being used to make the entire process as fast and efficient as possible. With all these elements working together, your dealership’s battle for greater market share can become a victory.
Tags: Automotive Sales, f&i, Sales Procedures, Special Finance