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Turbocharge Your Profits by Extracting the Sales Bottleneck

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Everybody knows that bottlenecks are the killers of progress and productivity. Where there’s a bottleneck, there’s a problem! Unfortunately, the vast majority of dealerships aren’t aware that their biggest bottleneck—the one that exists between sales and F&I and brings things to a crawl—can be removed. How? By seamlessly integrating the two.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Consider how many customers these days are flocking to third party platforms like TrueCar. The reason for this is easy to understand. Buyers have grown tired of the century-old model of traditional auto sales. They want transparency and straight talk. And when given the opportunity to participate in a buying process that offers this—especially a car buying experience that doesn’t require them to sit in the dealership for hours on end waiting for financial approval—they’re only all too eager to snatch it up!

So what’s the best way for dealerships to combat this? It’s certainly not to go on the offense against the likes of TrueCar and Carmax. They’re only offering a service that people want. Instead, the answer is to look within and to take decisive action to enact changes that will bring your dealership up to speed with the most highly performing auto sellers on the planet.

It Takes Two to Tango!

As with all collaborative efforts, the success of my approach hinges on teamwork. Without cooperation between sales managers and F&I managers, success simply will not happen. This is why I urge dealerships to have the departments to work together. It isn’t always an easy task to break tradition, though, so I often recommend that representatives from both attend a retreat or workshop together. Not only does the experience build camaraderie, but they learn how to communicate about the issues related to both their divisions. And, once everyone gets on the same page and stays there, you can start seeing results!

Key Elements for Desking and F&I Success

Once everyone is operating as a team, you much consider what you want them to do. The approach you take will vary by your product and marketing, but I recommend that all dealers consider these essentials when combining the two:

  • Establish credit criteria early in the sales process. Among one of the most important changes any dealership can make to their approach is to start talking credit scores long in advance of negotiations, and well before the customer decides on a car to buy.
  • Determine the best time to talk payments. Is it something best discussed up-front in sales, or is it a conversation more suited to the F&I office? When it comes to selling vehicles, there’s no room for ambiguity here. You need to decide how sales and F&I can position you for success in menu presentation and improve profit.
  • Identify “The Interview” and clarify why it is so important. An essential component to expediting the sale (and, in turn, cutting delivery time in half) is something I call “The Interview”—a question and answer phase that starts at the initial meet-and-greet. This includes having the F&I manager engage in conversation with the customer early on in discussions to learn the reasons behind potential low credit ratings and slow pay histories. What’s the best way for this team to determine customer creditworthiness and plant the seeds for menu sales further in the process?
  • Getting the paperwork straight the first time. Sending a customer into F&I with an incomplete deal checklist and no idea if they will be approved for credit is one of the principal contributors to the dreaded bottleneck. In my workshop, participants will gain an understanding of the importance of getting paperwork right the first time.

Ready to solve your Desking and F&I bottleneck? Join Becky Chernek for her upcoming NCMi® class, Desking and F&I Integration. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to develop a seamless customer transition that results not only in happier customers, but also in dramatically improved sales and profit.


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