Is Brooming Customers Another Covid Side Effect?

Is Brooming Customers Another Covid Side Effect??

Recently I’ve experienced a strange déjà vu when providing onsite consultations. I’m reminded of a time when I was working with a dealer in Arkansas who purchased a Buick / GMC store. He told me there wasn’t much meat on the bone and not to expect much in F&I performance. Most customers paid cash or had prime credit.

“No problem,” I thought. After all, I can positively impact any operation. But I couldn’t help wonder why the dealer didn’t get any tier three or four business. The customers at dealerships up the street seemed to represent a full cross-section of buyers. It didn’t make sense.

I continued to ask questions until the dealer came up with a brilliant idea (or he got tired of my harping). He decided to spiff the salespeople one weekend $40.00 per write-up. “Just come to the desk with whatever write-up, no matter the credit, and you’ll get $40.00.” The following Monday, the dealer called to report he had plenty of tier three and four customers.?

If you’re reading between the lines, you already know where I’m going. The store didn’t have any subprime lenders – or the F&I manager wasn’t keen on working subprime customers. The salespeople thought, “Why bother selling a customer a car if they said they had slow or derogatory credit history?” So they broomed the customer, sent them packing to the competitor down the street, and moved to the next customer who could buy a car.

Is this you? Be honest. Because this is exactly what is happening in dealerships throughout the United States today. This is the dark side of the pandemic’s silver lining for auto retail.?

The front is making big profits on preowned cars today. They don’t have to take the skinny deals or cut profit to swallow a lender fee. Those vehicles aren’t easy to come by, so they’re being saved for the customer who’s going to pay all the profit. Who can blame them?

But will it pay off in the long run? Are you sending customers to your competitor, CarMax, Carvana, Vroom, or independent dealers who are lining their pockets with the deals you don’t want? The sales manager may not see the value in a lower-tier customer today, but your competition does. Because when you treat a customer with slow pay history right, you have a customer for life.

What about the customer who just paid full gross? Will they use your service department? Does it matter? That’s a discussion for another day.

You may not realize it, but many of the larger dealer groups have their own in-house financing with internal scoring metrics. They’re not only going to sell more cars; they’ll earn more profit doing it. They will take the market share if you don’t do something about it.

Some say, “Ok, let them,” but remember when CarMax offered to put an appraisal on every trade whether the customer was going to buy a car from them or not? Talk about clever! Today, customers go to CarMax to get a trade value even before they step foot in a dealership. In fact, your sales manager likely sends the customer to CarMax to get a trade value! Is that you?

Today’s most successful dealers aren’t fixed in their ways. They have a growth mindset and continually adapt to the changing market!

This bubble won’t last forever. Do you have the necessary skill-set and processes in place today to meet market conditions tomorrow??

Schedule a 15-minute Zoom call today! 866-894-1899?

Unparalleled Experience + Analytics + Gold-Standard Training = IMPACT

Chernek Consulting, founded in 2001, offers automotive dealers exceptional experience-based consultation for multipoint, multi-brand automotive groups to significantly impact performance. Rebecca Chernek has worked with industry leaders such as JM&A, AutoNation, NCM Institute, NCM 20 Groups, NADA 20 Groups, Mercedes Benz Financial Services, Sym-Tech Dealers Services, and more.

Rebecca’s comprehensive analysis identifies operational and team strengths and weaknesses. Her focus is on:

1) plugging profit leaks

2) getting the customer on the right car at the get-go

3) cultivating customers for life

4) digitizing processes for maximum efficiency and profit?

It’s the little things you do that can make a big difference.

Rebecca gets the entire team on the same page, implementing processes that:

·?????Meet customers on their terms – online to in-dealership,

·?????Finalize the transaction in the F&I office with a single-point sales associate, hybrid or a dedicated F&I manager,

·?????Get the paper off the floor – digitizing the entire workflow, making it easier and faster for the customer to buy a car.

·?????Get the transaction right the first time out, improving customer satisfaction.?

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Remove the obstacles to selling more cars – and achieving higher performance on cash, lease and finance transactions!?

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In addition to onsite consultation, Becky provides continuing education via her F&I On-Demand Virtual Pro platform, with optional video critiques and F&I manager performance monitoring. F&I On-Demand Virtual Pro topics include:

§?Digital Retailing/Online to In-Dealership

§?Digital Menu/eContracting RouteOne/Dealertrack

§?Product Sales/Product Knowledge

§?Compliance

§?Online Presentation/Offsite Delivery

§?Desking Practices/Presentations

§?Single-point/Hybrid F&I Approach

§?Funding/CIT

§?Lender Relationship/Rehash

§?Pay Plans

§?Process Implementation

If you respond within 30 days, receive?*15% off the in-dealership consultation PLUS?a complimentary day dedicated to deal performance analysis! Also includes 60-day continuing education access to Chernek Consulting F&I On-Demand Virtual Pro and?a $595 upgrade (regularly priced at $995 per month) for 3 months for video critique consultation using performance tracking with most reporting systems. Find the weak spots and raise your potential!

*3-Day In-Store Applies

Schedule a 15-minute Zoom call today! 866-894-1899

*Ask for Becky Chernek!