The first thing I noticed this year at NADA was the difference in tone when it came to dealers and their attitudes. Two years ago when I attended in New Orleans the attitude and overall feel was completely different. At that time dealers were just looking for ways to becomes more efficient and survive the storm.

Few were willing to look at lead generation or anything that involved expanding their business, but instead were looking at ways to maximize what they already had. This led to a large demand for the lending aspect of our company, but a tepid approach when it came to looking at lead generation.

This year you saw the difference in attitude and intent with all of the dealers that were at the show from the first bell on that Saturday. Those that have survived the past few years have learned to be more lean and efficient and make the most of what the market offers. They are now looking to expand their book of business and attack the customers who are not walking onto their lot.

Lenders are stepping up to the plate and actually looking to add dealers in 2011. This means to increase market share, dealers will have to find new ways to reach customers outside of their traditional forms of advertisement. Our ability to eliminate duplication among all the different verticals of lead generation that a dealer may utilize puts us in a unique position to offer non-brand-specific customers that the dealership is not seeing currently.

We're looking forward to helping our dealer partners find car buyers that no other provider (new/used/finance/brand specific/inventory based) can supply. 2011 is going to be a great year for selling cars.

Brian Matthews is an account executive for Carloan.com. He has been helping dealers with their sales and marketing processes since 2007. You can reach Brian at 804-521-8569, via email at bmatthewsATcarloan.com and follow Brian on Twitter at @BrianCarloan.

The first thing I noticed this year at NADA was the difference in tone when it came to dealers and their attitudes. Two years ago when I attended in New Orleans the attitude and overall feel was completely different. At that time dealers were just looking for ways to becomes more efficient and survive the storm.

Few were willing to look at lead generation or anything that involved expanding their business, but instead were looking at ways to maximize what they already had. This led to a large demand for the lending aspect of our company, but a tepid approach when it came to looking at lead generation.

This year you saw the difference in attitude and intent with all of the dealers that were at the show from the first bell on that Saturday. Those that have survived the past few years have learned to be more lean and efficient and make the most of what the market offers. They are now looking to expand their book of business and attack the customers who are not walking onto their lot.

Lenders are stepping up to the plate and actually looking to add dealers in 2011. This means to increase market share, dealers will have to find new ways to reach customers outside of their traditional forms of advertisement. Our ability to eliminate duplication among all the different verticals of lead generation that a dealer may utilize puts us in a unique position to offer non-brand-specific customers that the dealership is not seeing currently.

We're looking forward to helping our dealer partners find car buyers that no other provider (new/used/finance/brand specific/inventory based) can supply. 2011 is going to be a great year for selling cars.

Brian Matthews is an account executive for Carloan.com. He has been helping dealers with their sales and marketing processes since 2007. You can reach Brian at 804-521-8569, via email at bmatthewsATcarloan.com and follow Brian on Twitter at @BrianCarloan.

Good day.  Exciting news we're communicating to the market today.  We're announcing that we have surpassed the 5 million mark of online car loan applications delivered to our Carloan.com network of dealers.  Over the last 8 years we've averaged 625,000 apps a year or 52,000 each month.  Big stuff considering the last two years have been within a recession.

A big thanks to our dealers.

Many of you have been doing business with us for well over 12 months, and several for over 5 years.  We can't say "thank you" enough for sticking with us through the downturn.  Of course, we have warm fuzzies for our new customers too.  All in all the level of service you provide to hard working people every day is extraordinary.  Our marketing doesn't work if dealers on the ground don't back it up.  Thanks!

Surpassing 5 million car loan applications has us pumped. What has us confident that we'll hit our next 5 million faster than the first is the ground work we're laying in our business now.  We're excited about the investments we're making.  There's a lot moving with new faces and talent, new teams, new tools, and new ways of collaborating with partners.  We feel down the stretch in 2011, our brands will be stronger than ever, and as customers you'll benefit from stronger intent in the buyer.  Our goal remains your mission, Sell More Cars!®

Please stop by our booth at NADA and say hello - booth #2046S.  If you're free Saturday at 12:30 come help us celebrate our milestone.  Marketing got a fancy cake and everything.

Safe travels,

-Tom

Good day.  Exciting news we're communicating to the market today.  We're announcing that we have surpassed the 5 million mark of online car loan applications delivered to our Carloan.com network of dealers.  Over the last 8 years we've averaged 625,000 apps a year or 52,000 each month.  Big stuff considering the last two years have been within a recession.

A big thanks to our dealers.

Many of you have been doing business with us for well over 12 months, and several for over 5 years.  We can't say "thank you" enough for sticking with us through the downturn.  Of course, we have warm fuzzies for our new customers too.  All in all the level of service you provide to hard working people every day is extraordinary.  Our marketing doesn't work if dealers on the ground don't back it up.  Thanks!

Surpassing 5 million car loan applications has us pumped. What has us confident that we'll hit our next 5 million faster than the first is the ground work we're laying in our business now.  We're excited about the investments we're making.  There's a lot moving with new faces and talent, new teams, new tools, and new ways of collaborating with partners.  We feel down the stretch in 2011, our brands will be stronger than ever, and as customers you'll benefit from stronger intent in the buyer.  Our goal remains your mission, Sell More Cars!®

Please stop by our booth at NADA and say hello - booth #2046S.  If you're free Saturday at 12:30 come help us celebrate our milestone.  Marketing got a fancy cake and everything.

Safe travels,

-Tom

When I was on the retail side of things this was by far the worst month of the year, with the possible exception of that magical “13^th month” between Santa and Baby New Year.  Well, same goes for the auto finance lead side of things, December is the time when people are more concerned about finding the right Cabbage Patch Doll or GI Joe than they are with buying a car. 

There is always an upside though, because the car loan leads that we do generate in December are need buyers and are online because they have to do something right now.  This is my 7^th Christmas on this side of the business, and it’s always been the same, leads are lighter than normal and car sales are down.  That is why the way things are playing out this year has caught me off guard a little.

For the first time we have more consumer traffic in December than we did last month, and dealers are telling me that they are seeing sales numbers that look more like October than December.  For the last two years I’ve sat with you at trade shows and conventions, all of us agreeing that when this thing turns it’s gonna happen fast, and we’re there.  People have run out of duct tape to keep their old cars held together, and they're ready for a new ride. 

These aren’t folks who are out kicking tires and trying to decide if they can work you down another $100 by shopping 4 other stores, these are mostly people who weren’t really thinking about buying a car but suddenly find themselves in a position where they have to.

We’ve all seen this movie a few years ago, and we know that there will be a point where instead of grabbing easy market share, dealers will be playing catch up.  Today’s decisions will determine who is knocking them dead in first quarter and who is wishing that they’d done more to attract used car buyers.  I’m not saying that you have to buy my leads (although I’d love it if that was your first choice), but I am telling you that you have to do something.  Find an advertising source that gives you a guaranteed number of folks to talk to every month and run with it. 

If you sit and wait I promise that you’ll get tired of hearing from your friends in your market who didn’t.

Bob Harwood is the National Sales Manager for Carloan.com. Prior to joining Carloan.com six and half years ago, he worked on both sides of the financing process -- first at Capital One and then at a dealership here in Richmond. You can reach Bob at 804-521-8581 or via email at bharwoodATcarloan.com.

When I was on the retail side of things this was by far the worst month of the year, with the possible exception of that magical “13^th month” between Santa and Baby New Year.  Well, same goes for the auto finance lead side of things, December is the time when people are more concerned about finding the right Cabbage Patch Doll or GI Joe than they are with buying a car. 

There is always an upside though, because the car loan leads that we do generate in December are need buyers and are online because they have to do something right now.  This is my 7^th Christmas on this side of the business, and it’s always been the same, leads are lighter than normal and car sales are down.  That is why the way things are playing out this year has caught me off guard a little.

For the first time we have more consumer traffic in December than we did last month, and dealers are telling me that they are seeing sales numbers that look more like October than December.  For the last two years I’ve sat with you at trade shows and conventions, all of us agreeing that when this thing turns it’s gonna happen fast, and we’re there.  People have run out of duct tape to keep their old cars held together, and they're ready for a new ride. 

These aren’t folks who are out kicking tires and trying to decide if they can work you down another $100 by shopping 4 other stores, these are mostly people who weren’t really thinking about buying a car but suddenly find themselves in a position where they have to.

We’ve all seen this movie a few years ago, and we know that there will be a point where instead of grabbing easy market share, dealers will be playing catch up.  Today’s decisions will determine who is knocking them dead in first quarter and who is wishing that they’d done more to attract used car buyers.  I’m not saying that you have to buy my leads (although I’d love it if that was your first choice), but I am telling you that you have to do something.  Find an advertising source that gives you a guaranteed number of folks to talk to every month and run with it. 

If you sit and wait I promise that you’ll get tired of hearing from your friends in your market who didn’t.

Bob Harwood is the National Sales Manager for Carloan.com. Prior to joining Carloan.com six and half years ago, he worked on both sides of the financing process -- first at Capital One and then at a dealership here in Richmond. You can reach Bob at 804-521-8581 or via email at bharwoodATcarloan.com.

I spent a couple of days last month at the Washington DC edition of the 4^th annual ADM conference.  This was the first year they had split the conference up into different markets, but I was still able to learn quite a bit from chatting with the 9 dealers and the lenders in attendance.

Luckily the assembled cast represented the full spectrum, from polished special finance professionals looking to hone their skills to a dealer principal who knows that he needs spi fi but doesn’t know how to get it up and running.  When I came back to the office here at Carloan.com and started reading through the notes I had taken, the generally accepted ingredients for success were:

• The store must commit to sub prime from the top down
• Have the right cars
• Have the right banks and understand their programs
• Constantly train your people

This seems so simple on paper, but every dealer I speak to that tells me they can’t make special finance work is deficient in one of these areas, often without realizing it.  Lenders really seem to be the biggest stumbling block, and the differentiator between successful special finance shops and those that struggle.  This was pointed out in stark detail as I listened to three folks discuss the same lender.  All three were from the same state, but all had very different experiences.

Dealer A said that they couldn’t get a deal hung with the bank to save their life, Dealer B said they were OK, but didn’t buy a majority of the deals she sent, but Dealer C swore by the bank and said that if not for this bank their secondary department would be in trouble.  Same state, same bank, same program, very different results, so why such different results?  Dealer C knows the bank’s programs inside and out, and structures his deals to fall in their sweet spot, while the other two structure their deals generically and shoot them to a few banks hoping for a good call.

If you haven’t spoken to your bank reps in a while, take a few minutes to pick up the phone and call them.  Find out what their perfect deal looks like, and how you can tweak what you’ve been sending to get some better calls.  Remember, those folks get paid on how many deals they book, so they want your business and will take all the time necessary to help you understand their programs.

Bob Harwood is the National Sales Manager for Carloan.com.  Carloan.com has been generating auto finance leads and special finance leads since 1989.

I spent a couple of days last month at the Washington DC edition of the 4^th annual ADM conference.  This was the first year they had split the conference up into different markets, but I was still able to learn quite a bit from chatting with the 9 dealers and the lenders in attendance.

Luckily the assembled cast represented the full spectrum, from polished special finance professionals looking to hone their skills to a dealer principal who knows that he needs spi fi but doesn’t know how to get it up and running.  When I came back to the office here at Carloan.com and started reading through the notes I had taken, the generally accepted ingredients for success were:

• The store must commit to sub prime from the top down
• Have the right cars
• Have the right banks and understand their programs
• Constantly train your people

This seems so simple on paper, but every dealer I speak to that tells me they can’t make special finance work is deficient in one of these areas, often without realizing it.  Lenders really seem to be the biggest stumbling block, and the differentiator between successful special finance shops and those that struggle.  This was pointed out in stark detail as I listened to three folks discuss the same lender.  All three were from the same state, but all had very different experiences.

Dealer A said that they couldn’t get a deal hung with the bank to save their life, Dealer B said they were OK, but didn’t buy a majority of the deals she sent, but Dealer C swore by the bank and said that if not for this bank their secondary department would be in trouble.  Same state, same bank, same program, very different results, so why such different results?  Dealer C knows the bank’s programs inside and out, and structures his deals to fall in their sweet spot, while the other two structure their deals generically and shoot them to a few banks hoping for a good call.

If you haven’t spoken to your bank reps in a while, take a few minutes to pick up the phone and call them.  Find out what their perfect deal looks like, and how you can tweak what you’ve been sending to get some better calls.  Remember, those folks get paid on how many deals they book, so they want your business and will take all the time necessary to help you understand their programs.

Bob Harwood is the National Sales Manager for Carloan.com.  Carloan.com has been generating auto finance leads and special finance leads since 1989.