One of the best practices for improving reconditioning results is to improve the flow of clear-title status communications between the finance and reconditioning departments.

This small improvement can help finance play an even more timely role in a dealership’s ability to improve inventory turn rate.

In a modern time-to-line and speed-to-sale reconditioning environment, even the sales and finance departments have a hand in getting cars frontline ready faster.

The best practice here is to have a Clear Finance alert between the finance and reconditioning departments. Clear Finance means the dealership now owns the title to the trade-in vehicle waiting for reconditioning.

Reconditioning started on a vehicle lacking title clearance can create problems for the reconditioning and the finance departments. Delays in bank loan approvals for the new car that generated the trade-in and lagging contracts in transit can mean cars processing through recon the dealership doesn’t own.

When that happens, and the unresolved clear-title status of that vehicle comes to light, management may choose to:

Pull that vehicle out of reconditioning to wait for the Finance Clear signal. Pulling a car out of the reconditioning workflow can slow down the delivery of sale-ready vehicles to the sales lot.

• Continue reconditioning, absorbing any repair investments in that vehicle should that transaction need to be unwound due to the lender’s loan decline or another issue.

Either situation creates unproductive dead time in the dealership’s reconditioning workflow. Modern reconditioning is a race to get used cars that a dealer buys at auctions or as trade-ins mechanically and cosmetically inspected, repaired, and ready for sale. Any delay in this process slows this momentum, and as a result, the inventory turn rate.

Slowed recon may not seem tremendously significant, but Nicole Renninger, a former dealership F&I director who now provides dealership support for reconditioning software company Rapid Recon, says recon speed matters a great deal.

“How fast a dealer can recondition a car and get it ready to sell influences the profitability of a vehicle when sold. Delays in communicating clear title status to the recon department slow this process, which becomes a drag on inventory turn,” Renninger said. “And finance has more influence on recon speed than many dealers and managers consider.”

For dealerships where contracts in transit or deal unwinds are prevalent, adding a step to their reconditioning processes called Clear Finance may be necessary, she said.

Renninger noted these considerations:

• State laws pertaining to title handling
• Percentage of unwound deals
• Percentage of deals with trade-ins
• Finance department efficiency
• The average dollar investment for trade-in reconditioning

“I have worked for KIA and GMC stores where this was a challenge, and for Cadillac stores where it is not,” Renninger said.

“The risk increases when vehicles are spot delivered and then finance is slow in submitting loan paperwork, or there’s trouble getting an ex-spouse’s signature on a trade-in title, all the while the consumer drives around in a vehicle they think they own. Whether dealers need a Clear Finance notification for recon depends on how much risk dealers want to take.”

Jim Leman has been writing about automotive retail variable and fixed operations since 1992.

By Imran Mussani, Vice President, Operations, for MaximTrak Division of RouteOne

As appearing in the March edition of F&I and Showroom magazine

You’re probably seeing Gen Z buyers now connecting with you, typically first by digital and then by phone or in-person, as the generation has become of vehicle-buying age.

Sixty-three percent of this group, men and women born since 1996, will buy a used car rather than new model.[1] This may be one reason that Lending Tree reports Gen Z has the least and the lowest auto debt, with the median loan balance $13,666[2].

Gen Z is a considerable population -- about 90.55 million, noted statistics company Statista[3].  One-third of the generation was of car-buying age as of last summer, a Ford Motor Company blog reports.[4]

Pew Research called these consumers the “always-on” generation. “By the time they were in their teens…they connected with the web through mobile devices, WiFi and high-bandwidth cellular,” Pew noted in early 2019.[5] 

The Marchex Institute, a mobile advertising analytics company, said its research revealed that Gen Z shoppers “do not prefer digital-only interactions.” Instead, they’re a “click-to-call” shopper after first completing their online research. Thus, these consumers are inclined to interact with you across multiple platforms, from digital retail, mobile, and in-person.

Two actions should be considered based on these data points:

One, how are you addressing your store’s digital footprint to enable Gen Z convenient access to your F&I product offerings, using the connection and communications platforms they prefer?

Two, what modifications to your in-store customer engagement practices should be adjusted or reinvented to put Gen Z at ease, in control, and well-attended to when they visit the showroom?

Online magazine Retail TouchPoints, citing data from the IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with the National Retail Federation, provides insight into these buyers’ engagement  expectations:

• 66% shop brick and mortar
• 75% use mobile to shop
• 48% use mobile apps to shop
• 49% said “ability to find what I want quickly” is important
• 36% want speedy shopping

For F&I, these buyer preferences suggest:

• No more digital retail excuses: Migrate variable and fixed operations to digital. Though end-to-end digital retail is the industry’s goal, remember these consumers still ask to engage with businesses in person. Make F&I product information, menus, and purchase options accessible online and on mobile to aide their research, comparison, push to their social network to get their communities’ endorsement.

• Educate and differentiate online: Push your product presentation online. Provide valuable product and product value insight using PDF documents, infographics, explainer videos and chat services to engage Gen Z where they shop. Engage them in interactive lifestyle and risk surveys to help more confidently match products to needs. Push these digital merchandising tools to them as you gather contact information.
• Be where they look: Reach this “always on” buyer across multiple channels, using AI, chatbots or virtual assistants on your website, social media, car-listing sites and elsewhere Gen Z researches inventory and dealerships to keep the conversation moving forward.
• Put them in control: Enable web and mobile-enabled product menus Gen Z can consider on their time, at their pace, “playing” with options that interest them. Restaurants are having upsell success doing so for their business. “If a common addition to a cheeseburger is bacon, a kiosk can offer messaging that gives customers the chance to add bacon to their burger for an upcharge,” said the blog, “How Do Self Service Kiosks Impact Sales?” at TouchSuite.com, a point-of-sale technologies provider.[6]
• Be transparent: This means full disclosure, complete explanation of any documents or paperwork you ask them to sign, and consistent messaging and pricing – from online messaging to the prices they’re quoted by the F&I office.
• Improve phone skills: the Marchex study reported that Gen Z consumers are 60% more likely to hang up the phone if not answered within 45 seconds – and are 30% more likely to curse if they feel their needs are not being met.
• Reinvent your meet-and-greet: Assume these consumers have done their homework and made their decisions – but be open to suggesting options. Teach and show them, but answer them quickly, sharing accurate and reliable content. Put on a service-first attitude. Gen Z’s visit stores because they value high touch as an important complement to the high-tech, they use first to connect.
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• Dealers today have a choice of F&I technologies to engage, satisfy and sell to Gen Z buyers. Use yours to educate this audience to help them understand what your products do and how they will benefit by their purchase – and do this online across multiple communications channels.

When you use digital, interactive and transparent devices to engage Gen Z’s hands and minds in the product evaluation and decision process, they will feel in control, a high need for the Gen Z car buyer.  Provide consumers with an individualized product match to their risk and lifestyle characteristics and product penetration and PVR will increase.

Imran Mussani is Vice President, Operations, for MaximTrak Division of RouteOne.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – DealerMax announced today the downloadable availability of its latest dealership performance directive, Dealership 2020 Guide: Re-engineering Automotive Retail, discussing six essential online sales processes the new online sales retail environment requires.

“The world has changed overnight, and although many dealerships are now closed for onsite sales, many are looking for ways to optimize their remote retail strategies to reach customers online, sell over the phone, and reconfigure their low-tech operations to adapt,” said Jim Maxim, Jr., chief executive officer for the dealership support company.

The DealerMax team of digital retail experts wrote the guide to give dealers an important sense of control and focus as the industry recognizes the urgency to move sales online where consumers increasingly feel more comfortable, safe, and empowered to shop and buy cars. They will prefer dealership’s offering processes that enable them single-source contact, especially in-store, to add layers of safety and comfort.

“In other words, there is a new roadmap to the sale. Meaning, selling cars remotely, and this guide helps dealers to better grasp several of the concrete steps they’re likely to find necessary on their path to successful online, remote car sales,” Maxim said.

To help dealers learn more immediately, DealerMax has developed a series of weekly webinars. Enriched content for each process change module are also being developed.  

Maxim pioneered digital F&I in 2003 as chief executive officer for MaximTrak, which he sold to RouteOne in 2016, so he thoroughly understands the necessity of bringing different sets of customer engagement processes with technology to robust end-to-end online car sales.

“This change can be a hard choice for dealers who, before COVID, were convinced people still wanted to come in, look around, and touch a car, even if they didn’t buy,” Maxim said. 

To best equip dealers to make these process changes, In addition, an immediately available download version, the DealerMax Dealership 2020 Guide: Re-engineering Automotive Retail (click to download) guide discusses:

• How should you retool your people and reconfigure your customer experience?
   
• What are the techniques, technologies, training needed for commerce during a crisis?
   
• What are the critical decisions to make to business processes and sales workflow to transact? 
   
• How will your processes change as you limit your face-to-face time with your customers?
   
• How can you position your dealership to not only survive the moment but to become more influential in a post-pandemic world?

 Click here to download Dealership 2020 Guide: Re-engineering Automotive Retail.

Media Contact:

Steve Forde

215-833-9988

sforde@dealermax.com

BOSTON/PHILADELPHIA, September 26, 2019 — In a joint press release, Hunter Malone, owner of DealerMax, announced today the sale of his firm’s assets to Jim Maxim Jr. and Jim Maxim Sr.

Profit By Design, the Maxim family enterprise out of Wayne, PA, purchased the company assets in a cash sale this week and will use the DealerMax brand to market the company’s dealership training and F&I income development programs to an expanded network of dealerships nationally.

The sale comes as dealerships seek to bolster profitability in a response to downward pressure on vehicle margins.  Hunter Malone, President of DealerMax, concurred, “Now is the right time for this.  Profit By Design and the Maxim team have a great formula for increasing dealer margins in Sales and F&I.  The company offers dealerships some of the most respected F&I training programs on the market today, and I am proud that the name will carry on with a family owned business with integrity.”

Jim Maxim Jr. formally ended his dual role as President of MaximTrak and Chief Digital Officer for RouteOne on August 1, 2019, after a 33-month transition period post-sale.  Maxim intends to build upon his family’s 40-years of history in the automotive industry and grow their company platform.

As CEO of the combined entity, now branded DealerMax, Maxim intends to grow the business and employee base in the greater Philadelphia market and looks to expand operations in major metro markets regionally.  The ‘Profit By Design’ name will live on and become the program name for its F&I Income Development offering as the company looks to expand its services into Digital Retail Consulting and Sales and Management Training.

Jim Maxim Jr. expressed that “The opportunity for growth as well as the talent, and expertise of our people at Profit By Design is what drew me back to the family business.  We have employees that have been with us for over 30-years and it is an honor to lead the company into this new era of growth and expansion.” 

Maxim continued, “The re-imagination of the customer experience that is taking place within the automotive industry right now is very exciting.  Dealers need best practices, proven processes and excellent training for employees to help them transition and succeed with today’s consumer.  We intend to expand our offering to help our dealers thrive in the rapidly changing marketplace.

DealerMax has announced multiple openings in partner markets including Pittsburgh, Boston, Rochester/Syracuse, NY/NJ Metro, Connecticut, Washington D.C. and Baltimore.  Interested candidates can apply at www.dealermax.com/careers.

BURLINGAME, CA, September 23, 2019 – Zonic Design, a certified vendor to CDK Global and Reynolds and Reynolds, is urging auto dealers to begin reviewing their vendors’ privacy and data security measures ahead of the January 1 deadline for compliance with California’s Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).

While CCPA is California-specific legislation, its requirements affect dealers and dealer groups having stores in the state, and many vendors serving auto retailers are domiciled there. CCPA’s comprehensiveness is designed to ensure healthy consumer privacy and data security guidelines for dealers and vendors, wherever located.

The timing for this call could not be better. According to a study from PossibleNOW, 56% of U.S. businesses polled are not likely to “be fully prepared” to meet the January 1 CCPA compliance deadline.  This fact should add urgency to dealers’ sense of timing about reviewing their vendors’ compliance practices.

Likely other states will enact consumer privacy and data security legislation, given the lack of national guidelines and standards. Those laws are sure to be as stringent as is CCPA to protect those states’ residents.

Zonic Design is data-driven service marketing company leveraging auto retailers’ existing and conquest consumer to increase customer retention, revenues and ROI. When a major dealer group reviewed the vendor’s data security during vetting, group security personnel were taken aback at how much more comprehensive Zonic’s security measures were than their own.

“Dealer groups may have up to 20 different vendors tapping into their dealer management or other internal systems which store personal consumer data, so they will want to be certain, and confident those vendors’ data practices are current and stringent,” said Brian Ramphal, Chief Executive Officer, for Zonic Design.

Foremost, he said, dealers must insist their vendors be DMS certified. Other qualifying questions they should ask vendors, though, sometimes go unasked, including:

• Where do vendors store client data once extracted from you, and how is that data protected?
• What cyber liability limits do your vendors carry?
• What processes do vendors use to ensure accurate a safe data transformation and management

To help dealers vet their vendors – and as a guideline for vendors - Zonic has prepared a brief PDF download, Data Compliance Questionnaire, at https://zonicdesign.com/#home-form-section.

Last month the CCPA was amended by the California Senate, with two exemptions relevant to automotive vendors. These exemptions are:

• Loyalty programs, for which “certain prohibitions in the CCPA would not apply
• Warranties and recalls, exempting information retained or stores for purposes of warranty or recall-related vehicle repair.

The International Risk Management Institute notes that the CCPA allows any consumer to demand to see all the information a company has saved on them. This invitation extends to third parties with which this data is shared.  CCPA now requires that companies must have visible website footers offering consumers the option to opt-out of data sharing.

For more information or to download the Data Compliance Questionnaire, visit zonicdesign.com.

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Radiant Ride, specialists in professional cosmetic restoration services and customer retention, announced today its SMART cosmetic service agreement program to help auto dealers protect the appearance of their customers’ vehicles and retain their business.

This cosmetic service agreement, like a mechanical agreement for a vehicle’s engine, powertrain and other systems, provides specified levels of prepaid interior and exterior cosmetic services. SMART is the industry acronym for Small to Medium Area Repair Technicians, commonly known as mobile cosmetic services.

Now motorists can have cosmetic blemishes to their vehicle addressed immediately, at their dealership during other maintenance without having to involve their insurance company. Dealers retail the Radiant Ride SMART cosmetic service agreement for $795 to $995 for coverage ranging up to five years. It is available on all new or newer used vehicles.

“We’re enjoying a 30% penetration on this Cosmetic Service Agreement, and, of course, we want to make a reasonable profit on what we sell,” said David Halvorson, president, American Chevrolet in Modesto. “Parking spaces seem to get narrower and as motorists squeeze in their vehicles get dings and dents. This product gives our customers good value at a reasonable price point.”

Finance directors embrace Radiant Ride as well. “Customers understand this product as a cosmetic service agreement, and that idea resonates with them,” said Jesse Ismate, Finance Director for Folsom (California) Ford and Folsom KIA.

“I’ve had customers walk into my office and tell me Radiant Ride is pretty cool.  We see a 30% penetration on finance and lease deals with it,” said Ismate, whose stores write 50 Radiant Ride contracts a month.

Infiniti of Modesto offers Radiant Ride too. “We offer it to every customer, and 75% of them purchase this for their vehicles. They see the value,” said Chelsea Shelton, sales manager.

Dealers who make the Radiant Ride SMART Cosmetic Service Agreement available to customers provide an attractive and high-value solution for owners who prize the appearance of their vehicle as a personal reflection, said Earl ‘Sticks’ Brown, Radiant Ride founder and chief executive officer.  

“We know that consumers whose cars suffer minor cosmetic incidents don’t always know what to do about it - or if they do, how to source repairers and get those blemishes corrected quickly and affordable. Dealers offering Radiant Ride solve this dilemma for their customers by providing a one-stop solution for cosmetic repairs,” Brown said.

Nick Wharton is service manager for Infiniti Modesto. “We enjoy the extra income off sublet charges, and these customers are happy they stayed with us,” he said.

Radiant Ride is a complete automotive appearance package provider. Its SMART teams specialize in professional cosmetic restoration services, which partner with a network of dealerships and mobile restoration specialists. The Radiant Ride Cosmetic Service Agreement program makes customer retention a priority, ultimately bringing customers back for their next car buying experience. For more information, visit Radiant Ride or contact Earl ‘Sticks’ Brown at (209) 601-3402 or sticks@RadiantRide.com.

Wards Dealer Business - Town Center Nissan of suburban Atlanta sells a dealer-branded prepaid maintenance program that excites its service advisers and customers alike. 

An incentive built into the program can put up to $400 in additional compensation a month in an adviser’s pocket, so they’re eager to discuss prepaid maintenance plan advantages with service customers.

The plans on average result in a $70 increase per repair order upsell per service visit, and consumers who participate typically stay loyal to the dealership service department, data indicates.

“Customers love the plan,” says Rick Mathis, Town Center Nissan’s parts and service director. “About 90% of plan holders renew at expiration. Advisers don’t embrace a lot, but they truly enjoy selling this program.”

SCOTTSDALE, AZ, March 29, 2018 -- Fidelis PPM announced today its sister company Vero has partnered with financial services provider Allied Solutions to provide a new inventory merchandising and vehicle service contract program designed to drive profits and retention for non-franchise used-car operators.

Together, Vero and Allied Solutions have launched Dealership Advantage Program. The vehicle merchandising and protection program helps dealers present fresher, more appealing inventory and deliver a better customer experience – and, make more money.

The program features:

• A comprehensive package of Simoniz-brand vehicle protection and appearance services for all inventory, at no charge.
• Includes GlassCoat, Simoniz’s ceramic paint protection, also, at no charge
• Vehicle service contract (VSC) options from a range of industry-leading underwriters
• A VSC purchase incentive upgrading the ceramic paint protection to a seven-year warranty

The Dealership Advantage Program is designed for independent dealers who desire maximum vehicle VSC retail profits, improved customer perception, and more satisfied customers.

“Market pressure on used car operators is considerable today, while competition for quality inventory is brisk, but dealers utilizing our Dealership Advantage Program help set apart their dealerships and vehicles as uniquely different and attractive to their customers,” says Vero CEO Joe Annoreno.

Program details include:

1. An inventory refresh suite - Simoniz-brand deodorizer, sanitizer, and antimicrobial products for vehicle interiors, paint and fabric protection, and Simoniz’s GlassCoat permanent ceramic barrier for vehicle exteriors.
2. Coverage-rich VSC options from a range of leading underwriters
3. A purchase incentive, a free paint coverage warranty upgrade with VSC purchase

“Now independent dealers can enjoy significant market advantages to separate their business and inventory from the competition,” says Mark Ladd, Vice President, Automotive Services Group, Allied Solutions. “We believe this Dealer Advantage Program offers benefits that independent dealers will value while it enhances their competitiveness through a unique protection upgrade to trigger high-grade service contract purchases.”

About Fidelis PPM

Fidelis PPM, a CU Direct company, turns prepaid maintenance into a brand-building, revenue-generating retention machine. Developed by dealers, Fidelis PPM knows the importance of substantiating ROI from its products. Powered by Driv Customer Retention Software, Fidelis PPM provides an easy-to-use interface for at-a-glance tracking of dealers’ ROI on their PPM program. For more information, visit www.getfidelis.com or email Williams at ryan@getfidelis.com

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – March 5, 2018 – Fidelis PPM, the leading provider of brand-building, revenue-generating prepaid maintenance (PPM) programs, announced today the addition of complimentary auto deductible reimbursement coverage as a new program benefit.

Now, new-car, independent, and Buy-Here-Pay-Here dealers selling Fidelis PPM maintenance plans enjoy unique market and competitive advantages:

• By offering customers prepaid, discount-priced routine maintenance services that save them money and protect their vehicle investment while driving service volume, repair order upsell, and retention for the dealership, and:
• By enriching plan benefits with this new inclusion of auto deductible reimbursement  coverage;  and,
• By also providing plan purchasers personal-identification restoration service, to help consumers restore their good name in the event of identity theft.

Fidelis PPM will introduce this new, enhanced prepaid maintenance program at NADA ’18 later this month, Booth 2967C.  These benefits, called Auto Advantage and offered by leading Program provider The AssurancePlus Group, provide dealers with genuinely market-differentiating and unique retention- and loyalty-building competitive advantages.

Fidelis PPM reports that consumers using its plan stay loyal to their dealer long after their vehicle purchase. Eight-five percent of customers returned to the dealership multiple times during the first year of plan activity. Sixty-five percent continued to do so for up to five years. On average, plan users will add $70 in repair-order upsell revenue per visit to the service department.

“Fidelis prepaid maintenance already packs a wallop of value that builds a dealer’s service business and provides real economic value to their customers. Now, through our partner AssurancePlus, Fidelis PPM broadens this appeal and worth in a unique offering to our industry,” says Ryan Williams, president of Fidelis PPM.

Williams notes that prepaid plan holders who regularly use its benefits save on average nearly $400 a year over the retail cost of the services a dealer packages in the PPM they offer, such as oil services, tire rotations, and other routine maintenance services.

“Now Fidelis PPMs with Auto Advantage provides even more value to dealers’ customers - auto collision or comprehensive deductibles are reimbursed up to $500 per loss at no charge to the dealer or the customer,” Williams notes.

These economic advantages are significant to many motorists. An AAA survey found that 64 million American drivers could not pay for an unexpected vehicle repair of $500 without going into debt. Because of this, AAA says, over 30% of U.S. drivers skip, or delay recommended vehicle services or repairs. Prepaid maintenance featuring free auto deductible reimbursement helps these consumers meet these repair needs.

Fidelis PPM is the authority helping dealers retain customers through process-driven prepaid preventive maintenance retention programs. These programs drive consumers into participating dealers’ service and collision-repair departments. Robust reporting tools provide dealers with detail-rich accountability metrics and remind plan holders of their savings over the retail cost of the same repairs.

About Fidelis PPM

Fidelis PPM, a CU Direct company, turns prepaid maintenance into a brand-building, revenue-generating retention machine. Developed by dealers, Fidelis PPM knows the importance of substantiating ROI from its products. Powered by Driv Customer Retention Software, Fidelis PPM provides an easy-to-use interface for at-a-glance tracking of dealers’ ROI on their PPM program. For more information, visit www.getfidelis.com or email Williams at ryan@getfidelis.com

DUBLIN, CA – February 2018 – TagRail™, the creator of DealerTag™ and the Lexus Plus CEM App, announced today the integration of Market Scan and F&I Express services into its new Digital Retail Platform.

Now TagRail’s platform provides shoppers a transactional-specific, penny-accurate vehicle finance and aftermarket product check-out and delivery experience from their livingroom to the showroom.

These integrations populate TagRail’s F&I tool with:

• VIN-, customer-, and location-specific and penny-perfect financing options from more than 1,200 lenders driven by industry-leading Market Scan data and calculation engine

• Advanced upfunnel F&I aftermarket products and prices through F&I Express, featuring product and VIN-specific options from over 150 vendors

“Now TagRail gives shoppers transaction-specific auto finance, warranty and other aftermarket product prices, not estimates, so there’s no surprises when they come to the showroom to finalize the deal,” says David Luce, TagRail VP of Sales.

Market Scan’s mScanAPI serves up lender policies and rules, rates, residual values, all manufacturer rebates and incentives, and all participating dealer’s terms, all automatically figured into the finance or lease payment delivered through the TagRail platform.

“Using our penny-certain and extremely comprehensive data, TagRail has the most robust and accurate online finance tools available,” says Rusty West, Market Scan’s President and Co-Founder. “We track every parameter, policy, and factor that can impact an automotive transaction.”

F&I Express, a leader in online F&I connectivity, offers auto retailers and their customers the largest aftermarket provider network. This integration helps dealers push aftermarket product-specific descriptions and prices upfunnel.

“We know that online shoppers who have educated themselves about the car-buying experience, including aftermarket products that can enhance and protect their investment, flow through the showroom delivery quicker – and tend to purchase more aftermarket products than if they waited until learning about them in the F&I office,” says Brian Reed, F&I Express President and CEO.

For information and a demo, contact David Luce at dluce@tagrail.com or cell at 702-493-3300.

About TagRail

TagRail CEM brings back joy to visiting an auto dealership. Delivering a great experience is hard work. DealerTag makes it more manageable by helping dealerships systematically engage everyone: your customers, your front line, and your leadership. Offering mobile and online tools for engaging, tracking, and monitoring workflows throughout the dealership, TagRail brings modern business process management and oversight to automotive retail. www.tagrail.com