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Compliance EFG Companies

EFG First Product Provider to AFIP Certify Entire Field Services Team

-36-Year-Old Company Equips Dealerships to Address Critical Compliance Challenges-

 AFIP Certified Field Team logo
DALLAS, TX (April 22, 2014) EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced its status today as the first F&I product provider of size to certify its entire field services team with the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals (AFIP).

By certifying its entire team at once, EFG makes it possible for its client base to receive the immediate benefits of the company’s certification, whether through mentoring the dealer’s staff through AFIP certification, one-on-one coaching or completing dealer compliance audits.

Founded in 1989, AFIP is the nonprofit, non-aligned sanctioning body for in-store sales and financial services personnel and select lender and aftermarket vendor personnel in the United States. AFIP certification curriculum focuses solely on the federal and state laws that govern in-dealership financial services.

AFIP2The retail automotive industry has always been one of the most highly regulated. With the recent increase in regulation oversight, non-compliance can create massive financial exposure for dealers, lenders, agents and vendors. “Our clients look to us to ensure that their teams have appropriate processes and controls in place to navigate more than a dozen federal laws and find their way through the many state and local laws that impact their operations,” said John Pappanastos, president and CEO, EFG Companies. “With that in mind, we took the initiative to get our entire field services team certified by the only regulatory compliance program that requires proctored exams under controlled testing conditions. Achieving AFIP certification across the entire team demonstrates our commitment to our clients.”

AFIP 1

According to David Robertson, executive director of AFIP, “AFIP’s primary objective is to protect dealers by ensuring that in-dealership F&I practitioners and sales executives are fully aware of the applicable state and federal regulations – and take responsibility for their actions. Regulatory knowledge, coupled with personal accountability, keeps thousands of dealers out of harm’s way.”

With its field team 100 percent AFIP certified, EFG’s client representatives, trainers and recruiters can more effectively train, audit and support their clients, who will continue to see compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements as a critical priority in their business moving forward.

Find out how EFG can secure your dealership to continue to thrive in the ever-changing compliance and regulation environment today.

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Marketing Analytics

Buying a rooftop? How’s their image?

Jenny Rappaport, Chief Marketing Officer, EFG CompaniesWith 2014 looking up, many dealership groups are moving beyond survival to focus on expansion. While some are building new rooftops, others are actively looking to acquire existing stores. Acquisition may seem like a better fiscal option for your assets, but it does pose certain risks. Beyond traditional research, how deep do you look into a potential acquisition’s reputation?

A good market and a good financial statement can often hide underlying problems within a dealership. It’s very easy to keep sales up for a window of time while neglecting customer relationships. When conducting your research, and mystery shopping their store, evaluate their responsiveness to online inquiries. One of the most important take-aways with mystery shopping is determining whether the customer’s questions are ever directly answered. If not, the dealership is putting itself in a questionable light with the customer from the outset, making it an uphill battle to ensure a positive experience, much less a sale.

In addition, according to a 2014 DealerTrack study, consumers now visit 1.2 showrooms before making a decision. This represents a paradigm shift in the way today’s consumers shop for a vehicle. Gone are the days of consumers spending their weekends visiting one dealership after another before a final decision is made. Now, the majority of that research is conducted online.

A “2013 Online Customer Review Study” from Maritz Research stated that Edmunds.com and Yelp are in the top five most trusted sites by consumers. Google +, Four Square, City Search and Dealer Rater also made the top twelve list. With the majority of customers browsing dealership websites and customer review sites before walking into a showroom, it’s vital that any dealership you acquire has a healthy reputation. When evaluating their online reputation, ask yourself:

  • Do these reviews look fake or real?
  • Does the dealership respond to positive reviews thanking the reviewer for their time?
  • Does the dealership respond to negative reviews and if so, do their responses work to resolve the situation or displace blame?

A good online reputation relies on the active management of customer review sites. While gaining positive reviews is the immediate goal with these sites, the second most important aspect is responding to negative reviews. Negative reviews don’t necessarily have to give dealerships a negative image. By addressing the customer’s concern and taking the conversation offline, dealerships have a great opportunity to turn that negative review into a positive experience. Customers expect to see negative reviews on these sites, but what they pay the most attention to is how the dealership handles them.

Beyond customer review sites, it is also important to review their social media assets. Facebook and Twitter have become two of the biggest platforms for consumers to directly interact with companies. Big or small, companies from all industries utilize these sites to inform the public about new products, receive feedback, conduct product promotions, etc. If you’re looking into a dealership with a social media presence, pay attention to their interaction with their fans:

  • Do they simply push out information?
  • Do they encourage comments?
  • Do they respond to comments to further engage the audience?
  • Is their content focused solely on the dealership or they post about community involvement or engaging questions?

A well-developed social media presence is much more than creating a page and posting content. It involves engaging the audience with content that’s relevant to them, encouraging discussions, and responding to their inquiries or concerns.

It can be very difficult to overcome a negative image. And, you would be surprised how much a negative online presence can affect sales volume. When researching potential acquisitions, pay attention to their online presence and consider whether you want their image associated with your dealership group. Once the deal is done, their reputation will forever color yours.

With over 36 years of experience in the dealership space, EFG Companies knows how to equip you with consumer insights and marketing analytics to complete your due diligence when bringing on a new rooftop. Contact us today to find out how to take your business to the next level.

Categories
EFG Companies F&I

EFG Positions Independent Dealers to Capture Greater Share of Wallet

Specialized VSC Provides New Avenue into Under-Served Consumer Market

EFG Companies, the innovators behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced today the launch of a new product designed to increase avenues of finance income into a severely under-served consumer market – Best ReGuards.

Best ReGuards is an extensive vehicle service contract from EFG, designed specifically for independent dealers, many of whom have a very loyal and referral-centric customer base, but often don’t have a deep bench of F&I products. This program sets the stage for independent dealers to capture a greater share of wallet by meeting their customer’s economic and vehicle protection needs.

EFG custom-developed Best ReGuards according to the needs of the independent dealership’s customer base by focusing on the most critical components of a used vehicle that are often the most costly to repair:

  • Transmission
  • A/C
  • Engine
  • Electrical
  • Seals/Gaskets

According to “FORBES”, many consumers are spending as their incomes rise, but are unwilling to borrow more money than absolutely necessary. When weighing the pros and cons of purchasing a used car with more years and higher miles, customers of independent dealers are concerned with not only price, but what the dealership can offer them at a reasonable price that others don’t, such as consumer protection products. These consumers may not be able to afford a traditional vehicle service contract, but they are still very interested in purchasing mechanical breakdown protection for their vehicle.

Independent dealerships are well positioned to tap into this growing consumer market. NADA predicts 2014 used car sales to top 42 million units nationwide, setting the stage for more intense competition.

“The independent dealership segment provides EFG a strategic opportunity to take what we’ve done extremely well for 37 years and immediately answer a rapidly-growing demand in the market,” said John Pappanastos, President and CEO of EFG Companies.  “Our products give independent dealers a more valuable toolkit to address each customer’s specific need when it comes to taking care of their vehicle and protecting their pocketbook.  We also act as a very strong extension of the dealer’s customer service through our in-house claims administration group that operates according to above-industry standard target SLAs.  This translates to enhanced customer retention and loyalty.”

Bill Gusa, Managing Partner of Olympic Dealer Marketing, worked closely with EFG on the development of Best ReGuards. “As supply is expected to outpace demand in 2014, our independent dealership partners needed to expand their product portfolio,” Gusa said. “Considering how few independent dealers have the access to provide F&I products, our desire was to give our clients the opportunity to increase their product portfolio and generate greater profits by providing a quality consumer protection product.”

EFG plans to launch a Best ReGuards limited powertrain warranty companion product in the second half of 2014.