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Boost Your New Car Sales Through Leasing

Leasing: Does Your Team See the Light?

Contributing Author: Stephen RoennauLease incentives are around the corner, just in time to take advantage of record lease penetration. Recent vehicle registration data released by Polk stated that new cars accounted for 29 percent of all sales through May, which puts the year on pace to top last year’s rate of 27.6 percent. This is the highest penetration of new cars in the last five years. According to Edmunds, leasing is behind this breakthrough accounting for 25 percent of new cars sold.

At this time, it is vital that your sales team is trained to not only close a sale, but also a lease. The most important question to ask yourself is, “Does my team know how to position leasing vs. a traditional loan?” If you don’t know the answer, then these tips will help refresh your team until you register for EFG’s lease training workshop.

New vehicle sales are outpacing last year’s totals. Why? According to Edmunds, the reason is the surge in leasing, which is on track to smash last year’s record penetration rate of 22%.

Everyone knows that all vehicles depreciate in value as soon as they are driven off the lot. However, few consumers make the connection that their vehicle depreciates at the same rate whether they lease or buy. The only difference lies in what they pay for. Think about what most customers say is their single biggest expense is in owning a vehicle. They either say their monthly payment or gas. The truth is that their single biggest expense may be the hidden cost of depreciation.

Most customers don’t learn about this expense until it’s too late – at trade-in time, when dealerships offer them less than what they expected or needed. Offering them a lease is a great way to manage the depreciation expense and make the trade-in process easy.

When positioning leasing, just as with purchasing, your sales team needs to understand their customers’ needs.
If they have a predictable lifestyle, drive a low average number of miles, properly maintain their car, and want to make trade-in easy, then leasing may be a good option. Top selling points for a lease include:

    • You are protected from market risks that affect the value of your vehicle.
        • Rebates
        • Bad press
      • Discontinued model
    • You may lower your monthly payment without being stuck in a long loan.
  • You get to drive a newer model car with the latest technology and safety features.

Advise your customers that when they buy, they commit to the entire cost of the vehicle – no matter how many miles they drive or how long they keep it.

While leasing is on the rise, there will always be people who prefer to buy. That’s why it’s important to ask the right qualifying questions before positioning a lease, such as:

    • How often would you like to trade in your vehicles?
    • When was the last time you paid off a vehicle and kept it for a while?
    • How many miles do you drive per year?
    • Do you trade your vehicles or sell them outright?
  • When was the last time you were happy with the amount offered for your vehicle at trade-in?

In the end, your sales team needs to help their customers decide what matters to them. The decision to lease or buy depends entirely on their lifestyle and what they feel comfortable with.

With more than 35 years of insight into the consumer mindset in the auto retail space, EFG’s Transcend Group knows how to train your team to readily position the benefits of leasing compared to 3, 4 and 5 year retail loans. They also gain a deeper understanding of how closing a lease benefits them and the dealership.

To take your team members beyond the fundamentals of leasing, register for our Lease Training Workshop today before it’s too late!

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Dealership Training EFG Companies Featured

Leasing is Booming. Is Your Team Taking Advantage of It?

Contributing Author: Stephen RoennauAccording to a recent article by the Associated Press, even though interest rates are low, many consumers are still choosing to lease their new car or truck rather than buy.

“Lenders have seen overall stability come back to the market since the recession and leasing has gradually returned as a larger part of many lender strategies,” said Melinda Zabritski, senior director of automotive credit at Experian Automotive.  With leasing on the upswing, the market is predicted to double in the next year.

With OEMs releasing their lease incentives this fall, it’s time to make sure your team is fully prepped for taking advantage of this fast-moving trend and increase future sales opportunities.

While sales business will always remain the backbone of a dealership, you know there is no business Leasing-on-the-rise-Callout lease business, especially with August lease incentives around the corner:

  • Leases keep customers returning to the dealership like clockwork for their service appointments
  • Leases help maintain an inventory of recent-model used cars
  • Leases have the significant opportunity to create customers for life

But, does your team have the knowledge and tools to close a lease?

With over 35 years of insight into the consumer mindset in the auto retail space, EFG’s Transcend Group knows how to train your team to readily position the benefits of leasing while understanding their individual benefits of closing a lease and the bigger picture of dealership profitability.

Find out more about our Lease Training Workshop and register today!

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EFG Companies F&I

Increase Your PRU

Contributing Author: John StephensThe festivities of graduation still linger and families are on the hunt for the perfect used car for their kids leaving the nest. With used cars flying off the lots, you are probably trying to make the most of this ample opportunity to increase F&I profit.

You already know that a vehicle service contract is an excellent way to increase used car sales. It eases parental anxiety and provides their kids with quality coverage on most of the same components as a manufacturer’s warranty. But, you have also had more than your fair share of customers with concerns about the mileage limits, especially on a much older vehicle.

Take for example, an F&I manager presenting a 10-year/100-mile vehicle service contract to a customer looking at a car with 60,000 miles on it. Traditionally, this VSC would only cover the next 40,000 miles and many customers often feel like such a product is not worth their money.

However, with EFG’s Motorist Assistance Plan, dealerships have the opportunity to provide more value to their customers with extra protection from financial risk, leading to higher PRU. With MAP®, customers can add on both miles and time from the time of purchase, taking them well beyond a traditional VSC.

MAP’s add-on miles provides your F&I manager with a significant closing tool. And, if that’s not enough, MAP can be offered with six months complimentary WALKAWAY®, the product behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance.

WALKAWAY relieves customers of their lease of loan obligations when unforeseen life events occur, such as involuntary unemployment, physical disability, or critical illness.

While providing your customers with this extra protection, MAP and WALKAWAY:

  • strengthen margins and profitability with upsell opportunities;
  • manage risk by adopting a strategy that decreases repossessions and collection costs;
  • drive traffic to your service department;
  • transform potentially frustrating events into loyalty-building opportunities; and,
  • differentiate your offerings, thereby retaining and attracting new customers.

With more than 35 years as an administrator of consumer protection products, EFG Companies knows how to innovate products that build profitable and lasting relationships with your customers. Contact EFG today to learn how products like MAP can increase your PRU.