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Are You Ready for a Data Breach?

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date February 19, 2019

Contributing Author:
Maurice Hamilton
Vice President
EFG Companies

Experian’s Data Breach Resolution Group, a division of the consumer credit reporting company, recently issued their 2019 Data Breach Industry Forecast. While the report was full of important information, it made me wonder if the retail automotive industry is suffering from “Hurricane Syndrome.” You know the scenario. Weeks in advance, the weather pundits issue warnings that a hurricane is coming. Only a few people pay attention. A week before landfall, the cone of probability is posted. Most people continue to go about their business. Two days before landfall, winds are picking up and early rain bands are hitting. Some people might check the pantry and fuel gauge. Then the hurricane hits with full fury, flooding ensues, roofs are blown off, and emergency services are tapped out. In the aftermath, local news reporters interview victims who say, “We didn’t think it would be that bad!”

It’s been 13 years since the first major data breach impacted a US financial institution. According to the Experian report, the scale of data breaches in 2018 was staggering, with the number of compromised records in the first half of 2018 exceeding those for the entire previous year. Despite major security advancements, cybercriminals and black-hat hackers continue to wreak havoc on businesses. With powersports dealers and lenders utilizing more digital tools to manage the sales process, the risk of a data breach increases exponentially. While the industry must embrace this growing trend, dealers must also break out of their own data security Hurricane Syndrome.

Dealership Training

Selling WHY – Not What

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date January 10, 2019

Contributing Author:
Glenice Wilder
Vice President
EFG Companies

When presenting F&I products, are your F&I managers focusing too much on the product details? How’s that working for you? Are you happy with those product penetration rates?

Think about when you review long lists of information, you start to tune out, right? The same thing happens when F&I managers approach a product presentation from the standpoint of selling what the product does. Tallying off coverage levels, terms, systems, and parts is the fastest way to disengage from the customer and get them watching the clock instead of listening to the presentation.

At EFG, we teach professionals to approach the F&I product presentation from the standpoint of WHY. Why should a customer purchase a certain product? How does it benefit them? You could say that the product benefits customers by listing off everything it covers, but once again, that long list isn’t directly relatable to most customers.

In order to sell WHY, you must understand the customer’s riding habits, as well as their wants and needs for their motorcycle.

How long do they keep their motorcycles?
Does the customer live in a city or a rural area?
How often do they participate in long rides?
Do they ride across country or stay in their local area?

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A New Approach to Menu Presentations

Post author By efgmarketing
Post date December 12, 2018

Contributing Author:
Dave Gibbs
Training Manager
EFG Companies

It’s a common practice in most F&I offices to utilize menus of various types to present F&I products to customers. They can help to maintain compliance and ensure that every customer knows their choices when it comes to protecting their purchase. However, few subjects inspire more debate than how to effectively utilize menus to enhance the customer experience and effectively present F&I products.

While most F&I Managers still use menus to sell F&I products, there is another approach or philosophy that can be even more effective than using them as step-selling tools. I would encourage you to consider the menu as a natural conclusion to a benefits presentation and discussion, tailored to the needs of your customer that have been identified.

I do not recommend only using a menu to present and sell your F&I products. Many of your customers have most likely been through a similar presentation and are conditioned to reject any proposition you may have for them immediately. Most of us have experienced the “No thanks, I will pass” response that comes as soon as you begin to review the menu. The wall goes back up and the customer stops listening to you. Many times, all they can see is the cost of the products and they aren’t even hearing the benefits you may be trying to convey.

A better approach would be to identify the customers’ needs through conversation prior to presenting a menu. Utilizing the information that both you and the sales associate gathered from them, you can then transition to a product discussion and a review that is tailored to their individual and unique needs. This can help the customer see areas where they may have risks during their time of ownership and cultivate a value-based proposition.