Categories
Dealership Training

Your Personal Investment = Training Dividends

Contributing Author: Steve Roennau Vice President Compliance EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies

Today, most dealers in the automotive industry would agree that employee training is critical to business success. However, it can be tempting to simply “check the box” when it comes to employee training, (i.e. a manager simply offloads training to an outside party, schedules the training event, and calls it a day). No goals are set; no metrics are defined for skills development; and, no baseline is given to determine employee growth. Rather, the mindset is, “My staff needed training and they attended training – mission accomplished.”

The problem with this thinking is the lack of accountability on the part of the manager, the trainer, and the employees. If you are going to invest the time, money and energy into training, it’s imperative that you build in a measure of accountability to ensure a return on that investment. This starts with leadership support.

For any training to be truly effective, dealership leadership must fully support the training content and methodology. Remember, all training is not created equal. When engaging with training providers, it’s important that you have the opportunity to review the content, modify it to address specific dealership concerns, and provide final approval. If there are content changes that need to be made to ensure the training aligns with your operation’s processes and business philosophy, then the trainer should confirm with you that their delivery is in line with your dealership’s needs.

It’s also important to remember that everyone learns differently, and every dealership has different training needs and requirements. Ask yourself what you want your team to get from training.

Categories
Featured

NAMAD and EFG Companies Announce 2nd Annual Northwood University Scholarship Recipients

Scholarship Recipient: Norma Benavides
Norma Benavides

Northwood Students Norma Benavides and Isabelle Daoud Selected Based on Academic Merit, Leadership and Dedication

EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, together with the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), announced today that Northwood University students Norma Benavides and Isabelle Daoud are the recipients of the annual NAMAD Private Donor Scholarship. The annual scholarship will fund the remainder of Benavides’ and Daoud’s four-year tuition while they attend the Automotive Marketing and Management Program at Northwood University, representing an investment of up to $200,000 from EFG.

Scholarship Recipient Norma Benavides

A senior at Northwood University, Norma Benavides, from Laredo, Texas, grew up with first-hand experience of dealership operations through her father’s independent dealership. In her previous three years at Northwood, she has held the Public Relations Chair for the Northwood University Auto Show, as well as the Chair of the Distinguished Women Event for the university’s Signature Events Team. Benavides has made the Dean’s List every semester, and has received the Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals certification.

“This scholarship perfectly fits my career aspirations, as well as my background,” said Benavides. “My career goal is to one day become an automotive dealer and operate a dealership. I have learned that this career has many challenges, but with perseverance and passion it can be rewarding.”

Categories
Economy

Benefits of a CPO Lease

Hollis Goode Regional Vice President EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
Hollis Goode
Regional Vice President
EFG Companies

According to the NADA Used Car Guide, more than 3 million vehicles will reach the end of their leases in 2016. This represents a 35 percent jump in off-lease volume. With such a huge increase in reliable, late-model, pre-owned vehicles, the industry has already seen used vehicle prices drop to become more competitive. Now, dealers are more concerned with maintaining front-end profitability while still being competitive.

So, how can dealers accomplish their profitability goals while maintaining a competitive edge? The answer lies in certified pre-owned programs. Today’s consumers are much more concerned with getting more value for their money. That’s part of the reason why pre-owned vehicles have been top sellers in recent years. Dealers can further utilize this trend to sell higher-priced pre-owned vehicles with a CPO program.

According to proprietary research from EFG Companies, 32 percent of consumers would look to purchase a vehicle in the 61 – 150k mile range, of which, 62 percent would actively seek for that vehicle to be covered by a CPO program.