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EFG Companies Featured

EFG Companies First F&I Product Provider to be Certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal

Company Receives Prestigious Award Based on Intense Onsite Evaluation and Global Benchmark Comparison

2014-center-of-excellenceEFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced its status today as the only F&I product provider to be certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal. The Center of Excellence recognition is one of the most prestigious awards in the customer service and support industry.

BenchmarkPortal only awards the Center of Excellence designation to customer service call centers that rank in the top ten percent of the call centers surveyed. To earn this award, EFG demonstrated a commitment to achieving service excellence, as well as superior performance on quality-related metrics.

EFG continuously strives to raise the industry bar when it comes to providing superior products, administration and compliance. Earlier this year, EFG was awarded the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Blue Seal of Excellence with close to 100 percent of its claims organization ASE certified. The company was also recognized as being the only product provider of size to AFIP certify 100 percent of its field team. With these three certifications, the EFG sets the industry example for leadership in training, auditing and administering their clients’ business to whom its services are a critical priority.

“Our clients rely on our expertise and quality customer service when it comes to administering customer claims,” said John Pappanastos, President and CEO, EFG Companies. “We operate knowing that our claims administration reflects back on our clients’ business and brand. By demonstrating our high level of expertise with this certification, we are giving our clients the highest confidence that all claims will be handled expertly, efficiently and respectfully, promoting a positive overall customer experience and driving greater customer loyalty for their business.”

Founded in 1995, BenchmarkPortal is a global leader in the contact center industry, providing benchmarking, certification, training, consulting, research and industry reports. Contact centers achieve the Center of Excellence distinction based on an intense onsite evaluation and audit as well as best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of objective and quantitative data that is audited and validated by researchers from BenchmarkPortal.

“The achievement of the Center of Excellence designation represents EFG Companies’ commitment to delivering expert and professional customer service,” said Bruce Belfore, CEO, BenchmarkPortal. “EFG’s certification is a direct result of its leadership’s commitment to best-in-class service performance that is both effective and efficient from a business standpoint. It’s an achievement of distinction.”

Throughout its 37-year history, EFG has continually demonstrated their commitment to exceed customer expectations. Customer service and claims administration standards and real-time performance is continuously projected on the company’s walls as a constant measure of performance. 95.88 percent of claims calls are answered within 90 seconds, and 96 percent of all claims are paid by corporate credit card within one hour of receipt of invoice.

EFG believes longevity and success is ultimately measured by a simple premise: keeping a promise to a customer at a time when they need it most. EFG prides itself on being a claims-honoring third-party administrator and this certification only enhances the company’s commitment to fulfill that promise.

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EFG Companies and NAMAD Announce Northwood University Scholarship

Shaping Future Leadership Opportunities and Success for
Minorities in the Retail Automotive Industry 

EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, and the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), today announced the establishment of an annual, private donor scholarship that will fund the four-year tuition of a minority student attending the Automotive Marketing and Management Program at Northwood University. 

The annual scholarship, funded by EFG Companies, will be awarded each year to a freshman entering the program, and represents a four year investment of $100,000 per student.  Applicants will be identified through NAMAD’s membership, they must satisfy NAMAD affiliation requirements, and will be reviewed based upon both academic merit and financial need.

“At NAMAD, we seek to ensure the presence of a meaningful representative of minority entrepreneurs and employees in the automotive retail sales, supplier and service sectors” said Damon Lester, NAMAD President. “Our partner, EFG Companies, has a successful history of innovation and clearly recognizes the vital role minority dealers play in the industry. Together, we will provide a greater means to impact future leadership opportunities and success for minorities.”

“It is truly an honor for EFG to bring two stalwart partners together in the form of NAMAD and Northwood to join us in affecting meaningful progress in one of the most critical industries in America,” said John Pappanastos, President and CEO, EFG Companies. “We’ve seen in just this year alone that the rate of change in which dealers are operating is only increasing.  We feel we have a personal responsibility to bring diverse ideas and the brightest minds to the table so the industry may achieve maximum potential.”

“At Northwood University, one of our greatest distinctions is the personalized attention we offer each student to prepare them as leaders, not just professionals” said Keith Pretty, President and CEO, Northwood University. “Northwood has a strong minority student population, and this scholarship bolsters our efforts to ensure all students are afforded the opportunity to drive innovation and succeed in the retail automotive marketplace.”

The NAMAD scholarship will be available to students applying for the 2015-2016 school year. Scholarship applications and guides to scholarships currently being offered are available on the Northwood University website after December 1, 2014. http://www.northwood.edu/financial-aid/scholarships-and-grants.aspx

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EFG Companies Featured

Northwood University and EFG Companies Join Forces to Shape Future Retail Automotive Leaders

northwood_university_logoNorthwood University and EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced today a national partnership to drive greater opportunity and development of tomorrow’s retail automotive leaders. 

Under this new agreement, EFG and Northwood University will pave the way for future generations to leverage the hard-fought learnings of today and evolve business practices to successfully navigate the changing dealership landscape of tomorrow.  These two award-winning organizations will host thought leadership forums, develop specialized continuing education programs, conduct joint industry research, and cross-publish content.  Northwood University has also granted EFG Companies a seat on its National Automotive Marketing Advisory Board to represent the Finance & Insurance sector of the automotive industry.

“During this time of increased compliance oversight and economic recovery, it is imperative that we provide the auto retail industry with individuals equipped with leadership capabilities, and who can analyze current market trends to evolve their business for future success,” said Keith Pretty, President and CEO of Northwood University. “Our partnership with EFG Companies adds to Northwood University’s ability to prepare our students for a career in this critical U.S. industry.”

This partnership will allow both organizations to leverage the experience and knowledge of Northwood University’s dealer alumni, and EFG’s national dealer network for the benefit of the university’s student base.  As the industry continues to rapidly evolve, this essential think tank will help drive innovation and cultivate adept leaders to challenge the retail auto industry to new levels of growth and profitability.

“Since 2008, the industry has gone through rapid, and, at times, painful change,” said John Pappanastos, President and CEO of EFG Companies. “The Great Recession forced dealers to significantly improve their operations, adopt new technologies and become much more analytical. There is no question that dealers today face an entirely different level of complexity than previous generations. Our partnership with Northwood will help our future industry leaders tackle growing issues like the evolving sales processes, the optimal management of digital assets, the increasing role of consumer protection products in the dealership profit model, and heightened regulation.”

Both the EFG leadership team and the Northwood University faculty will provide input and guidance to ensure that Northwood students experience the continued benefit of the most relevant and thought-provoking retail automotive curriculum available in the U.S.  In addition, EFG will provide internship and employment opportunities within its franchise dealer base as students seek to apply their classroom experience to the real world.