Some may remember the good old days when car deals were sealed with a handshake and paperwork was completed with a pencil and ledger book. Those days came into sharp focus recently with the CDK outage, illuminating the value of a strong agent partnership in weathering unpredictable challenges.
Fortunately, EFG’s agent and dealer clients were able to keep business flowing by deploying teams of trained support staff to help with sales and provide access to EFG DRIVE within days. Our nationally award-winning online portal allows dealerships to electronically rate, contract, and submit aftermarket products in F&I, as well as electronically submit, self-adjudicate, and receive automatic claims approvals in service.
This paints a small, but very powerful message about the importance of agent relationships. With a volatile market and political uncertainty creating ongoing concerns for the retail automotive industry, EFG sees market strength as well as positive economic and consumer trends for the second half of 2024. However, just as with the CDK outage, focused flexibility is needed for agents to successfully weather the remainder of the year.
Control what you can
For both dealers and agents, EFG leaders see a path to profitability for those who refocus on leveraging the things they can control. EFG has helped agents and dealer clients achieve sales and profitability goals through six recessions and 11 presidential elections. We firmly believe that focusing on controllables combined with a value-based approach to differentiation will lead to success.
In the dealership space, this means pricing vehicles to be competitive while maximizing profit on the back end of the sale through consumer protection products. It means training a staff that has grown fat and happy on the glut of pandemic shoppers into lean top performers who know how to sell, be compliant, and provide superior service. So, agents need to ask themselves how they are helping dealers take control over their profitability.
Those agents who provide traffic-driving solutions paired with proven training designed to maximize ROI are poised to make the most of the opportunities available. At EFG Companies, we bring years of proven results to agents across the country. As we move through the rest of 2024, let us partner with you to help you meet your goals. Contact us today to learn more about how our team can help you achieve your winning strategy.