Tag: dealership marketing

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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.

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Dealership Training

Don’t leave your service drive out of your sales cycle!

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

What is synonymous with General Motors and Toyota? Recall, right?

Four years ago, Toyota underwent a recall crisis on par with General Motors today. Now, Chrysler is also under investigation for faulty ignition switches. Are these the only car manufacturers who’ve felt the strain of a recall crisis? No.

In the 70s, Ford issued a staggering 21 million vehicle recall for its infamous “park-to-reverse” automatic transmission defect. In the 80s, Audi dealt with its own unintended acceleration defect with a series of car recalls for its 5000 model that nearly drove it out of the American market.

Do consumers still buy these cars? Yes.

In fact, according to General Motors, the ignition switch recalls have had no significant impact on new model sales. What does this mean for dealerships? Opportunity!

No matter their reason for visiting the service drive, when consumers bring their vehicles back to the dealership, there is an opportunity to convert those customers to a new car buyer. In fact, the more times a customer returns to a dealership for service, the more likely they are to make their next vehicle purchase with that dealership. Between 2010 and 2012, the percent of customers who were converted from used cars to new cars increased from 17 percent to 19.3 percent. As consumer income continues to increase, this rising trend can also be expected to increase.

In order to truly maximize this opportunity, dealerships can make small adjustments that create a big difference in capturing a greater share of wallet from this lucrative audience:

  • First, address your waiting area to ensure cleanliness and its appeal to both men and women. Remember that at least 50 percent of your service drive business is women, so double-check to ensure that available amenities are appealing to both audiences. In addition, outfit the waiting area with information on F&I products and monitors tuned to dealership and OEM videos.
  • Focus on making a good and lasting impression on new service drive customers by ensuring the service managers are adequately trained. Do they have a courteous and professional demeanor while providing efficient service?
  • Keep returning customers coming back by focusing on providing a positive experience each time they return to fortify the relationship.
  • Lastly, keep customer records accurate and up-to-date. Either the service manager can verify the information when first approaching customers, or the receptionist can when processing payments.

It’s that simple. Yet, many dealerships overlook this significant opportunity. With OEMs focusing on customer retention, dealerships need to fortify their service strategies both in sales and in their service drive. But, the customer experience doesn’t have to end when they leave. With accurate information in their CRM, dealerships can establish a contact campaign based on several different criteria including:

  • whether the customer is a recall customer or a regular service customer;
  • whether the customer is new to the dealership or returning; and,
  • if returning, how often they return and the age of their vehicle.

Rather than relying solely on the sales force approaching customers waiting for service, dealers can capitalize on customer retention by focusing on customer service and implementing a communication campaign designed to turn service drive customers into sales prospects.

In today’s market, the road to the sale is rarely a straight line. With almost 40 years of insight into the consumer mindset, EFG Companies knows how to turn your team into Top Performers. Along with our intense training curriculum and client engagement, our expert trainers can provide a full service-drive analysis, focusing on the efficiency of the department and their sales volume. EFG’s consultative approach to marketing equips dealerships with the consumer insights and marketing tools needed to increase store traffic, drive customer loyalty, and differentiate their business. Contact EFG to get started today.

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Dealership Training Economy

Make More Money on Returning Lessees

Contributing Author: Stephen RoennauRe-stating the obvious

  • Consumers held on to their cars much longer than normal during the recession or simply did without.
  • Post-recession consumers slowly came back into the car market. However, they were much more wary. Leases and used cars did better on average than new-vehicle sales.
  • Now, those lease terms are coming to a close, and dealerships can expect an influx of returning lessees, whom they can turn into new-vehicle owners.

What this means for 2014

According to “Automotive News”, General Motors saw those lessees start returning in November and they have only continued to grow.

Returning lessees pose a huge opportunity for dealership profit in 2014. Why? Because you’ve already done the legwork.

You’ve already built an ongoing relationship, bringing these consumers back to the dealership on a regular basis. Lease customers are on the hook, now you just have to reel them in with superior service and products.

What do we mean by service?

First there’s the follow-up. Evaluate your contact strategy for this audience. When do you begin contacting them? What is the contact frequency? What are your messages for this audience?

Remember, you don’t want to spam them, but you do want to stay top-of-mind. This is most easily done with your content rather than frequency. For example, many people, especially first-time lease customers, do not fully understand the process for lease-end. Educating them on the available options and inventory can go a long way toward influencing their purchase decisions.

You can also use your email communication to invite the customer in for a free trade appraisal to see how well the vehicle is holding its value. Simply getting them back to the dealership dramatically increases the chance of retaining lease customers. Remember, the customer who leased three years ago may be able to take advantage of better options. Many captives have stronger lease offers. Residual values in general have increased and the market has stabilized. Also, some lease programs waive the acquisition fee or security deposit on a re-lease or have other incentives for loyal lease customers. All these things add up to a greater opportunity for you to retain that customer.

In addition, it’s important to evaluate their experience in the showroom. You already have a database filled with information about their needs.

  • You know the current make and model of their car.
  • You know how many miles they drive.
  • You know their service history.

With these data points in mind, you can do much more than show them the new version of their car. You can offer suggestions on other makes, products, or financing options that might fit their needs better. When they come in, how prepared is your sales staff to meet their needs and exceed their expectations?

What about those products?

As with every customer in your dealership, returning lessees want the most for their money. After all, that’s the whole reason they chose to lease in the first place. Now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your F&I products and your provider. So, talk to your service advisers. They can tell you how quickly claims are processed, whether your admin is professional and courteous, and how many claims are approved. Those F&I products not only reflect back on you. Outside of the upsell opportunity, they can also help or harm your service drive, depending on how much red tape your service advisors deal with on a daily basis.

EFG Companies knows the importance of customer service combined with superior products. Everything from training to product administration has a single goal in mind – to be your partner for go-to-market success. Our agile product innovation and customization is backed by unmatched partner engagement and industry leading claims administration.

Make EFG your key to driving business. Contact us today.