Tips to Shorten the Car Buying Process

One of the biggest questions on every dealer’s mind right now is how to shorten the time it takes to buy a car. While consumers are demanding to get in and out of a dealership in 30 minutes or less, dealers have a myriad of processes to work through from the moment a consumer walks through the door. Each of these processes takes time – and it doesn’t help that there always seems to be new compliance steps to implement each year.

While your knee-jerk reaction might be to say “it just can’t be done,” I ask that you take a minute to look at your processes and ask yourself:

• Are my sales representatives adequately conducting the first interview to truly understand the needs of the customer?
• Does the sales manager meet every customer in the dealership?
• When does the customer meet the F&I manager?
• Is my team structuring the buying experience based on the customer’s needs from the onset?

You may be pleasantly surprised that reducing the time it takes to buy a car may not be as hard as you might think. In fact it might be as easy as focusing on the basics.

The moment a customer engages with your dealership, whether it’s online, over the phone, or in person, it’s imperative that:

• Your team determines more than just the type of car the customer wants, but their driving habits, primary use of the vehicle, and other qualifying questions that will help the negotiation process.
• Your team provides the customer the information they need to make an informed decision. For example, with online inquiries, encourage your internet managers to go beyond simply answering consumer questions to providing a walk-around video or photos of a vehicle at your dealership.
• Your team provides the customer with the dealership’s value proposition that explains why they should buy from you, and delves into your product or service offering that differentiates you from the competition.

Once the customer is in the dealership and the initial interview is complete, have your sales representatives introduce the customer to the manager. At this time, the sales representative can brief the manager on why the customer is in the dealership. This gives the customer the feeling that they have the full attention of the dealership, and gives the manager the opportunity to review how well the representative did on their initial interview and provide feedback at a later time. This feedback will be vital in shortening negotiations with future customers while getting all the necessary information.

After the customer has reviewed available inventory, taken test drives, chosen a vehicle, and started negotiating, involve the F&I team in structuring the lending offerings. The F&I manager can conduct an initial interview (outside the F&I office), taking down all the necessary information to source the correct loan. This ensures that the financing paperwork is done correctly the first time, helps to tee up the conversation around F&I products in the F&I office.

With the correct information in hand, the F&I manager can quickly secure the right loan for the customer and move on to the F&I product discussion in a more advisory role, as they demonstrate the value of the products based on the customer’s driving habits, wants and needs. This shortens the discussion and gives the dealership the opportunity to increase product penetration.

With more than 40 years of experience helping dealers achieve their profit potential, EFG Companies knows how to  transform a dealership culture, where all departments are working together as a cohesive unit, to increase efficiency and profitability. Contact us today to put your dealership on the road to success.