Steve Roennau
Vice President
Compliance
EFG Companies
One of the most discussed topics over the last few years within the auto retail industry has been how to shorten the sales cycle within dealerships. Dealers have invested time and money into training initiatives, enhancing their technology capabilities, and in creating an online showroom. Even with all these initiatives, they are still struggling to achieve their goal.
According to a recent survey by eLEND Solutions, 85 percent of dealers say they want a sales process that lasts less than two hours. But, 42 percent report it usually takes three to five hours to sell a car. Now, why is this important to lenders?
One hypothesis is that those dealers who achieve significant reduction in the time it takes to sell a car will see more foot traffic, referrals and repeat customers, meaning more opportunity to increase indirect loan volume. In addition, by acting as a partner with dealers in this endeavor, it further fortifies the lender-dealer engagement, potentially resulting in increased loan volume and longer-term relationships with successful dealers.
It’s always important to remember that dealership success equates to lender success. So why shouldn’t you be invested in your success?