Lending Curve
The recent Federal Reserve Beige Book offered an interesting perspective for the auto lending market. Uncertainty around trade policy was pervasive across all 12 districts, with the majority showing flat to down growth. Non-auto consumer spending was lower overall – but most districts saw moderate to robust sales of vehicles.
When you walk into a dealership, what value do you bring to the F&I office besides another loan for which their customers may qualify? In 2018, F&I managers across the country are concerned with three hot buttons:
With a myriad of compliance procedures and paperwork on hand, F&I managers have a difficult job when it comes to balancing compliance, profitability and time management. The best way to separate your loan from the competition is to help them with this balance. How do you do this?
Provide clear standards for loan approvals. This not only helps with compliance, but helps F&I managers ensure that they submit well-qualified customers for your loans. You know your qualifications, but how well do F&I managers know them? Look at how often you deny auto loans. If that number is high, it could be because your standards are unclear to the F&I officer.
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?
