{"id":864,"date":"2018-10-10T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T15:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/efgintelligence.com\/lendingcurve\/?p=864"},"modified":"2018-10-10T10:30:41","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T15:30:41","slug":"dont-lose-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efgintelligence.com\/lendingcurve\/dont-lose-touch\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Lose Touch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mark
Contributing Author:
Mark Rappaport
President
Simplicity Division
EFG Companies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chatbots. Artificial intelligence. Voice prompts. Phone trees. Digital avatars. Truly, technology is advancing at a rapid pace, especially in the retail automotive lending space. One example is the use of automatic approvals to increase loan volume in the dealership. Will technology sound the death knell to human interaction in the lending office? Or, will it open new ways to engage with a digitally savvy population? Consider the ways technology can impact the human element in auto lending.<\/p>\n

Impact on Human Resources<\/h3>\n

Experts have long predicted technology will someday replace many of the jobs done by humans. However, history has shown that as jobs become more automated, new opportunities open up.<\/strong> Today\u2019s students are encouraged to prepare for technology-based finance and banking jobs like data analysis and computer programming, whereas four decades ago they would have been steered toward a more manual, hands-on position. Technology has also greatly improved worker productivity, increasing the number of daily transactions.<\/p>\n

Impact on Customer Outreach<\/h3>\n

Thanks to social media and the internet, reaching consumers is easier than ever. It is also a great equalizer,<\/strong> enabling even the smallest lender to compete with large, multinational institutions for auto lending business. Using do-it-yourself website tools and social platforms, any lender can engage with target customers, position their offerings, and build relationships. The digital playing field also comes with reduced marketing costs that create parity between large corporate lenders, smaller local institutions and even innovative startups.<\/p>\n

Maintain That Human Touch<\/h3>\n

While it\u2019s clear that technology is marching on, changing demographics make it clear that embracing technology only makes good sense. However, it’s important that lenders don’t lose that human touch. According to J.D. Power and Associates\u2019 2018 U.S. Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study, the lender relationship is the heaviest weighted driver of dealer satisfaction.<\/strong> \u201cSatisfaction declines by 163 points on a 1,000-point scale when dealers are not able to reach the credit staff,” said Jim Houston, Senior Director of the Automotive Finance Practice at J.D. Power. \u201cAdditionally, if lenders can communicate the best contact for dealers to reach out to for non-traditional questions, the resolution time decreases, which will, in turn, increases dealer satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same holds true for consumers interacting with lender programs online or on mobile. We\u2019ve all been frustrated when trying to get a simple question answered and we get stuck in a phone tree.<\/p>\n

So, what does it take to develop strong dealer and consumer relationships? When pondering this question think beyond quick loan descisioning and interest rates. It takes superior service and a strong value proposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n