Special Finance Superstar - April 2008

Describe your typical day as the special finance director of Hare Chevrolet …

It generally starts out distributing leads, working out any issues from the day before, packaging up contracts to be sent out to the lenders, meeting with the sales staff in the morning … Other than that, it’s just putting deals together, working the banks and putting out fires.

How do you manage to keep your funding timeline between two and three days?

It’s never been an issue with us. We try not to send anything that’s not going to fund. It’s kind of a two-point verification. My sales staff is trained so when the customer comes in, we verify and check [the deal]. At that point, when they take it to my assistant, the first thing we’re doing is verifying it and checking it as well. When you do that, you eliminate problems.

How have you helped increase the SF business at Hare Chevrolet?

[Before I worked here] they were doing 25 to 30 on average. They had hit 50 one time. We averaged about 88 deals last year, and in January [2008], we finally hit 106 deals. I think our biggest key to our success is we have a dealer who realizes the importance of secondary finance and is not afraid to spend the money to get the business. Secondly, it’s the people. We started with two or three counselors (SF sales associates) … Now we’re up to six. We try to build a nucleus of people who understand finance as well. I have a couple people that have actually been finance managers and we let them do a little more than a typical salesperson. We give them access to DealerTrack. We want them to have relationships with the banks, just as the assistant [SF manager] and myself do.

How do you plan to reach the dealership’s new goal of averaging 100 SF deals per month in 2008?

It’s going to be tough. After January, we got a big slap in our face in February with all the banks tightening up. Realistically, we’re going to have to work harder and smarter to put deals together.

Since February, how’s business been?

Last week was a great week; we did over 30 deals just last week. We’re very optimistic. The banks that are hanging in there are eventually going to loosen up their criteria.

How often are you assessing and addressing your department’s training needs?

Our training is ongoing. Any new technology, any new ideas, any new information that I read, it’s always passed along to our staff, particularly with the banks changing. People need to be aware of what to really look for, as far as the credit and keeping in touch with customers, because if we don’t sell them, things can change 90 days down the road.

Continued SF success can be a challenge. How do you stay on your toes?

Everyday, we look forward to helping people, changing their lives around and getting them the car they want and deserve, and it shows. Our staff works heavily on referrals, and when we talk to these people and get them in, we treat them just like any other customer. If someone walks out of here with a smile on their face and gives you a stack of referrals, it just keeps building business.

Totally random question: If you could sit down and have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?

I’d have to say Tiger Woods because his standards are so high. He accepts nothing but the best. Just like he said, finishing second is like finishing last. You always want to be on top of your game. The last tournament that he won, just the one putt, he knew; he knew he was going to make it and win that tournament. How do you do that every day?
 
Vol. 2, Issue 2