Articles by Kevin Day - Founder and President

Kevin Day - The credit markets have been rocked and are on their heels right now, which is why every dealership needs a dedicated F&I professional to find all financing options available on a deal. Although, yes, there are a few “niche” lending places left on a regional basis, the general consensus is that finance companies are looking for only the cream of the crop.

It's near the end of the year, and it's been a very tough year for our special finance department. We've lost many finance companies and grosses are way down. My dealer has even talked about closing our SF department, but we are hanging on by a thread. What is the best advice you can give us during this frustrating time? And do you see any end in sight to the difficulties of our department?

Q: Recently, you moderated a class at the 2008 Special Finance Convention in Dallas. What did you learn from other attendees during the convention?

Q: Recently, you moderated a class at the 2008 Special Finance Convention in Dallas. What did you learn from other attendees during the convention?

Kevin Day - In order to run as efficiently and profitable as possible, a dealership must be run by the numbers. Remember the old adage, “Numbers don’t lie.” Well, this statement is certainly true.

When I was a dealer in the early 90s, I started my business in a building that was less than 100 square feet. I had a gravel lot, my tiny office, a shed and a burning desire to sell cars.

Q. Do you recommend paying on front gross or a combination of front and back gross profit? Do you feel pay should be based on all deals or just SF deals? If only on SF deals, how do you count an SF deal? What do you feel is the optimum way an SF manager should be paid?

Kevin Day - Just after the turn of the century, mighty Wal-Mart (yes, that Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer) entered the used car market. This amazing saga began as a joint venture between Wal-Mart and an established dealer group called Asbury.

Kevin Day - Outsourcing a BDC’s responsibilities can have a huge upside if done correctly. A quick Google search reveals many companies competing to gain more market share of this growing segment of the dealership world. A good outsourced call center (OCC) should meet certain criteria:

Kevin Day - “The profit is made when you buy the car.” What does this really mean? In our realm of special finance, we are besieged with customers trying to buy our stock of vehicles that we worked so hard to buy and buy right.