Deliver More of the Customers that You Sell
Jeffrey F. Knott Author of the Award Winning book about car sales,
From Zero to Hero, How to Master the Art of Selling Cars As many of you know getting a customer that has selected a vehicle, agreed on the figures and that is willing to take a vehicle home does not always mean that you have earned a commission. After all a large percentage of the consumers in today's market have challenges regarding their credit history. These challenges range from lack of credit to collections, repossessions and even issues as bad as previous or open bankruptcies. That's right; people who have openly declared that they are so financially unstable that they need to have their previous debts expunged are out shopping for and hoping to get financed on high-ticket items, such as automobiles. Securing financing for these potential customers is where the work really begins. You may be wondering why I am delving into the finance aspect of a car deal when this column is normally reserved for matters pertaining to automobile sales, not the finance and insurance department. And that is exactly the reason I have written this article. Many salespeople are under the assumption that the process of getting a customer satisfactory financing is the sole responsibility of the finance manager. And concerning the job title and descriptions associated with finance managers in most dealerships this would be an accurate assumption.
Regardless finance managers do not have as much of a vested interest in seeing to it that everyone of your potential customer's drives home in a new car. After all they are contending with and earning a living off of every car deal from every salesperson in the dealership. That's right they are busy and sometimes even overburdened with situations that will cause your customers' financial needs to become less than the most important. The real sales pros I have met in this business know this and take the responsibility of finding out the valuable, sometimes deal saving information about their customers and their situations.
That's right, if you have been guilty of closing a customer on price or payment and then tossing them a credit application to fill out on their own, only to be deciphered later by an over-burdened finance manager you may have been costing yourself deals and in turn costing yourself money. Many salespeople I have met are guilty of this. As far as they are concerned when their customer says, “Yes, I will buy” instantly their customer becomes the finance department's problem. However just as you are a representative of your dealership and the product you are selling to the general public you are also a representative acting on behalf of your customer and responsible to provide all the relevant information that could assist in getting them financed. That's right, if you are going to be a real pro in this business you need to do more than run the ball to the one yard line and then drop it in the hopes that it will be important enough for someone else to carry in for a touchdown.
Here is some of the information that you can obtain from your customers to insure that they are given the best chance of obtaining financing.
Income: Be sure that the information your customer is providing is accurate.
- Verify with them that the amount on the credit application is their gross income. Gross income is the income they earn before anything is taken out.
- Verify that the math they are doing to calculate their income is correct. Ask them what hourly rate they work at or what salary they earn. Check their math.
- Check to see if there is any other additional income. Sometimes even a few hundred dollars a month from court ordered child support, social security or a part time job can be enough to make a deal buyable by the bank.
- Ask if they have a recent pay stub with them. If they do make acopy of it for the deal.
Outgoing: home mortgage or rent
- Ask your customer if they share the rent or mortgage with someone else. If they share the rent, find out what portion they pay. (you also may want to find out who pays the other half, sometimes that person may be a good cosigner)
References
- Many banks require several references from each customer on the credit application. Most people list the individuals that they are closest to as their personal references. These references could be good potential cosigners in the event that the finance department is unable to acquire financing on your customers' credit alone.
Vehicle options:
- Remember that a finance manager is just that, a finance manager. They may have sold cars in the past but that doesn't mean that they are as informed about the vehicles you are selling as you are. This is why it is important to list every vehicle option that could affect the perceived value of it by the bank. Remember the bank doesn't like to loan much more money on a vehicle than they think it is worth.
Don't be one of the salespeople that walks around your store complaining that the finance department couldn't get your customer adequate financing, yet another dealership did if you are not willing to give your finance department all of the information they could need to do the job you want them to do. Be a professional and take the responsibility upon yourself. Your success is ultimately up to you.
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Jeffrey F. Knott is the Author of From Zero to Hero, How to Master the Art of Selling Cars and can be reached by email: Jeff@Showroomtoday.com |
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