Special Finance Group » Greg Goebel

The “Silver Bullet” of Special Finance

sfgadmin — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 04:19:24 +0000

In his recent article “In Search of Silver Bullets,” special finance expert Greg Goebel answered the question he gets asked most often when talking to special finance departments across the country. Over and over again, dealerships ask him how they can get more good quality leads. More often than not, the answer is not more money or more leads. The answer is devoting time and creative energy towards making the most of those leads.

While Goebel doesn’t believe in a “silver bullet” answer, he breaks down his overall strategy into 5 parts, and coincidentally, it looks a heck of a lot like our strategy at Special Finance Group.

TRACKING – Tracking leads is absolutely essential to getting the most for your lead money. Special Finance Group tracks leads from first contact with the customer to delivery. While some dealerships only worry about leads that turn into sales, we keep track of the lead source, the representative who set the appointment, and other pertinent information on all our leads, and based on that information, we make adjustments to improve.
BUDGET – Putting together a proper budget means more than figuring out how much a dealership is spending on leads and inventory. A successful special finance department will put money and resources towards their marketing, and a dealership with Special Finance Group doesn’t have to worry about that. This all leads to the next part, “Be Different.”
BE DIFFERENT – The marketing team at Special Finance Group is comfortable using traditional advertising media as well as social media and online advertising venues. We have established a strong online presence through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn among other sites, and our original content targeted at sub-prime credit auto buyers makes us and our associated dealerships stand out.
SEARCH – Along with our social media outreach, we work to maintain a solid reputation online. We work with our dealerships to post text and video testimonials of customers online and address any negative feedback quickly.
COMPLY – Compliance has always been a priority at Special Finance Group, and our measures go above and beyond the dealership norm.

Greg Goebel claims that there is no “silver bullet” for special finance, but after looking at his five-part strategy, it is clear that if there was a silver bullet, it would be Special Finance Group’s Complete Special Finance Solution.

Are you ready to get the Complete Special Finance Solution? Go to http://www.specialfinancegroup.com to learn more, and connect with Special Finance Group on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Image courtesy of tungphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Special Finance: Why Your Call Center Matters

sfgadmin — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:31:16 +0000

A special finance department is nothing without customers. Great inventory, a perfected pitch, and rigid compliance don’t mean much if people aren’t walking in the door, and the most effective way to get potential customers in the door is by simply picking up the phone.

A call center devoted exclusively to setting appointments is absolutely essential to any special finance department. It isn’t enough to double up the sales team’s responsibilities and put them on the phones for a few hours a day. They need to be working with customers and worrying about selling cars. Besides that, sales people tend to get too in-depth and try to sell the person over the phone.

A good phone rep will leave a sense of mystery and get the customer excited about the appointment instead of going overboard with interest rates, down payments, and other details. This isn’t just our opinion. In a recent article, Special Finance Insider Greg Goebel wrote, “I have proven over and over again that a well-managed call center/BDC will deliver better results with a better ROI.”

With Special Finance Group’s Complete Special Finance Solution, your dealership will get our highly trained call center that will set and track your appointments while instilling a sense of urgency and excitement in the customer. Our call scripts are written by a telemarketing veteran, and every day, we listen to our phone reps and our customers’ feedback to tweak and improve those scripts. Customers will show up to their appointments with all their proper documentation and ready to get a car if they are approved. It streamlines the car buying process, helping your sales team sell more cars.

Want to learn more about the Complete Special Finance Solution? Go to http://www.specialfinancegroup.com, and get the latest news from Special Finance Group by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and connecting with us on LinkedIn.

Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Inventory Made Simple

sfgadmin — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 01:33:25 +0000

Working in special finance, one of the biggest factors to success (perhaps the biggest factor to success) is a good inventory. It can be a tough balance to find cars that will turn a profit, will appeal to buyers, and that will work with the finance companies. There are some great resources for special finance departments to find inventory like Auto Auction Insider and Bidzpin, but you don’t really need a lot of bells and whistles to get the right vehicles.

What is the ideal vehicle for special finance? We suggest using this checklist when deciding to buy.

Does the car have less than 75,000 miles on it?
Is the car model less than 7 years old?
Is the cost less than $19,000 and greater than $7,000?
Is the car $500 or more below average trade value of NADA, KBB, or Black Book?

If the vehicle fits all 4 qualifications, then it is an ideal candidate. Now, it isn’t possible to get all 4 of these qualifiers all of the time, but you should try to get all 4 as often as possible. To quote Greg Goebel of Auto Dealer Monthly, “You likely will have to look at eight to 10 vehicles in order to buy one.” It isn’t easy, but the reward for your special finance department will be worth the work in the long run.

Getting the right inventory won’t mean much, though, if the right customers aren’t walking in the door. This is where Special Finance Group comes in. As part of our Complete Special Finance Solution, our call center qualifies leads for your department, finds customers that are ready to buy, and sets appointments for them to stop by the dealership. It compliments and enhances your special finance department. Your reps will have more time to do what they do best, and the department will see higher sales and more satisfied customers.

Learn more about Special Finance Group’s Complete Special Finance Solution here, and connect with Special Finance Group on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Image courtesy of Paul Martin Eldridge / FreeDigitalPhotos.net