Future P R E PA R I N G F O R T H E
By Jan Kelly, president of Kelly Enterprises
A
new year brings new goals, and new hopes for improved sales, more lenders, and more profits for everyone. As with any change in the
marketplace, dealerships must prepare their team to meet the current demands of the marketplace. SALES: From all I’ve read, the customers are back. People are once again going to the dealerships to replace their old vehicles with smaller, more fuel-efficient models, and some are adding to their family fleet so they can meet the weather challenges. The great news is the customers are back from their long hiatus. What are they finding at the dealerships? The customers are finding store personnel stretched, and the once-many choices of inventory they enjoyed in the past now cut. The product selection step in the selling cycle will need to stress selling what you see in front of you. During the past few years, those dealerships that survived have learned how to manage inventory more effectively, as well as turning it more quickly. They’ve also learned how to operate in a lean environment. PERSONNEL: Plan on hiring sales personnel and educating them. Personnel are stretched to the point of having job descriptions blurred. I think the time is coming to redefine the roles and create a work environment where they can focus upon the job at hand and cease worrying about what additional items will be asked of them. Multitasking can become dysfunctional after awhile. Sales processes while basic never change, I find each dealership has a specific culture and the process often must be modified to reflect the culture so management will support the process after the educator leaves.
Education is not a one-time event. Plan a continuous relationship with your education resource. Every process
should be monitored, measured, and modified as required. After the modifications have been made, the new process needs to be re-implemented, monitored and the producers need to be held accountable.
LENDERS: The industry needs more of them, and we need them to approve loans. Dealerships will need to continue to seek local credit unions and other local lenders to approve consumer financing. Credit unions may not be use to the independent dealerships, but this is an opportunity to put your best face forward and sell yourself and your business acumen to the lenders. I was asked how important relationships with lenders are; they’re critical to your success. Lenders again wish to become a close business advisor to your operation. They’re going to want a piece of every banking transaction you have; wholesale, retail, merchant services, checkings and savings, personal and business. When you think of lenders, what was old is now new again. Keep your ears to the wind; contact every source prospect for lenders at every opportunity. COMPLIANCE ISSUES: Spend the time it takes to create a binder with your policies and procedures regarding the plethora of federal regulations we must meet. The following is a beginning checklist for those policies and procedures: ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
DISPOSAL RULE P SAFE GUARD RULE P OFAC SDN LIST P RED FLAG RULE P ADDRESS DISCREPANCY RULE RISK-BASED PRICING RULE P ADVERSE ACTION LETTERS P
P
ONCE A POLICY AND PROCEDURE IS PLACED IN WRITING, THE COMPANY IS BOUND BY THE WORDS IT WRITES. With the creation of the new credit protection agency, I think we’ll begin to see enforcement of the rules and regulations and perhaps some additional items will be added to the list of required written documentation. Review your existing policies and verify what’s written is what’s actually happening. If not, then change either the policies or your practices. Once a policy and procedure is placed in writing, the company is bound by the words it writes. Conduct self-audits as written in the policies and procedures. Document the education content and the timing of the education of new hires. Document any breaches of security, or failure to adhere to the company policies. As you know, I am not an attorney and this is not to be used as legal advice. These words are meant to be educational only. Please consult your legal counsel for all legal issues. The future is once again bright. Prepare for success. Jan Kelly is an educator and consultant, international convention speaker and writes frequently for industry publications. For information about educational venues or joining our F&I 20 Group, call 800-336-4275 or visit www. JLKelly.com.
4
DEALER
NJ_0211.indd 4
NEWS
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2011
w w w. n i a d a - n e w j e r s e y. c o m
1/19/11 1:32 PM