For dealers wanting to increase special finance traffic, Greg Goebel, special finance expert, explains how dealers should assess their current special finance traffic to determine how to increase special finance (subprime) traffic and gross.
As dealers notice the comeback special finance is making, interest in the topic grows, as evidenced by the increasing number of calls Author and Consultant Greg Goebel has been receiving of late. He outlines some of the important issues dealers should consider before jumping back into special finance.
Industry Expert Greg Goebel provides an in-depth look at the Special Finance Segment of the Auto Dealer Monthly 2010 Auto Finance Survey.
Annually, Greg Goebel (special finance expert and consultant) reviews hundreds of dealers’ data from the previous year to provide readers with an in-depth look at the latest special finance benchmarks.
Greg Goebel - The landscape of the special finance market is changing, but this time it’s changing in a way that could benefit dealers. The near-prime customers of today aren’t the same as they used to be. Among near-prime buyers, average interest rates have dropped, the average loan term has grown and average monthly payments have increased. Read on to discover what’s behind these changes and how the rest of the subprime spectrum has changed in the past year.
Greg Goebel - Throughout periods of restructuring when people are being shifted, promoted or hired, I get questions about compensation plans for the SF manager and/or SF department. Generally, what I hear is, “How are we supposed to pay them?” or “What is the benchmark for compensation for a SF manager?” Unfortunately, the question isn’t quite that simple.
Greg Goebel - I have written for years about Green and Red Balloons, the metaphor for identifying the creditworthiness of dealership customers. Nothing has changed about the need to identify creditworthiness quickly and effectively when a customer first contacts your dealership, except for the fact that it has become more urgent to do so.
Greg Goebel - Twice each year, once in April and once in November, Auto Dealer Monthly reports the temperature of the retail finance climate. Having begun this process in 2005, this is the twelfth time we have asked dealers and their dealership personnel to offer their opinions of the retail finance companies they are doing business with.
Greg Goebel - As the calendar turns to March, good news seems to be abounding in the special finance world. E-mails and phone conversations with dealers and their managers indicate that business is indeed returning to that of the old days (late ‘90s) when SF was solid and deals were reasonable.
Greg Goebel - I have talked with probably more than 10,000 dealers about special finance over the past two decades. The range of their commitment to special finance has been from “off the charts” to a “you couldn’t get me to touch it with a 10-foot pole.”