Extended Service Contracts and Buy Here – Pay Here
The sale of extended service contracts, or vehicle service plans as they are sometimes called, has been a staple of the independent and franchise dealer for many years. Most Dealer Controlled Financing dealers (bhph & LHPH) have been reluctant to sell them for one major reason – any money the customer spends on an extended service contract typically reduces the amount of money the customer has for a down payment. That means the dealer will have more money at risk in the contract for a longer period. The only other alternative is to include the extended service contract in the amount financing, extending the term of the retail finance contract and, again, putting the dealer at risk for a longer period of time.
An extended service contract can provide a DCF dealer with a couple of advantages; however.
- Various studies estimate that approximately 1/3 of all charge-offs are the result of mechanical issues with the vehicle and we see an equally high percentage of delinquent accounts having issues with the vehicle being at least a part of the cause of the customer being unable to pay. A good vehicle service contract can eliminate many of these problems, reducing collection expense, delinquency and charge-offs.
- Some DCF dealers typically end up adding repair expenses to accounts when the customer cannot afford to pay for repairs themselves. We have all heard the saying, “When the car stops running, the customer stops paying” and, in order to avoid this, it is often in the dealers best interest to keep the vehicle running. Adding repairs to the account; however, increases the amount of the dealer’s cash invested in the deal and lengthens the amount of time until repayment is complete. Again, a good extended service contract can eliminate some of these situations.
- Using extended service contracts paid for by the dealership like a warranty can be a valuable marketing tool. Offering a 12/12 or 24/24 service plan can set you apart from your competition.
The secret to using extended service contracts in a Dealer Controlled Financing dealership is finding the right contract. There are very few extended service contracts designed specifically to meet the needs of the DCF industry. Plans with decent coverage for vehicles with higher mileage at a reasonable cost can be difficult to find. Plans that can be paid for on a monthly basis so dealers do not have to either reduce the amount they collect as down payment or finance the cost of the contract are even more difficult to obtain.
Recognizing the need for these types of plans for our clients, Constellation has been working with one of the nation’s leading suppliers of extended service contracts to develop just such a program. Watch for news on this important strategic alliance that will revolutionize extended service contracts in the Dealer Controlled Finance industry coming soon.
The Value of Trend Analysis
As a consultant and trainer to DCF dealers across the nation, I am often amazed when talking with prospective clients about their business results. It is surprising to see how many dealers do not track their own dealership’s key figures - figures that are very relevant at determining the overall health of the lot. The figures these dealers did know were typically as of the previous month’s end-of-the-month reports. They knew that last month, or maybe even last year, they collected X amount in payments or booked X amount of profit or sold X number of units. But, they don’t know how that truly compares to previous months, years or even industry standards.
Most DMS computer systems provide adequate reports which would enable a dealer to see their static results; how many units sold and average deal structure; current inventory totals and averages; current delinquency and accounts receivable totals, etc. However, very few, if any, of these systems provide any type of trend analysis reports. It is up to the dealer to record key figures on a monthly and even weekly basis in order to perform any meaningful analysis. The term "trend analysis" refers to the concept of collecting information and attempting to spot a pattern, or trend, in the information.
Having the ability to spot trends can be invaluable to a DCF dealer where many collect payments on a weekly basis. Spotting a dangerous trend early enough allows dealers to take corrective action prior to having a major issue. The trick is to know what to look for.
We have seen dramatic reductions in the average reconditioning expenses at a lot where, it turns out, the manager had been planning to quit and open his own lot. Had this trend not been spotted, the results could have been catastrophic leaving the new management to deal with a poor performing portfolio with lots of mechanical issues. This dealer was able to set new policies for vehicle inspections quick enough to contain any major issues.
At another location, a dealer was enjoying what appear to be his lot’s typical low delinquency rates; however, because this dealer was also monitoring the staff’s collection effectiveness, he spotted a trend that indicated there was a strong possibility of fraud. With some further investigating this dealer was able to obtain proof of employee theft within just a few weeks. Putting an end to what most certainly could have lasted months had he not been tracking weekly performance.
The first step to take to have the ability to spot these types of trends is to record data. Determine which key figures you want to track and enter those across the top of your page as the column headers. The first column should be for the date and each line or row will start with the date the data is recorded. If you are recording weekly data, pick one day of the week (Friday, Saturday, etc) and record data as of that day each week. As you continue to enter your information it won’t take long before you have mounds of valuable data, data that you can now use to spot trends and to aide with forecasting.
You can use a simple ledger card, but this is the 21st century and a spreadsheet will allow for much more flexibility. There are several free options available today on the World Wide Web; Google Docs (www.docs.google.com), Microsoft Excel Online (www.OfficeLive.com) and Open Office (www.OpenOffice.org). Google and Microsoft each offer a decent basic spreadsheet that can be accessed online and Open Office has a complete one that can be installed on your computer.
Webster defines data as “factual information used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.” Data mining has been defined as "the extraction of implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information from data". Don’t expect what you can't inspect. Your data is like gold - mine it often.
This article originally appeared in the August 2011 edition of NIADA’s Used Car Dealer magazine.
The Road Ahead - Selling & Financing Motor Vehicles... a Roundtable
The Federal Trade Commission is holding a series of roundtable events to gather information on possible consumer protection issues that may arise in the sale, lease, or financing of motor vehicles. The first event took place in Detroit, Michigan on April 12, 2011.
The FTC’s second motor vehicle roundtable will take place at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas on August 2 - 3, 2011. Topics for the second roundtable will include motor vehicle sales and financing issues pertaining to military consumers, fair lending, and financial literacy.
Constellation Automotive Solutions is pleased to announce that Senior Consultant Al Mosher has been invited to participate as a panelist at the San Antonio Roundtable. Mr. Mosher will appear on a panel titled, “Financial Literacy and New Approaches for Auto Sales and Financing”. The invitation from the FTC read, in part, “ We believe that your expertise about the DCF industry would provide a valuable perspective on how consumers can better understand the issues involved in purchasing a motor vehicle from a DCF dealer.”
“I am honored to have been selected by the FTC to represent the dealer controlled financing industry at this event”, Mosher said. “It is an outstanding opportunity for the DCF industry to have its voice heard at a forum organized by one of the most important bodies that regulates our industry.”
This important invitation to appear on this panel on top of Constellation’s recent educational partnership with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association represents another milestone in Constellation’s recognition as a leading expert in dealer controlled financing. Constellation continues to garner acknowledgment as a leading provider of software, training and consulting to the DCF industry. Constellation Automotive Solutions wants to invite any of our dealer clients to contact Al and voice any concerns or issues you would like to see addressed at this roundtable. Please contact Al at 800-654-4955, extension 6993
Walking the Tightrope
Managing a Buy Here – Pay Here dealership can be like walking a tightrope. A manager needs to balance creating a friendly atmosphere against the need to maintain a business relationship. Potential customers should feel welcome when they come in to purchase a new vehicle and current customers should feel like the dealership cares out about them and what is going on in their lives as they make their payments. But customers must also understand the necessity of being honest and making their payments when they are due. It is easy for this balance to get out of whack one way or the other. Either way can result in serious consequences to the health of the dealership.
Everyone wants to be liked and the temptation is enormous for the manager to want to be everyone’s friend. The longer a manager holds that position, the greater the temptation becomes. As a customer makes more and more payments on their account and as those customers pay off one vehicle and then buy another, the manager becomes increasingly familiar with these customers and their lives. Many long-time managers have customers who have bought numerous vehicles from them. The longer the relationship between the manager and the customer continues, the easier it becomes to cross that thin line between a friendly business relationship and an actual relationship as a friend.
Once the relationship with customers crosses this line, it becomes more difficult for the manager to perform his duties properly. The manager will make lending decisions that do not fit the dealership’s guidelines. He or she may fail to require down payments as specified by the dealership’s policies, set terms that are not in the best interest of the dealership or even make loans to customers who don’t meet the dealership’s underwriting criteria.
It can be even more noticeable on the collections side of the business. Customers who are friends of the manager may be allowed to pay in a different manner than other customers. This is not only unfair but may open up the dealership to discrimination lawsuits. We understand that most customers will not pay as agreed for the entire term of their loan and that we must be willing to work with customers to keep good customers in their car and paying. However, excessive use of such agreements or agreements that are too lenient may extend the loan beyond the length of time allowed by dealership policy and even beyond the length of time the vehicle can be expected to run, creating an even greater and unnecessary collection problem.
On the other side of the coin, we have the manager who refuses to interact with his or her customers in any way or does so in a negative manner. We try to hire managers who we feel can understand our customer base and the kinds of issues that might arise. However, some managers react to customers who have difficulty handling their accounts as promised or who make promises they are not able to keep by becoming bitter and negative. They begin to view all their customers as liars and to see themselves as better than their customers. Often, contact with customers becomes rude and confrontational. It doesn’t take long for the customers to recognize this type of attitude and to react.
They become less forthcoming about issues in their lives, less likely to contact the dealership when they have problems and less responsive to collection efforts. The dealership becomes less a place where they like and want to do business and are willing to refer friends to and more just another bill collector looking for their money. Repeat and referral sales will suffer dramatically and collections will become a never-ending struggle causing attitudes and dealership morale to decline even further.
Keeping the proper cordial but businesslike attitude towards customers is critical to the success of a Buy Here – Pay Here operation. We must make our customers understand that we are glad they choose to do business with us and that they will be treated fairly, honestly and with respect. But, they must also understand that the dealership is a business and it is the manager’s responsibility to operate that business according to certain guidelines.
We will welcome them when they come to do business with us and we are interested in what is happening in their lives and with their vehicle but they must understand that we expect certain things from them, as well. To uphold their part of the relationship, we expect them to pay as promised whenever possible, to contact us when they have problems and to be honest in their dealings with us. It is the manager’s responsibility to ensure that both the dealership’ responsibilities to the customer and the customer’s responsibilities to the dealership are performed in a professional and friendly, but businesslike, manner. Doing so keeps the dealership operating smoothly and profitably while maintaining the strongest relationship with the customers.
Act Like a Challenger, Even when You're the Champ
By:Dave Anderson
It’s common for leaders to speak in terms of building a “team of champions.” While I also endeavor to build a team of champions in my own organization, I don’t want people working in my company who think like champions. Rather, I want to fill my business with team members who have a challenger’s mindset. To use a martial arts term, I want the “red belt” mentality rather than the black belt mindset and here’s why: the most dangerous fighters in karate dojos are the red belts. Red is the rank prior to black, and what makes the reds such tenacious fighters is the fact that they haven’t yet reached the top and still train with intensity and urgency. Black belts, on the other hand, often let up and downshift into a maintenance mode after working so long and hard to earn their elite rank. In fact, it is common for black belts to start packing on pounds soon after reaching their goal, because they spend more time giving advice than they do fighting on the mat.
The still-hungry red belts demonstrate a stronger commitment to improve through a solid work ethic, consistent training habits, and by remaining coachable. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see reds knock out blacks during sparring sessions. They’re sharper because their killer instinct hasn’t been dulled by the belief that they’ve “arrived.” In my own experience, I lost 25 pounds in the ten weeks leading up to my red belt test because of the added hours of sparring.
While black belts can still advance with 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th degrees, etc. a common tendency after reaching their goal is to take a break. One friend of mine passed his black belt test and didn’t return to the mat for six months. Parallel analogies in business abound. When business “black belts” with their “champion’s mindset” get to the top of a mountain and become “number one” or have a record year, their tendency is to build a fence around the ground they’ve gained and hold it, rather than seek out higher ground that offers an even bigger prize. They stop changing, risking, deciding, recruiting, innovating, training, and holding others accountable. Prosperity drains their urgency, and they eventually find themselves in a rut.
Following are ten contrasts between a challenger’s and champion’s mindset. While there are always exceptions to the rule, the rule normally rules.
1. Challenger’s mindset : hungry. Champion’s mindset : satisfied.
2. Challenger’s mindset: humble. Champion’s mindset: arrogant.
3. Challenger’s mindset: teachable. Champion’s mindset: know-it-all.
4. Challenger’s mindset: something to prove . Champion’s mindset: “been there, done that.”
5. Challenger’s mindset: willing to serve . Champion’s mindset: wants to be served.
6. Challenger’s mindset: tries something new. Champion’s mindset: stuck in their ways.
7. Challenger’s mindset: works with a sense of urgency. Champion’s mindset: paces themselves.
8. Challenger’s mindset: plays to win . Champion’s mindset: plays not to lose.
9. Challenger’s mindset: rattles the status quo. Champion’s mindset: defends the status quo.
10. Challenger’s mindset: lives for the present and future. Champion’s mindset: lives in the past.
There are other differences, but these paint a clear picture of why a challenger’s mindset is necessary in any endeavor where continuing to grow is important. But, don’t misunderstand my point: I’m not saying that I don’t want champions working with me, because I do. What I don’t want are people who think like champions. My goal is to surround myself with champions who maintain the hunger of challengers . In fact, here’s a lesson I’ve taught to top performers for years:
Act like a challenger even when you’re the champ. Challengers are hungry, humble, and have something to prove. Champs can become lazy, cocky, and complacent.
Here are four suggestions for developing a challenger’s—a red belt’s—state of mind. Use them to shape your personal success philosophy so that you can positively affect and influence those you work with:
1. Accept the fact that you’re never as good as you think you are. When you focus less on how “successful” you are and more on closing the gap between your current status and your fullest potential, you’ll create a positive tension that keeps you both humble and hungry.
2. When you’re doing well, don’t sit on the ball, run up the score. Never settle for your “fair share” of the market, but strive for an unfair share. Don’t make it a goal to create a “level playing field" in your market area. Instead, work hard to make the playing field so un-level that your organization has an insanely unfair advantage over your competition. If you’re not thinking in these terms you’ve probably already regressed from high gear into neutral. All that’s missing from your office is the hammock, pitcher of margaritas, and Panama hat.
3. Embrace urgency as a core value. Urgency is one of LearnToLead’s five corporate core values, as well as one of my personal values. You must convince yourself that there is power in now , not later. You may never get later. Act now !
4. Live your life as an “and then some” person. Do what is expected and then some . Pay the price and then some . Do what others aren’t willing to do; go where they’re unwilling to go; try what they’re afraid to try, and one day you’ll find yourself in a category of one.
Be an example for your team and work with the hunger, discipline, humility, intensity, and teach-ability of a red belt. Set your goal to reach the top, but even once you become a Grand Master, maintain the mindset of a challenger. This disciplined state of mind separates the martial artist from a partial artist, the legitimate champion from a one-hit wonder.
Dave is president of Dave Anderson’s Learn To Lead, an international sales and leadership training and consulting company. Prior to beginning Learn To Lead, Dave enjoyed an extensive and successful career in the automotive retail industry.
Dave has given over 1,000 workshops and speeches over the past decade on sales and leadership development and has spoken in fourteen countries.
Dave is author of twelve books, including the TKO Business Series, Up Your Business, If You Don’t Make Waves You’ll Drown , How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK, and How to Lead by THE BOOK.
He authors a monthly leadership column for two national magazines and his interviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of publications including: The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily and US News & World Report. He was a featured speaker at the NADA Convention for ten straight years and is a frequent panelist on MSNBC’s Your Business show.
Constellation Announces Partnership with NIADA
Constellation Automotive Solutions is pleased to announce that we have formed a partnership with the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association to provide education and training solutions in Buy Here – Pay Here and Lease Here – Pay Here, together known as Dealer Controlled Financing for NIADA members. These educational programs will include best practices training with solutions for maximizing sales, collections and profitability through seminars, online training on NIADA-TV and articles in NIADA publications. Partnered with NIADA, Constellation will add a Certified DCF Dealer option to NIADA’s Certified Master Dealer Program®.
“I was looking to develop a partnership with an entity that has good, experienced trainers that NIADA could use as our bhph and LHPH training solution”, said Michael Linn, CEO of NIADA. “It was important to me to offer quality education and training to our members. Constellation Automotive Solutions was the perfect fit for us.” Linn continued, “Their training materials are superb and their trainers, Al Mosher and Don Miller , have extensive knowledge and experience in the Buy Here – Pay Here and Lease Here – Pay Here industry.”
“NIADA is the leading voice for independent auto dealers in the country”, said Robert Lowenstein, Business Manager for Constellation. “It is an honor to be able to serve its 20,000 members and help NIADA expand its educational resources for dealers engaged in Dealer Controlled Financing.”
Constellation will provide a number of valuable services to NIADA members, including:
· National DCF Monthly Composite
The DCF Monthly Dealer Composite provides the bhph /LHPH dealer a four page report reflecting their dealership’s business results from the previous month, as well as year-to-date. It compares their operation with the averages, minimums and maximums of other bhph /LHPH dealers across the nation. Also included are 12 months of historical figures and graphs which can aide dealers with projections and spotting dangerous trends.
· Convention & Expo Seminars
Constellation, in consultation with NIADA, will be responsible for providing educational opportunities concerning dealer controlled financing at the NIADA Convention & Expo every year. This will kick off at this year’s convention June 20 th – 23 rd in Las Vegas with a seminar titled “7 Keys to Success in Dealer Controlled Financing”. That session will include valuable information on 7 key topics ranging from business models to inventory to collections and will feature tips from a panel of successful dealers.
· DCF Manager Training Course
The Manager Training Course is a comprehensive, 3-day class involving all aspects of the day-to-day operation of a DCF dealership. Techniques and guidelines are taught to help you better utilize your inventory and personnel, improve your sales process, establish better and more consistent underwriting, effectively collect what is owed you, better manage your delinquency and stay in compliance with laws and regulations affecting our industry. Attendees will come back to the lot better equipped to consistently produce results to improve their dealerships bottom line.
This partnership between NIADA and Constellation Automotive Solutions opens up a wealth of new educational and training opportunities for NIADA members. Constellation’s consultants have been providing industry-leading training and education for DCF dealers for well over a decade and are excited about this opportunity to expand its services and aid NIADA members with all their needs in the Buy Here – Pay Here and Lease Here – Pay Here arenas. NIADA and Constellation urge all NIADA members to explore how these new programs can benefit them and help them improve their businesses.
Setting Buy-Here Pay-Here Goals
As we begin the new year, many dealers are revising and finalizing their goals for their 2011 forecasts and budgets. However, there are some dealers who have not even looked over their goals from last year. With the ever increasing cost of inventory, labor, reconditioning, etc., adjusting your goals on an annual basis will help properly predict your cash flow requirements and expected profitability for the coming year.
Over the last 4 years we have seen the average inventory cost increase more than $600 per vehicle while customer down payments have remained flat. This has resulted in substantial increases in the dealers’ monthly total Cash-in-Deal (the monies budgeted to replace inventory). A dealer selling 15 vehicles a month would need an additional $9000 to replace the inventory with the same units that he did 4 years earlier.
If the typical dealer is not increasing their total number of active accounts, not increasing their average customer payment or collecting substantially more money down, they will need to use more of their available capital to replace inventory and pay expenses. For the more mature dealer this has become a very important issue. Setting goals that account for these increases is a must.
Now let’s discuss the actual goals. Goals are objectives or targets, usually driven by specific future financial needs and should reflect an owner’s specific business plan. For the bhph business, we separate goals into 2 categories; cash flow -Profitability and Deal Structure-Inventory.
cash flow - PROFITABILITY - I tell every dealer I speak with that is getting into bhph the same thing. Create a cash flow model and then stick to it. There is nothing worse than running out of cash or waiting for payments to buy inventory. Volume and Cash-in-Deal dictate the amount of capital needed and the number of active accounts dictates the amount of expected incoming cash flow.
DEAL STRUCTURE-INVENTORY - There is absolutely nothing more important to the survival and the profitability of a bhph operation than establishing and maintaining inventory and deal structure goals. The amount of cash that a lot will consume is tied directly to the amount of money spent on acquiring inventory. Likewise, perhaps the single biggest issue on whether a customer can successfully pay off his account is how you structured the deal. Poor deal structure will insure you will have collection issues throughout the loan and will significantly increase your repossession and charge-off numbers. The wrong inventory and deal structure will set your customer up for failure.
Below are examples of goals each dealer should set:
Cash Flow-Profitability Goals:
Sales per week
Average Cash-In-Deal per deal
Average Gross Profit per deal
Rate of Return for finance sales
Rate of Return for all sales
Total Active Accounts and the date to achieve this goal
Total Account Balances (P&I)
Deal Structure-Inventory Goals:
Total Available Units
Average Purchase Price
Average Reconditioning
Maximum Cost Amount
Average Days In Stock
Maximum Term
Average Payment
Average Cash Down
In today’s credit market, available credit facilities have diminished and fewer are fond of the subprime market. It is the savvy dealer, with a well structured business plan that will survive and succeed in the years ahead. But it all starts with a well thought out cash flow model. The cash flow model needs to account for increasing inventory costs, increasing labor and operating expenses and it needs to properly predict the expected cash flow from the dealer’s current account base.
As the year comes to an end, it’s time to revise and finalize your goals. Nothing runs without a plan and a plan cannot run without goals. To ensure the success of your business, make a plan, set SMART goals that achieve your plan and then stick to it.
Don Miller is a senior consultant and supervisor of Constellation’s DCF Consulting Group , a consulting firm specializing in BHPH start-ups, training, consulting and analytics. http://www.constellationauto.com/dcf
Risk Based Pricing Notices
Section 311 of the FACT Act added a new section 615(h) to the Fair Credit Reporting Act to address risk-based pricing. Risk-based pricing refers to the practice of setting or adjusting the price and other terms of credit offered or extended to a particular consumer to reflect the risk of nonpayment by that consumer. Information from a consumer report is often used in evaluating the risk posed by the consumer. Creditors that engage in risk-based pricing generally offer more favorable terms to consumers with good credit histories and less favorable terms to consumers with poor credit histories.
The rule implementing that section, which goes into effect January 1, 2011 , requires a creditor to provide notice to a consumer when the creditor uses a consumer report to grant or extend credit to the consumer on “material terms” that are “materially less favorable” than the most favorable terms available to a substantial proportion of consumers from or through that creditor. These rules apply to creditors that engage in “risk-based pricing” (i.e., the practice of setting or adjusting the price and other terms of credit offered or extended to a particular consumer to reflect the risk of nonpayment by that consumer). The notice requirement is designed to improve the accuracy of consumer reports by alerting consumers to the existence of negative information on their consumer reports so that they can check their reports and correct any inaccurate information.
The final rules define “material terms” as
(i) the annual percentage rate (APR),
(ii) any monetary terms (e.g., down payment amount or deposit) that may vary based on a consumer report for credit
that does not have an APR or
(iii) the APR applicable to purchases for credit cards.
“Materially less favorable,” as it applies to material terms, means that the terms granted or extended to a consumer differ from the terms granted or extended to another consumer from or through the same person, such that the cost of credit to the first consumer would be significantly greater than the cost of credit to the other consumer.
The FACTA provides that the notice must, at a minimum,
(i) inform the consumer that the terms offered are set based on consumer report information,
(ii) identify the consumer reporting agency (CRA) furnishing the report,
(iii) inform the consumer that the consumer may obtain a copy of a consumer report from that CRA
without charge and
(iv) include the contact information specified by that CRA for obtaining such consumer reports.
The rules also require that the notice include a statement that the terms offered may be less favorable than the terms offered to consumers with better credit histories.
There are several exceptions to the requirements for sending a Risk Based Pricing Notice. Many creditors are choosing to exercise one of these exceptions, believing it to be a simple way to meet the law’s requirements. This exception allows a creditor to not send Risk Based Pricing Notices if it provides a notice to a customer that discloses the customer’ credit score, when and where that score was obtained and how it compares to credit scores of the general population plus some other required information. The Federal Trade Commission has developed a model notice that meets those requirements as well as a version to use if the customer does not have a credit score. Copies of these forms can be viewed at the link below.
Find out more at the link below:
www.ftc.gov/os/2009/12/R411009riskbasedpricingfrn.pdf
Building Your Dealership's Compliance
It seems that barely a day goes by without another new law, regulation or rule being enacted that effects the automobile industry. The amount of time required to study and stay current on all these regulations is becoming a full-time job. In order to comply with these rules and regulations, every dealership must have a written compliance plan.
In order to assist dealers in creating such a compliance plan for their dealerships, the DCF Consulting Group will be hosting a free webinar entitled “Building Your Dealership’s Compliance Plan”. This free webinar will be offered on two different dates to allow dealers to choose which one best fit their schedule. Dealers will have the opportunity to attend this webinar either Wednesday, November 17th or Thursday, November 18th, both at 3:00 PM Eastern time. The seminar will last approximately 1 hour and will cover such topics as:
- Why you can’t afford not to have a Compliance Plan
- The 4 Basic Components of a good Compliance Plan
- A Step-by-Step Guide on how to build your plan
The DCF Consulting Group will also be offering a follow-up series of 5 webinars outlining the specific requirements of 17 laws, rules and regulations auto dealers must comply with. This series of webinars will be available for just $99 for the entire series. These 5 webinars will be held weekly, with 2 sessions to choose from each week, throughout the month of December.
Call 1-800-654-4955, extension 6993 to register today to reserve your seat for the free webinar on November 17th or 18th so you can learn the basics of building a compliance plan and to learn more about the series of webinars on the specific regulations. You can’t afford not to.
Caring & Sharing in the Buy Here – Pay Here Business
The buy here-pay here and Lease Here-Pay Here industries may be the most underserved segments of the car business when it comes to information sources and networking. The new car franchise stores have NADA and countless magazines and websites where dealers can find news and communicate and share with other dealers. Independent used car operators have NIADA, their state associations and a large number of magazines and websites that provide these services for them. There are no printed magazines, e-magazines on the Internet or social media sites devoted exclusively to the Buy Here – Pay Here industry. In fact, there is really nowhere bhph operators can go to receive information about their business.
That is why we have started BHPHOnline , a networking site dedicated to the Buy Here – Pay Here and Lease Here – Pay Here dealer. This site is open to everyone connected to the bhph and LHPH business and is designed to offer a place dealers can go to network with one another, share information, ask questions and discuss the latest news and trends in our industry. While vendors that serve bhph and LHPH dealers are invited to contribute to the discussions, blatant advertising and soliciting of dealers on the site will not be allowed.
BHPHOnline is designed to be a resource for BHPH and LHPH dealers. Many of your peers have already faced, and perhaps found a solution, for problems you face today. By sharing this kind of knowledge with each other, we have the opportunity to improve each of our operations. Numerous friendships and alliances can be established on this type of site. If you are looking for one of your vehicles in another state, wouldn’t it be easier to have the assistance of someone you had already communicated with?
The first step in taking advantage of this great new tool is, obviously, to visit www.bhphonline.com and join today. As a member, the key to making this site work for you and you dealership is to be active by participating in the discussion, submitting your questions and blog posts regularly and inviting all of your acquaintances in the business to join and participate as well. The more active, involved participants on the site, the more valuable a resource the site will become. We hope to see you there.