Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/437570
FINANCIAL As a finance manager, you have many different ways that you can improve your performance. You can … improve your prod- uct presentations improve on over- coming objections spend more time building rapport with customers find more or better products to offer find new banks improve your current bank relationships All of these things will generate more income for your department. While I was creating the curriculum for Gart Sutton & Associates' new Level 2 F&I workshop, I spent a lot of time thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of different dealerships. Because most of my time is spent working with finance managers one-on-one in their dealerships, I have a lot of different situations to take into account. The area I keep coming back to is bank relationships. You get asked (or should get asked), "Is there anything else you can do to get them approved?" on a regular basis, and the easiest answer is "No," but is that always the correct answer? First, I want you to ask yourself, "When I call a bank, what am I trying to accom- plish?" The goal needs to be to get the underwriter to know and like you. If your only goal is to get one deal approved, you are thinking too small. "How am I going to get the underwrit- ers to remember me? There are thousands of dealerships calling them every day." The first key is not to be like the other finance managers. You need to stand out. You need to find something in common with each of them — something you can talk about every time you call. You need to become the per- son that they talk about ______ with. That is where you start. Here's a personal example: My wife used to have a job where public relations people were trying to get her to advertise their prod- uct. One stood out. This public relations person looked at the area code where she was calling, realized it was the same area as the one where she went to college, and said during a phone call that she used to live in the area — and it turned out she and my wife had gone to the same college. From then on, she and my wife talked college sports and local news and hotspots, even when there was no business to talk about, and they became genuine friends. And, my wife had to admit, she did promote that PR person's product more than others because she felt like they were friends. FINDING COMMON GROUND So, how do you find that common ground? The easiest time to start a conversation is right after you give them the application number. You will have a small break while they are pulling up the application in their system. Let's think for a minute about what you know about the underwriters. You know their geographic location. You know surrounding locations. You know recent local events. Any one of these could give you differ- ent jumping-off points. You could talk about sports or activities that surround them, parks or national monuments, weather events, or news events. Once you've got an "in" on what to talk about, the conversation should proceed organically from there and branch out to kids, spouses, pets, and so on. Once you hit on some- thing the underwriter is interested in, this will give you something to talk about next time. The more you talk about this topic, the more he or she will remember you when you call. 8 • December 29, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com How are you developing your bank relationships? STOCK MARKET WATCH DEALER FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT NOVEMBER 2014 Overall Same Store sales were up 3.3 percent for 1,449 CDK Global Recreation dealerships in Novem- ber. Parts was the only department to see a decrease for the country during the month, down 1.2 percent. The Midwest reported the highest overall increase, with an 8.2 percent improvement over November 2013, as each department was up. The Northwest was the only region with an overall decrease, down 2.1 percent for the month. PARTS SALES 655 dealers were up, while 794 were down in parts. SERVICE SALES In the U.S., 736 dealers were up in service, and 644 were down. MAJOR UNIT SALES In major unit sales, 651 dealers were up, and 598 were down. NORTHWEST -10.1% Parts Department 5.4% Service Department -2.1% Major Units -2.1% Overall MIDWEST 8.1% Parts Department 3.0% Service Department 8.8% Major Units 8.2% Overall NORTHEAST -2.2% Parts Department 4.6% Service Department -0.5% Major Units 0.1% Overall SOUTH -3.6% Parts Department 3.7% Service Department 1.5% Major Units 1.6% Overall WEST -2.2% Parts Department 3.1% Service Department 6.5% Major Units 5.6% Overall UNITED STATES -1.2% Parts Department 3.7% Service Department 3.5% Major Units 3.3% Overall Stock Price Percent Company Ticker 12/5/14 Change ArvinMeritor ARM $14.71 20.1% ARI Network Services, Inc. ARIS $3.59 11.0% CDK Global CDK $40.06 9.5% Speedway Motorsports, Inc. TRK $21.50 8.8% Brunswick Corp. BC $50.82 6.9% Intl. Speedway Corp. Cl. A ISCA $31.30 -3.4% Cooper Tire & Rubber CTB $30.76 -5.3% Dover Corporation DOV $75.71 -7.1% Spy Inc. XSPY $0.72 -10.0% Universal Technical Institute UTI $9.80 -12.1% POWERSPORTS BUSINESS WINNERS AND LOSERS MARKET WATCH Change 12/5/2014 from 11/7 % Change Powersports Business Index 327.519 -24.17 -6.87% Dow Jones Index 156.203 3.35 2.19% S&P 500 Index 141.254 2.96 2.13% Source: Wells Fargo Securities LLC 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 PSB Index DOW Jones Index S&P 500 Index 4/11/14 12/5/14 8/15/14 7/18/14 5/2/14 6/20/14 5/23/14 9/12/14 11/7/14 10/10/14 STOCK MARKET ACTIVITY *The Powersports Business Index has been adjusted to reflect the removal of Orbital Engine Corp. Ltd. ADR (OE) on 8/15/14 and the addition of CDK Global (CDK) on 12/5/14. F&I SOLUTIONS See Dodds, Page 10 FOR MORE ON THE SAME STORE SALES DATA For more information on this report and other industry data, contact: cdkrecreation.com/dataservices As a finance manager, you have many different ways that you can improve your improve your prod- STEVE DODDS