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Four Phases of Finance Series

Phase One - Preparation

There are four phases of finance that impact the customer and his or her relationship to the dealership and the vehicle purchase.This phase includes preparing all the resources, activities, and environmental factors of the sales transaction prior to customers coming in contact with the finance department. The primary responsibility for this phase falls upon the sales manager and/or financial services manager. Key elements of this phase include:

Creating and maintaining a customer situation profiling system - It has been said that knowledge is power. Understanding and maintaining customer profile information is vital to developing long term customer satisfaction. It�s important to determine what information you�ll need to collect and what type of system you�ll use to store and manage the information.
Determining a fair pricing and rate administration policy - Consistency of pricing is critical to success. Customers often exchange information about the deal they received. If you don�t have a policy that provides the same pricing and rates for every customer (various credit levels assumed), you�ll risk certain areas of customer satisfaction.
Training sales personnel on customer satisfaction issues in finance - The sales team needs to understand your processes and needs to be updated regularly. The first exposure to finance comes through your sales consultants so be sure they understand the inner working of your department.
Establishing positive lender relationships � A good lender relationship will add no less than 10% to your back end gross so don�t neglect it. Meet regularly with lenders and review their policies and strategies.
Preparing the dealership environment � This includes setting up all the forms and files for ease of implementation. It also means ensuring that the finance office is clean, neat, and comfortable for customers.
Preparing the necessary documentation and contracts � Be sure your process is set up so you can quickly print contracts. This is especially important when customers are waiting to get into finance.

For a complete look at how these phases of the finance process impact customer satisfaction, enroll and log into our Finance and Customer Satisfaction course.