to ensure repeat and referral business for the sales, service and parts departments. The relationship between the Financial Services Department and the Service Department is potentially the most-important factor in helping to build life-long customers! However, I bet you can't remember the last time you sat down to discuss anything with the Service or Parts Manager. Extended service contracts, extended warranties, tire and rim warranties, and in-house maintenance programs are absolutely the best products and services to sell in the Finance Office to ensure a life-long relationship. When a customer has an extended warranty that was sold by you, where do you think they bring their vehicle when it has a problem?

When a customer has an in-house pre-paid maintenance program, where do they take their vehicle for service? When your extended warranty penetration is high, does the manufacturer's rep look more favorably upon you?

Customers that have covered-by-warranty repairs are happier, which means what to the surveys they fill out? When a customer purchases a vehicle from a salesperson, they spend a total of approximately an hour-and-a-half together. Most salespeople will make their three-day follow-up call, and some will even make the thirty-day follow-up call, and, in most cases, that's where the salesperson/customer contact ends. It has long been known that customers who consistently return to your dealership for routine maintenance and service are more likely to purchase from the same dealership again.

The reasons are simple, they develop a strong relationship with their advisor because they see him every three months or so for years! It also forces the salesperson to maintain a contact with the customer because they see the customer in the service lane or waiting room on a regular basis. The best way to ensure that this relationship gets built and the contacts with the salesperson take place is to ensure that this customer comes to YOUR dealership for all of their automotive needs. Visits to quick oil-change stores, or Midas, Meineke, and a list of others do nothing to develop a relationship with you.

With extended warranties, extended service contracts, tire and rim warranties and maintenance programs, you make it virtually impossible for a customer to go elsewhere for anything. Not only do you keep the customer within the walls of your dealership for future vehicle and finance sales, the service department is selling labor, the parts department is selling parts and the customer is grateful that "it's covered"! Are you the one who they are grateful to? These items may not generate the best Finance Office gross, they may not pay the best reserve, or flat-fee, but ask yourself this, "Would you rather sell a customer 1 life and disability plan, or 2, 3, or more extended warranties?"

Customers base 100% of their buying decisions on past experiences. Those customers who bought and were able to take advantage of an extended warranty are almost guaranteed to purchase one again. The question you must ask yourself is, "Will they be buying it from you?"