What is the number one question of an online automotive shopper?
Can I afford this vehicle and what is my monthly payment going to be?
That would be an easy question if everyone had 800 plus credit scores, which are the payments usually advertised on dealership websites. 800 plus FICO scores account for just 13% of the U.S. population, and thus, you have 87% of the population that may or most likely will not qualify for the marketed price. This is where dealers lose a lot of deals and create angry customers in the process of losing the deal.
When a customer is allowed to personalize the shopping experience with a soft pull and firm offer from the dealership, they 100% know their payment and that they can drive the vehicle home, TODAY! This is every customer’s dream, a simplified transparent process that delivers a 100% guaranteed price offer. They know they can own the vehicle and are usually ready to make an appointment to finalize the paperwork. It’s a win-win, the customer experience is relaxed and easy, while the dealership usually makes a better gross profit on the deal. Almost every customer is happy to pay a little premium (dealer profit) to have a simple, transparent, and battle-free purchase experience.
Not only does the dealership increase the flow of online deals being finalized at the dealership, but they also save significant time and effort by the sales and F&I staff on a per deal basis. Depending on how dealers want to adjust their hiring, the efficiency equation of more deals per employee results in increased profitability. Whether increasing deals with the same number of employees or trimming headcount and delivering the same amount of sales as normal, the profitability increases on a per deal basis.
The dealer’s lending partners will also benefit from firm offers as they get a better look-to-book ratio that helps them be more efficient and profitable.
Digital Retailing and firm offers help eliminate slack in the current process that costs everyone time and effort. Eliminating time and effort saves everyone real costs, both financial with dealers and lenders as well as emotional for customers.
If you are interested in learning more about how our platform can help your business help dealers provide the benefits of Firm Offer Digital Retailing, reach out to us at – sales@creditiq.com
