Don’t Lose Aftermarket Sales to Credit Unions

Every F&I manager dreads hearing this sentence…’Don’t worry, I belong to a credit union.’ Such a seemingly innocent statement can be pretty deflating.

Why? Credit unions are known for being able to offer lower financing rates and terms than most banks and OE captives (unless economic conditions warrant bargain basement deals as we have seen this year with COVID-19). Some are true hometown lending institutions that have relaxed lending standards and approve based on the member relationship rather than the collateral. It’s very warm & fuzzy.

But where it can be a bit tricky for F&I personnel is the sales of aftermarket products like VSC and GAP. Most credit unions offer these products as well and market it as a lower cost than the dealer. If the customer does go with dealer financing, they will often decline coverages saying they can get it from their credit union.

Here’s a quick tip to help counter that and most dealers have probably never thought of it before…

Private label your products.

truWarranty has an immersive program to help your store private label your products to help create ‘stickiness’ between the dealership and the buyer. For example, branding your products as the ‘ABC Chevrolet Total Protection Plan’ or the ‘National Ford Guaranteed Asset Protection Insurance’. This serves two purposes.

One, you have a buyer who sees the VSC or GAP plan as something exclusive to YOUR dealership rather than seeing a third-party name as they would with credit union products. They don’t know those companies but they know you.

Second, it gives the F&I manager the chance to more easily present these products in the F&I office at the time of sale BEFORE they reach out to the credit union about the plans they have. You have a captive audience and a dealer branded set of products can be priced more attractively to grab that sale now rather than chasing it down later.

Click here to see how truWarranty can help craft the perfect marketing brand for all of your F&I products. Our mission is to help buyers see the power and value of your brand.

publisher
category
Finance
date published
December 11, 2020

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