How Do You Approach Your Customers

Taking a proactive approach to the subprime sales process can make a big difference in your bottom line. By settling the credit issues up front, you help set the customer’s expectation to reality. Avoid the “no sale” or short deal you’re forced into taking. Have your sales people once again explain the concept your dealership embraces. Keep your customers in the “credit decision” mode. Emphasize your dealership’s role as a credit counselor, trying to help them rebuild their credit. Doing this accomplishes several things:

• First of all, it tells the customer that your dealership is genuinely concerned and trying to help him.

• This gives your customer a chance to explain away their credit problems. Bad things happen to good people, and lenders try to understand that. A serious catastrophic medical event can bankrupt a family faster than anything else. This is much different from the guy who just went out on a “credit bender”, overdosed on easy credit, and just financed himself right into the ground.

• It reconfirms the credit issues that got the customer here in the first place. This sets the stage for later negotiations, legitimizing the higher rates they may have to pay.

• It helps set customer expectations where you need them – firmly in the reality mode. It gets the customer away from the “product decision” and focused on the “credit decision”.