Where:  at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino

Consumer Credit File Essentials
“Our passion for data, it’s in our hearts. An unrivaled ability to make the complex simple, and turn data into intelligence so you can make smarter decisions…” Carol Gray, President Equifax Canada

Profit Drivers is honored to have Paul Le Fevre as our guest speaker during a LIVE webinar, November 16th, “Financing Fundamentals“, to share his expertise about How to Read a Credit Report.

A Message from Paul Le Fevre…
Equifax is pleased to present an opportunity for you to gain additional insight into the world of consumer credit reporting. Learn who we are, who we are not and gain a deeper understanding of the distinct roles and responsibilities of both Equifax and our members, including consent issues.

Learn how Equifax can empower you to make better decisions…..

We will dissect the consumer credit file to ensure you have a broad understanding of the multitude of data segments that are found within the consumer credit file at Equifax. How can your submission of a request for an Equifax consumer file be enhanced? How can this data be used to potentially mitigate your business risk by detecting fraudulent applications?

We will include a discussion around consumer credit scores and the relevancy of scoring products in the Canadian marketplace. We will highlight the primary consumer behaviors that impact a credit score to ensure you garner an enhanced comprehension of the scoring product being delivered to you.

Are you unsure of who/how to contact Equifax? We will also provide an overview of the Support Teams available to our members. It is important that you know where to turn for assistance with any of our products or services. Hope to see you there!!

LIVE webinar, November 16, 2011, to Register

About Paul Le Fevre…

Paul Le Fevre joined Equifax in 1996 and has held numerous positions within the company.  He is currently the Director of Global Business Services, supporting the Operations Teams in both Toronto and Montreal.  As such, Paul is responsible for product/member support across all access methods, including system-to-system configurations, the Equifax member internet portal and direct client contact interfaces.  Additionally, Paul supports the Account Services Team which handles customer boarding and account/product administration for Canadian clients.  In addition, Paul serves as corporate witness for Equifax across Canada in response to consumer litigation.

Paul currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services and Canadian Association of Credit Counselling Services, supporting not-for-profit credit counselling agencies across Canada.  He holds degrees from both McGill University and University of Toronto.

People love to have fun and be entertained in all that they do. Car buying is no different. The more you make the F+I experience Fun and Interactive, the more your customers will:

• engage
• relax
• listen
• buy

Menu Selling lets you put some pizazz into your presentations so customers have fun dressing up their new vehicle as well as protecting it and themselves.

Here are some ideas:

• Make your menus eye catching-ly colorful
• Include photos and videos so they are visual and entertaining
• Sit beside your customers as you present the menu on a big screen
• Serve refreshments (popcorn, fruit, candy, drinks) to help them relax and enjoy the experience
• Encourage customers to personalize their package of products and accessories
• Email a menu the next day rather than try to present it when it’s late and everyone is tired
• Use live, interactive webinars to engage remote customers in presentations on-line

Fun, interactive F+I presentations will help you increase awareness of your products, their value and your sales.

Article by Kerry Mueller, President, ONE-EIGHTY Corp.

Join us November 2nd, 2011 for our webinar, “Sharpen Your Protection Treatment Selling Skills; Menu Selling & Professional Tips“, with guest speaker, Liana Walker, Western Representative with ONE-EIGHTY Corp..

About Liana:
Liana has been involved with the automotive business for over twenty years. She entered the industry in 1991 with in a small, family owned dealership, washing cars and delivering parts. Soon she secured a position as a Warranty Clerk and then moved into an accounting role and even got her sales license and sold the odd car since this was a very small business and everyone wore multiple hats. In early 2001, this dealership decided to close its doors so Liana decided to look for other opportunities within this field that she enjoyed so much.

In 2001 Liana joined a large luxury car dealership and started work in their service department. After 2 years she moved into the sales department as the Inventory Clerk and quickly moved into a Sales Administrative position to process all sales deals for accounting and internally train all staff using ONE-EIGHTY. She took on a role of overseeing the Business Office which included monitoring and ensuring that F & I average deal profit targets were met, timely funding of all deals, and kept a smooth flow of deals to accounting. This dealership used the One-Eighty system extensively, including all commissioning for salespeople and the business office.

Liana has been a user of ONE-EIGHTY for over 8 years and the luxury dealership where she worked was one of the first and the most extensive users of this system. She has seen it’s evolution and responsiveness to the automotive sales industry first hand.

In early 2011 I Liana decided to move to British Columbia and was given the opportunity to join ONE-EIGHTY in a training and support role. She is now the western representative for ONE-EIGHTY offering training and support to all dealers. She is truly thrilled to be part of ONE-EIGHTY and looks forward to growing with them.

Stephanie has been in the automotive industry for five years, and loves it! 

She came from 20 years in the hospitality industry and feels that was the perfect pre-requisite to work in auto. Coming into this industry with above average customer relations skills (after all the customer is always right) and confidence, was a great start. It made for an easy first year while she learned the selling process and product knowledge…she still managed to sell cars on her customer skills alone! After that first year, lots of hard work, and meshing her personality with the selling process, she was consistently the Top sales representative at the dealership. With a great foundation and four years in her sales career, Stephanie was offered a promotion into the business office.

Contrary to many, Stephanie believes that coming into this industry right on the cusp of the good ‘ol hay days where there were lots of ups all the time, was to her advantage. Right from the get go, she learned that your best shot was on the customers first visit and she had to develop a wicked follow up plan-when not greeting new customers, she was on the phone. In Stephanie’s eyes, the industry hasn’t changed. If you can build value, first in yourself, then your product and dealership, you can sell cars.

Her tip for other F& I managers is to present EVERYTHING! to EVERYONE! EVERY singe TIME!. And when you ask your closing question, if the answer is not YES, get three yes’s (trial closes), before you ask for the sale again…and always ask for the sale again, at least three times! Improving your skills will automatically improve your results, so however you have to do that, do it! This is the only job Stephanie has ever had, that if she put very little effort in, she can have a good job. When she applies herself to become great at her job (as she has done), she has an amazing career!

Her life is awesome! Stephanie wakes up every day in paradise, in Campbell River on beautiful Vancouver Island. She has three great kids-her husband and two of her kids are in the automotive industry; a great squirrely cat (Kitty); and 120 lb dog (Salem) that she enjoys walking. She enjoys hiking, riding her pedal bike and loves good food! Her belief sums up why she has excelled in less than one year, to match the skills of a 5-year experienced F&I Manager: If you don’t like how you’re feeling, change your mind.

First, you must know that as of today’s date (August 2, 2011), this new rule is not official yet and the CRA allows vendors to apply it or not. Once the rule is officially published in the Canadian Gazette, in accordance with the federal regulatory process, it must be followed.  Having said that, CRA strongly recommends that you apply this rule immediately as they are 99.9% certain it will be published and become effective July 1, 2010.

The proposed changes will affect the HST charged to a customer under the Place of Supply Rule. To recap these changes as simply as possible, we have condensed them to the following bullets:

• New rule applies when a vehicle is purchased in a province other than where the purchaser resides.
• HST is applicable based on where the vendor of a Specified Motor Vehicle delivers it and where the vehicle is registered within 7 days after delivery.
• If a vehicle is shipped to the purchaser’s province of residence, the vendor will charge HST as applicable in that province of delivery.
• In some cases this new rule will result in a lower rate of the provincial part of the HST being collected by the supplier while in other cases the new Place of Supply Rule would result in a higher rate of the provincial part of the HST being collected by the supplier.

There are so many different scenarios that fall under the new rule that we recommend you refer to the GST/HST Info Sheet #GI-119 for full details, particularly pages 4 and 5 where 7 different examples are provided.

Note:  The CRA information bulletin titles the new Place of Supply rule, “New Place of Supply Rule for Sales of Specified Motor Vehicles”.  Generally, specified motor vehicle includes all motor vehicles other than racing cars.  Official definition is provided for this term in the Excise Tax Act.

UPDATE August 3, 2011…after inquiries from the field and further discussions with CRA Rulings, it is clear that the onus is on the dealership to have documentation that proves a vehicle is registered within 7 days after delivery date in a province other than where the purchase took place.  Considering the dealer has no control if a customer does not register that vehicle in their province of residence (so many variables come into play – customer may choose to relocate to province where they purchased the vehicle or customer may be hospitalized in province where vehicle purchased and not get back home in time to meet the 7 day registration requirement), you may want to wait to apply this rule once it is official as the final notice may vary from the information provided in the referenced CRA GST/HST Info Sheet #GI-119

It is recommended that you note on the Bill of Sale (a copy retained in your deal jacket as normal), the registration # and expiration date provided on the Temporary Confirmation of Registration Document (TCRD).  The temporary document is valid for up to one year from the date of registration. To view a larger sample copy of this document, click on the image below:

For the official bulletin from CRA, click here

Update July 22, 2011:  Please note, for those provinces that charge a provincial sales tax in addition to GST: Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan; our research confirms that this Temporary Confirmation of Registration Document is also acceptable evidence of Status Indian for the purpose of First Nations provincial tax exemption. Saskatchewan and Manitoba have published their own Information Notices regarding this. The other two provinces have confirmed this information by phone only.

Information provided by Cathy Aron, Founder of Profit Drivers Ltd., Online, 1-on-1 and Webinar programs for Automotive & RV Sales and Business Managers/F&I Managers, and Employment Services for the Canadian Automotive Industry.

That got me thinking about the automotive industry (and any other associated product – RVs, motorcycles), and made me question what the root of our business is.  In a nutshell, it’s one customer at a time, one exceptional driving experience at a time.  Notice I didn’t say “one vehicle at a time”.  We need to reflect back on what a vehicle does for our customers.  Is it simply a means of transportation?  With all the sophisticated electronics and technology we have available in vehicles, driving has become an experience.  And that is what we should focus on.  Come to think of it, that’s the essence of the tagline for BMW: The Ultimate Driving Experience.  Why not take the lead of the bright marketing experts behind BMW and offer the same to your customers.  Doesn’t everyone deserve an exceptional driving experience?

HOW to be different is always the popular question.  Automobiles are no different than any other product or service.  FIRST we need to know what our customers want.  The vehicle is only part of the experience.  Statistics confirm that customers DO NOT enjoy the car-buying experience.  There are a few primary reasons for this and you will see all the details in the Anniversary Edition of the Canadian AutoWorld in September.  For now, let’s just focus on making the experience exceptional! The first question you probably ask yourself is “HOW” do we that?  The truth is, you don’t know and I don’t know, the only people who truly know are your customers.

My suggestion, if you really want to be a dealership that is different, have droves of customers flocking to your door, is recognized as a neighborhood ambassador of automotive sales because you have created your store as a brand to be trusted…ask your customers what they want and then DELIVER it!  There are two steps here:  Gather the Information; and Deliver what your customers want .  If you don’t deliver on your promise to improve the buying experience, you will lose credibility and the effort will have a negative impact.

There are a couple of ways to speak to your audience.  Send a notice by mail and invite their feedback.  Give them something in exchange, it’s human nature to give and take.  If you ask for something, give them something back as a token of gratitude for their time and interest.  Maybe you can offer them a free car wash, gas card, service discount or loyalty card, something special for only those people responding to your questionnaire.  Label your mail-out so it appeals to your customer and talks about what is in it for them…”How can we improve your buying experience?”.  Be prepared for the commentary.  When you open yourself to public opinion, you will get it.  Look at it as an opportunity to improve the setbacks your customers have had and avoid them in the future, and to build on the great experiences customers have had and create more of them.

Another solution to speak to your audience is to host an “Open Forum” at your store.  (Took that example directly from Starbucks book.)  It takes a lot of fortitude to stand in front of your customers and ask them how you can serve them better.  If you have the commitment and desire, you address your audience genuinely, and your intention is to improve the buying experience at your store, that root message will speak to your guests in verbal and non-verbal language and they will offer that back to you.  You want constructive commentary.  This isn’t an open complaint department, it’s an opportunity for your community, your customers, to provide you with honest feedback about what they don’t like, countered with how they see that can be improved.  It’s your responsibility as a business owner to decide what steps can be taken immediately, short term, long term, and those that cannot be implemented at all.  Then you need to inform your community of these changes and invite them to visit your store and see for themselves if you have stood by your promises.

Make this an event and a pivotal point in your business history.  Combine the mail-out and live event as one – treat it like a shareholders meeting.  Perhaps you can include a customer appreciation evening or a new product launch party with your open forum concept.  Send notices by mail and those who cannot attend the live event can send their feedback by mail or email.  Read those comments sent by “proxy” during the live, in-store open forum component of your event.

Touch those people who support your business, those people who pay your bills and pay your staff.  Remarkable wisdom I’ve come across over the years – your company only manages the money – your customers really pay the bills.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  If you invest time and effort to improve the buying experience for your customers, the rewards will come back to you in repeat business and referrals.  It costs 7 to 8 times more to gain a new customer than it does to keep an existing customer.  Invest in those who have already proven their trust in your company and done business with you.  Your customers are part of your team.  If you invest in your team, you will provide an exceptional driving experience for more customers which translates into flocks of customers coming through your doors to purchase vehicles!  Remember, this strategy is designed to get your existing customers and new ones into your store.  Selling abilities of your salespeople will determine how many of those visitors will purchase from you!

Author, Cathy Aron, Founder of Profit Drivers, Online and Distance Learning for Automotive & RV Business Managers/F&I Managers and Free Online Employment Center for the Canadian Automotive Industry.

Automotive & RV Business Managers/F&I Managers, choose Profit Drivers online and distance training.  Convert more cash customers to finance AND increase your sales. http://www.profitdrivers.ca/training

Here is a list of Acronyms and Important Terms and their Definitions, commonly used in the automotive industry.

l l O – NO, this is a symbol used in the banking industry. Simply add a forward slash symbol “\” between the two “l” (one symbols) to disguise a “NO” for a finance decline. It sounds like one-one-oh; on paper, it looks like “l l 0″; when you complete the symbol with the forward slash it looks like l\l 0. If someone is leaning over your shoulder and you want to keep the finance decline quiet, use the secret language, l l 0. You know what it means but nobody else at the dealership will. This tip was supplied courtesy of Val, Victoria, BC.

ACV – Actual Cash Value is the true value of a vehicle. For example, a customer’s trade may be given $1800 as a trade value. The true value may only be $800 therefore the dealer is giving the customer an over allowance of $1,000.00, thereby reducing the new purchase gross by that amount. This method is used to show the customer a value more in line with what they are expecting to receive for their trade-in.

BIRD DOG – A term commonly used in the auto industry as a Referral Cheque. When a potential customer is referred to a specific salesperson and completes a sales/lease transaction with that salesperson, the person who initiated the referal will typically be paid a fee as a courtesy/thank-you for the referral. This tip was supplied courtesy of Sheryl, Campbell River, BC.

DMS – Dealer Management System is the software used to manage your deal data. There are a number of them such as PBS, Reynolds and Reynolds, Quantech and others.

DTR – Down the Road refers to a vehicle that is paid for and delivered and the customer has left the dealership with their new vehicle.

LEV – Lease End Value is the buyout due at the end of a lease term.

LTV – Loan to Value refers to the amount of money a financial institution will advance on a vehicle based on the black book value of that automobile.

OAC – On Approved Credit. It qualifies that an individual must be approved for credit for described benefits to apply.

PAD – Pre-Authorized Debit refers to an authorized electronic automatic debit that is withdrawn from a customer’s bank account.

PAP – Pre-Authorized Payment refers to an authorized electronic automatic payment that is withdrawn from a customer’s bank account. The amount of the payment automatically withdrawn is previously determined.

POI – Proof of Income is as it implies, proof of a customer’s income. Typically a paystub is required showing year-to-date earnings.

PPSA fee – Personal Property Registration Administration fee is charged by a financial institution, it is a filing fee charged to register a lien against personal property they have loaned money for.

RDR – Retail Delivery Report is the official registration of a new vehicle with it’s manufacturer. The date is essential as it determines the qualifying date for program eligibility and in-service date.

If there are other Acronyms or Important Terms you know of that are not mentioned here, please share them with us, we’ll be sure to acknowledge your contribution as you can see we have done with others. Send your contributions to us by email.

Oops…The original article we linked to here is no longer available.  Once we locate the new URL for it, we will reference it.  In the meantime, here’s another great article written about the same topic, from a seasoned F&I Manager’s perspective.   To read the article, click here.