Sales Tips
The "Rule of 300"
Auto loans are a decision driven by emotion. Customers find the "perfect" car and simply want to drive it off the lot as quickly as possible for a monthly payment that they can afford.
It is our job to help every customer slow down and plan for the future; looking at all of their loan protection options. As lenders, it's what we would want for our own loans. Consider it the new golden rule...the Rule of 300 : a lender should present 100% of their loan protection options to 100% of their customers, 100% of the time. |
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Use Testimonials
As lending professionals, we have much more exposure to loan "horror stories" than our customers do. Chances are, you've seen how GAP has helped someone save a significant amount of money. You may have also seen how GAP through a dealer has been difficult for some customers to deal with.
Share your stories...not to scare them, but to educate them on what can happen and the ultimate consequences.
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
There is no greater tool in educating the customer about GAP than the VisualGAP graph. Turn your monitor around so that the customer can see it on screen...or invite then to sit on "your side" of the desk. With the graph, it is much easier for them to understand how long they will be up-side-down in their loan.
If the customer does not make the decision that day, print the graph so that they can consider it at home.
Consultation, Not Sell
How would you like a lending professional to treat your friends and family? If your child was buying a car, what information and advice would you give them?
When you look at the world through these lenses, you quickly understand that spending 15 minutes educating the customer about GAP is not "selling" but consulting them on all of their options. As a lending professional, you are recommending the best course of action for your customer. They trust you and expect you to do the right thing.
It's not about selling simply to increase the bottom line; it's about selling the product that will best cover the customer in case their vehicle is totaled or stolen or they find themselves in a situation where they can not make the loan payments. However, we find that in most cases, when we do what's right for the customer, the financial institution ultimately benefits as well.
Menu Selling
Menu selling has established itself as a critical tool for auto dealers across the country, and is a valuable tool to financial institutions as well. Menus remove the bottle necks in the sales process and provide an easy to understand list of options with products grouped into pre-determined packages, including GAP, service contracts, credit life and disability and more.
Menu selling is a simple concept...sell beneficial products to every customer in the same non-threatening way, without pre-judging. By using menus, your loan staff can lay out all of a customer's loan protection options, including total monthly payments, and leave the final informed decision up to the customer to make.
