F&I and Showroom, October 2018

www fi magazine com 26 F I and Showroom October 2018 at a Nyle Maxwell dealership he adds including a 401K with match program and a profit sharing plan The group also offers a college education benefit to employees and their families through a partnership with FCA and Strayer University It pays for all books tuition and fees Everybody knows how much Nyle cares about the organizations reputation Wilson says But Ill tell you the F I team that works at my store which has been together a long time as well as all the stores in my group are second to none Its a real true family environment CECIL ATKISSION MOTORS OF KERRVILLE THE DEALER MAKES THE DIFFERENCE When products are similar the dealer makes the difference Its a slogan Kerrville Texas dealer Cecil Atkission came up with 25 years ago and it has guided the Vietnam veterans six rooftop seven franchise dealer group ever since Tate Richburg joined the groups finance department around the time Atkission coined the slogan He freely admits the groups F I teams run a whole lot better than I was ever able to He now serves as the groups vice president and describes Atkission the son of a West Texas cattleman as down to earth and appreciative of people who do their jobs well Weve got production reports for every facet of our business and whenever hes at a store hell go find the guy who is producing at a high level and tell him he appreciates what hes doing says Richburg For him its about doing the job well but with the customer in mind With most of his dealerships located in small towns Atkissions stores are engrained in the communities they serve whether its sponsoring the local Little League team or hosting high school football coaches for a local radio show that broadcasts from one of his showrooms Most people say cash is king Richburg says Here we say football is king In 2016 Atkission was named Citizen of the Year by the city of Kerrville where he serves on the boards of directors for the Peterson Regional Medical Center the PRMC Foundation Schreiner University and Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce Richburg and Atkissions son Trey are also active in the communities and in charitable foundations Richburg describes the groups sales and F I processes as predictable meaning the organization values consistency over wowing customers and demands a high level of professionalism and courtesy in sales and F I Were not trying to wow every customer but we do want to give them good service he says Not everything is a wow type moment either Some of it can be but what people really want is to be greeted with a smile to be thanked for doing business here and to be in and off in their car in a reasonably timely manner Thats why Richburg believes F I success starts with the salespersons meetand greet showing them the vehicle talking about the car penciling the deal and creating opportunities He says his group is very rigid when it comes to deal structure and presentation We want that process to look and feel the same with every customer whether its a lease finance or paying cash he says noting that his F I team does pretty well in terms of service contract penetration on cash deals Were in the 40 range on cash deals We just operate with the assumption that if you come to our store and buy a car youre going to want a service contract Selling the service contract is his F I teams No 1 priority driving their penetration rate on all deals to 823 Other priorities include GAP 366 tire and wheel 359 theft 867 and windshield repair 31 The group is currently averaging well above 1500 PRU for both new and used despite a heavy credit union presence and a sub 10 chargeback rate Richburg credits his F I teams success to the limited number of products offered He analyzes chargebacks to identify trends The only chargeback that concerns us is a cancelation If thats the case were going to revisit the deal and talk through it Are we focusing too hard Are we pushing the envelope Do we need to adjust our pricing cap Richburg also credits the groups F I product provider American Financial Automotive Services for the success of his F I operations We wouldnt be able to do any of it without those guys Its truly a hand in glove relationship The dealer executive also has praise for Darwin Automotives F I selling system which he says equips his producers with You told me ammunition to answer customer objections and concerns He believes the survey and product recommendation features put the focus on the value rather than the price of each product The F I tools remote presentation feature also keeps his producers in the game for remote deals and drives product sales in the service drive I also think we have really smart and 2018 F I PACESETTERS