Question:  Keith: In your Car Counselors TARP presentation at the 2010 NIADA Convention you discussed some suggestions for a successful Dealer – Lender/Vendor relationship, would you please summarize them for me?

Answer:  Sure thing, here they are:

Get each parties expectations on the table

žUnderstand each other’s business

žKnow what “correct paperwork” looks like

žDecide what a “complete deal” means

žEstablish a framework for handling “stips”

žCommunicate loan/deal criteria and how to handle changes

žBe consistent (understand look to book and debt to income)

žRemember it’s a partnership!

At the recent NIADA Car Counselor’s TARP Conferences, the main focus of many of the dealer attendees has naturally been on dealership financing issues.  Obviously, to sell a car we need three things: cars, customers and credit.  Dealers tell me that they know how to find the cars and customers, the challenge is often finding lenders willing to extend credit in our industry and knowing how to review a lender’s dealer agreement.  As with many of the legal and business issues that arise in the motor vehicle industry, reviewing lender dealer agreements can seem like an overwhelming task.  In reality it is quite simple if you understand a few basic principles. Read the rest of this entry →