Providers & Administrators, 1st Qtr 2019

1ST QTR 2019 P A 19 Photo by Kate Spatafora The Evolving Retail Experience The next topic the panel addressed was the digital marketplace Gruber said the topic is starting to get a lot more airtime among providers as digital sales and F I platforms proliferate The panel agreed predicting less of a tidal wave and more of a gradual evolution By some estimates as few as 1 of new vehicle deals will be fully completed online this year But as Duncan pointed out next year that number could double to 2 then double again to 4 the following year If we dont pay attention to it when we put our head in the sand and Im talking about your dealers as well theyre going to wake up one day and its going to be 10 or 20 of the deliveries and theyre going to be behind the eight ball Duncan said Starnes told the story of his 77 year old father in law a retired finance professor who resolved to buy a vehicle online He found the car he wanted and had Starnes call the dealership to negotiate the deal The car was then delivered to his house Starnes was impressed having witnessed firsthand earlier attempts at digital sales that failed to deliver a fluid online toinstore experience I think our job is to look at it as someone who is used to staring at a screen Theyre living in that world How do you translate that experience when they step onto a car lot and who they run into Its our job to help manage that Starnes said Hetland noted that digital retail for better or worse is here to stay and that it will likely only get more aggressive He said that younger car buyers in particular want to go online push a few buttons and have a car delivered to them Incorporating F I into that process through training will be a critical step to success as the platform continues to grow What role will the F I professionals today play in the auto finance world of the future The panel agreed the advent of a dedicated virtual F I manager who works offsite and can connect with customers who are purchasing through unconventional channels is very nearly a sure bet Dealers just have to figure out how to ensure transparency and properly compensate finance personnel Hetland predicted that in stores that get it right transparency could even be enhanced We think theres a very good opportunity to rate GAP basically the way you rate a service contract to control some of those losses I do think that as a whole especially for dealerships with underperforming F I departments their penetrations will go up with digital retailing he said Consumers will know what they want what they need And if the information is out there for them to understand what is open for them to buy theyre going to buy without the pressure The Bigger Tech Picture Digital retail sales and virtual F I managers arent the only technology changes impacting the industry Starnes said he feels the pressure to make Nobilis platform more efficient faster accurate and automated He noted that his company had the choice between building a custom solution or taking a pre existing option and adapting it to fit their needs We chose the build he said I dont know if that was the right idea I mean were getting closer to the right idea but its been a long road Its a long and winding road Part of the issue is coordinating the pieces that are being developed in different parts around the world It may be difficult to effectively communicate with far flung contractors and field staff about how the system works what the products are and how to sell them Add to that the complexity of ensuring the right rates are available at the right time