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CINCINNATI, OHIO (August 23, 2021) – Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports car lease credit applicants registered a 70.0% approval rate in July. The approval rate is an increase from the 67.6% rate in June.
 
The July number is also higher than the approval rate at the same time last year, when the approval rate was only at 65.1% after a few months of the pandemic setting in. The increase indicates consumer credit levels are also holding steady as more people are vaccinated from COVID-19. Additionally, households continue to save stimulus relief provided by the government.  
 
As opposed to consumer borrowing, many are utilizing their savings accrued during the pandemic toward paying debt. With consumers reigning in their credit usage as well as lowering revolving debt, Americans are now looking to upgrade their vehicles to a newer model but are searching channels such as Swapalease.com for inventory that may not be readily available at a dealership. 

 Swapalease.com believes many of its site visitors and vehicle customers have solid credentials available to take over a person’s vehicle lease. The stability to have more flexibility in leasing through economic uncertainly may contribute to an increase in shoppers looking to lease vehicles through the secondary market – where lease payments are much more appealing than what’s offered at a dealership. 

“Since credit strength is continuing to stabilize due to the figures maintained throughout the third and fourth quarters, lease credit approvals slightly decreased during the months of May and June,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com. “Since Americans were either saving or paying down debt with their government stimulus money, consumer credit confidence ultimately grew. This has led to an increase in credit approvals during the month of July – hinting at larger spending in future quarters.”
 
Swapalease.com matches a person wanting out of their existing vehicle lease contract with a car shopper looking to take over a short-term vehicle lease. The marketplace has thousands of cars and trucks available for transfer to anywhere in the continental U.S.

Sarah Caro
Merit Mile
scaro@meritmile.com 

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Your General Manager, General Sales Manager, New Car Manager and Used Car Manager would not DREAM of “letting a customer walk” over the prospect of not speaking to a manager before they left the building. That’s how important the T/O process is.  I can’t imagine how many vehicles in your used and new car sales departments actually occurred simply because of the T/O process was employed. Ask your GM!!!!!

This happens simply because customers will get to a point where the personality of the sales person involved may not be able to overcome the objections presented by the customer or really just any other small thing that may be holding the customer’s decision process for ransom. It’s a common process that results in many more sales of new and used vehicles.

So wait, what about Service Department Sales?

Could we rehash and close more sales in service simply by ASKING THE CUSTOMER ONE MORE TIME? Obviously, I’ve baited you with this question because OF COURSE WE CAN! In fact I have introduced this to a number of Dealer clients I work with and ones that have EXECUTED have had phenomenal results! Here are a few things to keep in mind if you want to try this in YOUR store!

Steps to the T/O

1. Create a T/O log to record your results and track progress. Make sure to include; The Advisor name, the RO number, the type of repair or maintenance done, the Parts amount and the Labor amount. Record the ones you CLOSE and the one’s you DON’T. Over time you can notice trends in WHAT is being sold and by WHO. One store I work with managed to sell $49K in parts & labor in ONE MONTH using this process!
2. Create a T/O basket – This is a common place the RO’s will be placed should you not be immediately available. In this way, you can call the customer back and have a conversation when you have the time to do so. Even if a day or so has transpired I recommend you still do the call back. ALSO if it’s a WAITER, devise a method to get notified at once if your not in your office so you can take a crack at the folks that are waiting when you can.
3. Take a “soft sell” approach. This is a time to embrace your customer to ensure they are getting the attention they and YOU want! Building rapport is so important and here’s a perfect opportunity to do so. Start with asking how their visit was handled, how attentive their Advisor was and start a relationship with the customer.
4. Offer your amenities – It may seem obvious and perhaps your Advisor already did but review your alternative transportation options and also SPECIAL FINANCING choices. Sometimes these opportunities may make your customer reconsider and take you up on a good offer. Sometimes the Advisor may have failed to offer or emphasize it enough in the original approach.
5. Prioritize your offerings and give options – Be sure to give you customer information on what CAN wait and also what SHOULD NOT wait. Your candidness on WHAT CAN WAIT will give a tremendous amount of weight to your recommendations of what SHOULD NOT wait. By using this approach, you are less likely to “blow people out of the water” with a lot of services and you are providing an option that is different than ALL OR NOTHING.

Training Opportunities Abound

This process will bring you a lot of “AHA!” moments. You will get to see firsthand HOW your Advisors are setting up their estimates and pitching your customers. The very fact that you are T/O-ing deals will force your Advisors to tighten up their methods and hopefully “up their game”. Make sure to “debrief” your Advisors and techs post T/O so they can sharpen their techniques! Did the Advisor offer prioritized choices? Special Financing options? Has the MPI been properly executed? Did your Tech recommend legitimately needed additional services? Are your mandated policies and procedures being followed to the “T”? This will give you easy and ample evidence of real world examples so you can praise when appropriate, coach, counsel and of course, provide discipline when needed.

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