New dealership survey from eLEND Solutions underscores pain points for dealers in Sales/F&I process; 80% report their Sales/Finance process takes two hours or longer

Mission Viejo, CA – September 30, 2014 – A new survey of dealerships* from eLEND Solutions underscores what most dealers know already, that the sales and finance process takes much longer than it should:  80% report their process goes on for two hours or longer and 40% report three hours or longer - while a whopping 82% of dealers say the ideal end-to-end process should take two hours or less.  

Survey of dealers shows disconnect between what they think ideal length of the sale/F&I s process should be and what it currently is:

While 75% of dealers begin the F&I process well after the test drive, nearly half felt that capturing more detailed information earlier in the process offered the biggest opportunity to streamline the sales and financing process.  Not surprisingly, 90% of dealers agreed that a quick, efficient sales/financing process leads to greater customer satisfaction and higher CSI scores (59% rated customer satisfaction as their store’s most important differentiator); and 80% think that the current process has room for improvement.

“The results of this survey come as no surprise to eLEND, nor, I am guessing, to dealerships,” said Pete MacInnis CEO of eLEND Solutions. “There are multiple disconnects in the sales and financing process that are costing dealerships time, money and, importantly, customer satisfaction. The message is clear: the time has come for our industry to provide dealerships with the technologies and systems that will help them reduce the sales/finance process from hours to minutes -- and with financing ranked as the first or second biggest profit center by the majority surveyed, it is a key place to start.”

Dealers agree that the F&I and negotiation processes are what consumers like least.  If they could streamline that process, 63% would dedicate the extra resources to sales/training to improving the quality of customer interactions.

Survey highlights:

• 80% of dealers reported that their current sales/finance process is two hours or longer/40% said it took three hours or longer.
• 8 out 10 dealers said that the current sales and finance process has opportunity for improvement.
• 82% of dealers say the ideal end-to-end process should take two hours or less.
• 90% of dealers agreed that a quick, efficient sales/financing process leads to greater customer satisfaction and results in higher CSI scores.
• 44% of dealers reported that capturing more detailed information, earlier in the process was the biggest opportunity for their dealership to streamline the sales & financing process/74% ranked it first or second.
• 75% of dealers begin the financing process after the test drive.
• 87% of dealers agreed that negotiation and the F&I process are steps in the purchase process that customers dislike the most.

*Survey conducted online among U.S. dealerships in September 2014.

About eLEND Solutions:

eLEND Solutions was founded in 2003 as DealerCentric, whose “Get Pre-Approved in Seconds” solution represents the auto industry’s leading online credit application product. The company has since expanded its mission by developing a comprehensive, next-generation consumer finance management system that will benefit dealers, lenders and consumers. eLEND Solutions technology platform will bring financing to the front of the sales process, and put the customer in the right vehicle and loan, at the point of sale, reducing the dealership financing process from hours to minutes. eLEND Solutions is headed by Pete MacInnis, who leads a management team with over 250 years of automotive, finance and technology experience. 

Media Relations Contact: 

mWEBB Communications
Melanie Webber, (949) 307-1723 / melanie@mwebbcom.com 
Cassandra Cavanah, (818) 397-4630 / cassandra@mwebbcom.com