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Keep Your Focus on the Future With a Certified Pre-Owned Program That Gives Independent Dealers an Edge With Millennial Car Buyers

An axiom of military history says that generals spend all their time planning to fight the last war, making them ill-prepared for the next war.     That same thing is happening with vehicle dealers today. They are planning for the future as they did with the past.     The past was about the baby boomers. The future belongs to the millennials, and they are very different shoppers.     Unlike their parents, millennials are ultra-frugal about their purchase of vehicles. Big box dealerships with their $20 million price tags that impressed their parents are a turn-off and an unneeded expense to this group.     The millennial generation likes to buy vehicles others have taken the depreciation on – but they also show a tendency toward the security provided by new car warranties.    That makes the millennial group perfect for the used car industry for a couple of reasons.    For one, used car dealers can couple vehicles that have depreciated with a remaining factory w
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Warrantech Named As A Finalist In The 2015 Stevie Awards For Sales & Customer Service

Warrantech was named as a finalist today in the Award for Innovation in Customer Service category in the 9th annual Stevie ®  Awards for Sales & Customer Service. This marks the third straight year that Warrantech has been recognized as a Stevie Award winner. Based on the average scores of the 139 professionals worldwide who participated in the preliminary judging, Warrantech's Connected Protection program was cited for its ability to provide important benefits to connected vehicle owners and much-needed additional revenue sources for auto dealers. This newly designed vehicle protection plan provides repair and replacement benefits for mobile devices utilized in a connected vehicle, should such devices malfunction. More than 1,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition — an increase of 27% over 2014. Entries were considered in 54 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, inclu
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Extended Service Plans: What’s Behind All The Fine Print?

Using a single-source provider for underwriting and administration offers gains in profit and service. The real question isn't what's behind the fine print, but rather who is behind the fine print of an extended service plan. In today's economic climate, retailers need to be diligent in determining who can financially back and service their products with plans that don't negatively impact bottom line results or customer relations. While some retailers prefer to act as their own administrator for service, the overhead costs and time required to facilitate work orders, customer service and repairs can often lead to eroding profits and dissatisfied customers. For retailers that opt to rely on an outside provider for administration or underwriting, it can expose your business and customers to financial risks and service levels that don't align with your business goals.   As a retailer, customers trust that you'll stand behind the products you sell with service pla
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Branding of Product Protection Programs

A recent trend in the service contract industry is the emergence of administrators attempting to create a strong brand identity with consumers. Many administrators are working diligently to create brand recognition for their organizations by branding the protection offerings they sell through retail partners. The question is often asked, "Is this new approach in the best interest of the retailers?" AMT Warranty and its subsidiary Warrantech's view is that the recent "brand building" business models employed by many administrators in the industry serve only to benefit the administrators and not their retail partners. This belief is derived from our core philosophy about the purpose of service contract programs. It's indisputable that service contract programs should provide important incremental revenue for retailers. However, our view is that a well-designed and maintained service contract program should drive customer loyalty and retention for the retailer
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Warrantech Named As A Finalist In The 2015 Stevie Awards For Sales & Customer Service

Warrantech was named as a finalist today in the Award for Innovation in Customer Service category in the 9th annual Stevie ®  Awards for Sales & Customer Service. This marks the third straight year that Warrantech has been recognized as a Stevie Award winner. Based on the average scores of the 139 professionals worldwide who participated in the preliminary judging, Warrantech's Connected Protection program was cited for its ability to provide important benefits to connected vehicle owners and much-needed additional revenue sources for auto dealers. This newly designed vehicle protection plan provides repair and replacement benefits for mobile devices utilized in a connected vehicle, should such devices malfunction. More than 1,900 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition — an increase of 27% over 2014. Entries were considered in 54 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, inclu
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Top 10 Ways To Improve ESP Attachment Rates On The Retail Floor

In the world of extended service plans (ESPs), extended warranties, or service and parts replacement programs, many consumers have become immune to the common tactics used to sell these programs. In fact, if your sales team is still selling the “what if” scenario to today’s ultra educated consumers, your store is losing out on valuable sales that help drive high-margin growth and revenue.   According to NBC News, extended warranties help fuel a booming $15 billion-a-year business; therefore, it’s imperative that retail sales personnel hone their sales approaches for “add on” sales such as ESPs. Through ongoing training and education, sales teams are better able to overcome “new” objections to these profitable plans and figure out which plan best suits the consumer’s need.   The below selling strategies are simple, but effective ways to help your sales team illustrate the value of ESPs and therefore convert more consumers: Get consumers’ attention  — By stating the obvious such as, “
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WCM Conference Keynotes

Sean Stapleton, president and CEO of Warrantech/AMT Warranty will be presenting at the 2015 Warranty Chain Management Conference on March 11 in Miami. The following is an excerpt from Warranty Week  in anticipation of the event.  The technology is changing. The need for repairs is changing. Even the concept of ownership is changing. And the way people shop is changing. Two industry experts describe how they see these changes impacting warranty and service contracts. At this year's Warranty Chain Management Conference, attendees are immediately going to be challenged to face the changes that new technology is forcing upon our industry. It's going to be a bit upsetting, especially to those who like the status quo. Rather than hearing about the latest best practices in the break/fix business, and how everything is slowly going to get incrementally better, attendees are going to be told how driverless vehicles will challenge the whole idea of automobile ownership, and how
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