Blue Water Finance
Retail Financing Made Easy With Blue Water Finance
Retail financing is one of the largest hurtles that we face in the trailer industry. Even with the economy making it difficult we still have consumers looking to purchase trailers. The problem of course is how do we get them financed. It used to be easy, we had great rates, great terms, no money down, and lenders eager to loan money. Now things have changed, and many of the lending sources that we had are gone. The ones that remain have tightened the belt and the which has made getting a loan for your customers a very difficult problem. You want to know the real problem? Banks don't understand our industry, so they are scared of it, and because they are scared of it, they won't lend it in. If they really understood the trailer industry, they would be knocking at our door looking for business.
Running Your Own Financing In HouseUnless you have a full time F&I professional in house, getting loans done on your own has become very tough. As a dealer running your own financing can be very challenging. Do you pull credit reports at your dealership? If you run your own finance and you aren't pulling credit you are just shooting blindly in the dark. Banks don't like receiving credit applications that aren't pre screened. It makes the look to book ratios very bad, and can eventually cause your lender to stop doing business with your dealership. It is critical to pull credit, and to understand how to really read the credit report. It will help you to know right away if your customer has a chance at getting a loan, as well as prevents you from sending deals to the bank that they would have no interest in approving. The other thing that pulling credit will do is to let you see who else has looked at that report recently. If another dealer or lender has recently looked at your customer, you can see it on the report, and know if your customer is shopping around.
Pulling your own credit also will show you things on the report that may be an issue with a lender, and it gives you the opportunity to head off potential problems before they go to the lender, and you get a turn down. If you customer has collection accounts listed, or late pays, or high credit card debt it gives you the opportunity to help your customer correct these issues before a bank turns down their loan.
It sure sounds like a lot of work getting a customer approved today. Yes, it has become a huge chore getting some loans approved. You as a dealer may spend the better part of a day or two just getting one customer approved. If you don't have time to work your customer's loans, then NATDA may have a solution that will work for you, and put more money back in your pocket.
Out-Sourcing Your Financing, A New OptionNATDA and Blue Water Finance recently partnered to bring dealers what they believe to be the best option available for retail financing. Blue Water Finance, a division of Brunswick Corp. brings new buying power to the table in the trailer industry. As a division of Brunswick, Blue Water has strong, well-developed relationships in the banking world with a long history in boat and marine financing. Jon Couture, Vice President of Indirect Sales at Blue Water Finance, says getting into the trailer industry was a no brainer, "it is a natural extension of what we already do. By being in the boat and RV world, we were already making contact with the customers; why not grow to include trailers?"
When Blue Water first decided to extend their services into the trailer industry, they approached NATDA with the opportunity to work together. This partnership would bring reputable dealers to Blue Water and in return, introduce a reputable finance provider exclusively to NATDA dealers. Blue Water Finance has the experience, ability and resources to help dealers increase the effectiveness of their retail financing. This in turn, helps your dealership grow and increase profits. Blue Water Finance has a long history of helping marine dealers close more deals and increase F & I revenue. Now they can offer these same benefits to trailer dealers!
As a dealer, your first question is probably "Why Blue Water Finance?" Blue Water Finance provides access to over a dozen national and regional lending sources. They provide fast approvals in usually less than 3 hours, competitive fixed rates through lenders, and terms up to 180 months with as little as 10% down. They can finance both new and used horse trailers, cargo trailers, utility trailers and equipment trailers. Blue Water minimizes your financing workload which allows you to focus on selling. They can serve as a full service, "in-house" financing department without any overhead. Blue Water's trained sales team offers your customer gap insurance as well as NATDA backed warranties that will put even more money in your pocket with every sale. As a result of partnering with Blue Water Finance, your dealership will be able to get more deals approved and deliver more trailers with less paperwork.
As an NATDA member, Blue Water pays you 60% of the bank participation and 60% of the profit generated on any NATDA warranty products that are purchased by your customer. Blue Water understands your customer's needs, and your dealership needs, and knows that their first priority is to help you get that trailer sold and off of your lot.
As we look towards the future, NATDA feels that with the industry support that we have through our vast dealer, and manufacturer network, and the horsepower that Blue Water brings to the table we together have the best chance at bringing new lenders to our industry. NATDA and Blue Water working together to find new sources of lending will help stabilize our current lending options, while bringing new sources of lending to trailer dealers.
To get set up with Blue Water Finance, you must be a NATDA member. Dealers, don't let your customers miss out on any more financing opportunities! Please call the offices of NATDA at (727) 360-0304 with any question and get signed up today. Due to the large number of lenders Blue Water works with, start to finish set-up can take a little while, so act now, and be ready for a great selling season with a whole slew of new financing options!
