It’s that time of year again: evaluating performance across your business to improve in the year to come.
Let’s look back at some of the trends we noticed from conversations with dealers across the RV and marine industries to help you set a growth plan in 2025!
1. Sales numbers trended downward again after a few peak years.
Sales this year trended down on average across RV and marine industries. Between the continued return to work after the pandemic, rising inflation, soaring interest rates, and historically high consumer credit debt, experts across the industry expected this slowdown.
Although interest rates are projected to drop in 2025 and may encourage higher sales again, this slower winter season is a perfect time to evaluate how you can cut operating costs to bolster your margins, regardless of dips in the market.
“We currently use FedEx and spend $40 to $60 overnighting packets and another $40 having them sent back.” — Craig Moberg, Business Manager, Sandy Hook Yachts
Here are a few questions to ask yourself while evaluating your lending process. In your dealership, can you:
- Auto-populate sales information into your F&I deal paperwork?
- Review lender minimum requirements at a glance?
- Gather all cash and finance deal paperwork automatically based on the lender selected?
- Electronically review and sign documents according to lender, state, and federal requirements?
- Track contracts in transit and review updated funding status?
Enhancing your process in F&I by achieving the capabilities listed above will save your dealership money and time rapidly. Not only do these factors streamline your operations, they enhance the overall experience for your customer by reducing the time and stress associated with large purchases.
2. Software gaps create inefficiencies throughout the lending process.
One of the top concerns we heard from dealers is the manual labor that permeates the lending process when their software doesn’t work together effectively.
When these gaps appear between tools, your employees can’t trust the information is accurate, so they need to spend more time checking each input. Or worse, if they don’t confirm each detail, the sale is at risk of rejection or noncompliance.
“Our dealership needed a way to make each step of our contracting process centralized as opposed to going back and forth between two systems and double-entering data. These issues cost time and money, and opened Windish RV up to risk.” — Eric Smith, Finance Manager, Windish RV
“In the past, we were taking applications over the Internet through a link that connected to our former loan origination system (LOS) and over the phone. With that system, we had information coming in through call recordings, fax, and email. That wasn’t viable for us to grow, and we were not gaining the traction we hoped.” — Will Schrama, Vice President, Finance and Operations, RecFi
Take a look at your lending process with your team and note any steps where data doesn’t transfer automatically or correctly. Then, check in with any software partners involved in that process about ways to improve the integrations between steps.
Most importantly, if any issues can’t be resolved, use this time to re-evaluate your technology partner and look for other providers who can reduce your manual workload and risks.
3. Training and education make the lending process easier on all ends of a deal.
It’s no secret that information empowers people. We’ve talked with our dealerships and lender partners a lot this year about how important it is to understand the tools they use.
Craig Moberg, Sandy Hook Yachts’ business manager, said it best: “I realized we weren’t using the platform to its full potential… [Now] we can control the sales process and deal flow for as much efficiency as possible.”
Taking the time to learn your tools can help you identify new capabilities that save time and cut costs. Reach out to your software partners for any training opportunities, and encourage your team to review training materials. Ask about any underutilized tools available to you, and keep an eye out for new resources and features from your software providers.
Use this slower sales period to evaluate your lending process for any areas to improve and kick off a year of growth and efficiency in 2025! From all of us at AppOne, we wish you a happy new year!
