The surety bond you obtained when getting licensed protects your customers by acting as a guarantee for the state and its citizenry that your dealership will follow the law. Proven claims make your dealership liable to compensate the customer, which could result in a huge financial setback and damage to your business’s reputation. You can save yourself a lot of time and your dealership a lot of money if your salespeople avoid these six potential pitfalls that can lead to surety bond claims.
Give Customers Space
Resist rushing a customer through the process of selecting their new vehicle. By showing patience and engaging sincerely with customers, sales staff can help prevent claims from customers who felt pressured into making a purchase.
Always Be Honest
Natural disasters like floods create damaged vehicles that customers know to look out for. With the availability of online title checks, getting caught intentionally delivering incorrect information on a car’s history can result in claims. Complete honesty is still the best policy.
Deliver Financial Transparency
Fraud related to the financial details of a car purchase is one of the most common surety bond claims against auto dealers. Customers can become overwhelmed by the various financial factors, like the actual car price, the down payment, the monthly payment, and the trade-in value. If a customer feels uninformed or confused due to a salesperson breezing past all relevant financial details. Take the time to explain everything and make sure the customer understands to help prevent claims for this reason.
Resist Making Verbal Warranties
Making a promise your salesperson can’t possibly deliver on is yet another way your dealership could be in for a surety bond claim. These “verbal express warranties” can be considered legally binding verbal warranty in some states. Resisting the temptation to make promises to reassure skittish customers will only open the door to future problems.
Have Bulletproof Paperwork
Should the need to defend a claim arise, having impeccable paperwork showing all correspondence between salesperson and customer can mean the difference between a quick dismissal or lengthy investigation.
Train Staff on Legalities
Making sure each salesperson and other staff people understand the gravity of surety bond claims against the dealership will go a long way toward lessening the chance of claims. Workshops and internal educational sessions are the best way to ensure your employees understand all relevant state laws and regulations in the automotive industry. Staying up-to-date is especially important here.
If you need a dealership surety bond or have questions about the one you have, call Brunswick Companies today at 800-686-8080. Our Surety Bond experts will be happy to help you.
