The Power of Financing: A Growth Tool for Auto Repair Shops [RR 1108]

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

This is The Automotive Repair Podcast Network.

Carm Capriotto (0:06)

Hey, everybody. Carm Capriotto, Remarkable Results Radio. So glad to have you there. Hey, I got a favor for you. YouTube, our YouTube channel, at Carm Capriotto YouTube channel. Get in there, say hi, subscribe. All the episodes end up also being on YouTube, besides your favorite podcast listening app. And thank you all to all the great people we have had on over all the years that really helped to advance the industry and have highlighted a level of professionalism, which I'm working so hard to continue to bring to the industry. We're going to talk today about credit cards. Oh, how boring, Carm. I hate finances. No, no, no, no, no. If you know how much your revenue that goes through your businesses on credit cards, I think you'll hang around and listen. Thank you so much to Napa Auto Care and Napa Tracs for sponsoring our episode today.

Hey, when customers choose a Napa Auto Care Center, they get more than a repair. They get trust, savings, and peace of mind. Want your shop to stand out? Connect with your local Napa representative and get the conversation started to become a Napa Auto Care Center. Hey, let's face it, your shop management system is the most critical tool in your shop, and Napa Tracs will move your shop into the SMS Fastlane with on-site training, six days a week support, and local representation. Find Napa Tracs on the web at napatracs.com.

Hey, welcome back. One really quick thing is our own listening app, ARPN.app, the Automotive Repair Podcast Network app. It's the coolest in the world. You're going to like this. Love this, actually. We're actually working to make some great improvements to it. Say favorites, create your own playlists, and all that really fun stuff. Hey, guess who's with me today? Assistant Vice President and Relationship Manager on the automotive side of Synchrony, Kwane Stokes is with me.

Kwane, I have seen you at Napa conferences, and we've never really spent any time. I started to think a while back.

I've got a Synchrony card in my wallet for some shops that I go to and that my wife goes to. And I say, Oh my God, I got to get Kwane on to talk about the credit cards that we have and all that are available inside the industry. And again, as I see at the Napa conferences, and of course, the Napa credit card is with Synchrony, with your company and you're their representative. So, I just want this to sink into the industry, is what's the average first purchase on a card? And I know you told me this number and I was kind of blown away by it.

Kwane Stokes (2:59)

So, interesting you asked that question. The average first purchase is $1,907.

Carm Capriotto (3:08)

I am just flabbergasted. I mean, that's a sick car.

Kwane Stokes (3:13)

That is a sick car. I would totally agree.

That stat is actually all Napa Auto Care centers across the country that we look at that utilize the card. And that is an average of only Napa Auto Care centers.

Carm Capriotto (3:30)

When a person applies for this card, what do they get approved at? What's the level?

Kwane Stokes (3:37)

The level of this card, a customer can simply apply by going on to, let's say, a Auto Care Center's website. They can click a link. Once they click that link, they can process their application on their own mobile device.

Or they can go into an Auto Care Center and they can scan a QR code at the front counter and process their own application using their mobile device. Now, the question is, how much will someone get approved? Well, we typically approve up to $5,000 for someone to utilize the same day.

Carm Capriotto (4:18)

What's the attraction to have a vanity card in your wallet? And I understand why my wife has a Synchrony card, for example, all the companies that are under the TJ Maxx umbrella, okay, as an example. And I do believe that's Synchrony. And of course, they're always tempting you to spend more, buy more, get incentives and all that stuff.

Does that happen a lot in automotive?

Kwane Stokes (4:41)

Absolutely. So, we call it cross-functional, cross-trac, functional usage. So, for example, if you were to go, Carm, into a Napa Auto Care Center and utilize your Napa credit card, and then you said, you know what, I just so happened to, and I'll use this as an example, I'm going to go to Discount Tire, and I want to use my Napa credit card through Synchrony. Being that the utility says Synchrony Card Care on the card, you'll be able to take that same card and go over to Discount Tire and use that card because it has the same utility under the same network. However, Carm, here is a different caveat.