DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla.-Some credit unions have been able to boost sales of extended warranties with a little help from man's best friend.
In this case it's "Warren the Warranty Dog," a tool for credit union staff that is offered online by InterContinental Warranty at its website at
The company specializes in vehicle service agreements, or VSAs, which it markets to 300 CUs. While the company may be a "small fish" in terms of the number of CU clients, SVP-Sales & Marketing Sandra Torres, noted, "In the field of warranties we are an expert because we are not servicing 10 different products. We have some other products, but VSAs are our main business focus. We have become experts because of that, and have developed sales and training around this product. Our product-to-loan penetration numbers are always higher than our competitors."
Credit union reps who go to the site are greeted by a graphic image of "Warren," a St. Bernard with half-moon glasses. Under his picture is the legend: "Welcome to IWSQUOTE! I'm Warren the Warranty Dog and I'll be your consultant when you enter myIWSQUOTE and begin to explore and use my newly designed automated quoting system. I will guide you through the quote process, offering valuable product information and sales tips to help you 'Make the Offer Happen.' There are many things I want to share with you so don't wait, log on now!"
According to Torres, "As people navigate through the process, Warren will pop up with information," she explained. "It helps salespeople learn how to overcome objections. If someone is buying a Toyota Camry and says, 'I don't need insurance because a Toyota never breaks down,' Warren pops up with exactly how many payments IWS made last year to drivers of Toyotas."
Interest among consumers in VSAs has also risen as people retain vehicles longer than in the past. That dovetails nicely with credit unions' interests, which are seeking to both help members and drive greater non-interest income. To that end, IWS is creating customized plans for CUs to offer, including specialized training programs, such as VBT, or value-based training.
"We offer credit unions lots of options that are not product related. VBT covers keys to closing a sale, presentation techniques, data collection and more. These modules are intended to help the credit union's performance and the staff's performance — not necessarily limited to our products, but overall."
VBT is offered at no cost to the credit union because the sales staff at IWS is certified as professional sales consultants, Torres said. The modules covered during VBT were part of the specialized training the sales people took to earn their certifications, so the company does not incur an expense of using an outside source. As part of the value-based training, IWS has a speaker series that includes presentations on specific subject matter that is of interest to credit unions.
"Yes, we have products and yes, we want to sell, but it is a partnership," she said. "We want credit unions to be successful overall. Our approach is consultative — we do a needs analysis for credit unions to help them increase their commitment to our products so they can make greater revenue. But we do more than just show up with donuts in the morning. All of these things help them and we've seen credit unions turn around their sales and increase their revenue."
IWS has a member service department, which Torres said works hand-in-hand with repair facilities and claims departments to ensure there are no issues and to mitigate any problems with their VSAs.
Rewards and recognition are very important to IWS, Torres said, so it provides credit unions with claims paid data. These reports show the amounts members have been paid for specific repairs on a weekly basis.
"The credit unions can see we are paying claims. This information allows them to share success stories with employees, their branches and their members."
