Sales representatives who exceed car dealership expectations can yield a significant competitive advantage to an indirect auto lender, a J.D. Power analyst said this month.

J.D. Power’s recently released 2022 U.S. Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study, which polled 3,578 auto dealership financial workers in April and May, found only 44 percent of lender sales reps exceeded expectations. But the lender reps who reached this higher bar produced dealership satisfaction scores as much as 190 points higher than competitors, according to Patrick Roosenberg, J.D. Power auto finance intelligence director.

Expertise with lending programs and responsiveness are among the sales rep qualities J.D. Power identified as driving dealership satisfaction.

According to Roosenberg, desirable expertise in lending programs would include explaining how the lender’s qualities would benefit that specific dealership.

“It can’t be a blanket statement,” he told Automotive News.

For example, Roosenberg said, a sales rep from a lender specializing in used vehicles would seek out dealerships with a heavy used-vehicle business rather than a retailer with 80 percent new volume. A rep from a lender comfortable with longer loan terms would pitch this to a retailer writing many 75-month contracts, he said.

Auto dealerships scored captive finance companies’ sales representatives higher than the reps at the banks J.D. Power studied, Roosenberg said.

However, dealerships had greater satisfaction overall working with banks than captive lenders, Roosenberg said. Bank satisfaction also grew significantly year over year, J.D. Power said.

Dealers scored national banks an average of 900 on a 1,000-point satisfaction scale for loans to prime customers, and they gave regional lenders a score of 884 for transactions involving prime borrowers. Mass-market captives averaged a satisfaction score of 883.

“Banks have made great strides by focusing on improving dealer satisfaction, which leads to greater dealer intent to send more business,” Roosenberg said.

TD Auto Finance scored 961 to rank first in dealership satisfaction among national banks, followed by Ally Financial at 955 and Chase Auto at 905. They were the only lenders to break the category average.

Subaru Motors Finance ranked No. 1 in satisfaction among mass-market dealers. It received a score of 934, while the segment averaged 883. Honda Financial Services and Ford Credit also exceeded the average with scores of 899 and 888, respectively. Toyota Financial Services tied the average.

Among other findings:

  • Ally edged out Subaru to claim the highest leasing satisfaction score at 942 points, compared with Subaru’s 940 and the industry average of 884. Ford and Honda also beat the average with scores of 906 and 896, respectively. U.S. Bank had the second-highest noncaptive lease satisfaction among dealerships at 852.
  • Ally also posted the highest satisfaction in the subprime category, earning 945 points, far above the segment average of 867 and No. 2 Chase’s 895. No. 3 Capital One Auto Finance scored 872 and was the only other subprime lender to break the average.