February 2012 - Cover Story

Head of the Class

Since buckling down and hitting the books in 2011, the finance team at Hoy Fox Toyota has been enjoying bigger numbers and stronger confidence in their store’s processes.

By Jennifer Washington

Hoy Fox Toyota Finance Director Victor Martin Del Campo poses with Dealer Principal Steve Fox and Finance Managers Ozzy Herrera, Larry Salcedo, Julio Cervantes (Hoy Fox Lexus) and Matthew McCoey.

At Hoy Fox Toyota in El Paso, Texas, the finance department is on a roll. The team, led by Finance Director Victor Martin Del Campo, closed out 2011 with a 63 percent year-over-year improvement in F&I profit and a 43 percent jump in average profit per retail unit (PRU). And they ended the year with a bang, generating $160,000 more in December 2011 than the same month a year prior — with five fewer deals.

A combination of detailed training, strong support from executive management and mutual appreciation between the departments is what keeps the finance team’s gears grinding at full speed. The fact that they’re all good friends also helps, keeping communication lines open and doors wide open for feedback and questions.

“We’re so close as a team that we all know the same things,” Martin Del Campo says. “If they don’t train with me, they train with Larry Salcedo or they train by themselves.”

Salcedo is the team’s longest tenured finance manager. His average PRU increased from $1,000 at the start of 2011 to $1,700 by the end of the year. His teammates, Osvaldo “Ozzy” Herrera and Matthew McCoey, also realized big increases last year, tracking at just less than $1,600 per copy by year-end.

Trust in the Training

General Manager David Amaya and General Sales Manager Luis Silva also played a critical role in the F&I team’s success last year. They’re responsible for keeping employees trained and up to date on company policies. In late 2010, they sent Martin Del Campo’s team to Houston for GSFSGroup’s F&I training in late 2010. That set the stage for success in 2011, a year in which the team’s averages increased steadily each month.

The big gains set off some alarms with management, who may have worried that the numbers were too good to be true. Martin Del Campo says that owners Steve Fox and Steve Hoy are highly protective of the store’s “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau. “We [improved] so fast that our dealer principal has actually audited our deals to make sure we’re doing everything right,” he says.

The Toyota store, which averages 250 deals per month, is just one of eight brands represented in Hoy Fox’s three locations. Silva is quick to note that the Toyota store’s F&I numbers weren’t always so great. He says the training, along with a few tweaks to the store’s procedures, is what turned things around.

“Years back, I think the problem was that the foundation wasn’t there. Once we laid that foundation, the numbers started going up,” says Silva, adding that he and Amaya are in constant communication to keep their two departments in sync.