Westlake Financial Enters Three New Markets

LOS ANGELES — Westlake Financial Services expanded its services in July into three states — Maine, Connecticut and Alaska — and named a new assistant vice president of sales to lead marketing in these states.

“We look forward to introducing ourselves and working with dealerships in Maine, Connecticut and Alaska,” says Mark Vazquez, Westlake ’s vice president of sales. “Whether a state has a customer demographic with below-average credit quality, or above-average credit quality (as these three states do), we’ve found that there is always a place for Westlake in these markets because we offer a full spectrum of programs that can help dealers make more money, regardless of the type of customer that walks onto their lot.”

Front-end servicing will initially be done by the internal marketing team for these states. This includes sign-ups as well as helping dealers become familiar with Westlake’s Buy Program and the unique features and tools available to them.

Leading the internal marketing team is Kyle Dietrich, who joined Westlake in June as assistant vice president of sales. Dietrich brings 18 years of finance experience to Westlake, with prior positions at Triad, WFS Financial, and Norwest.

“My role is to build upon what’s already been created and on-going at Westlake with great results,” Dietrich says. “I want to expand those processes and work with people to tap into their full potential as individuals. I want to create synergy within the group dynamic to improve and continue moving the company forward.”

Each dealer is assigned a specific internal marketing representative who will be able to assist them with all aspects of their Westlake relationship. “The Internal Marketing reps develop a business relationship with the dealers,” Vazquez explains, “Just like our representatives in the field, the IMT and the dealers become familiar with each other and are able to build upon that relationship to increase business. We always want to give dealers ‘a way to go’ on every sales opportunity.”

Bret Hankey, vice president of originations, heads the department that works closely with dealers once the contract is in the office for verification, processing and funding. “We are ready and excited about working with these new states. Our goal has always been to provide exceptional customer service to all of our dealers, and we look forward to providing that same level of service to Maine, Connecticut and Alaska.”

Hankey adds that the originations department is regionalized with specific teams set up for different markets. This allows them to tailor their schedule accordingly, and to become familiar with state-specific requirements and dealer needs.

Main and Connecticut will be part of Westlake’s Mid-Atlantic Region, with Alaska joining the Pacific Northwest Region. Westlake serves a total of 40 states in the United States.