DaimlerChrysler Services has embarked on a new F&I strategy designed to center on dealers and F&I manager needs more acutely than ever before. The program is called “Mind of the Dealer” and is a outreach effort to big and small dealers alike, according to Dieter W. Exler, Chrysler brands marketing vice-president for DailmerChrysler Services.

“This is a dealer communications initiative new to Chrysler -- one we hope will boost our dealers’ customer satisfaction ratings, and F&I sales and penetration,” Exler told F&I Management and Technology Magazine in an interview at DaimlerChrysler Services’ new headquarters in Farmington Hills, Mich.

“What we seek to do is interface with F&I managers through a permanent force of trainers and dealer relations managers,” Exler said. “Working with our F&I training partner, Better Way of Centerville, Ohio, we want to react constantly to problems among dealers in the field.”

In setting up the team of F&I communicators, Exler said he was fortunate to land a 20-year F&I manager in the Detroit area – Glenn Lucas, formerly of Bruce Campbell Dodge, Redford Township, Michigan.

“Our new team will include many younger men and women,” said Exler, himself a 35-year-old graduate of the University of Chicago law school and a native of Linz, Austria. “Many F&I managers are young and find it easier to communicate their concerns and requests to younger representatives of DC Services and Chrysler Group.”

Mind of the Dealer is proceeding with no preconceptions, except a desire to improve DaimlerChrysler Services' business with its dealers and implement decisions more quickly on loan and lease incentives, new services and products, and contract approvals, according to Exler.

“Speed was a primary request of dealers at our first 'Mind of the Dealer' meeting in June,” Exler said. “The reaction from the dealers was positive, and we recognize that we can’t keep their business if we don’t respond swiftly to what they need.”

Among changes made since “Mind of the Dealer” initiative got under way is an effort to sell as many off-lease vehicles as possible and, through Chrysler Group dealers, rather than funnel them into auctions.

”What better place for customers to visit for good pre-owned cars and trucks than Chrysler Group stores?” Exler said. “Our dealers should have the first shot at getting those vehicles back for certified preowned or normal remarketing,” he said

The new DaimlerChrysler undertaking blends in with “flexible marketing” approaches urged by Chrysler Group’s new group executive vice-president for global sales, marketing and service, Joe Eberhardt, former chief of Mercedes-Benz operations in the United Kingdom. Eberhardt, 39, took over the Chrysler Group assignment this past summer and is coordinating the automaker’s operations with those of DaimlerChrysler Services.

“The ability to refocus entire campaigns or minute details on short notice is key to our ability to remain competitive,” Eberhardt said in an August address.

Exler, who joined the company in 2002, said the importance of DaimlerChrysler Services as a Chrysler Group dealer provider is “more crucial than ever as more banks and independent lenders drop or curtail vehicle leasing and financing. DaimlerChrysler Services’ primary loyalty is to Chrysler Group products – and that’s what Mind of the Dealer emphasizes.”