SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — GMAC Insurance unveiled a new, comprehensive strategy to grow its base of diversified dealers in 2008. A comprehensive suite of products and services, as well as a new marketing strategy and sales force will play lead roles in the company's enhanced customer-centric approach to address the individual needs of new and existing dealer customers.

"While the majority of competitors traditionally focus solely on products, GMAC Insurance has designed its value proposition to provide solutions that address everything from sales to service to administration," said Tom Callahan, executive vice president of GMAC Insurance's Dealer Products & Services group (DP&S). "We understand there is no single silver bullet that will meet everyone's needs, and it is our knowledge of those complexities that sets GMAC Insurance apart from the crowd."

New Solutions

Beginning this past summer, DP&S has introduced a number of new products and tools for GM and diversified dealers alike. First, in addition to the well-known GM Protection Plan and VehicleOne vehicle service contract lines, GMAC Insurance is now offering a third option, Repair Advantage. Additionally, the company recently launched two new guaranteed asset protection (GAP) products for the entire dealer body. The products provide consumers with protection from potential "gap" obligations between the net balance owed on a finance contract or lease and the customers' settlement from their primary insurer on their totaled vehicle. In the past year, the company also introduced a new dent repair product, Dent Restore Plus, to its full suite of F&I solutions.

"We strongly believe our current portfolio of dealership products is best-in-class," said Callahan. "Moreover, these great products come with technology, tools, training and services that are complete solutions to a dealer's business needs."

In mid-January, GMAC Insurance introduced a new no-cost, menu-selling process to its qualified dealers. Depending on pre-determined GMAC Insurance sales benchmarks, dealers will be able to use the company's Web-based IntelliMenu and IntelliTracker to sell all of the dealership's after-market F&I products. Dealers who agree to exclusively sell GMAC Insurance aftermarket F&I products also will receive ongoing training and support tailored specifically to their businesses. Overall, this state-of-the-art, custom-designed menu-selling process has the potential to increase dealership F&I revenue by 30 percent on average.

Full-Circle Marketing

In addition to new products and solutions, DP&S is launching a new marketing campaign. A new creative platform will commence in the coming months, introducing the company's full circle of solutions.

One large piece to the campaign will be the February launch of a new GMAC Insurance dealer portal, located at dealer.gmacinsurance.com. Over the next year, the company will consolidate access to its multiple dealer Websites into a single point of entry, and will provide dealers with an easy-to-use e-network of F&I, risk management and business development solutions to help them grow their business.

Organizational Growth

A new organizational structure provides the final piece to the company's evolution. In order to support its goals for growth, GMAC Insurance has created a new sales organization to serve GM and diversified automotive dealer customers throughout North America. While most of the sales positions have been filled, GMAC Insurance is still recruiting for the remainder. Additionally, the company has developed robust marketing and product development teams to support the growth at DP&S.

"We have developed a customer-focused organization that will allow us to dramatically grow business by providing products and services that meet the needs of new and existing customers," Callahan said.