Startline to roll out new motor finance insight tool

A new data product from Startline Motor Finance designed to maximise finance opportunities is being rolled to car retail groups in Q4.

‘Insights’ is designed to allow dealers to gain a greater understanding of the finance deals they are processing and give them the means to identify new ways of driving business forward, Startline said.

Paul Burgess, chief executive officer at Starline, said: “Dealers want all the boxes ticked that were required from motor finance before the crisis – a high degree of compliance, a strategic product range, strong account management – but are now looking for an increased degree of flexibility and commitment.

“That is something we have been delivering over the last 16 months and our business has grown as a result. Now, Insights is designed to build on that strategy by adding value to our relationships as we move into what is hopefully the post-pandemic phase.”

Insights provides visibility over aspects of transactions on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, and offers information about customer credit profiles, it said.

The data could help dealers gain a greater understanding of their car buyers, allowing them to identify new approaches to sales and marketing, said Burgess.

He added: “If dealers can identify trends that are developing among their customer base from our information, then there are probably ways in which they can change their proposition to meet those developing needs.

“We believe that motor finance data is much underused in this manner and that, correctly employed, it can deliver genuine innovation and incremental sales.

“This is the message that we’ll be taking to our major dealer partners in Q4, showing them how to get the most out of this information.”

The introduction of the product is part of its general strategy of building closer relationships with dealers.

Burgess said: “The used car market is going through an incredibly buoyant phase but there are threats to the general economy that are very difficult to predict, such as the effects of the end of furloughing and the longer-term impact of the pandemic.

“There will be a need to adapt to market conditions quickly and without fuss, and we believe that the motor finance providers that are able to meet that need will continue to be the suppliers with which dealers will prefer to work.”