Unless someone is pretty wealthy, when they are in the market to get a new car (especially if it’s new), there’s a pretty good chance that they’re going to need to make arrangements to have the vehicle financed. And when that’s the case, they are usually going to require a car finance broker. They are the individuals who serve as “the middle man” between the one who wants to obtain a car loan and the institution that will grant it to them.
If this sounds like something that you would be interested in doing and you’d like some information on the steps that you need to take in order to become successful in the field, we have enclosed five of them for you below:
Have the right kind of personality.
In order to thrive in this kind of industry, there are certain kinds of personality traits that you are going to need to have. You need to be professional and courteous. You need to be a great communicator in-person, over the phone and on email. You need to be sympathetic to different kinds of financial circumstances. You need to be analytical and very solutions-oriented. And you also need to spend a significant amount of time studying America’s consumer credit system. Remember, when people come to you, they are going to be looking for you to get them approved for a loan and so you have to be willing to do all that you can in order to make that happen.
Get a college degree.
Although there are some businesses that may be open to hiring you without a degree, because this is somewhat of a competitive market, it really is to your advantage that you have a bachelor’s in something like business or finance. This will definitely serve as a foundational tool to be successful within the profession.
Work in sales or customer service while you’re in school.
There aren’t too many people who don’t find themselves needing to work, at least part-time, while they’re in school in order to help make ends meet while they’re pursuing their education. Well, in order to sharpen your people skills, we recommend taking some kind of job in sales or customer service—even if it’s simply something in retail.
Look for a job as a car finance broker.
Eventually, you may discover that you want to run your own company. However, in order to do that, you first need to establish some reputable connections within the car dealer and car finance industry. That’s why we recommend that you spend at least a couple of years working at as a car finance broker for a company that specializes in automobile financing. If you go to a job search website like Indeed or Simply Hired and you put “car finance broker” in the search field, you’ll find several positions available.
Develop a niche.
Something that can help you to gain even more customers is to spend some time developing a niche. For instance, you might want to work mostly with individuals who have bad credit. Or you might want to specialize in financing exotic cars (like the ones on the top speed website). Or maybe it’s first-time buyers that you would prefer to work with. Just remember that if you are able to perfect a certain kind of clientele, that is what can help you to become an expert in the car finance broker field and quite possibly earn you as much as a six-figure salary. Not bad, for helping others get car financing. Not bad at all.
