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Marketing Channel Performance Analysis: Sourcing BHPH Customers Who Perform on Payments

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Table of contents
  • Digital Channels: Social media (Facebook, Instagram) and search engine marketing are cost-effective for targeting reliable borrowers. Urban dealerships benefit the most.
  • Word-of-Mouth: Referred customers show stronger payment habits and higher profit margins. Use the Earn-Ask-Reward (E-A-R) framework to maximize referrals.
  • Traditional Advertising: Television and radio can reach local audiences but have higher costs and mixed results. Print media is less effective, except for free classifieds.
  • Lead Providers: Quality varies; focus on alternative data and strict verification to improve outcomes.

Quick Comparison Table

Channel Strengths Challenges Best Use Case
Social Media Cost-effective, specific targeting Requires ongoing engagement Urban markets, younger audience
Word-of-Mouth Reliable borrowers, high margins Requires active referral strategy Local networks
Television/Radio Broad reach High costs, limited targeting Rural/suburban markets
Print Media Low entry cost (classifieds only) Minimal effectiveness Small, local markets
Lead Providers Scalable, quick access to leads Quality inconsistency Supplement other channels

These insights help BHPH dealers refine acquisition strategies, improve payment performance, and maintain a healthier portfolio.

Sell Your Buy Here Pay Here (Selling 1.5 Million BHPH)

1. Social Media Results

Social media plays a major role in helping BHPH dealers attract new customers. Analyzing payment behavior across platforms highlights some interesting trends.

Facebook and Instagram stand out as effective tools for reaching customers with reliable payment histories. Their advanced targeting options and wide audience reach make them ideal for connecting with borrowers who are consistent with payments.

Performance, however, isn’t uniform. Urban dealerships see better results on visually-driven platforms like Instagram, while suburban and rural markets benefit more from tools that foster community engagement.

To get the most out of social media, dealers should focus on these strategies:

  • Target audiences based on income and financial stability
  • Use clear, engaging content to connect with potential customers
  • Post promotions during peak activity times
  • Highlight customer testimonials and reviews

Longer engagement on these platforms is often linked to dependable payment behavior. On newer social media channels, quick conversions may require tighter lead screening to ensure quality.

Maintaining a steady and interactive social media presence is key to building a strong customer base. These insights also serve as a useful reference point for evaluating other customer acquisition methods.

2. Word-of-Mouth Performance

Word-of-mouth referrals are a highly effective alternative to digital channels. They often lead to better outcomes, including stronger payment histories and consistent performance.

  • Higher Profit Margins
    Referred customers tend to generate 25% higher profit margins due to their reliable payment habits, which also reduce collection costs and financial risks.
  • Trust-Driven Purchases
    Around 90% of people trust recommendations from friends and are more likely to buy from brands they've been referred to. This trust often translates into more consistent payments.
  • The E-A-R Framework
    Maximize the potential of referrals by using the Earn-Ask-Reward approach:
    • Earn Through Excellence: Focus on delivering outstanding service at every customer interaction to make your business worth recommending.
    • Ask Strategically: Request referrals at the right moments, such as after a positive experience or a major service milestone.
    • Reward Participation: Provide incentives that benefit both the referrer and the new customer, reinforcing the value of your referral program.

"How can we do what we do so well that our customers can't help but tell their friends about us?"

  • Portfolio Documentation
    Tracking and documenting referral performance can demonstrate a clear, strategic advantage to portfolio buyers.

These strategies provide a strong foundation for evaluating and comparing performance across various channels.

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3. Print and Broadcast Results

Traditional media, like television, radio, and print, offer distinct advantages and challenges when it comes to reaching potential BHPH (Buy Here Pay Here) customers. While these channels provide broad exposure, their effectiveness varies depending on the medium and market conditions.

Television Advertising Performance

Television can reach a wide audience, including smaller surrounding towns. However, this broad coverage often comes with high costs and difficulty in targeting specific areas.

"Both of those traditionally are very expensive, and it's usually tough to chart the response that you get. One of the drawbacks to radio and TV is that the reach is too broad, and most buy here pay here dealers want their customer base to be fairly close and local so that making their payments every week is not a big challenge."
– Mark Dubois, CarBiz USA

Radio Campaign Results

Radio offers better local targeting compared to television and comes at a lower cost. This makes it a practical option for reaching nearby customers while still influencing key portfolio metrics.

Media Type 3-Month Response Rate Key Advantage Primary Challenge
Television 146 responses Broad geographic reach High cost ($26,000/month)
Radio 100 responses Local targeting Limited reach range
Newspapers Poor performance Low entry cost Minimal effectiveness

Newspaper advertising struggles to deliver results, but free classified publications can be more effective in local markets, offering measurable outcomes at a lower cost.

Strategic Implementation Tips

  • Focus on peak time slots to maximize exposure.
  • Use television and radio ads to drive traffic to your website for further engagement.
  • Allocate print budgets to free classified papers rather than traditional newspapers.
  • Consistently track response rates to refine and improve campaigns.

Broadcast media effectiveness varies based on local market conditions, and regular performance tracking is essential to ensure a good return on investment. The next section will compare these findings with digital channel performance.

4. Lead Provider Performance

After examining insights from both digital and traditional channels, let’s explore how third-party lead providers impact portfolio performance. These providers supply Buy Here Pay Here (BHPH) prospects, and their lead quality, along with verification processes, plays a crucial role in determining portfolio outcomes.

Lead Quality Assessment

Checking customer financials thoroughly is a must. Equifax highlights that traditional credit data alone often falls short in predicting payment behavior within the BHPH market.

Payment Performance Metrics

When analyzing customers sourced through lead providers, data from Agora Data shows that auto delinquencies averaged 19 days in March 2020. By April 2020, this figure rose to 21 days - an increase of 2 days.

Risk Mitigation Strategies

BHPH dealers can improve lead performance by focusing on:

  • Alternative Data Verification: Use debit history to better understand a customer’s payment capacity.
  • Upfront Banking Verification: Apply strict checks to confirm the status of bank accounts.

"BHPH lenders need a better understanding of their customers' ability to pay." – Equifax

Technology Integration and Monitoring

Modern tools provide automated verification, real-time credit reporting, and smoother payment processing. These technologies align with the goal of using measurable portfolio metrics to evaluate and optimize every acquisition channel.

Regularly tracking portfolio metrics helps uncover trends and fine-tune lead provider strategies effectively.

Channel Comparison Results

This section pulls together insights from earlier analyses to compare performance metrics across different acquisition sources.

Overview of Channel Performance

The data shows that word-of-mouth referrals bring in customers with reliable payment histories and longer retention. Social media channels stand out for reaching specific demographics at a lower cost. On the other hand, traditional advertising tends to have higher acquisition costs and inconsistent payment performance. Third-party lead providers also show mixed results when it comes to customer quality. These patterns align with earlier findings from both digital and traditional channels.

Geographic and Cost-Effectiveness Insights

Urban dealerships benefit most from digital strategies, especially social media campaigns. In contrast, rural markets perform better with traditional advertising and referrals. Referrals, in particular, are cost-effective and contribute to better long-term portfolio performance.

Role of Technology Integration

Using payment tracking and customer communication tools significantly boosts channel performance by reducing initial payment defaults. These findings provide a clear direction for refining channel strategies moving forward.

Recommendations

Based on insights from channel performance, these suggestions aim to simplify acquisition and documentation processes, improving portfolio quality.

Optimize Channel Mix

Prioritize focused digital marketing efforts and thorough documentation to improve portfolio results. For example, Cherokee Auto Sales successfully improved their portfolio performance by leveraging search engine marketing in a strategic way.

These focused methods lay the groundwork for a strong documentation process.

Documentation Requirements

To showcase portfolio quality to potential buyers, consider adopting these documentation practices:

  • Customer Acquisition Records: Maintain detailed logs of campaign performance, lead sources, and conversion rates. These records help validate your acquisition strategies.
  • Operational Infrastructure: Set up systems that include:
    • Written policies and procedures for Buy Here Pay Here (BHPH) operations
    • Comprehensive job descriptions and training materials
    • Documentation for regulatory compliance
    • Integration with a dependable Dealer Management System (DMS)
  • Portfolio Analytics: Use analytics tools to monitor key metrics such as:
    • Payment history by acquisition channel
    • First payment default rates
    • Average days to repossession
    • Completion rates

Technology Integration

After establishing strong documentation practices, integrating advanced technology can further enhance acquisition quality. Steve Campbell from Auto Credit USA highlights the importance of streamlined systems:

"The system helps my team follow up and never miss an opportunity."

Consider adding tools like smart credit lead forms and multilingual features to your website to boost lead quality. Lee Cavender of Cavender Auto shares:

"Finally someone has perfected marketing for Buy Here Pay Here Dealers."

This approach not only strengthens acquisition quality but also creates a clear, documented trail that appeals to potential portfolio buyers.

Related Blog Posts

Marketing Channel Performance Analysis: Sourcing BHPH Customers Who Perform on Payments
Written by
Ivan Korotaev
Debexpert CEO, Co-founder

More than a decade of Ivan's career has been dedicated to Finance, Banking and Digital Solutions. From these three areas, the idea of a fintech solution called Debepxert was born. He started his career in  Big Four consulting and continued in the industry, working as a CFO for publicly traded and digital companies. Ivan came into the debt industry in 2019, when company Debexpert started its first operations. Over the past few years the company, following his lead, has become a technological leader in the US, opened its offices in 10 countries and achieved a record level of sales - 700 debt portfolios per year.

  • Big Four consulting
  • Expert in Finance, Banking and Digital Solutions
  • CFO for publicly traded and digital companies

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