DAVENPORT, Iowa — Iowa-based Dealer Marketing Services, the creators of ProMax Online, recently announced the introduction of a system that can help dealers to pre-qualify consumers for auto financing by simply entering the consumer's name and address into the Instant Screen system.

Research shows that the portion of Internet leads that do not qualify for financing can be as high as 75 percent, officials noted. However, they added that with Instant Screen, dealership employees can instantly know which leads can be pre-qualified, which can greatly reduce the time wasted chasing after bad leads. 

Instant Screen can also pre-qualify showroom traffic by simply entering the consumer's name and address into the system or with an easy swipe of the consumer's driver's license, according to the company.

The inspiration for the Instant Screen came from hundreds of dealers wanting a solution to reduce the time they spend qualifying incoming showroom traffic and leads, explained John Palmer, Dealer Marketing Services president and chief executive officer.

Based on this feedback from the dealerships, Dealer Marketing Services sought the help of a national credit reporting agency and created Instant Screen. Dealer Marketing Services constructed a custom solution that instantly delivers a decision on pre-qualification for automotive financing.

"After receiving feedback from dealers on Instant Screen, I believe this will completely revolutionize the automotive industry the same way lender portals have changed automotive financing today," said Palmer.

"We surveyed over 100 dealerships before embarking on this project, and 100 percent of the dealerships in that survey said that having a system like Instant Screen would greatly improve their business," he added.

The thought of not having to guess which customers need special financing assistance was at the top of dealers' wish list, the company noted. The dealerships also pointed out that knowing the credit status of the consumers that enter their dealership early in the sales process would help determine if a customer is special finance and needs to get their financing worked out first or a conventional customer that can go right to product selection. 

More than 100 dealers committed to install Instant Screen in their dealership once they were able to see that the final product, officials highlighted.

"Creating custom solutions that fill the gap in the automotive sales process and allow the dealer more insight into their customers is what we do here at Dealer Marketing Services," said Denny Long, senior vice president of Dealer Marketing Services.

"This solution helps consumers, dealers and lenders during a very difficult economic business cycle," he added.

Dealers interested in more information about the Instant Screen should call (888) 868-4817 or e-mail instantscreen@promaxonline.com to arrange for an educational online meeting.

More information can also be found at www.InstantScreen.com. Large dealer groups are invited to call Long directly at (330) 685-5664.