Ally Academy
The training you need for the results you want.
We take care of your team training so you can take care of business.
We offer a full range of learning opportunities on a variety of subjects you can leverage to build or supplement your dealership’s in-house training. Browse our catalog of award-winning training opportunities to learn more.
Training opportunities
Fraud Awareness
The news is reporting more and more about fraud happening throughout various types of transactions. In this course, you will learn about some of the types of fraud Ally is seeing in the retail automotive space and ways dealerships can help protect themselves.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Legal Awareness with ECOA Certification
Laws and regulations change faster than the technology in new cars. That's why it's so important for dealership personnel to stay current. Through Legal Awareness with ECOA Certification, Ally Academy offers an explanation of some of the laws affecting the industry and penalties for violations in a thought-provoking and easy-to-understand instructor-led class. Learners are alerted to the importance of assessing their own job-specific risks and will be able to immediately apply what they learned.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Ally F&I Master Skills - Ally Products Overview
Effective F&I Managers understand the features and benefits of Ally F&I products. This course focuses on providing the learner with the need-to-know facts of Ally products and strategies to build value for each of the products. Learners will review all three of the Ally F&I products.
Session objectives:
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Review Ally Vehicle Service Contracts
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Discuss the benefits of Service Payment Plan
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Describe Ally Everyday Protection Products
Who Should Attend? General Sales Manager, Sales/desk managers, F&I managers, Sales Consultants
Have questions? Contact: Insurancetraining@Ally.com
Ally F&I Master Skills - Closing Techniques
It has been said that the selling starts when the customer says “no.” During this session Ally provides some potential closing techniques and pinpoints the opportunities to utilize this skill. Learners will be exposed to and will practice potential payment closing techniques. In addition, students will learn and practice potentially impactful benefit closing techniques. This course is a must for all F&I managers no matter the tenure and/or skillset.
Session objectives:
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Describe the difference between a concern and an objection.
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Understand when to use closing techniques.
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Demonstrate payment closes and benefit closes
Who Should Attend? General Sales Manager, Sales/desk managers, F&I managers, Sales Consultants
Have questions? Contact: Insurancetraining@Ally.com
Ally F&I Master Skills - Customer Interview
Effective selling begins with properly identifying your customer’s wants and needs. This class builds off the “Two-minute drill” and continues the F&I product delivery system. The focus is on gathering the proper information from the customer so F&I can build an effective menu presentation. Learners will experience the science and psychology behind the customer interview.
Session objectives:
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Demonstrating effective communication skills
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Conducting a professional introduction to the customer
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Identifying the key responsibilities of the F&I process.
Who Should Attend? General Sales Manager, Sales/desk managers, F&I managers, Sales Consultants
Have questions? Contact: Insurancetraining@Ally.com
Ally F&I Master Skills - Mastering the Menu Method
Learners will master the art of creating a menu to more accurately reflect the customer’s wants and needs, how to address key customer pain points, effectively navigate and utilize a four-column menu, identify customer concerns and objections, and how to implement the practice of maximizing the three opportunities to ask for the sale. This class is beneficial for F&I Mangers at every level, from novice to expert.
Session objectives:
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Design and demonstrate a four-column menu presentation
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Recognize objections vs concerns
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Identify three opportunities to ask for the sale
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Demonstrate asking for the close
Who Should Attend? General Sales Manager, Sales/desk managers, F&I managers, Sales Consultants
Have questions? Contact: Insurancetraining@Ally.com
Ally F&I Master Skills - Two Minute Drill
The F&I process begins with a proper turnover from the Sales Consultant to the F&I department. This class will teach the importance of the sales process including the Two Minute Drill.
Session objectives:
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Conducting a proper turnover to the F&I department
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Using effective word tracks to promote success
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Understanding proper seed planting techniques and how they enhance the F&I process
Who Should Attend? General Sales Manager, Sales/desk managers, F&I managers, Sales Consultants
Have questions? Contact: Insurancetraining@Ally.com
Customized F&I Management
Our customized training provides a dealership specific approach to F&I management training. Conducted in your dealership, our trainers evaluate your dealership variable operations processes on site and conduct needs specific training to maximize areas of growth and opportunity. This training strategy is often utilized soon after a dealership employee has completed either the 2-day F&I management course or the 3-day Virtual F&I management course. Subjects of focus include but are not limited to conducting and effective sales to F&I turnover, proper customer interviewing techniques, menu presentation, and overcoming customer concerns all designed to increase profitability in an easy-to-understand process.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at insurancetraining@ally.com
F&I Management 2-day
Our F&I Management training course can help take your F&I performance to the next level. This 2-day session is designed to provide high level training for those that need a better understanding or a refresher of the overall F&I Management process. You can expect to walk away from the course with a general or renewed understanding of F&I Management fundamentals.
F&I Management 3-day Virtual
We’ve taken our traditional instructor led F&I Management curriculum and reimagined it to deliver virtually. Over 3 days, learners will explore how to help make the customer transition from sales to F&I seamless, conduct a more effective customer interview, maximize each sales opportunity, plus so much more.
Understanding the Underwriters’ Side
Ever wonder how the finance source decides to approve or decline a deal? Take the opportunity to experience a deal from an Ally credit buyer’s perspective. Gain insights that can help you communicate and collaborate more effectively with Ally.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Financial Statement Analysis
We’ll perform an in-depth analysis of your service department financial statement and make recommendations based upon industry trends and best practices. A detailed breakdown of sales, gross profit, and expense accounts, as well as an evaluation for proper account mapping, unapplied labor, and pay plan structure will be provided.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Service Drive Consultation
Part 1 – Assess
Our Fixed Operations Consultants will perform an initial Service Drive Observation to identify your unique needs and work closely with your management team to develop a personalized plan of action. We’ll analyze a sampling of your customer pay repair orders to show deviations and identify opportunities to increase departmental efficiencies in areas such as:
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Income development
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Menu presentations
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Incomplete repair order write-ups
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Inaccurate booking or billing of labor and/or parts
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ROs with missing or incomplete vehicle inspection reports
Part 2 – Report: Performance Tracking and Goal Setting
A customized written service drive process utilizing industry standards and Ally best practices will be implemented, complete with baseline metrics for customer pay repair orders written, dollars per RO and CSI. Continuous evaluation and written progress reports will also be provided through scheduled dealer visits to gauge compliance with new processes and review of established metrics.
Part 3 – Engage: Process Training, Role-Play, Coaching and Feedback
Ongoing classroom style and live on-the-drive training will also be conducted in the following areas:
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Proper phone skills and appointment setting for shop loading
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Repair order write-up training covering everything from the initial meet and greet to vehicle walk-arounds and menu presentations
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Standardized customer communications process expectations
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And much more
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Service Management Training
We will help your management team take the service department to the next level. It begins with providing exceptional customer service. We will show you ways to optimize processes, develop personnel and analyze KPIs that will help you drive business and keep customers coming back. We will assist in building action plans to provide exceptional service, evaluate and measure performance, establish departmental goals and increase compliance. Learn how to empower your employees to be their best by using individual benchmarks and accountability. Create a foundation for customer service success by installing proven processes, reviewing pay plans and working on pricing strategies.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Warranty Consultation
Let our team of consultants analyze your warranty expense reports to help identify drivers in high-expense areas, as well as a large scope of repair orders, for possible missed revenue opportunities.
During the complete Warranty Consultation process, our experts will work one-on-one with your Service Manager, Warranty Administrator and Service Advisors to help them improve their knowledge and understanding in the following areas:
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Proper repair order write-up and customer concern documentation
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Repair order review, including manufacturer policy & procedure compliance and unrealized revenue
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Interpretation of factory policy and procedure guidelines
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Factory expense report analysis, required management documentation and best practices
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Compliance requirements to property document repair orders for factory repairs
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Warranty performance report analysis which identifies trends and/or high-frequency expenses
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Warranty claim payment receivables schedule review
After a warranty consultation, we’ll keep your staff on its toes with a follow-up review. We’ll analyze your factory warranty expense report to help you identify expense drivers and evaluate repair orders to pinpoint ongoing challenges and areas for improvement. A detailed report will be prepared to help reduce the number of potential debits and increase compliance with factory warranty policies and procedures.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Warranty Reimbursement Review
We’ll conduct a Warranty Reimbursement Review (WRR) to help identify customer pay repair orders with “warranty-like repairs” to submit for a warranty rate adjustment. If a reimbursement rate is considered, we will help prepare the required documentation for the dealer submission to the manufacturer.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
5 Dysfunctions of a Team
Teamwork doesn’t require great intelligence insights or masterful tactics. More than anything else, it comes down to courage and persistence. This workshop is very practical, moves quickly and yields specific, immediate results that can help improve your team’s performance. Patrick Lencioni, founder and author of The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to help overcome hurdles and build cohesive, effective teams.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Building Diverse & Inclusive Teams
Diversity and Inclusion is a business strategy. Knowing and understanding the marketplace as a diverse and multicultural customer base is ever critical to business success. This session will help to build additional knowledge and use tools to lead, manage and work with and in diverse teams, create an inclusive workplace, and serve all customers to enhance relationships, engagement, productivity, commitment, quality and profitability.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Dealer Expertise Assessment
When it comes to running your dealership effectively, how do you rate yourself? This exciting competency-based training can help assess where you stand by putting you through a rigorous “day in the life” of a dealer simulation to evaluate you on the Business/Management, Interpersonal, Leadership and Personal Attribute skills you’ll need to run your store.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Emotional Intelligence™ – TalentSmart
What everyone needs to know. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the other kind of smart. When emotional intelligence first appeared to the masses in 1995, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: People with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into the assumption many people always had, that IQ was the sole source of success. Decades of research now point to EQ as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities and make personal decisions that achieve positive results. Emotional intelligence is made up of four core skills that pair up under two primary competencies: personal competence and social competence. Learn tips for maximizing your EQ with this course.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Expense Management
As margin compression creates challenges for dealers, it’s more important than ever to be able to understand every expense for each department. Even more important is the ability to dive deeper than the operating report to reveal exactly what your expenses are comprised of, and where you might be able to trim some fat. Our Expense Management training will teach dealers to regularly review and examine expenses to help identify where they might be spending too much, or maybe too little in certain areas. Learners will be able to implement a plan to constantly monitor and track expenses to help facilitate effective, responsible spending for the long run.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Managing Fixed Operations (MFO)
This immersive training simulation will put learners in charge of a struggling dealership as part of the new fixed operations management team, reporting to the group’s executive management team. Participants will compete in a virtual dealership group environment and make three consecutive months of leadership, process and financial decisions to drive improvement of multiple service & parts metrics and overall dealership health. Learners will also take a deep dive into a dealership operating report to dissect and understand the meaning behind fixed operations performance metrics and demonstrate what it takes to drive those metrics in the right directions.
Managing Retail Operations (MRO)
We take four months in the life of a dealership and show you ways to maximize its sales and profits. This realistic simulation is an application-based training program built on real-world experience. Locate problems, identify possible solutions, develop opportunities for improvement and maximize the interdependent relationship between all departments. The class provides a chance to immerse yourself in a dealership operating report to help identify and analyze dealership needs and market opportunities.
Situational Leadership®
Situational Leadership® II (SLII) is recognized as both a business language and a framework for employee development that transcends cultural, linguistic and geographical boundaries. It teaches leaders to diagnose the needs of an individual or a team, and then uses the appropriate leadership style to respond to those needs.
Leveraging the award-winning learning design from The SLII Experience, Situational Leadership® II has become the world’s most taught leadership training model. It uses game-changing techniques that immerse learners in SLII quickly, deeply and effectively.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
Statement of Dealer Transactions User Guide
Learn how to take advantage of the broad range of information contained in this monthly Report which display dealer credit balances and activity and consists of two parts: the Summary Statement and the Detail Statement.
Ally SmartLease Office Hours
Answering your Ally SmartLease questions.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
A-Z Sales Process – Alpha to Omega Seminar
Ally’s Alpha to Omega Seminar provides high level training so dealerships can develop an A-Z sales process within their store. The A-Z sales process training teaches a simple and seamless purchase experience for dealership customers. Our seminar will instill processes that can improve response times and deliver a consistently great customer experience. After course completion, participants will be able to confidently take the customer through the sales process from the meet and greet to delivery of the vehicle including the presentation and sale of F&I products.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at insurancetraining@ally.com
Business Development Center (BDC) Training
Our BDC training consists of ways to increase phone, chat, and internet leads for dealerships looking to improve their show ratio and show to sale ratios. We focus on optimizing inbound leads and how to turn those into appointments. Learners can expect to take away suggested word tracks and a better understanding of the potential benefits behind effective early engagement with customers.
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at insurancetraining@ally.com
Eye on SmartLease® Webinar
You already know that leasing leads to loyal, repeat customers who refer their friends and family. So, let’s get you up to speed on the Ally SmartLease. You’ll receive an email invitation to this webinar that will show you everything you need to know to get your customers on the road. Upon course completion, you will:
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Be able to demonstrate resources and offer options to your customers
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Calculate lease payments accurately
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Understand and be able to describe lease agreement terms
Leasing Essentials
Leasing is an important part of your overall portfolio. That’s why you should consider our Leasing Essentials class. It’s customized to the specific needs of your store, your market and the experience level of your staff. Participants are taught how to present leasing with confidence, optimizing the deal while maintaining customer satisfaction. Our Leasing Essentials class will teach you how to enhance customer retention and create near-term leads for your Customer Service Center (CSC) or your Business Development Center (BDC).
To schedule this training at your dealership or a location near you, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
NetQuote and Residual Value Lease Guide (RVLG)
This course describes how to use Ally DASH to access the Residual Value Lease Guide to quickly obtain the current and accurate Residual Value for a vehicle. It also includes instructions on how to access NetQuote, set preferences and complete an accurate SmartLease payment quote including a SmartLease worksheet, as well as information about the reports available in NetQuote.
SmartLease Contracting Job Aid
This job aid provides a detailed example of how to complete a SmartLease Contract. The job aid reviews how to complete a SmartLease Contract as well as where to locate additional resources to help you.
I would say that I expected quality training. I’m not sure I expected it to be the level of quality that we’ve received. So, the type of material that we went into, how it was explained, how it was delivered… it was really impactful stuff and very easy to understand.”
Marty Burke
Rossi Chevrolet Buick GMC
The single biggest contribution that Ally has made to our business probably comes down to profitability, but the single most impactful contribution that Ally has made to our business is training.”
Natasha del Barrio
Bert Ogden & Fiesta Auto Group
Contact Us
If you have questions about training, need help registering or require assistance accessing or using Ally learning resources, email us at allyacademy@ally.com
FAQs
We have answers.
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Yes. We offer most courses conveniently online, 24/7 to accommodate your dealership's busy schedule.
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Yes. We offer the option for on-site, instructor-led training for select courses.
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Benefits include:
- Practical knowledge – real-world exercises develop skills that directly apply to daily work
- Flexible course schedules – some classes can be taken online 24/7 or scheduled at your dealership
- Reinforced learning – knowledge checks review key information during instructor-led classes
- Printable guides – handy reference guides are provided for use during instructor-led classes and on the job
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Any dealership employee can take Ally Academy courses.