Building a legacy: Partnership-driven dealership success

Assurant Dealer Success Story: Critz Auto Group 

In the automotive business, true success isn't just measured by monthly sales reports. It's built on strategic planning, operational excellence, and trusted partnerships that put the needs of dealers first. For dealerships aiming to create lasting value, the right F&I partner invests in your long-term vision, not just immediate results.

This is the story of how a personalized dealership performance strategy created by Assurant’s auto experts helped Critz Auto Group align operations, fuel long-term growth, support financial stability, and build a resilient framework for decades of success.

Creating a roadmap for unified performance

Managing a consistent experience across multiple storefronts is a common challenge. Critz Auto Group, with three distinct brands, faced operational drift in sales and F&I processes. To address it, they engaged Assurant for a Business Development Analysis (BDA) — a comprehensive, data-driven evaluation that thoroughly examines every aspect of the dealership to produce a step-by-step action plan for performance improvement. The BDA pinpointed several key opportunities. “We realized there were significantly different processes in each showroom. Our goal was to map out what worked well and create one Critz process.”

“We’ve used that playbook as a template for everything. … It’s become a track to run on and made a big difference in our performance.”

Dale Critz, Jr., President & CEO, explains how Assurant’s experts created a custom playbook that was informed by in-depth interviews with Critz's management to establish current real-world scenarios. Those insights were then compared to historic performance data for individual dealerships as well as their surrounding markets and competitors. Once the performance plan is developed, Assurant then supports success at every step.

Critz describes, “We’ve used that playbook as a template for everything. … It’s become a track to run on and made a big difference in our performance.” Assurant provided everything from clear performance goals, to optimized sales and F&I processes, to implementation and accountability, to hands-on training for salespeople, managers, and new hires to embed the new “Critz process” across each dealership in the organization.

Maximizing wealth and growth with unmatched profit participation options and flexibility

Critz Auto Group sought a stable, tax-efficient profit participation strategy that would give them plenty of control over both their profits and their investment decisions. Knowing that Assurant's guidance was rooted in finding the right fit for the dealership and not provider preference, Critz Auto has been confidently leveraging a Non-Controlled Foreign Corporation (NCFC) model since 2008.

“It’s helped me from an estate planning standpoint and been a great wealth generator for my kids.”

For Critz, the NCFC has been a valuable tool for legacy planning and business agility. He notes, “It’s helped me from an estate planning standpoint and been a great wealth generator for my kids.” The NCFC also provided flexibility for a dealership acquisition, with Critz adding, “Some of the capital we needed came from the NCFC.” The NCFC also functions as a retention tool. “I made our general manager a partner in one of our NCFC positions, so they have a long-term stake in what we’re building,”

Proactive support for every part of the business

A true partnership provides support across all operations, including controlling costs in the service drive. When Critz noticed a rise in service contract claims, he called Assurant to investigate. “I made one call, and they were here within days to review our processes. We worked together on changes, and it really helped plug that hole before it became a problem.”  This seamless integration provides what Critz describes as a “really well-rounded support” system. “All of my service advisors have our Assurant district manager on speed dial,” he adds.

“All of my service advisors have our Assurant district manager on speed dial."

The foundation of a lasting partnership

The Critz Auto Group story is a testament to what can be achieved when a dealership and its F&I partner align on a long-term vision. One-on-one support serves as the powerhouse for bringing the Crtiz unified operational roadmap to life. That includes optimizing highly effective F&I products, tying in immediate-impact training as needed, while helping to enable strategic growth and protecting profitability every step of the way.

Unrivaled performance begins with partnership.

Your dealership could be the next to experience results like these. All it takes is a partner like Assurant working together to accelerate success with a performance plan designed around your exact goals. Get in touch with us today to get started.