The vehicle finance process can be easily misunderstood, creating unnecessary F&I profit leaks for dealerships and less satisfied customers. When dealership employees understand the best ways to approach the F&I sales process, everyone wins. Customers enjoy proper coverage for their investments and dealerships enjoy higher profits. Additionally, doors open to opportunities for repeat business when claims are paid and major problems are solved for customers.
Every customer wants to be reimbursed when their car breaks down or is stolen. And all customers want to save on maintenance costs and get more for their vehicle when it comes time to sell.
So why aren’t F&I product penetrations higher?
Our experts at The College of Automotive Management (CAM) have identified 13 reasons F&I products aren’t sold when they should be. But more importantly, we offer a solution for every one of these F&I profit leaks! In this article, we will cover the first three profit leaks and their solutions.
F&I Profit Leak #1: Lack of Sales/Desk Cooperation
SOLUTION: Salesperson and Desk Education
Some F&I Managers work alone without the help of their sales staff or the support of the Desk Managers. A customer may start an F&I encounter by saying something along the lines of, “Hey, I’m in a hurry. Can you try to get me out of here? I don’t want to buy anything. I just want to go.”
Sound familiar?
In some stores, it’s even worse. Salespeople are causing this to happen while truly believing they’re doing their customers a favor.
These salespeople simply need more knowledge and training.
At CAM, we provide training to help salespeople understand how everyone benefits when more F&I products are sold at fair prices. This allows big problems to be solved in advance when customers need the help the most.
We produced a sales meeting course video to educate salespeople and Sales Managers on the benefits of your F&I products. It also explains how to introduce the benefits of the products early and often during the process.
F&I Profit Leak #2: Unhappy Customers Enter the Finance Office
SOLUTION: Verify 100% Sales Department CSI
Unhappy customers can put up senseless objections. This will only reduce F&I product penetration and profits.
Our recommendation: nip this in the bud up front and avoid this issue all together.
A customer that is unhappy about the condition of their vehicle or any other aspect of the process is preoccupied and frustrated. This problem needs to be resolved before the F&I process begins.
And why not achieve 100% confirmed Sales Department CSI with every customer before the F&I process begins? When customers feel like their concerns have been heard and addressed, their minds are open to the next steps. This also creates an opening for salespeople to call on their customers after the fact. Dealerships whose customer-facing team members focus on customer satisfaction can count on seeing them again for repeat business.
The Sales and Desk Training Series we developed educates salespeople and Desk Managers on the benefits of confirming 100% Sales Department CSI before the F&I process begins.
This training includes the sales tools dealerships need to verify that this important objective is accomplished with every customer. By doing this, F&I Managers and dealerships enjoy the advantage of only making F&I presentations to happy customers.
Profit Leak #3: Rushed F&I Presentations
SOLUTION: Eliminate the Wait to get into F&I
Making customers wait to see a Finance Manager causes rushed F&I presentations, which only reduces F&I product penetration.
When customers have to wait, salespeople will often blame the Finance Department for the delay. They do this in an effort to salvage their own relationship with the customer, but this approach can backfire.
Consequently, F&I Managers rush presentations to customers that didn’t have to wait so they can get to the customers did… Then they end up rushing those presentations too. This is a costly cycle that destroys F&I product penetration during busy times at dealerships. Forcing customers to wait also puts a strain on the personal and business relationships involved in any transaction.
The College of Automotive Management provides the industry’s most comprehensive Hybrid Sales F&I Training solution. This allows the Sales and Finance departments to work together synergistically to sell more products and keep customers happy.
Train with the Industry’s Highest-rated Automotive Program
CAM employer partners prefer CAM grads.
Start your journey towards a highly rewarding F&I Manager career today. Call us at 888-857-4411 to speak with the College about your career goals. We look forward to hearing from you!
