Managing your F & I Department

Successfully Managing your F & I Department.


A few questions:

• Are you happy with the referrals your Business Manager receives from your sales team?
• Do all of your sales force make a professional introduction when bringing a customer to the Business Manager’s office? Every time without fail??
• Are you 100% satisfied with your finance penetration, insurance product sales penetration, and your income per retail unit? Is your owner??
• Are you 100% confident about your processes around FSA Compliance? If the FSA told you that they had mystery-shopped your dealership, would you feel comfortable about this??
  

If your answer to all of the above questions is a definite YES, congratulations! You have done a great job in managing your F&I Department, selling your products and training the sales force.

If your answer to any of the above questions is NO (or I am not sure), the next question is “What are you doing to improve these areas?” If your Business Manager is sitting in his/her office complaining about the sales team and making excuses about the state of the market, these areas will not improve.

Are you ready to make some changes and start getting dynamic results?

We all need to keep in mind, what happens in our business is our responsibility. Remember you are the MANAGER. This means you must take control of your F&I Department. Let's look at some strategies to make your F&I department the most productive it can be.

In order to make changes in our department, we have to make it happen ourselves.

Start by getting your Business Manager out of his/her office and being visible on the sales floor.

• The Business Manager must interact with the salespeople by coaching and communicating the way they want them to refer customers and handle F&I questions that come up during the sale.
• Get the Business Manager involved in the sales process early, so you can improve cash conversions and bank conversions.
• The Business Manager is an integral part of the sales process and should be seen to helping close sales for the team. This will earn the respect of the sales force and develop a better relationship between the Business Manager and the Sales force.
• By attending and participating in sales/training meetings the Business Manager can coach your sales force on improving conversions, handling questions about rate, payments and insurance products. You'll make them more effective and create better opportunities for F&I. This also makes our job less stressful and more rewarding.
  

Take charge of your F&I department today. Start making changes. Keep in mind most problems didn't happen overnight and probably won't be changed overnight. Get started by making a list of things that need improvement. Next, prioritize your list and then start making the necessary adjustments immediately. As each step is accomplished, mark it off your list. You will be amazed at the results if you tackle one problem at a time and stick with it with determination until you improve the process. A great F & I Department doesn't just happen – you have to put in a lot of hard work.

So when you are asked – “Are you and your owner 100% satisfied with your finance penetration, product sale percentages, insurance sales and your income per retail unit?” Your answer will be a resounding “YES”

Forward thinking businesses understand the importance of a strong F&I department for long-term success. The creation of a finance portfolio – particularly with a high percentage of PCP products – is money in the bank for renewals if managed properly.

The team at Motor Trade Solutions have enjoyed amazing results in helping businesses develop their F&I Departments by

• Coaching and Mentoring the Business Manager(s).
• Developing Training Programmes and Marketing Initiatives.
• Ensuring that FSA Compliance and Processes are kept up to date and adhered to.
• Incentive and Commission programmes that rewards the right kind of performance and inspires your team to achieve more.
• Training the sales team on sales process and motivating them to success.
  

In essence we have changed the culture in many sales departments to create a sales force that is focused on the F&I business for the long-term goals of the business as much as the selling of cars, motorcycles, vans or trucks.

The investment is worth it, our experience shows that (if sold properly) finance customers are 4 times more likely to renew at the same dealership than cash customers. And we know that 70% of PCP customers (if handled properly) will renew at the same dealership.

Planning and building a finance book by looking at the long-term rather than the quick-fix today will mean that you already have a core community of customers ready to change in 2, 3 and 4 years time. By staying focused on this and continuously training and improving you can even set your future budgets and business plans around this with confidence.

Our service to you can be tailored to your specific needs whether it be to just to look at your FSA processes and administration or to provide our package to help you build your finance book. We work with small independents and start-ups to large dealer groups and plc operations.

For an initial discussion or more information please call Motor Trade Solutions on 0845 658 6880 or contact us by clicking here and start making an impact in your business.