F&I Success Comes When You Believe It Will

By Myril Shaw - Dealer Profit Services

People want to finance.  They don't want to pull dollars from their pocket.  The only thing that stands between you and F&I profit is, well, you!

Cash buyers are not using their cash.  They are finding funds elsewhere and then giving them to you.  How much better would it be if they had used your financing capabilities?  They could have.

Your buyers just want to be treated well.  They want to enjoy their lifestyle.  Denying them the opportunity to keep their cash or to be protected from the inevitable vehicle hiccups is not good for them and it is certainly not good for you.  Fear of finance scaring away a sale is a horrible reason to negatively impact your customer's lifestyle experience.  Customer-centric F&I protects your customer's lifestyle and your profit.

We have to be honest…we have to show the price.  This is costing you profit in many ways.  First, showing payment is not only honest, but it
is also helpful.  Price is not a legal requirement and it is not useful to your buyers.  When you commit to a payment first philosophy not only will it benefit your buyers, it will benefit your customers.

"I assumed that everyone knew that we offered financing."  They didn't.  People do not assume that recreational dealers offer financing.  In fact, many people assume that need to find financing before they arrive for the first time to your store.  Advertising your finance capabilities early and often will dramatically improve your F&I profit results.

F&I should be a co-equal top profit center in your store.  F&I profit should be between 3% and 4% of your Unit Sales.  If it is not, you are not doing everything right as regards F&I sales in your store.

You should be selling Optional Protective Products on well over 65% of your sales.

With all of this success, you should also have a team that practices the "Hypocratic Oath of F&I Sales" – first do no harm.  While it is true that you never get more than what you asked for the first time – your team also needs to understand how to be graceful in retreat and walk back the initial offer without losing credibility or the customer.  The first job is to make sure the unit gets sold, the second job is to maximize profit.

So, how is your F&I department doing?  Do they never cost a sale?  Are they selling Optional Protective Products 65% of the time?  Are they delivering between 3% and 4% F&I profit on Unit Sales?

If the answer to any of those questions is "No" – it is time to recharge your team.

F&I delivers significant profit as well as lifestyle customer delight – make it happen!

Dealer Profit Services, LLC can help.  Whether you want someone to take over your F&I and just drive profit to your store, help you some of the time, need some quick advice or just provide F&I Training/Consulting, we are here to help you.  Contact us anytime at info@dealerprofit.com or give us a call at (470) 326-0966.