September 2008 - Feature
Selling F&I the Right Way
It's no secret that F&I income is critical to a dealership's bottom line, so why aren't you using a menu? Not only does it help with the sale, it also protects the dealership. F&I expert gives his take and provides five keys to menu selling.
By Ronald J. Reahard
A menu provides proof that all F&I products were offered, the coverage explained, and the customer selected items he or she wanted.
If you want to be in the powersports business tomorrow, you must evaluate your F&I performance today. Reviewing your department isn’t just about the profits it generates. You need to know where those profits are coming from, how that profit is being made, which products are being offered, which products are not being offered, and, more importantly, how are those products really being sold?
As a successful powersports dealer, you already know F&I income is critical to your bottom line. Unfortunately, we can’t sell F&I products the way we did in the past. A salesperson or F&I manager can’t whip out a service contract brochure and launch into a sales pitch if the customer has no interest in the product. Quoting a monthly payment that includes F&I products a customer doesn’t know about or hasn’t agreed to purchase is simply not an option anymore. Remember, packing payments is a deceptive trade practice.
Let’s face it, if a customer has purchased a big screen TV, appliance, or computer in the last 10 years, someone has tried to sell him or her an extended warranty. If they’ve bought a car in the last 25 years, they’ve been through an F&I office. So they fully expect someone at your dealership to try and sell them loan insurance or a service contract on their new motorcycle. Those who had a bad experience with their last dealership may even expect products to be packed into their payment.
There are far too many powersports dealers who still have no idea how F&I products are really being sold at their dealerships. They don’t know what customers are being told to convince them to buy F&I products. They don’t have a process in place to ensure that every product is offered to every customer every time.
Is it possible to increase F&I income and improve the customer experience while protecting your dealership from potential liability and future litigation? The answer is yes. However, it will require you to make some changes in the F&I process at your dealership. It will also require your salesperson or F&I manager to possess the consultative selling skills required to handle today’s increasingly informed consumer.
Today’s consumer will not buy something they don’t want and don’t think they need. Increasing F&I income at your dealership depends upon your salesperson and F&I manager’s ability to find and fill customer needs. Remember, this is not about selling. The F&I process is about helping customers and adding value to their purchase experience.