Improving the F&I Experience

The start of the New Year means the NADA Convention and Expo is upon us. And as director of training for American Financial and Automotive Services’ F&I University, my job is to seek out new tools and information that will enhance the F&I experience for customers.

This year, I looked specifically for tools aimed at improving the F&I experience for millennial car buyers. Let me explain why.

Question: How do we turn millennial customers into F&I buyers?

Tony’s Take: Everyone is talking about this buying segment, which is about 80 million-people strong. But millennials have had a little trouble getting off of mom and dad’s couch thanks to the Great Recession, with Baby Boomers still accounting for the bulk of new-vehicle purchases. But that’s beginning to change.

In fact, J.D. Power and Associates reported this past July that, for the first time, Gen Y consumers accounted for a larger percentage (26%) of new-vehicle sales than Gen X (24%). It’s one of the reasons dealers are looking to drive a better connection between millennials and their F&I offices.

Hybrid F&I: The attention millennials are getting is why I think the hybrid F&I debate — where the roles of sales and F&I are combined — won’t fade away. In fact, I trained plenty of dealerships on my one-touch process last year, and I have additional commitments in 2015.

The hybrid process isn’t a once size fits all. You have to determine how far you want to go with it, define the role of the hybrid manager and figure out which employees are right for it. That’s what I did five years ago when I teamed up with a dealer group to develop its hybrid process. And I think we’ve struck the right balance.

Regardless of your process, I have found that bringing F&I out to buyers helps increase product sales while reducing transaction times. So I’ll be looking for technology tools that complement that.

The Right Connection: So, the tools I’ll be most interested in are tablet-based menus. I want something that’s transparent and that customers can control and customize. And it better have econtracting. But more than anything, I want to make sure I’d want to use the tool — or I’m not recommending it to my dealer clients.

Tools vs. Solutions: Before you hit the show floor, you need to decide if you are looking for a tool or a solution. And, yes, there is a difference. If you want to solve an F&I department problem, then you’re looking for a solution. For instance, there are menu-presentation tools that force customers to watch product videos before the process can proceed. If you don’t have a strong talent pool, that solution might be right for you.

Or let’s say you want to take advantage of that time consumers spend in the showroom waiting to get into F&I. Well, there are tablet-based survey tools that replace the pre-F&I interview. These solutions then feed customer responses to the producer to help him or her customize the menu.

But if you have well-trained F&I managers and all you’re looking to do is enhance their skills and the experience they deliver to customers, then you need a tool. Like the old saying goes, there’s a tool for every job. And if you’re looking to connect with these younger generations, maybe the tablet-based menu is what you’re looking for. 

Tony Dupaquier ([email protected]) is director of training for F&I University, a division of American Financial and Automotive Services Inc.