One of the questions I am asked often is how to find and train a new F&I manager. Looking outside the dealership may have its rewards and consequences, but I am a fan of growing them in-house.

First, you need to identify potential candidates. The top salesperson is often tapped for this opportunity, but he or she may not always be the best option. Is the person more beneficial on the floor or proven themselves and asked about the challenge of F&I? Do not focus solely on the sales department for your F&I manager. Service, administration and even the receptionist desk have produced high-performing FIMs. 

Superlative Impressions

So whether from the sales department (being the natural talent pool) or another area of the dealership, begin by identifying the best potential candidate. Over the years of recruiting FIMs for dealerships, what I look for is a solid salesperson who is up-to-date with their customer relationship management responsibilities, does good paperwork, and follows direction. In many cases, this is a mid- to upper-mid-level salesperson. This person may not be the top of the board in sales, but an F&I manager does not have to be. All you need is someone who is consistently a solid performer who completes all required tasks at a high level. 

Proving Grounds

Once you identify your candidates, do not talk about pay or promotion. Instead, tell them about a potential opportunity, if they are willing to put in the effort. They need to put in effort ahead of time before being moved into F&I. Unlike sales, with a sales manager to guide, advise and keep everyone accountable, F&I requires trust and a belief that all required activities are accomplished 100% of the time. You need someone you can trust with millions of dollars of cash flow.

Then have the candidates read every single contract, every single form, and every single disclosure and document used in F&I, front and back. The entire front and back of a retail installment sales contract and a lease contract. Every brochure for every F&I product sold in the dealership. The dealer agreements with the finance companies, the credit companies, the menu providers and any other dealer agreement that relates to the F&I office. Read the dealership’s compliance guide and the requirements of the dealership. Everything—and I cannot stress enough—everything. 

Testing the Waters

Once they have read everything, test them, and while you’re at it, be sure your F&I product provider assists with the testing. Don’t get me wrong: A 100-question exam is not required for them to move forward, but ask them simple questions based on the documentation in F&I that all F&I managers should know. 

Speaking of your F&I product provider, it’s a good idea to keep it in the loop on the candidates you are considering for F&I. It can provide valuable insight for the decision-making process. 

When your candidate is showing the aptitude to move into F&I and is putting in the effort, it is time for the next step, and it is not F&I school—not yet, at least. They need to be familiar with the F&I sections in the dealer management system. Once he or she is familiar with these sections and all the fields required to complete a transaction, the candidate needs the print codes and to know how to push to the menu system. Go ahead and have the candidate load and prep the deals to F&I. Ideally, the sales managers should have each deal 100% loaded with 100% accurate information before sending a customer into F&I. However, this is a great learning experience for F&I candidates. When deals are going into F&I perfectly, that shows it is time for the next step in the screening process.

Have your candidate book all of the wholesale deals. This allows him or her to become even more familiar with the DMS, the F&I sections, print codes and required documentation for the simplest of deals.

Proof’s in the Pudding

Have we paid candidates anything additional for any of this? No. It’s education, knowledge and the willingness to put in the effort. F&I requires effort, and this is proving to you and to the potential new manager that they can do what is required.

The next step is easy: Have the candidate learn the menu system that the dealership utilizes. Most of the online and tablet-based menus are very easy to learn, and all menu providers have tutorials and training. Have your F&I product provider show the candidate how to rate contracts and build menus; explain the products the dealer wants to sell and those it may not want to sell and why; and demonstrate how to show the menu on a screen or tablet, how to print a menu, and how to push the menu to a remote customer. At this time, have your F&I provider teach the candidate a simple menu presentation. Do not ask that they teach “how to do F&I” while in the office. Just stick with a basic presentation, with a base payment disclosure, and an “ask to buy” close. Nothing more. Keep it simple.

Now the candidate is ready for F&I school. He or she knows the products, the systems and the menu but not what actually happens in F&I. So allow a process of discovery. Have the candidate do some backup and outside finance deals with little chance of conversion; hear some objections; understand how customers come into F&I; and where the deals get hung up. This makes for a fantastic F&I student in class and makes it a more effective learning experience: knowledge combined with some experience, the willingness to learn a solid process, and how to move past customer objections.

Over the years of training thousands in the fine arts of F&I, this hiring approach continues to provide the highest-producing FIMs. Once the candidate comes back from F&I school, drop him or her in the box. Don’t wait. Do it immediately, and watch the new manager fly. With effort and worth proven, he or she knows they’ve earned a prestigious seat in the F&I office.

Tony Dupaquier is vice president of training for iA American Warranty Group.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was authored and edited according to F&I and Showroom editorial standards and style. Opinions expressed may not reflect that of the publication.