The Importance of a Solid Foundation
Just as you wouldn't dream of constructing your dream house without a firm foundation, establishing a consistent F&I process forms the bedrock for building your successful F&I house. This process begins with meticulous, proper preparation and the utilization of open-ended questions in your conversational toolbox. It's important to integrate these questions naturally into the flow of conversation, thereby gaining significant information about the customer's intended vehicle usage throughout ownership.
Crucial as well is the 'Demo Drive' as a best practice. This strategy, common in most automotive dealerships sales processes, provides customers with an experiential understanding of F&I solutions, drawing them closer to mentally owning the vehicle. Many customers step into the dealership without the intention of purchasing add-ons like Tire & Wheel Road Hazard, GAP, Appearance, Theft, VSC, Diminished Value Coverage, and so forth unless have had an issue in the past. Hence, to stimulate and sustain F&I profits, it's essential to guide customers through a "Demo Drive" of your F&I products and solutions. These offerings can elevate the customer's ownership experience while simultaneously strengthening your dealership’s customer retention.
The F&I Demo Drive = Retained & Growing F&I Profits
The F&I Demo Drive comprises these pivotal steps:
Step 1: Effective Needs Discovery: Understand customer needs through a thorough analysis of the buyer’s order, credit application, and credit bureau report. However, the most fruitful approach is by deploying open-ended questions.
Step 2: Active Listening: During the F&I delivery process, allow the customer to lead the conversation. This can be achieved by posing numerous open-ended questions, and by you ensuring that you have a well-stocked conversational toolbox.
Step 3: Product Knowledge: It's absolutely imperative to familiarize yourself with every product's features, benefits, coverage, and exclusions. Any lapse in providing correct answers to customer queries can instantly undermine your credibility and potentially thwart a product sale.
Step 4: Craft a Compelling Narrative: Based on answers you received during the needs discovery, position the customer in hypothetical scenarios that demonstrate how the presented solution can enrich their ownership experience. Utilization of visual aids, such as brochures, copies of repair orders, or even a damaged wheel, can aid the customer's self-discovery of their need for these solutions, thereby building overall value in the presented items. Comparisons, such as contrasting a Vehicle Service Contract with Physical Damage Insurance, are also effective in this respect.
By adhering to these guidelines, you're well on your way to building an F&I house that’s a veritable mansion.
Get in touch with Kevin Reed at kreed@ezvds.com to establish your own F&I process today.