For any business to thrive, the sales processes must be stellar, as should the customer experience. The secret lies with the F&I process. This process begins after the client commits verbally to buying an automobile. Therefore, it calls for a strong finance and insurance department tasked with implementing efficient F& I strategies since dealerships derive most of their profits from their F&I products. So how can you take your F&I process a notch higher?
Below are 5 ways you can try today to improve your dealership's F&I process.
- Ensure that everyone is following proper protocol
It's no secret that satisfying a client induces them to spend more on your F&I products. One way of ensuring client satisfaction is by ensuring that proper protocol is followed. Confusing processes, for instance, when it comes to presenting the dealership's menus, may have your clients feeling insecure and less confident about your business.
Additionally, following proper protocol will also eliminate any possibilities of your clients getting frustrated because they must wait for long periods before your sales process is complete.
- Encourage your team to constantly review the F&I products you provide
More often than not, dealership businesses offer multiple F&I products to their customers with the aim of increasing their sales. An example would be offering to sell a car and at the same time marketing your key replacement services.
In such a case, your F&I managers working with your team should conduct periodic reviews of those services. Then, only relevant products should be sold to customers. Plus, you will get to know what type of products are selling more so you can adjust accordingly.
- Role-playing
In order to improve the customer experience, you should take time to train and re-train your business managers using activities such as role-playing. Role-playing brings out the various scenarios that your managers are likely to face as they go about their activities.
For instance, this often applies when it comes to situations that require problem-solving. The activity will equip them with the best skills they need to approach such a situation. Similarly, role-playing will enhance your employees' listening skills, which are necessary to create a good customer relationship.
Also, for better results, ensure that the training should be frequent.
- Conduct frequent meetings with your team
One way to improve your F&I process is by constantly monitoring the strategies you have put in place. Review the techniques and approaches from time to time to point out the effective ones that need to be retained and those that need improvement.
Further, it is crucial to ensure that you involve your team in such assessments. Do this by conducting regular stand-up meetings to give them an update about their work. You should also take the time to address what they have been working on and state whether anything needs improvement. This will significantly impact your F&I process positively.
- Ask for feedback
It is advisable for you to regularly follow up with your customers and ask for their feedback on how the overall process was. For example, what did they feel was right or wrong with the services they received from you? What do they think you can work on to improve?
Such follow-ups will certainly go a long way when it comes to improving overall customer satisfaction. Be sure to devise a plan that you will use to evaluate the feedback and think of ways to incorporate proper suggestions into your F&I process.
You can certainly take your dealership business to the next level by following these strategies. For improved sales processes and greater customer experience, focus on improving your F&I process.
Do not hesitate to contact us for any more information on how you can improve your dealership.
