The Road to ROI with F&I

Whether you're an experienced or novice automotive dealer, you realize that from time to time, dealers suffer from employee fall-outs, random no-shows, and other reasons why your employee is not at work. Sometimes, employees quit without giving notice. Worse enough, while there is never an opportune time, these things always seem to occur when you are least expecting it.

It's never convenient for any business to be short-handed when employees are not able to show up for work. It's even harder when an employee resigns or quits on the spot. Having an on-call F&I Specialist to fill in during these emergencies can keep your dealership motoring with success.

Most automotive dealerships would agree with the statement that within their establishment, it's their finance and insurance department that generates the most revenue per square foot. When a department is that mission critical, there is simply no room for gaps in its staffing, at any time. In short, every dealership must have F&I experts available during every hour they're open, or they risk losing potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales. Fortunately, dealerships do have options available if they find themselves in sudden need of such a critical component of their business.

A sudden vacancy in your business can be disruptive and damaging to your bottom line. It's always important to plan for such eventualities by finding ways to keep your business running until the vacancy is filled. And that's where fill-in F&I specialists come in.

Every word shared between salespeople, sales managers and the F&I Department carries with it the power to affect the bottom line. Details are crucial and as one sales manager once wisely suggested to his salesperson, "Land the plane!" 

Smart business management is preparing for the "What-Ifs." While it's hard to predict sicknesses, it's also hard to predict if an employee will resign. If your dealership is void of F&I staffing, there can be a disruption in your day to day sales operations. Before your dealership stalls out, setting up a "Fill-In" F&I Specialist should be a consideration.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." These Abraham Lincoln words still vibrate in the minds of those who have sold themselves over to win. Every sales manager or any other business executive overseeing a sales team understands that preparation is necessary for success. Therefore, they spend time sharpening their teams to achieve stellar results.

Clear communication is mandatory in good business. It's the foundation of proper customer service and acts as an indicator of whether or not the business is functioning as a cohesive unit. In automotive sales, a discrepancy between the sales desk and F&I will cost you customers and your reputation. Customers are naturally wary of car sales personnel and even an honest mistake can be taken as intentional misdirection. There are a number of strategies to streamline communication between your departments, and we've outlined 3 to get you started below.

In order for dealerships to be set up for success, it is important that the Sales Desk and F&I Department are clearly communicating. The two teams might work separately but maintaining a good partnership will be key to maximizing profit and supporting a better customer buying experience. Here are some ways to ensure there is clear communication between both teams.

For any dealership, we know the importance of the F&I department. As Wards Auto notes, F&I is "one of the most important profit centers in any dealership" with primary duties being to control the sale and arranging financing for the customer. If our Business Managers can seal those deals, dealerships will maximize on their profit. However, the pressure and responsibility can take a toll on these employees. Here are 3 ways to keep your Business Managers motivated.