It's no secret that satisfied clients spend more than dissatisfied ones. When it comes to buying a car, arguably the most significant area of frustration and, therefore, an enormous opportunity to increase customer satisfaction is in the F&I process. F&I is a critical component of dealership revenues and profits. As profit margins on new car sales continue to shrink, dealerships must adapt their businesses to include an aggressive focus on F&I product sales.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Finance and Insurance, F&I Business Manager, F&I Process
Potential customers have more car-buying options than ever before. How can you make your dealership outshine your competitors? Here's four easy ways to start.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, Customer Service, customer experience
Your F&I department is a key influencer on your Parts & Sales business. Every department at a vehicle dealership depends primarily on an unpredictable flow of new and returning customers to make revenue quotas, but the sale of an F&I department product is a predictable opportunity to generate additional Parts & Sales revenues.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Dealership Profits, Prepared Maintenance Programs, Tire and Wheel Protection, Paintless Dent Repair
Every dealership wants to be more successful. Much of this has to do with the personnel. While the inventory, the pricing, and the showroom have an impact on success too, it is all for nothing if the sales team doesn't know what they are doing – and cannot put the customer’s needs first. This is why F&I training is so critical.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, training
The sales team of a dealership is the primary connection between the customer and the location. This means that the sales team needs to be educated on all that is being offered and all that needs to be disclosed to the customer. Mandatory automotive F&I training can take care of this in its entirety.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Finance and Insurance, Automotive F&I Training, training
The automotive industry is facing a dramatic demographic change. Millennials, those buyers who are 20 to 35 years of age, are predicted to become the largest, most important group of auto buyers within the next decade. Millennials have more information-gathering tools and better research skills than any previous generation of auto buyers; they are well-informed and have often already made their purchase decisions before setting foot in a dealership.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Automotive F&I Training
Although the business of auto dealers is selling cars, the worst kept secret is that F&I products provide the best margin in the industry. Dealers that maximize these products do much better financially. However, they have to be sure to meet all of the compliance standards or it could come back to bite them in the form of penalties. For that reason Financial & Insurance product compliance is more important than ever before.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, compliance
Dealing with the F&I office can sometimes be a bit of a trial. Efficiency issues run high, and this often leads to unsatisfied customers. When it comes down to it, efficiency and compliance still trump shorter visits to the F&I office. Fortunately those of us at Vanguard Dealer Services have effective programs for dealerships to improve their work flow.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Finance and Insurance, compliance
The car buying industry is nothing like it was ten years ago. Mobile phones, and the Internet have completely changed the market. The market is now designed for the quickest and most efficient selling tactic.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Finance and Insurance, Automotive F&I Training
We've got a handy way for managing automotive finance and insurance training and we'd love to share it with you. It's really a matter of getting back to the basics. Even successful and experienced finance and insurance staff need to keep up-to-date on training lest they become complacent or, even worse, develop bad habits.
Topics: Finance & Insurance, F&I, Finance and Insurance