The Road to ROI with F&I

In the twenty-first century there has been an undeniable push toward digital advertising and selling. Now more than ever, car dealerships and businesses are attempting to rely on methods that can reach people from afar, as so many individuals are being cautious with their interactions. In truth, undesirable sales figures can be partially attributed to salespeople. A proper sales team, with true sellers who have been trained correctly, can make all the difference when it comes to selling product. The best way to increase sales and success in your car dealership is to focus on your workers.

Staying up to date with the Finance and Insurance field is demanding. Look at it this way: F&I conferences are a yearly investment that reaps benefits in worker productivity and competence. These conferences also provide a venue for networking, promoting brand recognition through product placement, and learning about relevant new technologies.

Your sales team is the most important part of your dealership, they are what will set you apart from the other dealerships in the area. Keeping your sales team energetic and motivated is integral to your success. How can you keep them feeling enthusiastic even when times are tough? We want to share some of the most important ways you can positively impact your sales team.

According to an article in Money, out of the 10,000 respondents to an Accenture survey, 75%, if given the choice of coming into the dealership to purchase a car or doing it online, would take the internet route. Although the study didn't specifically delve into the reasons for this, a smaller survey, Autotrader polled 4,002 individuals and found that only 17 said they like the dealership experience. The overwhelming majority view  the face-to-face encounter as confusing, high pressure, and when they take into account, the time spent selecting a car, negotiating a price, deciding on financing, and dealing with all the paperwork, way too long and too important to be done in one sitting.

Have you ever met a really successful salesperson, perhaps you were even on the other end as the purchaser? Remember that confidence in their smile, that look of certainty in their eyes? It wasn't an arrogance, but just that - confidence. It was as if you were almost obligated to buy because their confidence said so. So how do those successful people have confidence when closing and where does it come from?

Finding the right staff for your dealership is a never-ending process. Sometimes the turnover at a dealership can be so frustrating that you begin to believe that you will never be satisfied with your staff and become resigned to the status quo. This line of thinking is sure way to curtail your success so if you have had thoughts like this, it might be time for you to consider automotive management. 

There is no substitute for proper training. One problem facing many dealerships is too much of a focus on training the employees and not enough on training the managers. The idea is that training the employees that have the most interaction with potential customers means the greatest increase in profits, but is that really true? Not entirely. When it comes to profits, automotive management training is the most lucrative investment.

Car sales is a competitive business. In any given town in America, you can bet that if there is one car lot, there is always at least one more. Most of the time there are several more. How can you manage to find that niche, that one special thing that your car dealership offers that attracts customers?

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.

Neglecting to provide current automotive F&I training in your dealership can lead to serious legal issues and lost customers. The F&I department is a crucial position because they are in charge of multiple issues such as working with the sales force, negotiating with banks and ensuring compliance. An F&I employee needs people skills as well as book knowledge. Instead, it is common to find employees doing F&I without much training or knowledge.