These days, it seems like the only constant about the auto industry is change. This is true in dealerships, too, as customer demographics change, operations continue the shift to digital, and compliance remains a moving target. As F&I products and profits take on greater significance for dealers, it’s imperative that the F&I department perform at the top of its game on every single deal.

Being Everything to Everyone

As vehicle prices continue to rise, the F&I office can be a contentious place when it comes to balancing a customer’s needs and wants with their financial reality. And with shoppers ranging from aging Baby Boomers to new-on-the-scene Millennials, knowing how to approach conversations with every customer is critical to F&I success.

Add in the long-standing data showing that customers dislike spending too much time in dealerships, but that a good shopping experience is increasingly more important to them than the price they pay, your average F&I Manager might be left scratching their head as to how they can do more to enhance and speed up the process.

It’s not just F&I that determines this experience – it’s a team effort. And while it’s never good to try to be “everything to everyone,” your team can work to improve every customer’s experience by setting expectations, explaining the time investment, and conducting the proper training, bettering F&I performance and satisfying the customer.

The Need to Achieve

Dealer profits are under considerable pressure in today’s market, making profits from F&I that much more critical to a store’s bottom line. If your F&I team is struggling to close sales, or is simply content with average results, it goes without question that your store is missing out on income that might be the difference between a profit or a loss for the month.

Giving F&I staff the confidence and skill set to take their performance to the next level is a no-brainer when every sale counts!

Compliance: Hard, But Necessary

With all the responsibilities that rest on their shoulders, your F&I team may not be keeping abreast of compliance issues as thoroughly as you need them to. Or, perhaps they don’t think it’s a big deal if they miss a disclosure here and there—what’s one deal going to do, anyway?

The cost of a compliance issue can be catastrophic, both for your finances and your reputation. Compliance isn’t just about knowing the law(s); it’s about developing consistent processes and procedures and following them on every single deal.

Compliance training can reinforce the importance of these issues to your team, keep them informed of new regulations or requirements, and give them tools to follow through once they’re back in the box—giving you once less thing to worry about!

The F&I office is changing—is your staff ready to succeed amid new challenges? Be sure you help prepare your people to learn, practice and refine their skills every day. Contact NAC to ask about our wide range of training courses!