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F&I managers have one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, job in today’s dealership. Ask anyone who has ever been in ‘the box’ what the one word is that can describe their job and they will likely say ‘pressure.

Your buyer's identity can be stolen from mishandling of documents during the course of a deal. Dealerships can also fall victim to one of the most common forms of fraud, fake identification scams. 

Simply put, consultative selling allows your F&I staff to focus on building a relationship with the buyer and identifying solutions to their unique challenges through a series of open-ended questions and active listening.

The order of presentation for the product menu is the tricky thing. After settling in on rate, the high margin products are usually the first to be presented. Going for the highest margins products first is usually strategy with the thought being that the smaller products don’t matter as much.

One change that has been moving through the industry is consolidating all F&I products under one provider. For decades, dealers have had many providers to choose from, each with their own speciality. And where one may have been lacking in specific products, another was there to fill that space.

With interest rates staying higher than they have been in decades and the price of new and used cars reaching record highs, it doesn’t mean there are not opportunities to offer preloaded products that can help keep money in your customers’ pocket instead of at the service bay.

F&I meetings are the perfect chance to refocus the team, fix things that are broken, and give staff a voice in things that matter to them

2023 has been forecasted to be a difficult year for car buying and it isn’t just one thing that’s driving that pessimism…

Credit unions are the financial institutions to have tighten credit the most, which presents a new opportunity for F&I departments

Online reviews are critical to the success of just about any business and yes, that includes car dealerships.

Over just the last three years alone, the automotive aftermarket has also been shaken up by several major acquisitions of F&I administrators backed by private equity firms.

At a time when used car dealers of all sizes are still recovering from record high wholesale prices and sparse inventory, being able to offer your customer a truly comprehensive total protection & service plan is a win for your F&I profits and for your customer.

Dealers are starting to see that the best and most direct training is right under their noses. Senior managers and Directors are often the best teachers.

There is a strategy that more dealers are starting to embrace and it requires viewing the lease deal from a different and more creative perspective.

In light of the latest moves from the FTC regarding F&I products and what is or is not looked at as a ‘beneficial’ product to sell, dealerships may have to polish their sales skills a bit to make sure customers see the value in every ancillary product you offer.

When times are good as they are now in the market, this is the best time for F&I directors to take the pulse of the department

Introducing F&I products through online channels like social media can encourage buyers to make an informed decision faster

The vehicle history report is a great tool to sell VSC because it gives the buyer advanced insights on the real condition of the vehicle

For car buyers that have challenged credit that fall into ‘near prime’ or subprime, rising rates present a bigger problem. For those dealerships trying to help buyers at a different level, it’s important to have a deep variety of lenders who can help.

There are two departments that are equally dependent on each other for their success at dealerships and the argument could be made (as it will here…hint-hint) that the opportunity for cross-training between them is critical now more than ever.

Research into how the largest demographic cohort views car purchasing is revealing some interesting things and uncovering new opportunities for dealerships to pivot and alter their process to keep these buyers coming into their stores rather than lean into buying and financing entirely online.

As more states set mandates of selling only new EV’s within certain timeframes and manufacturers announce their own plans to make most if not all of their lines EV within the next 5-10 years, the effect it will have on the products F&I sales cannot be ignored.

One way to make sure your used car inventory is as appealing as possible is to offer a lifetime powertrain warranty. And if you offer it as a preload, even better. Your Customers Want It…So Why Not?