Every dealership needs an effective F&I offering. Without one, you risk leaving money on the table. An especially lousy offering could also send customers running to your competitors.
While there are many ways you can improve yours, one of the first aspects you need to think about is whether or not a cookie-cutter approach makes sense for your dealership.
3 Reasons a Cookie-Cutter Approach to F&I Won’t Work
The short answer is that, no, a cookie-cutter approach will not do your F&I offering any favors. You should do the polar opposite. Take a highly-customized approach, so you can best serve each of your clients, and the results will prove this was the right choice. Below are three reasons why.
1. Customization Can Add Sales to the Process
Finance and insurance are closely related to sales. However, many dealerships are enjoying a new level of success by actually combining the two essential functions. While there are many benefits to doing so, it’s only possible when you have the flexibility to customize your finance and insurance offerings.
Provided you do, you can make sure that both departments dovetail each other perfectly for higher profits.
2. Leverage the Power of Menu Selling
The power of menu selling is well-documented at this point. Perhaps its most important benefit is that it empowers customers to make the right decisions about financing and insurance based on their unique needs – needs which they tend to know best.
Instead of feeling like they’re being “sold to,” customers feel like they’re taking an active role in the process. This is an important – and profitable – distinction. Unfortunately, your ability to leverage menu selling is minimal when you are equally limited by the finance and insurance offering your dealership has.
As a result, your managers have no choice but to hold “presentations” that come across as strong sales pitches – something no customer enjoys.
3. Customization Makes Your Managers’ Jobs Easier
The other problem with this type of setup is that your managers hate it. One of the reasons for high F&I manager churn may be that so many of them are forced to sell cookie-cutter products to customers with unique needs. This can be frustrating. The manager is essentially set up to fail, which makes it easy to view quitting as an attractive alternative.
Most employees appreciate a certain degree of autonomy. However, when it comes to something as important as selling finance and insurance packages, autonomy is often essential for succeeding.
Always Opt for a Customized F&I Approach
Your customers have more choices than ever before when they’re in the market for a vehicle. While there are all kinds of things you can do to help win their business, don’t forget about the importance of a custom approach to F&I.
For all the reasons we just reviewed – and many more – having a cookie-cutter mentality toward this essential element of your sales process will do little more than help your competitors win new customers.