Every dealership needs to be concerned about F&I compliance, as just a single mistake could be ruinous.
If you’re worried that F&I compliance is at risk at your dealership, there’s good news: implementing four best practices will change that.
4 F&I Compliance Best Practices
An ethical dealership is one that will win over customers and keep them coming back. One of the best ways to ensure your dealership is one that gains a reputation for its ethics is by focusing on F&I compliance by following these four practices.
1. Implement an F&I Compliance Plan
The first step to successfully monitoring for compliance within your F&I department is to actually put a plan in place. Every dealership is different, but yours should definitely include the ability to monitor F&I activity in real-time through one central dashboard.
Not only will this make it possible to catch issues before they become bigger problems, but if your staff knows this kind of monitoring is in place, they’ll be more likely to hold themselves accountable.
2. Monitor for Customer Information Breaches
Having a platform in place to monitor for breaches will go a long way to keeping them from happening.
Another best practice for doing so is to make sure your staff knows how to safeguard customer information and that this is something they’re responsible for doing.
Create policies that make sense for your unique dealership that will secure this information throughout its lifecycle.
These could include two-factor identification instead of traditional passwords, making it almost impossible for unauthorized parties to access this data.
3. Manage User Permission
Even with two-factor authentication, access could still be leaked if it’s provided to the wrong people.
In short, only those in your F&I department should be given credentials to access this kind of customer data. Although this means keeping it separate from other folders or even platforms the rest of your dealership may use, the added security will be worth it.
Furthermore, once you no longer need a customer’s NPI (Nonpublic Personal Information), delete it. Holding on to it won’t help your dealership in the least, but it will add to your problems if you ever suffer a data breach.
4. Make Security a Part of Everyone’s Job description
Just because not everyone at your dealership has access to customer-specific F&I information doesn’t absolve them of their duties to protect it.
Instead, inform your entire staff that all of their job descriptions entail being vigilant about possible threats to F&I compliance.
Conduct training so your employees understand what is deceptive, unfair, or abusive practices when it comes to your F&I practices. Provide them with a way to anonymously report any violations they think may be occurring.
Making F&I Compliance a Priority
The most successful dealerships are the ones that are able to optimize their F&I sales process.
Unfortunately, this kind of success can sometimes come at the cost of ignoring the importance of F&I compliance.
Implement the four simple best practices we covered above, so that doesn’t happen to your dealership. Once they’re in place, you can set the most ambitious F&I goals without having to worry that they might cost you more than they’re worth.