How does the F&I Manager see every customer?
Q. If the F&I manager is to see every customer at the point of commitment on the sale, and I am with another customer, how do I achieve the art of being in two places at the same time?
A. The customer who is in front of you takes precedence. There are at least three ways the sales team can fill the time while you are finishing the current deal:
(1) Introduce the new customer to the service department or explain where the preferred service shop is located if the dealership has none.
(2) Show the tire safety video produced by Michelin and Tire Guard
(3) Use these Word Tracks: “The next part of the process is the business center. Our manager is currently finishing up with a customer, and your paper work will be next. Together you and our manager will complete all the title work and take care of all the funding issues. In the meantime, may I help you transfer your personal items to your new vehicle?”
Remember that the deal is not sealed until the business manager gets the customer to sign the installment contract, purchase order, or receipt in all the funds. It is in everyone’s best interest to have this important step in the process implemented. Short cuts cost the dealership gross profit and often the deal itself.
Q. How important is credit insurance on a loan? The dealership doesn’t receive a lot of profit from selling it.
A. Credit insurance is very important to those customers who are not working due to an illness or injury and are not receiving a full paycheck. Credit life insurance is critical to the young widow who stands out in the rain waiting for a bus to go to work because she cannot afford the car payment after her husband died. Credit insurance is important only to those who do not have it and who need it. For those of us who do have it, we never give it an extra thought. We go about our day confident that our family is protected, and the quality of life they enjoy will continue long after our death.
Most people who purchase credit insurance will purchase it again, and most would recommend it to their friends.
Lenders have reported that 40% of all their repossessions are voluntary, and that 25% of those are due to a death of one of the buyers. It appears that if these loans had included credit insurance the family would not have a credit blemish, the lender would not have experienced a loss, and the dealership would have been a hero to a family in a time of crisis. Credit life insurance is a win-win for everyone.
Kelly’s Korner, August 2002.