New F & I (Finance & Insurance) Manager Asks for Advice!
Thank you Tony for all the advise I read from your web site. I have a question: could you tell me what is the smoothest way, as an F & I Manager to handle a customer once they enter your office? I am new in this department but not to car sales. I am interested in knowing the order of operation.
Thank you
Pamela
Hi Pamela,
Well Pamela, the first thing that should always happen is that before the customer is brought into your office the salesman should brief you on all the details of the deal. Things like is the customer expecting you to arrange financing, has the sales dept. quoted any payments, money down, etc. This way you have an idea of what's going on.
Once the customer is in your office simply put them at ease with some small talk. The customer is relieved that the deal is over, so they are already in a good frame of mind. You need to fill out a credit app if they are financing so you can run their credit to see what their score is. You will need this to determine what kind of terms you can get them. They will want to know what their payment will be, and you need to know what interest rate you can get them in order to accurately quote them a payment.
Beyond that be courteous and professional, and above all, be honest with them. Most complaints people have about car dealerships stem from their dealings in the Finance Office. Be honest and up front with them and you'll do just fine.
You will find that you have to walk a tight rope as the Finance Manager. On one hand the dealership owner wants you to sell high interest rates, extended warranties and credit life and disability insurance on every deal, and convert all cash and credit union buyers to your financing.
On the other hand the Sales Dept. wants to maximize their gross profit, so you have to sell the customer on a higher payment than they were quoted in order to sell your products and satisfy the dealership owner. At the same time you have to be able to structure the deal properly so the banks buy the deals you send them, but most importantly you have a responsibility to the customer to treat them fairly and not take advantage of them.
Trust me, it's a real tight rope walk! There are very few honest F & I people who are successful. Most are always pulling all kinds of shenanigans to make a living in that department. Doing things like lying to the banks on the credit app about the customer's income, time on the job, etc., lying to the customer about the interest rate they can get them, lying to the Sales Manager about how much you can get bought at the banks so you can squeeze your own F & I products into the payment, forging documents, and on and on. There's no end to the crap that Finance Managers pull to get deals done.
And oh yeah, then there are the chargebacks for early loan payoffs against your commissions that you will be constantly dealing with. Fun, fun, fun!
All my very best to you . . .
Tony Iorio
http://www.insidercarsecrets.com/
http://www.car-loan-quotes.com/
http://www.used-car-warranty.com/
http://www.greatcreditcarddeals.com/
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