F&I Can Sell More Through Better Education, Especially Now

As dealers continue the slow march to a more digital selling experience, it’s important to meet your customers where they are...online. F&I departments can pivot more easily to a selling environment that includes a stronger online presence by proactively educating their customers on products and services before they decide on the car they want. Here are 3 ways to increase profits by better educating your future customers:

1) F&I Tools Online: Use the F&I page as an educational portal for payment calculators (which you probably already use), a glossary of popular F&I terms, and lease vs. buy ROI tools. Interactive tools increase engagement and keep your potential buyers on the website longer.

2) Product Spotlight Blogs: Blogs are everywhere (after all, you are reading this one right now). So why not have an F&I blog that features a different product each month or bi-weekly? A short piece on GAP with a compelling story to illustrate the importance of it…an article explaining the different credit bureaus and their role in financing, etc. Link or post to your social media channels for a wider audience.

3) F&I ‘Clinic’ or Online Chat: Offer a monthly F&I ‘clinic’, inviting car shoppers to come to the dealership to get their financing questions answered. Service departments do this often to go encourage new customers to bring their cars to the dealership for maintenance and repairs.

F&I managers can earn trust with car shoppers by positioning themselves as educators first rather than simply perpetuating the stereotype of the fast-talking salesperson looking to make a buck. Trying an online chat for a couple of hours every week can have the same positive benefit. Be available, approachable, and watch trust and CSI rise.

Your profitability is dependent on many factors. The ‘hard sell’ doesn’t work as effectively as it once did. We live in a world where the person that teaches us something or adds to our knowledge before the selling starts gets our business and our trust. Millennials and Gen Z research everything online prior to purchasing decisions...give them that knowledge upfront rather than waiting until after they have chosen their car. Your PVR will thank you for it.

Let truWarranty be your F&I provider partner to help make this education piece easier to deliver to online car shoppers. Unique support and turnkey solutions for truly unique times. Click here to reach out...we’d love to chat!