Want to Make a Higher PVR? Ask the Right Questions.

One of the most important strategies to sell more of anything in F&I is to ask the right questions. The right questions can steer the presentation in a way that the customer almost talks themselves into the sale. But are your F&I managers asking the right questions? Have they been trained to ask the open-ended questions that make the customer really stop and think about how things may go without the protection?

Here are some sample questions that your F&I staff can ask and how each will tie into a specific product…

• ‘How many miles do you drive in an average year?’ - Helps sell VSC policies, appearance ancillaries like tire & wheel, PDR, windshield. This gets the buyer thinking about how much they are on the road, all the things that can happen, AND how quickly their manufacturer warranty will run out.
• ‘If there is any employment interruption or medical hardship, do you have enough funds to make the payment?’ - This may be one of the hardest questions to ask but if rapport has been established, it should be easy especially with a subprime buyer. This helps introduce credit life (if your state offers it) and opens the discussion on GAP insurance.
• ‘Where do you usually take your cars for maintenance?’ - Perfect question to close on PPM which gets them thinking that it just makes sense to save money and time by coming back to the dealership for the next couple of years rather than take their chances with a national chain lube facility.

• ‘Does your family take a lot of road trips for vacation?’ Great question to help open the door to the interior/exterior protection close. A SUV full of kids and snacks heading to the beach or cross country means extra protection for life’s spills.
• ‘Are you aware of the average reconditioning fees for your lease turn-in?’ - Most customers leasing a car give little thought to the costs they can get hit with for reconditioning if there is significant cosmetic damage at turn-in. This question should lead them right into your close on an ancillary package that includes alloy, windshield, interior/exterior, and PDR to keep those fees at zero or the bare minimum.

Click here to learn more about how truWarranty can be the provider for all of these products and help you with further tips to help keep those penetration levels high by getting the questions right.