LAS VEGAS -- Rising disparities in pay between the F&I and sales departments are leading to morale problems and high turnover at dealerships, a noted F&I authority said at a conference here.
Dealerships are testing a number of alternative pay plans, but nothing proposed so far appears to solve the problem, George Angus, president of Team One Research and Training, said Tuesday at the Industry Summit, an annual F&I conference.
“Don’t wait until your house is on fire before you address this thing,” Angus told his audience, composed largely of F&I product vendors, trainers and dealership personnel.
Angus said the pay gap concerns him because “this leads dealers to thinking they can eliminate the F&I manager,” for example through so-called hybrid systems in which sales personnel handle all F&I duties.
Hybrid staffing arrangements were one of several responses to the growing pay gap that Angus discussed, all of which came with pros and cons.