Swope's path to better F&I? Collaboration

Jennifer Swope was convinced the F&I departments at the six stores owned by the Swope Family of Dealerships had untapped revenue potential.

The main obstacle? Silos.

From her perspective, each finance department worked independently with little collaboration, even though five of the stores are close to each other along what's known at Swope as the Miracle Mile on Dixie Avenue in Elizabethtown, Ky.

So Swope, who is general manager of Swope Hyundai and Genesis of Elizabethtown and also the granddaughter of the company's co-founder, Bill Swope, demolished those silos.

Her wrecking ball? Monthly meetings with the company's eight finance managers and six general managers.

Held on the first or second Friday of each month at Swope Toyota in Elizabethtown, the 90-minute meetings, which began in September 2020, have boosted revenue.

The companywide average F&I profit per vehicle retailed profit per vehcile retailed in 2021 increased by $275 and generated more than $1.4 million in additional gross profit, compared to 2020 figures. The F&I profit per vehicle retailed jumped another $70 in 2022, compared with 2021, according to Swope.

In addition, the number of extended-service contracts sold in 2021 rose by 6 percent compared with 2020. There was no increase in 2022, she said.

While it's difficult to pinpoint how much of those increases stemmed directly from the meetings, Swope said there's no doubt they played a pivotal role.

"One thing we always do is look at key performance indicators, especially PVR and extended-service contract penetration," she said.

"We put up each manager's numbers for the whole group to see, which creates healthy competition," she added. There was a little pushback on that at first. But after participants became comfortable with the concept, it sparked many questions about how certain managers achieve great results.

"It didn't take long for everyone to see the value of collaborating."

The meetings also enable management to set clear expectations for finance managers.

"A finance manager might be rocking along at 30 percent penetration for extended-service contracts without realizing that we see potential for 50 percent," Swope said. "So these meetings give us a chance to set expectations as a group, then provide the training and tools they need to meet those expectations."

Swope started at the Elizabethtown store in 2018. It sold 599 new cars and 246 used cars in 2022.

She came up with the idea for the meetings after she completed a one-year General Management Executive Program at NCM Associates in August 2022.

That program prompted her to reflect on her previous job, where she had been one of several finance managers in one store, which created ample opportunities to bounce ideas around.

"It kept jumping off the page at me how much opportunity we had here in finance. All we needed was to get together and talk and work as a team," she said.

Along with posting each store's key F&I financial metrics, the meetings include discussions about best practices, obstacles overcome, new compliance issues and sales training. For example, managers recently role-played focusing on presenting product menus to customers, Swope said.

"It's valuable to watch someone else's sales approach — see how they overcome price objections, for instance," she said.

Patrick Jennings, sales and finance manager at Swope Mitsubishi in Radcliff, Ky., said the meetings are extremely beneficial, especially since he's relatively new to F&I.

"You get that sense of camaraderie, plus you glean best practices and knowledge based on others' experience," he said. "That's immensely helpful.

"As a United States Marine Corps veteran, I strongly believe that competition breeds success."

It's no surprise when the last thing a time-pressed manager wants is another regularly scheduled meeting to attend. But these meetings are an exception, Swope said.

"In fact, we see so much value that we haven't missed one meeting in more than two years," she said. "And the beauty of it is it's so simple — we're not reinventing the wheel here.

"If you do this on a consistent basis, you'll grow your business, even if you don't think there's that much room to grow. It's great when you're acting as one team instead of six silos."