Learn what customers need

During finance and insurance training sessions, many students itch to learn how to respond to objections, F&I trainers say. But they advise a better way: head off customer resistance to F&I products in the first place by starting with an interview earlier in the transaction.

Historically, most dealerships obeyed the 300 percent rule: Present 100 percent of the products to 100 percent of customers 100 percent of the time.

Although many F&I managers still show customers each product they qualify for, the sales process increasingly has become more prescriptive, or needs-based, shaped by the interview, instead of the old-style standardized sales pitch repeated to all customers, F&I trainers and directors say.

"It's really about following up with the customer and trying to make it more conversational," said Steve Roennau, vice president of training and compliance at EFG Cos., of Grapevine, Texas. The interview gives the F&I manager an opportunity to build rapport with the customer and learn more about their lifestyle and needs, he said.

"Our approach is all about learning about the customer as much as possible so that you can make the best recommendations based on what you know about the customer, what their needs are," Roennau said.

Ron Reahard, president of Reahard & Associates, of Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., agreed. "What works today is needs-based selling," he said. While an F&I manager might say to the customer, "Maybe everybody needs this," he or she immediately would add that more specifically, "you do — and here's why," citing what the customer has said previously about, say, their driving habits.

Chris May, director of the performance development center at JM&A Group, of Deerfield Beach, Fla., said it's vital that F&I managers go through the interview questions because all buying experiences are becoming so personalized.

"In order for us to do an effective job presenting the right product at the right time to the right person, you have to go through this process of asking interview questions," he said.

F&I managers should structure the presentation to ensure it's relevant to the customer. When customers have already told the F&I manager what's important to them, structuring an effective presentation becomes easier, he said.

Ritch Wheeler, vice president of training at F&I product and training company American Financial & Automotive Services Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, trains F&I managers to interview customers early in the transaction and encourage them to buy products they would benefit from, based on that earlier conversation. But growing to-do lists can put a dent in F&I managers' interview plans.

"We want everything faster, but there you have this whole other dynamic. Now there's more paperwork than ever. There's more checks that have to be done in between red flags and risk-based pricing," he said. "It seems like every year we add more work on a business manager, but sort of diabolically opposing to that is the fact that the customers and other employees of the dealership are trying to speed up the process as fast as they can."

Tom Wagner, finance director at LaFontaine Buick-GMC and LaFontaine Cadillac in Highland, Mich., works with the sales team to accelerate the transaction without skipping steps. He typically does an initial interview with the customer while the sales team puts the deal together.

"It's just asking a couple lead questions. How many miles a year do you drive? If it was price competitive, would you come back to us for your service?" he said. "That helps finance; that helps service and tees them up for what the customer's needs and wants are. The earliest we can get involved, the better."

When F&I managers ask those lead questions, it streamlines the process in the F&I office, he said. F&I managers can refer to comments customers made during the interview to convey why a certain product would be valuable to them. For example, if customers mentioned that they blew out their tires twice the previous year because of potholes and construction, the F&I manager can refer back to that when selling tire and wheel protection.

"We want the process to be as transparent as possible," said Wagner. "It's just a lot of fact-finding upfront, so when they do finally reach finance, there's no surprises."

Jackie Charniga and Melissa Burden contributed to this report.