Should Dealership F&I Managers stop doing the "customer interview"?

https://www.FinanceManagerTraining.com Proving to the customer that you are a professional who is there to help them, not sell them, is your first priority as an F&I Manager.

This starts by establishing a hard line between the vehicles sales transaction and the F&I process.

When a customer agrees to a purchase price and the deal is handed over to F&I, it’s time for that customer to relax. The “sales” portion should be over.

For this reason, we tell our finance managers to ditch the traditional “customer interview”.

In a typical interview, the finance manager sits down with the customer at the sales person's desk. The same desk where the price-haggling just took place.

This connects the finance manager to the sales process, and to any negative feelings the customer may have had while negotiating.

Alarm bells going off yet? They should be.

Instead of the interview, we suggest a very quick “meet and greet”. Shake the customer’s hand and congratulate them on their purchase, but DON’T sit down.

Let the customer know you will be finishing their paperwork and that you’ll be back with them shortly. This should take less than 20 seconds.

In the customer's point of view, it should appear as if you just happened to be walking by. It’s THAT casual.

When the customer finally enters your office, you are all business.

There are no sales brochures or posters. No dented rims or vehicle parts.

They are in a financial office to complete their financial paperwork and that is what should be conveyed.

You are the financial PROFESSIONAL, who is there to help them.

As we previously spoke about in the Menu course, your menu should be black and white and devoid of any color, splashy objects, or sales gimmicks. If you have not yet viewed the Menu lesson, please see the link below this video.

When the paperwork portion begins, you should always start with a few non-menu related documents. This helps to put the customer's mind at ease.

When it’s time for the menu, you should present the products and their benefits in a matter of fact tone, informing the customer of their choices and answering all questions honestly and with conviction.

You are the authority on finance and your products and that should be clear to the customer. No question stumbles you, and No objection rattles you.

While the full presentation of the menu is outside the scope of this particular lesson, we strongly suggest you view the ‘’Menu’’ course available with your Finance Manager Training dot com subscription, which goes into much more detail.

Likewise, in our “Overcoming objections” course, we show you how to overcome objections while remaining professional and without sounding like you are trying to “sell”. A key component in keeping a separation between sales and F&I.

Remember - Customers will purchase your products when they have enough information to make a decision for themselves. And when customers makes their own decisions, your revenue will go up, your chargeback rates will drop, and your CSI scores will be higher than ever.