F&I and Showroom, February 2015

February 2015 F I and Showroom 21 of a roadblock to sales success than any defi ciency of skill Caring Is Sharing Todays car buyers demand a different process one that is transparent and focused on them The F I professionals who differentiate themselves from those who rely on high pressure and deceptive tactics whether real or perceived will fi nd a more receptive customer and be more productive Successful F I professionals seek to be different not just better because they know that being different will make them better in the long run To ensure every customer enjoys a process that is refreshingly different the F I professional must intentionally provide an environment that doesnt attempt to sell products Instead they simply make it easy to buy Lets take a look at three ways you can do that today 1 Build Trust With Genuine Concern If I had to choose the one sales skill that has the most effect on production it would be the ability to communicate genuine care for the customer Having a great understanding of the intricacies of the sales process might rate high for some but there are plenty of business managers who have unique sales intelligence and still cant generate trust with customers The problem is they come off sounding like theyre more concerned about whats best for them instead of what is best for the customer Being resourceful and creative in terms of helping customers see their need for products could rate above genuinely caring for your customer After all being creative is essential However caring is what tells your customer that you are looking out for their best interest not yours or the dealerships I would love to put determination above caring because you arent going to succeed without it But the motivation to never give up on a customer must be driven by the fact that you care enough to keep pursuing products that he or she genuinely need Attempting to overcome an objection to a product for the fourth time because your numbers are suffering will almost always come across as pressure However if it is done out of genuine care and concern for the customers situation he or she will know you are trying to help rather than sell The old adage People dont care how much you know until they know how much you care is declaring that genuine care for the customer is the most important contributor to success and its true 2 Focus on the Customer The F I professionals focus and emphasis should be on doing what is best for the customer To provide an effective response to an objection anything you say must be connected to or followed by the reason it is relevant to that particular person That demands that you ditch the pitch It also means that you stop sharing that long list of benefi ts to move a customer to buy Instead help customers see why your products are critical for their particular situation It really doesnt matter to the customer whether the last 20 customers did or did not buy the product They just want to know why it is important to them If they dont get that information they simply will not buy Recently I observed an 81 year old customer who was writing a check for a vehicle say No to all the products offered on the menu The F I manager skillfully reminded him that he planned to give the car to his granddaughter in a couple of years He immediately saw value in the service contract because the F I manager reminded him of what he knew he wanted most protection for his granddaughter He ended up buying four products 3 Know Your Stuff The third element of this trifecta is an unmatched knowledge of the products you offer how they work and how they protect the customer This requires a consistent commitment to growing your knowledge and expertise Learning about two new parts on a vehicle each month what they do what happens when they fail and how much they cost to replace will ensure you have fresh information to share with your customers In fact a copy of a recent repair order will do more to build trust than any sales technique you can employ I once observed a rookie F I manager at a Lexus dealership tell his customer how even the oil fi lter on a vehicle has changed Then he described the anti drain back valve and the bypass valve installed on the customers new vehicle It helped illustrate how the car was totally different than the one the customer was trading in and the knowledge he shared created interest in the service contract As a result the customer a cash buyer wrote an additional check for extended coverage on his vehicle The importance of providing an F I process that communicates genuine care for the customer is focused on their needs and provides a high level of knowledge and expertise in a transparent fashion cannot be underestimated It will make the difference between a record year of production and just more of the same If you want a different level of production this year make sure your process is intentionally different than what the customer expects They will experience a process they were not expecting and you will experience a level of production you have been working to reach Everybody wins Rick McCormick is a national account development manager for Reahard Associates Inc an F I training company providing classes workshops in dealership and online training Email him at rick mccormick@ bobit com