F&I and Showroom, Industry Summit 2014

F Idol she struggled in the early months at her new store to sell products other than service contracts and GAP The store was kind of in a rut she says The attitude was Weve got GAP and the VSC were good lets move on Resource Automotives Colvill Omanwa stepped in and got Cooper back on track Cooper worked closely with Omanwa while at the Kia store where she was averaging 1400 per retail unit PRU on new vehicles and 1200 on used Omanwa noticed that Coopers penetrations on appearance products had dropped at her new job I told him Im stuck in this comfort zone and that was kind of a hard habit to break Cooper explains But once she refocused her efforts Cooper began to see immediate results I pushed myself to go back for one more product she says Even if its just a 200 or 300 profi t that tends to make a big difference at the end of the month From January to June Cooper was consistently achieving an average PRU of 1200 She fi nally hit her stride in July when she achieved a 1400 per copy average and was on track to hit 1600 in August In her fi rst six months at Timbrook Chevrolet Cooper was selling an average of 18 products per deal but that has since changed Just from making a conscious effort to start going back for one more product that is getting a little closer to 21 she says Penetration on the dealerships bundled appearance product which includes dent and ding tire and wheel and windshield chip repair has risen from about 25 in the earlier part of the year to around 50 in August LUXCARE is currently penetrating at a 40 rate No Zero Deals One of the most challenging types of customers Cooper encounters at Timbrook Chevrolet are cash customers Cooper says the dealerships salespeople were often quick to give up on this type of customer but that Coopers contest winning entry showed her handling two customer objections to purchasing a vehicle service contract The payment is too high and The warranty is enough has since changed A cash deal is not a zero deal Cooper says I always say that to my salespeople The key she adds is to pitch F I products as an investment Salespeople 8 F I and Showroom Industry Summit 2014 hand the customer over immediately to Cooper who then suggests that investing a little money now could save thousands of dollars down the line One month the technique helped Cooper achieve 60 vehicle service contract penetration with cash customers Usually those cash customers are very fi nancially savvy she explains So you say Keep your cash in the bank and use it for other stuff or to enjoy your retirement and let us cover that surprising loss or that unexpected risk that you might be taking Cooper admits that changing the way Timbrook Chevrolet handles deals hasnt been easy but the results now speak for themselves It was a challenge for me in the beginning the fi rst two to three months she says I didnt want to create too many waves but I wanted to prove to them that we could increase profi t and it was really simple and easy to do Attitude Management At last years Industry Summit Cooper won the F Idol title thanks to her ability to handle two common customer objections The payment is too high and Well the warranty is enough With her 3500 in winnings Cooper decided to give her daughter the ultimate 13th birthday present a trip to Disney World in Orlando Fla She had never been on an airplane shed never been to Florida and neither of us had ever been to Disney World Cooper says I thought Were going to start making memories Cooper and Resources Omanwa were at it again in early August working on her newest video entry for the 2014 F Idol contest Hes constantly teaching me new things she says Hopefully I will be in Vegas again this year In addition to increasing F I profi t at Timbrook Chevrolet this year Cooper made Automotive News 40 Under 40 list the only fi nance manager to do so Ive only been in the industry fi ve years so its not like Im a seasoned veteran Cooper notes But probably one of the biggest challenges I face every day and especially at the end of each month is managing my own attitude I think thats probably where we can make the biggest strides in what we do as professionals in this job Because you get two or three of those zeros in a row and you think I cant do one more But then you just have to shake it off and roll through it