F&I and Showroom, September 2018

www fi magazine com 20 F I and Showroom September 2018 t Award winning F I director explains how using music during his process stimulates his customers purchasing impulses Give Em Gershwin FINANCE AND INSURANCE BY JUSTIN GASMAN Think about the last time you saw that United Airlines commercial the one that shows a customer riding an airport escalator as composer George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue plays in the background Now think about the music and the way it made you feel Unless youve recently had a horrible flight with United the song will generally lift your mood and make you smile As a way of building rapport or establishing common ground I will often ask my customers what kind of music they like to listen to This will usually get them to loosen up and start telling me about their favorite music band concert SiriusXM channel or whatever the case may be Music adds to our memory and memory and emotion are two key factors anytime you make a buying decision And boy is it amazing to watch a customers entire body language and energy change right before your eyes when the right song is played Knowing this I hop onto YouTube and pull up whatever kind of music my customers say they like I keep the volume low so we can still do the car deal and review everything without the music becoming a distraction And it doesnt take long before customers start grooving or tapping their pen to the beat Imagine that Customers actually enjoying themselves while were reviewing their options and signing paperwork THE CLOSER Sometimes there just isnt enough time for me to ask a customer about his or her music preferences or maybe I just get a read that the customer might not be into sharing his or her musical tastes Thats why I usually have George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue playing softly in the background This song is one of the most effective tools in my tool chest There are a few others but Gershwin usually leads to the promised land of product sales and gross I play this song for a variety of reasons First its one of my favorites I can listen to it all day and I often do Second the songs runtime is a little over 16 minutes so the continuity of nice music without interruption is perfect The changes in Gershwins song which combines elements of classical music with jazz influenced effects also keeps it fresh The third reason I always have Rhapsody in Blue queued up is most folks simply love the song THE PROCESS On a recent deal I had Gershwins masterpiece playing in my office just prior to my first guest of the day She said My what nice music you have playing As part of my presentation of options I mentioned that when I was finished helping her with all of the state and federal paperwork we would review any options that might be available to her one of which is a discounted satellite radio subscription I could help her set up in the dealership before she left After reviewing my menu with her we settled on the upgraded OnStar package my dealerships prepaid maintenance plan the security coding and you guessed it a SiriusXM upgrade She gave me her credit card to pay for the service and the amount due at signing She then mentioned she wanted to get her miles I looked at her card Youll never guess which airline she loves to fly Music is the great equalizer It has the power to influence our moods and our behaviors So why not try this on your next deal You get to enjoy some cool music connect with your customers and hopefully improve your chances of maximizing the next opportunity Remember to give em the Gersh for the win ABOUT THE AUTHOR Justin Gasman is an ACE and AFIP master certified financial services director at McCaddon Cadillac Buick GMC in Boulder Colo Contact him at justin gasman@ bobit com