If you’re like most finance managers in most dealerships your training for the position was a lot like learning to swim by being thrown in the river. Sink or swim. But now that you’re there, opportunities abound, if you do it right.
The harsh reality of working in a new car dealership as a finance manager is that most dealers just don’t invest the time, energy or money in the position. Whether or not you have experience, structure, process, and training are all often lacking — you're on your own.
Usually, the training goes something like this, “Congratulations, here’s your office.” If you’re lucky, there’s another finance manager in the dealership, then your training goes something like, “This is Shooter Bob, he’s going to show you around.” Maybe you’re brand new in the position, promoted from within. Then your training is usually much more intensive, going something like this, “Congratulations here’s your office. Get a hold of a bunch of those reps from the insurance and warranty companies to show you their stuff.” And away you go.
Whether you’re an experienced finance manager or new to the position, there is a good chance that your dealership has not invested the time or money in the process, tools, and training needed to really maximize gross in your dealership. It’s on you.
If you’re working in a typical new car store and you think that selling a warranty and making a grand or two on it makes you a superstar, then I’m here to tell you that you can do better. Much better, by having a solid process that you follow that takes you through every product you sell, every single time you’re with a client. If you’re a finance manager who sees yourself as a professional, and who sees your job as a career, then you need to look at your sales averages and penetrations and focus on the areas that are weak.
If your dealership has installed a process in your office, then follow it, but if it’s like most and your entire training program was being told to hook up with a few reps from insurance and warranty companies, then learn the product and generate gross, then it’s on you. And here’s how you do it.
The oldest mantra in the business office is, “Show every product, every time.”
The oldest mantra in the business office is, “Show every product, every time.” You’ve probably heard it and shrugged it off. But here is what it really means. Every customer is an opportunity to sell every product. If you’re not showing every product every time, then you’re obviously missing sales opportunities. It’s just math. Yes, if someone is paying cash, and you can’t convert them, most insurance and GAP products are off the table, but that’s not the point. Every time a customer sits in front of you, it’s your job to present all of the products, all of the time. It's the only way to be sure you're not leaving money on the table. If you don’t show all of the products, all of the time, you will miss opportunities, I guarantee it.
If your dealership has not installed a business office process, then your job is to design one yourself and it doesn’t have to be super complicated. It really breaks down into a few simple rules and steps.
First, decide what you’re going to sell in the office. Prioritize them. From most common, and most potentially profitable, to least common, and least potentially profitable! As an example, I’m likely selling the usual warranty, insurance, GAP, environmental products, then I may have some of the smaller items like tire and rim insurance, key fob replacement, and any other item from the endless list of products thrown at you by typical aftermarket product companies. New inventions every single day it seems like. Decide what you're going to sell, and then prioritize them in an order in which you will present them.
Second, make sure you have promotional material, as well as presentations for each and every product. Not being able to explain a product makes you look like an idiot.
Third, create a scripted introduction to your office that includes a bit about you, a bit about what you do, and that sets expectations for what you are about to do with, or to, the client. “Hello Mrs. Smith how are you today? Great. Thank you for the business today and congratulations on a great choice. My name is Shooter Mary. I’ve been with ABC Motors for about three years. I am here to help guide you through the process of financing, preparing documents, and will be showing you ways that can help protect your vehicle and enhance your ownership experience. This process takes about 20 to 30 minutes. Is that ok?” And off you go.
Fourth, you need a process you follow each and every time in the presentation of products. Entire training companies are built on the creation of this process, but if you don’t have one, it’s basically one rule. Every product gets presented. If your DMS at the store has a menu selling option, I highly recommend you research it. It may be a good option for you. But most of all, you need a process to follow. A step-by-step presentation of all of the products. Then all you need to do is follow it every time without fail.
Show all the products first before you get into price.
Here is a final hint for you. If you can, show all the products first before you get into price. Yes, some customers will ask the price, but set expectations up front, “I’ll get into the pricing after I go through the information. The price doesn’t really matter if you don’t need the product.” Getting the customer to mentally decide they want or need the product before getting into pricing, makes the close much easier. Kind of like selling cars.
If you do that, every single time, here’s what will happen. Yes, you will get the occasional "educated" customer that says, “I’m not interested in any of that crap.” But beyond that, great things will begin to happen. First, you will start selling more of the products you haven’t sold before. Then you will learn more and more about all the products as you present them over and over again, making you more professional, increasing your sales, learning how to overcome more and more objections. As you go along, you will notice areas in your process that need refinement as you keep running into the same objections over and over. But the really great thing is that you will have a structure to build on and improve, improving your sales, your gross, your earnings and your career.
The lesson here is, it’s more than every product every time, it’s to create a process and follow it always, making improvements to your process as time goes by. You will learn more and earn more, I guarantee it. Good luck and good selling.