F&I trainer makes the case for digital F&I. He offers a five-step process for adding information about products, pricing, and your finance team to your dealership’s website.
Virtually every shopping experience now begins on the internet, whether we’re looking for a TV on Amazon, or a Mexican restaurant within walking distance. It’s one of the reasons consumers are now pushing for that same quick, easy and transparent experience when purchasing a vehicle. This paradigm shift means that, just like your new- and used-vehicle inventory, F&I needs to step online to engage and educate consumers about the process and the producers who drive it.
Your dealership needs a strategy that encourages F&I to collaborate with customers as they educate themselves about the vehicles they’re interested in, the financing they’ll need, and the F&I products that will protect their investment. And all of that needs to happen before they come to the dealership. In other words, we need to make the F&I department available where customers are most comfortable making buying decisions — on their laptops, iPads, or smartphones. The following are five items you need to include in your F&I department’s new online strategy:
1. List Your Finance Sources
Most franchised dealers have numerous finance sources to choose from, including subprime finance companies, banks, and captive finance sources. Most customers, on the other hand, probably only work with one financial institution. Many dealers also work with a network of credit unions, such as CU Direct Lending, meaning they have scores of credit unions available. As LendingTree likes to say, when lenders compete, customers win.
What we need to do is explain to customer the reasons for having multiple lenders. They need to know why finance sources have different tiers, rates, and terms, as well as different advances. Some focus on debt-to-income ratios while others focus on payment-to-income. Some sources include taxes and fees in their max advance, while others don’t.
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