Don’t let them spoil your reputation.
For years we have been told to concern ourselves with customer satisfaction. In fact, we have effectively been forced to do so by manufacturers’ CSI rating programs. It has become a fact of business life, and rightfully so. Nevertheless, our business has been tarnished over the years by the actions of a few bad apples. The good ones have had to learn to deal with it and have subsequently become better and more professional. Yet, the stigma remains.

The F&I office is a key factor in this equation. If handled properly, clients will be advised of available products and services and hopefully convinced to invest in them. Then they can, for the most part, rest assured that their needs will be properly met and their investments protected. An approved warranty or insurance claim, when the need arises, can do wonders for a dealership’s CSI rating.

F&I pitfalls
That is not always the way it turns out, however, often because business managers do not have a thorough understanding of some of the products they sell. Creditor insurance comes to mind as the most challenging, not because it is excessively complicated, but because, in some cases, of a lack of proper training.

This lack of training can only lead to misunderstandings and finally to unhappy clients. And those people will not keep their bad experiences a secret. They will tell their tales of woe to whoever will listen and... as I am sure you will agree... rightfully so.

Another issue that must be brought up is one called "tied-selling". Simply put, what one cannot do is force or coerce someone to take something they don’t want in order to get something they do want. One example might be someone wishing to get a loan, but in order to do so being forced to buy a creditor insurance product. Another is forcing someone to buy a service agreement in order to get the loan approved. As "cute" as a rare number of folks may think this is, it is not, and it can only lead to dissatisfied customers and bad press.

Bad apples don’t go unnoticed
I am sure many of you will remember the episode of the TV show Marketplace that featured a story about a few insured clients’ nasty experiences regarding loss-of-life plans. Three people who bought creditor-life policies subsequently died and had their claims turned down. Typical of these types of shows, all the facts were not brought forth and because there were victims (the remaining families), it made for good television.

I am not going to debate the less-important argument of whether the show aired all the facts or not, although there is no indication that the insurer acted wrongly in any way. I am going to be emphasize the fact that such unfortunate incidents can be avoided if proper disclosure is performed, proper knowledge of the product is attained, and irresponsible tied-selling does not take place.

Our products do have value. They do work and they can and will protect people at a time when the assistance is needed. There are years of statistics to back me up on this statement. But it is up to each and every one of us to know what we are selling and what we are talking about.

It is up to trainers to make certain everyone is not only aware of pre-existing clauses, but to make certain they understand them and disclose them at the time of sale. Not only is it easy to do, but it is easy to do and still sell the insurance product. If no one has explained this to you, please contact me! I will share some techniques with you that will fully disclose the so-called negative clauses and turn them into a positive benefit. To gloss over these clauses, ignore them altogether, or worse, not even understand them is just plain wrong.

It is up to us all to act responsibly!

It is everybody’s responsibility
Customer satisfaction goes beyond them being happy with the vehicle at the time of sale. If we take it upon ourselves to sell products specifically designed to maintain contact with them after the sale, then we had better make sure every member of the team understands what they are, what they do and what they don’t do.

Service writers should know what F&I managers promise in regards to service agreements. They have to live with those promises. Body-shop personnel should be on-board with the benefits of having a quality sealant applied to a vehicle’s paint and confirm the fact when customers ask about it. Consumers should always feel they made a good decision with regard to any purchase made within our walls.

Perhaps you should gather your entire dealership staff together to find out what they actually do and don’t know about all your products and services (not just F&I).

And please, make certain your sales team knows to refer all F&I related questions to your resident experts so that honest misunderstandings do not become the subject of the next episode of Marketplace. Something as innocent as mistakenly quoting an erroneous rate could turn into a CSI nightmare.

Shows such as Marketplace will come and go and their effects will die down and eventually be forgotten. None of that has anything to do with the fact that we should all strive do what’s right whenever we can and know how to sell with skill, not tricks or desperation.

Do what’s right and you can’t go wrong.

Questions or comments? You can email Harvey at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Harvey Cohen is the author of four books and principal of Harvey Cohen Learning Systems, Inc., a Canadian company dedicated to automotive F&I and sales training and support. He can be seen as the sales and business coach on the TV show, Style by Jury.

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