"In baseball, you hear about the five-tool player. In F&I, we call it the four-tool professional, because there’s more involved
than just product sales. F&I expert covers all the bases."

Excelling in F&I means you're skilled in several areas. Being a strong closer may mean more products sold, but having weak needs discovery skills translates into higher charge-backs and low CSI scores. The opposite is just as frustrating. You may be gifted in discovering why a customer needs your products, but without the ability to close the sale, you will perform at below-average standards. Throughout my career as a training consultant, I've identified four areas where F&I professionals can and should excel.
So, let's take a run around the bases.

1st Base - Process- Develop a Consistent Process!
A process that consists of effective and informative steps and is followed consistently with every customer will produce extraordinary profits! You cannot just "wing it" when you bring a customer into the F&I Office. You must utilize a process that focuses on discovering what a customer needs, not what will make you the most profit!

Today's consumer is better informed and less tolerant of a pressure type sales pitch. People hate being "sold" anything. But they will buy more than you could ever sell them if they see that they need it. Selling intangible products demands that we help the customer "see" the benefit of a vehicle service agreement.

A father will be much more likely to buy a VSA for his daughter's car if he can picture her on the side of the road waiting for assistance, due to the failure of the engine control module. The roadside assistance benefit of the VSA will provide police protection when she is in an unsafe place until help arrives. Anywhere my daughter breaks down is an unsafe place! Paint a picture with words so they can see it happening! Develop a process that identifies needs, projects concern for the customer's situation and then serves the customer by matching up the two!

2nd Base- Product Knowledge
Every F&I Manager should commit to extensive and ongoing research into the products he or she offers. The more knowledgeable you are of your products, the more you will believe in those products, and the more of those products you will sell.

You will never get to 2nd base in F&I unless you consistently learn everything you possibly can regarding the products you offer. We must know what your products cover, what are the limitations, exclusions, and the benefits to the customer. An F&I professional should have 10 or more benefits of each product he offers at ready recall.

F&I Managers who know the benefits of their products make the most money, because they believe in their products. And we only sell what we believe in! Selling intangible products requires transferring your own emotion and belief to the customer. You must learn the name of parts of the autos that are covered by your VSA, what they do, where they are on the car, what happens when they fail, and the cost of replacing them.

To have any credibility with a customer, you must know more about their car than they do. Consistently adding to your knowledge of autos and the products we offer to protect them is essential to getting around second and heading to third!

3rd Base - Production Skills
Roger Clemens, one of just four pitchers to surpass 4,000 strikeouts, came out of retirement in 2004 to play for the Houston Astros. At age 42, he became the oldest player to ever win the Cy Young Award. USA Today featured him on the front page of the Sports Section and named him as one of the best pitchers in baseball history. His secret to success is simple. He practices everyday and practices harder than anyone else in the game. An F&I professional spends time every day trying to get better at what they do!

Knowledge of the process and products alone is not enough. You must become extraordinary in the needs discovery process and how to apply what you discover in a manner that motivates customers to buy. Role-playing the F&I needs discovery and sales process with others is a great way to becoming more capable at leading people to a buying decision. Some managers are so skilled that even after a customer says no to all the products offered on an F&I Menu, they can then sit back with confidence as they bring the needs they have discovered to the surface, and help the customer see why each product is important to them.

Watching an F&I Professional who has practiced their craft and consistently added to their knowledge of the products and follows a proven process of selling those products is nothing but fun! Just as much fun as I had as a child in Atlanta watching Hank Aaron hit home runs at Fulton County Stadium!

Home Plate - Protection of Dealership
Compliance is a buzzword in a dealer's vocabulary today. Simply put, an untrained F&I Manager that just "wings it" or refuses to use a consistent process, puts all the assets of the dealership at risk. The climate in financial transactions today and the multitude of regulations demands that F&I managers become experts at the rules and regulations of their craft.

Dealers, GMs and F&I Managers are all guilty of focusing on only one facet of the F&I process… profits. Making profits for the dealership is a top priority. In today's environment, equally important is a legally compliant process. Unfortunately, some still believe you have to choose between profits and compliance. The fact is, you can have excellent F&I income and remain legally compliant at the same time. Dealerships around the country are doing it everyday. Customers demand it… and they should!

A fellow high school baseball player of mine is now the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He says that there are three major flaws that cause players to perform at lower than expected levels, otherwise known as a "slump." What causes a professional ballplayer or F&I manager to fall into a slump?

They don't control their attitude.
Sales experts estimate that 80% of sales success is rooted in maintaining the right selling attitude. Managers across the board in every field estimate that 65% of those terminated from their job had as their main problem a bad attitude! Obviously, attitudes come under siege every day from a range of sources. And while you can't control what happens to you, you can control your response.

Focus on what you can control. Don't let negative five-minute encounters ruin an entire day. Some great hitters in baseball go through some very deep and long "slumps." Most of the time it is related to something negative that happened in a game or even off the field that has caused the skid.

Associate with positive influences in your business, and be one! Spend your time with winners, not whiners. Set monthly goals and break them down to weekly and daily goals. Knowing where you should be every day gives you perspective and allows you to see past the "slump." Realize that everyone has bad days and falls into ruts, but by maintaining the right attitude, you can shorten the depth and duration of the "slump."

They take shortcuts!
When you rush though the sales process or skip key steps you are engaging in self-sabotage. No one does you in; you simply break your own momentum. If you rush through building rapport, investigating customer needs, provide a sloppy presentation in a rush to get to the 'close', the close you find yourself in will be much harder, and take a lot longer, if you're able to make the sale at all.

Shortcuts are the easiest path to below average production and frustration in the F&I office! Develop and stick to your sales process. The two easiest times to start skipping steps are when you are on a roll or when you hit a slump. As soon as you start skipping steps you are in F&I quicksand. The only way out is to grab hold of the rope called consistent process and get back to the basics!

They don't practice.
Today's buyer has access to unlimited information on the Internet, including the vehicle they are buying, the interest rates available and their credit score. They often know more about their options than the F&I Manager who claims to be an expert in the field.

Any serious professional in any field, continually hones their craft. They practice. If you do not consistently add to your knowledge and practice your craft on a daily basis, you will never be outstanding in your field, but you will be left out in a field. Major League players don't just show up on game day and take the field. They still take batting practice before every game!

Albert Pujols, arguably the best hitter ever to play baseball, not only takes batting practice before every game, but even studies videos of his at bats between innings. He says it is too important to wait until after the game. He might learn something to help him at his next time at bat!

When you stop learning, you stop earning. You can't raise your income level any higher on the outside until you grow on the inside. Start working as hard on yourself as you do on your job. Read industry journals and become an expert in your field. Customers (and dealers!) are willing to pay more for someone with genuine expertise. Spend 20-30 minutes at the beginning of every day to prepare yourself for business. It's like warming up before the big game. When the umpire says, "play ball!" you're sharp and ready to take your best swing.

Getting to first base isn't a lot of fun if you get left on base. Even getting a triple becomes bittersweet if at the end of the inning you are left on base and fail to score. Strive for excellence! Make a commitment today to reach all the bases and watch your product sales, CSI and income rise. Don't settle for singles and leave runners on base when you can hit home runs in the F&I office!