Illustrating the need for vehicle protection

The days of hard-sell, pressure-the-customer approaches in the F&I office are behind us, but many customers still dread this stage of buying a vehicle. The reason is simple: they have just made a major buying decision, and they don’t want to be sold anything else.

To truly optimize your team’s sales performance, the goal should be to communicate, not sell. If you’ve communicated skillfully, the sale is far more likely to follow.

Illustrating the customer’s need is a major component of Zurich’s Streamlined Selling System^®, part of the proven training services we offer to dealerships. There are several ways to communicate the need for additional F&I products, and it all starts with listening to the customer.

“Most sales pitches are just that — they’re pitches. And it’s a lot of talking on the part of the salesperson and not a lot of questions being asked,” said Michael Zuniga, Training and Business Development Manager for Zurich’s Direct Markets team.

To avoid that, the Streamlined Selling System includes an initial assessment designed to build rapport and trust, make a connection, and identify needs. When these steps are followed, you increase the success of matching products to better meet the customer’s needs. Then it’s on to the F&I Demo Ride, where the questions — and, more vitally, listening carefully to the answers — continue.

No one is actually behind the wheel for this type of Demo Ride. It is a conversational journey the customer and the F&I Manager take together to introduce the coverage deficits the consumer would face if they chose to rely on only the manufacturer’s limited warranty. This helps set the stage for the next step in the Streamlined Selling System, the F&I Product Presentation.

The F&I Demo Ride helps Business Managers present themselves as consultants rather than as salespeople. Through the sharing of information, this approach helps build trust with the customer and creates a stronger connection. When a business or F&I Manager takes the time to understand the driving habits, lifestyle and budget of the customer, trust increases and resistance decreases.

“Going to Zurich’s F&I seminar will change everything you do in your office. It changed my walk, my talk…even the way I dress on the job. It helped me become a better professional at my trade. I don’t think you should ever sit behind an F&I desk until you’ve been to a Zurich F&I seminar.”

Dave White, Finance Manager, Dennis Sneed Ford
Gower, Missouri

During the Demo Ride, an F&I Manager isn’t simply running down a long list of Vehicle Service Contract benefits. They should ask the customer specific questions about their understanding of the manufacturer’s warranty on their vehicle, their personal driving habits, and how long they intend to own the vehicle. That opens a deeper discussion, weighing when the coverage provided expires against the buyer’s expectations for vehicle longevity and detailing what the warranty doesn’t cover.

“What many F&I Managers do — and I was guilty of it sometimes during my time in the F&I office — is they go into a product presentation and overwhelm the customer with product knowledge,” said Zuniga. “What they don’t realize is that it is like shutting off the lights on the customer. They stop listening, and all they’re thinking is, ‘Please get through this fast so I can say no.’ What the F&I Manager should focus on is why these products should be important for the customer.”

The F&I Manager needs to recognize that everyone learns and retains information differently. For example, if the customer isn’t responding to the details shared in conversation, a visual aid can be a huge asset. During Zurich’s F&I Demo Ride, we recommend our dealer customers utilize our Worry-free Driving graphic to illustrate the vehicle’s warranty terms and limits against the timeline of the buyer’s expected loan payoff. By incorporating both visual and auditory learning, the customer can more easily understand the risks associated with their vehicle purchase. Taking this step prior to the F&I Product Presentation helps build the need for F&I products and allows the customer to make a more informed decision.

Whether through this type of illustration or another tool, the message that should be conveyed is that choosing the Worry-Free Driving Program is much like buying a home or healthcare insurance policy. You want to transfer risk to a third party.

Keeping their vehicles running as long as possible is important to car owners, which could mean paying for more frequent repairs as the vehicle ages. The F&I Demo Ride allows you to illustrate when out-of-pocket expenses may begin, setting the stage for the product presentation.

The F&I Demo Ride is just one part of Zurich’s Streamlined Selling System.

“Our system is a series of best practices designed to help a dealer improve profitability in the F&I office, improve CSI [customer satisfaction index], and mitigate their compliance concerns,” explained Zuniga. “And when you incorporate all those best practices into one system, it becomes so much more than a word track. Dealers who follow this process closely produce higher numbers than those who skip steps.”

In the best circumstances, customers purchase all the products recommended in the Worry-Free Driving Program. That package name captures what you’re really selling and what customers are really looking for: peace of mind.

Learn more about the F&I Demo Ride and other aspects of the Streamlined Selling System at one of Zurich’s upcoming F&I training seminars. Contact your Zurich representative for more details.

This article originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of Dealer Principal magazine.