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FINANCIAL 12 • May 5, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com STOCK MARKET WATCH DEALER FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT www.PowersportsBusiness.com FINANCE Powersports Business • May 5, 2014 • 13 The customer interview, from an F&I perspective F&I SOLUTIONS It's never comfortable to go through the entire list, but gain as much information as possible during the conversation. Start with general conversation and see where it goes in order to get to know the customer. Try and earn the right to ask a few more details about the customer and their riding habits. Who will be the primary rider of the machine? See Gallmeier, Page 13 Who else will be riding? What are you buying today? What are your maintenance capabilities? How often do your clean your equipment? Do you like to clean it, or is it more of a hassle? Have you purchased from us before? Where else have you purchased? Where do you plan on keeping your machine? How about storage? Will you be storing outside or inside? Is it heated and air conditioned? Where will you be riding? What restaurants or bars do you stop at on your trips? Do you go to your favorite places each time or different ones? When is the next time you will be trading? How much will you drive in a given year, or during the lifetime of this machine? Then as long as it's in a private area, the finance manager can get into a few more per- sonal details if required: "So, one of my responsibilities is to work on your funding needs. Do you mind if I ask a few questions about your credit his- tory if I need to answer some questions from the bank?" Review actual credit score, loans outstand- ing, any derogatory items, payments made on time and any late payments. Have the credit application in the paperwork and review income, work and residence histories. SWITCHING CASH TO FINANCE During the interview it's the finance manager's chance to gain a finance customer. A separate article will be dedicated to providing some methodologies to switching a customer from all cash to finance, but here are some tips: The dealership is already an indirect lender for that credit union; One-stop shopping, no need to go to a bank or credit union; X number of banks, the dealership can determine which bank is best. Once it has been determined whether it's a cash or finance deal, the customer may be turned back over to the salesperson to com- plete the showroom tour and to handle miscel- laneous paperwork. The finance manager is now ready to get to work on what most perceive is his or her only responsibility — get the paperwork ready and get the deal submitted to the banks for approval. It is now time to create the menu, based on what was learned in the interview. The menu presentation is the next article in this series. While perfect paperwork is very important and a must for every finance department, once that is mastered by the finance manager, the finance process takes over: The turnover, the interview and then the start of the work in "The Box," which is the menu presentation. PSB Brian Gallmeier, founder of Income Develop- ment Partners, uses his powersports experience at the retail level to train F&I departments. He can be reached at bgallmeier@charter.net or 612/616-8611. GALLMEIER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 BRP Inc. (TSX: DOO) on March 28 reported its financial results for the 3- and 12-month peri- ods ended Jan. 31, 2014. All financial informa- tion is in Canadian dollars. "I am pleased with our results for our first year as a publicly-traded company," said José Boisjoli, president and CEO. "The hard work of our employees has yielded good results. Revenues and normal- ized net income for fiscal year 2014 progressed by 10 percent and 15 percent respectively, and Year- Round Products have sur- passed Seasonal Products in terms of revenues for the first time, a testament to our growth strategy in these categories and the continued expansion of our dealer network." Commenting on the outlook for fiscal year 2015, Boisjoli added: "In North America we are exiting an exceptional snowmobile season with dealer inventories at an all-time low. This situ- ation has caused shortages of snowmobiles at certain dealers, but it certainly bodes very well for the next wholesale season in the second half of the year. The coldest winter in over 30 years in North America and the geopolitical uncertainty in Russia will have some impact on product deliveries early in the year, how- ever I am confident we can continue to grow revenues and earnings with a strong product portfolio, a large geographic diversification and some exciting upcoming product news." Revenues increased by $111.4 million, or 14.1 percent, to a quarterly record of $902.9 mil- lion for the three-month period ended Jan. 31, up from $791.5 million from the year-ago period. The increase in revenues includes a favorable foreign exchange rate variation of $53 million, mainly related to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and the Euro against the Canadian dollar. Revenues increased by $297.9 million, or 10.3 percent, to $3.19 billion for the 12-month period ended Jan. 31, up from $2.89 billion from the year-ago period. The revenues were negatively impacted by the exit of the sport boat business in fiscal year 2013 that accounted for $74 million in revenues for the year-ago period. Excluding the exit of the sport boat business, revenues would have increased by 13.2 percent, or $371.9 million. The increase in revenue includes a favorable foreign exchange rate variation of $114 million, mainly related to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and the Euro against the Canadian dollar. PSB BRP tops $3 billion in annual revenue JOSE BOISJOLI P12x14-PSB6-Finance.indd 13 4/23/14 10:00 AM