Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/410960
www.PowersportsBusiness.com FINANCE Powersports Business • October 6, 2014 • 21 After spending more than 10 years working in pow- ersports finance depart- ments, I got to be pretty good at my job. One of the reasons why I con- tinued to be success- ful is that I was always looking for a better way to do every aspect of my job. If I had a chance to attend a training session or spend time observing a more successful finance manager, I took it. Now I spend most of my time working either with groups of finance managers or one- on-one with them. I am there to help them learn from what I know, but I also learn from them. Our industry is always changing! I'm sure that almost everyone out there has heard the saying, "If you're standing still, you're going backwards" (or some derivative of that). This is what keeps me asking, "If I went back into a finance position now, what would I do differently?" Here are the top three items on my list. Many of you out there are probably doing at least a one or two of the things, and some of you are doing all of these. If you are doing all three, congratulations! If you're not, I challenge you to pick at least one and make it happen. 1. MEET THE CUSTOMER EARLY EVERY TIME I sometimes hear people say, "I am already too busy to eat or take a bathroom break some days. How am I going to make time to spend five minutes getting to know a customer before taking them in to my office?" I said this sometimes, too. What I didn't see is that I was already taking time to meet every customer when they got into my office. It was going to take no longer to meet them out on the floor than it did to meet them in my office. When you meet customers on the sales floor as soon as they agree to take the bike home, they are much more relaxed. You're able to break down some of the walls that naturally go up when a customer is taken back to the finance office. This is also a great time to start conversion to your financing if the customer thinks they want to pay cash. The finance manager can also set a realistic expec- tation for how long "it" is going to take. What I see repeatedly is that a happy cus- tomer who likes the finance manager always buys more! Meeting the customer on the floor is one easy way to get them to like you, and to keep them happy. 2. DEALERSHIP TOUR Another easy way to keep a customer happy is to give them something to do. What could be more fun than going over to the parts department to pick out all of the cool stuff you want to do to your new bike? How about dressing up in all of the new gear you want show off on your new bike? How about talking to someone back in the service department and hearing what needs to be done to keep your "baby" in like-new condi- tion? How about sitting on it and hearing it run for the first time? I can't think of anything cooler than that! I am sure that most dealerships out there do the tour before the customer leaves the store. When you do them before the customer goes into the finance department, it elevates the customer's mood and gets them ready to hear about the products you have to protect their bike. It also increases a sense of ownership and makes them want to buy more to protect their new bike. 3. INSIST THAT THE VEHICLE "DELIVERY" IS COMPLETED BEFORE YOU TRY TO SELL YOUR PRODUCTS When I use the word "delivery," I am talk- ing about the time when a service department employee or service-related employee goes through the operation of the vehicle with the cus- tomer. This would also be when the Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) sheet would be signed. I mentioned one reason why it is impor- tant to do this before the customer goes to see finance for the final time above. It increases a sense of ownership. It is also the optimal time to plant a seed for your maintenance or service contract program. Why here? It's all about the customer's per- ception. When a salesperson says that something is a really good deal, the customer's perception is that the salesperson must get paid to say it. When a service person says the same thing, the cus- tomer's perception is different. A service person is there to help them take care of their bike. This perception is what makes the customer consider that it might be a good idea to listen. Regardless of whether you are able to imple- ment these three ideas, I hope you are able to take this away: Learning never stops. No mat- ter how long you've been in your position, you have room to grow. PSB Steve Dodds II is a moderator, trainer and con- sultant for Gart Sutton and Associates with a focus on sales and finance departments. Contact him at info@gartsutton.com. 3 things I would do differently in F&I GUEST COLUMN After spending more than 10 years working in pow- 3 things I would do differently in F&I STEVE DODDS