I’ve been fortunate to buy quite a few vehicles over the years. Some experiences have been excellent, some…not so much.
When I think back to the best one, it wasn’t because I got an incredible interest rate or bought the perfect protection package. It was because the business manager made the whole experience feel like it was built around my wife and me instead of around his process.
Before we ever sat down in his office, he had already introduced himself. He made sure both of us were there because he knew we’d be making decisions together. He respected our time, had everything prepared, and by the time we walked into his office it felt like we were continuing a conversation instead of starting one.
A few years earlier I had almost the opposite experience buying a used F-150.
The business manager seemed to be fighting his computer the entire time. He kept referring to my truck as a GMC because that’s what his script apparently said, even though I had just bought a Ford. Then he started talking about how I’d want to service the truck at their dealership.
The problem was…I lived about three hours away.
I had already told the salesperson that wasn’t going to happen.
It wasn’t that he was a bad person. I just never felt like he was talking to me. It felt like he was talking to the next page in his presentation.
That experience has stuck with me because I don’t think customers dread the F&I office nearly as much as we sometimes assume. I think they dread wondering what’s about to happen.
Will this take fifteen minutes or an hour?
Am I going to be pressured into buying things I don’t want?
Is this person actually listening to me?
The best business managers seem to answer those questions before the customer ever asks them. They introduce themselves early. They know something about the customer before they sit down. They understand how the vehicle will be used. By the time paperwork begins, there’s already a little trust in the room.
I’ve visited hundreds of dealerships over the years, and one thing I’ve noticed is that the strongest F&I experiences don’t usually begin in the F&I office.
They begin somewhere out on the showroom floor.
That’s where relationships start.
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