WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR NEXT F&I MANAGER
It’s expensive to hire employees.
In fact, people can be your most expensive assets. Jared Hamilton, founder and CEO of DrivingSales, said at the company’s recent executive summit that employees cost U.S. dealers $58.1-billion in total. That doesn’t mean that it’s time to start cutting your staff but you need to manage your hiring process effectively.
That’s why you want to pick the right person for the job, the first time.
The goal is to have the right people in every department at your dealership. But I would argue that you need to pay special attention to one department that’s critical to your operation.
That person typically sits in the back office and can either make a great deal happen or kill a deal.
That person is your F&I manager. And that person holds a lot of sway at your dealership.
So it’s important to choose your candidate wisely. But how do you choose?
Adam Robinson, Chief Hireologist, co-founder and CEO of Hireology, knows all about hiring the right employees at your dealership — and how challenging it can be. About 70 per cent of the cost structure at a dealership is payroll, said Robinson.
I heard Robinson present to dealers at the recent Digital Dealer 19 Conference & Expo on the hiring process and best practices for dealerships. While that presentation was more about dealership hiring in general, much of what he said applies to the F&I position.
In fact, Robinson said dealers often come to him for his advice on hiring the ideal F&I manager.
While that role tends to have less turnover, the F&I manager is often the next highest paid employee after the general manager. Robinson added that more than anything, GMs are just looking for the F&I manager to be a good business partner.
Before you dive into the hiring process, Robinson says dealers need to take a step back and think about what F&I means to their operation.
“You really have to be honest with what you want the role of F&I to be in your store. It’s up to the management team to really be truthful about this with themselves,” said Robinson.
F&I is always going to be seen as a profit centre, but how “pushy” do you want that person to be?
In any event, you want to look for a candidate that can connect with customers and understand their needs.
You can screen for that kind of disposition during the hiring process, said Robinson.
Ask the candidate if he or she enjoys being an F&I manager and working with customers. How do they feel about the products they will be selling? If they have hesitation or doubts about the value they provide customers, they aren’t likely going to be a great fit.
You also want a candidate who is comfortable being accountable. Sometimes that means putting the customer’s needs before the dealership’s short term financial interest.
But before you offer the job to your preferred candidate and rush to begin the training process, Robinson recommends clearly defining the job expectations to the candidate beforehand.
It’s an HR nightmare to devote time and resources to train a new employee — especially someone as important as your F&I manager — only to have that person quit a week later.
Tell the candidate what kind of performance you expect within the first month and even up to three months in. Upon hearing these performance targets, the candidate will either be really excited to start working for you or will quit before they’ve walked through the door.
Said Robinson, “If you can get them to opt out before you hire them, I would consider that a win.”
