Reports don’t sell cars, but in the F&I office it’s important to keep track of numbers so you can identify problems early and keep your team motivated. Depending on which DMS your dealership uses, F&I reports may be difficult to access. If this is the case, ask your DMS vendor to set up reports that are automatically generated and emailed to you on a daily or weekly basis.
These metrics can tell you at a glance if you’re having a good month or if something needs to be addressed.
Per Vehicle Retail (PVR)
According to NADA, the average PVR is $2,354 for used vehicles and $1,944 for new vehicles. Your benchmark may vary, but you should look at this on a weekly basis so you can catch trends early. Also look at the average PVR for each finance manager, and be sure to drill down into PVR by model to gauge their performance accurately.
Deals vs. Customers
Keep a log of all customers that come into the F&I office. Out of the total number of deals, how many F&I customers agreed to purchase products, and from whom? This is different than measuring penetration rates per product. This reveals who on your team is underperforming and might need more training.
Product Penetration Rates
The average penetration rates for popular products include: service contracts (40%); GAP insurance (28%); paint sealant (19%) and prepaid maintenance (12%). However, these rates will vary based on your location and brand, so it’s important to establish benchmarks that are realistic for your dealership.
Knowing your current penetration rate vs. your benchmarks can provide extra motivation for your team. If you’re close to a benchmark, try offering spiffs in the form of gift cards or a lunch, to help motivate team members to go that extra mile.
Products Not Selling
Your F&I portfolio should never be static. If a product isn’t selling well, the best solution might be to discontinue that product and focus efforts on a better selling product.
However, before you ditch a product, you have to find out why it isn’t selling well. Either your customers genuinely aren’t interested, don’t have a need or your staff isn’t adequately trained to sell that product.
To find the answers, hold a team meeting and have F&I managers pitch the laggard products to each other. Would you buy the product the way they’re pitching it to your customers? If you see a need but the presentations are uninspiring, then you may have to re-train your team on the product benefits.
If the product presentations are energetic but the cost-benefit ratio doesn’t make sense to you, it probably isn’t making sense to your customers either. If this is the case, re-think the pricing or the product.
Percentage Gross
In addition to the volume of products sold, look at the percentage gross of the products you’re selling. Sometimes a product will sell well but isn’t adding much to your bottom line. Identify your highest gross products and focus team training on those products.
When choosing which products to focus on, the customer’s loan to value is a key consideration. If a customer is approved for $22,000 and the vehicle purchase price is $20,000, you’re not going to sell them a lot of product. So, focus the presentation around just a few of your most profitable products.
As dealers face challenges growing F&I margins, the ability to view metrics on a regular basis is increasingly important. Reports help you see trends and identify what’s profitable or not. Most important, they can be used to set achievable goals and keep your F&I team on track and motivated.
