Recently, I had a typical conversation with a dealership general manager about his team’s performance. He struggled to understand why today’s environment makes it more imperative that his sales and F&I staff receive specialized training. With consumers feeling the financial pinch and arming themselves with as much online and comparative research, driving increased F&I revenue is a greater challenge. However, this GM felt like he could handle what he needed to in-house.
We are all watching the daily profit/loss fluctuations, and now is not the time to lean on tradition – it’s time to reset your training approach so that you and your employees can make more money, and it all starts with your team’s culture, behavior, and performance.
Culture, Behavior, and Performance
We believe culture, behavior, and performance are the key ingredients to a successful recipe for compliant profitability. Our Training Services team goes beyond traditional training methodologies with a proven model that delivers an incremental $206,400 average annual F&I profit per producer per year! Our data, combined with anecdotal evidence and follow-up interviews with trainees and dealership managers supports this statement. My general manager friend was intrigued but wanted to know more.
Culture
Clearly, ownership sets the tone for a dealership’s culture. But a successful culture leans heavily on sales and F&I teams working in tandem, driving revenue through overcoming challenges and celebrating wins together. Finding ways to meet their customers’ needs together through hand-offs from sales to F&I, the right vehicle, and the right protection products that meet the customer’s needs. Our proven training model fosters that type of culture.
Behavior
Behavior is also a key ingredient in a dealership’s overall performance. A team member’s behavior is their daily, outward expression and interpretation of the dealership culture. Do they just talk the talk, or do they walk the walk? Are they in the right job for their unique skillset? Do they understand needs-based selling and how that puts more money in their pocket – and yours? Your responsibility is to establish effective pay plans that reward performance, retain talent, and reinforce performance-based behavior.
Performance
Let’s talk about performance. Performance is a measurable indicator, but it is influenced by many factors – you can’t have performance without culture and behavior. A dealer’s first task is to ensure they have the right people in the right place, doing jobs that best suit them. Poor performance could be a matter of the right person in the wrong job. Or the right person with the wrong pay plan or the wrong set of tools to effectively perform in today’s ever-changing sales environment. 65% percent of dealers indicate that hiring great people is their primary challenge, costing upwards of $75,000 for a Poor Hiring Decision®. EFG’s Recruiting Services ensures you have the right people.
Thanks to my years in the training room and counseling dealership management, I know firsthand that EFG’s training model works. But don’t just take my word for it. This month, we are offering an F&I training seat voucher* valued at $2,500 for qualified dealers who schedule a meeting with EFG. During that meeting, we’ll walk through your dealership’s unique situation and provide details on our proven training method that delivers measurable revenue results.
Together, we can navigate 2025. Our F&I Training class is perfect to reset opportunities. Prepare your staff to sell by changing the culture, behavior, and performance. At EFG Companies, we’re more than an F&I provider, we’re your business partner in the retail automotive industry. Together, let’s make more this year.
682-206-8528
*Training Seat Voucher available to franchise dealers only who meet the required unit volume.