A lot has changed in automotive retail since Doug Dingman and Gerry Gould entered the industry, not the least of the shifts being technological advancement.

But despite all the bells and whistles at the average person’s disposal now, the veterans see today’s customer as much like those of generations past. What hasn’t changed enough, they say, is F&I sales strategy

Enter the customer objection, a real or perceived defense against being sold. Consumers have already committed tens of thousands to one of their biggest purchases in life. Why do they need to put down more of their hard-earned money on top of that?

Therein lies the challenge for the F&I manager: how to show customers that throwing more money after their vehicle purchases is in their best interest, despite their seeming aversion to the idea.

Did You Hear ‘No?’

Gould, founder of Tampa Bay-based Gould & Associates, which provides F&I coaching and training, and training and development director for F&I training firm Product Prep, says the first step to overcoming customer resistance is simply to stop seeing it as pushback.

“What’s changed is our willingness to change in F&I, our willingness to look at objections as concerns or questions,” he said, instead of seeing them as flat-out nos.

Dingman, founder of ProConsulting, an agency focused on F&I training and reinsurance offerings that’s now owned by industry giant Portfolio, agrees that many F&I managers lose their edge by backing down too early, often for no solid reason.

“As a salesperson, you start judging customers and thinking they’re a certain type of customer before you even know,” he said. 

“Say a customer comes in and says he only has five minutes. ‘I have to pick up my daughter. Can we just do the paperwork and be done?’ Some people think they’re type A, and they don’t even try. I come from a feeling of treating all my customers the same. 

In fact, F&I managers shouldn’t assume a customer really means no until a clear stop sign goes up, Gould says.

“This is an objection: ‘Stop bothering me. Don’t waste my time,’ very clear and concise. You’re not going to fix that. There’s not a word track in the world that will change somebody’s mind when they say stop. 

“But it’s always a yellow light until they stay stop; you’ve got to turn it into a green light.” 

Connection Tops Tools

Word tracks and menus are fine, in fact essential. They provide structure and help the F&I manager guide the customer through the process. But those tools should always take a back seat to organic conversation, Dingman and Gould say.

In other words, give yourself a chance to know the person on the other side of the desk. Ask the customer questions and respond based on their answers, like the give-and-take of an everyday exchange between two people. 

Word tracks will get you down the road to nowhere if they come off as robotic.

“You can’t just memorize word tracks on a customer anymore. It’s the principle behind the word tracks you need to make sure customers understand,” Gould explains. “Ask a question with the intent to understand what the customer’s going to say. The more you practice those guidelines, the better you are in addressing the customer’s concerns.”

Even within the give-and-take, the F&I manager can make missteps that can derail the chances of closing sales. For instance, asking customers “why?” That simple question can quickly take the conversation in unexpected turns or even get the customer’s back up, Dingman says.

“You’re asking a question that you don’t know how they’re going to answer. Ask questions that have only one answer. That’s called guided discovery,” he says. And, “the worst way to overcome an objection is to ask why. It’s putting the customer on the defensive. They may not know why they said no.”

Gould agrees. “The old-school way is to throw a rebuttal at them,” he says, pointing out the futility of such an approach.

Sturdy Frameworks

Once the F&I manager establishes a genuine connection with a customer, the tools employed to share product and service offerings can guide the discovery process, Dingman advises.

In fact, much of the recommended strategy has parallels in the courtroom, except for putting the “witness” on the defensive. 

“It’s not an objection, your honor!” Gould says with his trademark humor.

The trusty menu works like a lawyer’s trial game plan, but with the goal of convincing the consumer he’d be better off protecting his new asset. Before introducing it, the F&I manager should explain the process and get the customer’s permission to proceed, Dingman says.

With each step of the menu presentation, questions posed to customers reveal which products appeal to them. Those products should be the focus.

How to Handle Mr. and Mrs. No

Some consumers say yes to everything, while others say no to everything. Even the latter aren’t lost causes, and those in between need to be convinced, Dingman and Gould say. 

Industry statistics show 20% of people always say no to products, and another 20% always say yes, Dingman says. It’s the remaining 60% that must be connected with their needs.

Resistance from the maybe camp can often be overcome by simple questions of curiosity, opening a dialogue, and exposing customers’ fears and desires.

“When someone says, ‘I don’t want it,’ they’re lying. They do want it. They just don’t see enough value to pay for it. Everybody wants coverage,” Gould explains.

It helps to learn why a customer is refusing an offering, Dingman added, though he allowed that it always comes down to cost. 

Say the person says no to everything on the menu. He advises asking which product appeals most to the customer if he had to choose just one.

“I might say, ‘If I were to give it to you free, would you want to take advantage of it today?’” he said, demonstrating that by narrowing options to one the person actually wants helps her discover what she needs.

“Most of the time when you turn it into a conversation, the customer talks themself into the product,” Gould agrees.

If not, you might appeal to the natural desire for security, including in customers who’ve never had a reason to regret saying no to protection products. 

Gould demonstrates: “I get it. You’ve never needed it before. But do you realize that for every mile you drive, you’re going to get closer to a mishap? What it is, we don’t know. So maybe this time, enroll. If nothing happens, at least you have peace of mind.”

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

If the F&I manager skips any step in the discovery process in an effort to clinch a yes, she may instead end up with a bunch of nos, Dingman says. 

“We have to be salesmen with every customer.”

He advises that after qualification and creating need awareness and satisfaction – i.e., “Do you see why most customers buy that?” one should always close the deal. 

Back to the courtroom equivalent of the trial close. You can converse all you want, ask great questions, leading questions, but if you don’t close, you may not have a sale. It’s simple, quite easy to sidestep, but essential.

Closing can sound something like, “Is that something you want to do?” or, “Do you want your new payment to be in 30 days or 45 days?”

“Close is more important to overcoming the objection than the actual objection itself,” Dingman says. “If somebody does great on objection but they don’t ask for the close, the customer doesn’t ever say yes.”