SPECI A L FIN A NCE
©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DAVID_REY
him or her in charge of
special f nance. Of course,
the producer's performance
was judged based on proft
per retail unit (PRU), which
depends upon penetration
rates for back-end products
such as extended warranties
and service contracts, credit
life and GAP.
Putting solid F&I; producers in charge of special
f nance means they'll be
working with Tier 3 and 4
f nance companies that are
not in the business of leaving room for F&I; products.
So, how on earth do you expect your f nance manager
to maintain a high PRU when
there are no funds available
for protection products?
The solution is to pay
special f nance producers
out of the front-end proft on
each sold deal. But then you
run the risk of doing what I'd
like to discuss next.
3. CUTTING OUT THE
SALES TEAM
It's so vitally important to
be able to identify special f-
28
AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY • M AY 2013
nance customers as early as
possible. The trick is to train
your salespeople to ask customers qualifying questions
so they are sent to the appropriate desk.
To compensate for wages
lost on the back end, you
give your special fnance
manager a share of the frontend proft. Specifcally, you
give them half of the salesperson's share. That's the
same salesperson who sent
the customer to the special
f nance manager and is now
being punished for it. And
he's not alone, as you'll read
next.
4. LEAVING THE
CUSTOMER HANGING
You can't expect subprime
customers to get a prime
deal, but there are a few exceptions. GM Financial, for
instance, offers a subvented
program for new Malibus.
Well, try to put that Malibu
customer into a new Silverado. No chance, right?
That doesn't mean the F&I;
manager won't try. But after