Auto University Article

Username:

Password:

Forgot Password?

Current Articles List

When You Go to a Restaurant, Don't You Order Off the Menu?

'I'll Order the Cheeseburger, Extra Pickles, with Fries and a Soda, to Go Please!'

I'm sure that you would agree it would be terribly difficult to choose something if the waitress simply told you what was available and how much it costs. Yet this is exactly the format our industry has chosen in our Financial Services Offices (Business or F&I Offices). The customer sits down and the Finance Manager starts spouting off 'today's specials,' and we all know that it is very rare that a Finance Manager will tell the customer everything 'on the menu' simply because there are so many items to choose from. So what ultimately tends to happen, in most cases, is the Finance Manager really does offer only 'today's specials'; those services and products that net the best gross. Not that there is anything wrong with getting a good gross, quite the contrary, we expect the Finance Office to do just that. Think of it this way, when you go to a restaurant, the waitress will always tell you what the "special" is, and it's always a main course. She seldom tells you about the 'appetizer special, the soup special, the drink special, the salad special, or the dessert special' does she? Is that because she has pre-judged you and doesn't think you're going to order any of those, or is it simply because it would be nearly impossible to remember them all?

I think it's because she doesn't need to remember them all because you have a menu in front of you. Couldn't we apply the same principle in our Financial Services Offices? If you were to have a menu of your own, isn't it possible, even likely, that a customer may order an appetizer, a salad, or a dessert?

Put together a Financial Services and Products Menu, listing everything that you have to offer, as well as a brief description of what is included, and let the customer choose from the list. It is the Financial Services Manager's job to explain and sell the 'menu item' but there must first be some interest on the customer's part. With a menu, like in a restaurant, it's easier to select an item that the customer actually is interested in. What you will find is that you become unique in the marketplace and the customer will feel less pressured and more involved in the financial services process. The menu proves that you are more professional and have nothing to hide.

Make your menu unique and interesting; it could even look like a restaurant's menu and the sales will come faster and easier than you ever expected. Don't be surprised when you hear a customer say to you, 'I think I'll start with an undercoating, extra paint protection, followed by the Life and Disability for both my wife and I, with a 60-month / 100,000-mile powertrain warranty on the side, and then I'll finish with your in-house maintenance program to go please.'

Enjoy your meal.