Pub. 14 2015-2016 Issue 2

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 3 , 2 0 1 5 22 new jersey auto retailer What the Customer Wants, the Customer Gets Examining the Coming Future of F&I BY REBECCA CHERNEK It’s no secret that customers these days demand transparency, and shortened delivery timeframes. If you can’t give it to them, they’ll take their business to someone else who will. Menu-Selling Takes Root Back in 1997, mega-stores, such as AutoNation, were just beginning to catch on in parts of the United States. Now, nearly 20 years later, the concept is thriving and what’s the secret recipe? Common sense, really. AutoNation’s number one mission statement is, and always has been, to assure complete customer satisfaction from the sale to the finance office. In the beginning, mega-stores planted kiosks throughout showrooms and customers were greeted by Financial Services Managers. All paperwork was competed at the kiosk. The customers loved it. In a bold break from tradition, customers weren’t “box closed.” Nobody was pitched products. They were simply offered products and options, up-front. This is the atmosphere where menu selling Transparency. That’s a scary word to some. For auto dealers who have yet to acquaint themselves with it, it’s a word that represents massive change. Not only are you breaking away from age-old methods that may no longer work, you are required to develop a new understanding of what customers really want AND have the vision to take proactive steps in that direction.