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Blake Bailey, finance director at Hennessy Mazda-Buick-GMC in Morrow, Ga., wants F&I managers who are warm, inviting, knowledgeable and adept at helping customers identify their needs. They also must be confident enough to overcome objections but not so confident that they come off as arrogant, he says. We asked some other industry insiders what traits F&I managers should have. Here’s what they said.
Becky Chernek
Becky Chernek, President, Chernek Consulting
“You have to have the desire to be ethical, credible. It’s a white-glove position. You’re dealing with the customer, with the bank, with the service department, the sales associate. Accountability, intuitiveness, assertiveness and professionalism are key.” F&I managers should be “personable and caring. People pick up on that. They feel it.”
Santosh Viswanathan
Santosh Viswanathan, Managing partner, Willis Ford, Smyrna, Del.
“I look for someone who has the same values … as the company. You cannot train value, but you can train processes and procedure. I ask interview questions that relate to past experiences, something they saw around them that wasn’t right. We all have adversities. [It’s about] how you handle them.”
Andrew Calderon, Finance manager, Toyota of Butte (Mont.):
“The majority of people I hire are people who work at the front desk at a hotel, for example. You get to see them in action. I’ve hired a couple people from Starbucks, and they’re great salespeople and service writers. If I’m unhappy that they only gave me one shot of caramel in my coffee and I complain and they give me an extra shot for free, I know they’ll go the extra mile. Also, if they tell a joke during the interview, that is likability to me, and that will cover everything. You hire character and you train skill, so that’s how I go about that.”
Lycia Jedlicki, Performance partner for 20 group operations, NCM Associates
As an F&I manager “you’re kind of a counselor. You become a confidant with that person. You really want an ethical person there. Dealers need somebody who’s going to cover them and make sure that they are compliant.”
Renay Winston
Renay Winston, President, People Management Solutions, Marietta, Ga.
Dealers “are looking for a more energetic person” for F&I. “People tend to be more guarded and on edge when they go into the finance office. When it comes down to financing, it becomes an adversarial conversation. It’s very important to have someone with the personality to bond with the customer.”
G.P. Anderson, Finance manager, Thielen Motors, Park Rapids, Minn.
“You have to have unbelievable personality skills, character skills, be able to understand character types, personality types, look past the human foibles. And you have to be able to do that in two seconds.”
What traits make a good FandI manager?
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