What does F&I mean

At a base level, F&I, an abbreviation for Finance and Insurance, means providing financing to consumers while protecting their purchases with additional vehicle and insurance products.  For dealerships, offering these protections is pivotal to ensuring customer satisfaction while protecting the dealer from fraud or compliance risks. To customers, finance and insurance is a means of finding a payment that fits their current budget while also protecting their new vehicle, RV, boat, or powersports unit. But what does F&I really mean? That’s a complicated question.

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First and foremost, most dealers will tell you that the F&I department’s number one job is to protect the dealership. It is their responsibility to ensure that the entire process is handled morally, ethically, and in accordance with all state and federal guidelines. The process involves credit checks, loan approvals, and completing and signing sale and legal documents.

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Secondly, F&I is a profit center for the dealership. The F&I process and sales of those products and protections are integral to a dealership’s financial success. Not only does the F&I department drive revenue through the direct sale of the products, but many of the products offer additional incentives for a customer to return to the dealership. One great way to promote client retention is by offering prepaid maintenance plans and service contracts. If a customer returns to the selling dealership, the service contracts may have discounted deductibles, saving the customer time and money. Colonnade Advisors states, “[c]onsumer acceptance and adoption of F&I products have increased, motivated by the increased average age of vehicles and the lengthening of vehicle ownership, which is partially driven by the lengthening of auto loan terms.” Increased vehicle satisfaction and comfort with the dealership enhance the likelihood a customer will choose to make future purchases from the same establishment.

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There are many obstacles that finance managers deal with when selling protection services. These include elevated product costs, ever-heightening customer demands, lack of customer knowledge about the products, and duplicate data entry due to inefficiently presenting F&I products. Strategic F&I planning, along with connected systems and platforms, is a remedy for agents and dealerships seeking to optimize F&I sales. 

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MenuMetric can help dealerships increase sales, improve efficiency, and enhance the F&I experience through education using a menu presentation. This enables dealerships to align their goals for growth and customer satisfaction.

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MenuMetric

MenuMetric makes it simple to explain the importance of F&I products to consumers by equipping Finance Managers with a diverse digital toolkit. Through MenuMetric's dynamic system, F&I departments can gain control over their F&I sales while educating and engaging consumers in product selection. A menu presentation tool offers customers comprehensive visibility into the details they need to make an informed decision. 

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F&I menu presentations can ensure customers are aware of, and educated on, the best pricing and product rates for them during the F&I process. By showing customers their loan terms and product options, they can make informed decisions on how to best protect their purchase while staying within their budget. To further customer education, various tools within MenuMetric can provide knowledgeable insight into what F&I means and why adding protection services benefits efficiently present the best F&I products to choose every option for every menu manually their car ownership. Additionally, the menu tool facilitates real-time reporting, educating the F&I department on effective sales tracking and processes.

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MenuMetric Features

MenuMetric offers various features that dealerships can customize to meet their F&I sale needs and enhance the F&I process. Here are a few examples of MenuMetric’s advanced features:

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Optimized Menu Builder

Using MenuMetric's Smart Menu Builder, finance managers can reduce the amount of time needed to construct customized F&I menus. Product selection happens in seconds, allowing Finance Managers to present the best F&I products efficiently to customers.  The system uses the Finance Manager’s past habits to automatically select the preferred product terms and coverages, eliminating the need to manually choose every option for every menu.  

Customer Profiling

Let technology do the profiling for you. Use MenuMetric’s digital interview tool to address customers' needs and wants before they reach the finance office. Collecting information about a customer’s ownership habits is critical to selecting the correct terms and options for each protection. By understanding protection needs and wants, F&I Managers can explain what F&I means and the potential benefits of consumer protection to the customer. This add-on feature creates a personalized experience for both the dealership and the customer.

eSignatures

MenuMetric offers eSignature capabilities for all contracts and forms processed through the MenuMetrc system. Customers can sign on a signature pad, tablet, or via email and text at your convenience. Make it easy to close a deal, no matter the distance. To speed up this F&I process faster, MenuMetric automatically applies customer autographs to contract PDFs. 

Customer Event Logging

MenuMetric can track customer activity when viewing protection options within MenuMobile. When your client selects a protection product, considers a brochure, or watches a video, customer details are recorded and sent to the F&I manager for tracking. This information helps the finance manager better understand customers' needs when they are not in the F&I office with them. With this additional information, dealerships can maximize product sales.

Reporting

MenuMetric offers a comprehensive suite of reports, equipping finance professionals with vital data to help manage their business, improve processes, and increase future sales. Gaining reports on individual F&I processes can provide insightful information on how to improve the experience for customers. Furthermore, you can schedule these reports to automatically deliver via email at your preferred intervals, ensuring timely access to critical information.

Learn More

To learn more about what F&I means or menu technology, contact MenuMetric’s sales team for questions or schedule a free demo.