With the automotive industry rapidly moving into online sales, up to 56% of online car shoppers are engaging in the buying process on a mobile device, according to J.D. Power. Beyond just the initial vehicle sale, customers are looking to access finance and insurance (F&I) information and manage the entire buying process through mobile as well.

If your dealership hasn’t made the switch to mobile technology for F&I, now is the time. With a variety of new technologies and menu systems, there are a several mobile F&I options on the market. Making this shift will not only improve customer satisfaction, but it can also make the job of F&I managers easier, while generating greater profits for the dealership.

Here’s what you need to know…

 Why Buyers Want Mobile F&I

Car buyers are often frustrated over the F&I process for many reasons. There are long wait times, confusing menu presentations, an overwhelming amount of details, and a lack of customer knowledge or education on F&I.

By incorporating mobile tablets into your F&I process you can dramatically reduce wait times and streamline the content experience. Consumers are more comfortable navigating a tablet or mobile device and “choosing their own experience” in terms of what products and information to explore.

 How to Introduce Mobile F&I at Your Dealership

 Providing mobile and online F&I product information to your consumers upfront in the sales process will make the product-focused discussion that F&I managers conduct with each customer more interactive and productive.

These interactive, mobile and online tools can include educational videos and brief descriptions of product benefits. Some menu systems also include sharing functionality—allowing the user to forward information to their personal device via text or email.

For the dealership, these tools will greatly expedite the F&I sales process. While interacting with these systems, customers will begin answering questions about their driving history, habits, and future needs in a more engaging and comfortable environment. When it’s time for the F&I manager to step in, they can easily review the input preferences and give the buyer pricing information on the products or services they need.

Many dealerships have found that utilizing a tablet-based interactive menu helped them successfully increase enrollments. Some have even managed to net a 10% return rate on lost sales and recover thousands of dollars in revenue each month!

 Where to Start with F&I Technology

Explore your options—there are vendors that adhere to open standards integration and offer your dealership more third-party options at a lower cost.

Make sure to select an F&I menu system that can be fully integrated with your dealership management system in order to eliminate the need for double data entry. With seamless push/pull integration technology, information entered by the sales team will automatically populate within the appropriate fields for F&I and increase accuracy. This also makes it simple to run a sales report and follow up with the customer through their preferred method of contact.

E-contracting is a must-have feature that saves time, reduces contract errors, and expedites funding. E-contracting also allows you to file all deals electronically. Some vendors will also feature educational video content at no extra cost, which can further enhance the customer experience.

Budco Financial can introduce you to a new Service Lane VSC Sales Tool that allows automotive dealerships to present and sell vehicle service contract products outside the F&I office. This tool’s interface is simple and efficient and can get a customer set up with a VSC and payment plan in 5-10 minutes.