Can you hit $800 a month by selling theft?

It’s easy to come up with reasons why you won’t make any more money than you did in 2014. It also ensures that you never will. A while back, a reader left a comment on one of my posts:

I’ve been a business manager for one year now in the same multi-line store. My 2014 F&I average was close to $400 and I don’t see it improving. Your tips are great but I think they only work when the entire dealership is on board with your ideas. I talk to a lot of other F&I managers in other stores and they’ve all got the same problems that I have in this store. I love your blog but I just don’t think that most of them will work in an average store. I know I sound like I’ve got a chip on my shoulder but I just don’t think that an F&I manager in the average dealership can do any better than I am.

I met the commenter a few months later, we stayed in touch and I’m going to share what she’s up to now. I frequently see comments here (and on other blogs I read) along the lines of “This advice is great, but it won’t work for me because (I’m in the wrong store or we have the wrong people).”

My first reaction was to say “That’s bull*#$@!,” because it’s true. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that so many of us — myself included — often think this way at some level. We look at what others have, and we think, “That’s great for them, but I couldn’t do that because (excuse).” It’s a crippling way to think, and that’s what I want to share with you today. With the exception of a select few, most F&I managers start with no experience (other than selling bikes if they’re lucky), little training and no advantage, aside from their own intelligence.

While I don’t think comparing my beginning to someone else’s middle has given me anything but doubt in myself, I’ve gotten tremendous value from studying other people’s “middles” to think about how I can achieve bigger things. If you haven’t noticed by now, my bigger things are always measured in terms of dollars. It’s an attitude shift that will transform you: “It won’t work for me because ____.” How many times have we all said something like that?

The aforementioned commenter said the same thing, but … she commented on the wrong blog. I contacted her and learned some other things about her dealership. They were known for: volume, low gross (not by choice), avg. back-end, salespeople taking shortcuts, poor use of their CRM and an old school sales manager. I told her that if she was willing to change, not make excuses and take control of the process in her office, that she’d make more money. And she wouldn’t even have to hire me! I just had a point to prove. By the way, yes, she had one of those generic 4-column menus from the 90’s.

She had to start somewhere so I told her to start with one thing that she could control — Theft. That’s it … a theft product. It turned out the dealership already had a theft product, but she had to figure out which file it was lost in. Once she found it, here’s what I had her do.

1. Get some “Easy Peel Shipping Labels” from an office supply store (clear, approx. 13 cents each).
2. Print the following on all labels in black and/or orange: “WARNING – This may be equipped with a Security System for the protection of the Dealer and is not included in the price.”
3. Place them on every single unit that qualifies for theft protection on the lot.
4. Display it on her menu as “Theft Protection” and show the amount it adds to a buyer’s payment ($5-8 a month on average).
5. Offer it to every customer.

Sometimes it’s good to take baby steps. Since I didn’t initially go in to this dealership to help out, I just gave some advice over the phone. It was a start, and her theft penetration went from zero to 57 percent in 60 days. This process personally cost her nothing and the dealership only the cost of labels. Yet they benefitted an extra $150 per unit they sold it on. That’s only an extra $8,500 in gross per month, but with that baby step she’s that much closer to her $80K I’ll tell you about later.

When I started The WriteBack, I saw a few companies with thousands of subscribers, and I would think of reasons why we couldn’t achieve the same. It’s a mindset shift that I’ve had to work hard to make, because like many people, jealousy and excuses come pretty naturally to me. But when you turn those excuses into challenges that you’re motivated to overcome, you change the way you approach your business and your life. Start with theft.

Tommy Ady is a powersports sales expert with more than 25 years in powersports retail business. He founded The WriteBack in 2013, which has become the #1 performing sales tool in the North America. Top 100-ranked dealers use his programs, along with the highest performing F&I managers in the country. His entertaining training shows are broadcast via YouTube to dealers every week.

Contact: tommy@tommyady.com
Websites: www.TommyAdy.com and www.TheWriteBack.com
Phone: 208/405-9808