Your Four Walls I by: Mad Marv enjoy watching a good boxing match from time to time. One of the things that has always amazed me is the intensity placed on the fighters. Everything gets thrown at them including grueling sparring sessions, exercise regimens, and a strict high carb diet. The pressure must be enormous. Publicity, pre-fight press interviews and the public weigh-in can be huge distractions. A fighter must mentally prepare by ignoring all of this. Both men must devote their focus and concentration after the strategy developed during training. Styles vary and some boxers like to slug it out while others are more scientific in their approach. The Foreman-Ali fight in 1974 was a perfect example of this. Foreman’s strategy was to put Ali into the ropes early where he could quickly end the match. Ali, on the other hand, trained for exactly that strategy and enduringly allowed sparring partners to beat his midsection and arms to a pulp in preparation. Ali never lost his focus as Foreman ran out of punching power in the 8th and was sent to the canvass by a patient 3-1 odds underdog. Ali defied his worried corner’s advice between rounds to ‘dance’ away as he told them “Don’t talk. I know what I’m doing”. His method of using the ropes yielded one of the biggest upsets in modern boxing and is still an all-time classic. In addition to all the other things surrounding a fight, there’s the crowd noise. A professional pushes all that aside and focuses on what’s happening inside the ring. As an F&I manager, there is plenty of outside crowd noise coming from everywhere to distract you. Salespeople who’ve worked a customer down to the penny pleading to take it easy on their customer because “He said he’s not paying a dime more on payment”. Then sales managers are telling you how badly they need to move this unit because it’s aged. This is when a professional remains internally calm while readying for the customer visit. If you’ve plied the trade for awhile, you know an F&I manager’s day is usually filled with plenty of clerical work. Chasing stips, collecting missing data such as incomplete payoffs and insurance info seems like a never-ending job. It’s understating to say that an F&I manager is a proficient multitasker because it comes with the territory. The job demands you develop and use your sight periphery which can cause you to see the shortcomings in others. Salespeople skipping steps such as the demo ride or walk-around can make the job of a desk manager much harder and ultimately, more difficult in F&I because the customer isn’t as emotionally invested as they should be. This often creates tension, and you find yourself trying to coach salespeople as though you’re the sales manager. It’s easy to do because most of us came from sales. We know how to do their job. Yet many staffers skip steps because they're either swamped or just plain lazy. Next thing you know, you’re standing outside, and a customer drives up. You start hunting down a salesperson and telling management they’re missing walk-ups. Before you know it, you’re neck-deep in trying to manage the sales department. Here’s a tip: You’re not the sales manager and unless you have direct authority to hold them accountable, then your best should be spent managing the four walls of your office. Trying to manage people outside of your office is akin to listening to the crowd noise and letting the wrong things affect what your job is all about. Listen, your job is hard enough as it is! If you want to spend time training them then do it where F&I is concerned. Teach them how to develop great turnover skills, when to get an F&I manager involved, and how to accurately fill out a credit application. Otherwise, you’ll be left frustrated and mentally exhausted trying to manage them beyond F&I. Instead, help by training them-when waiting on bank approval-to introduce customers to the fixed ops department where customers will bring their car for service. As I already said, there's plenty in F&I to keep busy throughout the day. Focus on your four walls and watch your numbers improve. Good luck and keep closing. 16
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