Digital Dealer - April 2019 - 43

Road Trip to DD26 | April 9-11, 2019 | Orlando

FDP candidates see the
end game - being part
of the management team
and know upfront of a step
by step way to get there.
After passing behavioral
testing and rigorous interviews candidates are hired
and referred to as FDPs.
ONBOARDING AND
TRAINING. Part of FDPs

onboarding is learning how
to sell cars. This is both
a need to understand the
business and a testing
period. The management team agrees on
FDPs sales performance
expectations. If you ever
sat in an F&I chair and performed at the highest level,
you probably can look
back and see what it took
for you to get there. Break
it down and see what
components of this job one
has to learn first and what
cadence of learning would
work best. One thing is for
sure: FDPs have to learn
how to sell cars. There are
multiple skills an FDP candidate has to learn, starting
with administrative-like
paperwork and product
knowledge. Then comes
menu presentation, selling
intangibles, and overcoming objections, followed later by lender skills. Oftentimes, new F&I managers
are simply thrown into their
position, and like most jobs
in automotive, its sink or
swim. Even with the best
intentions, most senior F&I
folks do not have much
time for coaching. This is
why this group designed a
self-guided study course.
While selling cars FDP
candidates are learning

F&I skills.

DEVELOPMENT. During
self-guided study, FDPs
are periodically tested after
passing certain milestones
and completing portions of
their guides. Management
staff monitors progress,
and with this structured
process, FDPs are progressing at their own
speed. While the program
is designed to be completed within six months, some
are able to complete this
development portion within
three months. Depending
on the needs of a dealership upon graduation,
FDPs get promoted to F&I
assistant manager or move
to another location within
the group.
Utilizing a Finance
Development Program,
this dealer group was able
to lower turnover in F&I
and create a leadership
pipeline, with many of
the first-year graduates
working throughout the
group in various management positions. Today, they
are using this template to
create employee development programs for service
and other critical positions
within the group.

TONY TROUSSOV is an
owner of Mezen Dealer
Services. He recently served
as Group F&I Director at
Morries Automotive Group.
Throughout his 20+ years in
an automotive retail career
he held multiple leadership
positions, including a GM of
a large import dealership.
As a consultant, Tony works
with dealerships and OEMs
helping them improve
processes and customer
experience. He designed

Building an F&I
Performer Pipeline:
How to Create an
Employee Development
Program That Works
Using a case study of a large dealership group, which
created, implemented and perfected its very own
FDP (Finance Development Program), F&I expert
Tony Troussov will explain how to effectively hire,
train, develop, and retain your F&I performers. This
career path-oriented program is designed to attract
and retain the best employees for your dealership. In
looking at real-world examples, you will learn how to
create this program, no matter what size dealership
you have. You will walk through it step by step and
identify key components to developing your employees
and creating a great culture of learning.

Takeaways:

 Develop a comprehensive career pathing plan for
your dealership's F&I pipeline, including pay plans,
job titles/descriptions, training, and performance
objectives.
 Create an effective hiring strategy to attract and hire
the best candidates for your F&I pipeline from
outside of the industry. Part of this hiring strategy
will include an adequate onboarding process.
 Design a training regimen for new recruits that
will include courses in the following areas:
administrative, compliance, product knowledge,
F&I process, and F&I sales skills.
Speaker:

TONY TROUSSOV CSP
Owner Principal,
Meze Dealer Services, LLC

and developed an ondemand learning platform for
dealership employees. Along
with hundreds of dealerships,
his clients included Hyundai,
Lexus, GP Strategies and J.D.
Power. Tony has delivered
over 650 presentations totaling
over 3,000 hours of platform
time. His international work

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

includes speaking and training
in Korea, Portugal, and UAE.
Tony is a Certiﬁed Coaching
Practitioner with Certiﬁed
Coaching Federation and a
Certiﬁed Speaking Professional
with National Speakers
Association. EMAIL: tony@
mezendealerservices.com

APRIL 2019

http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM

Digital Dealer - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - April 2019