Targeted Training Drives Results

From the cellphone in your hand to the car that you drive, technology has advanced at a rapid pace, and consumers, for the most part, expect to see the same level of technology that they’re used to now when they step into the finance-and-insurance office.

But when F&I managers get stuck in the, “I know what I’m doing; I’ve been doing this a long time” mindset and don’t change course, they “sink like the Titanic,” according to industry veteran Rick McCormick.

During his keynote speech at the 2026 Ethical F&I Managers Conference, McCormick detailed six times that the automotive industry has been warned to change course:

• The 2007-08 recession and the collapse of Lehman Bros.
• The creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• General Motors’ bankruptcy filing
• Carvana’s market entry
• The Covid-19 pandemic
• Today’s warning: rapidly advancing technology

“It’s time, he said. “It’s time that we stop talking about technology and start embracing technology,”

Technology, McCormick explained, isn’t about replacing the F&I manager but about making the role more effective.

From digital menus and electronic contracting to artificial intelligence-powered coaching tools, today’s technology can help managers deliver more consistent presentations, identify areas for improvement, and spend more time building relationships with customers instead of handling paperwork.

As more consumers expect a fast, transparent buying experience, dealerships that fail to modernize risk losing both efficiency and credibility, he said.

How F&I Managers Can Improve

The key to keeping up is continuous learning.

“If you haven’t learned anything in the past two weeks, you’re way behind,” McCormick explained.

The national director of training for Reahard & Associates laid out three things that F&I managers’ training must be:

• Targeted – “If it’s not targeted, it’s a waste of time.” He explained that as a trainer he doesn’t want to waste F&I managers’ time by going over things they already excel at. He wants to focus on the areas that they need help with so that they can become masters at what they do.
• Transformational – The purpose of training is to correct your blind spots and the things you’re not good at. In other words, it must transform your process or delivery or whatever your weak areas are, he said.
• Leading to consistent improvement – McCormick used the Chick-fil-A fast-food chain as an example. While the company has a good product, that’s not what has earned it success, according to him. It’s Chick-fil-A’s commitment to consistent improvement by always asking the question, “What’s one thing I can do to get better?”

The most useful tool McCormick recommends is recording trainings and transactions and using that data to improve.

“It provides a training goldmine,” he said, because you get “a clear benchmark for what is going on in the dealership.”

By reviewing real customer interactions, F&I managers can identify patterns in their presentations, uncover missed opportunities, and receive targeted feedback based on actual performance instead of assumptions.

He also emphasized the importance of connecting with the customer and building trust. F&I offices don’t need a closer, he explained, but managers who listen to the customers and learn what their needs are.

“Customers buy from people. If they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you,” McCormick said.

Some ways F&I managers can build trust include learning about the in-car technology and what it costs and standardizing the F&I menu process to be clear and repeatable to reduce confusion.

The Importance of Protection

As vehicles become increasingly dependent on advanced driver-assistance systems, infotainment features and sophisticated electronics, repair costs continue to climb. Even relatively minor repairs can require expensive recalibrations or replacement parts.

Helping customers understand those realities makes conversations about vehicle service contracts less about selling a product and more about protecting their financial investments against unexpected expenses, McCormick said.

He specified two terms that help customers understand the need for protection products: transfer of risk and locking in the price.

Between rising inflation and labor rates, a vehicle service contract is a no-brainer, he said, because it transfers the risk from the customer’s wallet and locks in the current cost, which saves the vehicle-owner from future price increases.

To put it into perspective, he quoted Warren Buffett: “The cost of protection is usually less than the cost of the problem.”

Which brings it back to where F&I managers stand today.

The problems they are facing can be boiled down to being stuck in old routines and unwilling to embrace technology, which will inevitably lead to their downfall, according to McCormick.

But they can protect themselves and their stores with ongoing, purposeful training and modernized processes that meet the customer where they are in this technology-driven world.