I recently had a very interesting and animated interaction with an F&I manager. He had five cash deals in a row and was not too happy about it. He was grumpy, and his attitude was less than positive, for sure. I asked him why five cash deals in a row were affecting him the way they were. He looked at me like I was out of my mind. He said it again, slower and louder – “FIVE … CASH … DEALS … IN … A … ROW!”

He told me with conviction that he knew I teach everyone that cash deals are as much of an opportunity as any other deal but that I had to know that it wasn’t true. I told him that I indeed knew it is true, that I knew why he was struggling with cash deals, and that if he was interested in improving his cash deal production, I would be willing to help. He said if I could change his attitude on cash deals, I should win trainer of the year. I told him it wasn’t his attitude I wanted to change but his mindset I was more interested in.

Attitude, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. In other words, attitude is how you interact with the world and those around you. We talk a lot about attitude in our business. People have written books about it, given talks about how to manage it, and developed methods to improve it. Without question, your attitude is important.

I think there may be something equally important or possibly even more important as it pertains to how you perform as an F&I manager, and that is your mindset.

Mindset is different. Mindset is how you see the world and those around you. This F&I manager had a finance-customer mindset with a cash customer.

What I shared with him is that with a cash customer he needed to change his mindset to match the customer and the type of deal in front of him. I asked the F&I manager if he believed cash customers are different than finance customers. He said, “Yes, finance customers enroll in products. Cash customers don’t.” I laughed and explained that many times with a finance customer we talk with a different mindset about the products we offer. Our focus is on payment movement, affordability, budget and the customer’s ability to pay for an unexpected repair.

Cash customers are different. If he takes the same mindset with a cash customer, he will most likely miss the mark every time. The cash customer isn’t making payments. And if this customer can afford to write a check for the vehicle, he or she can afford to write a check for the repair, right? He agreed. That being the case, I suggested he think about what cash customers have in common. After some thought and more discussion, he narrowed it to two common characteristics his cash customers share. Those customers are usually successful people, and they are always in a hurry at delivery. I asked him that if that is true, which benefits of the products could he relate to as a successful person pushed for time.

He shared that maybe he should talk about convenience and saving time, obvious answers but a good place to start. We worked thorough it further, and he came up with some good ideas. He came to see that he should have the mindset that his cash customers would want to know why other cash customers like them, who in the past haven’t enrolled in any products, are starting to do so more frequently. He thought that he would start sharing that customers like them, due to inflation and the rapid increase in repair costs, are starting to move that risk to a third-party versus assume the risk like they have in the past. But most of all, he would share that a lot of his customers like the convenience and exclusivity that come with owning the coverage and not having to arbitrate their own repairs. (What can I say, he was a fast learner). If you want to change your attitude on cash deals like he did, start with your mindset.

DIG DEEPER: You and the Cash-Reporting Rule