F&I and Showroom Launches F&Idol Contest
F&I and Showroom magazine has launched a new contest that will honor five F&I managers with the best presentations in the following categories: vehicle service contract, GAP, tire and wheel, key replacement and theft deterrent. Each winner will be honored at the 2011 Industry Summit, where one will be named the grand prize winner and the recipient of the F&Idol trophy.
Sponsored by Innovative Aftermarket Systems (IAS) and powered by SmartEye, the F&Idol contest will be accepting video entries from F&I managers until Friday, Aug. 12. Each submission must be five minutes or less, include at least one fictional/stand-in customer in a staged transaction, and show a minimum of two objection-handling techniques.
“We’ve been tossing around the idea of staging such a contest for years, but we just couldn’t figure out how to make it happen,” said Gregory Arroyo, executive editor of F&I and Showroom magazine. “That’s when IAS stepped up and offered its SmartEye platform to host the contest.”
Winners of each category will receive a $1,000 cash prize, free airfare, hotel accommodations and a free pass to the 2011 Industry Summit, scheduled for Sept. 26-28 at the Las Vegas Hilton. Category winners also will appear on the magazine’s website along with their videos and in the magazine’s special conference issue in September.
The overall winner will then receive the F&Idol trophy and an additional $2,500 cash prize. He or she also will be profiled in the magazine’s October 2011 issue.
Judging the entries will be Bob Corbin, president and CEO of IAS; F&I and Showroom’s Arroyo; Marv Eleazer, the magazine’s F&I columnist and an F&I professional at Langdale Ford; Ron Reahard, president of Reahard & Associates Inc.; Steve Veldkamp, training director for Great Lakes Companies; Alan Miller, senior vice president of sales at CNA National; Robert Harkins, president of RAH Consulting; and Randall R. Crisorio, president and CEO of United Development Systems.
“This is for yearlong bragging rights,” Arroyo said. “It’s also an opportunity for one individual to be recognized in front of the entire industry.”
Entries can be recorded using an iPhone, Android phone, Flip video camera, iPad, Webcam or any other video recording device. Videos can then be uploaded to the contest site at www.fandidol.com. The deadline to enter is Aug. 12.
More Industry
Pennsylvania Dealership Under New Retailers
The sale of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram store puts a family auto group on a leaner path as first-time dealers take the helm.
Read More →
Battery Storage Takes Priority Over EVs
U.S. automakers are prioritizing battery energy stationary storage over electric-vehicle production as the consumer demand for EVs lags the rest of the world.
Read More →
Auto Dealers Feel Better But Not Great
A second-quarter Cox Automotive poll of franchised retailers and independents found better views of the current market after a good spring but anticipation of third-quarter storminess.
Read More →
New-Vehicle Sales Picture Relative
A May forecast is complicated by last spring’s trade tariff effects on auto retail. Despite continued hard realities, many consumers took advantage of ways to bite the bullet.
Read More →
Auto Group Acquires Third Nissan Rooftop
Iowa-based Coleman Automotive Group recently acquired its seventh dealership, McGrath Nissan, which it renamed Nissan of Elgin.
Read More →
April Less Affordable
Based on prices, reduced incentives and slower household income growth, consumers found it more challenging to buy new last month, Cox Automotive reported.
Read More →
Building an Extraordinary F&I Agency
Work to determine your specialized talent, because that fact will determine everything about your agency’s future.
Read More →
Recipe for Compliance
The secret to both amazing barbecue and compliance is the same: understanding the basics and committing to a process.
Read More →
EVs Getting More Attractive
A growing percentage of U.S. consumers are open to switching and fewer are adverse to the idea, according to a recently completed survey. That’s despite the end of a tax break.
Read More →
EV Sales Drop in April Following Surge
North American electric-vehicle sales were down 28% year-over-year, a sharp contrast from global EV sales growth of 6%.
Read More →