The book and recent movie, “Horton Hears a Who” by Dr. Seuss, tells the story of Horton the Elephant who on one afternoon is splashing in a pool and hears a small speck of dust talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called Whoville. Whoville is inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants called Whos, and led by a character known as the Mayor. His motto: A person is a person no matter how small. I think many can learn from the Mayor’s motto and apply it to their current Digital Marketing practices.

Digital Marketing in the Automotive Industry is all about the Whos. It’s about building and maintaining those relationships between the dealership and its customers. The customers are the Whos of course, no matter how small they may be.

Many treat the Whos more like Whats. They count them, they corral them, they segment them but they don’t listen to them. Many times they are just numbers such as 5,000 names on an email list or 10,000 hits to a web site. With that being said, many see success measured by an increase in activity of the Whats. For example, a better response rate to an email campaign or a certain percentage increase in time spent on each page of a web site. Although these metrics are important, they are not effective in building relationships. Many don’t believe they exist as people because they can’t see or hear them so they don’t market to them as people. In all reality the Whos do exist. Behind every email address and every click on your web site there is a living, breathing person with their own special needs, likes, dislikes and opportunities for those to reach out and make a new friend for their dealerships. To become better there needs to more effort to get to know them. Find out who they are. It’s not hard, they are all dying to tell us about themselves every time they click on something, fill out a form, watch a video, type something on the dealership’s Facebook page or fail to respond to an email blast. Every time they interact or choose not to interact, they are telling us something about themselves. The trick is to listen.

How many are really listening to what their customers are telling them? I mean really listening as if the relationship with them depends on it because it does. Are the relationships being developed by tracking and profiling the Whos? Making notes and keeping good records is the key here so dealers can give them what they want, when they want it. It is time to move from treating them as Whats instead of Whos.

At the end of the story, all the Whos get together and make a noise so loud that everyone could hear them. Don’t wait until all the Whos gang up and say what they want. Make the effort to start listening now and always remember that a person is a person no matter how small.

I think we can all begin here with an agreement that stalking someone is bad. Personally, I find it very strange. Why is it then that some of our industry dealers use it as a viable digital marketing strategy, more specifically, email marketing? Now for some, it may be because they don’t realize what they are doing and may need some help with their strategies. Sadly, there are others that are too lazy to approach their digital marketing properly. I am writing this to help bring both sides of the spectrum more towards the center because from each side as they stand, it is hurting the automotive industry and beginning to give our digital marketing efforts a bad name.

Now please understand I am not talking about the nefarious forms of cyberstalking but rather those dealers who generate a list of names email addresses from the CRM and constantly bombard the customer with the same "beginning of the month" or "end of month" email offer. Dealers should strive to become better technicians with their strategies and stop playing the numbers game while chasing that "open rate" or "click through" rate. Is that small percentage so important that you are willing to follow up with something of the same just a few weeks later? It is pushing customers away and creating more work down the road.

If someone walks into your dealership, you would welcome them, offer assistance, hopefully create some dialogue and continue from there. If you followed them around making suggestions on vehicles they have zero interest in or offering unwanted service work, I'm willing to say they would quickly become uncomfortable and leave your store.

From that point, two things are likely to happen:

They probably will never come back into your dealership for one. Then they will take ownership of your brand and begin to tell other people about their bad experience in person and in the social platforms.

This exact same thing happens online. If you bombard them with the same "expected" email campaigns, they soon stop opening and get a negative feel for your brand, which again, they will share with others.

The trap many dealerships fall into is that they think just because a customer has done business, joined your rewards program or registered to win that gift card that they have given you the right to blast them with irrelevant messages each week or month. Of course "opt in" helps you stay clear of anti-spam legislation but it does not diminish your responsibility as professional marketers and businesses.

It is important to remember that your digital marketing efforts are about matching buyers to your vehicles and service. It isn't about throwing stuff at enough of your customer base or potential buyers hoping that some will be silly enough to convert. This matching means understanding who the customer or prospect really is and working out what they need and when they need it. In our automotive world, there are plenty of tools available to present us with the information needed to help us know more about our prospects and customer base. We are dealing with real human beings with real feelings on the other end. Take it serious and deliver relevant offers to the right prospects or customer base at the right time.

Customers have caught on to the auto industry's "broad brush" digital marketing efforts. Dealers are spending more time and money than necessary with this approach. Email is a great communication channel, move away from the loose usage and approach with proper strategy.

I have been thinking lately regarding the way we interact with each other online and especially in the social web.  I find myself at times with a heavy daily agenda and certainly know others do as well.  With that being said, I wonder of the attention spans and daily interactions of some are becoming shorter and more superficial.  Let’s be real, some interactions in the social platforms are very involved while others are very light and seemingly meaningless; also perceived as a complete waste of time.

The fact that one can perceive an interaction with another as a complete waste of time and that some do waste time online should not be confused with what our customers are expecting from us as the “brand” they are interacting with.

By now, it goes without saying, that the social platforms and web allow us as brands to cultivate relationships with our current and future customers. Customer loyalty hasn't always been recognized as super important to all of us as brands and developing a measurement for this has been tough other than point of purchases.  This is no longer true ladies and gentlemen.  Those of you that have designed and implemented a strong social media strategy can now locate your most loyal customers.  These are your brand advocates who actively encourage others to purchase from their favorite brand:  YOU.

How are you doing with this effort? Do you as a brand understand that you need to create a genuine relationship with each customer?  It is just amazing now that customers now have more power to voice their opinion about you as a brand and business.  This will happen whether you are participating or not and in my opinion, the customer truly is the one who owns your brand today.  In many cases, customers are treated as something to convert, make the sale and then on to the next.  It is something I never agreed with myself and never conducted business in that manner.  Let me say if you are conducting business in this manner it is no longer good enough.  Why not take a genuine and honest effort to find out what they are about.  What are their interests? How can you truly be of service? What makes them tick?

We hear it every day at some point that we as brands need to be more active and engaging with our current and future customers.  It is time we use the social web to create more long term relationships.  Those who will continue to look at social media as just another broadcast type tool, you are going to have a hard time.  We as digital marketers have a ton of choices on how we will treat and engage with our audience.  Those who currently are looking at customers as a number will continue to find themselves with less and less business as the month’s progress.  A better idea would to understand how each customer wants to be communicated with, get creative with your engagement and build a long term relationship.  Everyone deserves and wants to be treated as an individual.

So those of you out there that view the social web platforms as a “time waster” and don't have much value I hope to change your opinion.  As brands, it is up to us on how we interact with our current and future customers.  This is fast paced and there can be many distractions for both sides. 

The bottom line, you will only stand out if you concentrate turning EVERY interaction into a meaningful experience for both the customer and you as the brand.

We knew it was coming and now the month end is fast approaching as it always seems to sneak up faster than we would like for it to.

So my question is:  Did you thrive or survive?

Many of us talk with others in the industry on a daily basis. Some of our conversations are with those near us and others in other states. One common question I do know for sure that gets asked is, “How’s business?” I have been thinking about this question and it seems it is a question of validation to judge our current performance.  Would any others reading agree or disagree with this statement?

I find it interesting that many dealers are outperforming their brand, selling more vehicles and increasing gross profit all at the expense of their local competitors while others are finding a tough month going in the books very soon. How are the winners making this happen? I will begin by saying winners recognize that there are only three things in their control:

·         Attitudes

·         Sales Strategy

·         Sales Proficiency

Attitudes:

We have all heard the popular saying that “attitude determines altitude.” Winning dealerships have a “no excuses” culture in their stores.  This keeps them from becoming victims of the market and creates the realization that they are accountable for achieving their results. Stephen Covey, author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, once said that, “Every organization is perfectly aligned to achieve its current results.”  In other words, we are getting what we are getting, because we are doing what we are doing.  When you question results, do you accept excuses or do you ask, “If you couldn’t use that excuse, what would you say?”

Steve Brown, President of the Fortune Group, identified the “Failure Formula” saying, “People fail in direct proportion to their willingness to accept socially acceptable excuses for failure.”

My question is, “What is the attitude in your store today?”

Strategy:

A selling strategy is the operating philosophy that drives how you sell as a dealership. A strategy should be an exploitation of the things that make your operation truly unique.  What is your selling strategy? Do your people know what it is? In the absence of a clearly defined and well-executed strategy, your people are forced to react to the strategies of your competitors and the demands of your customers. In our industry and markets, there are really only two sales strategies:

·         Lowest Price Provider

·         High Value Differentiation

Your choice of strategy should be formed with an awareness of the strengths and limitations of each.  By definition, there can only be one lowest price provider in any given market and the consumers must be able to clearly determine what that is.  This strategy, although not my favorite, requires a conscious decision to drastically reduce margins to acquire business. To offset the reduction in margins, sales volumes must increase dramatically and costs must be slashed mercilessly or it doesn’t work.

High value differentiation strategies are those where the dealership creates a unique value proposition for the consumer and is where I believe the focus should be for all dealerships.  I believe this strategy will best resonate with the majority of our consumers. 

Let me ask, if a prospective purchaser decides to purchase a vehicle, do they want the cheapest price regardless of content, quality and treatment or are they looking to get the most for their money and do business with someone they like and trust?

Proficiency:

In a customer driven marketplace, how well you sell is as important as what you sell.  We can all agree that today’s customers are better educated, more demanding, less forgiving and in bigger hurry than ever before.  They certainly more likely to have shopped and can force your salespeople to take short cuts at critical junctures in the road to the sale.  Do your salespeople have the tools, abilities and awareness necessary to professionally regain control of a selling situation? Do they have the competence and confidence to use them? Are you measuring the right things? How many and how well?

Winning in today’s climate requires discipline, focus and execution.  Winners look in the mirror, assess their situation and fix the things that are getting in the way of their results.  Those of you dealers that relentlessly focus on perfecting attitude, strategy and proficiency will dominate your markets consistently.  Keep focus on what you can control.

Thrive or survive? Here’s to a strong close for all of you. Happy selling.

While marketing deals with markets of many, selling will always be about markets of one. With that being said, how do you make your customers love you? Yes, I said “love” and not “like” ladies and gentlemen.  It’s time to we make this a goal during every interaction with our customers.

Contrary to one I know for sure and any others out there who believe the role of salespeople is becoming obsolete with the proliferation of internet and mobile technology, effective sales professionals and a personal approach to selling remains important to dealerships nationwide.

Being personal is more than just being nice or friendly in my opinion.  Customers like a salesperson that is nice but they do not buy solely on how likeable they are. They want more.  We all should understand and hopefully agree that customers buy from dealerships they trust.  Sure it helps to be likable but our current and prospective customers are looking for someone they can trust.  This will have more impact in creating loyalty over time.

At one time in our business, the customer walked in, we presented our vehicle, agreed on figures and not long after, they drove away.  Dealerships who operate with this purely transactional mindset of the old are finding it harder to meet forecasted numbers and even harder to retain customers.

Dealerships with large turnover of salespeople are in a difficult position to achieve customer familiarity and loyalty.  That is an entirely different discussion however and will certainly stick a pin in it for later.

Many dealerships are missing the point that the customer wants to work with someone who has a genuine interest in their automotive needs and will add value over time.  Unfortunately, the second half of that story isn’t as good as it started when the customer is in the showroom, smiling and getting ready to drive their new vehicle home.  As a matter of fact, that story ends many times once the salesperson is waving goodbye to the customer.  I call this a “For Profit Only” business strategy and it is happening at this very moment in dealerships everywhere.  If you are looking to increase profit, revenue, staff and customer retention, then remove the above strategy from your thinking.

If you want your customer to starting loving you, start interacting with them by having a genuine interested in their wellbeing, listening to them and understanding their priorities, dreams, goals and desires.  It’s about what you can do for them now and in the future.  I want to be of service to my current and prospective customers.  It’s time we all get personal.

Getting personal is more than just showing up and being pleasant.  Getting personal is about being personable, substantial, and authentic which I have discussed previously.  Combine these traits with your product knowledge, experience, skills, creative problem solving and business acumen and it is a beautiful thing to experience.  I tell those I work with closely is to engage your client with the intention of delivering results they haven’t even thought about, exceed their expectations and care about the outcome of their purchase. 

Getting your customers to love you is not some hug and kiss type idea; it is something that is at the heart of all genuine relationships.  

The discussion still continues today with dealers nationwide on the effectiveness of marketing through social media.  Dealers are still questioning if social media should actually be in their digital marketing efforts and also wondering if it actually works.  These are great questions that should be asked as we work to build a broad digital marketing strategy.

I haven’t commented much on the somewhat recent news regarding General Motors ceasing their multi-million dollar Facebook display advertising but is a perfect example of marketers not asking the above questions early enough. So what really went wrong for General Motors to make such decision?

After reviewing the Facebook page of General Motors, I must first say that it does have a lot of great content in my opinion.  It has some great videos, pictures and the timeline looks great giving a visual story around their brand.  I see engagement and a well-managed page.  Many of us have come to learn with social media marketing is to keep it conversational for the most part and create engagement.  At some point, an opportunity for conversion needs to take place whether the brand or consumer initiates it.  With that being said, I do not see a spot to sign up for a test drive or a way to get in contact.  The point I am trying to make is that there is no real clear conversion goal from the OEM perspective, which is a complete opposite of their websites.  It doesn’t really matter how much of an investment in advertising, it is very unlikely General Motors would see an impact on their sales without a conversion process to back it up.  I would even venture to say that if General Motors directed certain clicks to another destination outside of Facebook to address my above points, it would still have a very small chance of being successful as Facebook users don’t care to leave the platform once logged in.

I think what General Motors failed to do was to understand how Facebook fits into broader social media campaigns.  It is a very common mistake made many times every day in social marketing efforts.  Social media demands corporate communication, brand building, customer service, customer acquisition and often all of these can get confused.  These different organizational objectives often are run in separate departments, which can make the integration poor.  What General Motors and the rest of us in business need to understand is that the customer doesn’t care about any of these differences.  They perceive a brand as a single entity and expect a cohesive message.

Part of a well developed social media strategy is defining what a customer will be doing when they get to our page and what they expect when they arrive.  Something many of don’t think about is the frame of mind the customer will be in when they get to our page.  We can look at this in terms of awareness.  Traditional marketing works well close to the time of purchase for the most part, search works well when your market is researching vehicles you sell and social works best for all of the above.  The customer may not be thinking about making a purchase but by capturing their information we can lead them in the right direction.  What this means is by the time the customer gets to a search engine they are searching for your brand in particular and not just a category.  It’s about taking the tools we invest our money in and using them to their full capacity.

Just as in any marketing venture, spending the time and money to develop a quality social media strategy is very important.  Think about why you are investing in social media.  What do your visitors expect when they arrive and what do you expect of them? There has to be a point when a customer interest is converted into sales.

How are you making this happen? Are you even asking?

Let’s face it, we have a huge “feel good” mindset problem in our industry today and are failing to address the core issues that keep many of us from being truly authentic to our clients and ourselves.  It’s the last day of the month once again and many will be closing out another huge month while others will justify, once again, why they fell short.  It’s more than missing monthly goals.  It’s also about the clients who have given us the opportunity and we missed their “goal.”  Now don’t get me wrong, we won’t close every opportunity we face, but how many sales are we missing because of something we had control over?  I am speaking dealership wide, not just the sales department.

Those who have this “feel good” mindset, and believe me, everyone reading has experienced it at one point in time or another should recognize it within themselves and work to be better.  I would like to say this could be overcome by just waking up one morning with a 100% positive attitude and going about our daily activities in a good mood.  Sadly that isn’t the case but it is a great start in taking action to become better at what we do.  It’s time now to dig deep within and identify what mistakes we are making the put us in this position.

The “feel good” mindset does not only hurt us as individuals, it hurts the dealerships we work for along with our current and potential clients which is where I want to add more focus.  Having a genuine interest to be of service is something the “feel good” mindset can and will overtake. 

In my opinion, I feel that many of us have forgotten how important an authentic relationship is with our clients.  I know many of you are reading this thinking that you really do value your clients and your clients love you.  I can appreciate everyone’s attempts to defend their commitment to customer service and how much value you place on the customer experience as a whole but I think it may be somewhat over optimistic.  Even those of you who are giving your clients the time and commitment needed; I am not convinced of the sincerity and authenticity put forth in the process.  We are becoming too mechanical.  Anyone else agree?

Again, we are here to learn as an industry and get better as an industry so if my opinions and honesty strike a nerve, I don’t care.

For most of us in the industry, the client is someone who arrives into the showroom, gets the presentation on the vehicle selected, eventually agrees on figures and makes the purchase.  Many clients leave happy while others will have complaints on how we should have done something better and that’s the point when some in our industry shut down to the client and begin to question themselves, “why I am even here?” I find it very sad that the human beings we set out to serve often become the reason we begin to resent our chosen profession.  Once this happens it is very hard to be in any other mindset other than the “feel good” mindset where all of the daily activities are geared toward false accomplishment.  The good news is that we can turn this mindset around with both time and honesty.

Our relationships with our clients require both time and honesty.  Bottom line.  No exceptions.  Thinking about that, I don’t know of any type of relationship that doesn’t.  Do you?  Our clients want us to listen to their stories, feel their emotions and take the time to really get to know them.  That is what is important to them. 

What I am getting at is that it is time we treat our current and future clients like real people.  Giving them our real emotions and our honest feelings.  Don’t laugh because it doesn’t happen near enough.

So how do we remove the “feel good” mindset from our memory bank?  I would first suggest beginning the process by being truly honest, genuine and passionate about your profession, also in how you conduct business.  Then, stop hiding behind the dealership waiting on business to come to you.  Start engaging your clients, current and future, in everything you do.  Get out in the social web platforms, create dialogue and spend time with those who will make or break your business.  They are there waiting for you.  I assure you once you show your authentic self, you just may have a client for life.  Try it, you’ll see and I know you can do it.

Here is to a strong May 2012 closeout friends.  Thank you for reading.

I wanted to drop in and share a perspective of mine regarding our brands and who really owns them now that we are nearing the midway point of 2012.  We have all seen a huge increase nationwide in the number of dealerships and OEM’s participating in social media and this certainly excites me as I see it as a risk to not be involved.  While many dealerships and OEM’s are now taking social media very seriously, what does this actually mean for the brand strategy as a whole?  Are the dealers more in control of the brand or is it in the hands of the OEM?

Well guess what, it is your customers who are in control of your brand now more than they ever have been. Brand strategy, historically speaking, has always asserted to some degree that a brand is something that is cared for by the dealerships and owned, at least on an emotional level, by the customer. Now for many dealerships, thinking in these terms was more of a “mind exercise” than reality. The issue is by not putting the customers needs first, and allowing them to own the brand, a corporate culture can develop that doesn’t ever realize the full potential of the brand as a whole.  After all, aren’t we here to service our current and future clients?

Social media is forcing dealerships and OEM’s to rethink the “customers own the brand” philosophy and in a very quick way.  From this point forward I am going to use the term “brand” to include both the dealers and OEM’s.  In the social web we as the brand can direct, participate and engage with our current and future clients.  Now here is the kicker, so can they.  We can find out in a very easy way what people are saying about our brand and become part of the conversation and so can our customers.  Neither side has the upper hand.  It is a level playing field. Our advantage should come down to resources and strategy. If we have those well planned then you can mange the difference between success and failure.

Thinking about our brand’s personality traits is vitally important in today’s market. A brand is more than a logo. Every “touch point” or “moment of truth” our customers interact with will shape his or her view on our brand whether it is in person or in the social web.  On the social media platforms, our current and future clients interact with our brand in much the same way they do as their friends.  Would you agree? They treat it as a person and if our brand has not developed a personality with virtual emotions, then they will assign emotions and personality to our brand and chances are it will not be the ones we want.

Do you recall any past experiences that you can describe as an example to this?  It happens on a daily basis I assure you.  Maybe you called your Internet provider because of a billing or technical issue and found the person on the other line to be rude.  We have all been there and many of us were thinking in the back of our minds, “I really don’t care for this company.”  Then we look for data to back up our point of view, because we don’t like to be wrong. At this point, the emotions have been assigned and convincing us that they are incorrect will not be easy.

This same process happens at all the touch points of our brand, would you agree? The difference with the social web is that we now are able see the reaction and for those of you engaged, the good news is that you can do something about it. Only then your current and future clients will look for the evidence to prove that point of view.

So now I leave you with the mindset of taking the time to build a brand strategy that incorporates interaction in the social web.  Define your personality and make sure your team understands it with the ability to express it both in person and in the social web.  It isn’t going to happen overnight but if you want to elevate your brand and social strategy to the next level, this is a great focus to do so.  Once you get it right, the rewards will come.

I am sure many of you are just as busy as I am with daily business and I feel this post will find all of you doing big things.  Thanks for reading and keep making it happen.

Mentoring is something that I haven’t thought to write about until recently and after a few discussions with others, have come to understand that this is something our industry needs more of.  Mentoring from either an organizational standpoint or individual standpoint can be very powerful for learning and growth for someone you take an interest in thus increasing the probability for positive outcomes in their career path.

Many of you reading can recall someone who, at some point in your career, has had a significant influence on you and may have shaped or determined your course bringing you to where you are today.  I certainly can say there have been a few individuals I have come to know over the past twelve years that have encouraged me to do well or help me overcome something I wasn’t totally grasping. 

Recently, however, I can certainly say I consider myself having a mentor that I can trust to give me honest responses and opinions on anything I care to discuss and encourages me to try something new or different that I may have trouble taking that first step in doing.  Do you have anyone like that in your life or are you that type of person to someone else? Do you know how powerful it can be on someone? I am here to say that these experiences, if you haven’t experienced it from either side, are very beneficial and rewarding to both individuals involved.

Now, I am here to ask, if mentoring has so many positive aspects to it, why do we not see it happen more in our industry? Is it because we are taught to be competitive from day one in the business? Yes, you may be the superstar your entire career, but at what point do we decide to “refill” the pipeline to continue the success of our dealership or industry? It needs to happen at some point. Anyone else agree?

Here are a few questions I would like to ask from both an individual and organizational standpoint and encourage your responses.  I understand and appreciate the benefit of having a mentor and look to get others thinking alike:

• How can we help make mentoring an emphasis in our dealerships?
• How can a successful mentoring program be facilitated by the dealership itself?
• How do we select good mentors?
• How can we better prepare mentors and protégés to be successful?

I believe mentoring serves the needs of both mentors and protégés in different ways and will thrive better when left to flexible terms rather than being process driven or mandated if such program exists within the dealership.  Let the relationship cultivate on its own, giving it the room to breath and allowing the time for the information transferred to process.  I certainly experience the benefit first hand and hope to see mentoring grow in our industry as it is in important in the development of our employees and can have a significant influence on the course of their careers.

Mentoring, when the right conditions are present, can be one of the most powerful mechanisms in propelling a career forward. 

Now I want to ask, is there someone you have thought about taking under your wing to help ensure their success? Did you act on it?

I have been in many conversations over the past few months with others alike about changing the image of our industry and definitely see the positive efforts being made to help make that happen.  As we all know it will not happen overnight but every new customer experience we are a part of can certainly move the needle in the right direction.  We should all see it as an honor to be of service with every customer interaction and for those that conduct business in this manner, I applaud you for a job well done.

Still today, we can all find articles where the FTC is involved from where a consumer felt they were deceived by a dealership’s business practice.  Now whether the cases are true or not, something made the consumer feel this way.  Not much good comes from many of these cases and the lasting effect is deadly.

I wrote last month in “Hope To Win or Plan To Win” that most of the objections confronted in the F&I office would fall into one of the four categories:

• Affordability
• Product Misconceptions / Lack of Information
• Need Perception
• Fear Of Making Poor Decisions

Today, I wanted to discuss two separate mindsets that we can find still with today’s F&I managers:  Deceptive and Aggressive. 

The “deceptive mindset” is not hard to explain.  It is tricking the customer into buying products because the person presenting them doesn’t believe in them.  If one has to lie or hide something to close on the product, this is the mindset they are in.

The “aggressive mindset” is not bad to have at all and should be the mindset in every F&I office across the country.  It is having the belief in the products being presented and transferring that excitement to the customer.

Consider these few points when discussing the “aggressive” F&I manager and not the “deceptive” type:

• The customer always comes first and foremost.
• They understand their products completely.
• They expect to be the best.
• They don’t set limits on themselves.
• They have a plan and work it on a daily basis to achieve their goals.
• They have a planned presentation and stay the course even through welcoming objections and answering them thoughtfully.

I am here to say with both of these mindsets, the F&I manager cannot have both.  They can’t on one hand sell their products with enthusiasm when it fits their purposes, and then on the other hand choose to deceive a customer when they think they are gullible enough to let them.  F&I managers can change but they can’t come just halfway.  It will involve a complete paradigm shift for it to work starting with how they see themselves as an F&I manager.  This includes the way they see the products they offer and their value as a true sales person. 

We can all agree that the best F&I managers are those who genuinely believe in the products that they offer.