By Matt Mahar, Regional Vice President with Assurant Dealer Services

In a recent Assurant Insider Tip, one of my colleagues addressed the topic of setting actionable performance standards at the dealership. In this Insider Tip, I’m going to dig deeper into how dealerships across the country can track their teams’ progress against those performance standards using dealership scorecards.

Scorecards help connect the dots between big picture goals and everyday actions. They break down the impact of individual contributions on the team’s performance as a whole. These reports include a ranking of sales based on individual performance and overall team performance compared to your annual benchmarks to help you clearly understand how each member of your team is driving annual profitability on a day to day basis. And, importantly, dealership scorecards provide the data and insight dealers need to develop tailored F&I training plans that help your teams address areas of underperformance and maximize areas of opportunity.

Use dealership scorecards to improve your performance throughout the year

Scorecards are a critical part of bringing your dealership’s F&I attachment rates to the next level. Here are some ways Assurant can help your team use scorecards to meet your annual benchmarks.

Share your dealership’s scorecard will the full team

  • Transparency is key to improving individual performance. Sometimes, scorecard reports only go to F&I managers.
  • Take it a step further so team members can access that information. Let them see how the team is performing and where they stand in that performance.
  • Encourage team mentorship opportunities that pair high and low performers together.
  • Collaborate with an Assurant F&I expert to identify actionable adjustments and skill improvements that can help close more deals.

Set the right check-in frequency for your dealership. 

Regularly checking in on your F&I goals sounds simple. But what’s regular for your dealership may be different than what other dealerships are doing. Depending on what you want to achieve this year, you may need to check in as often as twice a month or even weekly. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to frequency, consider these questions:
  • How close are you to meeting your monthly or quarterly goals? If you’re off track, you may want to see scorecard reports more frequently.
  • When will you meet with your teams to optimize your approach? If you do this monthly, you may want monthly scorecards. But if you do this weekly, you may need more frequent reports.

While most F&I partners provide dealership scorecards on a schedule that they define, Assurant tailors the frequency of scorecard reporting based on each dealership’s needs.

Use the data in your scorecard report to optimize for success.

  • Have your high performers share tips and action items for the rest of the team.
  • Talk to low performers about the challenges they’re encountering and brainstorm solutions together or with an outside expert.
  • Invite an Assurant expert to your progress check-ins so they can provide actionable tips for your team.

Consider gamifying your progress check-ins

You can maximize team performance with gamification. When your meetings and goals are set, many leave those meetings motivated to have a better quarter than the last. Gamifying your team’s progress can lead to more motivation, encourage team building and coaching and lift overall performance.
  • You can’t successfully gamify without choosing the most important 3-5 metrics that support the benchmarks you want to meet. Your gamification plans will fall apart if those metrics don’t support your overall goals.
  • Have weekly or monthly debriefs on how the team is progressing against expectations. Regularly discuss your dealer’s benchmarks with your team. This will encourage them to think more often about what they can do differently and better.
  • Send your team weekly and daily reminders of expectations. You can also include updates for how team members are measuring up. This can boost team productivity.
  • Set up monthly or quarterly rewards for high performers.

Evaluate market, regulatory and consumer changes

A successful dealer model is built to be adaptable and resilient. As regulations, the market and consumer behavior continue evolving, dealerships have a long history of changing with them. To identify the right time or need to adjust your approach, it’s crucial to keep a pulse on the team’s performance in light of any new economic changes.

Create actionable F&I training plans to improve the performance you see on your scorecard. 

The scorecard report is only as valuable as you make it. Find areas where your team’s performance can improve and identify the training and resources that will best help you implement those improvements.
  • If performance is suffering as more customer interactions occur digitally, look for training designed to help your team virtually close F&I sales .
  • If you hired someone new to the industry who isn't meeting their performance benchmarks yet, they may need training on essential FSM skills .
  • If you’re noticing a lot of car buyers coming into the F&I conversation unprepared, you may need to increase training support for your sales team. Their training should give them the tools and conversational skills to create the need for F&I products during the car sale.

With training for the sales teams, FSMs and more, Assurant’s extensive F&I training program includes a variety of courses that can help your team improve performance where improvements are needed. We’ll work with your dealership to understand what opportunities your team has based on your dealership scorecard, among other factors, and help you develop a tailored plan to improve the numbers you see on your scorecard report.

How Assurant Can Help Your Dealership

Together, the combination of setting actionable performance standards, tracking against those standards with scorecard reporting and then developing tailored F&I training based on the data in your dealership’s scorecards puts you in a better position to improve profits and meet your F&I attachment rate goals. Assurant is a performance partner that works with you every step of the way. Read our F&I training Insider Tip to learn more about how tailored training plans can be leveraged to improve your dealership’s scorecard.