Articles by Kirk Manzo - President

Over the years, technology has evolved to help in various dealership departments. F&I trainer Kirk Manzo covers a number of options for presenting electronic menus in the F&I office.

F&I trainer, Kirk Manzo, discusses the importance of how a leader communicates with his or her staff and provides tips on how to effectively communicate with the four different styles of communicators.

Kirk Manzo, F&I trainer and expert, discusses six traits of top-performing salespeople and F&I managers.

F&I expert Kirk Manzo provides interview topics to cover when hiring new F&I managers, as well as other things to consider to ensure successful hiring because the people who work at a dealership determine its future.

F&I Trainer Kirk Manzo discusses change in dealerships and how to motivate employees to adapt to change.

When Erik Weihenmayer, a blind man, climbed Mt. Everest in 2001, the trek was well-planned-out. Every person involved in the expedition had to have clarity of vision (i.e., able to articulate the goal to get Erik to the top). Erik had to have the right team in place, and they had nightly meetings while climbing to the summit. Kirk Manzo compares and relates these key aspects of Erik’s success to successful F&I departments.

Kirk Manzo - In the F&I office, increasing efficiency and product sales revolves around increasing product penetration (particularly service contracts), shortening the time your contracts are in transit, introducing the F&I manager to customers early on in the sales process, and maintaining compliance.

Kirk Manzo - In Chet Holmes’ bestselling book, “The Ultimate Sales Machine,” he identifies that the reason many organizations struggle is because “management attempts to implement 4,000 different ideas. When all they really need to dominate any market is to identify their core strategies (usually about 12) and repeat them 4,000 times until everyone in the organization has mastered them!”

Kirk Manzo - There are many strategies that have developed over the past several years to positively influence customer retention. Customer loyalty programs with a points reward system and special discount pricing on select dealership services provide some level of success.

Kirk Manzo - The practices of reviewing deal jackets on a regular basis (once a month at minimum, once a week is preferred), analyzing production reports, and conducting daily managers’ save-a-deal meetings continue to be the gold standards for our industry.