The moment you get verbal confirmation that a customer is interested in buying from your dealership, it’s gone time. You can’t afford to waste time or make avoidable mistakes because of inefficient processes or tools in F&I.
The biggest source of inefficiency? Manually entering information repeatedly throughout the process.
Manual steps in the F&I process can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Reducing manual tasks with a streamlined process will reduce wasted time, save money, and eliminate headaches during the lending process. Here are five ways how.
Simplifying Deal Processing
Lead sources can come from anywhere, and you need to be prepared to easily and flexibly pick up deals and close them. If you use a DMS like EverLogic, make sure the proposed deal information like inventory type, inventory stock number, mileage, price, customer information, and more are carried into your F&I software to eliminate rekeying information.
The same is true if you use an online credit app on your website — in a world of “autofill” features and “remember me” options, customers today expect not to repeat their information multiple times.
When creating a deal from scratch, your tools should walk you through a step-by-step process to prevent oversights with required fields, and carry applicable information throughout the structured deal. This protects the accuracy of information and saves time.
Connecting with Lenders
This situation may sound familiar: When you’re looking for financing options for your customer’s purchase, you have to log in to multiple lender portals to confirm the customer’s eligibility for the application, see which forms are required, and check how to complete each document.
Logging in to various portals is a waste of time and frustrates users, especially when there’s nothing to tell you upfront whether the customer meets each lender’s minimum requirements.
Learn More: EverLogic F&I Module
The biggest time-saver is connecting all of your lender partners to a central hub that provides a consolidated view of loan options with only one sign-in. Gone are the days of navigating multiple systems or viewing one lender's options at a time. Now you can compare your loan choices, including clear notes about whether the lender will accept this loan, alerting you if any information is missing or the customer isn’t eligible for the loan type.
Implementing Form Batches
Once you’ve synced your chosen lenders to one hub for easy comparison, your next step is to choose a lender and complete the documentation. Compiling every single form requires a complex and tedious checklist for each loan, and it wastes time and money.
It might only take seconds to pull a form if you’re experienced, but those seconds add up over each form and each deal. If you print or use the wrong forms, you also waste materials. This is where form batching can ensure efficiency.
LEARN MORE: EverLogic Document Programming
Form batching is as close to a set-it-and-forget-it process as you’ll get in F&I. For each lender and loan type, you can rely on preset forms lists to tell you which documents are required, and whether they can be completed digitally or if they need wet-ink signatures. Even if you add your own lenders, you only need to create a form batch once, simplifying future transactions. This eliminates the need to remember or recreate form sets, ensuring consistency and accuracy in dealing with various lenders.
Streamlining Deal Submission
As some lenders move toward digitization, more loan documents may be accepted with electronic signatures, or even via digital submission rather than overnighted mail. This is a great option for reducing material resources like ink and paper, saving money in shipping costs, and avoiding risk when sending personally identifiable information in the mail.
If you take advantage of these features, it’s important to use a secure connection to transmit forms and deal information. Depending on the lender, you may be able to electronically upload and send credit applications, pay stubs, or customer ID information, enhancing security and minimizing liability risks.
Customizing Your System
Check your tools for any settings that would help optimize efficiency or streamline the steps you take in F&I. Examples could include setting default taxes, fees, or back-end product information. Or set up alerts for lender decisions, deal progress, and more so you can act quickly to close deals and take next steps.
READ MORE: Quick Facts: 10 benefits of EverLogic dealership management software
Conclusion
Eliminating duplicate entry, streamlining deal structures, connecting to various lenders, and improving the overall lending process leads to better efficiency, saves money, and reduces stress and risk for your dealership.
EverLogic and AppOne® share these goals, as our integration helps dealerships do all these things and more. By leveraging AppOne, your dealership can streamline your processes, reduce errors, and ultimately improve the overall customer experience.
As an additional money-saving option, AppOne is free when you submit loans through our integrated lenders, and you may even replace other third-party interfaces by working directly through the AppOne platform.
To learn more about how AppOne can help your dealership simplify and streamline the lending process, reach out to the team at 1-877-277-6631 or Info@AppOne.net.
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April 24, 2024