Brown & Brown F&I School Continues to Grow in 10th Year – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – When Brown & Brown held its first F&I school 10 years ago, 22 representatives from RV dealerships attended.
This year, as the event expanded to two and a half days ahead of the RVDA Convention/Expo, more than 200 were in attendance to learn about strategies, products and new ideas to enhance F&I profitability.
And judging by some of the questions and comments from those attending at the Horseshoe Casino, there was plenty to learn – especially as the economy looks poised to take off and many new products were being unveiled.
“On the first year, it was just straight F&I training,” said Shawn Moran, president of Brown & Brown’s RV F&I. “We worked on how to present it and some basic compliance. Somewhere around Year 2 we decided to involve a lender or two. What we learned right away was when the dealers came and they learned more inherently about the lenders and how to get the paper bought, the F&I department grew for the dealership.”
But more than just education, the F&I school has a lot to do with creating relationships and finding ways to protect the customers and keep shops busy.
Moran said an important part of what happens at the school is helping dealer representatives understand what paperwork the lenders need and don’t need.
“It has been a very prosperous relationship for the dealer, the lender, Brown & Brown on all sides of the fence because we educate them more and the dealer principals are happy because they are getting more of what they want,” he said. “Now Brown & Brown is seeing product sales coming out of it. The third part is protecting the customer. There are more options, more revenue for their shop.”
The relationship part comes after the classes when attendees and lenders network and get to know each other, making them more than just a voice on the other end of the phone line.
Moran said he can’t say monetarily how much those relationships are worth, but they help the industry grow and help the dealers prosper.
Still, education is the main point of the event.
Even long-time dealers or GMs in attendance are sure to learn from the presentations.
For the 2024 events, presenting partners included Alliant Credit Union, Aqua Financial, One Source Financial, Menu Metric, Source One, Merrick Bank, BMO, Medallion Bank, Camp Assist, M&T Bank, Marine One, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, Truist Bank, 50 State DMV and 700 Credit.
Plenty of variety and new offerings for dealers of all experience levels.
“In the past lenders were so rigid. If a loan didn’t fit in whole, then forget about it,” said Scott Krenek, president of Krenek RV Supercenter in Koloma, Mich. “Now lenders are more relaxed and that’s a regular trend for all of us. Half of the business is getting quality buyers. The other half is getting them financed. There is much more for dealers here than ever before. It’s an excellent resource. There’s a lot to be recommended.”
“Any time there’s a school or an even with information about different ways of doing things you can always take away some little thing to make your dealership work better,” said Nathan Baker, sales manager for Bankston Motorhomes in Huntsville, Ala. “It’s been full of great presentations and a lot of good answers.”
Even Moran, who works with the lenders on a regular basis said there is something new that he learns at every event.
“Do I expect the dealers to come here and learn something new? Oh yeah,” he said. “It’s crazy how many new announcements we heard yesterday. We see a lot of industry-firsts come out of here. It’s a great way to spread the news very quickly to a great audience and people who are going to use it.”
Moran said if he had one goal for dealers to take away from this year’s event, it would be for them to stop pitching products and find a more personal way to approach customers with F&I products.
“It’s hard to relate to an RVer until you’ve lived the lifestyle,” he said. “We work hard to immerse them into the lifestyle so when they turn to the customer they stop telling them about the things they offer and cover and instead they learn more about the experience and how the consumers will use the product and the excitement they have and how they define vacation. When we make presentations to them, we’re telling them how our products are going to support those adventures they want to have. That’s a much different avenue. It makes it an elevated experience within the dealership.”
The Brown & Brown F&I school wraps up at 1:15 p.m. today.
