The biggest news in finance and insurance services in years

Summary: With some prime Canadian lenders soon to announce changes to their online lending and signatory practices, financial and insurance services are about to witness a huge shift in consumer behaviour. It will be welcomed by most, but not by all. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we don’t all need to embrace it.

The present: A consumer can buy a million-dollar home online but needs to provide a wet signature to lease a hatchback.

The (very near) future: A consumer can buy a million-dollar home and lease a hatchback online.

That’s right! Soon, many Canadians will never have to step inside a dealership to lease or purchase a vehicle again. That’s because some prime Canadian lenders have been quietly making it known that they are modernizing their processes (finally!) by bringing virtual signatures to the auto industry. And you can be sure the others aren’t far behind. Expect official announcements soon.

That means there will soon be zero excuses for financial services managers who refuse to use technology to drive sales. And, safe to say, the bosses will now give zero you-know-whats if anyone tries to make those excuses.

There will still be old-school FSMs who will prefer to force their customers into the dealership. And those will be the FSMs who go the way of the dodo — and not this dodo. We aren’t being ageist here. Many FSMs who’ve spent decades working face-to-face with customers have embraced technology like virtual presentations. But, for whatever reason, there are many others of all ages who have refused — one estimate puts that number as high as 40 per cent.?

It’s time to adapt, people. Or, as one F&I exec put it: “It’s just lazy. It’s time for every FSM to put their adult pants on.”

What does this mean? Well, it should mean more revenue. Because now we’re getting people at their convenience. They’re not taking time off work, they’re not late to pick up the kids, they’re not spending a sunny Saturday in our stuffy offices; they’re not doing anything except focussing on us when they have the time to do so. They now can simply book an hour into their calendars to discuss the important ways we protect what is often the second-largest purchase of their lives.

What it doesn’t mean is working nights or unscheduled weekends. We’re still people with our own lives, and not every customer wants to discuss things virtually. But much of the world has adapted to video meetings/presentations/social interactions. It’s how most of you reading this article saw your friends and family during the depths of the pandemic. And it’s how many people in other professions are now working daily — including your customers, many of whom expect you to work this way as well.

This is just the first modernization we should expect to see in our profession. Others on the horizon include live chats with people pricing out vehicles online; digital alerts when a potential customer inputs information into dealer websites; personalized communications with people who’ve scheduled test drives; and, more. All making it easier for us to do our jobs.?

Will there be calls for the days of yore when everything was done in person? For sure. But the future of F&I is now, and it’s time for everyone to embrace it or risk being passed by. What’s your plan?

Keep following Armour Group for more pieces like this one. And please comment or share to add to the conversation. It’s an important one, because we all want our industry to be the best it can be.