In a departure from our standard product lineup, we are pleased to announce the release of our fifth product, Prospus F&I. For those who don’t know, F&I stands for “financing and insurance”, and is the process through which vehicle dealers evaluate and extend both credit and insurance coverage to buyers. Additionally, the F&I process markets optional add-ons to customers, referred to as “upsells” or value-adds. The term is most commonly used in the automotive industry but is used in every vehicle dealership, including marine vessels, RVs, construction equipment, and more.
“F&I is one of those industries that hasn’t kept up with the times”, Prospus President and Founder Marc Ragsdale said. “Most of the solutions out there were built decades ago, and are therefore groaning under the burden of new technologies”, he added. After working extensively in back-end ERPs in the automotive and marine vehicle spaces with clients, Prospus became familiar with the F&I platforms. “They are painful to work with and nearly impossible to integrate with unless you are using the major inventory or banking platforms. Getting information from one system to another almost always involved some manual process”, Ragsdale lamented.
Prospus F&I aims to change this with an open architecture that can interact with any tool in the marketplace. Our open API, built on the Prospus Universe foundation (in development as of the publication date of this blog), is aimed at solving this major pain point with dealers. Additionally, the architecture supports rapid mobilization, a feature unseen in this niche industry. “Most major F&I applications are either promising forthcoming mobile apps or have already delivered sub-par mobile apps lacking key features”. Prospus F&I was built as a mobile-first solution, so our apps are fast and full-featured compared to existing providers.
The initial target market for the solution is smaller dealerships that have not yet purchased or used existing F&I products. They are still conducting the F&I process with a folder full of paper documents, often requiring multiple overlapping signatures from applicants. Upselling and value-adds are entirely dependent on the strength of the process in place and training of the F&I agent. Managers cannot be certain of their staff efforts or effectiveness, impacting the bottom line. It was with these problems in mind that Prospus F&I was launched with the following features:
- F&I companion app. A guided phone, tablet, or browser-based application delivering a customized F&I process for every vehicle, ensuring exposure of options at the right time.
- Manager dashboard. A dashboard for the F&I manager showing the transactions live, as they are happening. Key milestones can be checked off so managers know when to provide that extra boost to a sale.
- Digital signature-enabled. Full integration with our Prospus Sign technology, eliminating the need for tiresome and costly paperwork.
- Audio recording. Record F&I transactions for evaluation and training purposes.
- A/B segmentation. Test out different F&I workflows by segmenting your sales force to determine the most effective process and options.
Prospus F&I simplifies the process of creating, executing and maximizing the F&I procedure at smaller vehicle dealerships. The simple back-end interface gives non-technical administrators an easy way to build, launch, and modify workflows on demand. Administrators can also evaluate the effectiveness of their flows over time, optimizing based on real results. “We aren’t from this industry, but that gave us a fresh perspective on how it could be improved. We borrowed many ideas from other apps and came up with something you won’t find in the market”, Ragsdale wrote in his pre-launch memo to early adopters.
As small dealerships move to a formal F&I process, they will be pleased to find a solution that looks, feels, and acts like modern SAAS-based applications. Prospus F&I is a slick, lightweight application designed to be easy to use, learn and manage. We have not yet published our pricing model, but intend to offer it as a SAAS app in keeping within our existing lineup of products and services. Prospus also has plans to expand its on-site offerings by merging Menu with its other products.
If your dealership needs a custom F&I too, consider Prospus F&I. F&I will be available as a white label SAAS product. Learn more about Prospus F&I, or schedule a demo by contacting us at solutions@prospus.com.
