F&I Coaching vs. Training: Why Word Tracks Fail and What Works Instead

The difference between an F&I trainer and an F&I coach is whether the finance manager understands why they say what they say. In this Training Camp episode, Adam Marburger talks with Paul Brown, Vice President of Training and Development at Ascent Dealer Services, about coaching, objections, hiring, and what separates an average F&I manager from an exceptional one.

Trainers teach word tracks. Coaches teach the why.

Paul describes a common training model: people without retail experience memorize word tracks and teach finance managers to repeat them. “If the customer says this, you say this.” It rarely works that way in a real deal, because the finance manager doesn’t understand the purpose behind the words.

Coaching brings in sales psychology instead: understanding personality types, getting to know the customer, and having an honest conversation. A customer spending tens of thousands of dollars deserves a certain ownership experience. The finance manager’s job is to understand what motivates that customer and present the products in a way that makes sense to them. That is the approach behind Ascent’s in-store F&I coaching.

What a broken F&I department usually looks like

In Paul’s experience, the most common problem is the person in the chair. They don’t love people, the products or the business. When a finance manager leads with a servant’s attitude and genuinely wants to help, customers respond. Customers want protection. They just don’t want to be sold it. (See the servant mindset in F&I.)

The fastest PVR lift: sales and F&I working together

Adam calls the sales manager the architect and the F&I manager the finish carpenter, working on the same project. Both agree that communication between sales, the desk and F&I is the quickest way to lift F&I PVR.

When Paul ran stores, he asked his finance managers to carry the olive branch: be at the desk when not with a customer, help structure deals, and help close tight ones. Once sales sees F&I serving them, they become receptive in return. Without that, the two departments pull apart and the gap widens.

The objection funnel

Paul groups service contract objections into three categories:

Money: the payment or price is too high, or “I bought one before and never used it.”
Faith in the product: “This is my seventh one of these and I’ve never had a problem.”
“I’ve got a guy”: a relative or friend who will fix it.

However many objections go in the top of the funnel, they come out the same at the bottom: “If something happens, I’ll just pay as I go.” Paul wants the customer to say that, because it opens the next step.

The transition, step by step

In the episode, Paul role-plays the conversation with Adam:

Ask why the customer prefers to be unprotected, and let them answer.
Restate it: you have faith in the vehicle, and if something goes wrong you’ll pay as you go.
Point out that vehicles are a lot like people. Some are rarely in the shop, some often, most in the middle.
Ask what dollar amount of out-of-pocket repairs would make them want to do something about the vehicle. In Paul’s experience, customers usually name a figure of a few thousand dollars.
Ask what they would do at that point. The usual answer is “trade it in.”
Note that letting a vehicle’s reliability decide your trade cycle may not be the best way to manage ownership, and ask for a couple of minutes to show them something.

The goal is not the close itself. It is permission to keep talking, which turns a combatant into an active participant. Paul’s advice is to focus on getting to the next step, then the one after that.

You only need two or three closes

Asked for his best close, Paul says it is the one that fits the situation and that the finance manager is most comfortable with. Strong F&I managers tend to rely on two or three closes they have used so often that they deliver them with conviction, and customers respond to conviction.

What Paul looks for when hiring

People who have performed well in high-stress settings, such as the military or competitive sports.
Engagement in the interview.
A live test: hand them a menu, tell them no, and see how they respond.
Character, willingness to grow, a servant-leading mindset, and active personal development.

The 400% rule

What turns an average F&I manager into an exceptional one, Paul says, is buy-in to the process, every step, every time. He updates the old “300% rule” to a 400% rule: 100% of the products, to 100% of customers, 100% of the time, 100% the same way, whether the customer is paying cash, financing or leasing. Creating that buy-in is the coach’s job. Learn more about Ascent’s F&I training and coaching programs or how to choose an F&I training program.

Adapted from Training Camp with Adam Marburger, first aired October 21, 2025. Watch the Training Camp series on CBT News or browse every Training Camp episode. Have a question about your F&I department? Talk to the Ascent team.